Suzi and I are proud to share the news of our most recent blessing; the birth of a baby girl, Sloane Elizabeth, on Wednesday February 28th at 8:08 p.m. She weighed in at a blooming 7 lb. 3 oz., and was 20 inches in length. Everyone is happy and healthy.

We were taken a bit by surprise since our due date was not until March 13th. However, Suzi started having light and intermittent contractions the evening I returned from Jeff and Elizabeth’s wedding in Ft. Walton Beach (talk about the nick of time!). Her contractions continued through Tuesday, sometimes consistent, sometimes not. We decided to visit the hospital for an opinion on how things were progressing. We were close, but they gave us the option of staying or heading back home. We went home to our two four-legged girls and made sure the bags were packed and ready to go. Suzi’s contractions continued to intensify Wednesday morning and by the afternoon, she was pretty sure we were going to have a February baby.

When we arrived around 3 p.m., Suzi was already 5-6 cm. dilated (10 cm. being fully dilated). What a trooper, she had already done quite a bit of work at home that morning. She requested and received an epidural around 4:30 p.m., started heavy labor around 7:50 p.m., and I was cutting the umbilical at 8:08. We were amazed at how quickly it all happened! Suzi did an incredible job and escaped with only a few internal stitches, since Sloane decided to come out waving.

The first 24 hours, we struggled to keep Sloane awake long enough to nurse. However, once hour 25 arrived, the fun began. After a few nights with minimal sleep, we are honing our techniques and quickly learning how this early parenthood thing works. Olivia and Skylar are also adjusting. Well, at least Olivia is. Skylar doesn’t seem to care much, or even notice, that she may have taken a hit on the totem poll. Olivia, though, is a bit concerned. She’s extremely attentive to every peep and attempts to calm Sloane herself with a big, wet nose in the face. You can imagine we’re keeping a close eye on that, but Olivia is thrilled with her new duty.

I am so proud of the job that Suzi is doing. I’m doing my best to keep pace and helping wherever I can, while finding moments to freak out about my Thesis work due in two weeks. HA!

Okay, now here’s the reason that we decided to put up a site like this. Some of you may like to see us kick it with family members around town on a college football Saturday, but we know what the real crowd pleaser is. Here’s the link to some pics from our first two days with Sloane in the hospital. We’ll get some more posted as the weeks progress (and she opens her eyes!). Can’t wait to do introductions in person with all of you.