GREAT news!!!

Monday was our big day...we welcomed our new baby into our family and into this world. The timing of everything has been perfect. I began early labor Sunday afternoon. We already had planned to spend the evening in a game night with our friends, Jon and Morgan. So I got to spend much of my early labor laughing and having a good time. It sounds funny, but that was a great distraction! We went home, went to bed, and around midnight I realized that my labor was "active" and that I was not going to be able to sleep. I paced around for awhile before Adam woke up and we decided that we were going to have a baby. For the next few hours we got some things ready, called our midwife and called some friends and loved ones. The pictures take it from here...
Around 3 or 4 a.m.? This was our "waiting room," in which my mom, Honeybee, Jenn and Morgan camped out waiting for the baby's arrival. My dad was there too...he must've been in the kitchen making coffee for this picture. I spent most of this time laboring in my bedroom either in the warm tub, the labor ball or in my bed, but I came out every once in awhile to be social. :) By dawn I was fully dilated. The kids woke up, I got to spend a little time with them, and then I got back in the tub to deliver the baby...

Baby is born! I had experienced a stall around 9 cm, but Mary (my midwife, who was wonderful, just what we needed) was great about giving me suggestions to make my body relax and do its thing. 8 minutes of pushing? It felt like an eternity. Adam caught the baby, and oh my goodness...this boy has no boy parts. Is this real? I check about 5 more times...yes, it's not a boy. A GIRL?!? Grabbed the boys, we all marveled at the miracle...

Elijah got to help give the baby the first bath, and Samuel cut the cord (no decent pictures of that one)...

The baby nursed right away, and their practice is to wait until babies give up the breast on their own before they do the newborn exam. Little Girl nursed for 3 hours before she decided she was done! This is Mary, doing the weighing and the measuring.

The shirt says it all. All the hard work, totally worth it. We had such a great time.

Matea Addison Zimel

(muh-TAY-uh)

July 14th, 8:28 a.m.

7 lbs, 12 oz

20 inches long

Matea means "Gift from God"
Addison means "Child of Adam"
(I think that captures her perfectly!)