Surprise! She's here! Meet Carolina Lily Kessinger...

She was born at 6:37 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 12. She checked in at 5 lbs, 8 ozs and - knock wood - has managed to stay out of the NICU. They are making sure she is able to maintain both her body temp and blood sugar. Her blood sugar is looking good, though she's still a bit on the cold side.

Melody did fantastic! Once things started moving, they really moved! She only had to push a couple of times. She's resting comfortably right now. She is an amazing mother.

Victoria got to meet Carolina today and is just over the moon. Big ear-to-ear grin plastered on that girl's face. She keeps saying "She's so cute!" She hasn't gotten to hold her yet, but hopefully that will change tomorrow.

Carolina's lung capacity drew rave reviews from passers-by in the hall and she has curly, wispy dark hair. I think are eyes are dark brown. Melody and Victoria say blue. I'm still not sure how our perceptions could be that far apart.

We're pumping milk for a while so they can monitor how much Carolina's eating. Once she's all stabilized we'll be able to feed. I'm gonna go catch a nap now. We pump again in about three hours.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, love and kind words today. Delivering a baby at 35 weeks has its pitfalls, but so far we've managed to twice deliver two very healthy babies 5 weeks early.

Here''s a Slide Show of the newest citizen of the world, Ms. Carolina Lily Kessinger. Leave your love as a comment here and I'll pass it along.

Jeff

P.S. - Just so there's no confusion, it's pronounced "Care-uh-LEE-nuh", not "Care-uh-LINE-uh," like the mighty Tar Heels.