the little sprout

Lydia Grace is here! She's 8 weeks and two days old.

Her birth was beautiful. Charlie and I worked through the contractions like champs for 36 hours, and she was born at 7:24am on Monday, September 20th. Lydia latched on for breastfeeding almost immediately after birth in all the hullabaloo of stitching me up (yowza), delivering the placenta, and getting all cleaned off while on my deflated belly...she was able to get in a good meal right away! Both Charlie and I were so happy to finally meet the little peanut and loved every minute with her after she was born.

We left the hospital on Wednesday. Our care and stay at Sanford Luverne was absolutely phenomenal, and we recommend their facility to anyone having a little one in the area. Dad was able to stay and help out through Friday, and Mom stopped over daily to check up on how we were doing. Ruthie, our doula, came to visit Wednesday night and it was so great to process how the birth went with her! We loved having her help through our last few weeks and birth.

As the days turn into weeks we've become more confident in meeting her needs! She's such a great baby. Sleeps great, eats great, and is alive-awake-alert-enthusiastic when she's in between meals and naps. Watching her grow and develop over the past few weeks has been such an incredible experience...I never thought it could be like this. From those first smiles to diapers that explode everywhere, breastfeeding to watching her dream, I wouldn't take a second of this experience of a lifetime back. She's our beautiful little angel sweetheart stinkerbutt. We're so happy to have brought such a cute and cool person into the world :)

I was loathe to leave Alaska because I was leaving a community of families and their accompanying support, but now I've become a part of a mommy's group down here that is almost as fulfilling as being with my northern loved ones. So far I've gotten to know a few moms in the area, which makes me happy...I was afraid that I'd come home to Slayton and have all of my friends gone somewhere else. Lydia's made a couple of buddies herself, which is nice when I want to have a glass of red wine and chocolate with my friends.

So now we watch her grow, and take everything day by day. Charlie and I are working hard, me as a stay at home mom and part time baker for the cafe, Charlie at Sturdevant's and bartending at the Loon. I also have an interview lined up with the New Horizons Crisis Center for a job they posted a while back, so we'll see how that goes. I'm not sure which direction this blog is going to go...will it be a family adventure blog? One dedicated to how I feel about motherhood and child-rearing? There are so many topics that I'm interested in when it comes down to it. Somehow, however, this blog will always reflect a "venture forward." Maybe not north, but always moving toward our family goals of living in love.