A Family Resemblance

Lucy looks so much like her brother it's ridiculous. See a family resemblance? Can you tell which are Lucy and which are James. One thing they don't have in common, thankfully, is that Lucy from the get go nursed like a charm, and James never would.

Lucy at 2 months

These pictures were taken June 1st, when she turned 2 months, but I'm just now posting them. Yes, I'm pathetic. At two months she is now sleeping 6 hour stretch at night, just like James. (even a handful of 7 hour stretches.) She is more wakeful and a little more needy than James during the day, but nothing to complain about. Here is my cutie pie. Lil' Lu I love you!

The Labor Details

Some of you might be wondering the details of Lucy's birth, and then some of you don't care. I always am curious of the labor details, so for those of you who want to know here is how it went. I had a C-section scheduled for April 2nd. I had gone back and forth with the idea of a VBAC, but had gone ahead and scheduled a C-section with my doctor. I really thought that this baby would be born around 37 weeks like James. I even told everyone that she would probably be born at the end of March. At 36 weeks with James my doctor told me I was dialated to a 1 and was 90% effaced. I was expecting the same at my 36 week appointment with Lucy. When my doctor told me that I had 0 on both I literally cried very hard the minute she left the room. I had been feeling very ill and was looking forward to a timely relief. I suddenly felt that the baby was going to be born much closer to her due date then I had expected. My mother came out 2 weeks before the baby was born to help me. She was my lifesaver. I don't know how I could have endured the end of my pregnancy without her. Not to mention all the help I got from my mother-in-law during my pregnancy when I lived with Stephen's parents. And the help I got from both our moms post-partum. They are amazing. It's a little scary to think that if I had been born a hundred years ago I probably would not have survived childbirth. Either me or my child or both. We had a very small get together for Easter dinner Sunday on March 31st. After dinner and dessert we were sitting around talking when I noticed I started having contractions. They were so mild that I didn't pay any attention to them. Then I noticed they were very frequent, so I started timing them, and for almost 2 hours they were 3 mintues apart, which some of you are thinking that if it was my second child I should have known I was in labor, but I wasn't sure. When I was in labor with James I had almost instantly the most unbearable contractions. I couldn't breath, talk, walk, and I had them for about 29 hours before they gave me an epidural and rushed me in for an emergency C-section. Because my body doesn't dialate they didn't believe that I was in labor. The most I ever dialated with James was about a 3-4. I later realized after I had Lucy the difference is back labor. Shoot if it weren't for back labor I can see how some people could maybe do birth without an epidural. So, after 2 hours I called the hospital and they told me to go ahead in, they hooked me up, and sure enough I was in labor, but I was so confused as to why it wasn't that bad. The doctor that was on call asked me if I wanted to just try for a VBAC. I am such an indecisive and fickle person that I suddenly flip-flopped again and decided to try. They decided to moniter closely my progression and if I didn't progress we would have to do a C-section. I went to the hospital dialated at a 2, about 4-6 hours later I was a 3. So we waited another 4-6 hours to see if I'd progress more. Then the back labor started and I realized that was what made my labor with James so painful and unbearable. A half hour after my backlabor started I asked for the epidural. I had already done the back labor thing. I did not need to do it again. The next time they checked me I was still at a 3, not progressing anymore they decided I needed a C-section after all and put me in line. I kept getting bumped back in line because mine wasn't an emergency this time. About 14 hours after being in the hospital, 17 hours after my contractions started Lucy Amelia Taylor was born. During the whole operation I was shaking like crazy, which didn't happen the first time. Here are some pictures from the hospital.

Kiss His Feet

A little over a month ago Stephen and I were trying to think of something to do here in L.A. because...ya know...there's like nothing to do here. Right? Not true. We wanted to find something free that was also kid friendly, that wasn't the beach. Feeling huge I didn't exactly want to walk by a bunch of bikini babes. Running out of ideas we decided to head over to the L.A. temple's visitors center. We went inside and saw the huge statue of Christ. James saw Him and pointed to His feet claiming he had an ouchie. He then went up and kissed Jesus' feet saying "There all better." He started getting frustrated seeing his kissing didn't make the ouchie all better.

