We went into the hospital on Dec. 1, 2014 at 11:30 am not knowing what gender of child we would be going home with. It was my bright idea not to find out the gender. Later I wanted to change my mind as we had our ultra sound at 20 weeks, but Mike wouldn't let me go back on our decision to be surprised. All throughout my pregnancy, I went back and forth on what I thought the gender would be until I had a dream where I was holding a little girl. I thought I was convinced then, but I still secretly had doubts. I had many people tell me they thought I was having a boy, while I only had a few say they thought I was having a girl. This pregnancy was different from my boys, though my boy pregnancies where very different too. During this pregnancy, I carried wide instead of out in front of me, I had body acne in weird places, sciatic pain for 20 weeks, and throwing up in my first and third trimesters.
As I was prepped for my 1:30 c-section, they performed an ultra sound to check out the baby. Knowing that we didn't know the gender, they stayed away from that area. They did however tell us a guesstimate size of the baby. When they told me they thought the baby would be 8 pounds and 2 ounces, I thought maybe it is a girl because my boys were both bigger. Usually, if you are having a third child and it is a boy, it will be your biggest baby.
As I lay on the operating table, I was sick from the meds that were suppose to help me not be sick. I didn't start feeling better until the baby was almost ready to be pulled out. As the baby was pulled out, Mike leaned over to announce the gender of the baby and I caught a glimps of the baby in the mirror. He hesitated for a moment and then said, "It's a girl!" I was so happy, but at the same time I was in shock and a little in disbelief. It was definitely the BEST SURPRISE OF MY LIFE!
Lenora Kate was born a 2:05 pm, weighing 8 pounds and was 19 inches long. She did not have a name until the second day of her life. Daddy refuses to discuss names until each baby is born. The name Lenora was not on my list. Daddy didn't like most of the names I had written in my Ipad app. He began going through websites to look for names. We settled on Lenora for two reasons, one because Mike really liked it and two because Henry always swore he was getting a sister and her name would be Nora. I wasn't thrilled with it at first, but it grew on me. Plus, I got to pick her middle name Kate, which is my middle name. Lenora means "light" and "compassion" and Kate means "pure."
We had a relaxing time in the hospital, getting to know our baby girl. She breastfed well and slept okay. She became a little jaundice from breastfeeding, but not too bad. We also did a little online shopping because we didn't have anything for her nursery. Our boys were very excited to see their new sister, as were their grandparents (& cousin Jessica and aunt Dori).
Over the last two weeks, we have been adjusting to being a family of five. We are putting together Lenora's nursery. The boys are awesome with her and check her out on a daily basis. They so badly want to play with her. Lenora still has her days and nights mixed up. Sleeps most of the day, wants to eat all night. Not much rest for mommy at the moment. Hopefully, that will change soon;) I have to say I love dressing her up already and putting cute bows on her. I have been lucky to receive lots of clothes both new and hand me downs. I have such wonderful family and friends! I am excited to spend the holidays with my boys and little girl. Life can't get much better than this! Feeling so blessed:)
