Panda's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe my baby is THREE! The time flies way too fast! 

Labor story: (condensed version) If you don't like labor stories - skip the next two paragraphs!

I went into labor with Panda in the morning which was a new experience for me. With the other two I labored through the night. I called the OB office, got evaluated and then walked to the Maternal Child Unit of our hospital. Everything was going very well. The contractions were a piece of cake. My other ones were back labors and were not kind at all.

Whoops, spoke too soon... we kicked into back labor again. And of course this was after our anesthesia personnel went into a surgery case. Brian was so funny. He kept offering to go hunt them down. I had to tell him to just be patient and I was the one in pain! My friend Rhonda showed up just at the right time - transition. She coached me through a very short transition and the next thing I knew I was pushing (well, my body was - I wasn't!). I was still asking for the epidural when the dr. arrived and he told me he had a better solution for my pain - delivery. 

At 3:57 p.m. Panda was born! She weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces. She was my biggest baby (the other two were 7 lb, 1 oz and 7 lb, 5 oz). She was born on her due date, by the way.

She is so fun! She likes to be independent. She loves the color green. She has a very cute giggle. Here she is getting ready for her birthday party. (one of three birthday parties since we couldn't get everyone together at the same time) She had to practice putting those three fingers up!