Dave's 2nd December Photo Shoot

After Dave shot the Casella family's Christmas photos he received a referral when one of their friends saw the images. Here're a few photos from his second family photo shoot this December.

They asked Dave to take a few candid shots. This little girl was scratched when she went to pet a local dog that was being walked by the shoot.
As you can see, she was better in no time.

3.5 Weeks of Cuteness

This is the first time Lucy donned her little pink shirt and we couldn't resist taking a few photos of her.

What A Difference Three Weeks Makes

Newborn


Three Weeks

Newborn

Three Weeks

Three Weeks

Changing Seasons

Christmas Photo - Attempt #1

This Photo...

... captures exactly how I feel now that Lucy is two weeks old (already!): tired but unbelievably happy.

Birthday Suit

Dave took this photo of Lucy when she was five days old. Those are my arms... notice how dry and clean and not peed-on they are. Their status changed shortly after this image was captured.

Expressions

Dave calls this, "wake up face." One of his favorite activities is watching her wake up. He just laughs and laughs at all the faces she makes. 

My Talented Husband

Our friends Jeremy and Kierstin and their little boy Eli dropped by our house today so that Dave could take their Christmas photos. They also wanted to say hello to Lucy :)

The photo shoot started out inside, and then moved to our back yard for a few more portraits and gave Eli a chance to stretch his legs (and wings).




I love the look of pure joy on Eli's face.

Little One

Lucy is a little bit too small to fit into her newborn clothes, so her Grammy (my mom) was kind enough to buy her some premie clothes to wear in the meantime (thanks Mom!). Here's one of her new outfits :).


If you couldn't tell, I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual crafty things until I get more settled and start to recover more fully from the whole child-birth experience. In the meantime, this blog is all about Miss Lucy.

Lucybear!

Last night we gave Lucy her first sponge bath at home. Our friend Danny gave Lucy an adorable bear hooded-towel on the condition that we take a photo of her using it.

Here you go Danny!

What I did today...

11 a.m.

9 p.m.

The Story of Lucy

Let me just say that Lucy's birth was NOT what I expected. I was bracing myself for a long labor, and I was also planning to get an epidural. Neither one of those things happened!

In the early morning of December 6th (Lucy's due date), I had a hard time sleeping. The baby was constantly moving around in my tummy keeping me awake. Then around 2 am, I noticed that I was having fairly uncomfortable contractions that were coming every ten minutes or so. After about four of these, I decided to wake up Dave to have him help me breathe through them and keep track of the frequency and duration.

I eventually decided to get out of bed and take a shower, but once I got up, the contractions weakened and shortened. After about an hour and a half of this, we decided to call the doctor. I explained the situation; that I was three and a half centimeters dilated at my last appointment, that I was full-term, and then I described my inconsistent contractions. He said, "Well, you might as well come in and have us check you out." We weren't too rushed as we left the house since the doctor suggested that this could be a false labor.

Dave and I packed up our things and left our house at 4:10 am. We arrived at the hospital about 15 minutes later, signed some paperwork, and made our way to triage. A nurse checked out my cervix and told me that I was 7 cm dilated! She said I was doing great for someone that far into labor (which made me feel good :). She asked if I wanted a wheel chair for the short trip down the hall to the labor and delivery room, but I said that I could walk. I had to take a break half way there to lean on the arm rail and breathe through a tough contraction, but I made it!

Once we arrived at the delivery room, the nurse had me go use the restroom, and then I got situated on my bed. The nurse paged the doctor and put in my IV while I breathed my way through another pretty intense contraction. Dave left to go get my birthing ball (I was planning to sit on it and use it to get through more contractions) from the car, and when he came back about 3 minutes later I said, "You missed it. My water just broke!" About five seconds later I was overwhelmed by the most intense contraction I'd had up to that point.

I told the nurse, "It feels like I have to push!" She quickly got on the intercom and sounded a bit desperate as she paged the doctor again and cancelled my epidural (hello natural labor). She checked my progress and told me to try not to push as she paged the doctor again (I'm pretty sure she was holding the baby in at this point). Meanwhile, I was starting to breathe really fast and could feel my hands and face starting to tingle. I was definitely getting a little freaked out (there was a bit of screaming involved Dave tells me), but finally the doctor showed up. I was encouraged to slow down my breathing, but I couldn't seem to do it.

