lauren elise turns 1!

today my #2 turns 1!  i can't believe it.  this year has gone by so incredibly fast.  lauren has been such a joy to have in our family.  she has brought countless smiles to my face and has brightened so many days with her sweetness.  i am so grateful that i get to be her momma.  this year has been a challenge.  learning to be mom to two kids is tough business.  there have been times where i've wanted to throw in the towel for sure.  my post-partum with lo was a lot harder than it was with brooklin.  i was more emotional and i was definitely under more stress the second time around.  i'm so glad i have such a strong and supportive husband that was right there by my side willing to take over when i needed it.  it's really hard to not feel like you're negelecting one of your children (and yourself for that matter) when trying to meet the needs of the other, which creates guilt.  but, i learned it's just something i've gotta get over, because i'm sure it effects me so much more than it effects the girls.  i am still learning the balancing act, but i know that one day i'll feel like i've got a handle on things and maybe we'll be ready to add another to the mix.  until then, i'm so enjoying my two girls!  they are so amazing!

i wanted to repost lauren's birth story.  the memories are so vivid and i remember it like it was yesterday.  it was an incredible experience.  one that forever changed our family, most definitely for the better.  i love you so much lolo!!!

re-post of birth story

just a warning, this is pretty long, so if you really aren't that interested you may want to skip this post.



my "big" little lauren will be ten days old tomorrow and i can't believe it. time is already getting away from me, so i thought i'd finally record her birth story.


i need to back up a few weeks. three weeks ago when i went in for a routine checkup the doc told me i was already dilated to 3.5 cm, which is what i was when i started labor with brooklin. so, i started to get a little anxious/nervous about having the baby early. i was ready but at the same time i wasn't. kinda hard to explain exactly what my emotions were. fast forward to the next week, yes i actually made it another week walking around dilated to 3.5. well, now i find i'm at a 4+ and the nurse at the doctors office is very suprised to see me without a baby. i go ahead and make my next check-up for the following week, which happened to be on my due date, the 14th. the doctor said it would really suprise him if i made it that long. but alas, i did. and now i'm at a 5. what the heck! he sent me home with plans to be induced on the 17th if i wasn't able to go into labor on my own. i left the doctors office crushed. i turned to scott and told him there was no way i was going to wait another three days. the baby was going to come out, and she was going to do it on her own. after arriving back at home i started to feel some cramping, but nothing too unusual. then about an hour later i started having some pretty regular contractions, but didn't think too much of it since i wasn't in any pain. for about two hours the contractions were about 4-6 minutes apart. scott was pleading with me to go to the hospital, but i really didn't want to go only to be checked and sent home. i was sure that the contractions would fizzle out since i wasn't having much pain. he was getting a little worried because the doctor had told us that once i started labor it would probably go pretty fast because i was so far dilated. i finally gave in and we grabbed our bags and headed over to drop brooklin off at grandma's house. on the way to the hospital we decided to stop and get some dinner, since i really didn't see any urgency, and we knew that if we didn't eat before we went in it would be a while before we got the chance. while we ate we timed a few of the contractions at about 3 minutes, but i still wasn't in any kind of real pain. so, we finished up our cheeseburgers and blizzard and headed into the hospital. as i was checking in a nurse came out to the waiting room to speak to me, and asked me why i thought i was in labor. after i told her what was going on she uttered those dreaded words, "well, you don't look like your in labor." oh great. just what i feared would happen. but she told me they'd check me out and see. after getting set up in the wonderful triage room, she told me that they were going to monitor the contractions for about 20 minutes before actually cheking to see how dilated i was. not even ten minutes had gone by and she came back and told me that i was contracting like crazy. about every one to two minutes. so, she checked and i was dilated to 6+. i was admitted right away. the three nurses assigned to me were amazed at how great i was doing, pain wise. i was quite amazed with myself too. this was totally different than it was with brooklin. the question of an epidural came up. before, my doctor told me that if i was going to get one i should get it right away, "before all hell breaks loose," as he put it. my water hadn't broken yet, and i knew that would probably bring with it the pain, so i went ahead and got the epidural. i'm all for not feeling the pain if it can be helped. a few minutes after getting the epidural, my wonderful doctor, dr. cook, showed up and he went ahead and broke my water. at this time i was at 7cm and feeling great. the epidural was just enough to cut any pain i might feel but i could still move my feet and legs, and i could feel when i was being touched. it was nice to just sit and relax and talk with scott and my parents. at about 10:30 my mom decided to take my dad home since he had to get up early and drive to everett the next morning. when she left she told my nurse that i had to wait until she got back. right before my mom made it back the doc came in to check me again and i was at a ten and it was go time. after about ten minutes i was able to start pushing, and within about five minutes and three pushes she came. i was able to do it all on my own, which was totally different from brooklin's birth. my epidural with her was so strong i couldn't control my legs at all.

it was so great to finally have her out and be able to hold her in my arms, even if she did pee on me. :) i really could not have asked for a smoother labor and delivery. everything was just perfect. she came on time, my nurses were great, my doctor was amazing, and i have to give props to my drug guy who gave me such a great epidural. while he was administering it he asked who gave me my epidural with brooklin and i couldn't remember. he made a comment about how nobody ever remembers them. so dr. maixner, thank you so much, you did an excellent job :)

Lauren Elise Cunningham was born on December 14th (her due date) at 11:15 pm.

she weighed 9 lbs. 11 0z (amazing) and was 22 inches long.

she's got blonde/stawberry colored hair (depending on who you ask) and she is a beautiful, healthy baby. she has been sleeping decently through the night and is such a joy to have in our family. we feel very blessed. and if you asked me right now, at this very minute, i wouldn't mind having another. but that could change within the hour. :)