Holidays and more

Today Layla is 4 months old. Quite the young lady she is becoming. Her little personality is starting to show. She loves to smile and coo and will often turn her her head in embarrassment when talked to. Personally, I think she is just working on the skill of flirting.
Lilly continues to be a delight and honestly makes me laugh every day. She is always saying the most hilarious things and definitely keeps us on our toes as to what we say when she is around. She is starting to be a bit more challenging when it comes to discipline. If there was ever a doubt as to whether or not she has a strong will, it has definitely been determined that she does. Not necessarily a bad thing but trying to figure out how to parent her in the most effective way is another story. She continues to enjoy books and puzzles and has recently found an enjoyment for taking care of her dolls (feeding, bathing, diapering, etc.). Wonder where she got that from?
The last few months have been busy, busy. We traveled back home for Thanksgiving and then had Thanksgiving at our house with Mike's family that weekend. My mom had her 60th birthday and retirement party a few weeks ago. Of course we made the trip home to celebrate. The following week I celebrated my 33rd birthday (by the way, my husband went above and beyond to make the day special). Last weekend we went to Mike's moms for Christmas and then will be leaving later today for my parents house to celebrate our family Christmas.
With everything that's going on it's amazing how God has blessed us with a sense of peace and calmness during this season. We haven't felt obligated or stressed to be anywhere or do anything and have managed to find the right balance of spending time with others and just being together as a family. As the year comes to a close I honestly can't even begin to count my blessings but I know the One who can and for Him I'm eternally grateful!

Thanksgiving Day


Thanksgiving Day with Great-Grandparents


"Big" and "Little" Sister


Sisters


Lilly helping Daddy decorate the Christmas Tree


Layla watching all the Christmas decorating


Saying a quick prayer :)


A fun playdate with our Besties (best friends)






She really is the "best gift ever"..or at least one of two!


Simply Sweet

4 months old

Where has the time gone?

Today Layla is 3 months old and later in the week Lilly will be 33 months (wow, that's a lot of 3's). The last few weeks have been a lot of fun around here. Layla is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings and loves to smile when talked to. She started cooing earlier in the week so we love getting to hear her sweet little noises. Lilly is really enjoying being a "Big Sister". She is always asking to hold Layla and enjoys being her "Doctor". For some unknown reason she is fascinated when I change Layla's diapers and always asks if she can look inside the dirty diaper. She also loves getting up in Layla's face to talk to her and make her smile. It's fun getting to see my two girls enjoy each other and look forward to the day when they can actually play together and have "real" conversations.

Growing and Changing

A few pictures from the last couple of weeks

Lilly taking a rest from helping daddy rake leaves.


Halloween 2010


Our first visit back home.
Layla got to see both sets of great-grandparents as well as cousins, aunts and uncles
(Afghan is courtesy of Great-Grandma Vi)


Just being cute

2 months old

Today Layla is 2 months old. I'm not sure how or when that happened but somehow it did. Last week she had her 8 week check-up. She is in the 50th percentile in both height and weight (22.5 inches and 10 lbs 15 oz).

She is definitely growing and changing daily. In the last week or so she has discovered her fist which she tends to stare at until she goes cross-eyed. On occasion she will put it in her mouth and start sucking/chewing. She has also started smiling in response. I've only been able to get her to do it a time or two. Mike, on the other hand, seems to have no problem. Of course I just like to think he has a funnier face. Just today he was able to capture a few of those moments.

First weeks at home

Our first few weeks at home have gone really well. From the beginning I assumed that taking care of the newborn would be the easy part. It was taking care of a toddler too that worried me. The first few days were a little overwhelming but surprisingly we settled into a routine and rhythm fairly quickly. Lilly seems to be enjoying the role as "Big Sister". For the most part she just ignores Layla but a few times a day she will ask where Layla is and want to look at and/or hold her. Her favorite thing to inform me is that Layla is "fussin" (as if I didn't know...ha). She has become a really big helper in taking care of Layla (bringing her toys, sharing her blanky, patting her back, etc.) and even carried her from the playroom to the kitchen without mommy even knowing (whew...a lot of tears but everyone survived!). Life certainly has changed a lot in the last 5 weeks but each day brings a new blessing and another reminder as to why being a mom is the most challenging yet most rewarding job in the world.

