LEAH LYNN

Get ready for picture overload, people! Since I’m having trouble formulating sentences on little sleep, I figured pictures could tell this story better than I could right now. Our little Leah Lynn finally decided to make her debut three days after her due date. I started having mild, regular contractions around midnight on the 27th. We had just gone to bed and I think I was in a state of disbelief/ denial, not wanting to jinx it if labor wasn’t really happening. But we took some deep breaths, gathered our bags, and were at the hospital by 2 AM. I had an epidural and they later broke my water. After that, it was game time. The midwife said I could basically laugh and the baby would pop out. So that’s what I did. Ok, not really. But with just a few pushes, Derek was scrubbed up and ready to catch our second daughter, Leah Lynn…

Sunday, December 27th
10:17 AM
8 lbs 12 oz
19 3/4 in

How I felt after getting the epidural…

Derek leading Mya into the delivery room to meet baby sister for the first time. These two together make my heart melt…

Mya was immediately smitten with Leah. She wants to constantly hold and kiss on her and touch her face. “I love my baby sister so much” and “She’s so precious” and “I want to say ‘hi’ to baby Leah” and “I want to keep her forever” are regular Mya moments this past week.

And the grandparents were able to get some of the first snuggles too.

On December 28th, we had the first icy snow, which meant we had a quiet day tucked away in the hospital without any visitors. So we obviously spent the day staring at our little masterpiece…

Since Leah weighed on the heavier side with 8 lbs 12 oz at birth, her glucose needed to be tested. The nurses poked her little heels to draw blood throughout a 24 hr period, but everything turned out to be fine.

Mya had picked out Leah’s going home onesie a couple weeks ago…

We bundled her up and were ready for the short drive home…

And here we are three years ago(!) with Mya on our way out of the hospital…

When we got home, Mya gave Leah the pink “Bee” (blankie) that she had picked out for her. And even shared her own “Bee” with Leah, which is a huge deal!…

One of the most frequent questions I’ve been getting from everyone is “Does Leah look like Mya?” We definitely see the resemblance, but to me, they’re totally different. Leah sleeps a lot more than Mya ever did. Mya weighed more than a pound less at birth at 7 lbs 10 oz. Mya had high bilirubin levels. Leah has even bigger cheeks than Mya did. But they both sneeze in twos. 😉

When Mya was born, I literally did not leave the house for four weeks. But we all knew that wasn’t going to fly this time around. Since coming home with Leah a week ago, Mya has been keeping us just as active as before. She wants the “whole family” to do everything together. One parent running errands with Mya is unacceptable. So on the first full day back home, we took our first family outing to Target (where else, amiright?!) The trip ended with a push pop getting stuck in Mya’s hair.

We’ve also swam at the gym, visited a friend also with a newborn, rode the carousel at the mall, had Leah’s first checkup at the pediatrician, and tried to stay sane being cooped up inside the rest of the time.

As a side note: at Leah’s first checkup at the pediatrician, she gained 10 oz in the two days post discharge. Our doc said he had never seen a baby gain that much weight so fast and that I won the prize of greatest milk supply. I translated that as winning the prize of most engorged breasts. Ouch. I didn’t receive a trophy, but I guess we have one healthy, chubby baby!

Derek goes back to work on Monday and I’m not quite sure how us three girls are going to survive without his calm and collected demeanor. But we’re taking it one day at a time and soaking up the love of our new family of four.