Lucy Darby arrived at 11:23 pm on Friday, November 26, 2004. She was 8 lbs., 9 oz and 20 3/4" inches long.

Lucy was due the Sunday before Thanksgiving, November 21st, but chose to wait another five days before making her appearance. Needless to say these were the longest five days of my entire life. When I finally started having contractions around lOam the day after Thanksgiving, I
was thrilled.

The contractions were fairly mild all day long, and I was sure I was in for another 28-hour marathon like the first one. Tom got to enjoy the entire Texas/A&M game in peace while Sam and I went to the playground. But then right as we were getting Sam ready for bed, I had a monster contraction out of the blue that was so intense I was howling in pain.

Sam was throwing a fit at the same time about getting his pajamas on, so I'm sure Tom was at his wits' end with both of us. We called Tom's mom to come get Sam and contacted Michele.

Then my contractions were so mild that I was embarrassed to have even bothered Michele but then I had another monster one that left me hanging on for dear life.

Luckily when Michele got there I was already 5-6 cm dilated. Then I soaked in the tub for awhile and when I got out Michele even offered me a foot massage. I might have thought we were at a B&B-- if there hadn't been that tiny little issue of being in labor. Unfortunate.

Just three and a half hours later, Lucy was born. She was so calm and serene and just lay on my chest looking around at the world like she was wondering what all the fuss had been about. We were so thrilled to meet her for the first time, but couldn't stop being amazed at how different she looked than Sam. Lucy has blue eyes, a heart-shaped face and lots of dark brown hair, unlike Sam, who was born blond and practically bald. And she outweighed her big brother at birth by a whole pound.

We napped for a little while after Lucy's birth (Oh, the joy of being able to sleep on my back for the first time in months!)

In the morning we had time to marvel over our beautiful little girl, and to notice for the first time her long beautiful
fingers and her equally and amazingly long toes. Someday Lucy will be the only little girl in town who can play the piano with her feet. We're so glad she's finally here!