Lillian is two weeks old now! Mike went back to work yesterday so Lil and I had our first day alone. All went well. She is such an easy baby. Though I guess at this age there isn't much that can go wrong so fixing her problems is pretty easy. She is starting to smile a lot, usually in her sleep. I know that it's not intentional, it has to be the most precious thing I've seen. She is finally starting to tolerate having her diaper changed. For the first two weeks she screamed like it was torture. She likes being tied to me in her carrier, spent about two hours like that yesterday as I made bread, cleaned the kitchen, and did laundry. I don't know what I would do without her carrier, it allows me to get so much done, maybe too much. :-) I think a shopping trip may be in order today as I have no pants that fit and Old Navy is having a sale. We'll see how it goes. :-)

fever

24 hours ago, Mike was grilling steaks, I had the rest of dinner going. It was surprisingly cool (79) so we had the doors and windows open. We had gone to Garrett and Selene's and stopped for frozen yogurt. Lillian was sleeping in her swing, no blanket I picked her up and she was burning up! She had been pretty sleepy all day but I didn't think much about it, she had been nursing just fine. Well needless to say, she had a decently high fever, Mike remembers the numbers but I don't. He went and got Tylenol but we didn't give her any until this morning. Her temp is now normal with the Tylenol in her system. She has been more alert this evening. I think she's going to be fine.

I had no idea how scared I would be when my baby got sick. I never even thought about it. I didn't think that MY baby would get sick when she was so tiny. I am glad that Mike can stay calm, he very often looks at problems not from the problem perspective but from the "how to fix it" side. I don't do that, I get stuck on the problem. I have never worried about anyone the way I worried about Lilly. She's so tiny and helpless with no way to tell me what's wrong. I certainly hope for my sake and hers that this doesn't happen often. She's too little to be sick and my emotions can't handle it.

Lucky for me I have lots of people with experience to help me out.

Well we have made it thus far without any problems. Lilly is such and easy baby! Mike and I could use a little more sleep but all in all it's not too bad. Nursing has come quite easily to me, no problems at all. We are cloth diapering now too, I figured I'd wait until I got breast feeding down but since that didn't take much we switched.

We are keeping busy, though trying not to do too much at the request of my midwife. I'm not very good at following orders, I think I get that from my mother. It is hard for me to take it easy, especially when I feel so good. I had an appointment yesterday and was told that I am healing well!

We had photos taken yesterday by my doula. She did a few with my camera but we are waiting for the rest. We did pregnancy photos with her as well and haven't seen those either. Will have lots to look through soon. A friend of Mike's parents is also going to do some photos for us. He has some new equipment he wants to try out and it will all be free so we'll see what happens with that. We will have a birth announcement soon I hope.

The sporting goods store and Joann Fabric...

Mike had to go into work for a few hours today. He has been wanting bullets for his gun but everywhere we look they have been out. So this morning before he leaves he tells me that if I want someplace to go I could check Big 5 for bullets. So because I'm going crazy and looking for any excuse to get out of the house we go. Miss Lilly, slept the entire time. I have to admit that I did feel a bit strange carrying my 5 day old baby into the store and asking for 9mm bullets but oh well. I decided that we needed to balance out the bullet trip by heading to Joann's. I was looking for some ideas for birth announcements but didn't find any. I did find some flannel for a very girly blanket, will have to take my coupon back to get a binding and then get the machine down.

Mike's younger brother is coming up tonight so Garrett and Selene are coming over for dinner. Thank goodness my mother in law is here, I am not up to cooking for that many. Will be nice to have everyone here, but I am tired just thinking about it. I think the rumor is that they are all leaving tomorrow. Mike doesn't have to go back to work until the end of next week so we'll have some time just the two of us before we have to start normal life.

We'll see how dinner goes...

Lilly's first outing

We had our first outing today and Lilly was great! She slept...the entire two hours we were gone. I think it has something to do with the fact that my milk came in. We went to the grocery for a few things and then to Old Navy for a few things for Lilly and Daddy. We had a couple coupons and we don't have nearly enough cute little girl things. So we bought a few things. It's all in the wash now so maybe we'll get a couple cute pictures later. Right now, Lilly is sleeping so I should be too. Mike's dad is coming in to town in a few hours plus an appointment with my midwife. Need to rest :-)

Day 3

So we have made it to day three! All three of us are doing well. Lilly is asleep in her crib right now, so I manage a 45 minute nap all to myself! She slept from about 2 am to 7am last night. I don't expect that to continue but I was grateful for the hours. Still waiting on my milk to come in. Lilly sure knows what she's doing so I think it will be soon. Finally was allowed to take a real shower and wash my hair today. After the sutures, my midwife wanted me to wait 24 hours before I showered. I actually have on semi real clothes and it feels great. Hoping to maybe go for a short walk or something tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm starting to go stir crazy!

Day 2

So we are on day 2 things are going well. Lillian is quite the nurser and is a very mellow baby. She likes her daddy and does a good job spitting up on him. Mike has been wonderful to me. He is willing to do anything I need as I am "supposed" to stay in bed. I'm not very good at it but am trying very very hard to do as I'm told. Mike's mom has been here for a couple days and has been a great help. I can hardly wait for my family to meet my precious little girl!

Lillian Olivia Hoover

Lillian Olivia Hoover was born August 13 at 7:27 pm. She weighed a whopping 9lbs 60z and was 21 1/4 in long. She is happy and healthy and a true miracle. Following is the story of her arrival.

I woke up around 4 am feeling a little funny. I had been having contractions on and off for a few weeks though they had gotten a little more intense the beginning of this week. I tried not to get too excited as she was 5 days late already. So contractions started at 4, I tried to go back to sleep but didn't have much luck, they were getting more intense but they never got into a steady pattern. I made a chocolate cake and fruit slush and cleaned up the kitchen. It was about 7am by now. I let Mike know what was going on and told him to sleep some more. I think it was around 8 when I called my doula and midwife to let them know what was happening. My midwife came over around 9:30 and checked me, I was 4 cm, this was definitely labor. My in-laws were in town and we had plans to meet them for lunch she told me to go. By 10:30 my contractions were strong enough that I didn't feel like going. Mike went and told them what was going on. I called my doula and had her come over, she stayed with me while Mike was gone. Mike came back and my in-laws stopped by for a few minutes and then they all left again. (last minute errands) Things really picked up while they were gone and I called Mike and told him to come home. We filled up the birth tub and from then on I worked on delivering. Mike was great! I tried lots of positions and he supported me through everything. My doula was so helpful, just being here and updating my midwife. Contractions got closer and harder and my team helped me through them. My midwife showed up, and told me I was 6 or 7 cm. I got in the tub, it was amazingly helpful. I got out once and new that I had to get back in and stayed in. I spent about an hour pushing, was feeling like I couldn't do much more, they had me change positions and that's when I felt its head with my hand. I grabbed Mike's hand and made him feel its head. What an encouragement that was! Baby was almost here, just a little more and that's all it took. I reached down into the water and brought my baby straight to me. No other hands, no one took my baby or even touched it, and after 9 months of waiting and 10-12 hours of labor and an hour of pushing I had a baby GIRL! I did it! I felt every contraction every movement every part of giving birth to my little girl. She was perfect! She was very alert and awake, her eyes opened and she looked around. She cried a little but was mostly calm and relaxed. I called my mom and told her. Mike cut the cord and we both made more calls. So happy! I took a shower and then got in bed and enjoyed some much deserved chocolate cake and a few sips of champagne, nursed my baby and went to sleep. Some where during this, they weighed and measured and did all of that stuff. Lillian never once left my sight.