The Best Christmas Gift...Ever.

What else can I say except - she's here!

Em endured more and more frequent contractions over early morning the 24th while I slept peacefully. She kindly awakened me at 6:45 to tell me her contractions were 5 minutes apart and we needed to go to the hospital. It was a very calm operation without screaming, running or madness.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was betting on early labor and Em thought she was about 5 cm dilated. The OB nurse proved me to be a complete moron when she said Em was already 6-7 cm and would have the baby by 3 PM. She got her epidural from my friend and partner, Joe. This helped her pain and she was pushing by 12:30. Garyetta was born at 1:57 PM on 12/24/07. She became Madeline Ruth this morning when we finally had some time to ourselves to think about it. She didn't seem to mind too much that we still called her Garyetta for a few hours. She thought it was a small price to pay in order to see both sets of grandparents and most of her aunts and uncles over the webcam on Chistmas Eve. Her Hawaiian aunts and uncles were also nice enough to change their plans for the evening to see the three of us and bring us much needed pupus.

Here's what you want - Pictures! (original and unedited, I'll do some cheesy Anne Geddes stuff later)

Lookin' good at 7 cm (without an epidural!).

Definitely looks like an alien.

Worn out from her big day.

My two favorite ladies in the whole world!