Vivian Lebel Taylor

We ended up making it to that hot air balloon festival on Saturday. The balloons didn't get to launch because of the breeze but they did try to inflate and participate in the "glow" that evening before having to call it quits since the weather wasn't in our favor.

On Monday I had another Midwife appointment where we discussed scheduling an inducement. I was dilated to 3 cm and 70% effaced but we planned on calling in on Friday (if our baby hadn't arrived) and getting on the list for inducement. I really really didn't want to be chemically induced. I had my membranes stripped again before leaving and kept my fingers crossed I wouldn't make it my next appointment on Thursday. During my visit the Midwife mentioned it felt like our baby was posterior rather than anterior. Leone was this same way and I began to worry since we were so close to our due date that she wouldn't turn. Knowing this had happened with Leone I started early on in this pregnancy using yoga poses and other strategies to help the baby turn and settle into my pelvis...but maybe it's just the way my pelvis is shaped that my babies tend to face the wrong way. It doesn't create a complication like a breech baby would but it can slow labor and creates painful back labor. It basically means a long early labor and a fast delivery.
I went home that day and kept working on turning the baby and we were bracing ourselves for her to arrive any day. I was warned that having my membranes stripped would cause cramping and contractions but I felt nothing...

On Tuesday I woke up at 8:00 a.m. with mild contractions. Nothing major just the "Hmm...that was a contraction". Spencer went to work and Leone and I spent the day around the house cleaning, ironing, playing, and resting. All throughout the day I kept having contractions (mainly in my back spreading around to the front) and every once in a while I would have a pretty intense one the "woah...that was strong" kind, but nothing crippling. I started keeping track of the contractions but they didn't seem to regulate in frequency although the duration and intensity were consistently progressing. I just kept watching for the magic 1 minute long-5 minutes apart-for 1 hour combination. At times in the day it even seemed like the contractions stopped and that was terribly frustrating. I was able to go about the entire day having contractions but getting things done. This was completely different from my labor with Leone when I couldn't do anything but rock on my hands and knees and I was exhausted early on.

That evening I went to bed as usual. I remember having two contractions right before falling asleep. I woke up around 12:45 a.m. (Wednesday morning) for a bathroom break and then I noticed my contractions again. I couldn't fall back to sleep as the intensity and frequency were increasing. Around 3:30 a.m. Spencer woke up and kept me company and started tracking the contractions for me. During a contraction I had to focus but after a contraction Spencer and I would talk and laugh as if nothing were happening. This just wasn't how I expected labor to feel, especially after having Leone. I always scoffed at the idea of being able to sleep through any part of labor, or to go see a movie, or do anything but labor during early labor so I was thinking this may be my body reacting to my membranes being stripped.
At this point my contractions were getting closer to 5 minutes apart-we'd have a few 5 minutes apart then a 7 minutes apart, a 9 minutes, a 4 minutes, then a 5 again. Spencer started gathering our bags and waking Leone around 6:00 a.m. but I wanted to speak to a Midwife first. Just after 6:00 I called the hospital and asked the Midwife on call about the frequency of my contractions to which she responded "Is this your first? (My second.) Since this is your second I would come in to the hospital." At this point my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and 40-60 seconds long.
Leone was so excited she woke right up and didn't dawdle while getting ready. We dropped her off with Spencer's parents and made it to the hospital by 7:00 a.m.  Riding in the car while in labor is THE WORST. I had three three contractions during our short drive to the hospital. Luckily we didn't hit rush hour traffic.

We arrived at labor and delivery and were running through the usual questions. The receptionist asked a nurse if a triage room was ready to which she said yes. Then a few minutes (and contractions) later the receptionist asked the nurse "do you have a room available?" to which she said "I'll check". The same thing happened with Leone--we walk in and instead of going to triage I ended up going straight to a delivery room. I was dilated to a "5+"cm!

