Boise newborn photographer : Gwen's 1st day

I know it's taken me a while to get to any pictures of Gwen. Being a mom to 5 kids is draining. And Miss Gwen thinks she needs to be held 24 hours a day. Needless to say, I haven't spent a lot of time in the office and on the computer over the last couple of weeks. Not that I've wanted to though. I must say that laying on the couch with my tiny baby girl cuddled up on my chest has been heavenly. I've been trying to enjoy every single moment that I have with her. I know all too well how soon this precious time will be over.

But, I did manage to sneak into the office for a while tonight to finally go through some of Gwen's hospital pictures. It honestly seems like I had her yesterday when I look at these. The last couple weeks kinda seem like one big long day with a few naps scattered here and there.

So, I got to St. Al's at 5:30 am on January 23rd for my scheduled c-section with Dr. Janowiak and Dr. Caplinger. I got prepped and readied for my 4th c-section. I don't think I've ever been so nervous and excited. It doesn't matter how many of these surgeries I have, I'm still super nervous every time I have one. I knew that I had two of the best surgeons in the area working on me though so that did help a little. They wheeled me into the operating room a little before 8:00 am and gave me my spinal. Luckily I only had to have one spinal this time. Once I was good and numb, the surgery began. After feeling some pushing and pulling and A LOT of nausea, I heard the sweet sound of my baby's 1st gurgly cries. The rush of emotion is always so overwhelming. There is nothing in the world like it. They carried her over to the warmer to clean her off and I strained my neck trying to get a glimpse of her. I remember Ross saying she looked just like Stella but with lots of dark hair but I so badly wanted to see for myself. Dr. Caplinger peaked over the drape and told me she looked perfect. I could relax. My baby was here and all was well. I was still feeling really nauseous while I was being sewed up so the anesthesiologist gave me a little propofol in my IV and that seemed to do the trick. I didn't care what was goin on after that. No wonder Michael Jackson was addicted to propofol. It's good stuff.

I've got a few hundred pictures of Gwen on her very 1st day of life. Here are just a few of them:


































Ross took this one with his phone. I was so very very tired.


The kids were so excited to see Gwen for the 1st time. They were happy to know that Gwen too had the same birthmark on her head, stork bite on her forehead and was tongue tied just like the rest of them were.
















Oh my...that's a lot of people in our family!!!