Sponge Bath

Helen loved both her first and second sponge baths. When I scrubbed her hair she relaxed and made happy sounds and I have never seen her so content as when I swaddled her afterward. It's so fun to watch her experience 'firsts'!

Baby Helen

We're excited to announce that Helen Larson joined our family on Wednesday, June 8 at 7:25 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz and was 20" long. She surprised us by arriving a little more than 2 weeks early.

The boys are smitten.

 

Scott brought the boys to the hospital the morning after she was born and the recovery room was a big hit. Especially the bed that goes up "all the way to the ceiling!"

And the empty cupboards that double as dump trucks. 

Baby Sister got lots of love from her brothers. They also brought a doll they picked out for her, as well as two pictures they drew for her that we taped to her hospital bassinet.  The boys are constantly asking to hold her since we got home on Friday morning. Joseph especially -- he acts like he's under a love spell.

My recovery has been incredible and we feel really blessed with the way labor and delivery went. 

Here is a picture of Joseph kissing Baby Sister before the boys went to play with the neighbors and Scott and I left for the hospital. Ian asked to see my belly and acted like he was measuring her top to bottom and side to side. His analysis was that she  wasn't quite big enough to be born yet. 

In fact, she was born about 2.5  hours later. We were shocked. As Scott took this picture he said "Lesley, you're not acting like you're in labor..." And I really didn't feel like I was either.

Details of her birth are on their way. The synopsis is that I felt "off" all afternoon on Wednesday, but didn't feel like I was having contractions. Scott came home around 5:00 pm, and we took the boys to the neighbors shortly thereafter. We arrived in triage around 6:00 when I was having mild contractions every 4 minutes. After some discussion I was admitted to labor and delivery around 6:45 pm, they broke my water at 6:55 pm, and Helen was born at 7:25 pm. It was all very uncomplicated and quick, and her VBAC delivery went exactly as I had hoped. 

And now we are all really enjoying having Helen home with us!

37 Weeks

  Here's how things are looking with 3 more weeks to go!

Two weeks ago she was transverse breech (like Joseph was). I did some inversions off the side of the couch and we said lots of prayers that she would turn. And at my appointment this week my doctor confirmed that she was head-down and had 'dropped'. I was so relieved! Now we just need her to stay put!