The nurses who helped us were incredible! I'm so grateful. The triage nurse continued with the admittance process while my delivery nurse was getting me hooked up to the monitor and setting up the instruments. I consented for the water birth trial but I wasn't sure I would actually want a water birth. I asked them to set up the pool so I could try laboring in the pool. While everything was getting set up the Midwife arrived (the only one I hadn't met). I was a little worried since I didn't have an idea of her personality or style yet but Theresa (the Midwife) was wonderful! A blessing really, she was exactly what I needed for this delivery. She immediately dimmed the lights and she spoke in a low soothing voice and was forthcoming with information so I felt completely present and informed.

The pool was ready so I decided to give it a shot. From my research I learned that laboring in water is really most helpful if you can submerge the entire belly (I had tried using water with Leone's labor but I couldn't ever submerge my stomach) so I wanted to see if it would make a difference. Before getting into the pool I went to the bathroom and while I was there I mentioned that I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. Theresa (the midwife) called from the room "Don't push yet sweetie-that could be the baby!" She came to check and as she did she said "There goes your cervix. It's slipping away as we speak." (The cervix slides out of the way just before delivery so that is completely normal).Then suddenly my water broke! She checked to make sure everything was clear and then I climbed into the pool.

The birthing pool is an inflatable pool filled with warm water. It has several handles on the inside and outer edge, and one small bench inside. Spencer sat on a stool on my left and Theresa sat on a stool on my right. Between contractions we would talk and ask Theresa questions. The nurses would chime in...honestly the environment was friendly and casual but professional. Everything felt so right. The water helped tremendously with the contractions. I could still feel the pressure of a contraction but the pain was minimal. I was amazed!

Not long after climbing into the pool I felt the urge to push again. Theresa gave me the go ahead but suddenly I was scared. I didn't want to push...I wasn't mentally ready...and I wasn't prepared to not be ready. I was kind of panicking in my mind, psyching myself out. I knew I would probably tear again and I didn't want to. I realized that throughout my pregnancy I relied on knowing what to expect but then come labor and delivery knowing what to expect made me freak out a little. I started crying and saying "I don't want to do this", "It hurts", "I'm scared"...everything you're NOT supposed to say or think and deep down I knew that. Spencer, bless his heart, kept encouraging me and I could see in his eyes he was concerned for me. He wanted to help and was ready to demand anything I wanted but at the same time he knew there was nothing we could do except deliver our baby. Theresa kept coaching me and telling me "you're going to have a baby any minute...just push, breathe the baby out." I was thinking "yeah, sure, any minute...I pushed Leone for an hour!" I couldn't have done it without Theresa and Spencer and all the other nurses encouraging and pushing me a long. I could have moved to the bed but I didn't feel like going anywhere. I didn't even want to change positions in the pool; partly because where I was felt good but, I think, also I was a bit frozen with fear. Theresa finally, gently said, "What do you want? Do you want to get out of the pool and get in the bed and have an epidural?" I didn't verbally respond (I may have whimpered...) but she must have seen the hope in my eyes because she said "No...you're baby is so close, I know that's not what you really want." And she was right....that wasn't what I really wanted but anything sounded good at that moment. All I wanted was for someone to reach inside and pull the baby out--suddenly C-sections didn't seem so bad after all...

Theresa suggested I reach down to feel the baby and I could! That was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I could feel the crown of her head just two knuckle lengths away! That gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush--like when you can see the "finish" line so I made sure to make my next pushes productive. When I checked again I could feel her head just one knuckle away! A push or two more...I tried to check again...but I couldn't distinguish anything. Theresa checked and she said "That's because that's her crown. You're there!" Our baby was literally a push or two away. I went for it! Suddenly---so suddenly--- she was here! Spencer was able to catch her and hand her to me and then he cut her umbilical cord and she was born!! I couldn't believe it. I was crying with relief and joy and gratitude. I was overcome.
My first thought was she looks like Leone...but not...then that she resembles my Dad. I handed our baby girl back to Spencer while I stepped out of the pool and into the bed. There I was able to hold our little girl, Vivian Lebel, skin to skin. I did tear again but not as bad as last time.
Only an hour and a half after being admitted to the hospital, weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz (a whole pound more than her sister) and 20 inches long, Vivian was born on Wednesday August 12th at 9:15 a.m.

 She has my chin.

Leone Turns 3!

