Macy Alexandra LaPlante

I can't believe it's taken me over a week to get here to announce the arrival of Macy Alexandra LaPlante!

Most of you reading this already know anyway, but our beautiful little girl arrived at 12:08 a.m. on Monday, April 12. She was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. For being born at 41w3d, I thought she'd be a bit bigger! She has a head full of dark hair, which I hope doesn't fall out.

Here is a picture from shortly after her birth:


As some of you know, I had a c-section with Maddie due to breech presentation and low fluid levels, and I was quite bummed (to say the least) about being forced into that situation. I desperately wanted to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) this time around, and I spent a lot of time researching and preparing for it. My wish came true, and I gave birth to Macy -- without an epidural -- three hours after we arrived at the hospital.

Our first week has flown by. We celebrated Maddie's second birthday on Saturday, April 17. Matt is off work until next Monday, and I'm already dreading his return. It's been nice staying in bed until Macy and I are ready to get up; I'm not looking forward to having to get up when Maddie wakes up!

I would like to thank all of our family and friends who have dropped off gifts, made us meals or simply came to visit. It is much appreciated!

False labor

I NEVER thought I'd be pregnant for this long. But I am. And it's really not so cool at this point. I hurt, I'm tired, and I don't have patience to deal with much.

Thankfully Maddie isn't being quite so sassy lately, and my mom was on spring break last week. She came down for a "few days" and ended up staying from last Monday night through Sunday afternoon. The "plan" was that I'd have the baby during her week off so she wouldn't have to worry about taking off of work (not that it's a big deal) to watch Maddie while we're in the hospital. But of course that didn't work out. I really thought she'd get home last night and THEN I'd go into labor, so she'd have to turn right back around, but the prodromal labor I had again last night didn't turn into real labor.

Yes, false labor. I've been having it for several nights in a row now (and had been having Braxton Hicks contractions every night for about two weeks before that). The contractions are rather strong, but they peter out when I go to bed. I've thought about just staying awake, but I know that's not realistic; when they're real, they'll stick around no matter what I'm doing.

This belly shot was taken last Friday, at 40 weeks:


Because of the mood you can imagine I'm in most of the time, our Easter was just "eh." I'll spare you the details. Maddie sure looked cute, though, in the dress we bought her in Mexico.


This time I'm really praying that the next update from me will include a baby announcement.