Baby L!

We had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new niece for what feels like years! You all probably remember that my sister and I are very close. So her children feel as close to mine as they could. :) I love them so much. Since we have a little boy we were all very excited to have a little girl to spoil! And she has my middle name... My sister is the BEST.

My sister's due date was the 16th. We all joked (and hoped) that L would come early. She did! This is going to get long but I want to write it all out so I don't forget. It was so exciting and amazing.

The afternoon of the 14th my sister texted that she was having a few contractions. Nothing to time but they were painful. By 5PM she said I should be ready because they were timing them now. I was ready! I drove home from work absolutely giddy. My parents trekked out to their house to pick up O. My sister wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. The plan was for me to be in the delivery room (again) so I needed to be ready do go. About 8:30 she said the contractions were further apart. So I got ready for bed with MrHoppy and watched some TV.

By 10 my brother in law had called and things had changed drastically. They were speeding to the hospital and I was out the door in 10 minutes to follow! We walked into her room which was eerily quiet. She was laying on the bed with her eyes closed. I should mention that my sister goes all natural. Not even Tylenol. So she was in the "zone".

I found out later that her water had broken as soon as they walked into the room. She felt like she couldn't do it anymore. I also found out that this probably means she was in transition. So we settled outside her room. A nurse went in for a minute and promplty ran out.

"She is a 10, she's ready to push, we need a Dr in here right away!!"

She also said "she wants her sister!". Best words. Ever. So I walked in and a nurse pulled me aside right away. They didn't even know her name yet, she wasn't checked in officially!! I gave them the information and went to the bed where the pushing had already started. I think it took 4 pushes and L was here! She was beautiful, perfect and we all fell in love instantly. My sister is amazing!

I went home about 2AM after getting to experience everything with them. My sister is the most amazingly giving person to let me stay for her first bath, weighing her, shots, etc. It was so much fun! Her official birth date was 12/14 at 11:26PM. She was almost born in the car on the way - it's no lie that the 2nd babies come MUCH faster!

In the morning we received bad news. L was in the NICU with low oxygen and what they thought was an infection of some sort. My sister and her husband were devestated. The perfect family bonding time wasn't going to happen. Instead L was hooked up to machines in another portion of the hospital. I arrived with snacks, movies, magazines and some outfits for L that I had picked up before I found out she was in the NICU. We were all SO worried.

Blood tests confirmed she had an infection, a pretty bad one. We still don't know what it was. She was on oxygen and IV antibiotics. We hoped she would get well quickly.

Finally on Sunday afternoon L was released. She is home, safe and sound. And most importantly - HEALTHY! We are doing our family Christmas celebration tomorrow night and I can't wait to love her up.

So that's my newest niece's birth story. Pretty amazing that they let me be a part of it with both their children. Thank you sissy!