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Lauren Marie Vandervort officially became part of the family on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 8:44pm. 

She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. 

She currently has a little dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.  Long fingers & feet, and is just very petite! (Aaron was a full pound lighter ans an inch shorter, but Lauren seems smaller to me.)


She's doing all the little things newborns do... squeaky noises, some crying, some "gas smiles," etc.  She is not lacking in attention... we've hardly put her down since she arrived.  She's just so precious and we know all too well now that these sweet moments are fleeting.  Our 3 year old and 21 month old "babies" are a constant reminder that we have to savor every moment.  I reminded myself out loud at 5:30 this morning while the rest of the house was sleeping... even this icky meconium diaper is something to cherish.  I may not ever change another meconium diaper.  Enjoy this.  Delight in her.

Big Brothers are doing ok with the transition.  There have been some tears at times when Ian & Aaron would like to have mommy do something, but I simply can't. (Carry them to their beds or play wrestlemania...)  Ian has a deep interest in his sister.  Counting her toes, watching diaper changes, noticing her little noises, touching her hair, learning about umbilical cords (and belly buttons.)  Aaron is just quietly enjoying being part of this adventure.  Offering kisses and hugs and pats on the back "to help with burping."  It is a truly lovely scene, even though it is chaos, watching my little family turn to a bigger family, and my children loving each other.  I should mention that Ian is showing some signs of stress right now and has been having more tantrums, but we all have to remind ourselves of the huge change we are going through and that everyone needs a little extra slack.  I don't think it is as bad as it could be, and we are thankful for that. 

I'm doing well.  The labor and delivery of #3 was the easiest yet.  It was not easy, but it was nothing compared to Ian's traumatic birthday.  This time, I labored about 6 hours (2 of which were spent doing some serious Lamaze-ish breathing techniques and sweating through the thick of things... the anesthesiologists were backlogged & I had to wait for 1.5 hours for my epidural... after the contractions got bad enough to ask for one.  Yipes!)  Lauren was born after practically no pushing at all, in a flurry of activity, we were all surprised how quickly it happened in the final minutes.  8 minutes from the time the doctor entered the delivery room until she was out and crying.

So here we are.  A family of five.  We'll try to get a family picture soon.