The Birmingham-Luther Family Blog

Vivian and Margot

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Eli the Builder at the school Halloween party

Photos from Margot’s first day are finally posted on flickr. Click on the photo above to see more.

This is the story of Margot’s first day.

It was Monday, July 5th. Margot was due on June 29th, and Deirdre was scheduled for induction on Friday. Around 10pm Monday night, Deirdre started having contractions about 15 minutes apart. She didn’t tell me until she woke me up at 4am to tell me that she was going to go downstairs to watch TV. I went back to sleep (at her direction) for a little while.

Her contractions started getting stronger around 6am and were only 8 minutes apart. We called Nana around 6:40 to let her know. She and Pop were going to take care of Eli while we were at the hospital.

I woke up and got dressed. Deirdre first made me change shirts and later made me change out of tennis shoes into flip flops.

Eli woke up and I went in to get him. He greeted me with his usual “See Mommy.” I took him to our bedroom to see Mommy, and he said “Come, Mommy. Downstairs.” He then requested French toast (which I made), and then we all played trains and cars. Deirdre was trying to stay comfortable on the couch in the front room, but Eli insisted that she “sit floor” to play cars.

Leela was planning to come at 9 to spend the day with Eli, but I called her at 8 to ask her to come earlier. Deirdre didn’t want to call her too early. Leela arrived at 8:30 and we left for the hospital soon after.

We got to Morristown Hospital at 9 and into the delivery room at 9:15am. Deirdre was having strong contractions and was already 8cm dilated. She was worried that it would be too late for an epidural, but she was assured that it wasn’t too late. The nurses asked whether we had waited so long at home so that we wouldn’t have to get one.

Arlene was our nurse, and she was fantastic (and a Steelers fan).

Deirdre got a fantastic epidural. She didn’t feel any pain, but she still had some feeling. It is one of the many things about the birth experience that was vastly superior to our experience in the city for Eli.

Without the epidural, Margot probably would have come in another hour or two, but the epidural slowed things down. The doctor broke Deirdre’s water.

Nana and Pop arrived to see Deirdre just before 1 and then went into the waiting room. Around 1, Deirdre pushed through one contraction. Breath. Push. Push. Second contraction a few minutes later. Breath. Push. Head! Push. Baby at 1:07pm.

Surprise! Baby girl. Deirdre was sure it was going to be a boy.

I cut the cord. It was just as weird for me as it was with Eli.

Deirdre and Margot started bonding immediately. Margot latched on quickly.

I went out to share the news with Nana and Pop. Pop had predicted that it would be a girl.

I went back to the room. Deirdre went to recovery and I went with Margot to the nursery. She weighed in at 8 ln, 2 oz, and measured 20in long. Her head circumference was 13 1/2 inches. She got a bath. The whole process was taking a long time, and Deirdre had to be reassured that everything was going fine.

We finally got back to the recovery room, and Margot got to meet Aunt Eileen.

Nana and Pop left to pick up Eli and take him to stay with them in West Nyack.

Margot and Mommy had a good first night together with lots of quality nursing.

I should mention at this point that Margot still didn’t actually have a name. We were trying to decide between Margot and Caroline (my favorite going in), but we finally decided on Margot on Wednesday morning.

Later that day we talked with Eli on the phone. He told us that he read “cozy dozy” (“Seven Little Bunnies”), saw fish play “tag you’re it” at the library, and that he had a “new baby sister”. We missed him the whole time we were away.

Though I’m writing this 3 months later, I had written down notes late Wednesday night so I wouldn’t forget. The only other thing to mention is that the hospital was awesome, and the Au Bon Pain had delicious oatmeal cookies.

We can’t believe that it’s only been three months since Margot joined the family!

Margot is a pro at tummy time, has incredible head control, is super alert, and smiles all the time. She just started laughing a few days ago. All in all, she’s a gal who likes to have fun.