Reese Jilleann Williams

To say we've had a lot going on would be the understatement of the century. Obviously having a baby accounts for a lot of that...but there is also another life change going on for us (which is for a later blog).

Anyhow, With everything going on we asked Matt's parents to come down a little early. He has been very busy and wanted me to have a little extra help and support. They of course were happy to help. They arrived on the evening of the 29th. We were expecting baby girl to arrive a little earlier than she did. Having not made much further progress the Doctor decided that the 8th was the day and that he would induce me.

He chose the 8th as he was on call and would be providing care for me. Matt and I went out to breakfast that morning and then arrived at the hospital around 10:45. They put me on the monitors for about 30 minutes to insure that baby was doing great. She was. (did I mention we still hadn't chosen a name yet.)

At 11:20, they put in a miso tab which enabled me to proceed with the induction at a more natural pace without IV medication. After that I had to lay flat for about 2 hours to enable the medicine to work. After that we had to walk for an hour. Contractions started while we were walking and continued to get stronger and more regular. After our hour walk, they monitored baby and contractions for another hour. During that hour contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes. At the end of that hour, Dr. Krell came in and broke my water and they set me up with an epidural. At this point (3:30pm) I was about 4 cm dilated. This was the most difficult part of the labor as contractions were coming every minute with no break. I had to get a bag and a half of IV fluid before the epidural. It took about an hour and a half to complete the fluids. During this time I had constant and very hard contractions. Boy was I glad to see the anesthesiologist when he came in.

5pm the epidural kicked in and I got some relief. About that time Matt's folks and Cami headed towards the hospital. I encouraged Matt to go to dinner with them (as he hadn't eaten since breakfast) and I would rest while they were gone. They all came up for a quick visit and then off to dinner. I got some rest. About 6:45pm the nurse came in to check on me, she wanted to check my progress before shift change. I was fully dilated and baby's head was right there. Matt arrived back from dinner about this same time.

Once Dr. Krell was available and things were prepped it was time to push. Three contractions later and our precious baby girl was born! 7lbs 10.8 oz and 20.5 inches long. She was born March 8th at 7:58pm. After having a good look at her we decided on the name Reese. Her middle name come from her aunt Jill (matt's sister whose full name is Jill LeAnn). Needless to say I think Jill was pretty happy to have a namesake!

Here we are ...our last picture as a family of three!
Proud Daddy
In Love

Mommy, Cami and Baby Reese.
Apparently when Cami woke up the morning after Reese was born, Grandma and Grandpa informed her that baby sister had been born and that her name was Reese. Cami was not too happy. She informed them her name was Breanna (a name we considered for along time) she also said she was going to call her Ariel (the little mermaid). Luckily Reese'sd name has been accepted without hesitation.

Cami with Grandma and Grandpa checking out baby sister.

This is Reese (being held by grandma) the morning after she was born. This is before they started the photo therapy and as you can see she is a bit orange.

Like Cami Reese had jaundice. This is due to a blood incompatibility with me. We went through the same issue with Cami. This time around we were much more prepared and less stressed about it. We knew going in that this was a possibility and that an extended hospital stay was most likely in our future.
Blue and with shades, but still one of the cutest babies you'll ever see!

While under the billi lights, Reese could only come out every 3 hours for a feeding, and only for 30 short minutes. Needless to say this time was precious to mommy and daddy as it was the only real direct contact time we had with her for her first few days. This is a picture of Reese up against mommy before it was time to return to the lights.

Sweet girl in her billi bed. Luckily this is the last picture I have of her before she was cleared to go home.

Sweet girl. Finally cleared by the pediatrician to be out from under the billi lights and to be snuggled and held. She was so happy! So was mommy and the rest of the family.

There is Reese already to go home. Thank you Nana for the adorable going home outfit.
Here is a picture of me and Reese waiting for Daddy and Big Sister to come and pick us up. As you can see I was elated to finally be heading home with our sweet, perfect and healthy little girl! We were able to go home Monday March 12th.

This is only one of the big changes in our life recently. I am going to (try) and be better about blogging. Especially with the upcoming changes in our life. I also have some past events that I need to catch up on. One thing at a time I guess! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful well wishes, gifts, food, love and prayers that we have been blessed with upon Reese's arrival. We are so grateful!