The Yates: January 2013

Time has already gone by so fast! Lily is already 3 months old and I am just barely getting on to post pictures. However, it was really fun to look back at these pictures and remember everything. I have a lot to post and about 500+ pictures (not joking) to sort through, so I will be updating in several posts. Starting from the beginning.... the birth.

I decided before I was even pregnant that I wanted to have a natural birth. I was blessed to be surrounded by many people in my ward and at work who had had successful natural births and Barrett fully supported whatever I wanted to do. We decided on Hypnobirthing and went to a great instructor that was in the same building as my midwife. So all throughout the pregnancy we were practicing and over-practicing breathing and relaxation. I was nervous about my ability to block out the pain, so I over-prepared and it went really well! My contractions woke me up at 5 am the morning before Lily was born, but stayed about 20 minutes apart the whole day while I was at work and celebrating my dad's birthday. When I got home that night they were very irregular and I was becoming really impatient for labor to start, especially because my body had been progressing for weeks and I expected her to come early. But around 11 pm the "real", close together, contractions started. I labored at home until about 2:30 in the morning. When we got to the hospital and were filling out some paperwork, the nurse at the desk asked me if I was in labor! Ha ha! Well I was definitely in labor because I was dilated to a 7 when they checked me. So you'd think the rest of the story would be short from here, but I progressed to an 8 and stayed there for many hours. They eventually broke my water around 7 am and it got a lot a harder after this. All I can say is, I couldn't have continued my breathing and relaxation without Barrett! He was amazing during the whole process. He got me anything I needed, put on whatever music I asked for, and stayed by my side, including being in awkward positions at the end, bending around the bed so I could hold his hand. This picture is before they broke my water as I'm trying to focus on relaxing.

Lily was eventually born at 12:52 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

Barrett and I were both exhausted after, but after some food we were more alert and up for visitors. The great recovery afterwards and ability to be up and moving around and talking to everyone coherently made the whole process worth it.

Lily had a lot of visitors while we were in the hospital. Here are some pictures of all the family she got to meet.

I don't know why we don't have a picture with Sophie holding Lily, but here she is waiting for her turn.

Melissa came up with her boys the day after Lily was born. Her boys were so adorable with Lily!

Seth wrote Lily so many notes while he was there. And he kept telling me he loved her and would draw hearts on his notes. So cute!

They will have a new brother in less than 2 months (yay!) and I bet there will be a picture exactly like this with their new brother.

Brittney came with her children over the weekend to visit Lily.

Meeting all the great-grandparents...

Barrett giving Lily her first bath.

Leaving the hospital. The clothes I brought for Lily drowned her! The pants are still too big for her. It's funny how everything looks little until they are born and you see how small they really are.