Leone turned three in July and we celebrated one day early since her actual birthday was on a Sunday. We had an "Under the Sea" themed party this year and since I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time I kept it pretty simple. However, I believe in birthdays so we were definitely going to have a party. I get excited just thinking about how we'll have two birthday parties to plan next year!
Months prior to her birthday I had asked Leone what kind of birthday she wanted and I would ask several times always giving her choices until we finally widdled it down to the one option she chose most often. I was adamant that the party be "Under the Sea" and not "The Little Mermaid" so the choices I gave were always general like "Under the Sea" or "Space". I had fun with the decorations and coming up with themed food that could feed a crowd. We kept the invite list to family and had her party at a splash pad we frequent in the summer months.  That is a perk to having summer babies: their parties can always be outside (which works out well since our one bedroom apartment can't accommodate anything close to a "party").

Leone really seemed to catch onto the idea of birthdays this year (except the fact that your birthday is only for one day) and that makes me excited for other holidays like Christmas and Halloween.

Leone snapped a shot of me working on decorations.

 Leone's favorite food are tacos so we enjoyed taquitos which were labeled as "Coral". We also had: "Ocean Water" - blue punch

"Sea Sponge" - Watermelon

"Sea Shells" - Chips

"Shark Bait" - Salsa

"Sea Foam" - Sour Cream

 Instead of birthday cake we had a doughnut cake. It was hands down the best idea ever! I have yet to actually make a cake for Leone's birthday. We had cupcakes at her first birthday but that's the closest we've come so far. Last year I made her favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I'm just not a fan of cake and while I realize it's her birthday she doesn't really know. Except since two of her cousins had birthdays in the months leading up to hers Leone started asking for a "blue birthday cake" the week of her party (blue is her favorite color at the moment). I began to feel bad and wondered if I should make a cake but decided we'd stick with our plan since next year she'll have even more say in her party as she develops more preference. 

 Of course the one year we plan a party involving water it was the coolest and windiest day of the week. So windy we couldn't keep the candles lit but we sang and enjoyed ourselves none the less.

 Leone was given many lovely gifts such as her first tea set, an ice cream ball, dress-up clothes, and art supplies.

On Leone's actual birthday she woke up to birthday bunting hanging in the living room, her favorite breakfast: oatmeal, and church which she loves. That night we had tacos for dinner with authentic mexican rice.

Happy happy birthday Leone dear!

Three is a Magic Number

Leone will be three years old in a matter of weeks and she has grown outrageously in the past year!
See for yourself:

 Leone: 2 years old

Leone: present day

The amount of hair alone has tripled!

Spencer and I continue to marvel at the changes and growth she has made mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. It shouldn't be so surprising since that's what kids do...grow up...but it is miraculous! We feel as though she has officially transitioned from baby to little girl.
I shot her three year pictures today and love how many of them turned out. We picked out two of her favorite outfits and brought along a few of her favorite things (sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and of course her baby doll). We set out in the early morning to avoid the summer heat. This may have been my first morning shoot. I noticed the light was a bit more dynamic than during an evening shoot but we had the Historic Park to ourselves and that made for fewer distractions for Leone.

Leone was hot and cold when it came to having her picture taken. One moment she was loving it and then suddenly she'd pout and want nothing to do with the camera. I didn't mind because it gave us quite a variety of expressions and demonstrated the many dimensions of her burgeoning personality.

 I learned a lot from using bubbles in these pictures.

Spencer made this stool about a year ago and Leone uses it daily.

 The quilt that Leone is sitting on is the wedding quilt that my Grams made for us four years ago this month. I love the sentiment.

My mom is creating a collage on her wall of pictures of each of the grand-kids with a list of their current likes and dislikes. Interestingly enough Leone seems to enjoy everything. The only things I would say she "dislikes" are being told "no", having to sit longer than five minutes at the dinner table, and getting water in her eyes. So everything listed are things she likes or loves.

I decided to use this picture instead of a "Wordle" to document her interests this year. (A bit of explanation: Leone pronounces "Rocket ships" as "Ropet-chips" and since attending my prenatal appointments has decided that she wants to be a doctor. Also, her favorite animal at the aquarium is the Octopus.)