Welcome Penelope!

It is with tons of excitedment that I can introduce Miss Penelope Doroth.y Marquez!  Penny for short. She was born Friday March 23rd at 5:12 AM. 
On Thursday I had a Dr. appt. where I was 2-3 cm, but still a really long cervix.  This was 1 day past my due date.  The Dr. stripped my membraines and scheduled an appointment for Friday afternoon to do the same thing again.  Then the Dr. asked if I was interested in being induced on Sunday because she was on call that day.  I was a little conflicted because I hated to be induced if the baby wasn't ready, but I was sure ready.  So Thursday afternoon I was playing with Macie and she and I were bouncing around the living room.  I laid down on the couch and when I sat up I felt a slight 'gush'.  So I had to ask myself, was that my water breaking?  Was that my bladder leaking?  I spent the next 30 minutes looking up how to tell if the water is broken.  All signs pointed to yes.  So I called the Dr. office and the nurse said not to wait, to go straight to Labor and Delivery.  I called Dh who was finishing up lesson plans at work, and my mom who was going to watch Macie.  I finished packing my bag, but since I wasn't in actual labor, I didn't know if I was going to be coming home, if maybe I was just being paranoid and my water hadn't broken....there were lots of questions. 
Dh and I grabbed a quick bit on the way to the hospital and when we got there they had me disrobe, etc. but it took about 2 hours before they actually checked if my water had broken.  It HAD!  So we were informed we wouldn't be leaving without a baby in our arms.  That was a nice comfort. 
The dr. waited about an hour to see if my contractions would pick up on their own (I had been having mild contractions for about 3 weeks, and there was no change).  So about 9:15pm they gave my pitocin.  It worked and I started having regular contractions.  They decided to do internal monitoring for both contractions and fetal heartbeat, mostly because those external monitors just mean you can't change positions at all.  Before midnight I was really uncomfortable with the contractions, but I didn't want to get an epidural prematurely.  They checked me and I was at 4cm, the nurse said I could have an epidural if I desired.  I actually battled a little bit, because I felt like the pain was manageable.  The nurse assured me that there is no solid evidence that an epidural will slow down labor* (discussion in another post to follow).  I got the epidural...and it felt WONDERFUL!  Seriously.  Yes, I could have tolerated labor.  But WHY?  I had virtually NO pain after that, even through delivery.  And I had an epidural with my first delivery, so I don't know how I could have forgotten how good it feels to be pain free while your body is dialiting.  It was wonderful. 
The nurses pretty much left us alone from midnight until 4:30AM when they checked me again and I was at an 8.  She fixed the monitor and I was instantly at 9.  So she started getting the room ready and the baby nurses were getting ready.  By 5 the nurse had me do a push to see how it would go.  Immediately she asked me to stop and called for the Dr. to come for delivery because she said the baby almost came out with the one push.
The Dr. came in a few minutes and they got ready.  The epidural was really strong, and I couldn't even feel when to push (not like the first time where I felt the need to push very badly).  But they told me to push, and in that one push the head was out.  She had me stop to get the shoulders out, and at 5:12AM we had the baby! 
Penelope started crying after a minute or two, but even I could tell she was having a little trouble breathing.  She was a little pale, but she did start whimpering so i knew she could breath.  The nurses had to put a few things on her to get all the mucous out of her lungs.  She had 'Wet Lungs', which is common, but makes breathing a little difficult at first.  The thing is, I wasn't even upset, because I've watched enough ba.by story to know that since she wasn't being taken to the NICU all was going to be okay, and it was. About an hour after she was born the nurses said, oh good, her color looks better, and they admitted they'd been a little worried.  I told them I knew they were but I wasn't, and all was well.  Over the next 24 hours Penny did cough up some extra fluid, but that seemed to have stopped by the next day. 
Did I mention she was 6lbs 10oz?  21 inches long.  That's the same length as her sister but almost a pound less. That may have helped with the pushing.  I have to say, that having this second baby was SO much easier.  I think a big part of it was that I only tore to a level 1 instead of 2.  I was up and around within a few hours, although my sea legs were a little shakey at first.  My bleeding hasn't been too bad, and I started on the stool sof.teners while at the hospital, so even BM's haven't been bad. 

I honestly feel great compared to last time.  So good that she was born Friday in the AM and we left the hospital Sat before noon.  We just wanted to be home and ready to start our life as a family of four.     
Big sister Macie is so far adjusting well.  Penny seems to have her days and nights mixed up, so of course we're sleep deprived, but she's well worth it.  Breast Feeding feels much more successful this time.  Tomorrow afternoon we have a well baby/mother exam with the hospital so we'll be able to weigh her and see how she's eating.  She's been nursing quite a bit, and my breasts feel engorged so I'm thinking my milk is coming in this time.
There is a ton more to say, but I didn't want another day to pass without sharing our news.  Thank you for praying and I can't wait to catch up on your lives as well.  Welcome Penny!