It's a Miracle!

It took more than 24 hours of labor, two additional pain medications along with the anesthesia administered through the epidural, and the threat that some of the pain medication would need to be stopped if this went on much longer (which prompted the final mind-over-muscles push that finally did the trick), but Stacie and Mike's new daughter arrived at about 11:30 pm ET on Saturday. She was three days late, which might explain why she was a bit larger than the other babies in the ward at 8 pounds 3 ounces and emerged with a full head of black hair, long fingers that were clutching her mother's hair and night shirt within hours, and neck muscles nearly strong enough already to hold her head up. One thing she did not emerge with, though, was a name. Her parents have narrowed it down to three choices, none of which I am at liberty to reveal here. But as my friends and I told Stacie today, she and Mike can't go wrong with any of the short-listed names. They're all beautiful and they all pass the playground test (e.g. they don't rhyme with anything tease-worthy).