Welcome to our family, Sophie June!

Sophie June Vincent was born at dawn on October 13th- the day a cold front blew in and turned Charlottesville's leaves their beautiful autumn reds and golds. The perfect day for a birth day.

All together, it was 12 hours of labor (after 2 false starts in past 2 weeks) with the first 6 hours so easy that after Lucas was dropped off with friends, Laith and I went out for a leisurely stroll and then ate dinner out! Contractions were 2-5 min apart the whole time! I suppose I could have gone on for another day like that but we were ready to get the show on the road so we checked into the hospital. By then, Laith's mom arrived from WV so Lucas had her to stay the night with him. The intensity of the contractions didn't ramp up until the Dr broke my water. 6 hours later (30 min of pushing), Sophie June arrived! It was so nice to be mentally present for this birth. With Lucas I was so exhausted from the 29 hrs of torturous back-labor and 4 hrs of pushing that his birth is all a surreal blur. Luckily we have pictures of him from those first several days! I still vividly remember seeing Sophie for the first time. I couldn't believe she was out of me already- it was too simple! We had a REAL baby! I saw her back and chubby (!) legs first. And then her CUTE face! I noticed right away she has Laith's (and Lucas') nose. And I think my eye-shape. Her head was perfectly round like a ball and her feet were so tiny. I love Lucas so much that I couldn't imagine loving another baby but as soon as I saw Sophie, that love was instantly there. I was just amazed by her simple existence. I got to hold her for a few seconds while her mouth and nose were suctioned. She had swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid. Then the nurse took her to a little isolette where a mechanical suction machine was used for a few minutes before she was returned to me. Later that morning, Lucas and Grammy arrived to meet Sophie for the first time. I was ready with my camera and caught Lucas' expression upon first seeing us. The rest of the photos were taken by the talented Laith as I lay in bed recovering.

October 23rd at 10:40pm

2 days later... Lucas is a few hours old...


Wow, I'm usually not such a sentimental person. But when the evening of the 23rd approached, I began reminiscing about where I was at this time exactly one year ago. Which is a little unusual because my labor was long and difficult. You'd think I would wait to reminisce and get all misty-eyed when the 25th rolled around. Anyway, I spent the 2 days leading up to Lucas' birthday remembering every detail and all the excitement and anticipation we felt. On October 23rd, 2007, I had no feelings of impending labor whatsoever until I had what I thought were contractions (but so subtle and painless) for an hour before my water broke at 10:40pm. Usually this is the moment when things really get moving in the birthing process. We waited until 2am on the 24th to go to the birthing center. When we arrived I was already 5 cm dilated. I paced the hallway back and forth and back and forth, stopping to bend forward every time I had a contraction. At this point all the pain was in my back already. Fun fun. I remember the midwife telling me that her shift was over at 7am and that most first births take about 7 to 8 hours. She said she'd stay with us if we were about to birth our baby close to her shift-end. I thought for sure we would be! Well, I'm not sure what the hang-up was (his huge head?) but we stayed at the birthing center for 12 more hours after her shift ended and the new midwife relieved her. I had been stuck at 9 cm for 4 hours by the time Laith made the decision that it would be in my and Lucas' best interest if we just went to the hospital and got some drugs in me! Whew! The back labor was so intense that I didn't feel any contracting at all around the front of my body and it was impossible for me to relax enough to let the baby come out. The ride to St. David's hospital was miserable because I couldn't bend forward during my contractions. Luckily, even at 9 cm, they were able to give me an epidural soon after arriving and I actually fell asleep for an hour while my cervix opened the final cm. After another 5 or 6 hours of pushing, at 3:18am, Lucas arrived! I'll never forget that first moment of seeing his scrunched face. It was like time froze and went too quickly all at once. I couldn't believe he was real. That he was OUR baby! Everything else in the room became shadows and background noise and all I could see was a beautiful boy getting passed up to my arms. As much as I wanted to take it all in and burn every detail about our new baby into my mind, I was so exhausted that my body just shut down. I just physically couldn't hold him- even while lying down. I asked Laith to take him and they took a nap together. The rest of the night was a blur but it was a happy blur. As soon as I got some rest, Lucas was in my arms or Laith's arms (or Meemom's arms! She arrived that afternoon!) and never put down except for a few photos. The weight of a newborn baby in your arms is the best feeling in the world. The weight of an older, one-year-old baby in your arms is pretty darn great too. Happy First Birthday, Lucas! We love you so much!

Welcome Baby Sufyan!

I know many of you blog readers have heard Laith and I talk about our friends across the street who were expecting a baby boy.... well, he's here! Sufyan was born yesterday and we're soooo excited! He and Lucas are close enough in age to play together (eventually) and it's been great sharing pregnancy stories with his mom Ravyn throughout the whole process. We have yet to meet this beautiful new baby (as they are still getting to know eachother as a new family), but luckily they posted a few pictures. Welcome Sufyan!

Welcome Lucas!

The first signs that we'd soon have a new family member began the evening of the 23rd. I was hoping Lucas would arrive that day so that he and his grandpa (Laith's dad) could share a birthday. At that point it was fairly late at night though so we knew that wouldn't happen. We also (luckily) didn't know that we would be awake for 2 nights in a row trying to coax him all the way out into the world! After 20 hours of labor we decided to transfer from the birthing center to the hospital because I made no progress during the last 4 hours. Luckily our wonderful and tireless midwife accompanied us. Having her there for support, advice and encouragement made the prospect of a hosptial birth (which really scared me) a lot more comfortable and it really was so much better than I thought it would be. The labor/delivery room was homey with dimmed lighting, wood furniture and panelling, and a very pared-down and unobtrusive medical staff. Our doctor was great and a big proponent of only using interventions if absolutely necessary. I got a low dose of epidural and pitocin at the hospital and 7 hours later Lucas was born! Our midwife later told us that she wasn't sure at the time if I'd be able to fit a baby Lucas' size through my pelvic bones. Luckily, everything shape-shifted enough for him to squeeze out and it really was the most amazing thing and wonderful moment to finally get to meet our new son! We'll be posting more pics soon but first Laith and I need some rest, recuperation, and some time to figure out how to take care of our new cutie pie!