Welcome to the World Baby Girl!!

The official story... Tuesday morning I woke up, took Gabe to preschool and went to my water aerobics class, where I proceeded to jump and run the entire time, instead of just taking it easy like I had been. I came home, and while getting ready for my regularly scheduled dr. visit, my water broke. I did what any normal woman would: finished my hair and makeup, called my mom, and then swept the floor and cleaned the bathroom to prepare for not being around for a few days. I then called my husband and we made arrangements for Gabe. He asked me how I was going to get to the hospital since I told him to wait, get Gabe from school and take him to his mother's house and then come, and I realized I probably shouldn't drive myself, so I took a taxi.

I got to the dr.'s office (it's in the hospital) at 11:30, he discovered I was dialated to a 5 and sent me down to a room to get hooked up to a monitor. He stopped by about 12:30, just as Mario got there, and I reported that I was having contractions about every 3-4 minutes, but they weren't painful yet. He said it would be a few hours, relax, he was going to lunch and would be back.

Mario and I hung out, he snacked on the sandwich he brought with him, my contractions progressed in intensity but nothing too bad. About 1:30 I was in a lot of pain and my Dr. was still gone (remember Argentine lunches are looooong) and I told the dr. on staff I wanted an epidural. She reported it was too late, the baby was coming. After an episode of howling and screaming that would have thrilled "the baby story" producers, Lucia was born at 2:03 pm, approximately 7 minutes after my dr. arrived.
They reported at birth that Lucia weighed 3 kilos 50 grams, which would be about 6 pounds 11 ounces. But at her control appointment 3 days later, after checking her on different scales, she weighed 3 kilos 500 grams, 7 pounds 11 ounces, and the ped said this had happened to her a couple of times lately and she thinks the scale in the delivery room is wrong. (all my dr. offices are in the hospital). So who knows what she weighed at birth. She is 19.7 inches long.

Gabe ADORES her. When he came to the hospital to see us I handed the baby to my niece so I could pay attention to him, and he would have none of it. He wanted mama to hold the baby. Here he is showing me how big his hands are and how small hers are. He is fascinated that she moves, and squeals and tells me every time she moves. He gives her all his best toys, usually on top of her head, and wants to hold her, love her, touch her eyeballs, pull her out of her chair to play with him, etc. I love that he loves her so much, but it's a bit exhausting trying to protect her.
We've also had a bit of drama the first few days of Lucia's life. First, the doctor heard a "wooshing" sound in her heart and sent for a cardiologist. We learned that Lucia has a very small hole in her heart, but apparently this is very common and will probably close on it's own. For now we've just been told to monitor it in 2 months. She's also had billirubina, which I guess is just jaundice but it's made her pink instead of yellow. This also isn't too serious, but it has meant regular return visits to get her blood drawn and see the dr, which have been time consuming and exhausting.

But she is a tiny, sweet bit of pure heaven and I don't want to put her down, even to sleep. Gabe was a baby on Monday, and now seems like a giant compared to her, and I am already panicked at how fleeting my time is with my newborn baby.