A Baby Story - Round 2

As I enjoy my time at home today, it is still hard to believe that our little ten-day-old baby girl wasn't even supposed to arrive until today.  It's so funny how life works out and that regardless of how much planning and control we hope to have over a situation, it is completely and entirely in God's hands.

It all started on the best day of the year for math teachers: Friday, March 14 aka Pi Day!!  I had been so busy trying to get things in order for baby girl that I hadn't even planned anything "special" for my students in honor of Pi Day, which one of my honors students took the opportunity to point out to me.  In hindsight, even one single thing more on my plate at that point might have sent me into labor even earlier, so it's probably for the best.

Without getting into too many specifics, I will just say that the last four weeks of work were some of the most stressful and frustrating of my entire career, through no fault of the students, and it's surprising I didn't go into labor much sooner.  I spent the better part of that Friday (3/14) planning and tying up many loose ends "just in case" I went into labor that weekend.  I got an amazing amount of work done and felt really, really accomplished by the end of the day, but there were a couple things I still would have liked to finish.  I had to make the decision: leave right after school, or stay to get those "couple" things done that might rope me into staying very late.  I opted for the former and found out very soon that it was definitely the right decision!

Finally having resolution over the dramatic four-week catastrophe and feeling very accomplished, I left school on Friday feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.  As usual, I called my handsome hubby on the way home, and he also had a very productive day and felt very good about going into the weekend.  I joked, "Hmm...sounds like we're both ready to have a baby this weekend!"

I went to pick up the bug from daycare and joked with her teachers about how that might be the last time they see me with a baby on the inside! (So many things are somewhat humorous, looking back...)  After she and I got home, we played and ran around in the backyard for a while.  Again, in hindsight, perhaps running and chasing an 18-month-old whilst nine months pregnant wasn't the smartest idea, but it was worth every little giggle, every giant cheesy smile, and every last minute I got to spend with Lily as an only child.

Steven and I were looking forward to a relaxing evening of homemade pizza flats and Thor (the second one) on Blu-Ray.  At around 6:30 pm, while I was downstairs browning sausage for our pizzas, Steven was upstairs bathing Lily.  Standing next to the stove (in old sweat pants and flip flops, luckily), I felt like a bucket of warm water had been poured down my pants.  My eyes grew as wide as my lids would allow, my jaw dropped, and I hollered up to Steven, "Hey, baby...You need to call Stephanie; I think my water just broke."  To which he replied, "Are you sure???"  Any way you slice it, saying that I peed on myself was not an option, so I quickly replied, "YES, I'M SURE!"

I called the hospital to speak to the OB on call, who then had to call me back.  While waiting, I made myself useful and finished browning the sausage, as goo and fluid continued to pool on the kitchen floor.  I don't know what I was expecting him to say when he called because this was all very new to me since my water didn't break with Lily.  He told me to go ahead and come on in, to which I asked, "Umm...do I have time to shower?"  He said I could but that I shouldn't take all night.  Thank goodness!

Our go-to gal, life partner, sister wife, and best friend Stephanie arrived while I was finishing getting ready.  The contractions had started but were nothing like how strong they were in the beginning with Lily.  I was still functional, just pretty uncomfortable and slow.  Steven did a great job running around the house to get things in order for Lily and Steph, picking up, making me a sandwich, and packing his own bag for the next couple days.  Since we were going to be in the hospital over the weekend, he fortunately didn't have to scurry to make sub plans like the first time I went into labor.

We hit the road just before 8 pm and arrived at the hospital around 8:15.  As we were pulling in, Steven said genuinely, "I'm not even sure I remember where we're supposed to go."  Trying to maintain my cool, I simply replied, "Probably not the best thing to say to the lady in labor."

I guess when your water has already broken, you get to skip the pleasantries at triage, so we went straight to the labor and delivery room.  We sort of just hung out for a bit (while I continued to ooze...) and waited to get hooked up around 8:30.  Our nurse was great, and the OB came to visit some early on as well.  After a check around 9:30 showed that I hadn't made much progress, he recommended they start me on pitocin to move things along.  He also asked when I would like the epidural, encouraging, "There's no need to be a hero."  I was very nervous about getting the epidural before I felt the need to beg for it because it was so awful with Lily, getting stuck and scraping both on the way in and out.  Steven convinced me that by the time I decided I was ready, there might be a wait to do it, so I should just go ahead and get it done.  The anesthesiologist this time was SO much better than last time.  The only thing that remotely hurt was the numbing shot, so I didn't feel a single thing when putting the epidural in.  Phew!

