Here are some snippets of Luke's interaction with his little sister the first few days. He's been roaming around the house making up songs - "baby, baby, baby....". He's also been testing the limits on what he can and can't do with Lucy (which is kinda funny). He's been sharing his toys and his food with her. The last little clip is Luke cracking up at her hiccups. Only a few days old and she's already a comedian.
It was a dark and stormy night (no, for reals, it was) about a week before my due date and all was quiet on the home front. At 11:45 pm my water broke. I mean, I guess it broke. I wasn't so sure. But because of the above mentioned darkness and storminess it just wasn't convenient to be running off to the hospital and having a baby. :-) So, I went to bed instead. I had some contractions through the night but nothing big and when I woke up, it was like nothing ever happened. I felt completely normal and my contractions had stopped. Did I dream all that? But I went to the doc's to have them test for amniotic fluid and sure enough I had broken my water. They actually escorted me to the hospital and checked in for me (since I obviously couldn't be trusted) and I called Joey to come and meet me there. I sat alone in my hospital room feeling normal with no contractions and thought - oh man, this is going to be a long day. They started me on Pitocin at about 10:30, I had my first contraction at about 11:00 (Joey got there just in time for the fun part), I had contractions and pain until about 1:45 and then I got an epidural -ahhh. With Luke the epidural didn't work - meaning a whole lot of extra, unanticipated pain and inserting that delightful needle twice - so I was really happy to have this one work the first time and it worked so fast. But I was only able to relax about 20 minutes when I felt an extreme amount of pressure. I had the nurse check me and I was complete and ready for pushing. I was so happy to have dilated to a ten so fast but this was the part I was dreading most. With Luke I pushed an hour and a half and was so exhausted by the end I didn't even feel like I could hold a baby and I felt sort of robbed of the emotions I expected to feel. So, I wasn't looking forward to this. But, about 15 minutes into it the doctor and and nurses started scrambling to get ready to deliver the baby. I said "what is happening?" The doctor said "try not to push just yet. we are almost ready. you are about to meet your daughter!" I couldn't believe it happened so fast! I felt a rush of emotion and squeezed Joey's hand. We both had tears in our eyes and I just felt excited and happy. And then with one more easy push - she was there. On my chest - grey and grimy and covered in goop - and beautiful. My daughter. My DAUGHTER! Meeting her was one of the best experiences of my life.
It's crazy how in a few short hours you can go from normal day to holding a new baby in your arms - YOUR baby. Someone you've carried around with you for 9 months but never seen before. The past few days have been so magical (but also mixed with a little crazy post birth emotions mind you). There is nothing like looking into the tiny face of a newborn and having her look back at you and just feeling your heart swell. We have all felt the spirit stronger in our home and are falling in love with this beautiful baby girl.
Here is a video Joey took when Lucy is 20 minutes old. Disclaimer - I didn't know he was taking it.
ps - so i'm realizing the challenge of having a second baby. i want to be two people. a fun, energetic mom who showers her two year old with love and attention, who is not distracted and fully enjoys this 2 year old stage. AND a mom who just gets to sit on the couch and stare at her newborn with no interruptions or rambuctious 2 yr olds who maybe want to sit on or squish the baby. so, any suggestions how do mesh those two?
It's just after midnight and I'm in a quiet house - not mine. I finally got the baby to sleep - not mine. It's been a very strange day. It was actually unseasonably warm today - which was a nice break from the 18 degree weather we've been having. It was a sunny, 65 degree day and I took Luke to the playground and enjoyed the sun on my face. When I got home, Joey had just gotten back from mountain biking and we were just chilling with a few friends - when we looked out the window and saw that our neighbor's house was on fire! Black smoke was billowing out of their second story window - soon to follow were bright orange flames, windows shattering and it seemed like their whole house was going to explode. It was all a blur and the next thing I know I'm across the street huddled on the ground with an elderly Indian woman wrapped in a blanket who is crying in my arms and tears are streaming down my face. Our neighbors are from India and this was a mother-in-law who was there helping with their 4 month old baby. I'm not sure exactly what happened but they think it was started by an oil lamp in their prayer room. It all seemed surreal that this family's home was being destroyed right in front of our eyes. Luckily the baby and everyone in the house got out ok. We stayed with the family and our other neighbors for hours. It felt strange to go back home and try to resume our normal lives but there was nothing left to be done. I'm sure they will need help and some donations of clothes etc. soon. Then, later tonight we were standing in line to buy movie tickets on our Friday night date - when my good friend called in tears. Her son has a rare condition where he doesn't feel pain. He's only 17 months old and this is a new diagnosis. It is extremely rare -like one in two hundred million. Anyway, between sobs she was able to say he was biting his tongue off and she couldn't get him to stop. She thought maybe Joey could file down his teeth or something or at least help her husband give him a priesthood blessing. So, we rushed to their house and found my friend and her husband holding their sweet boy and both of them were just covered in blood. For some reason I guess he was fixated on biting his tongue and was just completely piercing it. We decided what he needed right away was some Benadryl to get him to sleep so he would stop biting and they could figure out a long term solution. My friend jumped in her car to rush to a Pharmacy and backed into our car! Our car was smashed but also, she got some pretty bad whiplash and was hurting. I couldn't believe it - after all she'd been through already. They are at the hospital now possibly getting him sedated so that the oral surgeons can work on him. I'm here with their newborn. My heart is aching for our neighbors who lost so much of their house and for my good friends who are exhausted trying to make decisions regarding this uncharted medical territory.
