Shock (and, of course, awe!)

So...we are back from la la land with a brand new baby girl in tow. That's right! A new GIRL. Despite the almost-100% certainty of me, Matt, Willow, the doctor, and everyone else out there, this child was not a boy. She was born Friday, August 11, 8:23 or 24 am. Matt and I and Willow are thrilled and having a fun time with the new family dynamic.

My birth was AMAZING--only 6 hours, no pain meds, sat in a birthing tub for a while, and pushed all 9 pounds of her out! But, then, my not-so-good birthing karma kicked in and I had very bad hemorrhaging the rest of the day. Ok, I shouldn't be so light on the subject--bad enough that when I asked the doctor if I was going to live her response was "I'm here to help you, but I have to admit that I'm concerned!" No one wants to hear that response!

They ended up having to take me into surgery to find the cause of the bleeding
(which ended up being a bad hematoma--a burst blood vessel, essentially). They patched me up, gave me 4 bags of blood (yuck, but it saved me) and I was on the road to recovery. If they couldn't find the cause, there was discussion of a hysterectomy.

It was a crazy and very scary experience. Especially for Matt who had to just stand by and watch it all unfold over the course of the day. We are home now, recovering slowly but well. I don't ever want to say never, or take things completely off the table, but I feel very confidant that this is the last baby I will be birthing! I proved to be an anomoly to my doctors in both births--severe bleeding when it shouldn't have been so bad, followed by a speedy recovery. My blood levels were the same the day I came home from both births (a 7 for those who understand!). The doctors are encouraging me to get some blood work done in the future to see if I have "leaky blood" triggered by a traumatic event. There is a family history here, as my cousin had to have a hysterectomy following the birth of her twins. We'll see!

Hope all is well with you. I'll post an official welcoming announcement as soon as we get the photos uploaded.

Love, Jen