The next few hours were very uneventful.  We rested, and visited with Nancy and Dad when they arrived.  In the week or so leading up to this point, any time I called Dad, he always answered the phone with an anxious, "ARE YOU IN LABOR??" or "DID YOUR WATER BREAK??", that afternoon (before my water broke) being no exception.  So when I was looking forward to calling him that evening after my water did indeed break, I was horribly disappointed that I couldn't get a hold of him!  I gave him grief later that by not answering his phone, he was effectively cutting off the trunk of our family phone tree.  He made up for it by sleeping on the hospital couch in the waiting room till morning.

Around 4:30 Saturday morning, I was only 6-7 cm, according to the OB, so he went ahead and gave me more happy juice in my epidural, and thank goodness for that!  (With Lily, he (same doctor) let me labor on the meds but not deliver on them.  OWIE!)  At my 5 a.m. check, I was over 9 cm, so it was time to start pushing!!  After 19 minutes of pain-free pushing with Steven on one side and Nancy on the other, our little Evelyn Lou made her debut in this world.

Weight:  8 pounds 10 ounces

Length:  21 3/4 inches

Head:   14.5 inches

The rest of Saturday was very nice.  There is something very relaxing about delivering in the early morning because then you have the whole day to celebrate and visit with friends and family.  Dad and Nancy were already there, Steven's parents drove down, and Stephanie brought Lily to the hospital.  Lily was AMAZING with her new baby sister and continues to be every single day!

It felt like we were at the hospital forever, which wasn't so bad since this time around was much more pleasant!  We went in Friday evening and didn't leave until around noon on Monday.  Everyone that worked with us was fantastic, and I simply can't imagine delivering and recovering anywhere other than St. Vincent Carmel!

I often talk about how blessed we are to have such great friends and family to spend time with, but this is the first time that we have really had to call on friends and family for help.  We super appreciate the care that Aunt Nancy (Zia Nona), Deb (Grandma), and Steph (Steph) took of our little bug while we were in the hospital.  I didn't realize it till we were in the thick of it, but that was the first overnight that we had ever been away from Lily, so it was a huge weight off, knowing that she was in such great and loving hands.

We are so thankful to God for watching over all of our family and granting us such a smooth experience this time that resulted in a beautiful, healthy, amazing baby girl!  God is good!!

It's a wonderful (winter) life!

Wow, so much has happened these last three months that it's hard to decide where to begin!  I have to start by at least recognizing how amazing all of our friends and family are.  We have been so fortunate these last few months to be able to spend so much time with family, both locally and afar; our only complaint is that we wish we had more time to see even more family and friends!  ...especially now, with the new addition on her way!

Lily Bug is pushing 18 months, and just when we think she can't get more stinking adorable and hysterical, she outdoes herself.  She is a smart, hilarious, personable, polite, loving little angel!  Her most recent check-up was at fifteen months, and her body and head percentiles were finally starting to get closer.  I guess that means her body is finally catching up with her big 'ol brain!  The doctor was extremely impressed with her level of intellect, sharing that verbal/linguistic skills at that age are a primary indicator of overall intelligence later in life:  She said that the doctors are happy if a child knows 3 words at their fifteen-month check-up, and Lily knew and could say over 20, probably more than double that now!  She also said that the doctors are pleased if children know even three body parts at their NEXT (18 mo) check-up, and Lily knew, could say, and point to pretty much all her body parts.

Some of the earliest things Lily said were bye bye, uh oh, mama, dada, (ba)nana, milk, ball, baby, more, please, head, ears, eyes, nose, arm, no (ironically, "yes" came much later...), up (which she says for up AND down), apple, cheese, hat, shoes, socks, diaper, and mine.  She also now says lots of food like daba-ado (avocado), oreyoreyos (cheerios), apple, onion, bread, roll, water, dape (grapes), says names like Papa (for Papa Steve), Mema, Ella, Isaac, Jen, and pretty much every name of her daycare peers, although she will repeat more back when you ask her to say it.  She can recognize and point to lots of animals now and can make the noises for most of them, like lion, dog (her favorite - Woof woof!), cat, giraffe (raff), duck, sheep, and I'm sure others that I'm forgetting.  It probably helps that Daddy has an iPad app that he and Lily love to play with (video is from 14 mo):

It's a good thing that Lily blew the pediatrician away with her smarts, so that the doctor was not at all concerned about the fact that Lily wasn't a proficient, 100% independent walker at her 15-month check-up.  She is totally running around everywhere now, and mommy and daddy weren't the least bit concerned.  She was (and is) developing just fine, and we saw her progressing.  I think everyone around us was more concerned than us!  We don't sweat stuff like that.  When she did finally start to really get the hang of it, she took the most hysterical high steps, almost pulling her knees up to 90 degree angles, which looked simply exhausting!  She also (and still does sometimes), hold her left hand up and out of the way like a little princess or something.  So stinking funny!  We were so ecstatic for her those first few days of walking long distances:

She continues to have stellar reports from school (daycare), and we truly could not ask for a better place to keep her every day!  She learns so much there, and the people are so caring and wonderful.  I don't know what we'd do if we ever weren't there!  Luckily, we've got a spot held for baby sister next fall.  Phew!

