a little about lyla

this baby stole our hearts from the moment she was born.  she has the prettiest brown eyes, the cutest chubby cheeks and thighs, and a beautiful little smile.

i thought her entrance into this world would be a little more eventful since i was walking around dilated to a five, but she really threw us for a loop.  it seems like she has thrown me for a loop every day since early pregnancy, but that's okay.  from thinking i miscarried at least three times (it was just a tear in the placenta), to a 2am trip to the e.r., to at least four ultrasounds to make sure she was still a viable pregnancy, to taking her sweet time in labor, to smiling at six days old, to screaming her lungs out the next minute, she sure keeps us on our toes.

the morning i went into labor, i had my membranes stripped at my doctor's office.  i was dilated to a five with no painful contractions, so my midwife said basically the minute those contractions were five minutes apart, i should come to the hospital.  she told me to mentally prepare myself for not getting an epidural in time because i was already half-way dilated.  i was worried i would have a baby on the freeway since the hospital is 30 minutes from our house.  anyway, i dropped scott off at work after my appointment, turned the corner, and a really painful contraction hit.  it was so painful that i turned right back around and picked scott up from work.  the contractions were painful and about four minutes apart, so we rushed home, packed our stuff, and went to the hospital.  on the way to the hospital, my contractions turned into little cramps, but i did not want to have that baby on the freeway, so we went anyway.  the nurse checked me and i had not dilated past five cm, so they made me walk around for an hour.  i found a little ramp leading to an auditorium and walked up an down that for an hour, making sure to dig my heels in going down so i could get that baby down a little further.  after an hour, the nurse checked me again and she thought i was about a six, so i could stay.  i think she may have lied a little, but she knew how bad i wanted to stay and have a baby that day.

so basically from 1pm to 6pm, i only dilated to seven cm and my contractions weren't strong enough to get me past that.  i had my two doses of antibiotic for the group b strep and then my midwife broke my water and i got the epidural.  at that point, my contractions were still like cramps so i never really felt any strong contractions besides those first ones after my membranes were stripped.  i'm pretty sure i wasn't in true labor, but i was so done being pregnant and my midwife knew it.  the epidural did nothing to help the contractions so they gave me a little pitocin.  within an hour, i was dilated to eight cm and the contractions were much stronger.  i guess my body just needed a little boost.  after the nurse checked me, i started feeling really strong contractions and a lot of pressure.  she noticed on her register that my contractions were getting stronger so she came and checked me again five minutes later.  i was dilated to ten cm and ready to push.  i was so nervous for the pushing part because i pushed for a whole three hours with jonah.  my midwife assured me that it wouldn't happen again, but i wasn't so sure.  i ended up pushing for 40 minutes.  it was amazing.  i'm jealous of women who push three times and the baby just pops out, but i was really happy with how the delivery turned out this time.  so much better than last time.

lyla jean made her debut at 9pm sharp.  she had the chubbiest cheeks and big, beautiful eyes.  she latched right on and has been the nursing champion of the world ever since.  

she doesn't really like many people besides scott and me.  if i didn't love her so much, it would bother me, but i secretly love it because i get extra time with her.

she struggles with sleeping.  she usually sleeps from 8pm to 2am, but then she's up every two to three hours after that.  most nights, it's fine with me because i just get a little extra time to soak her up.

she is extremely cuddly and she loves to nuzzle her face in to my nose.  when i lay next to her, she sticks her face right in mine, her eyes roll back in to her head, and she falls asleep.  it's heavenly.

this girl has us all wrapped around her little finger.  she is the perfect addition to our crazy little family and we love her more than words can say.