Newborn Pictures

My cousin Kami - who is an amazing photographer - braved some serious weather and high water (literally) on Tuesday night to come and take some newborn pictures of Lauren. Really people...if you're in need of a photographer, you should use her! She'll come to your house! That is quite convenient! It's great to be in your own home when your child screams bloody murder for most of the shoot, poops on one of your blankets and pillows and pees on your couch. With all that said, I was really pleased with how the pictures turned out considering there were only a few moments of peace during the shoot!

Check out Kami's blog and Lauren's pictures HERE!

Lauren's Birth Story/first days home

Ah. We're home. Life is different. Good. Hard. Strange. Exhausting. Sweet.

The story of Lauren's arrival began on Monday. We went and did our grocery shopping at Wal.mart. I was SO exhausted afterward, that I had to take a nap. I was feeling pretty crappy. I couldn't get comfortable sitting or laying down. Pregnancy wasn't much fun anymore. I was ready for it to be done, but I wasn't counting on her coming early. My due date wasn't until Saturday. After I woke up from my nap around 4:00, I went to the bathroom. The 'bloody show' had begun. I started to get excited knowing that labor was going to happen soon! Brian and I started rushing around, packing our bags, and he cooked dinner - we'd been marinating chicken all day and didn't want to waste it! I called the doctor because I wasn't having contractions and I wanted to make sure that the bleeding wasn't something to be concerned about. The doctor told me that if contractions started, that I should go to the hospital when my contractions are 5 minutes a part. About 5 minutes after hanging up the phone, the contractions started. They didn't hurt that badly...but by 5:00 they were starting to become a little more uncomfortable. We snarfed down our food, finished packing, and I sat down on the couch to time my contractions. By 6:15 they were already less than 5 minutes apart. Some were 2 minutes apart and others just went on and on with no relief for minutes. They were starting to get painful, so we decided to head to the hospital around 6:45. Once in a room, the nurse hooked me up to a monitor and checked me. I was only dialated 2 cm (and had been 1 cm for weeks) and she couldn't get a regular contraction pattern. She said she'd check me again in an hour to determine if I could stay or if I would be sent home. I was in some pretty serious pain and REALLY didn't want to go home, so we walked the halls until I couldn't handle it any longer. The nurse came and checked me again - no progress. I was bleeding quite a bit, so she let me stay another hour - and the next time she checked, I had changed to a 3 - so I got to stay!

The on-call doctor was at the hospital to check on someone else in labor so he came in, checked me and told me he could break my water if I wanted things to go a little faster. That sounded great. It was already 10:00 pm and I was tired, extremely excited and nervous. Once he broke my water, my contractions got really mean. They hurt. BAD. After another bag of IV fluid, I got my epidural, and the world returned to normal. It was fantastic. I can't imagine having to deal with that pain for hours and hours longer. Here is a pic AFTER the epidural... I'm very happy.


The nurses left me to rest and try and get some sleep. Around 2:00 a.m. the nurse came back to check me and I was at a 7! I hadn't felt any of it! I tried to rest more, but I was shaking uncontrollably and couldn't really rest much. An hour and 45 min later, I started feeling some intense pressure. The nurse checked again and I was ready to push! My contractions were never in a regular pattern, so sometimes I'd have 3-4 minutes in between pushes and at other times it was 30 seconds. After about an hour of pushing, Lauren made her arrival! The epidural was perfect. I felt NO pain, but all of the pressure. I could feel her head coming out and her body slide out, but it didn't hurt a bit! The nurses were impressed with how quickly the labor/pushing went for a 1st time mom. I'll admit, the whole process was a little easier than I thought it would be! I suppose 12-13 hours isn't really all that much compared to some people I know who've had to labor for days!

I was a little surprised at how tiny she was! (We think she looks a little like an alien in this picture.
Finally!!! She's in my arms! She was perfect - all ten fingers and toes! I couldn't believe she was actually on the outside!

Oh...I love kissing these sweet baby cheeks!

He's a great daddy! I couldn't have done it without him!

Hooray! We're getting ready to leave the hospital! I was a little sad to leave one of the nurses. She was so fantastic I jokingly asked her to move in with us as she was walking us out to the car. We were blessed by a great staff, and it was great to get to have the same awesome nurse for 2 days! It was a great experience!

