My baby girl is here!

[zanacal]

Hi everyone

Many of you know already from FB but our darling daughter, Eliza Grace, was born at 6.20am on Sunday 3rd June. She was by far our biggest baby (though she still looks tiny to me!) at 8lb 11oz, though she was also by far our latest baby at 11 days past her due date!

There's not a great deal to say about her birth as it was thankfully uneventful. I woke at around 2am as DS1 had fallen out of his bed and I was having some contractions. A short time later I told DH I thought we should take the boys to my mum's. Honestly, that man is useless when he first wakes up - first of all he mumbled something about how he didn't think we needed to do that and he went back to sleep! I went and finished packing our bags and then woke him up again - he asked if he had time for a shower, whether he should have breakfast and then went and put some washing in the tumble dryer. It was quite funny! The boy were SO excited when we woke them - and unfortunately they didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night. My poor mum and dad!

Once we'd dropped the boys off I was in two minds whether to drive back home or go straight to the hospital. I called the hospital and explained that my contractions were still pretty erratic - anywhere between around 5 and 10 minutes apart - but that some were quite powerful (others weren't!). They were happy for me to go in and I'm glad we did! On arrival I was still very 'with it' and the midwife left us to settle in. DH got toast and coffee! The midwife was fab and really didn't impose on us at all. I was never examined - I thought probably because I didn't look like I was very far advanced at the time, but I was glad not to know if that was the case. My contractions got closer together and stronger quite suddenly and I started using gas and air. I sat on the birthing ball for one or two but found that way too much so I got on all fours on the floor and lent over the ball and that's where she was born :D Very soon after getting in that position I found myself pushing and before long she was out! We arrived at hospital at 4.50am and she was born at 6.20am - I pushed for 5 minutes and delivered the placenta naturally 20 minutes after that. No stitches :D I was pretty pleased with myself :D We left hospital just 6 hours later and it would have been earlier but Eliza had passed meconium before she was born so they wanted to monitor her a short while.

She was incredibly alert and did nothing but feed for a good 3 hours after her birth! So far she seems more demanding than my others as newborns! Last night she woke at 1am and it was 5am before she went back to sleep - she was feeding some of the time but mainly didn't want me to put her down :D The boys adore her but she's quite the novelty at the moment so hopefully they'll be just a little less attentive once they're used to her.

We are overjoyed with our little princess and our family really is complete now. What a wonderful feeling :D

I'll post some photos in a moment - please don't quote them as I'll likely delete after a while.

xx

[Lassie1982]

What a heartwarming story :) Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter :)

[Princess of Pink]

OMG she is so cute!! What chubby little cheeks, she looks so cuddly!! Huge congrats to you and your family xoxo

[ynwa]

Congrats z she is perfect well done you x

[HappyLea]

Huge congratulations on your :DD: she is gorgeous! xxx

[Damienne]

Pretty lovely babygirl 💗

[Lassie1982]

Utterly Adorable!!!!!!!
Such a cute little bundle of pink - congratulations again xoxo

[suregena]

So exciting! Congratulations zanacal! Your birth sounds fantastic, as well! I only hope I can have such a breezy experience my second birth (my son was a 49 hour labor... in the end, he had to have forceps assistance because he was getting tired and he was posterior... sigh :()

So happy for you! :) Yay!

[Myloves]

She's beautiful:HH: A little doll. Congrats on your new baby girl!

[Indira]

A short time later I told DH I thought we should take the boys to my mum's. Honestly, that man is useless when he first wakes up - first of all he mumbled something about how he didn't think we needed to do that and he went back to sleep!

LOL! Men!

It is so touching to read about Eliza´s arrival and see how beautiful she looks!
I´m happy to hear her birth went so smooth and that the boys adore her!
Congratulations again and enjoy your baby girl :HH:

[Plum3]

Congratulations!! So glad everything went well for you! She is beautiful :)

[nuthinbutpink]

You look awesome and she is perfect. Congratulations!

[Waiting4Daisy]

She is so sweet! And can I add you look ridiculously good for having just had a baby! Beautiful! I hope I'm in your shoes one day :-)

[TTC5]

What a perfect birth!!!!
And Eliza is just beautiful so so gorgeous! x x

[deaks66]

Massive congratulations hun! Eliza is gorgeous and you look great! Enjoy this precious time! X

[sixhappysons]

Biggest congrats! What a perfect BS and beautiful pictures. Enjoy your babymoon with your DD.

[glory]

Awww she is beautiful, I can't believe you left the hospital so fast! Well done.

[Bumblebee]

wow very many congratulations on the birth of your baby girl!!! :celebrate: she is so adorable and cute! :awe:and I love the name :) hope you and baby are doing well xx

[Mochagirl]

Z- you and Eliza both look so beautiful - I'm in tears looking at the pictures. You have a daughter!!!! Has it sunk in yet?

Lol about your DH - mine is even worse if he's woken in the night because on top of being useless he's also grouchy. We were fighting with each other the whole way to the hospital with ds3!

