Our beautiful baby, Josephine Victoria arrived on May 7 at 8:41 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 17.5 inches long. On Sunday starting around 4:00 pm I started to get contractions about 11 minutes apart. I could still function as far as walking and talking. Then during the night they got between 4 and 6 minutes apart and they were stronger, but I could still move. At 2:00 AM, I woke up Todd and we went to the hospital. He jumped out of bed and said he was ready to have the baby. It was a good day. At the hospital, my cervix did not change in dilation even though my contractions were strong (little did I know at the time) and were now 4 minutes apart. We were sent home at 5:00 AM. In about an hour and a half at home, I was literally on the floor in pain. We got back to the hospital and this time they let me stay. Todd and I had birth plan to deliver without pain medicine, without episiotomy, etc, blah blah. All that natural stuff went out the window. I got an epidural and man did I need it. I was only 3 cm and was in such terrible pain. The anesthesiologist was great. She put in the epidural and did not hurt me at all. However, our first nurse (Todd thought she was a stoner) brought in the wrong shot to give me since my blood pressure dropped too low (which is a side effect of an epidural). Thank goodness the anesthesiologist was on top of things and saw the mistake before they injected me. I was still able to walk and feel when I had to get up and "go" which was so much nicer than having to be confined to bed. I starting the pushing at 7:00 pm (delivering her at 8:41 pm). We talked to our doctor about our birth plan which did include Todd catching the baby and cutting the cord. Even though, I was having a really hard time, our doctor still allowed Todd to deliver our daughter. The doctor had to give me an episiotomy and use the vacuum extractor to get her out. I was at the time, yelling "Get her out." Todd held my episiotomy together, helped bring out her head, suctioned her nose and mouth and then with the doctor, helped guide the rest of her out. It was the hardest, but most amazing time in our lives. Todd was incredibly supportive. Josephine was beautiful and healthy and I survived. Josephine was placed on my chest and she was able to nurse right away. I am glad she knew what to do since I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. Unfortunately even after a half hour giving me lots of pitocin and the nurse and Todd pushing on my uterus (yes this hurt like crazy), my placenta would not detach. So I got two other shots you know where with two needles that looked like they were a foot long. The doctor then was able to get my placenta out. I then had the next day of the nurse coming back every few hours to push on my uterus again to make sure nothing was left behind. This hurt like heck too, but they gave me some good pain medicine. We stayed in the hospital in our room with our new baby girl until 11:00 on Wednesday. The time we spent in the hospital was fantastic. All of our needs were taken care of and we had no concerns other then my healing and taking care of our baby. Todd changed all of the diapers. He would walk her and try to sooth her so I could get a shower, eat a meal or go to the bathroom. She was only getting the colostrum initially which is not a large volume so she wanted to eat all the time.

     We named Josephine Victoria the next morning. She is named after her grandfathers, Joseph and Victor. It is funny that neither grandfather picked up on that when we told them her name initially. For some reason, I kept thinking that she would be born with dark hair even though Todd and I were both born blondes. I said to Todd that I thought if she had dark hair, we would name her Josephine and if she had blonde hair, we would name her Liliana which is an Italian name, not Hawaiian. I am glad she had the dark hair. I think her name suits her well and I am glad that we could honor two incredibly important people in our lives by naming our daughter after them.

     I would recommend Kona hospital to anyone having a baby in West Hawaii. So many people have said that they went all the way to Waimea to have their baby. Our doctor, anesthesiologist and the nurses were great. Also anyone that has the option to have your baby room-in with you and your husband, take it. I couldn't imagine my baby being taken away to the nursery. Everyone has told us that the delivery is the easy part of being parents. I know our adventure is just beginning.

     My first Mother's Day was wonderful. Todd made Josephine and I leis from flowers on our farm. He gave me a beautiful card from him that made me cry and a sweet card from Josephine. Todd's dad gave me a lei as well. We then went out to Senor Billy's for a lunch. Josephine slept the drive there. She slept through the lunch and the drive home. It was nice to put on some non-maternity clothes and go out somewhere.

     Then on May 18, Josephine went to her first cook out at Two Step (our local beach hang out). It was Charlie's birthday and she did great. We stayed until it was dark and she got her first diaper change in the back of the Jeep. Also on that day, the long part of her belly button fell off. I couldn't find it. Then the next day, Josephine went to the park side of the Place of Refuge for another cook out. This time we were celebrating Jodi's birthday. On that Monday, the rest of her belly button came off. We couldn't find that either. There must be some gecko stock piling our baby's belly button pieces...

     Josephine passed her first check up with an A+. She had already regained her birth weight and was doing great. Our doctor said she loves to see babies that do not need to come back until their two month check up. We also went back to the lactation specialist at the hospital and she said we were doing great. No matter what people say, breast feeding does hurt. It did take the week everyone told me about to get used to it. I think because she was eating so frequently, I didn't get any down time to heal. I wouldn't trade it though. I love holding her next to me and looking at her sweet little face.

     On May 23, we gave her a bath. She was very cooperative and seemed to like it. Todd held her and I helped to wash her. We didn't use any soap since we didn't want to dry out her skin any more. She was pealing all over and the doctor said that we should just let it go. You don't want to put on lotion because the skin needs to come off. So our cute baby was also crusty. She had little old man hands and feet. The day after the bath was terrible. Josephine was fussy and didn't poop all day. In the evening, I was burping her and Todd was sitting across from me. She looked at me with wide eyes and it didn't look like she was breathing. I slapped her on her back and she started to throw up. Luckily Todd was thinking and he titled her forward and grabbed a blanket. I couldn't believe how much her little tummy could hold. She then filled up 4 diapers with poop and was much better. Gosh that was such a scare. I was so freaked out. Thank god for Todd and his mom. They have been a total blessing to me. I would have not been able to handle these first weeks without all of their help and encouragement. I called our pediatrician the next day and explained about her fussiness and her throwing up. It was probably gas that was causing the problems. So we got gas drops and started to take more care with burping her. Todd is the expert burper. He can just pick her up and she burps.

     On May 25, Todd's friend Dave arrived. He was a wrestler on Todd's team back in Pennsylvania. He just graduated from Penn State and he is going to help us on the farm for about a month before he has to get a job. I started back to work part time the week after I gave birth. Unfortunately, I need to work in order to keep up my insurance. Also if I don't work, I don't get paid. There is no maternity leave. Luckily, Todd's mom is fantastic with the baby. She takes her and keeps her occupied so I can get in a couple hours of work each day. On May 29, Jodi went back to NJ for a visit. She will be back in July and will live with us for a few months. How lucky am I? I get a best friend and a nanny!

     Happy Birthday first to our baby, Josephine! Happy Birthday to Jodi, Todd's brother, Scott, Charlie and our nephews, Tyler and Casey who are the big 8 years old!