I've tried to swaddle her, but she doesn't like her arms tucked in. She's been sleeping MUCH better since I've figured that out! She actually slept all night last night - other than the feedings at 1:30 and 5:00! I feel a little more human again after a few hours of sleep in a row! She's been nursing and pooping (so glad Brian is here to hold her squirmy legs) like a champ.

I'm excited to go to the doctor tomorrow to see how much weight she's gained! Here's one last pic of her in a super cute onesie her Aunt Alicia painted for her at my baby shower!

We are SURE...

...that Lauren's a girl. See pic. below :).

When we went for our 20 week ultrasound she was breech and that made it hard for the tech to get a clear view. I went for another check up today and the Dr. wasn't sure her head was down, so she wheeled in the ultrasound cart to give her a quick check. She's head down. I asked if there was any way we could check and see for sure if we were having a girl....and we got this picture! It's pretty clear! This picture had both the Dr. and the nurse laughing really hard!


Thanks Lauren, for putting yourself out there! Daddy was was really worrying that you might be a boy!

Showering Baby Fox

Lots of pictures below! The first two are maternity shots that my friend Emily took to use as shower decorations.



The next pictures are of a baby shower that Emily, Jenny and Emily's mom threw for me last weekend. It was incredible...it should have been featured in a magazine or on a TV show. I've never been to a shower like it!


Jenny is SUPER crafty and she cut out tons of stencils and used freezer paper to make the designs stick on onesies. Then, we painted! This one is my favorite.


This is just the dessert table. We were also served lunch! Delish!


I've known these girls for so long - I don't know what I'd do without them in my life!


After the shower my family had dinner at my parent's house. This is our first picture of 4 generations!


And here's today...36 weeks! Less than a month to go!

34

I am SOOO excited to meet this baby! Three friends of mine have had babies in the last 2 weeks and it makes me want to meet mine more and more. We are feeling more prepared as the weeks go by. We've taken a birthing class and a baby basics class. We have a stroller and a car seat (Thanks Mom and Dad L!). We even bought a video camera! We're waiting on a chair for the nursery so we can finish putting her room together.

I'm still enjoying being pregnant - for the most part (my darn feet take away some of the enjoyment - see previous post)! I'm starting to feel a little bad for Brian though. His sleeping space is getting smaller and smaller as I keep needing more and more pillows to make myself comfortable when I sleep. He also tells me that I have started snoring :). Poor guy.

Just a few weeks until we meet her!

The joys...

...of pregnancy. This is my foot and cankle after a long day of work and shopping for baby gifts.

I was just at the doctor on Monday and I'm healthy, no worries, the Dr says this is normal. But in all seriousness - I totally can't complain. This pregnancy has been a breeze and a joy. This is the worst thing that has happened. Gross though...it doesn't even look like my foot! Please pardon my pasty pale skin. It will stay this way this year. There's no chance I'll get my post pregnancy body anywhere near a swimming pool this summer - a bummer since it is literally across the street!

This time - 4 years ago...

I was having the most fantastic day ever. I went on a date. It wasn't any regular date. It was a first date - with the man that would become my husband a little over a year later. I'd had a SERIOUS crush on this guy for about 6 months before he finally asked me out. He picked me up and took me to lunch at Fortune Wok. We had good conversation and we both had a great time. As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, he asked if I wanted to play a game of putt-putt golf. I had no desire to go home and after a round of golf, I had won the game! Brian mentioned several times during the date that he was having a great time. He told me a few more times on the way home, and dropped me off. Incredibly excited, I raced up the stairs in my apartment to tell my roommate Emily every single detail. Mid story, my phone rang! It was Brian! My heart pounded with excitement as I said 'hello'. However, he said that he had been thinking a lot about our date and had decided that he didn't think it was a good idea. I was confused. He'd told me he'd had a great time - several times. What had happened in the last ten minutes? Then he said, "April Fools." I was silent for a few moments because I really wasn't sure what to think. I was relieved, but I didn't think it was very funny. I'm pretty sure my silence let him know that saying that wasn't a good idea. He spent the rest of the day apologizing with more phone calls and e-mails. I was so glad he was joking! He gets teased plenty about doing this to me. :)


This is a picture from a few weeks after our first date - the day after we became boyfriend and girlfriend! I'm so glad I got to marry him! It has been a fantastic 4 years!