The Orlich Oriel: February 2013: A Family of Four

We started the month of February as a family of three with a 16 month old little boy who was rapidly developing into a little man! Of course, I was super tired as we neared the end of my pregnancy but we got to watch William develop like crazy as we waited on the arrival of our new baby girl. Here are some of the highlights of our event filled month!

William really began showing an interest in "helping" around the house. He understands almost all the things we are saying and so he loves to "help" put things in the trash, laundry basket, and as pictured above, even put up the vacuum!

William showed this cute face as he was watching himself on my phone. It's the first time I've seen him try to make a funny face on purpose and I loved seeing it!

As my pregnancy was near it's end, I was all but a walking zombie some days. I'm so thankful for my mother-in-law and aunt who came to let me take a nap a few days a week there in the end! What a difference it made to have 30 minutes of sleep!

Who knows what possessed my husband to take a picture of huge me right before delivery (in between contractions at least). Although this is a hideous picture, my sweet Kaitlynn might want to see it one day, so there, I'm not ashamed of the gift God gave me, even if it came with some extra weight, tiredness, and high blood pressure :-) She is worth it.

After arriving at Doctor's hospital around 1:30am, Kaitlynn Elizabeth Orlich joined our family on February 13th, 2013 at 4:15am weighing 7lbs 12oz and measuring 20 1/4 in long. We had a beautiful natural delivery and were blessed with the best doctor EVER! My labor, for those interested, was normal...for me lol. I had contractions off and on for a couple of days with nothing consistent until around 11pm on the 12th. Around then, I had been trying to sleep and couldn't manage to stop the timer to know how far apart they were. Jeremy was at a co-worker's house so I called him to let him know I was getting a shower and that he should head home soon. The car he rode in had some issues so by the time he made it home it was 12:30am. I had still been trying to sleep but kept getting woken up by contractions without knowing how far apart or how long they were. Once Jeremy got home, I got a little nervous since labor with William was pretty quick. I told Jeremy we should probably head to the hospital to be safe. A wonderful friend of ours came over so William's sleep wouldn't be interrupted and we headed to the hospital. When we arrived I was at 6cm. That would be encouraging to most women, however, with William I arrived at the hospital at 9cm so I wasn't sure whether or not to be encouraged that I didn't have her in the car or disappointed that I might be at the hospital longer than I had hoped. After they checked me, I told them I wanted to walk to the labor and delivery room they had for me since I knew walking would be good to progress things along. When I got there and my wonderful Dr arrived to check me shortly thereafter, I was at 9cm. He broke my water and as I did with William, I seemed to stall out at 9cm for a little while. The nurse, who was awesome, told me to turn to my side and see what happened. I got on my left side and the contractions became unbearable so I switched to my right side and within the next two contractions I told them they needed to get the doctor immediately that the baby was definitely coming and there was no holding her back. Sure enough, Dr. S walked in and quickly checked me to be sure I was ready and then we pushed a couple of times and there Kaitlynn was! Had a wonderful coach, Jeremy Orlich, who then became daddy to number two! It was amazing and again, I am so blessed that God granted me a natural delivery. It was such a beautiful experience seeing that big girl handed to me. I was super excited that she had a little fat on her! She has been a great breastfeeder and a wonderful sleeper too! What a blessing since she has a big brother who is energetic and ready to go before the sun is up! God has given us a gift in Kaitlynn and we pray He give us everything we need to steward our time, energy, and resources well and parent her as unto the Lord so that she might be fertile soil for the Gospel to take root if God moves upon her heart, as we pray He does, at a very early age.

Daddy got his girl this time!

What William was doing while mommy was at the hospital! Naps got way off schedule but hey everyone needed some extra shut eye right!

Daddy took William on a field trip one of the days I was in the hospital. BUS was one of William's first words and he has loved them. Since we live near a bus station, we frequently see LOTS of buses each weekday. For him, this trip was perfect! Great Job DAD!