1 month already!

I can't believe it's already been a month since Lennon arrived. I can't really imagine what life was like before she got here. We are totally in love with her and amazed at the changes we see every day.

At four weeks Leni:
is rapidly approaching 11 pounds
is out of newborn diapers and has outgrown most of her newborn onesies
is most happy when worn in a carrier by Sean or me
has started holding a smile (it's not gas-when was the last time gas made you smile?)
has had several 6 hour stretches of sleep in the night-we are trying not to get our hopes up that this will continue
totally has us wrapped around her adorable fingers!

Father's Day

Sean returned from his second work trip just in time for Father's Day. Lennon gave her daddy his first gift (me too) by sleeping 6 hours straight! We woke up feeling rested for the first time in weeks. We enjoyed lots of family snuggle time and gave Sean a few gifts. It's wonderful to be back together as a family again, and even better to know that Sean doesn't have to leave again for a few weeks.

A day of firsts

Today was a day of firsts for Lennon. We started the day with her first pediatrician appointment. She was checked out from head to toe and is perfect! She was weighed and measured again and is clearly eating well as she weighed 9#3ounces and measured 21.5 inches long. She was a trooper. She often looks very serious which is captured in this car seat photo on the way home.
Later that day it was time for her first bath. We were a little nervous, as I'm sure all first-time parents are. She seemed to LOVE her bath, which is a trend I hope continues.
Finally, Leni surprised us by finding and sucking on her thumb later that night while snuggling with her daddy. I was so thankful Sean was able to experience all of these firsts with us before heading off on another work trip.
We are loving every minute getting to know this sweet baby girl!

Lennon's Birth Story

Most of you reading this know that I had pretty high hopes for my labor and birth experience. I spent my nine months of pregnancy preparing myself as much as possible for the right of passage into motherhood. Sean was super supportive of my desire to have a childbirth experience that was as free from medical intervention as possible. We took 12 weeks of Bradley method classes together to help prepare us for the big day. I was looking forward to delivering at Mountain Midwifery Center, a free-standing birth center in Denver.

My due date came and went just as I thought it would. Friday on our morning walk we were both surprised when my water broke. I was excited knowing that this was it and we were going to meet our daughter soon. I spent most of the day relaxing comfortably, but by 6pm I began having more intense contractions. We called our doula and she came around 7:30 to support us. By the time she got here my contractions were starting to get very intense. Sean was a pillar of strength for me and an incredible labor coach. By 11:30 it was time to head to the birth center. Once we arrived I was so excited to get into the birthing tub, which was very soothing and had a tremendous relaxing effect on me.

A little over an hour after we arrived at the birth center we welcomed beautiful Lennon Joy. She was born May 29th at 12:47am, weighing 8#7.5ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long and perfect!! I delivered Lennon in the water and was able to lift her up onto my chest as she was born! That moment will be forever engraved in my memory.

Perhaps the best part of our birth was the fact that four hours after Leni's arrival we were driving home with the sun coming up and a beautiful full moon hung in the sky. We were so thankful to get to spend three days together snuggling and bonding as a family before Sean left for 10 days of training for his new job. We thank the Lord for looking after Sean, Lennon and I and allowing us to have the birth we had hoped for.

The picture attached to this post is the first one I have of Sean sharing a little skin-to-skin time with his daughter an hour after she was born. It was love at first sight between these two.