Day Two :)

Friday morning came bright and early. I kept waking up in the night thinking Leah was gagging...not entirely sure why :) I think I slept about 2 hours all night, but when you are running on 'baby adrenaline' you don't really mind. And when you look over and see a gorgeous baby girl, you really don't mind. My mom made a bunch of blankets for Leah...I love this one with the lady bugs on it.
Pretty much this is how the day was spent...staring at my baby!

She does occasionally cry...but she's cute even when she does that.

Eli enjoyed playing with a 'glove baloon'. He did so good when he came up to visit. He liked to sit up on my bed a lot while he was there-I'll always welcome a snuggle from my boy :)

I just can't get over how pretty she is...

She looks so good in pink too :)

Leah's First Day

Thought you'd enjoy a few more pictures from Leah's first day :)

Leah's First Bath

After the excitement of the morning, Leah got a bath in the early afternoon. She loved her bath-she was quiet the whole time :) Here are a few pictures of the 'event' :)

She's Here!

Thursday, September 30th started (not so) bright and early for Edgar and I. We were up at 4:30 getting ready to go and meet our little girl. We took the time to take a 'before' shot :) And then we were off.

We got to the hospital at 5:30 and they took us to triage. They started an IV (and, no, I did not pass out.) and got me prepped for surgery. The time went by amazingly fast. We talked to the nurse and the anesthesiologist about what was going to happen. A couple of students came in to ask permission to observe the C-section...then I realized that the anesthesiologist was, in fact, also a student...and he was doing my spinal while under the observation of the doctor. THAT made me a little nervous...I made sure I wasn't his FIRST patient, and they said 'Oh no...he's been doing them all week'...yikes. I could have requested that the actual dr. do the spinal, but I decided to live on the edge...

Edgar got his scrubs on, and we were ready to head in to the operating room!

I kept waiting to get nervous...it didn't really happen. People must have been praying for me, because that is still a bit unreal to me :) They wheeled me in and got me on the operating table. The student gave me a spinal (not at all comfortable...but once he was done I was blissfully numb) and I laid back. As soon as I laid back I felt awful. I got really dizzy, and felt like I was going to pass out. They said my blood pressure dropped some. Whether it was nerves or my blood pressure, I don't know, but I started to panic a little bit-I did NOT want to pass out or throw up! They gave me something and I quickly started feeling better. They brought Edgar in (he couldn't be in there for the spinal) and we 'got ready'. They started the operation...and I knew I was going to throw up. Gross. That was the one thing I was worried about (that's right...I was worried about throwing up...not getting my abdomen cut open...). I heaved a bit (sorry) and they gave me something for THAT, and I felt better :) I love medicine...

I couldn't believe how soon they were saying 'You're gonna feel a LOT of pressure' and then two little whimpers and a big cry! She was here. They lowered the curtain, and we got to see our little girl for the first time!

She was born at 7:51 am, weighing 7 lb 15 oz. There she is with our doctor :) They took her over to the exam table to make sure she was okay.

Edgar went over and cut the chord and watched as she got checked out.

She is so beautiful!

I was still on the operating table, so I was glad to at least hear her :) It took a little while for them to bring her over to me-I was also having a cyst removed, so I think they were waiting to finish that before they brought her over.

But soon, I was holding Leah in my arms :)

They handed her to me, and I instantly thought-'holy cow! It's another Eli!' She looks a lot like her big brother. (compare Leah's first pictures to some of Eli's HERE)

I didn't want to let her go!

Almost exactly an hour after she was born we were headed out of the operating room on our way to recovery. In recovery I was able to nurse her-she did GREAT. I just snuggled her for about an hour, and worked on wiggling my toes as the feeling came back :) We sent pictures via our cell phones, and announced her arrival. It was so good to finally meet her!

Leah Christy

Yes...that is the name of our baby girl...unless we decide to change it :) Deciding what this girl's name has probably been about the hardest decision Edgar and I have made as a married couple. We just couldn't decide on the first name. The middle name, however, took little discussion (mainly because I said it HAD to be that :) )

On October 8 it will be 5 years since my friend, Christy, died. I can't believe it has been five years. Ever since she went home to be with Jesus I have known that my first daughter would share her name somehow.

Christy was one of the most amazing girls I have ever known. We met my first year at Liberty-she was two doors down from me, but we didn't actually meet until we were both in RA training together. We went through training together, and had SO much fun. We connected so quickly and knew we would be RA partners the next year together. I truly believe God brought her into my life at that moment for a reason. I had begun to just live a 'pretend' Christian life. Not that I wasn't a Christian, of course, but I had begun to do what I was 'suppose to' without a heart for God. You couldn't do that around Christy. She was so sold out for God. I had never experienced anything like it. She lived as if God was her lifeline-her EVERYTHING. She REALLY lived it, and loved God with her whole being. Because of her amazing love for God, she had the most unbelievable love for people that I had ever seen. She loved 'the unlovable'...and I think many times because of her love-and the love of Christ that she showed, the 'unlovable' became lovable. We became friends, and I became a better person. She made me want to serve God. She was the type of person that made you want to sell all of your earthly possessions and move to India and serve orphans the rest of your life. Her insight into scripture was always unique and inspiring, and her 'heroes' were people like Rich Mullins, Jim Elliott and Amy Carmichael. She changed my life.