It sounds like it was s pretty amazing birth - I hope mine's that uneventful and quick! I needed an episiotomy and a million stitches with DS3 and I'm really hoping to avoid that this time.

[PolishPrincess]

She's just perfect!! Huge congratulations what a fantastic family you have! All the blessings in the world!

[Ribbons]

Congrats!!! What a beautiful baby.

[Inglewood]

Had to congratulate you again! She's gorgeous! and u do look fab!! Seems like yest we were planning our sway on here and PL and now she's here! Well done mamma, sounds a good birth too. x

[auroara78]

Beautiful birth story!! It sounds like when she decided she wanted to come she just hurried on out to meet ya'll!!

Gorgeous pictures too....holding her must be the most amazing thing!!!!!!!!

The boys are so happy to meet their sister?

[maybebabythree]

Wow congratulations!!! She is so cute and you look fab too! Love the pink outfit must be a great feeling to be done with making babies!!! Enjoy the newborn cuddles and well done x

[RedCanoe]

She's beautiful! Congrats!! And lol at your description of DH. Mine's the same, hehehe. :)

[LolaInLove]

OH my goodness, you both look so beautiful!!!! I am so glad everything went smoothly! Enjoy your little grazer, every little moment!!! Congrats, Zan! xoxoxo

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm so happy for you and your labor sounds fabulous! Well done! Eliza is breathtaking.

[coocoobananas]

Congratulations!!!!!!

[pearl]

She is gorgeous!!!:ballerina: Congratulation!!!!!!!!!!!

[lobella2]

Congratulations again!!! She is beautiful.

[angel in a pink sky]

You and your daughter are both beautiful. Congratulations!

[DoulaMama]

Oh my goodness!!! What amazing pics!! You look incredible!! I'm so glad that you had her on the weekend, that your birth was smooth, and that everything worked out so well for you!! Eliza is just gorgeous and I'm loving her little outfits!! Enjoy every second!! Happy babymoon to you and your family!!
Smooth healing vibes to you~~ Much love xoxoxo J

[pebmcpd7]

Well Done Zanacal, she is a darling!!!

[Irishmom]

Huge congratulations zanacal on the birth of your beautiful daughter Eliza. She is adorable and you look amazing so soon after her birth. Wishing you and your family a very happy future. Xx

[dloui128]

How wonderful, you look amazing and your daughter is beautiful, congratulations :)

[cravingsalt]

Congratulations!! She's beautiful.

[rainbowflower]

just popping on to say congratulations! she's gorgeous!

[LolaInLove]

I had to just look at your photos again, they make my soul smile :giggle:

[My Fabulous Children]

Congratulations on your baby girl, She's so cute!

[Hobbermittens]

Congrats Zana! I am so excited for you that she is finally here! :)

[sweetpea]

Congratulations, zanacal! What a wonderful birth story, and what a beautiful baby girl! Welcome to the world, Eliza! :HH:

[Hobbermittens]

Ooooh! I just now noticed the pictures! She is beautiful!

[Belle]

Aww she is gorgeous Congratulations to you and your family.

[Dreams*]

Congrats on yr new lil girl, shes beautiful ! ;0)

[mariposa]

she is sooo beautiful!!!! congratulations!!!! :babyf:

[ovofiv]

She is so cute!! Congratulations!!

[littlemissnaughty7]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh she is gorgeous well done huni xxxxxxx

[zanacal]

Thanks everyone :D

We're doing well here. It's complete and utter chaos because it's half-term and the boys are all home - and it's raining so we can't leave them out in the garden all day (or they don't want to!). DH has just taken them for a walk because it stopped raining but I've just looked out the window and it's pouring down - woops!

Eliza is doing so well. My milk came in early on day 2 (mummy's body's done this before!) so she lost hardly any of her birth weight and, like the boys, she knows exactly what she's doing feeding wise. She's very settled between feeds and I'm loving cuddling her pretty much all day long - I know this is the last time I'll be doing that with one of my babies and how soon she won't want me to do it any more! She's so far only waking once during the night for a feed but is taking a long time to go back down so we've been having long lie ins while DH gets up with the boys. I am going to be a zombie when DH is back at work and we have the school run to do! I've been feeling pretty crap physically some of the time. The afterpains have been hideous and I generally feel like I've been kicked in the stomach by a horse and then knocked over and had a truck drive over my back ... you get the picture! I'm sure it won't last much longer though and of course it's worth it for the little darling fast asleep next to me. Today Eliza had visitors so she wore her first pretty dress - and then did her first poo up her back :D

I'm reading posts but usually on my phone while I'm feeding Eliza so my hands aren't free for long replies!

[zanacal]

So exciting! Congratulations zanacal! Your birth sounds fantastic, as well! I only hope I can have such a breezy experience my second birth (my son was a 49 hour labor... in the end, he had to have forceps assistance because he was getting tired and he was posterior... sigh :()

So happy for you! :) Yay!

