Lanie had been in our lives for about 2.5 weeks and already I can't imagine life without her. My mom came back for a visit this past week, and here are some of the pictures that we took. Here is Lanie in her crib with her fish tank - she is obsessed! She will lay there and stare at it, it is so cute.
We are trying to get her to do tummy time, so far she is not a fan of it. Just a picture of her with her eyes open. She is wearing a shirt sent by a friend.
This is us on my B-day right before we headed out to a Mexican feast! We waited 2 weeks before we really took her out in public, but the past few days she has been shopping, out to dinner, and to the grocery store. She is so good in the car and seems to sleep through most of her outings. Here are some gifts sent by Aunt Stephanie. A sock monkey sleep sack (love it!) and a Beatles dress. Lanie can't wait to wear them. My mom took this picture - the child is already getting pulled in two directions. Football season starts soon, I wonder who she will root for? We made a little piece of art for her wall. She was a sport while we took her footprints. Lanie and Geoff Here is me at the 2 week mark after delivery! My pre-preggo jeans fit! My stomach isn't back to where I want it to be yet, but overall I am happy with my progress.
We will be in STL in a little more than 2 weeks for the wedding of the year and a visit. Can't wait to see everyone!
I promised I would try to get some pictures of Lanie with her eyes open. Here is what we were able to capture. (I say we because Geoff is just as obsessed with taking pictures of Lanie as I am. Every time I download, there are always a few unexpected pictures that he has snapped of her)Here she is after a bath - she looks a little confused in this one if you ask me. Geoff, Larry, and Lanie relaxing. (Don't worry, he is making sure Larry doesn't accidentally kick her) Larry watching Lanie Eyes open! I had just put the sheets in the laundry - but it didn't stop these three from laying on the guest bed. Larry and Geoff trying to catch an afternoon nap Oh some of you have heard about it. Lanie has a blond streak on the back of her head. (you can kind of see it in this picture) Geoff's grandpa also had one. It will be fun to see if she keeps it.
That is all for now. Lanie went in for her 2 week check up. She is 8lbs and in the 71% for her height - gee I wonder where she is getting that from. Everything else is great and she goes back in one month for some shots.
Lanie is 6 days old today, so we went for her first check up. Here is Geoff keeping her calm while we waited for the doctor. She weighed in at 7lbs 11oz today. Everything checked out and we scheduled a visit for Friday just to get weighed again, then her next check up will be in 2 weeks! (Common for breastfed babies, they just want to make sure they are getting enough nourishment since there is really not a way to measure how much milk they are consuming)
Here we are in the car seat ready to go. Her eyes are open! I am working on getting some pictures when she is actually awake for you all to see. Just hanging out with us on the couch.
Ok- so I have been asked about the labor - so I will summarize it for those who what to hear about it. Overall it went great, yeah a few unexpected things, but the main goal of having a healthy little girl was accomplished.
Thursday - I felt awful all day. My back was killing me. I had been in contact with the Dr all day and finally they told me just to go home from work and relax. I left at 4 and did just that. Well I had also been talking with my mom all day and she had a feeling that the baby was coming soon. I was like, no just some back pain, I still have another week to go. She bought a plan ticket anyway and said if the baby doesn't come this weekend, we will just hang out, no big deal. Well I guess she was right because I woke up on Friday feeling horrible again. Geoff left for work, right when he did I thought my water broke. It was just a few drops, so I just thought I was crazy. I proceeded to try to get ready for work and my cramps just started getting worse and coming in waves. I called Sara - and was like do contractions feel like cramps? She was like yes- call Geoff. So I did and called the doctor. They were coming quick, just a few minutes in between. The Dr called me back and said go to the hospital now! So I called Geoff, he came home, and we were on our way. (He got pulled over for speeding on the way to get me, and the cop let him off - but funny story now)
We got to the hospital around 9am and they took us in a little room to see if I was really in labor. Well this is where they are supposed to start your IV, get some info, hook you to monitors, etc - I was a 7cm and the contractions were coming fast, so they just moved me straight to a labor room.
I got an epidural around 8 cm and felt so much better. Before this, I was in some major pain and not really wanting to be bothered or talked to. They got all my info started the IV and now it was time to just wait. Well it didn't take very long. My doctor came in at 12:30 and said time to start pushing. (being that this was my first child, I thought I would be there for 8-10 hours before I got to push - nope just over 3!)
I pushed for an hour with really no luck- Lanie was not moving. So they talked to me about turning down the epidural so I could "feel" the contractions more and give me some drugs to also make them more intense. Ok didn't sound fun, but I was ok with it. Well I pushed for a while longer, no progress and the contraction at this point were right on top of each other - and yes I could "feel" them! Well, my doctor then said, that we need to turn off the epidural completely - WHAT!!! Yeah so some people say they want a natural child birth, but not me. I have been an advocate for having drugs the whole time and now they were turning them off! So they did - as quickly as the epidural started, it was gone. (Now they said it would wear off over time, but in my opinion, it just ended) I experienced the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life for the next hour, but in the end I had a beautiful baby girl in my arms! She came out crying with a full head of hair. Geoff did great and was so supportive through the whole process. Looking back it was such a whirlwind. We got to hold her for and hour then they gave her a bath and took her weight, length, footprints, etc. I "recovered" for a few hours then got to move to the "Mommy and Me" unit. My mom's flight landed and Lanie had her first visitor - what a crazy Friday it turned out to be:)
We just wanted to take a second out in the exciting and crazy time to thank all our family and friends for all the wonderful support we have felt over the past 9 months. We could not feel more loved and are so lucky that others around us are as truly thrilled about Lanie as us. We are absolutely overwhelmed by every little outfit, toy, book, quilt, car seat, bow, diaper, pump, baby carrier, and baby item that we have received. The generosity is amazing and we know that our little girl will grow up knowing she is loved by so many.
We are excited about the next big step, parenthood. Even though there is so much to learn, we know that our solid support system will allow us to raise a fine individual we can be proud of. Thanks again, we love all of you very much!
Ok here are some more pictures from Lanie's third day of life:) Oh people have been asking, so tomorrow I will post the whole birth story.
Daddy and Lanie taking a nap - she loves to sleep right now! Larry taking a nap as close as possible to his sister. He loves her already.
Larry is watching Lanie in her bouncy seat.The family hanging out. So sleepy
She is a big girl - 8lbs 4 oz - funny because we thought she was going to be so small. She must have been really curled up and hiding somehow in my tummy.
Here are just a few quick shots so you can see her. She is gorgeous in person and has so much dark hair and blue eyes for now.
Here is Lanie in her crib with her fish tank - she is obsessed! She will lay there and stare at it, it is so cute.
We are trying to get her to do tummy time, so far she is not a fan of it.
This is us on my B-day right before we headed out to a Mexican feast! We waited 2 weeks before we really took her out in public, but the past few days she has been shopping, out to dinner, and to the grocery store. She is so good in the car and seems to sleep through most of her outings.
Here are some gifts sent by Aunt Stephanie. A sock monkey sleep sack (love it!) and a Beatles dress. Lanie can't wait to wear them.
My mom took this picture - the child is already getting pulled in two directions. Football season starts soon, I wonder who she will root for?
We made a little piece of art for her wall. She was a sport while we took her footprints.
