Welcome to the world, Jane!

On Friday, April 22, we welcomed little Jane Virginia into our family! I know I'm always curious about people's birth stories, so here's a (relatively) brief synopsis of mine.

On Wednesday evening at 6:30 pm I began having irregular contractions. They continued off and on the whole next day until 6:30 pm, when they started coming every 6 to 7 minutes. They were strong enough and consistent enough that I was pretty sure I was in labor, so we brought Livia over to her cousin's house to spend the night. The contractions were still every 6-7 minutes or so around midnight, so Chase and I decided to stay home and try to get some sleep until they got closer together. Obviously, neither of us had an amazing night of sleep, but it was still a lot better than being in the hospital!

At 6:30 am I was hit with a huge, two-minute long contraction (noticing a pattern with the time here? It was uncanny). After that the contractions were even stronger and though they were still about 6 minutes apart, I knew it was time to go the hospital.

40 weeks exactly, heading to the hospital

We arrived just before 8 am, and sure enough, I was at 5 cm! I was very excited about this, because that's as far as I ever got with Livia, who ended up being an emergency c-section. I really, really wanted to vbac, so the fact that I was already halfway there was very encouraging. Over the next several hours the contractions became much closer together and horrendously strong. I tend to have really bad back labor, which makes it even harder. Chase was a great support and helped me out with various coping techniques, but I was finding it increasingly difficult to relax through the contractions.

Just after noon the nurse decided to check my progress. Five and a half centimeters.

What?!

All of that for half a centimeter?!

I felt like crying, but wait! Here comes another contraction. Need to focus.

I had hoped to have a natural childbirth, but at this point I'd already been in labor for 18 hours, and after another hour of feeling like I'd rather die than face another contraction, I decided to get an epidural. The anesthesiologist was blessedly available right then, so very shortly I was able to rest. Rest! What a wonderful thing that is!

The next few hours passed quickly as I rested, Chase ate, and we heard a baby being born next door (which may or may not have made me cry). My water broke, audibly, right about when I hit 10 cm. Shortly thereafter I started pushing, felt extreme back pain during all of it (despite the epidural), and at 5:14 pm Jane was born! Chase and I had been guessing 6:30 pm, since that appeared to be my magic number, but it was still pretty close!

So there you have it! Born on her due date, Jane Virginia came in at 7 lbs. 8 oz and 20 inches long. She's healthy, we're happy, and now we're all adjusting to our new family life!

These pictures are out of order, and for some reason I can't move them around...

Jane, 1 day old:

There has definitely been some crying around here!

Our family of four:

Sisters! Livia was so excited to hold her!

Livia has good moments and bad moments, but having Chase home this week has helped tremendously. The two of them have had a few daddy-daughter dates and excursions which she has very much enjoyed. Also, I think it helps that Jane sleeps a whole lot. I'm hoping and praying that Liv adjusts soon!

Tomorrow Jane will be one week old, which is hard to believe! The days do pass so quickly...

Almost there...

I'm 38.5 weeks now...only 10 more days til my due date! I'm becoming increasingly anxious for this little girl's arrival. Livia has been asking me every day when "Pippi" is going to come out. I only wish I knew! My doctor will only let me go a week past my due date because of my previous c-section, so I'm praying that the baby will come before then. Here's hoping that my next post will include a picture of a brand new baby girl!

And my daughter turns three

It's amazing how quickly the years pass. Getting out all our baby equipment has made me realize just how grown-up our little Livvy is becoming!

Here she is just a few days old:

On her first birthday:On her second birthday: And on her third birthday:

What a joy she has been to us! Though she was "blessed" with my stubborn and willful spirit, I know perfectly well that I am lucky to have such a good little girl.

I love that I know her so well. Sometimes I feel like I know her better than I even know myself. I love that I get to spend each day with her and see her learn and grow. I'm so excited to have another little girl, and Livia is thrilled to be getting a baby sister, but my heart aches a little for the end of this time, just the two of us.

Some fun facts about Livia:

• Reading is still one of her all-time favorite things to do. She loves going to the library, can quote passages from her books (and often does in applicable situations), and would rather read than do a lot of other fun activities.


• I will confess that sometimes I fall asleep while reading to her. She will often get me a blanket and then stay beside me, looking through the books herself until I wake up. She really is a good little girl!


• Livia will happily eat most fruits and vegetables, including lima beans and broccoli, but I have the hardest time getting her to eat entrees, especially meat! Sometimes she'll eat chicken or ham, but she refuses to eat beef (except at costco, when she gets samples. funny girl), and won't eat anything mixed, like a casserole.


• She LOVES her daddy these days, and squeals with delight when he comes home. They spend almost every evening chasing each other around the house, and I love to hear her giggling with him.


• Liv is an excellent speaker, which is both good and bad. I can always understand her, which is great, but so can everyone else, which is not always so great because she's three and says awkward things! I can't even pretend she said something else, because it's just plain as day.


• Has taken to calling me "mother" instead of "mommy."


