What a debut!! and Finn update

Well we sure have had an exciting few days in my family! My older sister, Erin, was due yesterday with her second child, and started having contractions throughout the night of August 16. They went to her midwife's office Monday morning, August 17, and were told she was only 3 cm dilated and it would be a long night and the baby might not even come until the next morning. They went home for Erin to continue laboring. A few hours later Erin quickly went from contractions 8-10 minutes apart to transition (the part of labor right before you are ready to push!). They headed to the hospital as quickly as they could but Erin said she was wanting to push before they even left their street. They got to the hospital 7 minutes later (normally about a 15-20 minute drive) and Lily Kate was born IN THE CAR with the assistance of two bewildered EMT's right outside of Vanderbilt Hospital. Good thing Erin was planning on going without drugs anyway! My poor mom, Jim (Erin's husband), and Erin all were a bit traumatized and in shock for a while but everyone is doing well and they are even going to be released from the hospital today. Lily Kate weighed 7 pounds, 9 oz, and was 20 inches long. I think she looks like her brother, Jack, but I guess we'll have to see how she'll change over the weeks and months and years. Now that everyone is okay it makes me laugh because it sounds like Lily Kate will have her mother's personality - dramatic (in a good way), full of surprises, in a hurry, and not wanting to miss out on anything.
Here is a photo of the two girl cousins together:
This morning we had an appointment with Finn's geneticist, Dr. Summar, who happens to be at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, so we were able to walk over to see the new baby and my sister afterwards. Maggie thought she was going to get to go last night but it didn't work out, so she basically cried herself to sleep and then woke up TWICE, crying, because she was so sad to miss out on seeing her new cousin. Needless to say, she was quite excited to meet and hold her this morning.

Finn is 5 months old today and weighs 17 pounds, 5 oz, and is 25 inches long. That's about 1/2 lb less than Maggie was at one year. He's wearing 9 month clothing! It's crazy. As usual he was the hit of the genetics clinic and everyone came into his exam room to see him. They were all impressed by his strength and size and just how well he's doing. He gave everyone lots of smiles and giggles. Dr. Summar recommends that all of his genetics patients be screened by TEIS (Tennessee Early Intervention Services) just as a matter of course, as they check for any type of developmental delay so they can intervene early (imagine that!). Today Dr. Summar and his colleagues agreed that to get them involved at this point would be a waste of our time and TEIS' time, as he is right on track or ahead of all of his milestones. This might be something necessary down the road but we've put it on hold for the time being. It's a huge relief for us as we're always on the alert for some type of developmental delay due to the brain swelling he had in the hospital.

Also, it's hard to be excited about this but Dr. Summar has been asked to take over the Pediatric Medical Genetics department at National Children's Hospital in D.C., and will be moving there in about a year to do just that. When he told me I said, "They asked, but you said 'no', right?" I am excited for him but of course we just adore him and it's hard to imagine Finn's care without him. Fortunately we also LOVE Dr. Summar's colleague, Dr. Lanpher, who will take over when Dr. Summar leaves.

We took a photo of Finn next to Lily Kate at the hospital today and the size difference is hilarious, but I can't get it to load right now. I'll try again later.