Welcome to the world!

Dylan McKay Hatch

Two weeks ago today we welcomed our new baby girl, Dylan McKay Hatch. She is perfect and beautiful and everything a baby should be! She was born on Sept. 8, 2010 at 11:35 am, weighing in at a hefty 5 lbs, 15 oz and 17 1/2" long.

1/2 oz bigger than Layla was!

It has been a trying pregnancy, not because I felt particularly bad but because I was labeled "high risk" at 28 weeks and was thus ordered to have tests, check-ups and ultrasounds to the tune of 3-4 each week. After nine exhausting weeks, I was scheduled to be induced at 36 1/2 weeks, pending an amniocentesis to determine if her lungs were fully developed. My doctors were expecting the amnio to come back without any problems, since I had had two shots of betamethasone steroids, but it turned out her lungs were in the transitional stage, which meant that she wasn't quite ready to make her debut. Dr. Paley pushed the induction out five more days, scheduling me to come in at midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

Ryan, Mel and I arrived at the hospital at 11:30 pm, checked in, and settled into a room where I was hooked up to monitors and a pitocin drip. After steady contractions all night, I hadn't gotten any sleep and decided to go with an epidural so that I wasn't laboring in complete exhaustion.

At around 6 am I was at 4 cm. The anesthesiologist came in and put in my epidural, and I was in bliss! I had tried an epidural with Layla that didn't work, but this was heaven! I felt warm and tingly from the ribcage down, and was completely comfortable. For the next few hours I labored in perfect peace. At 8:30 my Dr. came in and broke my water. I continued to lie comfortably and watch CNN while Ryan and Mel snoozed.

At 11:20 the nurse came in to check me again. I was dilated to 8 cm and 90% effaced. She said she'd check me again in an hour or so. Three seconds later I had a contraction and told the nurse I was ready to push. She didn't believe me, and said she'd check me in a few minutes. "I think you need to check me now. I'm pretty sure if you put you hand in here you'll feel a head," I told her. Sure enough, she checked me and said, "Don't push, I'm calling Dr. Paley!"

The Doc arrived, I pushed four times, less than 90 seconds total, and our beautiful Dylan McKay Hatch was born at 11:35.

L.O.V.E.

Happy Daddy

Proud Mimi

She was a little cold at first, so they kept her under a heat lamp to warm her up, but her APGAR score was a 9; a perfectly healthy baby! As soon as she warmed up they brought her over for some skin-to-skin time. She latched on perfectly right away and has been a great nurser ever since. The lactation people (nursing nazis) made a huge deal about making sure she nursed every few hours and even wanted me to pump and feed her a bottle after every feeding, but we did it the old fashioned way and everything went great. We had her two week appointment today and she was over 6 lbs!

Hungry Mama- They let me order food for myself and one guest. I did just that, then ate both plates at every meal!

Watching cartoons in the hospital

World's greatest big sister

She is an amazing little lady, and we feel so blessed to have another child in our family. The kids love her and want to hold her as much as they can. Weston is a little rough, but he's a tank of a two year old, so it's expected. Layla is a huge help, and is especially great at getting me a diaper, burp cloth, water, snack, or whatever I need while I'm holding or nursing Dylan. We have been extremely lucky to have so much help, with Mimi being here for the birth, my mom coming the week after, and friends bringing over meals and helping with the kids. Thanks to everyone who has made this process so easy on us, we love you!

A few more pictures to enjoy:

Matching Jammies

Heading home from the hospital

Goodnight!