Sofia Etienne Arrives!

Sofia Etienne Taft Vazquez arrived April fools day at 5:50pm, weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz.  We all absolutely adore her - especially her big brothers!!

I thought she was coming Friday March 29th in the early morning as I was up with false labor from 3-6am....but she didn't appear.  Then I was hoping to coax her out on Easter Sunday as my mom was visiting...but that would be too convenient.  I guess she was determined to be an April baby.   On Monday April 1st I took Charlie and Cici to their spring break soccer camp and stayed there doing work.  I have very distinct mental snapshots from the day and one image is from my first contraction at 10:40am when I was helping Cici change from her cleats to her sneakers. I remember looking down at her feet with one cleat and one sneaker thinking that by the end of the day I'd probably have a baby.  After soccer I dropped Cici off, battled with Nationals fans for parking near our house on opening day and called my mom to come back down.


For the next few hours Carlos worked on tiling the bathroom while I cancelled a few meetings, wrote a few emails and posted soccer pics on the blog.  Around 3pm I decided that, although my contractions were still only 7-8 minutes apart, I was feeling significant pressure in my lower back and rush hour was fast approaching so I told Carlos to stop working.

By the time we got to the hospital around 4pm they said I was 9 cm dilated.  The doctor on duty was headed into a C-section so they told me "just don't push."  Great - thanks!  By 5:30 or so I told them that crossing my legs wasn't going to keep the baby in any longer and the doctor did magically appear.  She broke my water and then quickly suited up.  20 minutes later Sofia arrived and cried immediately.  I was so happy to see her - she seemed magical from the start.  It was so nice to stay in the hospital for a few days with just the baby and be in denial of the reality of 3 children!   I even asked for "late check-out" from the hospital!!  We were indeed late leaving as we couldn't decide on a name (again!!).  Charlie, Carlos and I convened in the hospital room and voted between two names.  In the end Charlie won and he even nicknamed her 'Sofie'.

The boys absolutely adore Sofia - to the point that I worry about them suffocating her.  Even though they like her a lot they are acting out like crazy too.  Charlie has been wetting the bed and crying a lot. Diego throws more temper tantrums.  I'm hoping this will pass...Luckily Sofie is a little angel to make up for the other two.

The transition to three has been made easier by all the amazing help from people.  We've had meals made, meals delivered, help with the kids, great hand-me-downs and gifts of new gear for her.  It's so amazingly generous and helpful because I barely prepared for her arrival!   

Carlos filled the house with flowers when I came home from the hospital

A gift from a colleague who works at Martha Stewart:)