Introducing Lydia Kae

Love, Love, Love this picture.... Brendan wasn't so sure of her at first but we had to hold Jackson back:)

Luke and his daughter and the birthday boy.

Brendan is all about her pacifier and wants to hold her whenever he sees her.

Mom and the 3 kids before heading home. 

Our 3 children... what miracles they all are!
 

I can't believe it's been 6 days since Lydia has arrived.  Life has adjusted so quickly and I can't imagine it without her!  After all of that waiting, we are all in love with this new little girl.  Our actual due date was the 19th and she decided to arrive on the 17th (actually if given her choice she would've waited I'm thinking).  I had been having contractions for some time now and last week Wednesday they started becoming more intense but didn't get too close together.  Around 4:30 in the morning, my water broke (something that didn't happen until I was at the hospital with the other two).  We called the doctor at 5:30am and he sent me right in because I had Group B Strep which meant that I needed some antibiotics before delivery.  So, we called my mom and she came over to be with the boys.  We arrived at the hospital around 7am and were hooked up to the IV's right away.  When they checked me, I was only dilated to a 2 so they started me on pitocin.  And our long day began.  Both of the boys were super long labors as well and honestly the worst part about it is that we get anxious for things to happen - epidurals make the wait much more bearable!  So we settled in and started watching some Netflicks shows.  Thank goodness for wonderful nurses as well!  Around 3pm I was still only dilated to a 5 so our nurse had me lay on my side for awhile and things started to progress some more.  At 5pm she came in and switched me to my other side and within an hour I went from a 5 to fully dilated!  It was amazing how quickly it went.  Of course by then I had started shaking and when I told her that she called the doctor right away since shaking like that is a sign that you're ready to push.  It took only 10 minutes of pushing and Miss Lydia Kae arrived.  Even when we started pushing, she wasn't completely down but she came down quickly.  When she arrived, she had the cord around her neck twice so it took her a minute to let out that first cry.  But it certainly is a beautiful sound!  We spent some time cuddling with her and then called her big brothers.  My mom and dad were quick to rush down with them to meet her and find out her name.  We didn't tell them the name initially because the Kae is after my mom and my sister and we wanted to see my mom's reaction.  Unfortunately Sara was working so we had to tell her on the phone but she rushed to the hospital after she got off working the next morning.  I can't get over that miracle of birth and the joy of seeing a child for the first time.  It's amazing how much love I have for the kids and how much more I fall in love with Luke with the birth of each child.  He has become a pro at being a labor coach!  More posts to come with Lydia's first few days but we're finding ourselves a bit busier these last few days.  However, it's a good kind of busy!