Lilah's first two weeks....

Lilah is 2 Weeks Old!

I finally have some time while daddy rocks Lilah to update our blog....I didn't realize how much a little baby changes everything. I have had most of my days that I haven't showered, brushed my teeth and barely eaten and all of a sudden it's 3:00 in the afternoon. It's absolutely wonderful, amazing (my dad's laughing in heaven right now that I used the word "amazing" because he used to make fun of The Bachelor so much because everything they do on that show is "amazing"), scary, exhausting, and a whirlwind of emotions.

I finally went into the hospital to be induced on Monday, May 11th...and to spare you all the details, my doctor told me that I could now put on my resume - "good at being pregnant and good at giving birth". My labor went by pretty fast, as we were in the room by about 7:45 and I had Lilah by 2:50. The things you should know are: I was very nice to Lance and never said one mean thing to him, and really thought he was a good cheerleader; I DID get an epidural (which didn't work in one area at first, so I was really, REALLY hurting for awhile); when Lilah was on her way out Lance said to me, "Oh boy!" which I thought was, "It's a boy!"....this caused much panic and confusion, so I stopped pushing so that he could clarify what he just said.

Everything was good and we left the next early evening. Lance got to stay home with me and was such a great help, and as the days got closer to him going back to work, I got so sad and cried a lot. We had so many family and friends though stopping by, bringing meals, and helping with Lilah it made the transition manageable. I however was past the point of "sleep deprivation" as she didn't sleep more than about 2-3 hours of sleep ALL night long. Also, we had our little issues once we were home with our sweet girl - she first lost 12% of her body weight, so we had to do a feeding plan with formula for a day, but luckily she ate like a champ and gained 3 ounces in one day. Then, when we went back to the hospital her temperature was way down, so that scared us and a nurse sent us to our pediatrician to check her. She was fine, but then the very next night we were awake with her nearly all night long because she pooped 5 times in 3 hours, and it wasn't the normal type of poop she should have had. Luckily, to make all of my stories shorter, everything turned out fine and nothing was wrong with her. But, all of this was pretty scary with a brand new little one who can't tell you what's wrong and is so helpless.

This last Wednesday we went to the pediatrician and she gave us the green light to use a pacifier (and she also called our baby girl "challenging", yikes!), which has been a God send as it soothes her most of the time. We're still trying to figure out a sort-of schedule and figure out how this parenting thing works, but I assume we'll be doing that for months and months to come.

Even with all of my tears and the sleepless nights, we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. We think she's perfect (even her feet are perfect with some odd toes, and even with her screams that we swear have broken some glasses in our house). We have still to get out in this beautiful weather and take a walk (we tried yesterday but only made it in the parking lot in the stroller because she had a huge poop blowout and once we turned around, changed her, and got her back in the carseat, she was beyond mad), but we did take her to Red Robin for our first dinner out and she's been to Target with her mama. I felt like I had my dukes up though because I didn't want any stranger to try to touch her and was ready to fight then away with cart if necessary.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who we love so much for coming to hold Lilah, keep us company, sending us such wonderful gifts and flowers, and bring us so many great meals...we so appreciate all of you.

Our Baby Story

Well, today I am now "postdue" by 4 days and am trying hard to stay busy and keep myself from thinking about that I have not had the baby yet. Since Monday, I have ran every errand known to man (went to Target twice, grocery shopped, went to the mall, worked with Leigh Anne at the Speech Therapy clinic, a trip to the post office, and have bought some things online), read a book, cleaned, cooked, and watched numerous episodes of "A Baby Story". I baul at every episode and always say out loud how nasty the baby looks when he/she comes out because he/she is all wrinkled and purple. I know that our little girl will look beautiful though. :)



I have tried to stay positive and optimistic, but then wake up every morning feeling a little down that I didn't start having contractions or my water didn't break over night. Every little cramp or discomfort I hope will become a contraction, but it never has.



On Wednesday I had a little simple "procedure" that my doctor hoped would help me along with labor, but so far, nothing. So, I'm scheduled for another awesome "procedure" on Sunday and then an induction on Monday if still no baby girl.



By Monday then, we should have our little girl and I will finally start returning phone calls and emails, and hopefully be all smiles by then, instead of crying all the time. I told Lance I think I saved up all of my pregnancy hormones just for this week and let it all out now. I think he's probably happy to be at work to miss most of my baulfests.