Our first week at home together as a family has been filled with sweet cuddles, lots of laundry, welcomed naps (for baby and Dad/Mom!), pediatrician appointments, story time with Daddy, a visit from Grandma and lots of baby kisses. Lydia has a great appetite and loves to sleep! Here are some highlights of her first week:

We are very thankful for Lydia. God has blessed us greatly.

Monday morning we had our weekly checkup at the doctor. By 'our' I mean Jaynie and the baby. The ultrasound, fluid levels, tire pressure, etc. all checked out well. It was about 55F and sunny when we went to see the doctor. Monday was 40 weeks plus 2 days.

Tuesday morning Jaynie had a decaf caramel macchiato craving. Decaf. Don't worry. We headed off to Starbucks with Jay rocking PJs, a robe, socks that say 'no nonsense' (zoom in!) and a winter coat...it was now 14F and snowing outside.

After getting home Jaynie called up the doctor to say that she had been having contractions. The doctor asked if she had felt much movement from the baby in the last couple of hours. The baby had not been as active as normal so they had Jaynie come in to get checked out. We went to the hospital to be monitored Tuesday evening. After monitoring Jaynie and the baby and confirming everything was registering where it should be, they sent us home. That was about 7:30 PM Tuesday night.

We left the hospital, grabbed some takeout, and went home. At 8:45 PM, Jaynie’s water broke. After unsuccessfully trying to put Jaynie’s water back together, we headed back to the hospital.

About 10:00 PM Tuesday evening the nurses in triage confirmed that Jaynie’s water had broken and we headed off to the Labor and Delivery floor.

During labor Jaynie had a list of Bible verses she wanted read to her. I read from Psalms and also verses from John, James, 1 Samuel, Matthew, Ephesians, Galatians, and 1 Peter. Throughout the evening the temperature outside continued to drop. Jaynie was having contractions and was clearly in pain and discomfort and she said to me: “I hope nobody is sleeping on the street and everybody is in a shelter.” It was very cold and snowing out and Jaynie was being herself - always more concerned for others. I don’t think I’ll ever forget her saying that.

We went and walked the halls around 2 AM (recommended by the staff!). Labor was getting very tough for Jaynie at this time and she informed me that my jokes were no longer funny. This was now getting serious. At 4 AM Jaynie received an epidural and within a few minutes told me that my jokes were funny again. Enough seriousness, we were back in business.

Fast forward a few hours and we are into the arctic bomb. The high was a record cold.

Next up is Ryan with a classic voicemail that starts like this: “Hey Broham. I’m sure you’re probably knee deep in amniotic fluid by now….” Nailed it.

And now it’s time for some backstory. We did not find out the sex of the baby during Jaynie’s pregnancy. A couple of months ago, after a regular ultrasound checkup, Jaynie asked the technician if she could tell what sex the baby was. “Yes,” said the technician. Well, there you go. If you can tell without looking for it, it must be a boy. Positive it’s a boy. Boy clothes. Boy names. All of that. This would be a good time to review the difference between foreshadowing and a red herring.

Wednesday afternoon. November 12. Jaynie has been in labor since the previous evening and is now in pushing-hard-every-couple-of-minutes-labor. This labor, the pushing-hard-every-couple-of-minutes-labor, lasts for about 3 hours. I had the job of mirroring the nurse opposite me and lifting Jaynie’s knee and foot every time she pushed. I figure my job was about as difficult as Jaynie’s and we’ve decided to call it even.

Sunny side up, vacuum, episiotomy. Hairy little head of hair arrives. I think that’s the head. Face arrives. I think that’s the body. Body arrives…holy moly that is a big baby. 3:08 PM.

Doc takes the baby and sets the baby on Jaynie’s tummy. Umbilical cord between the legs…boy. Couple of seconds pass by and since I forgot my line (one line and I forgot it) the doctor says: “It’s a girl.” Wait, what? Jaynie looks at me super confused. I look at her super confused. She looks at me super duper confused. #redherring

I peek my head around the baby’s bottom and sure enough… It’s a girl.

Lydia Jane Smith.
8 pounds 12 ounces.
21 inches.
Cute as cute.

And I’ll tell you what. I wouldn’t trade this little girl for ten boys.

Here we are. I’m really really proud of Jaynie. She did awesome. She is awesome. 9 months and 4 days of carrying that little girl around. Sick. Sore back. No sleep. And that was before labor started. Uncomfortable 25 hours a day, complaining for zero of them.

We live in a crazy world where they have to attach a GPS tracker to your baby that locks down the hospital if somebody takes her towards a door or elevator.

Recovery after delivery.

Recovery in the recovery room.

We are happy to be home and are very blessed to have a healthy mom and healthy baby. Lydia is a wonderful gift from God. We had a lot of people praying for us over the past year and we are very thankful for answered prayers and thankful for all of our prayer warriors.