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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

I was never a big fan of Easter  (setting aside the religious aspects anyway).  I don't love pastels, the weather usually stinks here, I don't like the little girls frilly dresses, and I can't STAND the hats, gloves and little purses girls have.  I couldn't love it any more now though.
Rewind...  We'd been trying to get pregnant for 4 excruciating years.  It seemed that everyone around us was getting pregnant the instant they thought about it.  It was our 8th or 9th (and last) IUI and it just happened to fall on a cold dreary Easter Sunday.  I had pretty much given up hope of it working and was trying to figure out how we could pay for IVF with no help from insurance.  We made the familiar trek to Seattle that morning and were supposed to go to Jim's moms later that day.  I couldn't go.  Jim went alone and I laid on the couch in the dark in sweats crying and feeling sorry for us.  Pitiful huh?

Little did I know that day that one of the biggest miracles of my life was occuring (ok, well it would occur over the next week or so).  It worked and we got our first beautiful miracle girl.  I'll never be cranky or negative about Easter again!  I still don't like the hats and gloves, but now I just smile and feel grateful that I have two little ones I could dress up that way if I ever chose to.  I am so very blessed, and it all began on Easter.


                                                          Stella - Easter 2008 (3 months old looking an AWFUL lot like Lucy does at 4 weeks!)
Happy Easter!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Lucille Jean Snider

Lucille (Lucy) Jean Snider was born on March 28th 2011 at 6:26 weighing in at a whopping 8lb 11 oz and 21.5".  It's only taken me 2 weeks to post this, what can I say, I've been just a little bit busy being in LOVE!

I was induced on Monday morning (she would have been a week late on Tuesday) and labor progressed almost identically to the way it did with Stella.  Slow at first, pitocin started to kick my butt, epidural was fabulous, and at about 5 pm still only being dilated to a "maybe" 5, I sent my Dad, Step-mom, and Jim to dinner.  The next time the nurse came in she told me it was time to push.  I had to call Jim to come back.  It took a few more pushes than it did with Stella (she was only 5 lb 10oz) and the nurse had to threaten to "help" her out if I didn't do it on the last push as she was in some distress with each contraction.  I was prepared for labor to be different this time as everyone says they're all different, but it couldn't have been scripted to be any more similar.

Stella's "babysitter" who is AMAZING and her second family, kept Stella for a sleep-over the first night and brought her in to see her baby.  It was one of the sweetest moments I've ever witnessed.

We got tons of pictures of everyone with Lucy and me, but in all of the craziness (the room was packed after she was born), we didn't get a single picture of all 4 of us in the hospital.  I can't believe I let that happen and it honestly breaks my heart just a little bit. 
She's been wanting to read to her baby for months and is finally getting the chance.  We're so very blessed to be able to watch these two miracles grow up together and the relationship they'll have.


If you're a facebook friend you've already seen these all...



The other day I told Jim I can see why people have 6 or 7 babies, they're addicting!  Lucy will be our last though, so I'm trying to soak up every second.  The first night home we were all at the dinner table and I starting sobbing.  I can't believe that after all we've been through here we are with two beautiful girls of our own.  I don't think I slept more than 2 hours that night, I couldn't stop looking at her and didn't ever want to put her down.  There was also more crying...  I even cried watching American Idol!  Someone sang "Your Song" and the line "How wonderful life is while you're in the world" made me bawl.  I think it will be the quote that I put on my Lucy bracelet.  Stella and I had our song the whole time I was pregnant and Lucy and I never had that.  I guess I've found it.  I just wish I could somehow slow these first days down, the newborn days go by much too quickly!