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.