She was also SO MUCH FUN to be around. We used to do the most amazing skits for hall meeting-all of which she came up with. Skits in which I (very literally) ate peanut butter out of her armpit, super glued 'Vulcan ears' to my ears (yeah...super glue causes chemical burns...I don't rec. it...) and spit chewed up Cheeze-It's into a napkin, pretending it was ear wax. We used to go to thrift stores to intentionally find ugly clothes to wear to class. That year I was her RA partner I was not the most attractively dressed, but I had some of the best times of my life.

We used to meet with the SLD's (Spiritual Live Directors) once a week and had such sweet times together. Those meeting helped shape my walk with Christ.

After she graduated we kept in contact. We used to head up to her house and hang out on our breaks. One break in particular, we decided to go camping...just the four girls (Me, Christy, and the 2 SLD's). Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go was still quite covered in snow. We decided we were gonna do it anyway. So we climbed through the snow with all of our gear, up a mountain...at dusk. It was dark by the time we got to the shelter at the top, and FREEZING. We had seen Wild Cat tracks on the way up which helped us speed up a bit...those things will attack anything. On the top of the mountain in the (very uninsulated) shelter we got our sleeping bags out, and huddled in them and basically shivered violently all night. The wind was blowing up over the mountain SO hard, we were sure we were going to blow right over. We read the entire book of Matthew to help calm our fears...On the way down the mountain the next morning, we were exhausted. We hadn't slept, we were FREEZING, and hungry. We went to 'Tudor's Biscuit World' for breakfast and as soon as we walked in a couple of 'mountain men' (seriously, the best way to describe them...) looked at us and asked us where we had been. We told them, and they started laughing...then told us we were lucky we weren't dead. Lovely. That ended our week-long camping trip. We stayed at Christy's parent's house the rest of the week where it was warm.

We also took a week the next summer and went camping in Colorado. What an amazing trip...We drove all over Colorado seeing beautiful places. We went hiking every day and had so much time just hanging out and talking. (This time we did take some guys with us...the 'four girl' thing didn't work so well apparently :) Her dad came too...we needed someone that knew what they were doing...)

After that I saw her about twice a year, but each time was so much fun, and always encouraging. Our last trip together was to go to our friend, Amanda's wedding. It was a VERY spur of the moment, last minute trip. I remember sitting with her the night before Amanda's wedding, listening to Amanda's friends give her marriage advice. It was a good night. The wedding was beautiful. Then we met up with her husband, and she headed for home, and I headed for home. That was the last time I saw her.

We talked a lot on the phone. She took several trips to India ministering to orphans. I loved hearing her stories. We talked a lot about things in my life-it was wonderful to have a listening ear. I remember when Edgar & I were just friends I was talking about him to her, and she said "I like him...I like him a lot. I think you guys should get together." To which I laughed, and said I didn't think that was in our future...little did I know, right?! :)

She has a beautiful daughter. She was a very special miracle. Christy had had 3 miscarriages-all of which were terribly hard for her. When Brooklyn was born one of Christy's greatest prayers had been answered. I loved hearing the joy in her voice. She loved that little girl so much. I feel so sad that Brooklyn only knew her mom for a few short years. I pray for that little girl a lot, and hope she has the same joy and spirit her mother had.

Christy's life wasn't a very easy life at times. She had Ulcerative Colitis and was very sick quite often, but in every challenge she ever faced she loved God.

Though this post has been long, I feel like it is only a small picture of how much she meant to me. I miss her. I think of her a lot. I Especially through this pregnancy. I pray that our little girl will love Jesus as much as my dear friend did.

And that is why her middle name is Christy.

Can't wait...

...to meet her!

Misc....

I know...I have been terrible about updating lately. It's not like nothing has been going on...I just am never in the mood to post once Eli goes to bed...I just want to watch TV...or maybe go to bed :) But with our baby set to arrive 34 hours from now (holy smokes!) I figured I'd get this caught up in one post...one post that should be 4, but I'm gonna sum it up in one :)

My Mother-in-Law & Krista threw a shower for me. This is the cake Krista made...gorgeous, as usual.
The 'crew' that came :) Thanks, Carly, for the bunny ears :)

I made some cookies for a baby shower...and attended that shower. It was for my friend who was due a day after my scheduled C-Section...but she beat me to it. Her little boy is already home-can't wait to meet him!

Katie turned FOUR! I can't believe how fast she's grown up! It seems like just yesterday I was taking bagels to Krista in the hospital and meeting this little girl! Katie had a 'Hello Kitty' birthday party-it was SO cute. Krista made this cake too...along with cookies, and a TON of other stuff. Seriously...she needs to be a party planner...

Eli enjoyed the balloons. He had so much fun at the party-we all did!
I've been busy getting things ready for me to take some time off from a few things-like Sunday School and the Algebra II class I teach. It really took longer than I thought to get the stuff set up for a sub...why is it that taking time off is harder than actually just doing it yourself? :) I am VERY glad to have a few weeks off, though, so it was worth it. We've also been trying to get the house ready for our baby girl. Edgar miraculously finished the baby's room. I am SO proud of him. It was something we didn't think would get done, but he worked incredibly hard to get it finished. It looks so pretty. I still have a few things to do in it-like hanging up pictures and decorating a little more...and making a quilt for the bed, but the crib is set up, and her 'stuff' is in the room. I know...I should have pictures...but I don't. I'll get some later and be sure to post it. It's really beautiful. Thank you Edgar!!!!

And lastly, I will leave you with a little video of Eli giving his cousin, Isaac, a kiss :) They were giving each other kisses-it was super cute-but they stopped after I got the camera out...of course.

I may or may not post again before the baby arrives...we'll see. Mom arrives in an hour, and we have a fun day planned tomorrow, so I just might bring the camera with us :)