RibarRecord: Introducing Juliette Grace Ribar

Here she is, Miss Juliette Grace Ribar. She was born August 2, 2012 at 4:40 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 13 oz, and she is 19 inches long. Her hair is brown (not red!) and her eyes are blue (for now). Mom and baby are doing well, and we are happy to finally be home.

Labor Day: Well, we finally had a baby born ahead of schedule (the due date was 8/11). Luckily, Dave worked at home on Thursday because Melanie had a dentist appointment. When Melanie woke up that morning, she felt this was the day. So the dentist appointment was cancelled, and we sent the kids to our friend Linda's house. We got to the hospital around 9:30 am, and Melanie's dilation quickly progressed to 80-90%. Then there were a couple hours of boredom as we waited and waited. There was only so much Olympic water polo we could take. Finally, it was time for delivery, which was fast. Push, push, baby.

Dave's Big Moment: Dave knew that he would be announcing the gender and cutting the umbilical cord. But near the end he half-jokingly asked to catch the baby as well, to which the mid-wife immediately said "sure, if you want". So he put on gloves and helped deliver the baby. We got pictures of this, but they are a little too up-close-and-personal for the blog.

Proud parents

Sam and Liz visiting their new little sister in the hospital

Linda: Melanie's parents were in California for a wedding, so we called on Linda to take care of Sam and Liz while we were in the hospital. Andrea also helped out by hosting a play date, and Mike (Linda's husband) put the kids to bed Saturday night. And we're told Andrea's husband Kris was on call for any emergencies. But Linda was the superstar. Entertaining 3 toddlers (while pregnant) for 2+ days is draining. Thank you Linda! We are fortunate to have such close friends that live close. We knew that Sam and Liz were in good hands, and we were able to put all our attention on little Juliette.

Andrea and Linda with the baby

It's a Girl: For some reason we kept thinking boy, boy, boy. So when we saw a girl, we (especially Melanie) were surprised. That was part of the reason for the delay in naming our new bundle. The other reason for the delay is that we have trouble naming females. (It also took us a day and a half to name Elizabeth.) We finally agreed on Juliette Grace, and we are excited about the name.

Sam and Liz taking it all in

Surprise Surprise: Juliette has brown hair, not red! Some people (like Melanie) say they see a red tint to it, but she is definitely not a red head. Also, for what it's worth, we think she looks like a Pella.