Sweet Sweet Baby

After almost 41 weeks of waiting, Joel and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of the newest member of our family Delaney Ryan Gagnon! 

Born: January 19th at 5:45pm
Weight: 6lbs 12oz
Length: 20.5 inches

As soon as my due date arrived, we were on red alert knowing that our baby could arrive at any moment.  My labor started on Wednesday, January 18^th.  I woke up with a really sore back – par for the course at the time because I had been battling a serious round of bronchitis – so I didn’t think much of it.  By the end of the day, the back pain had not subsided so we called the hospital to see if there was anything else we could do to check to see if this was a sign of labor.  They instructed me to lie flat on my back and to watch my stomach.  If it was contracting, even if I wasn’t feeling the contractions, labor was beginning.  Sure enough, that is exactly what was happening!  We went to bed early that night to get rest knowing that the big day was right around the corner.  I had relatively painless contractions throughout the night and by 6 a.m. in the morning, I decided to get ready knowing that we would be headed to the hospital at some point that day.  I did not realize that “some point” would be less than 3 hours later!  At about 8:00 a.m. we called the hospital to let them know we were on our way.  We arrived at around 8:30 a.m. and they checked me out shortly thereafter.  Although they confirmed that I was in active labor, they instructed Joel and I to walk around the hospital for 2 hours before they would admit me.  At this point I was in a lot of pain and while 2 hours doesn’t seem like a long time, it was hands down the longest 2 hours of my life.  Joel was the most amazing partner and coach throughout the entire day, but especially during those 2 hours.  He did absolutely everything he could to keep me motivated and walking for the entire time.  We walked the entire first floor of the hospital, visited the café for some tea, and browsed literally every single item in the gift shop.  All the while, I was in the most extreme amount of pain I have ever felt in my life.  Around 1 hour and 50 minutes later I couldn’t take it any longer and we went back into the hospital.  After another hour of torture, I mean waiting, they finally checked me again and confirmed that it was time to admit me – FAST!  They admitted me around 1:30 and I had an epidural (serious God send!!) around 2:30.  At this point I was already 7 cm dilated and was told to get as much rest as possible because the delivery was right around the corner.  I was able to get in a about an hour or so of rest and by 4:45 p.m. it was time to deliver the gift we had been awaiting for almost 41 weeks!  My mom (Grammie) and Joel’s mom (Grandma) joined us in the delivery room and an hour later Delaney Ryan Gagnon made her grand entrance!  Daddy announced that our baby was a healthy little girl and we spent the next hour bonding and picking a name for our sweet sweet baby.  Aunt Robbie, Aunt Noelle, Aunt Allison, Uncle Justin, Uncle Jared, Kim, Cousin Paul, Grandma, Grandpa, and Grammie all joined us in the hospital that night to meet Miss Laney! 

We were released from the hospital 24 hours later and have been at home getting to know our little love ever since.  I know that we are biased but we think Delaney is the most beautiful girl in the world.  She is very mellow, only cries when she’s hungry, smiles often, and loves to cuddle!  We are soaking in every single second that we have with her and already feel like she is growing up way too fast.  Her favorites in her first week of life are sleeping, eating, and snuggling with mommy and daddy – especially when we wake up in the morning.  She is the spitting image of her dad but we can see a little bit of mommy in her especially in her coloring and in her eyes when she is awake.  We are over the moon for our little Laney!! 

Thank you to all of our family and friends for their amazing and unconditional support throughout the entire pregnancy and especially this week.  We have been blessed with Grammie coming up for the past week and half to take care of us, numerous visitors, lots and lots of texts, phone calls and emails, and some very yummy meals (a special thank you to Jill & Jeremy, Allison & Justin, and Casey & Brad for the A-MA-ZING meals that you all brought us this week).  We are so thrilled for our little Laney Bug to meet all of you!  She is one lucky little girl to have you all in her life.

Delaney – We love you more than anything in this world.  You are our everything, and we already cannot remember what life was like before you or imagine life without you.

Off to snuggle my sweet sweet baby,

Mommy