Our First Family Photo

This is our first family photo and it is a riot. Uncle Bob and Aunt Windy brought us dinner and a Christmas party! They arrived with boiled shrimp, potatoes, bread, and salad, dressed up for Christmas with Santa Claus hats in tow. Olivia was ecstatic! She danced to Christmas music and sang Christmas carols while we visited. It was very cute. We all were given hats and had to take a family photo in front of the Christmas tree. Olivia's smile says it all. Lilly slept through everything and, as you can see from Jeremy and I, we are doing good these days to keep our heads up. No makeup and bags under my eyes - well, I did take a shower that day...

The First Meeting

Olivia was not allowed to visit us in the hospital due to the H1N1 restrictions, so her first meeting with her little sister happened when we arrived home from the hospital. This has been a source of anxiety for us for some time, since Olivia cries when other babies cry and has recently taken to telling me that she does not like babies. But her Nanny and Papaw, who kept her while we were in the hospital, worked diligently with her, so she was a little prepared when we arrived home. The second we walked in the door she had a look of pure terror on her face and her hands over her ears in preparation for the baby to cry. She warmed up after a while of showering attention on her and not focusing on the baby and presented Lilly with a present - a new outfit she picked out and a sippy cup with Lilly's name on it (spelled "Lily"). She wouldn't come within a few feet of her without getting terrified (as you can see from the pictures), but it was better than I ever imagined it would be. Daddy bought Olivia a new camera as a present from Lilly and that, along with a box of Cheerios he sent home to her from the hospital from my breakfast tray, were a BIG hit. Lilly slept through the entire ordeal, completely oblivious, of course. All things considered, I think the introduction went really well.

Lillian Belle ("Lilly") Lankster

We welcomed Lillian Belle Lankster into this world at 11:51 a.m. on Thursday, December 3, 2009. She weighed a whopping 5 lbs. and 14 oz. at birth and was 19 inches long. It was quite a ride, particularly since my due date was not for another 2 weeks or December 17th. For those of you who don't know the story (and are interested) and of course, for posterity's sake, I will quickly fill you in.

On Tuesday, December 1st, and Jeremy's birthday, I had a particularly long day of painful Braxton-Hicks contractions and then a couple of hours that night of actual contractions, albeit irregular. I had a regular appointment scheduled with Dr. Simms on Wednesday, December 2nd, at lunchtime, but I was feeling better, so I scarfed down some peanut butter crackers since I had only had a bowl of cereal and headed to the appointment. When I reported to Dr. Simms what happened the day before, she asked about the baby's movement. I told her I thought it had decreased some, although I still had 10 kicks in 10 hours as required. She decided to put me on the fetal heart monitor, which I had done the previous week before with no problems. Unfortunately, she noticed a drop in the baby's heart rate during a contraction (that I did not feel). Dr. Simms decided to check me into the hospital for the night for prolonged fetal heart monitoring and an ultrasound, with the possibility of being induced in the morning. Dr. Simms said that even if the heart rate turned out to be fine, she could still induce me in the morning if I wanted, but I was so freaked out that I wasn't ready to make that decision.

Jeremy and I headed to the hospital, where I sat hooked up to the fetal heart monitor for most of the day. They didn't let me eat or drink anything, so I was absolutely starving and actually started having uncomfortable contractions every 5 minutes due to dehydration. I was wheeled off to an ultrasound that showed everything was normal other than the baby was small. A previous ultrasound, done a week earlier, estimated her weight at 5 lbs. and 11 oz. This ultrasound estimated her weight almost the same. By 7:00 that night I had not heard from my doctor and was worried about what was happening. A mix-up ensued in which the nurses informed me that they could not locate my doctor (I later discover that they apparently didn't try very hard) but they located Dr. Owen, who is in practice with Dr. Simms and helped deliver Olivia. Dr. Owen took a look at the stats and informed us that he was going to induce me at 5:30 the next morning because the baby was small and apparently not growing.

So Jeremy and I settled in for the night and I did not sleep at all. They moved me into a labor and delivery room at 4:30, induced me at 5:30, I was dilated 3-4 cm at 8:30 and Dr. Simms arrived to break my water. After my water was broken, I followed the doc's advice this time and went ahead and got my epidural. Boy, what a difference. I can safely say that my epidural did NOT work with Olivia, as this was a completely different experience. I felt nothing for the next several hours, despite contractions and dilating. In fact, I slept for a good hour before I woke at around 11ish with the pressure that ultimately led to 4 rounds of pushing before Miss Lillian entered the world at 11:51 a.m. It was a wonderful experience and we will always treasure it! I hope you enjoy the photos of our little Lilly Belle!

The Punkin Posse

If you have ever heard of us refer to the "punkin posse" and had no idea what we were talking about, this blog explains it. Olivia has an entire entourage of stuffed animals that must go to bed with her each night. We continue to add to them on an ad hoc basis and Jeremy and I refer to them as the "punkin posse." Hence the queen size bed.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We celebrated Jeremy's birthday on December 1st with a birthday cake that Daddy and Olivia made together. Daddy baked it and Olivia iced it, with the help of Nanny. Then Mommy wrote "Happy Birthday Dad" on it and Olivia helped put in the candles and blow them out. It was quite a project, but very fun. We also celebrated with dinner at Malone's. A low key but very special birthday, especially when Olivia sang "Happy Birthday" to Daddy!

An Ultrasound At 37 weeks

Jeremy's cousin, who is due to have her second child in January, went to an ultrasound and found out that the girl she thought she was having was actually a boy! Needless to say, that surprise scared me to death so I begged for an additional ultrasound to make sure that Lilly was actually a girl. It is confirmed - she is a girl. The pictures are really cool. Here is one of her sucking her hand!

A Baby Sprinkle

My friend, Laura, from work was kind enough to throw me a baby "sprinkle" (as opposed to a baby shower for your first child) the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Olivia attended with me in her "party" dress and had a wonderful time helping Mommy open all the presents for her baby sissy, Lilly. Everyone was very generous and the shower was so fun. Even Olivia received a special present - a "big sister" t-shirt monogrammed with her name! Thanks to everyone who was able to take time out of their busy schedule to attend and celebrate with us!