Babybabybabybabybaby!!

I had the supreme delight of meeting Miss Avery Noelle on Saturday! Of course, this happy meeting happened only after the complete hysterical chaos that is my life reared its wild and silly head. Behold, the pre-baby-meeting gauntlet of doom:

• Debating all day whether or not to just show up at the hospital because Dad wasn't able to call me back (no cell phones allowed). What if they were expecting me? What if they just wanted to be left alone? Ack!
• Hearing from a mutual fun who called me, exclaiming, "why haven't you gone yet?!"
• Getting ready in a flash to get my butt over there asap.
• Proudly grabbing the directions to the hospital that I'd had the foresight to print out the night before.
• Excitedly running out the door, directions in hand.
• Slamming the door behind me...and quickly realizing that my keys were safely locked INSIDE THE HOUSE.
• Calling Mr. Zigkvetch to see if he, by chance, was on his way home from his far-away gig. No answer = still in the middle of gig.
• Calling a friend to see if she would come with me (she knows the dad too) and drive, if I took her out to dinner afterward. She answered the phone and told me she'd already been drinking. For awhile. Quite awhile. (hic)
• Going next door and asking my neighbors for help.
• Waking said neighbors from a nice, perfect Saturday afternoon nap.
• Watching the neighbors on both sides of our house come together to figure out what to do.
• Watching one of them un-jam a long jammed, unlocked, downstairs bathroom window.
• Watching the great kid/boy scout next door as he shimmied, head-first through the bathroom window (and if not for the steady hands on his ankles, probably into the toilet) and then unlocked the back door. (Any ideas for a couple of nice gifts for both sets of adult neighbors and one 13 year old will be greatly appreciated)
• Realizing that I was slowly being eaten alive by mosquitoes. (I must be immune to West Nile at this point.)
• Meeting my neighbors at my front door as they all yelled to make sure I had my keys in my hand this time, before I slammed the door.
• Driving along on my way to the hospital (now an hour before closing) in pouring rain.
• Realizing my car is sputtering because there's almost no gas left. (Good thing I stopped- I never would've made it. Besides, it gave me a moment to appreciate the rainbow that came out.)
• Getting totally lost in Providence's hospital central. There are like 4 hospitals in 10 square blocks.
• Parking at the wrong hospital.
• Going in to the wrong hospital.
• Calling information from inside the wrong hospital, and being spoken to slowly and kindly by the information phone person, like she was dealing with someone with limited capacity for comprehension. (Shut up.)
• Walking a million miles (ok, a few blocks, but I was in sandals!) to the correct hospital.
• Getting lost inside the correct hospital. (Shut up.)
• Knocking on the hospital room door about 15 minutes before visiting hours were over. (Thankfully, my sweet friends and the kind nurse on duty let me stay a little later.)

And it was all worth it.

I walked into the room and saw the most perfect little pink thing, all swaddled up. She's beautiful. A perfect, tiny, pink, peanut of a little girl. I almost couldn't believe she was real, that's how perfect she looked. Delivery was quick, and Avery came into the world totally un-squished-looking!

Mom looked beautiful. Dad looked a little harried, but so happy. After washing my hands, Dad handed Avery over, and I would've happily held her all night.