• She's very social and enjoys play dates immensely. She likes to play at the park, but often asks to just stay home and play fantasy games with me. Her current favorite is playing doctor.

Speaking of doctors, Livia had her 3 year appointment last week, and did so well! She was nervous, which actually surprised me because she had been so excited about it until she was actually there, in the doctor's office. But she didn't cry and cooperated very well. She did a vision test, which was actually really cute to watch, and even got her blood pressure taken with a small little compression band. I was glad she'd been with me to all my prenatal appointments so that contraption was very familiar to her. We left with a bill of good health, and discovered that she's still in the 30th percentile for both height and weight. So she's petite, but proportional. She weighs 29 pounds now, which is a little more than I thought it was, and is just under 3 feet.

I could write a book about my little girl, but I think I'll just end with some pictures from her birthday party. Happy Birthday Livia!

Baby shower

Last night I was treated to a wonderful baby shower thrown by my good friend, Mary. The food was delicious, I was surrounded by great friends, and everyone was so generous! It was perfect.

Don't worry, these cupcakes tasted as delicious as they were beautiful. I know some really talented people! (Emily, they were amazing). My one disappointment of the night was that I didn't take pictures of anything besides food! I was just having so much fun chatting I didn't even think about it until I was driving home. One of these days I really need to get a picture of all the wonderful friends I have here.

Thanks so much to all of you!

March

I have fallen behind in my blog, largely because my time has been spent getting ready for the baby and trying to make sure I spend lots of good quality time with Livia now, while I can give her my undivided attention. But there are things I ought to write about! You may or may not know that I love St. Patrick's day. People don't usually celebrate it all that much, but I took the opportunity to throw a party! Chase didn't know I was going to do it 'til he got the evite along with everyone else. He thought I was crazy to take on something in my hugely pregnant state, but I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't do it! And besides, it's easier now than when she's born, right? I invited lots of friends and made LOTS of green food (and didn't take a single picture that whole evening!) That was about it, but I think it went well (except for the fact that I was still doing last-minute food preparations well into the start of the party. One day I will have everything ready on time. One day!) I really enjoyed the planning part of it too--looking up recipes, thinking about all the options of things I could serve. There are a lot of green foods out there! That weekend I was thrown a small baby shower by a good friend whose husband used to work with Chase. We had a lovely brunch, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! We were also lucky enough to have friends in town that afternoon! We've been friends with the Capelos since our BYU days. They live in southern california, but came up north that weekend for work, and it was so much fun to visit with them! Unfortunately it was pouring rain that day, so our plans to go out and do something fun together were foiled, but I still very much enjoyed myself and can't wait until the next time we see them!

An experiment

Livia has been going through a difficult phase. I think some of it may be attributed to anxiety about all the changes about to take place in our home, but I have also noticed that she seems to be at her crankiest and most belligerent right after watching a show. For quite a while now our rule has been that she can watch one show in the morning, and one in the afternoon, following her nap. I find this time incredibly useful, and until recently she was able to enjoy some tv and then happily move on with her day. Last week, after she broke down in tears for the third time in a row after watching tv, I made an announcement. "No shows next week," I said, and to my surprise she accepted it docilely. I did tell her that when she was at other people's houses she might watch a show, but that when we were at home we would not be turning any on. I wanted to see if there was a difference--if that was the cause of some of the misbehavior, or if it was something else entirely. Guess what? We are now on Friday of our week of no tv, and Livia has only even asked for a show twice. Both times I reminded her that we weren't going to be watching shows all week, and both times she meekly accepted it and found something else to do. She has been noticeably more obedient and happy. No, she wasn't a perfectly well-behaved child this week, but overall she did much better. And I did okay without those 24 minutes to myself 2x a day, too! (I was worried about that!) It's amazing how much television, and other media, can affect one's mood. I see it in myself, as well. I don't watch much tv, but if I spend too long on the computer I no longer feel like being productive or getting things done. I think this is one of those instances where I can learn a lesson from my child! Now I just have to decide how to proceed from here. I don't want to ban Livia from tv entirely, and I really can't, with a baby about to come! I'm going to need her to watch shows from time to time! But maybe I'll cut it down to once a day, or just occasionally--not a set two times a day like it was before. Wish me luck!

35.5 weeks (1 month from my due date!)

We're getting closer...

Side note: Livia was being particularly bad today. That sounds harsh, but it's true. She hit me, on purpose, in my stomach at one point. It didn't really hurt me, but apparently startled the baby quite a bit, because she. went. crazy! And that did kind of hurt. I reacted as though Livia had really hurt me though, so as to get the message across that we do NOT hit (and she never really does, which just goes to show how bad today was. She also bit me, which got her sent straight to bed), but at the same time it was kind of cool to feel the baby react. She kicks all the time, but somehow it just made her seem more like a real person to have her respond to something. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, it was just kind of cool. And it was weird to be upset with Livia's misbehavior and at the same exact time thrilled by this little baby inside me. Very conflicting emotions.