Lullaby's story...

I made a video of the event. Nothing gross I promise. :) Just the quick version of the loooong story below. Enjoy.

So, for weeks I had been having cramps and contractions and lower back pain and was in a general state of discomfort all the time. I was still weeks away from my due date and the boys had come only 1 and 3 days before their due dates, so I thought I would probably have to wait the entire 40 weeks. No thank you. The new doctors said she wasn't measuring big and that I needed to try to wait it out. Great. :) Then a day after my 38 week appointment (9-9-11), and a long walk in the grocery store talking to my mom, I stayed up for a few hours counting contractions. They were about 7 minutes apart, but not consistent. I was sure that by the morning I would be driving to the hospital to have a baby, but alas, no baby. By the morning they had slowed down and were pretty weak. I spent the day driving Paul to rotations, watching the clock, getting Chipotle for lunch because I was feeling sorry for myself, and waiting, waiting, waiting for the contractions to start again. Finally at around 10pm I was really feeling them. We called the Duplessy's to come over so we could go in. Valeria was almost as excited as we were. :)

Paul was super excited, as he always is. He is such the perfect person to have with you when you are in labor. He takes the focus and edge off of the pain. :)

When we checked in, I was nervous that I had jumped the gun and was going to be sent home. This is me hoping I don't have to go home and spend another sleepless and painful night with no baby in my arms to snuggle.

After getting checked, they admitted me. Hooray!! I was already at a 4!! So we called a few family members to let them know what was going on. It was in the middle of the night for most people, so we couldn't call everyone right then, actually we still haven't. Thank goodness people are understanding. :)

Paul set up camp after I got my epidural, and we rested for a few hours until I was dilated enough to start pushing. I had the perfect amount of epidural medicine this time and was able to feel when the baby wanted OUT! :)

After a few sets of pushes with the nurse, she called in Dr. Dunkin. He did a good job catching. :) After I got her head out, he realized the cord was wrapped tightly around her neck and had to cut it before I pushed again. That made me pretty nervous, but her heart monitor was still beeping, so I knew she was fine. A couple more pushes and out she came. She was born at 9:28am on Saturday September 10, 2011.

I got to hold her for a few seconds, but she was pretty slimy, so the nurses took her over to the warming bed and got her cleaned up. They weighed her and measured her and everyone was shocked. She was 8 pounds and 8 ounces, 21 inches long, and got a 9-9 on her apgar test. Big baby, huh?! I knew she was ready to come. Could you imagine how big she would be if she waited in there until her due date?! Yikes!

Proud daddy and mommy with their first baby girl!! How exciting! :) She cried only a little, and was easily calmed right from the get go. How precious are little babies?! We were in love instantly.

After a few hours of talking about names (Paul had quite a few good ones on his list), Paul chose Lullaby. I really love it for her too. She is a calm, sweet, lovable baby girl, and Lullaby is certainly right for her. Good job Paul. :) Her middle name is York. York is Paul's mom's maiden name, and Paul was named William (his real first name) after her dad. Stacy has been such a big part of our kids lives and we are forever grateful to her and her endless compassion and love she has shown to us. Paul's grandpa was someone he truly respected and wants to emulate as he grows older. He was a hard worker and very devoted husband and father. Two people very deserving of having a precious new baby named after them. :)

Paul stayed at the hospital with me until the afternoon, then went to get the boys from the Duplessy's house. The boys had slept through the night just fine, and woke up happy. They were excited to go back over to Bruno(the Duplessy's 3 year old)'s house again. We had gone just the week before for lunch and so the boys would feel comfortable there. Perfect. They played over there and ate breakfast and lunch with their family. Paul picked them up and brought them home for a late nap. That evening they came to meet the baby. The kids (weird, I have kids now, not just the boys) each got a flower to give to me. Thanks really to Paul for thinking of sweet things like that.

The boys had WONDERFUL reactions to meeting their new sister. It was SO SO SO good to see. Paul and I kept grinning at each other because of how sweet it really was. They were so happy and wanted to hold her and kiss her and love on her.

The boys were in love. They right away asked to hold her and it was SUCH a relief to see them happy and not jealous in the least.

Lullaby got the boys some dinosaurs too, just in case it was a disaster, but they were more interested in playing with her and kissing her than they were with the toys. Hooray! :)

I also thought this little momma's boy would have a hard time seeing me holding a NEW baby, since he still refers to himself most of the time as "baby". Aside from a few extra snuggles, he is still the same little guy. He loves to take care of Lullaby and doesn't seem to mind me spending so much of my time and attention on her.

Ready to go home. The hospital experience, the nurses, even the food was wonderful. We stayed for just over 2 days and went home Monday evening. I had all these ideas for cute outfits for her to wear home from the hospital, but she was too squirmy to get her into anything except this onesie and a little skirt that didn't fit right. Boo. The photo shoots will have to wait. :)

The car ride was Lullaby's least favorite experience in life so far. :) She screamed at the top of her lungs the ENTIRE ride home. Thankfully we only live a few minutes from the hospital, but it was still sad. Matix did his best to get her to be quiet and was SO patient and calm. It was so sweet to see.

And yes, Liz, we did get your blanket. :) Thank you for sending it. We love it and even used it for this special occasion. Hooray! The next picture we take of it will have happier babies, I hope. :)

So that's it. Now we are home, and have been for a few days now. Life couldn't be better. We are all very happy and healthy and grateful. Some families from our church ward have been bringing dinners by each evening, a few are taking the boys out to the playground next week too, and one very VERY sweet lady stayed a little while longer and cleaned the kitchen. It was spotless. Thank you all for your love and support and prayers and phone calls and well wishes, we appreciate them. :)