Landry's Story; the Surprise of a Lifetime

As we experienced the birth of our second daughter, I can't explain the gift of love that happened all over again. I could not imagine the love I held in my heart doubling the way that it did as I experienced the joy of Motherhood for the second time. Purely magical and true and real; just as the first time was. And the surprise of a lifetime with Landry Anne.

We begin our morning fairly early on February 17th. We got up and got ready. And saying goodbye to Laney for the last time as an only child was fairly emotional.

We arrived at 7:30 am for an induction at Methodist Hospital. I was a wreck. I was concerned that my body would not take to the pitocin or I would not dilate or I would get sick. Just worried about everything that could go wrong. And all for not. I trusted my doctor and after several weeks of prayer; I found peace about getting induced. I had my mom and Matthew ready to coach me through labor. And I was ready to meet the next heart beat.

We started the pitocin drip and IV around 8:45 am and things progressed fairly quickly, I guess. Slower than last time but since it was forced and I somewhat expected this. And I got the epidural before they broke my water. Truly, I felt like I was cheating labor. But the epidural feels like a warm hot tub and margarita compared to the throws of contractions. Around 12:20 I was at 4 cm and the doctor came to break my water. After that, everything was fast fast fast. At 1:15 I was 8 cm and my epidural was wearing off quickly and I had a second dose. At 1:45/2:00 I was fully dilated. Then it was go time.......

After a couple of pushes, I was ready to have our baby. I was shocked this was so soon! I was going to get to push this baby out on my own without the vacuum; pure relief and utter happiness. We had to wait a little bit on the doctor to arrive and set up for delivery. I could not believe we were about to meet our baby. And, to be honest, I wasn't thinking gender. All I could think was "Lord, get my baby here safely and let the baby be okay." And before I knew it our baby was across my chest.

And Dr. Cox was awesome and made all the right decisions for me! He is hilarious and I truly loved my doctor in Austin (truly ;)) but finally I found the relationship and trust in this new doctor that I needed to deliver a baby. He made labor a lot of fun and I kept thinking about the game of labor and decided again that I want four kids. It must be the drugs.

At 2:35 pm I began to push and at 2:51 we met our precious baby. Matthew delivered the bundle of joy or caught her as she came out! He stood by Dr. Cox and after the head came out and shoulders he kind of let Matthew catch her. And immediately he put her across my chest. I just cried and cried kissing her sweet head; feeling the same sweet and overwhelming love that I remembered. Then, I think we both realized we didn't know if the baby was our boy or our girl, what did we just have? Matthew turned her over and I heard someone exclaim "It's a girl!". Matthew said he spoke the words and I couldn't tell. But the happiness I felt was overwhelming and I immediately thought, I should have known you! The only inkling of a girl that I ever had was before I knew I was pregnant and I dreamt about being pregnant with a baby girl. I should have taken that as my true sign. But, after that, I just thought the pregnancy was so distinctly different that it must be a boy! Still, the surprise of a lifetime and definitely worth the wait!

Laney met her baby quite promptly. After the labor and delivery we had Lesley bring her to the door and the nurse brought her in. She was overwhelmed with all the hospital type stuff but was sweet and brought her a baby yellow bear.

And I gave Laney a monogrammed heart locket necklace after we had Landry because she is still my heart beat. She has been wearing it and loves it.

To announce that the baby was a girl we gave Laney a pink "Its a girl" beanie baby to go show everyone. When we sent her out, I heard Lesley scream and my Dad just happily laughed. My mom was in the L&D room with us and found out it was a girl first!

The Crowell's came in later in the evening to meet Miss Landry.

Landry. She is just as beautiful as her big sister. And we are so lucky that we have such healthy, strong babies. Her hair is light blond/brown and her eyes right now are blue. I know they might change but I cannot believe they aren't the deep black like L's were. We shall see who this baby Landry turns into but I have always loved this name and pictured a little blond haired girl with it! We had three names considered and I knew that it had to be this one. Another funny thing to me is the doctor looked at her and guessed her weight to be 6 lbs and 13 oz or 7 lbs. Then they weighed her and she was 8 lbs 6 oz. Just an ounce bigger than Laney! It's crazy how our little ones don't ever look quite as big as they are. But Landry was so pink and healthy with her itty fat rolls. How I love her. She was hungry immediately and nursed straight away and has been sleeping a lot. I forgot how babies were after having a rambuncious two and a half year old. It may be safe to say that this labor and delivery was much easier the second go around. I secretly love the task and completion of labor!

Here are some random pictures we took at the hospital of Landry.

Our family feels more complete with the four of us. It truly feels like we are the classic American family unit. And watching Matthew with her I fall in love with him over and over again. He was meant to have girls I think. I know God gives us what we need and Laney must have needed a sister. And I must have need another little girl too and Laney a sister.

Laney said really funny things like "put her in time out" and "she is scary" but since we've been home she loves her baby. And she will love having a baby sister for the rest of her life.

To have a sister is to know a love that only sisters know. A love that grows through stages and phases is stronger for having been tested. That sticking together works through almost anything life can throw at us. That we belong to each other in a way that we can never belong to anyone else. In a way that is deep and lasting and real.

Happy Birthday to Landry Anne Crowell. Welcome to our Family and to the World. Jesus loves you and so do we!

More to come on our time at home with the Crowell's.