I started writing this post on March 6th… I am finally posting it now, 20 days later. Things have been… busy. That, and trying to type with both a laptop and baby in your lap is a challenge. 
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Fiona joined our family on Tuesday, March 1st, at 1:38 in the afternoon. She weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz., and was 20.5″ long.
Tuesday started off like every other day of the week or two before it. No contractions, and no other signs of what was to come. Then, right around 11:30, I started feeling what I assumed were braxton hicks contractions. Not entirely painful, but they were enough for me to notice them. After a couple, I started timing them– 3-4 minutes apart, each lasting around 45 seconds. Most moms-to-be would be grabbing their bags and heading to the hospital. I, on the other hand, was even more convinced that this wasn’t the real thing. They came from nowhere… No build-up, no hours spent timing them as they went from 15 minutes apart to less than 5 minutes apart.
Thinking that these might at least lead to the real thing, I told Mark that he might want to fix lunch and start getting Becca ready. I went in to shave my legs (that was the one thing that bothered me when Becca was born– I hadn’t had the chance to shave my legs in the week or so leading up to her birth). By the time I got done, less than 10 minutes later, I told Mark to call the doctor and then my dad and step-mom. We might need to be checked out.
Dad and my step-mom showed up 10 minutes later. We left immediately after, checking into the hospital shortly after 1:00. Fiona was born a half hour later, 15 minutes after my doctor arrived. The whole thing, start to finish, lasted right around two hours. No time for pain medications. When she was handed to me, I was still in shock. What happened to the epidural and normal labor I had been hoping for (and counting on)?
We went home the following day. Becca was having fun with her Aunt Sam, but I missed her and was more than ready to get out of the hospital. This is our fifth day home, and we’re settling into a bit of a routine. Becca is sleeping better than usual in her own bed (less middle-of-the-night waking), and she’s eager to help out wherever she can. Fiona is very easy-going, and is willing to sleep in her playard, rocker, and almost anywhere else she is set. This is a huge change from Becca, who insisted on being held non-stop from the time she was a few hours old. It might change in the next few weeks, but right now, it’s making things so much easier.
Our family is settled in, and adjusting well to being a little bigger. Things are going well. There have been a few challenges, with our new big sister and with trying to re-acclimate to having a newborn in the house, but I’m loving (almost) every minute.
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And Aunt Sam had fun with Becca. I really enjoyed being able to spend time with her.