She's here!!

Apparently Natalie had no intention of being induced. Literally 5 minutes after I posted my last post, my contactions started picking up and an hour later we were sitting in the hospital waiting to get my epidural!!

Natalie Erin Cutler was born at 3:55 AM on January 28, 2009. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and is 19 inches long.



So here's how it all happened. Like mentioned before, I had been having contractions since Sunday night. Then on Tuesday evening they got significantly more painful and closer together. At that time we called the hospital and they suggested we come in. It is a good thing we did because once we got there they immediately hooked me up to the monitors and realized that she was going to wait until my 5:30 AM appointment to be induced the following morning. We arrived at the hospital at 7 pm on the 27 of January. By 9 pm I was dilated to a 4 and I asked for my epidural. Thank Heavens for epidurals!!!! I was amazed how quickly my pain went away and I was able to somewhat enjoy this part of labor. Brady was amazing. Before the epidural the only thing that helped was squeezing his hand as hard as I could and focusing on my breathing. What a trooper!!! Once I received the epidural we rested and caught a few quick power naps. By midnight I was dilated to a 7 and by 2:30 am I was ready to go! The doctor came in at about 3:30 and checked me. Unfortunately the baby was facing to one side instead of to the floor so the doctor gave me the option of sitting there for another couple of hours or having him use forceps to turn the baby. I opted for the forceps and a couple minutes later I was ready to push. This by far was the hardest part. The epidural had somewhat worn off so I was completely exhausted and in quite a bit of pain. Luckily she had descended enough that I only needed to push for about 5 minutes and then at 3:55 am Natalie Erin joined our family.

She is perfect in every way. She is a small little girl but she is very healthy and happy. She rarely cries and is perfectly content with life so far. Besides being exhausted, Brady and I couldn't be happier. It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love. Brady and I are already completely wrapped around her finger. Oh and by the way...what long fingers and toes!!! Thats the first thing the Doctor noticed and I have to agree that they are pretty spectacular! She is going to be a concert pianist for sure!!

We love our little daughter so much!

Here I am meeting Natalie shortly after birth.

First family photo!

Daddy and his daughter. He is so amazing already! I haven't even changed a diaper yet!!

I've been told that she looks exactly how I did as an infant.
I guess I'll have to find some baby pictures.

Aunt Katelyn holding Natalie for the first time.

Kimi was so excited to finally meet Natalie. Too cute for words.

You can kinda get a clue of how long her fingers are in this pictures...
but it still doesn't do them justice!