the new babe {fashionably late}

lila gwynn smith
{pronounced "lie-luh" not "lee-luh" or "lil-uh", and "gwin" not "gwen"} :)



July 27, 2010
4:28 am
7 lbs 15 oz
20.5 in

We've clearly been behind on posting, but with not much time to catch up, we'll just skip the last three months and get right to the important part.

Our little girl arrived 6 days late, and after literally having tried EVERYTHING to get her out sooner (walking, running, jumping, eating spicy food, walking half-on half-off curbs, hiking up huge hills, bouncing on an exercise ball, going up and down stairs, and yes, anything else you're thinking of), we are absolutely convinced that none of it works. The baby will come when the baby wants to come, and your body will spit it out when it wants to spit it out. Take it from us. If those things have worked for other people, I'm pretty sure it's because they were about to go into labor anyway and they falsely attributed their success to the last thing they were doing. Totally not a believer. But we're so happy she finally came and that everything happened all on its own!

The best news of the day was that I opted for an epidural this time, which was every bit as awful to receive as I'd imagined, but as soon as it was in place, I was loving life. We talked. We slept. We laughed. I could LAUGH. I totally enjoyed it and couldn't believe how nice it was to not be hyperventilating and worrying about how I would survive a head coming out of my body. No need to suffer willingly twice! We got to the hospital at 11:30pm, and our little lady was born by 4:30am. It was awesome. She was a perfect, purple, squishy, screamy, newborn. We're suddenly a family of four, Van's a big brother, and we've got our hands full. But it's so much fun, even when we feel totally crazy. :)

The hospital day in photos...









Fresh out of the oven.




Obviously a daddy's little girl from day one. Her face clearly says "see mom? I can get whatever I want from him!"






Flowers from my lover.




Van's so sweet to her, it's the cutest thing to watch. He wants to kiss her on the head and hold her all the time (even though that only lasts about 5 seconds, we're sure it's safer that way).






Those beauties on the right are one of my token symptoms of the last month of pregnancy. And it took a big nasty week after delivery to get them down to normal size. They're super painful, don't fit anything, and I can't believe I don't have foot/ankle/cankle stretch marks to show for it. Four weeks of hugeness. Even my toes were getting rolls. oh. my. gosh. I couldn't BELIEVE how little my feet were when I finally welcomed them back last week. It was a beautiful day. Jon's so proud of me for posting this photo online, I'm so embarrassed by them. And I hate feet. But the little girl on the left, I like her lots.


Going home outfit. We had to put a bow on her head to remember she was a girl, or we kept calling her "dude" or "buddy" out of habit with our little man. We're sure she'll grow out of the "I-could-be-a-boy-or-girl" phase and into her girly self soon enough. :)


Waiting for Jon to roll up in the getaway car just over 24 hours after birth. We were on the accelerated leave-the-hospital plan since my mom would be in the airport flying away 48 hours after birth. That's what happens when babies hang out in the womb almost a week longer than expected.


First almost-family pic, sans Van.


I love her eyes in this photo! Headed home!