Sophia Faye Richard

Looooong time, no post! So sorry, I told y'all I was antisocial when I was pregnant LOL I am finally getting around to announcing Sophia's birth. She was born Friday, September 25 at 3:21am. A good 11 or 12 days past her due date! I was due to be induced at 5:30am that Friday morning, but thank God she decided to come on her own. At 1am I woke up having a contraction. All of my labors start this way. One minute I am not in labor, the next I am. I know it is time within 2 or 3 contractions. Kind of like in the movies, which is funny, cause that is so not normally how it happens. The contractions were fairly hard and 5 minutes apart, so I jumped in the shower and called my friends and family to let them know it was time. My last labor was 18 hours long, so I wasn't sure if I should go to the hospital right away or not. Well, once I got out of the shower, I knew I needed to get my butt there asap! I had planned on putting on makeup and fixing my hair LOLOLOL That didn't happen! I was barely able to finish throwing stuff in my suitcase. Chad, I and the 3 oldest girls headed to the hospital with me having hard contractions every 2 or 3 minutes. I couldn't walk up to labor and delivery, Chad had to find me a wheelchair. Once I got there, the nurses were going along as usual because apparently I was handling the contractions so well that they didn't realize how far along I was. When the nurse checked me, I was completely dilated. The look on her face was priceless, because they hadn't even called my dr. yet. Thankfully, he lives very close to the hospital. I, of course, was kinda freaking out, because I knew that urge to push was coming and I wouldn't be able to stop it. The nurse said she fully expected to deliver the baby. Well, my first urge came just as my dr. was running in the door LOL He broke my water to check for meconium, and sure enough there was quite a bit. So, they wanted her out fast. I pushed once for her head and then had to wait while they suctioned her, and one more time for her body. The relief you feel once the baby is out is indescribable! To go from so much pain to nothing, it always takes me a minute to catch my breath. The only negative aspect to the birth was that they had to cut her cord and take her to the warmer immediately to suction her thoroughly. Apparently, she had pooped quite a bit. I am used to having my babies handed to me right away. It was a good 10 minutes before I could even see her. She was SO alert right at birth. She would quietly look around at everyone, like she was putting the faces with voices she was used to hearing. She weighed 8 lbs. 15 oz., which isn't bad considering how late she was. We were expecting her to be 9 1/2 to 10 lbs. I was excited that she fit in the newborn diapers LOL Oh, and her middle name is after my mother : )

She is beautiful and perfect and so laid back! The kids can be making a huge ruckus and she doesn't even flinch. Which is a good thing, it can get quite loud at my house lol I am so thankful I was able to have another baby, she is such a blessing to me, her father and the rest of her siblings. I have so much help with the older children, even the older boys fight over who gets to hold her. My best friend Jessica took pictures at the birth and afterwards. Didn't get too many labor photos, since it only lasted a little over 2 hours LOL My fastest birth yet, her sister, Isabella, was born in 3 hours.

Here she is right after birth, look at how alert she is!

happy family : D She is always sticking her tongue out lol She was sticking her tongue out as she was being born, we have a picture of it, but I will spare y'all LOL

After birth with her Aunt Gloria, I love this picture!

This was after her first bath when she was about half a day old. The look on her face is hilarious! I made the little gown with some adorable knit fabric I found at Joanns. I also knit the hat, which is obviously too small LOL

Here is Jessica, who took all the beautiful pictures, holding her. I have tons more to share, the ones of all the children holding her for the first time are so special.