Ruby Denise

Long before the sun came up on Sunday morning (Nov 28), I was on my way to Fredericksburg, VA to witness and support in whatever way I could the birth of my new niece, Ruby Denise. My sister, Lauralee, had a whole slew of attendants at her home birth (including three very capable midwives), but in the end none of us could do the really hard work for her, and hard work it was! After almost 28 hours of labor, the final four of which were serious pushing, Ruby Denise (her gender had been a surprise to the very end) finally made her grand appearance, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz. No wonder getting her out of there took so much effort!

Although the delivery was long and arduous, all went smoothly and Ruby is as perfect as can be. She jumped right into nursing like an old pro. The only major glitches in the process were a bladder that refused to be emptied, a birthing pool whose only apparent purpose was to provide a large obstacle in the center of the birthing room, a rug that refused to lay flat (fixed with some duct tape) and a squeaky, dust covered fan (fixed with some WD-40 of course). Although the birthing pool ended up not being used, it was a water birth regardless since the delivery took place on a water bed, not the ideal surface it turns out.

Here are a couple of pictures of the new addition.



Lauralee won't be running any marathons any time soon. :)


Explaining the concept of little sisters to Logan.