Well, like all my kids, Eliza just could not wait to come meet us. Only she was a bit more stubborn than the other two. She made her appearance just one day before her scheduled date. Of course it would turn out that way, now that c-sections are not allowed to be scheduled until 39 weeks. Since my doctor was out of town my section was scheduled on Thursday the 16th of September. She came Wednesday the 15th. That is the longest I have ever been pregnant: 39 weeks and 3 days. I was not happy. I always go early, so the last month of my pregnancy I was waiting because it could be any day now.
I woke up Wednesday morning at 4:30 with contractions and they hurt! I tried switching positions, walking around and taking a shower but nothing eased them. I started timing them and they ranged from 3-5 minutes apart. Which is not a big deal, but when you are a repeat c-section you don't want to labor. I waited until my husbands alarm clock went off around 7 and practically pounced on him. By this time I had my bag packed, written out directions for my mom and was ready to go. Of course he thought I was fine. He didn't want to fight with traffic to get to the hospital so he took his time getting ready. Seriously, he took the time to shave and trim his hair, clip his nails and shower. By this time it is after 8. I finally wake up the kids and get everyone out the door and he decided to stop and get donuts for the kids on the way to his sisters house!
We finally got to the hospital around 9. I had called my doctor at 7, so when we arrived they were waiting on us. Unfortunately by that time they had gotten two more walk-ins ahead of me. That meant that they had to do two c-sections before getting to me and then it was only if they could fit me in before the scheduled ones. The nurse thought I would get in around 11:30 so around 11 Tony decided he better get something to eat before the fun started. One thing he didn't do when he left was take his phone. So guess what? The nurse came in a little after 11 and said that we needed to go now or I would not get in until later that night and where was my husband? We ended up paging him and just heading to the OR.
I was so stressed out that he would not make it in time. I had the worst experience with the spinal. With the other two my nurse was right in my face, holding me and reassuring me that everything was OK. With this one the nurse basically had her back turned to me with one hand on my knee. I was already freaked out because of Tony being MIA and then I kept thinking about what was going on so I ended up jumping and getting "yelled" at. Ooops, not good. Finally, got the spinal in and was all numbed up and still no Tony. Just as the doctor was about to make the first cut, my nurse asked if anyone had seen my husband and if somebody could go looking for him. Just as she said that he walked in. I had such a mixture of relief and wanting to kill him!
One thing I loved about this hospital was that after Eliza was born, they did a quick rub down, wrapped her up and then gave her to Tony so he held her the rest of the time. Then when I went to recovery she got to go with me. I was so excited to have my baby with me and be able to breastfeed right away. After about an hour they sent her to the nursery to get cleaned up and weighed and measured. She ended up weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces and being 21 inches long.
Since our parents only live two hours away they were able to make it to the hospital before I went into surgery. They were able to follow Eliza up to the nursery and then stand at the glass and watch her for the next two hours as she was being taken care of. They loved it. My Mom brought Hannah and Alex up a little later and they were smitten
We were all smitten. Welcome to the family Eliza May!
We started her out at 6 months with hard foods that she couldn't really bite, but just gnaw on. She loved it! I was a little freaked out about her choking, but the book explains how that really is not a problem because a babies gag reflex is so far up on their tongues that it prevents them from getting large pieces of food in the back of their mouth. 
After a while we started giving her steamed and softer foods to eat. It has been really amazing watching her learn to bite and chew at a much earlier age. By 9 months old she was eating just about everything we ate (minus common allergy triggers). An advantage to her eating the same food as us is that it is a good incentive to eat healthy! I am cooking healthier foods and healthier sides because I do not want my baby eating junk! 
