Baby Number 3 Makes Her Grand Entrance: A Birth Story

The day finally arrived - baby sister made her entrance into the world!  Given my track record, it took us by surprise.  If you'll recall, Merryn was born at 40 weeks and 5 days.  WIth Merryn, I went into labor and experienced contraction after contraction for 26 loooooong hours.  I never dilated past 8 so at 2:34am, they wheeled us into the operating room and she was surgically evicted from my cozy uterus thanks to what the medical community calls "failure to progress." 

 

This time around, I was receptive to the idea of a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) but we went ahead and scheduled a C-section anyway because there was a high likelihood the same thing that happened with Merryn would happen again. 

 

Because Merryn was overdue, I assumed this baby would try to hang out in the womb as long as possible just like her sister did.  But my doctor was not going to let me overcook this baby, so a C-section was scheduled for Thursday, May 29th.  However, this morning, baby #3 decided she'd baked long enough and to my surprise, my water broke around 7am.  Her timing could not have been better because Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne just rolled into town last night!  So they came and picked up the girls and Travis and I headed for the hospital. 

 

We took a couple final pregnancy photos for posterity, including one by the Starbucks kiosk in the hospital lobby!  Leanne is going to flip when she sees this!

The medical experts convinced me that a repeat C-section was preferable to a VBAC in this scenario so we settled in to our hospital room and we waited to be taken back to the OR.

 At 11:19am, baby Lydia made her grand entrance into this world weighing 6lbs and 9oz and measuring at 19inches long!  It turns out the C-section would have been the only option regardless, because little Miss Lydia was breech. 

 

We were so delighted to finally meet our bundle of joy and it was as wonderful as we had anticipated.  She even impressed us with her natural flair for drama by busting out a killer pout face.  Nice, Little Lady!  Tell us how you really feel!  Ha!

 I'll tell you how I really feel - I feel absolutely head over heels in love with this precious face;  I feel blessed to be able to participate in the miracle of life;  And I feel humbled that God bestowed upon me the great privilege of being her mother.

 It's amazing how much better you feel after a C-section when you hadn't spent the previous 26 hours in a grueling labor.  I immediately wanted to share the love with my mom, sister, and daughters.

Josie caught us by surprise when she demonstrated an unusually enthusiastic interest in the baby.  We really thought she'd take the same approach with her little sister as she takes with our dog "You ignore me, I'll ignore you, and we'll get along just fine!"  But no, Josie wanted to see and touch Lydia all the while enthusiastically proclaiming "Baby!  Baby!  Baby! Baby! Baaaaaaabbbbbbbyyyy!!!!"

Being the seasoned aunt that she is, Leanne scooped little Lydia up and cradled her, cooed at her, and kissed her.  She told me that this baby was the best birthday present she could have asked for (even though her birthday isn't until next week).  

And what a gift she is!  This whole day has been incredible and we are so very grateful to welcome this little miracle into our family!