Lily – Page 7 – The Groft Zoo

Lily 4 Month Update

Lily’s 4 month check up:

12lb 10oz (50%)
23.5 inches long (50%)

Not yet rolling or grabbing things, but very strong. She loves to be in her Jumperoo, and she still loves to be swaddled a lot.

Christmas Greetings from the Groft Zoo! Things are crazy around here as always, but here is a brief update about what we have been up to.

Paisley – A senior at Bourgade this year, she is looking forward to turning 18 in March and moving out to begin living the college life. She is working two jobs right now as well as keeping her grades up. She directs two children’s choirs and is working at a skateboarding shop. In her free time she shops and hangs out with her friends.

James – 15 now and itching to be 16 and drive! He is active in the youth group and continues to make trips a few times a year to help build houses for the poor in Mexico. He plays bass, guitar, and piano as much as he can, and has been performing monthly at an Art Walk downtown.

Posy – Nearly a teenager! She will be 13 in February. Posy loves to help people, she is always at her Nana’s helping her out, and she is invaluable around here. She works very hard in school to keep up her grades. She loves to read and hang out with her friends. She is involved in two choirs, one with her Grandpa and one at our parish.

Ben – 10 years old and always has his nose in a book! He has a wonderful imagination and way with words. He is always a joy to be around. He started band in school this year and is playing the trombone.

Tessa – started Kindergarten this year! She is so grown up and is definitely all Girl! She loves to play dolls and house and has discovered arts & crafts. Her favorite activity right now is coloring. She loves to give her creations to anyone she cares for. She recently began violin lessons.

Max – turns 3 on Christmas Eve. He loves to talk, although his lisp makes him hard to understand sometimes. He is very loving and very much a little homebody. He also began violin lessons with Tessa. We were blessed to find a lovely teacher who is working patiently with both kids.

Lily – the newest Groftling. Lily is now 3 months old, she was born on September 14, delivered by her daddy because the midwife hadn’t yet arrived! Thankfully the midwife arrived only a few moments later. She is a beautiful baby who loves to be swaddled and snuggled. Her siblings all adore her.

Jay & Jenni – Jay is working hard testing tanks and every spare moment Is taken up by singing. He is putting together a CD and hopes to have it out early in 2008! Jenni stays home with the kids and tries to keep the peace and keep the house from being condemned. She sews, scrapbooks, and reads when she can but those times come seldom with a tiny baby in the house.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! May you be blessed and safe in the coming months!

Lily @ 2 months

At 2 months:

10lbs, 14oz

22 inches long

15.5in head circumference

50% all around.

The Swing (AKA Neglect-o-Matic)

With other babies, when I had a swing (which was not even with every baby) it was in use for 15-30 minutes a day.

Lily is in LOVE with the thing. Last night she screamed and screamed and nothing we did made any difference… until we put her in the swing. Then she let out a big sigh, turned her head and went right to sleep. And she just did the same thing this morning. I feel like I am leaving her in there too much, I feel like I am depending on the swing too much, I feel like I am holding her too little.

Guilt just comes at us from all sides when parenting, doesn’t it? Holding too much, holding too little; feeding too much, feeding too little; sleeping too much, sleeping to little; not doing enough of this, doing too much of that… on and on it goes.

But she is sleeping and that is a good thing, right?

(And how can she love the swing and the car? I don’t get THAT at all!)

I feel so, I don’t know… un-AP right now.

(Not that I feel like I have to fit under certain AP guidelines, but I have always been a baby-wearing, snuggly type of mom. This is a puzzle to me.)

I do worry that she should learn how to sleep on a flat, non-moving surface, but maybe that just needs to wait until after this fussy stage is past.

Ah parenthood. Just when you figure it out they change all the rules on you! 🙂

Lily’s Baptism

Lily in the dress Tess and Posy wore

Lily was baptized at the TV mass today! She did beautifully. We are very grateful to have our friends Steve and Ann O. as her Godparents.

Lily’s Birth Story, the Long and Short of it

I guess things really began at my 38 week appointment on September 12. My midwife stripped my membranes and said I was dilated to 4 and about 75% effaced. After that appointment, I spotted the rest of the day and my contractions changed in character and never really went back. They were neither regular nor very strong, but they were more painful and just felt different. Knowing I could still be in for a week or more, I went home and went about my usual business.

