Sunday, July 26, 2009

Introducing Francesca Marie


Family shot - she looks just like Dad.


On Wednesday morning, July 22nd at 3:59am, Jody and I welcomed Francesca Marie into our lives. She weighed in at 7.1lbs and 22 inches long and is in perfect health. We are absolutely in love with her and I am so thrilled to have a little girl.

Labor was interesting as it started with discussion of a possible emergency c section because they were getting a very low heart rate with the external HR monitor. The drama included them sprinting me in an office chair from the clinic to the hospital (they are connected) because they couldn't find a wheel chair, putting a node on her head and breaking my water to make sure she hadn't pooped in the water (a sign of stress for the baby). Once all that happened my labor had officially started. I had gone to the doc at 6 days overdue and I was having contractions in a strange pattern. They broke my water at about 3:30 and I immediately started having regular contractions and went from a tight 2cm to 5cm in about 5 hours.

I was having back labor and made a decision to get an epidural at about 9pm. I know each of you who have had children have made your own choices to have or not to have an epidural - it was the right decision for ME and didn't slow down my labor at all. It made the experience much more enjoyable for me and I was able to enjoy my family and friends leading up to the actual delivery. I never had to get Pitocin and my contractions were literally 1 minute apart lasting for 90 seconds. I was at 10cm by 2am but they were unable to start me pushing until 3:15 because my doctor was in surgery.

I pushed for about 5 push sessions of 3 pushes each - total lasting about 20 minutes and she arrived!! I had let my epidural drip wear off a bit so that I could have control of my legs during but still couldn't feel my you know what. :) It was hard to push without "feeling" things but I had a couple of great coaches. Frankie was born without any manual interventions and outside of a squished nose, she looks great.

Next post will be all about post baby exercise plan! And I will show you the before baby pic!!

Hope you all are doing awesome! The next 8 weeks will be spent enjoying time with my daughter, husband and catching up on you guys!

Love to all!
Jess

21 comments:

Marissa said...

Oh congrats!!! She is so beautiful!! And so are you! All glowing :) Enjoy your beautiful new baby!!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to you both! She is adorable!! Sooo cute!! Best wishes to you all! :-)

Eve

Abby said...

Congratulations!! What a beautiful baby girl! You all look so happy. Francesca is a wonderful name. :)

Kelly Olexa said...

OMG OMG OMG!! I am so happy for you all!! Welcome hugs to Francesca Marie!! XOXO

A Prelude To... said...

Oh My!! What a fantastically gorgeous baby - but what else could we have expected with two such beautiful parents!! I love these first pics - what a happy family!!! Great life ahead of you guys - GREAT LIFE!!!!

B said...

Beautiful!!!! Congrats!!!
enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

All 3 of you look perfect! What a great addition to your family :) I love the nickname Frankie!

CONGRATS!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! I was thinking about guys this past week. I met up with another blogger and she told me that you hadn't had the baby yet (I was internet-less all week).

Congratulations to you and Jody. Can't wait to read what's next for you. Enjoy this wonderful time with your new daughter. Blessings to you all.

Donna said...

OK, so I am the "other" blogger that Jen was talking about. Sorry, I've been a lurker all this time, through your entire pregnancy and never commented. I had to comment now, though, because I had to say congratulations. Your family is so beautiful.

O' Natur Nail said...

Congrats!!!!! Shes so adorable!!!! Best to all of you!!!

Angela said...

Congratulations! She is beautiful :)

Anonymous said...

So awesome! Congratulations :)

Krissa said...

I am so glad everything went well for you guys. You have a beautiful family. Kinda gives me baby fever :)

Lissa said...

Congratulations!!! How amazing. She is gorgeous. :)

Healthgirl said...

I'm a bit late... CONGRATS!!!!!

You all look so wonderful. I love the glowing mommy/daughter shot! Perfection!! So glad things went well!

Yayayay! :D

Recovery Spirit said...

Jessica, I'm sooooo proud of you and so happy for you, Joe D. and little Francesca. She is just gorgeous. Much love!!! Dad

LAT GIRL said...

She is beautiful! Congrats on that bundle of joy!

Lisa T.

Noel Clark said...

Congrats!!! She is adorable!

Anna Smith, MSA, NASM CPT said...

Have not had time to tell you that I think you are so incredibly inspirational and impressive for leading such a healthy and strong pregnancy. I will use you as an example for others often!

Also, you look amazing in this pic of just you and her. Simply glorious.

Ms. Anne said...

Jess,
You make me so proud. I loved seeing you work out in your nine month of pregancy and now you are kickin it back into gear as a healthy mother. Im so proud of you, sister, for staying true to your goals and making a gorgeous family. You are so beautiful. I miss you like crazy!!!!
Love,
Anneroo

Anonymous said...

Oh Jess, she's BEAUTIFUL!!!! Congratulations to you and Jody! I'm SO very happy for you both. You're going to be fantastic parents. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us.