Lily Nicole Lewis is Born!

We are SO excited to announce that Lily Nicole Lewis is here! She was born on Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 4:25pm. She weighed in at 7lbs., 130z and 19.5 inches long.

Her birth was amazing and I'm proud to have accomplished it via VBAC. My midwife and the hospital nurses were fabulous and so supportive but I couldn't have done it without the love and support of my wonderful husband. Steven was so incredible and seeing him now with his two girls is so heart warming. He's a such an amazing husband and father.

Zoe is THRILLED to have her sister finally here. She has been such a great help and loves her sister a lot. Seeing her with Lily is so precious and having them both is incredibly fulfilling.

We are all home now adjusting to a new schedule with our new baby girl. We are learning that Lily is pretty mellow and loves to snuggle. And we love to snuggle her!

I'm working on getting photos up for viewing but there are a few on the blog for you to look at.

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support to our family. Welcome Lily!

The End is in Sight

We had another non-stress test this morning and the baby is still looking good. I haven't had much dialating progress in past the 2 days (just a half of a cm) so it looks like Monday will be the day for inducing. The hospital will call us on Sunday to schedule the time.

I'm actually feeling very relieved at his point, knowing there is an end in sight. This morning before the appointment I was feeling very "hormonal" and discouraged about giving birth. But now I feel better and more relaxed knowing that we'll be holding our little one soon.

I am a little nervous about the induction. They'll be using Pitocin which can bring on a more intense labor and often will lead to an early epidural (I'm trying to do this au natural). The positive news though is that my midwife is the delivering midwife scheduled on Monday!! She has also re-assured me that (as long as me and baby are tolerating ok) I can be taken off the Pit and labor on my own. They'll probably give me low dose anyway. Having a date in mind also makes it easier to plan for Zoe. Nana will head over Sunday night and be able to be with Zoe Monday.

Of course, anything can happen between now and then - which would be great, too! Thank you all for your loving thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted.

Baby, Come Out!

We just got back from the doctor's office. I had a non-stress test and prenatal appointment with my midwife. The baby is fine and responded well to the test so there are no concerns that she's in distress at this point. She is LOW, zero station, I'm 60% efaced and about 1 cm dialated. My midwfie "helped" out the situation by doing a membrane sweep. So, we'll see if that makes things move along. Since she did that, I already feel stronger contractions. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow?!?!? We'll see.

We also went ahead and scheduled an induction for Monday, 9/24 in case things stall again. So, I'd say within one week this baby WILL be here.

The above pictures were taken on Sunday at 40.5 weeks and of course our cutie patootie Zoe eating pizza.

I'm tired and a bit irritable today so I'm off to rest and lay low. Stay tuned & love to all.

The Wait Continues.....

The 40 week update is this....no change from last week. So we continue to wait. Baby is still low and seems ready to come out but my body isn't ready yet. I do have a non-stress test scheduled for next week on 9/19 to make sure baby is fine, etc. At that point, we will let my midwife know whether we will schedule an induction that week or wait another week. I'm leaning towards waiting the additional week as I really don't want to be induced. But they won't let pregnancies go past 42 weeks so the last resort will be to schedule an induction for 9/28. It's hard to imagine being pregnant for another 2 weeks but I'm trying to remain mentally calm about it. Yikes, if she doesn't come within the next week I may have to schedule another pedicure!!!

As of other news.....Zoe started her cooking class this week, called Munch n Crunch. She loves it and they made candied apples - yum! Steven is almost done with the bathroom and it looks great. I'll be sure to post pictures when it's done.

And here are some photos from Labor Day weekend (09.02.07) - the last beach day at the cottage. We had a really great summer down there and will miss it. Remember the password to view the photos is "guest."

39 Week Check In

We went for my 39 week check in today. Here's the update....

• Baby is measuring 36.5 weeks but that really just means that she's dropped and is low. Baby is at zero station.
• 30% efaced.
• No dialation yet.
• Having irregular contractions that are not painful.

We are hoping the baby comes on Monday so that we can make a Saturday night party, watch the Patriots season opener on Sunday and so that my regular midwife, Mary will deliver (she works Mondays at the hospital). But the reality is that we have no control over when this kiddo will decide to come.

I'm feeling super tired, thirsty and big these days. And I definitely feel that things are happening and that my body is getting ready.

I'm really excited about meeting this little one and I'm feeling very positive about labor and delivery right now. I finally packed my bag which I had been putting off. Stay tuned.