She's here...Paige Katherine Grooters

I am pleased and elated to introduce you to our newest addition, Paige Katherine Grooters.


Here's a quick rundown of the birth story (as best as I can remember it) and her first few days in this world.
3:30 am - Saturday, December 19th I awoke with mild contractions.
4:00 am - I realized that the contractions were coming regularly and this might be the beginning of labor and began timing them. They were 10 minutes apart and lasted 30 seconds each.
5:05 am - Got out of bed to shower and begin to get ready and told Daddy that I was in labor, but go ahead and get some more sleep.
5:15 am - Daddy couldn't sleep and wakes up and begins to get ready.
6:15 am - Ate breakfast of Cap'n Crunch cereal and coffee. Contractions were coming about 4-6 minutes apart so decided to call parents and get them to start getting ready. Tell them there's no fire.
6:45 am - Nana and Poppy arrive at our house.
6:57 am - Jack wakes up and realizes Nana and Poppy are at his house and excited to learn that his baby sister was coming today.
8:05 am - Contractions are getting stronger and about 3-5 minutes apart. Poppy takes Jack to their house. Nana, Ben and I leave for the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.
8:20 am - Arrive at hospital, sign a few papers and walk back to triage.
8:45 am - Hospital decides to admit us and assesses me to be 6 cm dilated. Get settled in room and nurse scurries around to get the room set up. Contractions getting really strong. Nurse says CNA has been paged to bring the epidural.
9:30 am - No longer smiling between contractions, but a sigh of relief crosses me when the CNA walks in the room.
10:00 am - Happy, tingly mommy! Nurse assesses me to be 7.5 cm dilated.
11:15 am - Contractions have slowed. Dr. O'Bryan (on-call doc) says my doc, Dr. Dixon will come for the delivery and wants him to go ahead and break my water to move things along. O'Bryan assesses me to be 8 cm and breaks water bag.
11:30 am - Papa Roger and Grandma Vicki arrive from Gulf Breeze. Daddy leaves the room to eat the lunch that Nancy and Ali brought him.
11:45 am - Pressure is building and I am feeling contractions again. Nurse decides to check me and assesses me to be fully dilated (10 cm).
11:50 am - Daddy walks back in room and nurse has me begin pushing. Nurse has me push once and decides to wait for Dr. Dixon to arrive.
11:55 am - Dr. Dixon walks in and they put me in stirrups to push. I push three more times.
12:06 pm - Baby Girl Grooters enters the world!

Once in this world she had quite a bit of mucus and cries for a good 1.5 hours to get it out. Meanwhile she receives her bath and the nursery gets her stats. Around 2 pm they move me to a post-postpartum room. I am drained and hungry and still a little wobbly on my epidural sea legs. They take the baby to conduct a heal prick test. They determine her white blood cell count to be a little elevated and want to put an IV line in her to begin to administer antibiotics. She also receives a Hep B vaccine. Baby is exhausted as well and zonks out for hours. She has very little interest in nursing. About 1:30 am she decides she is famished and finally latches on well. I don't provide her much relief from her full day of not eating, so we supplement her with a little formula. She is happy and sleeps pretty well for the remainder of the night. Day 2 comes with a battery of photos, a hearing test, a few more rounds of antibiotics, lots more practice at nursing, bonding and oh yeah, the social security office is here and you need to pick a name or your life will be hell trying to name this baby after she leaves the hospital. We decide she does indeed look like a Paige Katherine and that is what we will call her.

Today we got the all clear that Paige was in excellent health and they sent us happily on our way. We are all settled at home now and adjusting to our new life with two wonderful children. Enjoy the slideshow of the birth and Paige's first few days in this world!

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