BABY

LYDIA D.
born Wednesday, July 16th (10-days early)
time 3:31pm
weight 8lbs. 9oz.
length 20 inches

Precious gem

chubby babe

On Tuesday I went to the doctor to get an ultrasound to see how large she might be since I was measuring somewhat bigger than normal (40cm). The doctor who performed the ultrasound got talking with me and found out that I was already dialated to a 4, almost 5 and 80% efaced-he looked shocked and wondered why I wasn't already admitted to the hospital. We did the ultrasound anyway and because she was so low it was really hard to get measurements, so from what he got the prediction was that she would be 7lbs.-HA!!! He didn't believe it and neither did I! He called my midwife and suggested that I go in the next morning to be induced-she agreed and got me scheduled for 7am.

Wednesday at 7am we arrived at the hospital, did the quick admittance process and then went to the room for questions and monitoring of the baby. At 9am Helene (my midwife) came in and broke my water-she does this first to see how long it will take for contractions to kick in and then proceeds from there. We walked for 2 hours and contractions started to come slowly, by 12:30p they were hitting pretty hard. I gave in fast this time and asked for "nubain"-I was still only at a 5-I was disappointed, but then I had medicine so it could go faster-I hoped. About an hour later, I had only progressed one centimeter and I wanted more medicine. Helene insisted that I just get into the shower to get things progressing instead of medicine-I stayed in the shower about an hour and was to an 8-yeah!!! Finally I was able to deliver, she came in about 5 pushes-which is why she is so bruised. I had a lot of blood loss and clotting, they had to put me on pitocin afterward, that was not fun, but it saved me from having to get a blood transfusion.


Chubby and ready for life

The kids were so excited they came to visit about two hours later and just fell in love with her-even Sarah who was insisting all day that she did not have a baby sister! Bryant had secretly been praying that the baby would still be a boy, so he had another disappointment to find out the baby really was a girl, but he got over it quickly.


So happy to see their sister

Proud brother

Proud sister, our little mommy

She actually accepts her!! (she can't hide the proud smile)

giving special sister kisses

We are all home safe and doing well. Lydia has changed dramatically in the last 24 hours and is adjusting rather well. She is not the best eater, but we have some time to get the hang of it (I hope). She is so precious and has brought a spirit into our home that only a newborn can. We are surprised and excited at how well the kids-especially Sarah-are adjusting to her.
Thank you, Jodi, for the pictures.
I will have more up next week after I get my film developed.