kids

kids

Monday, November 29, 2010

Welcome, Lila!

We've been waiting for you, Lila! Our beautiful daughter Lila Kay Schuchard was born on Tuesday, October 26th at 11:31 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches long. We are so happy to have her in our family!

The day of Lila's birth started very early. We woke up at 4:15 a.m. to get ready and called the Labor & Delivery Ward at 4:45 to make sure there was a bed available for me. Happily, there was! Here we are before leaving for the hospital:



By 5:20 a.m., we were getting settled into our L&D room, and an hour later, I had started on a bag of Pitocin. The doctor ruptured my membranes shortly after 7 (I was already dilated 3 cm!), and then my contractions really took off. Here I am in my bed, still looking pretty relaxed, around 7:45.



At approximately 10 a.m., when the contractions were about 2 minutes apart, the pain was intense enough for me to request the epidural. It was great to feel this epidural working so rapidly -- a luxury I didn't have when I gave birth to John because I received that epidural so late that it didn't have enough time to fully take effect. Soon after the epidural, I started having this really sharp pain in my lower left abdomen. It didn't feel like a contraction at all, so I was a little concerned. Andrea, our nurse, checked me at that point, and I was 9 cm dilated. Nobody could believe it! (I guess I waited a little longer than I should have for the epidural.) The doctor and L&D staff rushed around to get everything prepared for the delivery.

Once I was fully dilated, I pushed for about 12 minutes. It was much harder pushing with Lila than it was with John because the epidural made it difficult for me to feel myself bearing down. But at least it was a lot less painful! Overall, this birthing experience was about as good as I could possibly have hoped for. We feel very blessed that it went as well as it did and that Ross could be home for it.

Here is a video Daddy took right after Lila's birth.....listen to that cry!!



Lila after birth from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

And here is a video of Mommy holding Lila for the first time!

Mommy holding Lila from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.


Finally, here are some pictures of the little darling from the first hours of her life.....by herself and with her Mommy and Daddy.





Finally, here's Mommy with the new big brother!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

An early Halloween celebration

John got to wear his giraffe costume a week early for a special pre-Halloween event at Ruth Lake. Shockingly, he kept his costume on the whole time! He didn't try to take off the hood or unzip the bodysuit at all. He even left the hoof-straps alone.

That evening, John got to take his first hayride (pulled by a bright green tractor that he LOVED). He also got to pick out a huge pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to take home.






But the real highlight of the evening for John was a golf cart ride with Uncle Steve.....


After the golf cart ride, John met a little girl dressed as a strawberry. John kept saying "choo choo" to her, and she called him "horse." Don't worry, Elise, it was an innocent conversation. John only has eyes for you!
Daddy and his little giraffe!

Daddy's homecoming

Ross arrived home for his two-week break on Friday, October 22nd. The timing could not have been better -- just as we had hoped, we would have a few days of downtime as a family of three before going in to be induced for baby #2!

John and Grandma Kay came with me to O'Hare that day to pick Ross up. I had debated whether to take John, since Ross' flight was arriving during John's usual naptime, but after talking with Stephanie, I decided that the all-important nap could be pushed back for this special occasion! I am so glad he was there to see his Daddy right away. Just as I suspected, John took one look at his Daddy, smiled, and ran the other direction (this is John's usual routine when he sees someone he really likes).
I never doubted that John would know who his Daddy was when he saw him again, but it still was a relief to hear John call him "Daddy" to his face!
Grandma Kay took a few short videos of our happy reunion at the airport -- thanks, Grandma!


Daddy's homecoming from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.



Daddy's homecoming part 2 from Sarah Schuchard on Vimeo.

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