Sarah Elizabeth Shoptaw

OK, here's the baseball card info, as it were:

Name: Sarah Elizabeth Shoptaw
DOB: May 23, 2007
Length: 21 inches
Weight: 8 lbs, 6 oz
Time of birth: 8:20 AM

Here's the story in pictures:

This is Meron before we headed to the hospital about 5:45 this morning. We got little sleep last night, for various reasons. We had dinner at Dixie Cafe, then dropped her mom and Benjamin out at my parents' for the evening. Packed bags, did last minute things, etc. Meron wound up getting up about 4 this morning and not being able to go back to sleep, so we didn't really have any trouble getting around, as evidenced by the fact that I had time to sneak in a short blog entry.

We got to the hospital about 6, did all the prep stuff (monitors, etc.) and Meron was taken back probably about 10 til 8 for the spinal block. They took me back there closer to 10 after and Sarah was born with minimal fuss and bother at 8:20. Well, minimal for us. Apparently the girl already has a set of lungs on her, and she was definitely going to be trying them out!

I took Sarah over to the nursery while they sewed Meron back up. My parents and Meron's mom (along with big brother, of course) came about 8:30 and were able to look at her through the windows. They stayed for about a half an hour before coming back to my house to take care of the dog. Meanwhile, I took Sarah back to the recovery room, where Meron got to hold her, try to breastfeed, etc. We were back there until around 10, when they took us to her room.

Sarah went back to the nursery, where she got a bath, had her hearing test (which I'm assuming she passed, since they didn't tell us any different), got lotioned up and dressed. After that, she was brought into the room to be fawned over by the family (including my brother) who had come back up around 10:45. (My dad had to leave before Sarah got back from the nursery, but I'm sure he'll be back up later.)

Benjamin seems to be fairly intrigued by Sarah, but I'm not sure he knows the whole ramifications yet. He had picked out this elephant before she came to give to her, so we took it to the hospital and he gave it to her. Well, more like dropped it on her while she was on Grandma Millie's lap, but hey, close enough. Sarah also had some Thomas stuff for him, so he was very excited about that. We couldn't get them very close for a great picture, but since Meron should be able to sit up more when we go back up there, we might be able to try for that this evening. Until then, here's one of the only family shots we have:

Y'all that are playing the Baby YNOT will notice the spreadsheet is updated, but no scores have changed, though Beth was darn close with her time of 8:23 this morning. Should have put a range on that one, I guess. We've already had some visitors today, and if you are in the area and want to visit, you might be able to come by this afternoon, but I think Meron will feel more human tomorrow. She's in room 321 at St. Mary's. To go along with that, her phone number in the hospital is (479) 964-9322 extension 2181, but again, tomorrow may be a better day to call, especially since it could be hard for her to get to the phone!

We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers. Meron said she knew people were praying for her because she was much calmer last night than she usually is before big events. So thanks for that and to our visitors as well. It means a lot!