Getting to know Lucy

Lucy has light brown hair, and grayish blue eyes...which both might change. She also looks like she might have dimples. Lucy is a pretty good sleeper as far as babies are concerned. About 5 out of every 7 nights she will sleep at least one 4 hour stretch, and if I'm very lucky she'll sleep two of them with a feeding in between. Unfortunatly I usually only get to enjoy one of those four hour stretches, because James has been waking up early lately. But at least it's something, and more than a lot of other moms get to enjoy. (No comment Sarah, I know you be hating on me right now. :D ) The other 2 out of 7 nights I get to feel like other moms, which is extremely sleep deprived. Last week she actually did two 5 hour stretches with a feeding in between. That night was heaven. And for some reason I was still tired when I woke up. So weird. It was Stephen's birthday on Sunday, and we had a little get together. I forgot to take pictures, except for this one. But it's a pretty good one in my opinion.
He turned 30, and I'm next. I'm so not ready to leave my 20's behind. There's not much I can do though.

What One Month Looks Like

One month ago on April 1st Lucy Amelia Taylor was born. (I forgot to say what her name was in my last post. oops.) At my baby shower (again, I'll have to post pictures later. Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do) I was gifted this pretty neat onsie set. Each onsie has a number 1-12 on it with the word month underneath. Every month you take a picture to mark their progress. Here is what Lucy looks like at 1 month.

 

SHE HAS ARRIVED!!!

I owe many apologies for not having blogged. I know many of you have been eagerly awaiting pictures of the new addition to our small family. For now I'm just posting pictures, I'll give details of the birth later. She was born on April Fool's Day, April 1st, at 12:35 pm. She was about 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was about 21 inches. (I say "about" because she was just a hair within both of these measurements.) Her due date was the 6th, so about 5 days before due date.

Life in the Fast Lane

Sorry, I know I've been a pathetic blogger. I have about 11 more weeks until this baby will be born, until then, don't expect frequent posts, but after that, expect lots of baby pictures! I should say 11 more weeks if she is born on time. James was 3 weeks early, and I can't hope that she will bake a little bit faster in the oven as well so that I only have to suffer for 2 more months instead of 3. If you know me, then you know I hate being pregnant. I love kids, and really want this baby, but I hate being pregnant. And yes I did say "she." If you aren't family,or don't go on facebook often then the news is... IT'S A GIRL. I was going to post some pictures but my camera is dead, so I'll do it later. It's funny, but I felt so unsurprised when we found out. Stephen was convinced we were having a girl. He knew James was a boy, and he knew this one was a girl. I didn't know either way, but because he felt so sure, it started to convince me as well. At first I felt indifferent as to what I wanted. If it was a girl, then great, I don't have one of those yet; or if it was a boy, great, because James would have a brother. Every boy needs a brother, and every girl needs a sister in my opinion. As a kid I loved having sisters, and now as an adult they are my best friends. I know Stephen loved, and still does having brothers, so either way would have been great. Then the morning sickness hit. I thought if this time goes a lot better, then maybe my dreams will come true of having a big family. There are 7 kids in my family, and I have always wanted 4-6 kids. Though I haven't thrown up quite as much this time around as with James(don't get me wrong it was still plenty too much for me), the rest of the symptoms have not been a great improvement, if any at all. Some are worse, like the heartburn this time around is way worse. Still feeling sick at 29 weeks is ridiculous. In fact with James my first trimester was more intense than this one, but my 2nd trimester was not as bad as this one. This time around it's still lingering. Which means that this will be my last pregnancy. It does make me sad, like I said I always wanted a big family. But I'm doing my best to stay optimistic. I've always considered Foster Care, and now I feel more strongly about, so I'm sure something will work out. The big news in our lives now, the reason why our life is in the fast lane is because in 3 weeks from today...drum roll please... Stephen will graduate!! We are so excited!!! So excited to be done, so excited to live together under one roof like a family again, and have our own place again. He was assigned to Los Angeles, the ritzy area. Basically he will be dealing with people like Lindsey Lohan on a regular basis. hehehe. We have 3 weeks to find an overpriced apartment, a new doctor and hospital to have the baby, and a new school for James, not to mention moving all our stuff...again. Hurray! Actually I'm not excited about having 3 weeks to do those things. In fact, I feel overwhelmed and somewhat depressed about it. Which makes me want to not think about, hence the reason we are moving in 3 weeks and still don't have a place. Actually I have been looking, but everything that is good that comes up gets taken fast, and I feel slightly unsteady about signing a contract to an apartment without having seen it or the area, especially since it is in L.A. But, if that's where Heavenly Father wants us to be, then I guess we will have to do a leap of faith. Besides living in L.A. will be an adventure, not to mention we will be minutes from the beach! Lots of window shopping considering that I doubt they have good clearance racks on Rodeo Drive. Here's our new home.

Overwhelming isn't it? Well at least it has one of these. :)