Lilly, mommy and Layla (4 days old)


Mimi, Lilly, Papa, Layla (4 days old)


4 generations


A quick pose on Sunday morning


Getting ready to take Layla to church for the 1st time


Layla doing what she does best (2 1/2 weeks old)


"Cheese"


Bright eyed


Showing off my mobility at 4 weeks old


Worn out from my adventure


Often tummy time leads to an afternoon nap


One month old


Proud big sister
(Doesn't this look like a classic 1st day of school picture?)

Layla's Birth Story

Now that Layla is a month old I'm feeling guilty about the lack of posts. Many of you have been asking about her birth story so I'll start there.

At my 37 week appointment we were expecting just another typical check-up. However, it didn't take long to learn that the baby had decided to turn breech. Since it is very unusual (less than 4% of babies) for a baby to switch positions at this stage of pregnancy you can only imagine that we (Dr. included) were very surprised. After a quick sonogram to confirm the baby's position and a long discussion about potential options we decided to schedule an ECV (manually turning the baby from a breech to head-down position). The following Monday we checked in to the hospital at 6:30 am to have the ECV. Much to our surprise this active baby had already decided to turn and was in the head-down position. Of course we were thrilled to not have to endure the ECV procedure but little did we know it was only the beginning.


Two days later I had my 38 week appointment. Everything seemed to be checking out OK and then I heard the words no pregnant woman wants to hear from their doctor... "oh no". Once again baby had decided to turn breech. After another quick ultrasound to confirm the baby's position we talked through the options available to us:
1) We could wait to go into labor naturally and hope the baby had turned back to head down position.
2) We could wait to go into labor naturally and if baby was still breech we could attempt a vaginal breech delivery (several potential complications with this and not a very common option in the U.S.)
3) We could schedule a c-section (my least favorable option)
4) We could schedule another ECV and if the baby was successfully turned then we would immediately be induced into labor to ensure the baby stayed head-down.

After much prayer and talking to family and friends we decided to go for option #4.


The following Monday, August 23rd, we were admitted to the hospital at 6:30 am to attempt the ECV and you'll never guess what.....baby was back in the head down position (stubborn baby). The nurse came in to get my IV started and at 7:15 am (less than 30 minutes later) "our little gymnast" decided once again that she preferred the breech position. Seriously???


At this point our Dr. had discussed the situation with the on-call Dr. and one of the OB/GYN's on duty. They decided collaboratively that this baby had an "unstable lie" and attempting a vaginal birth was highly discouraged (the main concern was the potential for a cord prolapse). They highly suggested a c-section to avoid all potential risks associated with this "unstable lie". Our doctor prayed with us and then left the room so Mike and I could discuss our options. Immediately Mike said "I think we need to have a c-section". I can't really explain what I was feeling but I felt a complete sense of peace as I felt God speaking to me saying we were NOT suppose to have the c-section and to move forward with the vaginal birth attempt. That's a lot to swallow as a mom knowing that ultimately this decision was in my hands.

Around 11 am my parents showed up at the hospital and shortly thereafter Mike's mom arrived.



At 1 pm I was given an epidural and taken to the operating room to attempt the ECV. The procedure took about 10 seconds and was successful. Immediately they broke my water and then we had to wait in the OR for an hour so they could monitor the baby's heart rate. About 10-15 minutes later I had a drastic drop in blood pressure (70/30). They immediately leaned my bed back to balance my blood flow and shortly thereafter everything normalized. In the mean time, Mike was literally laying on the floor feeling light-headed and woozy. I can't help but to laugh now as we were both looking pretty bad there for a brief period of time.


At 1:40 pm I was administered Pitocin to get my contractions started. I was dilated to 4 cm.

At 2:30 pm baby, mom (and even dad's) heart rates looked good so we were moved back to our labor/delivery room.

5 pm - 5 cm

7 pm - 7-8 cm

7:20 pm - 8-9 cm

7:40 pm - 9-10 cm

8:17 pm - Doctor came in and I started pushing

8:32 pm - Layla Faith Richardson was born at 7lbs. 15.5 oz and 19.5 inches.
(Upon entering the world and not wanting to go unnoticed, Layla decided to turn one last time from head facing down to head facing up)




The following day Layla was introduced to her "Big Sister".


I can honestly say that when they placed Layla in my arms she slipped into my heart.
Our family has truly been blessed in more ways than one (literally)!