That night I woke up about 1am with strong contractions that I couldn’t sleep through anymore. They weren’t terribly regular, ranging from 7 minutes apart to as close as 2 minutes apart. At around 2am I woke Jay up and we called the midwife. Jay set up the pool and we got all ready for the birth. When my midwife arrived around 2:45, I was only dilated to 5, and realized we could be in for a long ride. My contractions would stay regular and close as long as I moved around, but when I stopped they would space out again often as far as 15 minutes apart. This is exactly what happened with Max’s birth. I was really disappointed. I knew I could keep my labor going strong if I squatted through contractions and walked non-stop, but that would also really wear me out for the pushing phase and for the recovery period. So I made the conscious choice to just let things die down. I lay down on the couch and dozed in between contractions, trying to take this time to just rest up and save my energy for the upcoming birth. My midwife went home between 6 and 7am.

The kids got up around 6am to get ready for school and were all excited to see the pool all set up and everything ready. I told them not to tell anyone at school what was going on because I didn’t want people to be calling and checking in on us. Jay and I rested as much as we could on Thursday, knowing we could have a long night ahead of us again, at least if we were following in the trend of Max’s birth. All day long I had strong, painful but not regular contractions.

Thursday we crawled into bed around 9:00 and watched some TV. Jay fell asleep, but I continued to watch until about 10. At 10 I turned off the TV and tried to go to sleep, but almost immediately realized the contractions were stronger. I lay in bed and tried to relax again, but found myself really having to concentrate to breathe through the contractions. At 11 I woke Jay up and asked him to time them. After timing the contractions (average of 3 minutes apart, lasting 60-90 seconds) for a half hour we decided it would be safe to call the midwife again. I dreaded the idea of calling her again for a false alarm or I might have called sooner! But it is a good thing we called when we did!

Jay jumped into a quick shower, and I decided to try a contraction on my hands and knees leaning over the rocking chair. I thought that I should keep moving if I could because I didn’t want the midwife to get there and find out I was only at 5cm still – that was my biggest fear right then. I SHOOK all through that contraction. Jay came out of the bathroom and I told him I needed help to get back on the bed. He helped me get back on the bed and as soon as I lay down another contraction began and my water bag popped. (This is the first time in all my labors that my water bag broke on its own.)

I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, but was still reasonably sure it wasn’t the urge to push, but I knew I was close, so Jay helped me down the stairs so we could get near the pool. I wanted to be able to get in as soon as the midwife got there. I tried to go to the bathroom, but nothing happened except for a really miserable, long contraction. So Jay helped me go and lay down on the couch.

Jay had our living room set up so well for the birth. The pool was on top of a tarp in the middle, but since the tarp was so big, he had run it up over the couch as well and covered that up (on the couch) with a quilt. He had towels in strategic spots all around the room and the birth kit was on the other couch already organized.

So I lay down on my left side on the couch, trying to relax as much as possible through the contractions while Jay pulled together a few more details in between breathing with me through contractions. At some point I pushed for just a second or two during a contraction and the pain STOPPED. Pushing felt so much better. At that point I told Jay, “She’s not going to make it!” (meaning the midwife.) He said yes, she will get here and just kept comforting me. After another contraction and a few more little pushes, I felt the baby really move down and told Jay, “No, she REALLY isn’t going to make it – she’s (the baby) is coming NOW.” I was listening so hard to hear the midwife’s car door close outside!

Jay took a look and realized Lily was already starting to crown. He told me that I had better turn over (onto my back) because I couldn’t have her on my side with my legs together. And he got into position to catch her. He coached me through easing her head out while supported my perineum and tried to prevent any tearing. He checked for the cord once her head was out and, not feeling it there, asked me if I wanted to finish pushing her out. I said yes, and in a couple more pushes her shoulders and body slid out and he put her up on my stomach. He reached behind him and grabbed one of his strategically placed towels and began to massage her and cover her up. She really didn’t cry, but pinked up right away.

I told him to go check the time, it was 12:05am. Then there was a knock at the door. Jay answered it and told the midwife, “You missed her!” She laughed and said everyone says that. Then she saw me on the couch with the baby and realized he really meant it! So she was still there in time to assess the baby and deal with the placenta and all that.

Lily was smaller than my last three babies by more than a pound. 7lbs, 5oz, and only 19 inches long. She is a little peanut. I had no tearing and no complications. Our rented birth pool went unused.

Lily’s Newborn PIctures

Taken by a special friend with an amazing talent for pictures. (Thank you Kathi!!!)

She’s Here!

Lily Cecilia was born Fri, Sept 14 at 12:05AM. She weighed 7lbs, 5oz and was 19 in long. She was delivered by her daddy, as the midwife had not yet arrived! Full birth story to follow soon!