Hello World, I'm Lia.

A week ago today our life changed forever when we welcomed our sweet daughter Lia Lynn into the world. She is beautiful, healthy, tiny and sweet.  And we are all so in love with her.  I wanted to document everything I can remember from the past week while it's all fresh in my mind.

I had been scheduled for an induction on Monday, July 28th.  I would have been 39 weeks and 2 days at that point, and due to a history of fast labors and Carter contracting GBS at birth, the doctors (and Cary and I) thought this was the best birth plan for us.  We had a smooth and successful induction with Brynn so I felt really relaxed about the whole thing.  I was seen on Thursday, July 24th and was already 2+ cm and 50% effaced.  Dr. Fahnlander was concerned that I may go into labor on my own over the weekend and so she pushed the induction up to Sunday, July 27th.  We were really excited, but also a bit nervous about making it through the weekend - especially Kyle and Emily's wedding day on Saturday.  Cary was the best man, Carter and Brynn were both in the wedding, and I just really, really wanted the baby to stay in place until Sunday morning.  (I'll blog about the wedding another time, but I felt huge and uncomfortable and crabby almost the whole day.  I wish I enjoyed it more, but I'm so thankful that my water didn't break on the dance floor.)  Luckily, the wedding went off without a hitch.  The kids all walked down the aisle, Emily and Kyle were sooo happy, and Cary was able to enjoy himself.  We did go home around 9:30 though so we missed quite a bit of the dance at the reception.  But what was to come the next day was totally worth it.

We arrived at the hospital at 9:00am.  By 9:40, the penicillin IV had been started.  Cary and I just sat in the room watching HGTV and I napped on and off.  Our nurse, Cristin, was awesome.  I've learned that you always love your labor and delivery nurse.  They are your lifesavers who sit with you almost the whole time, answer any questions, make you feel comfortable and just help make the experience easy.  Cary and I loved Cristin and it's sort of sad that we'll never see her again.  We were the only people having a baby on the floor that day, so we received lots of great attention.  Even Dr. Fahnlander sat and chatted with us several times throughout the day.

After the first dose of penicillin had been given, they decided to start the pitocin.  This was around 11:45 and the contractions picked up but weren't really painful.  At this point, Cary ran to get something to eat since we knew everything else would go fast from this point.  Both Cristin and Dr. Fahnlander had said that I could have an epidural at any time, so I asked for one around 1:00.  I hate to say that I was barely in any pain at that point, but I really wasn't.  The contractions were getting stronger but not unbearable.  But I'm a huge fan of epidurals and so I didn't see the sense of waiting any longer. :)  By 2:00, the epidural was in place and I literally felt nothing from the waist down.  They broke my water at that point, turned up the pitocin, and I read a book while the labor continued.  I was surprised when Cristin checked me at 4:00 and I was barely 5cm.  I wasn't progressing nearly as fast as I thought I would.  From 4:00 - 5:00, I started noticing that I could feel the contractions a bit more and eventually I felt the need to push.  When Cristin checked me again, I was at 10cm and ready to push.  It was crazy how fast I'd progressed from 5 - 10 cm.  So once Dr. Fahnlander was in the room, I pushed through 4 contractions.  This was the hardest part of the day for sure.  There were definitely tears, but the room was peaceful and quiet and I was just ready to meet our baby.  A few minutes later, at 5:48, the doctor held her up for us to see.  I looked at Cary to see his reaction and he was just so still and in awe.  I looked down to see that it was a baby girl.  Lia.

She seemed so tiny and she cried at first but then just sat really still looking at us.  I cried because I was so happy.  It was emotional for both of us.  I love these moment in life and am sad that I'll never experience that moment again.  I wish I could live it over and over and over.  I hope I always remember the love in that room.

She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long.  Perfect.

Cary had been updating our family via text throughout the day and right before we started pushing, I suggested that we not tell everyone whether the baby was a boy or a girl until they got to the hospital.  All of our siblings were nearby and so we assumed they would all want to come meet the newest family member in person.  We knew it would frustrate them, but it added to the fun! :)  Cary just sent out a picture with the pink and blue striped hat and said that baby was here and healthy and all were welcome to come meet him or her.

My parents had been at our house with Carter and Brynn and I swear they were at the hospital within 5 minutes.  The kids were immediately smitten with her.  Carter was really interested in Lia and talked in a sweet baby voice to her.  Brynn was a little more hesitant and wasn't sure what to think...but she has definitely warmed up to her role as a big sister!

Soon Tony, Kelly, Davis, Bennett and Nina arrived.  Followed closely by Bobbi, Grandma Farm, Kyle and Emily.  Joe, Holly, Joey, Maddox and Saylor came and then Andy, Julie, Katelyn and Claire.  It didn't take long for Lia to meet all of her cousins and get lots of love!  Cary's dad was on his way back to LaCrosse and so he met Lia via FaceTime later that evening.

