Welcoming our Christmas angel

So as most, if not all, of you know Hazel Anne joined our family on December 4th! I'll keep my labor story brief for those interested. I started feeling contractions on Wednesday at 3:30 PM. My mom took me walking around various stores in town until I went into the hospital at 9 PM. Shortly after I got there they had me take a bath, and after that my contractions became very close and very intense. In one hour I dilated 4 cm. By 10:30 I was pleading for pain meds. I didn't get them until almost midnight however. I first received IV drugs, which worked for about half an hour. They then checked me and saw I was progressing very fast and knew I would need to push soon. So instead of an epidural they gave me intrathecal drugs. Basically, I could feel pressure and sensations, but no pain at all. I wasn't numb, and mostly my body just felt very warm. I think if ever my labor progresses this fast again I will get this, I liked that I could still feel things and walk around. They came in around 1 AM to check me and realized she was crowning, so it was time to push. Hazel came out at 1:52 Thursday morning! The midwife I had let Justin help pull her out, "catch" her, and cut the cord. He was excited to do it all! He said he even got to put the two clamps on her cord before cutting it. It was a totally different experience than Levi's birth, but I guess they can all be different somehow. Hazel was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long. Unlike me, Justin, Levi, or most people in our families, Hazel was born with lots of hair! And its brown! We know it'll change and probably become blonde, but right now its so weird to see our baby with brown hair. I think she looks just like Levi did at this age, except the hair. Anyway, Hazel checked out fine, and so did I, so they let us go home Friday afternoon. Hazel is doing great, and although she is feeding okay, she is still not catching on as quickly as I would like her to. She wants to feed on her schedule, which can be anywhere from mild snacking to waiting 4 hours in between feedings. I was able to get Levi on an every-2-hour schedule pretty quick, so this is a bit frustrating for me. However, I know she'll catch on in her own time and I'll soon have a schedule with her too.

Levi is an amazing big brother! He is adjusting to her wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, his two-year-old attitude had become much worse and he is looking to get into trouble at every turn, which I expected. But his treatment of Hazel is one of the sweetest things to watch. He always wants to give her kisses, and he is always concerned where she is and what she is doing. He loves to hold her and he wants to help with feedings and diaper changes. Now if we can just keep his behavior in check!

As a little Christmas story for you, here's a cute moment from Levi. Justin and I have been trying to teach him about Jesus as well as indulging in his childhood joy of Santa. We seem to have a good mix right now for his age, and what he can understand. However the other night at our Stake's Creche Exhibit Justin asked Levi where baby Jesus was, expecting him to point to one of the hundreds of nativity sets around the room. Instead he answered, 'He's at the North Pole with Santa.' It was the funniest little connection he's made yet!

Well that's all for this week. Hope yours was as wonderful as ours!