piper's story

on a cloudy day in june,

we had a baby girl.

and it went a little something like this.

{sorry this is so late. piper is only 3 weeks old so i feel like the memory is still fresh! and thanks to landen for documenting our day. he's wonderful}

i went to my last dr.'s appointment on tuesday and learned that she could come any day. so i called my MIL right after a little worried, and she decided to hop on a plane for us the next day. landen had a huge perio test he had to get through the next morning {one of those ones that would have been a major pain to make-up}. we were so relieved that i still hadn't gone into labor by the time the test was over, and his mom was already on a plane toward boston. we could do no wrong right?

we went out for a yummy dinner that night, sophie got super aquainted with nana, eating off her plate and showing her all her toys and books. and magically the next morning {thursday} at about 4:50am i woke up to 5 minute apart contractions. we laughed later because we had just spent the night before talking about how everyone goes into labor in the middle of the night and no one has babies in the afternoon. that's ironic. i timed my contractions until 6am because i wanted landen to get a full nights sleep. i'm such a good wife aren't i? hehe...

off to the hospital... yes in rush hour, but luckily my contractions hadn't gotten to the "worse" part yet.

i looked like this when i got there...

there was lots of walking and pacing and laying and walking to try and convince the nurses i was progressing fast enough to get my dang epidural. lets just say 8 hours of contractions got a lot worse by the last couple hours.

my anesthesiologist was a resident {lucky me... and no offense to you dal, i know everyone has to go through the process, haha} but lets just say 3 holes in my back and 30 minutes later, i was a happy camper. and "the button" was my new best friend. yes i maxed myself out several times and never felt a thing. the nurses were all laughing at me because i was giggling and peeing all over and having a great time.


{side note: i LOVED my nurse and midwife that delivered me. as well as the rest of the nurses at the hospital. brigham and women's was an awesome experience for labor}

so this is when i started pushing...


and ten mintues later, i had a purple baby on my chest! it really is such a miracle. i didn't get sophie "plopped" on me the first time, and i loved it with piper. instant bond for me! after that first cry, we didn't hear her almost at all for a couple days. she is such a good baby. and of course landen was completely supportive through the whole process. getting me food and juice and getting in on all the action. and this time he cut the cord!


here's landen's proof of her birth time. the nurse argued a minute earlier, we'll call it 3:50:30.


i love this picture of piper finally getting to see who that "voice outside" was for 9 months!


and our wonderful nurse hope took about 46 blurry pictures of us. i felt like i hired a photographer, she got a little in to it. piper is so gangsta. "jigga what!?"


see what i mean?


oh i love her 10 little wrinkly toes.


and one of my favorite features are her wrinkly chicken legs. she still is so tiny but we are finally getting a little chub on these!


this was the absolute "hardest" time for me in the hospital. sophie got to come later that night with nana to meet piper for the first time. the second i saw her i burst into tears. those of you who know me... i'm not a cryer. but i haven't cried like that in quite awhile. it was like a blubbering/happy/emotional/crazy day cry. on top of that, it was technically my first night away from soph. pathetic, i know, and trust me, not by choice. ;) it was just amazing to see how grown up she had become in the past 24 hours compared to the new tiny baby in our family. she wasn't jealous or mad {like she's always been in the past with me holding other babies} she instantly wanted to hold her and touch her and point out all of her tiny features. it was a huge "happy mommy moment" for me. nobody could have ever explained that moment or feeling to me. how i could instantly love two tiny people at the same time, and how i could now love sophie even more.

i blubbered more that night when landen came back... it was a big day for me. and in the past three weeks, sophie has been simply amazing with piper. she's constantly worried about "pipah" and kisses her every time she passes her. she worries about the "bee-ee" {binky} that has fallen out of her mouth, or if she is awake or hungry. she giggles at every noise piper makes and wants to get all of her diapers for me. she wants to help with her bath and loves to lay on her tummy next to piper so she can stare at her up close. she watches her across the backseat when we're in the car to make sure she is ok and gets upset if she cries at all. granted, i haven't done this on my own yet, but i'm loving this sister thing. it's been awesome.


she got a "birthday hat" in the nursery.




i got a late night snack to share.


awesome view from our room. i felt very bostonian.


her first ride home in the sunshine! i love how she's like, "what is this world!?"

the timing of everything was amazing. we couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery. we are so grateful to nana and now my mom who have come so far to take care of us. we got sleep the night before it all happened and now continue to get sleep with an awesome baby. nursing is going great, no jaundice, and she gained all of her birth weight back by day 6. i know this won't be easy, but so far smooth sailing right?

happy baby.

we feel blessed.

ps... cable + nursing = happiness.