Happy Birthday Lydia Rae!

I thank God multiple times daily for my beautiful daughters.  They are so amazing and I am so grateful for every single moment I'm blessed enough to spend with them.  I appreciate the good days, the bad days, and the days I don't know if I should laugh or cry.  I try not to take a single moment for granted and I want to live each blessed moment to it's full potential.  Even the days when I want to pull my hair out, when I'm reflecting at the end, I know how blessed I am.

On June 7th, 2007 I woke up and quickly realized it was going to be a day that would change our lives forever, I was in labor!  I began getting dressed and trying to clean up and pack the last minute things in my bag.  I called Keith and told him to meet me at the hospital.  I told Emily, our nanny at the time, that I was going to go to the hospital because the baby was coming!  I told her I'd need her to sleep over with Hadley and I was going to meet Keith at the hospital.

Emily was barely 21 and one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet and she confronted me in the bathroom, as I was trying to put on make up and pack toiletries.  Ever so timidly, she says "Lisa, I don't think I'm going to be able to let you drive yourself to the hospital."  I kind of brushed her off and told her I'd be fine when she said "I think I'm going to have to put my foot down.  You can't drive yourself to the hospital, you're in labor!"  Right about then, a contraction nearly took me down and I gave in!  I called Keith and told him we were going to have a change of plans and he needed to pick me up.

We got to the hospital and the maternity ward was busting at the seams! Literally, there were pregnant women all over the place!  The triage nurse tells me there is one labor and delivery room left and it would be determined by who progressed further, faster.  Yes, even labor and delivery is a competition!  I was sweating it, because the triage rooms are TINY!  The pregnancy had already been tricky so I, literally, prayed that God let me have the room!

The labor was progressing slower than it did with Hadley but I did manage to get the labor and delivery room, somehow!  (Thank you God!)  The midwife showed up and "checked" me and gave me some tips for speeding things up a little.  She suggested I walk around the labor ward or take a shower.  I went for a walk around the hospital-bigger than I thought and less pretty than I anticipated.  I got back to the room and decided to try out the shower suggestion.  I remember, at one point, sitting in the shower and yelling at Keith saying "WHO SUGGESTS THIS?  I'm wet and slick and in crazy pain!  What a stupid idea!"  I survived the shower (barely) I got dressed, and went back to the bed (like a sane pregnant woman!). 

I had an adorable L&D nurse, a midwife I loved, and an amazing doula, things really went pretty much as expected.  At one point the midwife asked if I wanted her to break my water to speed things up a little.  Ummm...YES!  Let's get this show on the road!  With Hadley, my water broke before I realized it (I'll tell that story on her birthday!) so I was surprised that things were going so slow.

Another time I remember when the nurses were chatting, waiting for Lydia to make her entrance.  For some reason it really irritated me that they were chatting so much.  I'm working my rear off and they were enjoying happy hour in my room.  My amazing doula (I really loved her!) asked them to wait outside until we were ready. 

I'm not going to share graphic details of the birth, for lots of reasons, but when Lydia made her grand entrance she was perfect!  They cleaned her up, handed her over and our love affair grew even faster.  I loved her from the moment we decided to have another baby.  Every single day, I grew to love her more and more but seeing her was magical.

Jeremiah 1:5 says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

What an outstanding blessing that God created this little princess he knew I would be her mommy.  God knew our lives intertwined and He blessed us with each other for a purpose.  I am so thankful that God chose me to be her mommy and her to be my Lydia.

Lydia entered the world and has changed our lives, for the better, every day she's been with us.  She has grown into such an interesting little girl with such a great sense of humor.  She is my little jokester, she's my sassy girl, and she's a light in our lives.  I can not wait to see the woman she will, one day become, but I'm in NO HURRY! 

I don't want to stop time, but I'd sure like a slow motion button!  Don't be in too big of a hurry to grow up little princess!  I LOVE YOU and I THANK GOD FOR YOU!