Introducing Annaliese Margaret Meyer

Welcome to the world, Annaliese Margaret Meyer! Our little Annie waited and waited and waited to be born but when she was ready, she came pretty fast! My due date was December 12 and when that day came and went, I was ready to lose my mind. I had a feeling I'd be pregnant through that weekend and I was right. On the morning of Monday, December 15, I had a doctor's appointment so Duane met me there so we could talk about me being induced. (I was frightened of having a "big" baby) My doctor tried a little procedure (again) to possibly start labor and also called the hospital to see if we could get in that day to be induced. We didn't want to wait too long into the week because Olivia had a Christmas program at school and I would have felt awful if nobody was there for her. So, anyway, the hospital said to call at 11am and double check they had an opening. Okay, great - I went home to finish packing and Duane went back to work to close out some things and tell them he was going to be unavailable for the next day or two.

Well, as soon as I sat in my car and started driving home, I started having some pretty painful contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart. I was trying not to get too excited about that because I had been having fake contractions for weeks. I fired off some emails, finished packing my bag and was on the phone with our friend Crystal (Liv's babysitter while we were in the hospital) and the contractions were getting way more intense. I texted Duane and said, "it's really happening, hurry home!" He came flying through the door shortly after that, finished packing and we raced to the hospital; we arrived at 11:45am.

They were expecting us and had a room ready as soon as we arrived. I changed into a lovely hospital gown (why do they have to be so ugly?!?!) and was having consistent, intense contractions every 3-4 minutes! The nurse with us was great and was very encouraging that this would happen fast - I didn't believe her. Thankfully, I did not need any drugs for inducement but I was ready for that epidural! I received the epidural around 2pm and was feeling great - no pain but could feel some pressure when big contractions came. The nurse continued to say it was going to happen fast and still, I was not believing her. They broke my water around 3pm and at 3:40pm, my doctor showed up and told me it was time to push. I was in shock, I think!

I pushed once and everyone was telling me I did a great job but again, I didn't believe them. (I pushed for 3 hours with Liv.) With the next contraction, I pushed and then suddenly heard, "Open your eyes, Abby!" And there she was - our little Annaliese! I literally could not believe it! Duane was also in shock, he stood there staring at her while the nurse kept asking him for a blanket for the baby! :)

Annie screamed and screamed and we continued to just stare at her and wonder how it all happened so quickly. She was born at 3:59pm and was a perfect  7.5lbs, 19.5" long. Once I had eaten some lunch and could stand up, we were moved from the labor room to our recovery room. Olivia had a fun night with Crystal while we both stayed at the hospital. Poor little Annie spent some time in the nursery that night so Duane and I could try to sleep.

Day 2 in the hospital was pretty good. Duane ran some errands in the morning so it was me and Annie doing some napping, cuddling and lots of nursing. Later that afternoon, Duane picked up Liv from school, ran her home to "delouse" her (have her shower and hopefully wash off some school germs) and then they came to the hospital. Olivia was pretty excited but it took a while before she would hold Annie. The girls exchanged presents and then she and Duane went to the cafeteria to get dinner. We had dinner together and then she was ready to hold her sister. The maternity ward nurses give every baby a "birthday cake" so we celebrated Annie's birth day with some cake and sang to her.

Olivia gave Annie an adorable hat and Annie gave Olivia an Elsa doll

On Wednesday, December 17, Annie and I were given the okay to head home! I was definitely ready to get out of our room and be more comfortable at home. We left the hospital right before noon so we were able to have some time at home to "relax" before Liv came home from school. Our first night was rough - not much sleep for anyone, except Liv who has (thankfully) stayed blissfully unaware of the crying!