Let Me Tell You About Lydia Carol Gensic

1. She was born July 21, 2012 at 4:15 p.m.  She weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and she measured 19 1/2 inches.  Here is what all those numbers mean: We got cuteness in a compact size.  It is awesome.

2.  She almost beat the doctor to the delivery room.  If you know anything about Shepherd's birth, you know that I tend to deliver quickly.  Unfortunately, the nurses didn't understand just how quickly my body does this particular task.  So here is Lydia's delivery story: I headed to the hospital at 2:30 p.m. when my water broke.  I was only dilated 5-ish centimeters, so the nurses figured I would have several hours to go.  My head nurse left my room after about an hour and 15 minutes of checking me in and hooking me up to monitors saying that she would be back in about an hour to check on my progress, but to let her know if I felt any pressure to push before then.  About 15 minutes later, I told BJ to get out there NOW and tell them I had to push.  The head nurse came in figuring surely I wasn't really ready.  When she checked me, her eyes got huge, she ran out of the room yelling for someone to call the doctor and about four nurses ran in with all of the carts and supplies needed when the baby arrives.  The head nurse asked me not to push until the doctor got there.  I told her that I couldn't not push.  I only pushed through 4 contractions.  The doctor made it there for the last two.

3.  The past 9 months were very stressful.  I didn't post much about it here because I was having such a hard time dealing with everything, but I had Interuterine Growth Restriction, and there were many concerns about the well being of our daughter.  Now that she is here, healthy and gorgeous, I feel overwhelming gratitude.  God listened to a million frantic prayers from this very scared mother, and I will never be able to adequately express how that makes me feel right now.

4. Did I mention she is beautiful?

5. After having your first child, it is overwhelming to think that you will have the capacity to love another child that much.  Turns out you do.

6. Shepherd is full of hugs and kisses for Lydia.  He also called a paper bag from Whataburger a "baby" and then drop kicked it.  Lets just say he is conflicted right now.

7.  Lydia is almost 2 days old, and so far, she could not be more different that Shepherd as a newborn.  She does things he never did.  Like sleep.  And she doesn't constantly do the things he liked to do the most.  Like scream.  Basically, she's pretty chill.  Along those line, BJ asked me earlier how Lydia was doing.  I said that she was still in her crib for a nap and that she was "sleeping like a baby."  It suddenly occured to me that that particular term had taken on a whole new meaning for me.  I actually have a baby who sleeps like a baby.  Weird.

8.  If you were wondering, here is the story behind the name and why we chose it.  Lydia is of course a Bible name and appealed to BJ on that count.  Lydia was also the name of my great grandmother who acquired for our family the house I grew up in.  Carol is after my dad and my brother, both of whom are John Carol Pierce.  She couldn't possibly be named after two more wonderful people.   

9.  Last but not least, expect more pictures.  I can't seem to stop running for the camera.

Shepherd's New Battle Strategy

I am very fortunate in that pregnancy isn't too hard on me.  I tend to keep a pretty good energy level and not get too uncomfortable.  However, at over 38 weeks, I am not quite as capable as always.  Shepherd has noticed.  Primary, he has noticed that I am having a little more difficulty picking him up, and he has also noticed that the more unhelpful he is, the harder it is for me.  This means that if he doesn't want to be carried somewhere, he gets as low and as limp as possible.

Towards that end, Shepherd and I were heading out the house yesterday to pick BJ up for lunch.  Shepherd doesn't like how hot the van is on these hot summer days when we first get in it, so he decided he didn't want to go for the ride.  Here is how he dealt with the situation:

After he laid flatly and limply on our front porch for several minutes, I finally managed to get him into the van and to the church.  But I am scheming my revenge.  A few weeks after BGG is born, I'll be back to my old form.  It is probably going to be a rude awakening for my little boy.

The Fruits of My Nesting

As I've said many times on this blog, I have had way too much fun getting BGG's area ready for her.  For the first six months to a year, she is going to be in mine and BJ's room.  Here is her 'room' followed by some close-ups of the different parts.

While my dad was here a few weekends ago, he painted this old vanity of mine peach and several wooden baskets I had yellow.  This has made a great, cute place for storage.  The yellow receiving blanket was knit by Aunt Alison!

Of course, Mom's quilt is central to the whole decor.  (Please ignore that we have no sheets on the crib. Shepherd had to sleep in BGG's bed last weekend when we had company, and we haven't put new sheets on yet.)

 
After matting and framing the painting I did for BGG, the piece really reflects the overall color scheme of yellows, peaches, pinks, and greens.  Obviously, I didn't want to limit my color scheme too much.

 
This is just a little wall hanging I threw together using a few things I found from Hobby Lobby.  The coral pink is a paint I used on the letters for BGG's name that hangs above the changing table.  Unfortunately, I won't be showing that part of the room because her name is still a secret.

Lastly, this is the changing table Nana and Papa got for us.  I love it!  I used peach scrapbook paper to label what is in each draw.

Of course, part of what makes the changing table so great is the mounds of girly clothes within it's drawers.

 
It is a good thing the room is ready because we are less that two weeks from the due date.  In fact, last night, I packed the hospital bag.

 
So to close, here is a picture of me this morning a 38 weeks pregnant.  I don't think I can get much bigger, but I'm sure I could be proven wrong. 

One of the many reasons I actually like where I live

In all honesty, it has been a while since I've lived in a place I really enjoyed.  Kentucky's weather was depressing, Frisco was too 'big city,' and Abilene, while I loved the people, was not the greatest scenery ever.  Ardmore, however, has my kind of weather (mild winters and hot summers), it is nicely medium as far as size goes, and the scenery is beautiful.

One of the biggest perks to living in Ardmore is that it takes us about 10 minutes to drive to a wonderful state park based around Murray Lake.  This morning, we took Shepherd to one of the beach areas at the lake, and we had so much fun.  Here are a few pictures of our outing, although for the safety of our camera, I wasn't able to get too many pictures of our splashy toddler in the water.  After all, that camera is about to have the job of taking 300 pictures of my newborn daughter within the first week.

And here are a few pictures of mid-morning snack time for Shepherd.  It consisted of goldfish and more goldfish.  We'll call it his first picnic.

You know you're really pregnant when...

...you have this conversation with one of your church's elder:

Elder: Kalyn, are you limping?
Me: No, Steve, I am not limping.  I am waddling.