Libby Allison Schulze

We are so happy to announce that Libby Allison Schulze is here!

She arrived May 27, 2012 at 8:46pm weighing in at 6 lb. 14 oz. and 19 inches long.

She is the sweetest, most beautiful baby we have ever seen!

We had no idea that Libby would be making her grand entrance 2 1/2 weeks early! However, I had started to get the feeling that something was going on the Thursday before she was born. I had started leaking fluid (sorry if that's TMI) Thursday night but got checked twice over the weekend and was assured that I was not dilated and my water had not broken. So Saturday night we went to bed and at about 2:15am I woke up to contractions that were definitely not Braxton Hicks! I started timing them by keeping a log on my phone and realized they were about 10-11 minutes apart...so nothing to do anything about at that point. I tried to keep sleeping and wasn't even convinced that they would continue progressing. At about 4:30am the contractions had gotten stronger and were down to about 8 minutes apart so I woke John Paul up and told him I thought it might be the real deal. I kept timing the contractions and as they continued to get closer together we started to make initial phone calls to family that was out of town. My mom, Ken and the kids were at the lake for Peter's birthday party, my dad and YiaYia & Papou live in Shreveport, and John Paul's family lives in Corpus. By 10am my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart so we headed for the hospital! It was so surreal leaving our house knowing that when we came back we'd have a baby!

We arrived at Presbyterian and checked in at the L&D admitting area but they were really busy and didn't have a room right away. So John Paul and I waited patiently for a nurse to come and get us but pretty soon my contractions were only about 3 minutes apart and I was getting a little anxious. Thankfully a few minutes later a nurse came to get us and as soon as I stood up my water broke! She informed me that I had gotten myself a first class ticket straight to an L&D room. So they took me back and started an IV with fluid and checked my cervix. At this point it was about 11:30am and I was only dilated to 1cm. I was thinking we were in for a very long day/night! At this point family was starting to arrive and my contractions were getting even stronger since my water had broken so they went head and gave me my epidural...hooray! All I can say is it was amazing and it wasn't nearly as scary or painful as I had imagined. However, at that point my contractions started to slow down so they started me on Pitocin. Within 2 hours I was dilated to 5cm and was at 7cm by about 5pm. My doctor, Dr. Fogwell, was not on call that weekend and since it was a holiday weekend I was not expecting him to make it to deliver Libby. But being the awesome doctor that he is he came in anyway and showed up just in time! He arrived at about 7:30pm and I was so excited! He checked me and I was at 10+ cm so he said it was time to push! I was definitely a little nervous at this point but so ready to meet our baby girl! John Paul prayed for us and then it was go time! My nurse, Tammy, was awesome and was so calm and encouraging. She and John Paul each held one of my legs and I could not have done it without them. One of my favorite things about the whole experience was watching the excitement and joy on John Paul's face the whole time. He was so in awe and so happy. I pushed for about 45 minutes and then our little Libby girl was born at 8:46pm!! I immediately burst into tears and then went into a few minutes of complete shock and amazement. When they placed her on my chest it was the most unbelievable feeling I've ever had. She was perfect! We are so thankful that God has given us such an amazing gift and we love her so much! Here are some more pictures to document the day...

It's go time!

Our family!

Love

proud Daddy

Libby meeting Papou Bobby!

Libby with her grandmother!

Libby's YiaYia, Uncle Chris, & Aunt Nicki...minus Uncle Peter and Ken who were at the lake for Peter's bday party!

3 generations!

4 generations! Libby and her namesake

Great-grandparents! YiaYia Tina & Papou Sammy all the way from Shreveport! (and still in their church clothes!)

Aunt Holly

Uncle Chris

Libby's super fun cousins! Allie, Peter, Michael, Max & Joey

The Carbys (including Libby's future BFF, baby C)

The Spencers (future couple? Becton + Libby?)

kisses

Our amazing nurse, Tammy! 

Mommy & her girl

Babi & Papa all the way from Corpus! 

Schulze clan

It was the best day and Libby is one very loved little girl! We have the most awesome family and friends. So much has happened since the day she was born and I will document more as soon as I can! Since so many people were out of town for Memorial Day when Libby was actually born she continued to have lots of visitors in the next few days so check back soon for more pics!