She's arrived!

Please join me in welcoming my niece Korinne Dawn Sparks! She was born via c-section on Friday August 7th at 4:30pm. She weighed 7lbs, 10oz and measured 19 inches long. We are so excited she's here!!

Tandy's labor was quite long. She started having contractions early in the morning on Thursday. She went in for a regularly scheduled appointment Thursday morning around 10am, and when they checked her they said that while she was definitely in the early stages of labor, she was only dilated to 1cm. They advised her to go home and walk a lot. Which she did! But it didn't speed up labor much. Finally, Friday morning her contractions were close enough together where they decided to admit her to the hospital. My mom, Alicia and I arrived around 9am. (HUGE thanks to my beloved husband who stayed home with the kids so I could be there to welcome my niece to the world!) We waited...and waited...and waited. Around 11am they said that the baby was showing signs of distress and they might have to do a c-section. But the baby's heart rate recovered shortly after that. So: more waiting!

Finally, Tandy was at 10cm - the pushing stage. They got everything ready, and she started pushing. Only to find out the baby's heart rate would plummet with every push. After two contractions worth, they decided a c-section was needed after all. Here's a photo of my mom talking to Tandy just before she was whisked off to the operating room. Mom was so excited! I love the look on her face. "Tandy! You're going to have a baby!"
About an hour or so later we were able to go into the recovery room to see Tandy and Korinne. Everything had gone well. Tandy, considering she'd just had major abdominal surgery, looked good. And Korinne! What a beautiful baby! Tandy was exhausted, but obviously very happy.

Look at that adorable squishy little face!

Here's a picture of me - the proud auntie!The Sparks Family!