Maggie Lu

Saturday June 13^th started out a little earlier than most Saturdays around here. It was 3 AM when Alixa woke up with some pretty strong contractions. She called the doctor to get a professional opinion, which is pretty pointless when you are on your 4^th baby. The doc (who wasn’t her regular OB but the weekend on call doc) told her not to go into the hospital until she’d been having contractions for at least an hour. Jarom’s rule is that he doesn’t deliver babies, so they called some friends and packed up to go immediately. The first call was to Kim Larsen, who dragged herself out of bed to come over and stay with the other three kids. The second call was to Heather Moore, an amazing professional photographer who had offered her services to Alixa during her delivery. She got to the hospital at the same time as Jarom and Lix, and was far too excited considering the terrible hour.

 This is how Jarom supports you during labor. He's the greatest. 

Dr. Holt, excited to see Alixa. We're so glad she could make it. 

Lix got checked in and had her initial vitals and monitors set up to keep tabs on the baby and all that jazz. The nurses asked if she wanted an epidural. Lix said yes. Then they checked her out and found that she was dilated to an 8. The bad news was that there was almost no chance that there was enough time to get the epidural ready before the baby got here. The good news was that this was not going to be a long labor. Alixa was able to hold it off just long enough for her normal OB, Dr. Holt, to get to the hospital, even though she wasn’t on call. She’s so nice. Dr. Holt arrived at about 5:15, got suited up, and then it was a few short minutes before Maggie arrived at 5:32. As has been the case with each kid, Alixa handled delivery like a champ. All the nurses kept telling her how impressed they were with her calm demeanor throughout the whole ordeal. And other than a couple terrifying, primal screams right when Maggie was born she didn’t make much noise. She’s amazing.

 Maggie's first few moments

The new wrinkle in this delivery was that Jarom got sick. During the last two contractions the combination of too many smells (from all manner of bodily fluids and hospital disinfectants) hit him pretty hard and he came dangerously close to throwing up on Alixa while she was pushing. He was actively scouting out the nearest barf bag and had decided that he would ask someone to step in and take his place after what turned out to be the final push. As Dr. Holt pulled Maggie out and held her up Jarom darted out of the room and into the bathroom. When she asked if the father wanted to cut the cord everyone looked around and wondered where the father was. He came out after a minute looking as white as a ghost. It’s possible that it was more than just a reaction to the smells because he felt queasy and sick for the next 24 hours as well. But don’t worry, he has recovered nicely.

 Jarom in recovery. And Alixa making sure Maggie was on social media as quickly as possible.

Maggie arrived at 6 lb, 4 oz, with a thick head of dark hair. She is without a doubt the quietest of the Winn babies, although that means very little. There was a little concern about a possible irregular heartbeat, but an EKG and additional monitoring ruled that out. Alixa recovered like a superhero, and was walking around a couple hours after the birth. It was a fast paced, exciting few hours, followed by the monotony and constant interruptions of a 30-hour hospital stay. The nurses are all great, but it’s their job to keep coming in and check on you, which means you can’t get any sleep.

But now Maggie is home and the real fun begins. The kids all love her and couldn’t be more excited about having a new baby. Emily’s face lights up any time you give her the chance to hold the baby, and she loves to say Maggie Lu in her little Emmy voice. Bo is a great big brother, although he gets a little too in-your-face sometimes. And Jenna has told us that she is going to be a good helper for her mom whenever she needs it. There are definitely some heightened sensitivities as everyone figures out what their new role will be and how some of the routines will be changing, but we are very grateful for a healthy, tiny new addition to the crew.