Livia's Arrival

On March 31, 2011 at 3:12 pm, our little family became a family of 5 when we were blessed with the birth of our third child...Livia Jae. She weighed 8 lbs, 3oz and was 20.25 inches long.

We checked into the hospital at 6:30 that morning to be induced. "My" due date was 3.31, the doctor's due date was 4.2 but I had been having contractions for quite some time and was just ready. I had gone 10 days early with Cade, 7 days early with Brecken, and I was just over waiting and wondering when it was going to happen. I couldn't believe I was still pregnant! I didn't want to have the baby on April Fool's Day if I could help it so we chose the 31st. Jim wanted to wait until Monday the 4th, which would have been a cool birth date (4.4.11), but he wasn't carrying the child so therefore had no say in the matter. ; )

My mom came up the night before to take care of the kids who were getting just as anxious as I to meet their new brother or sister. Brecken was adamant that it was going to be a girl, referred to as her "baby sister" throughout the entire pregnancy. I was pretty sure she was going to be disappointed when we brought home her baby brother, but for the third time I was wrong on predicting what we were going to have. Even before she knew what it was though, she was telling people in the hospital, "I'm here to see my new baby sister!" Cade was hoping for a brother, but was more open to the idea that it might be a sister and he was okay with that.

The doctor arrived at 8:30 and broke my water. Then Jim and I began walking the halls...which got old after about 2 laps. This was all new for us...I had never been allowed out of the hospital bed before because things happened so quickly. Some time after 10:30 when things weren't progressing, they started me on Pitocin (sp) and then continued to increase the strength until the contractions got strong enough. So the tough labor started at about 12:30 and she was born at 3:12, not terrible, but I did have to push longer than I ever have and they talked me out of an epidural which has pretty much sealed the deal that we will not be having any more children...I don't think my body can physically go through labor again!! Jim was awesome support as usual but I think the main thing he remembers from labor and what he loves to tell everyone is how he got swatted at one point. He was pressing on my hip and it hurt! I was in too much pain to speak, so I just swatted at his hand...of course his version of the story is much more animated.

We had two nurses with us throughout the day (thank goodness for 12 hour shifts), Kathy and Stephenie, who was a nursing student (and happened to be the wife of one of the members of a local band that we have loved since college.) The doctor was the same one that delivered Brecken. I had asked the nurses earlier in the day if they had ever delivered a baby without a doctor and they said, "oh yes, just last week." So when the doctor left me in the middle of pushing to go check on another patient and they made me stop pushing, I was tempted to just keep going. What did we need him for anyway?! ; ) When he came back, he said something like, "you didn't think you were going to have this baby without me, did you?" Grrr...

We didn't have a girl's name picked out, so we didn't name her for quite awhile. I think I finally just left it up to Jim because it was too stressful of a decision. People that say you can look at the baby and decide what name fits them...I don't get that. And that wasn't happening for me at all. We are planning to call her Livi.

We came home on Saturday the 2nd, my mom stayed until Tuesday the 5th and was a big help with Cade & Brecken. The last two weeks have been a blur...lack of sleep, adjusting, trying to balance three kids and give each of them enough attention, calming a fussy baby, two weight check appointments, a two-week checkup, two trips to the hospital to check bilirubin (sp) levels, lots of car rides to do pick up at school/daycare, a few visitors, cleaning the townhome so the realtor could take pictures, laundry, walking the dog, walks to the park, and lots of cuddling. There are times when it's overwhelming but since this is most likely our last, we are just trying to soak it all in and savor every moment, the good and the not so good.

Cade and Brecken are adjusting well. They love their little sister and cannot give her enough kisses, hugs, cuddles. Cade is a big help in the car, giving her the pacifier when she needs it and they have both become quite excellent at shushing her to calm her down. Cade is always telling me how cute she is. At first they didn't like her crying much, but I think they have gotten used to it. Living in the townhome hasn't been the easiest, mostly because there's nowhere for the kids to go outside and play. I just keep thinking how much easier things would be if we were at our old house. But we are hoping to be in our new house by the end of May, so I have started the countdown!

Ok,  this post turned out to be much longer than I was planning, so I'll stop now.

We are all so happy that Livi is finally here and look forward to watching her grow!