The most beautiful way to begin the new year...

All I can say is "wow."  That's the closest I can come to describing the feeling I had when I witnessed our daughter being born into this world, but for those of you following our little web log who aren't direct family, there's just a bit to catch up on:

December 30, 2009 - Annie woke up at 2:30AM feeling slightly damp.  She thought that maybe she had just wet the bed.  Contractions started an hour or so later but did not progress.  In fact, they stopped when she would go to sleep.  Later in the day, after tracking the contractions for an hour, we called the doctor's office to see what they thought we should do.  We were advised to monitor from home for the day...oh yeah, and take some tylenol(what?)

December 31, 2009 - After my brother & sister-in-law had helped me complete the speaker wiring project in the new house, Chris & Jen went back to my parents' house, and Annie went shopping with her mom.  When she got back around 5:30PM, she had begun having contractions while she was walking around, and we decided to monitor them while getting ready to go to dinner with friends for New Years Eve.  But, instead of making the call @ 7:15 to Aubrey & Charlie saying that we were on our way, we had to tell them that our doctor had advised us to go to the hospital instead.  This is the beginnning of the best dream come true.

7:45 PM - We get to the hospital and are taken to our labor & delivery room.  It was confirmed that Annie's water had broken. 

9:00 PM - The doctor arrives and informs us that she will start Annie on pitocin, a labor inducing drug.  A short time later, Annie gets an epidural since her labor is now under the influence of the pitocin.

12AM - Happy New Year!  We watch the ball drop, and we wait....

1:00AM - Annie feels pressure in the base of her back-side.  We call the nurse, and she is 10cm!!  It's go time! 

Annie gave her all in the pushes.  Before I knew it, I could see a little bit of hair from our sweet girls's head!  And then, @ 1:59AM....

Our little Margaret Elizabeth was born! 

...& her Mom & Dad were happy to see her:

The parents were ecstatic too:

(Dad Lipp was on his way back from letting the dogs out.)

Since we delivered after midnight, we stayed from Friday through Sunday morning.  So, just to show a bit of the little Mag-pie after she was cleaned up, I have posted some pictures from the weekend.  Enjoy!  I know we are! :)