Life lately.. wow, where do I begin? Since the last post, the world has gone through an incredibly trying and (for many) life altering pandemic. Cue Covid-19 talk. In March 2020, the world went on pause- schools were closed, quarantine bubbles were formed, plans were cancelled, masks and lysol wipes were bought, and we all braced ourselves for two weeks of, basically, home confinement to "flatten the curve" and "stop the spread" of Covid-19/coronavirus. Two weeks turned in to one month, which turned in to two, which turned in to one year, etc. But that is news for another time because the biggest and best news of all since my last update is that we welcomed a new little love to our world on March 6, 2022: Juliette Diana Layden after a largely uneventful (although very exhausting) pregnancy. Juliette's due date was March 10th, but I was induced on March 6th because of excess amniotic fluid and a "failed" nonstress test. We showed up to the hospital at 5 a.m. after very little sleep (I had a ton of anxiety the night before about something going wrong for me or Baby J) and pitocin was started around 11 a.m. (had to wait for a bed- they set us up in the ICU ward to wait and that put things in to perspective for me). I labored for a while and then got an epidural in the early evening and labored for a few more hours. Baby J was "sunnyside up" and had the cord wrapped around her neck so that was worrisome for a moment but everything went pretty well over all. Although I pushed longer with Baby J than Adeline, the experience felt well-managed and safe and calm. I almost tried childbirth sans an epidural but changed my mind after talking to Doctor Nguyen, Andy, and my mom (my support team) and realizing that an epidural may help speed things along (everything seemed to be stalled). Since Juliette was "sunnyside up," I would have gone through extremely painful back labor if I did not get the epidural. I did get the chance to experience some very painful contractions before going through with the epidural. Anyway, our beautiful brown-eyed, dark haired Juliette was born at 8:10 p.m., weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz, and measured 19 inches long. She cried a bunch when first born and latched on to nurse immediately. Two days later, after much debate and looking at a ton of names, we decided to name her Juliette Diana Layden. Then, on Tuesday afternoon (after a quick stop at the birth certificate office on the way home to declare her name and order her birth certificate because we waited so long to decide), our babiest girl was introduced to our two other babies. Andy arranged for a big "Welcome Baby Layden" sign in our front yard, Nee Nee and Apa left us balloons and an orchid, Grandpa visited during his lunch break earlier in the day, and the big kids excitedly ran around the house with their new cameras (a gift from baby) snapping pics of the newest addition (and other random things). Juliette "Jules" Layden has been such a wonderful addition to our family. She seems to sit back and take the craziness in that surrounds her with a calm, happy demeanor. Although the sleepless nights were difficult to adjust to, as well as breastfeeding again and being on the baby's schedule, the adjustment to a family of 5 (+1 with Finn) has felt pretty natural and wonderful overall. Jules is now seven months old, scream laughs (and gives typical giggles but loves to flap her arms and legs and scream with delight when really happy), eats solid foods (avocado was the first and then banana and sweet potato- the last being a favorite), drinks water from a sippy cup or miracle munchkin cup, rolls over both ways, sits up very well, and is on the brink of crawling (rocks back and forth and moves her hands forwards and sometimes a leg or two before going back to her stomach). She is obsessed with Reid and Adeline, has started showing a preference to being held by mom and dad over other adults, has had two bottom teeth for maybe two months, sleeps mostly through the night with a bed time around 730 and a wake up time between 6-7, sleeps with a pacifier, enjoys watching Finn, relishes being outside, tries to chew almost any thing that comes her way, isn't a huge fan of eating beans, and has the sweetest spirit (and cutest cheeks and chunky thighs). Oh, how we love our Baby Jules!
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