Introducing: Zoe Mae

What a whirlwind the last 3 weeks have been. I am just barely coming out of the fog.  But I had to introduce you all to our little girl Zoe and tell the quick version of her birth story.

The first thing we know about Zoe is that she took her time entering this world (I was 5 days overdue).   Let me share the story...

Monday night I started having some consistent contractions. We took the whole family (mom included) to Costco after dinner and walked around a bit. They definitely didn't go away, so around midnight we went to Labor & Delivery.  After confirming the contractions, they sent us home. Nothing was happening.  About 4am Tuesday morning I started getting more intense contractions.  By 1pm when I had a doctor appointment, I was about 3cm and she told me to start making our way into Sacramento to the hospital.  First things first.  I just HAD to have a McDonald's soft-serve. Contractions or not...it sounded so good. And I knew I wouldn't be able to eat during labor. Anyway, we stopped to walk in a Walgreens across the street from the hospital and I was that crazy lady people were starting at.  Yep, walkin' around, doing my breathing and stopping every 8 minutes.

We made our way to the hospital and got admitted around 3pm.  Things were picking up speed and I was focusing on one contraction at a time. About 3 hours later, my water broke and I was ready to push! She was born on February 28 at 6:37pm weighing 7lbs, 7 oz and measuring 19 inches long.  Almost a leap year baby :) but now, she shares a birthday with her Uncle Joe!!

It was such an amazing experience!  And I gotta give mad props to my husband....I told him if church planting doesn't work out, he can always become a doula :) He was an amazing coach and helped me through a delivery without pain meds!

Oh! The name.  Some of you may know that we were given some serious information in her early stages in utero, that she wouldn't survive.  We believe God healed her completely! So Zoe, in Greek, means "life" which we know God has given her.  Mae is Dave's Grammie's middle name...keeping it in the family :)

We are all happy and enjoying our newest addition.