"I am a child of God and He has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do to live with Him some day. "
Luke sings all the time but he NEVER sings when I try to record him (so frustrating!). So, this is a precious little recording right here. I wish I could get ALL his songs on tape. My mom has a recording of us talking and singing when we are little and we still all get together and listen to it. My sister Sarah sings this song when she is two. I think I'm about four and I sing "Tomorrow" from Annie. It's classic stuff.
So, I haven't written much about this pregnancy. And to be honest, I haven't thought about it much. I obsessed about pregnancy and child birth when I was pregnant with Luke. It's all I thought about. I read all the books, had crazy dreams, asked everyone I knew about their birth experience etc. But this time, I guess since I've done it before and I have a pretty energetic Lukey to keep up with - I haven't thought about it as much. It's just been the last couple of days I've thought - I'M HAVING A BABY THIS MONTH! Maybe I should start getting ready. I went through all her clothes and organized them into sizes. I went through all of Luke's clothes and pulled out the ones that would work for a girl. It's actually a kind of a high getting all the little hats, socks, onsies, jammies, outfits and dresses ready. This pregnancy has been really good except the first trimester was yucky. Even though I'm huge and uncomfortable right now, I would choose this over being nauseous any day. I was never sick with Luke but was sick with this baby and I gained an appreciation for all the girls I know who are really sick during pregnancy. I wasn't even really sick, just sick and I hated it. Speaking of things I've gained - I've also gained about 35 pounds - which is the same as with Luke. Although I've been exercising like crazy this time and I didn't exercise a single day with Luke so I'm surprised I've gained so much. I did a fitness challenge thing in December at our gym and it was REALLY hard but I DID IT! The challenge was just going to 15 exercise classes in the month but it was hard for lazy, lazy me. My prize is a t-shirt from the gym. Yeah, I know. But Joey bought me a prenatal massage session for Christmas that I used as my reward too. I did a lot of water aerobics with sweet old ladies who give me a lot of attention, some body conditioning, some step and even a few boot camp sessions. It's been fun. I'm due on January 28th - so I have about 3 1/2 weeks left. I reread some of my old journals when Luke was first born and read how I got 20 minutes of sleep one night. How did I forget THAT? I read about how much pain I was in and how hard it was to keep up with breastfeeding and his sleeping (or non-sleeping) schedule. As I was reading, all the memories came flooding back and I got really scared about what was coming. I remember just sleeping WHENEVER Luke did, just to survive. How am I supposed to do that with a 2 year old who still needs a mom? Yikes! Well, people do it - so I guess I can... right? My mom and dad are coming the first part of February which I'm really happy about since I'm pretty sure he likes them better than me - he'll be fine. So, Luke has been pretty funny. All this talk about babies is confusing him. First we teach him about his baby sister. Then, we talk for a month about baby Jesus. Now, he calls all babies baby Jesus and lifts up his shirt to pat his belly and show people his baby sister. But he really does love babies and talks in his high baby voice anytime he sees one and loves to share his blankie and kisses with them.
stay tuned for the actual event coming (hopefully) soon.
Joey and Katie first met in Mr. Hawkes 3rd grade class at Valley Elementary. They became good friends in Jr. High and best friends in High School. Katie wrote to Joey on his mission in Tiajuana and Joey wrote to Katie later on her mission in Tokyo. Years later at the ripe old age of 25, these best friends finally fell in love... or maybe just realized they were already in love. They got married on January 22, 2004.