About an hour later, everyone had left and we were moved from the delivery room to our new room.  It was a great evening just sitting there with Cary holding Lia and marveling at how wonderful she was.  We decided to send her to the nursery to sleep that night since both of us were completely worn out by that point.

Cary was up by 6:00 and went to the nursery to just sit and hold Lia.  I had forgotten how much he loves his babies and how loving and protective he is with them.  It's really the sweetest thing.  He brought her back to the room at 7:00 as I was waking up.  And we spent the majority of the day just snuggling her.  Bobbi brought the kids to see her again and Tony and Kelly and the kids also came by again.  We had a visits from Deacon O'Brien, Alicia and Jeff, Aunt Jackie, Joe & Holly's family, and Kelly Grabe.  We were more than happy to show off our sweet little girl.

This was one of those days that I'd love to relive again.  I absolutely love the peacefulness of being in the hospital with a newborn.  I love that Cary stayed with me the whole time.  I love that we just sat in bed together all day long, just staring at Lia.

On Tuesday, we were at the hospital in the morning and then were released around noon.  I was feeling great...very little pain and honestly felt much better than I had at the end of the pregnancy.  Bobbi had kept Carter and Brynn the past two nights and so my mom met her at our house to get the kids and take them to Guthrie for the night.  Tuesday at home was really nice.  I came home to a clean house (Bobbi) with brownies in the fridge (mom).  We took naps and then decided to venture out to Target to get a few necessities (formula and pacifiers). Cary and I commented on how easy one baby is when you're used to two big kids.  But then Lia put us in our place with a huge blow-out diaper in the Target parking lot.  Nice work, Lia.  We then went out for Mexican (I had been craving a margarita for months)....although I really only drank about 1/4th of it.  And then went home and watched a movie while we took turns snuggling Lia.

That night we both got very little sleep.  This actually surprised us because our nurse (Kristi) had said that Lia was just the best little baby in the nursery.  She only woke up twice both nights in the hospital nursery to eat, and otherwise just laid there either asleep or content.  She was not a crier at all.  But for some reason, Lia did not want to be put down to sleep that night.  She'd fall right to sleep in our arms, but the minute we laid her down, she'd start to cry.  We both took turns and tried everything.  Finally, around 4:00, I got her to sleep in the rock and sleep.  We woke up the next morning exhausted and agreed that maybe we'd held her a bit too much the past two days.  We set the goal of laying her down whenever she fell asleep.  And we also tried to keep her awake a little bit more during the day.

Carter and Brynn came home around noon and they were so happy to be back at home.  With the wedding and the baby, they had been off their regular routine for about 5 days.  They were just the sweetest when they finally had a chance to snuggle and play with their sister.

Since then, we've been settling in just great.  Honestly, the transition has been sooo much smoother than I anticipated.  The last four nights she has woken up only twice and has slept great in between feedings.  I do the first feeding (usually between 1:00 and 2:00) and Cary does the second feeding (between 4:00 and 5:00).  Last night she actually one woke up once so we're both feeling pretty rested.  In fact, I'm sleeping better now than I did the last 2 months of the pregnancy.

The other thing that has helped has been having Carter and Brynn to help with her.  They both are so very interested in her and want to help whenever they can.  Carter is a little less into her, and Brynn is more maternal.  Every morning I've taken a shower and the kids have asked to watch her.  I just lay Lia on a blanket and they talk to her and give her toys.  Both kids like to feed her and hold her.  Brynn has even learned to change a diaper (with help).  I feel like it's easier having older kids to help because I can actually eat breakfast and know that Lia is entertained by her siblings.  Or I can ask for a diaper and Brynn quickly comes back with a diaper, wipes and cream.  Little Lia is a hot commodity at our house for sure and everyone wants their time with her.  She's one lucky little girl.

Just a few photos from the week....

Brynn helped me dress Lia in a denim jumper and pink cardigan.  She then went to her closet and found a denim skirt and pink shirt so they could match.  Then she asked me to take their picture together.  

We are starting to attempt the BabyWise schedule of Eat, Awake, Sleep.  This girl would sleep all of the time if we let her, so we try to keep her up for 30 minutes after she eats.  Really the only way we can accomplish that is by taking her clothes off (or just leaving her in a onesie) and laying her flat on a blanket.  Then we get to see her pretty eyes. 

Brynn likes Lia to snuggle her at bedtime.  She's helped read books to her the past two nights, so Carter has already said that tonight it's his turn. :) 

Carter loves to hold her and really likes playing with her hands and feet.

We packed up the kids and their bikes and went on a picnic at Gray's Lake today.  Lia's second family outing.  Last night she got to experience her first softball game, but I didn't take any pictures! :)

Doing what she does best!