All my boys were posterior and this birth was a breeze in comparison! I wonder whether the others would have been much quicker if they'd been a good position like she was. Check out Spinning Babies Home | spinningbabies.com (http://www.spinningbabies.com) when the time comes - fab site for helping baby to position well. Births are all different :D

[zanacal]

Z- you and Eliza both look so beautiful - I'm in tears looking at the pictures. You have a daughter!!!! Has it sunk in yet?

Lol about your DH - mine is even worse if he's woken in the night because on top of being useless he's also grouchy. We were fighting with each other the whole way to the hospital with ds3!

It sounds like it was s pretty amazing birth - I hope mine's that uneventful and quick! I needed an episiotomy and a million stitches with DS3 and I'm really hoping to avoid that this time.

DH and I were arguing at the hospital too - I told him we'd be hilarious on One Born Every Minute! He kept on fussing about going to put a ticket on the car (we didn't have time when we arrived) and about 5 minutes before she was born he said he was going to go and do it and I was telling him between contractions that he was not going to go and put a bloody ticket on the car! He actually went before I'd delivered the placenta and cut the cord lol! He explained afterwards that he was worried we'd be wanting to go home with the baby and our car would have been clamped but at the time I just didn't get it! He also keeps telling everybody it was an easy birth! I guess to him it was much quicker and different to the boys' labours and I think I was quite quiet this time too - but easy is not the right word!

[LolaInLove]

All my boys were posterior and this birth was a breeze in comparison! I wonder whether the others would have been much quicker if they'd been a good position like she was. Check out Spinning Babies Home | spinningbabies.com (http://www.spinningbabies.com) when the time comes - fab site for helping baby to position well. Births are all different :D

I TOTALLY recommend this site to everyone! My first was a section because she was posterior, but I made good and darn sure my second was in the right position thanks to this website.

[Mochagirl]

DH and I were arguing at the hospital too - I told him we'd be hilarious on One Born Every Minute! He kept on fussing about going to put a ticket on the car (we didn't have time when we arrived) and about 5 minutes before she was born he said he was going to go and do it and I was telling him between contractions that he was not going to go and put a bloody ticket on the car! He actually went before I'd delivered the placenta and cut the cord lol! He explained afterwards that he was worried we'd be wanting to go home with the baby and our car would have been clamped but at the time I just didn't get it! He also keeps telling everybody it was an easy birth! I guess to him it was much quicker and different to the boys' labours and I think I was quite quiet this time too - but easy is not the right word!

Men!! Yep - my dh was barely talking to me when we got to the hospital. After we'd been there a bit basically with him straggling 10 paces behind me while I struggled to walk to the maternity ward I finally turned around and yelled at him to snap out of it, put whatever grudges he had aside, and HELP me. I'm sure there was lots of swearing involved :oops:.

My other funny story is that although we had the car seat waiting in the car, we hadn't actually installed it yet when ds3 was born. I've always been the car seat installer in the family, but it's not exactly rocket science so I figured dh could figure it out himself (especially as I'd left the instruction manual with the seat). Well, there I was 2 hours after birth waiting in the lobby with ds3 for dh to pull the car around to pick me up so we could go home. I waited and waited, and when he finally came he was in a HUGE huff - the car seat still wasn't installed and was just sitting on the seat. I told him we couldn't bring ds3 home until it was installed but he just got angry, threw up his hands and said he gave up. So...I handed ds3 to him and installed it myself...2 hours after birth and a very major episiotomy. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive him for that one!

[suregena]

I TOTALLY recommend this site to everyone! My first was a section because she was posterior, but I made good and darn sure my second was in the right position thanks to this website.

My son was also posterior... my labor was 49 hours long. Naturally, by the end of it, even though I was pushing good and he was coming down, it had already gone past the point where he could even cope with much more and I ended up with forceps assistance, i.e. they just went in there and rotated him but I still pushed him out. Phew.

NO MORE POSTERIOR BABIES! Heeh. I did try to turn him... for weeeeks, but he was pretty settled! Silly little man!

[auroara78]

Thanks for the update Z!! Would love more pics if you feel up to of baby Eliza!!

And Mocha....the story with the car seat...omg...MEN! Sometimes they are good for nothin' but helping to make cute babies!

[Butterfly Spirit]

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She's such a little sweetheart Z! :)

[Mochagirl]

What a beauty, Z!!!

[pearl]

Congrats and enjoy your baby girl:babyf:

[hopingforsaskia]

Huge congrats Z!!!! Such a great birth story too... what a pro eh?? ;)

[PeonyPrincess]

Congratulations Zanacal. She is an absolute sweetheart. Thanks for sharing your wonderful birth experience. You did so well.

[auroara78]

Great pic!! Thanks for posting!

[mydream]

OMG she is so cute!! What chubby little cheeks, she looks so cuddly!! Huge congrats to you and your family xoxo

Big congrats!!! I am so happy for you !

[sweetpea]

Oh, she is SO adorable! Thanks for sharing the new pic! :)