A quick synopsis of Penelope's birth...

We went in at 5:00am - got all checked in and waited for the nurses and residents to talk to my doctor. Because I wanted them to break my water before putting me on pitocin, my doctor decided to wait a few hours until he got off his rotation at another hospital, in the event that things went quickly - he wanted to make sure he would be able to make it to my hospital to deliver.

At about 8:30 am they broke my water and I immediately was at 7 cm and 90%. We waited a bit and my contractions got more intense on their own. At 10 o'clock we were joking with one of the residents telling him that my friend Makaya was only going to be in town until 11 am and wondered if he could speed things up a bit. He laughed at us and said that our chances didn't look good on that one. At 10:16, he checked me again and I was complete! My doctor came in, had me do a test push, and immediately stopped me and told me not to push anymore. Within seconds the whole room was filled with all the appropriate people to have a baby! I couldn't believe how fast it was all happening. At one point, the resident said it was going to be quick and I said "so I won't be pushing for 2 hours like I did with my first baby?" he replied with "um...no...maybe 2 minutes." Obviously, there was a lot going on, but I really didn't believe that it was going to be that fast. I literally pushed 2-3 times (for about 2 minutes total) and she was here! It was unbelievable, crazy, fast and much appreciated (by me!).

One of my favorite photos so far...our first moment together!