In which my sister is AMAZING!

My sister Lacey was due to have her 2nd baby on June 5th, but one of my summer school classes started June 4th so she was determined to have her baby at least a week early so I could come visit!

...And her determination paid off!

My parents decided to head Lacey's direction (they live in Arizona) before she was even in labor because we all figured it wouldn't be long before that baby came. They came through Utah and picked up Shasta and me on the way to Oregon. We got there Monday, May 28th and Lacey had her baby Tuesday evening on May 29th.

She invited my mom and me to be in the delivery room. Seriously?!? I was excited and nervous and grateful my mom was going to be there too even though I was worried about my dad being home with Shasta and Tucker (Lacey's son) by himself. But worried or not, this was an opportunity I wasn't going to miss so I kissed my baby good-bye, said good luck to my dad, and off we went to the hospital!

Originally our plan was to stop in and see how Lacey was doing. We couldn't stay through the whole laboring process since Shasta nurses and it wasn't fair of us to leave my dad home with the kids all day. But Lacey had other plans for us! As we got off the elevator on the labor and delivery floor Lacey's husband called my mom to tell us to come to the hospital (they didn't know we were already there). She was dilated to a 7 when we got there but everything was picking up speed and they knew it wouldn't be long before she was pushing.

Seeing that baby born was the most incredible experience of my life! It made me SO grateful it wasn't ME going through that, sad that Nick and I didn't get that experience with Shasta, and surprisingly, hungry for another one (which I didn't think would ever happen after my experience with having Shasta. More on that later). Sigh.


Lacey is an amazon! That's all I have to say about seeing her push a baby out of her body! She decided not to have an epidural which is just crazy talk, but that's what she wanted so more power to her! She made her contractions seem like cake. I mean, yeah, it looked miserable watching her breathe through them and I knew she was in pain, but other than a moan here or there she really didn't make a peep. Then when she transitioned into needing to push all it took was 2 contractions and that baby was out. Um, what? She made child birth look like it was as easy as popping bubbles! She gives me hope that I will have a successful VBAC.

Addilyn Janae. She's such a tiny little thing!

Shasta looks like a giant next to Addilyn.

And yet she looks like a shorty-pants next to Tucker. He's only 6 months older, but he towers over her. I'm pretty sure his height is off the charts. He's going to be tall like his 6'4" dad!

Thanks, Lacey, for letting me be in the delivery room and giving me an experience I didn't get to have with the birth of my own child. I can finally say I've been part of a live birth! Maybe someday I'll return the favor... maybe. :)