Our beautiful baby girl

Alianna Elizabeth was born 24 January 2009.  She was 7 lbs 10 oz, 19 1/2 inches.  She is a beautiful happy baby.  She hardly ever cries.  She is wonderful!

Giving birth here was a wonderful experience.  Yes, it was very painful, but they gave us such great care.  Alianna didn't come on her own, so I was induced.  They put a gel on the cervix Thurs. night, then again on Friday morning.  The gel made the contractions very strong.  They told me to walk around a lot, and I was dilated enough to have my waters broken by Friday night.  My mother and Mark were with me the whole time.  I held Mark's hand really tight.  My mom was a huge help with breathing.  She had all 5 of her kids naturally and she knew all the breathing techniques to make it through.  I made it quite a while.  Then I used the gas and air.   They have this wonderful thing here which is half oxygen and half nitrous oxide (laughing gas).  You breath it in leading up to the height of the contraction and it takes away a little pain.  It really helped me keep my breathing deep and regular too.  I also used a labour pool with warm water which helps calm the muscles.  Mark and my mom talked me through the contractions too, so we did really well.  Even though it was a long labour (she was born 2:01 Sat), I hope the next birth will go so well.

This is when she came home from the hospital.  We stayed in 4 days after she was born.  The midwives all took good care of us and made sure she was feeding well.  They also wanted to make sure she wasn't too jaundice.  She just passed and didn't have to go under the lights.
Alianna loves sleeping on daddy.  This is a few days after we got home.  Look at all her hair!
She is so alert.  Yes Alianna does like to eat and sleep, but she is awake and looking all around for a few hours every day too.  She loves being held by her grandmothers and just staring into their faces.
This is her first outfit, just before she came home from the hospital.
Here is Alianna 10 days old.  She can hold her head up (I am holding it here).  Isn't she so cute!