Finally, I feel like God gave me the idea to sing. For some reason, the song that came to me was one that I haven't sung in years. The lyrics go like this: I cast all my cares upon You. I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet. And anytime I don't know what to do, I will cast all my cares upon you. I just kept singing it over and over.

It was amazing how much peace it gave me, and how it regulated my frantic breathing. Dave told me later that that was the loudest he's ever heard me sing :). I am SO thankful that God gave me that song. He knew exactly what I needed to get me through... He is so good.

Meanwhile, as I was singing, the doctor told me that the baby's heart rate was dropping dangerously low, and I needed to push her out as soon as I possibly could. He told the nurse to bring the vacuum just in case they needed to use it. So, I mustered all the strength I had in my soul, bore down, and pushed her out in three pushes. They cut her umbilical cord and whisked her away to the warming table. She didn't make any noises for what seemed like an eternity, and Dave said that her skin was very blue when she came. I was so scared and so exhausted. The baby finally started to cry and the color came back to her precious little cheeks. Praise the Lord!

They cleaned her off, swaddled her, and brought her back to me. I cannot describe the joy of seeing my child for the first time. I couldn't believe how beautiful she was, and that she was mine.

Lucy Love Heller was born at 5:16 am... less than 15 minutes from the time we got to the labor and delivery room. Apparently she was ready to meet the world. My labor with her lasted three hours and fifteen minutes from start to finish.

The name Lucy means bringer of light... and that's exactly what she does.

Lovely Lucy Love

Our sweet daughter was born this morning at 5:16 a.m.

She was 6 lbs 1 ounce and is 18.5 inches long.

They say that babies mostly sleep for the first few days. Photos of Lucy with her eyes open will eventually follow:) We look forward to getting to know her better!

Great Grandma

When Dave and I were staying with his parents awhile ago, Pauly asked me if I was interested in a piece of art that once hung in Dave's Grandmother Lisa's house. I saw it and thought it would be perfect for the nursery. It's so great to know that Lucy will have a little piece of family history in her room. Lisa is going to be a wonderful great grandmother!

Here's another little arrangement I hung the other day. My kind husband was willing to paint the letters blue for me, and I thought they looked really cute next to the pink sweater I found at an antique shop in Illinois.

Here's what the two arrangements look like in the context of the room.

Not Yet

Today is/was the day I predicted I would go into labor. However, it's now 5:15 pm and no sign of little Lucy. I've been fairly dilated for a couple weeks now (hence my prediction), but I haven't even reached my due date yet (which is on Saturday)! I feel like I've been patient up until this point, but now it's getting really difficult. The closer I get to my due date, the harder it is wait.

Today I thought of an analogy that may or may not communicate what I'm feeling. I compare it to preparing a meal. Everything smells lovely in the kitchen as all the components start coming together, but something changes as the food platters hit the table. Suddenly my hunger reaches a whole new level and I don't think I can wait any longer. As I start eyeing the foods I will devour first, I become more and more impatient with the stragglers who don't sit down at the table fast enough to appease my growling stomach.

This is where I am... my heart is growling!

The Bane of Dave

I asked Dave to paint the dresser in the nursery about 7 months ago, but he kept putting it off. "I'll have more time right before the baby comes," he said. You see, Dave hates painting anything besides walls. And so, with 6 days remaining before Lucy's due date, he finished the dresser! I am so thankful he was willing (though begrudgingly and with many sighs) to do this for me! He really did a wonderful job. I love how sparkly the knobs are that I bought from Anthropologie about 8 months ago.

Anyhow, here's the before:

And the after:



pretty :)

39.5 Weeks...

She's almost here...

FREE MUSIC FROM THE HELLERS!

Peace!
*jjh

Oh Deer

I finished my cute little deer project a few days ago, but I could never find the time to take a photo of it during daylight (the flash would've made it much less cute). So here it is... finally!

I can't believe how retro these look, but I think they're still pretty whimsical and fun. I made the actual deer first, but it took me quite a while to figure out what setting to put her in. I finally decided on grass, a butterfly and some mushrooms, but there still seemed to be something missing up in the left corner. Dave suggested I make another tree branch... brilliant! Carol helped me decide where to place both pieces on the wall and I love it :).