Lucy and June Meet...

Introducing Lucy to her baby sister was one of the greatest moments of my life. I'm not going to lie, I was a little anxious about how Lucy would react, but she did awesome! She was in a happy mood when she arrived (she came to the hospital right after her nap) and was so sweet with June. She did great seeing me in the hospital bed too...I was afraid that would make her cry since I couldn't really hold her. She sat right next to me in bed and wanted to hold her little sister and give her lots of kisses! It was just amazing! Lucy has done really well since we've brought June home too. I'm sure we'll have a little regression once things really settle in around here, but I could not be more proud of her. She is the best big sister...June is a lucky girl!

GG bringing Lucy into our room...

First look at her little sister...

"Here June, you can hold Bear"...sharing so well already! :)

Love. Love. Love...

Daddy and his TWO girls!

Kisses for mommy...

First pictures as a family of four...

Lucy loved her big sister gifts from June...

Sisters....they are so blessed!

June's Birth Story...

We checked into Plano Presbyterian at 7:30am on August 9, 2012 excited and anxious to meet our sweet baby girl! We were in delivery room 304 and our incredible nurse, Nancy, quickly got me started with an IV and Pitocin drip by 8:30am. I was already dilated 3 1/2 cm prior to starting the Pitocin. At 9am, Dr. Riegel arrived. He examined me and I was dilated to 4 cm, but my cervix was still tilted back quite a bit. He went ahead a broke my water. After my water broke, I really started feeling the contractions, so the anesthesiologist was called in to give me an epidural. By 10am my epidural was in (Praise the Lord)! Once the medicine kicked in about 20 minutes later, I was feeling good so we got to relax a bit and enjoyed watching the 2012 London Olympics!

Nurse Nancy checked me at noon...I was dilated 7 cm, my cervix had straightened, and baby girl had dropped! Around 1pm, I was feeling a lot of low pressure and a hot spot started on my right side. It hurt so bad that I couldn't talk through the contractions....and they were coming a lot closer together by that point. The anesthesiologist gave me a good dose of meds at 1:15pm to help with the pressure/hot spot. At 1:30pm I was 10 cm and it was time to start pushing! I really struggled with pushing because of the additional medicine they gave me for the hot spot. I just couldn't feel anything from my waist down, so all my pushing was coming from my head and chest. After 45 minutes of pushing, I was completely exhausted, frustrated and almost ready to give up. Come to find out, baby girl was in the posterior position (aka: sunny side up) and having a tough time passing my pelvic bone. My doctor told me that delivering a baby naturally in the posterior position is the hardest way to deliver....definitely possible, but tough. Just what I wanted to hear after 45 minutes of pushing with no results! A few more nurses were called in to help, which made me even more nervous and frustrated and I could tell that Dr. Riegel was getting a little frustrated/worried as well. Baby girl's heart rate started rising (190 bpm was the highest it got), so we had to get her out quickly or most likely move to an OR for a C-Section. At that point, I have never been more determined in my life to get this baby out naturally. Thankfully, my medicine started wearing off, so I could actually push correctly for those last 10 minutes that she was inside of me. Even with effective pushing, they still had to use the vacuum (3 times!) to finally get her out. At 2:37pm baby girl was here!! Hearing her cry for the first time was the absolute best sound in the world...Josh and I were so relieved to see her face, 10 little fingers and 10 little toes! Dr. Riegel said that it was one of the toughest deliveries he had experienced in his 27 year career of delivering babies. We're just thankful for a healthy baby girl!

Poor girl's battle wounds from the vacuum...

8 lb 8oz | 20 7/8" long

Holding my baby girl for the first time...

While baby girl and I snuggled skin to skin and she breastfed for the first time, Josh and I started discussing names. We really wanted to have a name decided on before we introduced her to our family. We narrowed it down to June and Molly for the first name and Marie for the middle name. It took us about 45 minutes to decide on June Marie! We both really liked the name June and we were married in the month of June (6.17.05). Marie was my Gran's name (my mom's mom) and my middle name. Welcome to the world, June Marie. We love you so much and we're tremendously grateful that you are now a part of our family. Thank you Jesus for this amazing blessing!

June's first video after she was born...

She's Here!

June Marie Rives

8.9.12 | 2:37pm | 8lb 8oz | 20 7/8"


Mom, dad, baby June and big sister Lucy are all doing well! We are blessed beyond measure. Welcome to the world June Marie!

Three...

Tonight, Lucy picked Chick-fil-A for our last dinner as a family of three...girlfriend loves her some nuggets!

After a little playground time, we finished dinner with a cookie!
We may have read books and rocked for about 30 minutes tonight! My heart is so heavy for her, yet I know my heart will grow bigger than I could ever image tomorrow. I can't wait to experience it!
Yep, she's ready to be a big sister....and she's going to ROCK at it (eventually)!
Tomorrow, a new chapter begins! And then there was FOUR...

Getting ready...

Well, Thursday is the big day...unless baby girl decides to come on her own before then. I had my 38 week (plus several days) appointment this morning and we decided to go ahead and induce this Thursday! I'll be 39 weeks on Thursday and my doctor said that baby and momma will be ready to go. I was a little hesitant to schedule an induction a week early (my doctor mentioned this option to me last week), but now I feel good/confident about the decision. We are so ready to meet our sweet baby girl! I'm feeling excited, nervous and a bit emotional...but mostly excited! It's hard to believe that we'll actually be a family of FOUR on Thursday. I can't wait to introduce Lucy to her little sister...I know it will be such a special moment! We ask for your prayers over Thursday...

1) For the nurses and my doctor as they care for me and baby....for wisdom and clarity as they make decisions, etc.
2) That labor would go quickly (or at least quicker than last time) and that my epidural will take!
3) For a healthy baby and momma and quick recovery for me.
4) That I would not worry about Lucy....I know she'll be in great hands while we're at the hospital.
5) For rest this week, especially on Wednesday night.

38 Weeks (8.2.12)

My hospital bag is packed...almost! Just a few small additions to add!

Big sister gift for Lucy is ready. Little sister is so thoughtful! :)

Just a couple more days left of elbows to the belly! I'm going to snuggle the junk out of her while I can!

Baby butt poking out on the right side! She is such a mover...my belly is constantly wiggling/shifting! I can't wait to hold that little hiney on Thursday!

Back to wrapping up things around the house and at work...Thursday will be here before I know it! Bring on the sleep deprivation!!! Let's do this....