"This is a story all about how my life got twist-turned upside down..."

Seriously!  The birth of Genoa Winter Peel 2 weeks ago has left me with zero time, unlimited happiness for my children and slightly sleep deprived :)

The birth itself was rather uneventful, especially compared to Branson's.  We were scheduled to go into St. Mary's at 5:30 am on Dec. 7th to prep for the c-section.  And we did.  As soon as I was hooked up to the monitors, I actually went into labor, having contractions 4 minutes apart.  So either way, she was coming that day!  So.  Our amazing friend and photographer, Jessi Lemay (check her out, www.jessilemayphotography.com) was wonderful enough to show up that early and catch the prep on film.  If I have time I'll post pics.  Funny thing about the pics, you can SEE the nerves that Ryan was experiencing.  I personally was not nervous at all, but poor Ryan was a slight mess.  He said it's a scary thought to have your wife go into major surgery like that, because you never know what will happen.  Awe!  Too sweet babe.  Love you long time.  Anyhow.  They took me back to the OR around 7:30, gave me my spinal (which later gave me a nasty spinal headache, AGAIN), and then the only bad thing of the whole day happened, I got nauseous from the anesthetic  Thought I was going to throw up, but I didn't (thank God, not sure how I would have pulled that one off laying flat on my back and numb from the chest down).  So the nausea passed, they let my husband come in (still nervous) and got to work. And apparently it was hard work.  As with Branson, they had to use a vacuum assist, and the assistant Dr. was (what felt like) jumping on top of me, grunting saying "I literally can't push any harder!".  So our kids have big heads, so what!!!???   At 7:55, they pulled my beautiful baby from me, she cried, I cried, Ryan cried.  She was a little "wet", meaning she had a hard time clearing the mucous and fluid, but other than that she had a complete clean bill of health.  They wheeled me into Recovery, my momma came back and stayed with me while Ryan was with G in the nursery getting cleaned up and what not.  Then they brought me my baby girl, and I got to nurse her.  She was a PRO.  This girl knew EXACTLY what to do.  Quite the opposite of her brother.  We bonded immediately.  Something I did not have with Branson because he was taken to the NICU right away.  Once in our room, family came in, and we all rejoiced and loved on her.  It was such an amazing feeling to be able to be with my baby immediately after birth.  I always felt guilt for not having that with B, even though it was completely out of my hands.  Of course my bond with Branson now is stronger than anything I've ever known, but he wasn't as tangible for the first 6 days of life, due to him being in the NICU and me having had a c-section followed by a spinal headache.  With Genoa, the connection was instant and much needed.  I love that she needs me.  She wants to be in my arms, hear my voice, and smell my skin.

Now at almost 3 weeks old, we are starting to semi- establish a routine.  Genoa, like Branson, has pretty bad acid reflux so we are dealing with that.  But she is still a great sleeper and eater, and the only time you will hear this baby cry is when she is impatient about getting fed :)  And I must say, this is the first year that I am glad the holidays are over!  I love them and always have, but there was just so much adjusting and going on this year.

With that I leave you all with a wish of a prosperous and beautiful new year filled with love and friendship.