This winter was very exciting for all of us.  To begin with, it was a Louisiana Christmas, so we packed up Lily and Papa Steve for a road trip down south!  Lily, of course, was phenomenally well behaved at our destination and on the entire road trip.

We had a great time just relaxing at Mema's, visiting with family, and stuffing ourselves on the delicious-as-always Cajun food!!

I think one of Lily's favorite parts was getting to play with all her Louisiana cousins!

All of the gorgeous cousins and spouses with their Mema...minus a couple very-missed gingers!

After returning home from Louisiana, we had a perfect family Christmas at our house.  Although it was Lily's second Christmas with us, she was still too young to enjoy the hoopla of it last year!  So we had a wonderful day of just the three (and a half...) of us at home.  So lovely and perfect...

The next day, we had Dad and Keith over for brunch and presents.  The fun just kept rolling!

The next day, we went up to Steven's parents for the Curtis family Christmases.  Lily never tires of playing with her cousins or Grandpa!

We made it home with a few days to relax before snow-mageddon hit!  Luckily, the first day of snow was not one of the subzero days, so Lily was able to get out and enjoy snow for the very first time!  She was understandably reluctant at first, but warmed up to it and was sad to go back inside as it got dark.

Once mommy built her a snow throne, she was good to go!

Surprisingly, Lily never once tried to pull anything of the Christmas tree!  She did, however, enjoy the little red push-button that her daddy showed her that made the tree lights turn off and on.  Thanks, Daddy.  :-)  She always wants to help with household tasks, and putting away the Christmas decorations was no exception!

We love our little bug so, so much and can't wait to see how wonderful of a big sister she is going to be!

Lily's Big Reveal (aka "Lily Bug Turned One - Part II")

After Lily's attack of her birthday cake and subsequent bath, she came downstairs in a much more casual and relaxed outfit that was a few months in the making...

Steven and I were so incredibly excited to announce to our close family and friends that we are expecting Baby Curtis #2 at the end of March!!  We count our blessings every night with how fortunate we are to have ONE amazing, sweet, smart, hysterical, and healthy little bug at home; that we are just so filled with joy at the thought of having another!

Stephanie filmed the big reveal:  We didn't say anything; rather, we just brought Lily downstairs in her outfit and waited for the excitement and cheering to ensue!  Some people caught on faster than others... LOL...

We just found out this week that we are going to be blessed with another sweet baby girl, so Lily will have a little sister to love on!  Steven was so excited that he baked cookies to tell his coworkers and family.  Some days I don't know who's cuter: Lily or her daddy!  :-)

As always, thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes from those who have known for a while now.  We are so ecstatic our family growing even more!!

Lily Bug Turned One!!

Better late than never...

As you may have noticed, the blogs are going to be fewer and farther between now.  Our busy work schedules don't allow for a whole lot of free time, and the "free" time I do have, I'd much rather be spending with my family than typing on a computer!  If only teachers ever had five minutes of down time, I could maybe piece something together.  Alas, that will never be the case...

But with that said, I'd love to share with everyone about Lily's first birthday party!!!  Mema flew in all the way from Louisiana and stayed with us for an entire week leading up to Lily's party.  Lily didn't even know what to do with herself when she had someone to play ball with ALL.  THE.  TIME.  She had such a stinkin ball...literally!

We are fortunate to have such great friends and family in our life:  Stephanie spent the night here the day before Lily's party to help with set up and decorations and basically anything and everything, and Lily's Aunt Kristin made her a BEAUTIFUL flower birthday cake.  We aren't very particular about anything, so we told Kristin to just use whatever colors she wanted.  We must have been on the same wavelength or something because the cake ended up being the exact colors as most of the decorations I made.

We kept the party pretty small and low key, and it was pretty much immediate family and grandparents.  I think her cousins would have sufficed if it were up to her!  Ha!  She was ALL SMILES.  ALL DAY.  ...per usual.

Check out her video below!

She was a little unsure about her cake at first, but once it got a bit cut up for her, she was ready to dive in, and her favorite part was that sweet, delicious, yellow "pollen"!

After celebrating with her last bit of cake, we ran her upstairs to get hosed down, so to speak, and brought her back downstairs for one final surprise before her nap...

To be continued...  ;-)