Hit the Road, Meredith

Well, we would have stayed in the hospital a week if they'd let us. It was so comfy and everyone was so helpful and kind. But they DO kick you out eventually, so today is the day we've brought Meredith home. She thought the ride from the hospital to the house was pretty nice (so THAT'S sunshine?!) and stayed pretty perky the first few hours we were home. Here's a pic of the welcome home party.


GRANDPARENTS AND BIG BROTHERS ROBERT AND TAUREAN

Friends, Family, Fans

So we're pretty big fans of Meredith, and it turns out that there are other folks who like her, too. Here are some pics of Meredith with the admiring throngs.

INSTANT BEST FRIEND! MEREDITH AND VIRGINIA
WALT'S MOM (aka GINGER) MEEETS HER FUTURE DAUGHTER-in-LAW
AUNTIE BETH SHOWS THE LOVE
GRAN AND UNC MATT (DEMONSTRATING THAT HIS HAND IS 9x THE SIZE OF MEREDITH)
PARTY IN MEREDITH'S ROOM!
GRANDPA DAVID IS IMPRESSED

Happy Birthday, Meredith!

Today was the big day. One of the biggest of them all, to be precise.

After a fairly sleepless night, Chris and Kate headed to the hospital for a 7am scheduled inducement. Kate wasn't thrilled about being induced, but she WAS thrilled about the prospect of seeing Meredith soon. After checking in and getting Kate strapped up to some heart monitors and such, the fun began! Before the pitocin had even started, Kate had a doozy of a contraction (7 minutes!) that threw Meredith off a little (which she demonstrated by performing a little heart stopping trick)...But eventually we got things started and all went smoothly for a few hours. Kate waited a good while before requesting the epidural and she certainly appreciated it once it began working its magic. Meredith, however, wasn't so crazy about it. She pulled another little look-ma-i-can-make-my-heart-slow-down-trick and had the nurses instructing mom to roll over, stand on her head, and other such fun activities. Meredith recovered, but after that we did start calling her Drama Queen. From that point it was smooth sailing -- right into 3 hours of steady and intense pushing for Kate. At 8:49pm Meredith Jubilee Lareau, in all her glory, came out to meet us. From the first moment -- and for hours afterward -- she was amazingly alert and responsive (and did we mention GORGEOUS?). She was 7 and 1/2 pounds and 20 3/4 inches..with lots of pretty light brown hair, rosy skin and a perfect little kissable mouth.

A BRAVE NEW GIRL

HAPPY DADDY

THANKS, DR RUFFIN!

HAPPY MOMMY

HI, I'M MEREDITH.

Wherefore art thou, Meredith?

Here's Chris and Kate on the night that we were SURE she would make her debut. Note our friend Alan's shock at the enormous size of Kate's belly...

Of course we DO realize she's not due til tomorrow AND we realize that due dates are somewhat arbitrary, but various and sundry pains had given us hope that it might be sooner. So we're hanging in there and being as patient as we can be...which is starting to be "not very."

Still Counting...

Another week has passed and the countdown continues. Nothing much to report. We're continuing to work on the nursery, work at work (Kate's big projects are finally done!) and go to out to dinner when we can, since that will soon be less of an option. Last night the family next to us at Los Compadres (with a 2 year old) admonished us to enjoy our dinner because dinners out will never be the same once our little one arrives. They were having a great time chasing their little boy around the restaurant (he REALLY wanted to lie on his tummy on the floor), but just wanted to be sure that we were appreciating our relative peace.

Here's another nursery pic. We can't post pics of an adorable little girl yet, so the nursery will have to suffice.

Countdown

It's Saturday, September 10. We're 15 days away from Meredith's ETA and counting down. The nursery is ready. Mom and Dad are as ready as they'll ever be. And, amazingly, we've finally named her.