London | 1 Month

It's been 4 weeks since we were blessed with little London entering our world and time is flying by! It may be the sleepless nights, not enough coffee or the busy life being a mom of two but I seriously can't believe it. 

London is healthy, happy and really is a great baby. (Let's not jinx this!) I am proud to finally say that breastfeeding and I have a great relationship... The first two weeks were trial and error - learning how to nurse her, positions that were comfortable, London getting the hang of latching, etc. I had a lot of problems at first with blisters, clogged ducts and painful nursing and that's when I went to go see a lactation nurse and she saved my life... literally, I was ready to give up and I am thankful for her expertise along with the support of my mama friends, especially McKensey and Amy for helping me through the tough times! Unfortunately, we are dealing with the cluster feeding at night which is AWFUL - so exhausting and incredibly awful but we are making it through it day by day. I am still nervous to go on long outings with her because I am so nervous to breastfeed in public - I know, silly me but I am. I love nursing her and she HATES being covered so the day she needs to nurse in public this will be me... Its my right as a mother, it's her right as a child and it's great that there's so much support for breastfeeding mama's. I LOVE it and I can say, I AM SO PROUD of myself for doing this. 1 month down and my goal is at least 6 months EBF! 

So far she's been sleeping a total of 4-5 hour stretches at night, sometimes even 6 hours at a time! It's wonderful! I can say that she is finally getting into a good routine with waking up, nursing, morning nap, away/play time, afternoon nap (a loooooong one!) and then awake, cluster feed, drive mom crazy... bed! 

She is beginning to make noises more often, smile when you look at her, coo when she's awake and make us laugh with her funny faces when she farts and poops. (She's going to kill me for this when she's 18!) hehe!

What a wonderful 4 weeks! I will look back on this like I am doing with Lennon almost 4 years later and realize how fast time really flies. I am cherishing these moments every day and I am so blessed with an amazing husband who allows me to enjoy being a stay at home mom with both of our girls. 

Oh, and if you missed the post... Here's London's birth story - all details included! London Marie's Birth Story!

Our 2015

Happy New Year family and friends! 

It's definitely been a very blessed year for us. God has blessed us with so many wonderful things this year  -  our first full year in our home, celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary almost the entire year was spent with me being pregnant (that was both wonderful and exhausting!), Luke turned 1 year old, Lennon turned 3 (I seriously can't believe it!), we updated, painted and decorated our home to make it ours and it was so fun!, we spent endless hours at the pool, beach and park, I spent my first (of hopefully many) year as a stay at home mom which is the hardest yet most rewarding job I've ever had! I learned a lot about myself and my family and built my relationship stronger with my husband and God. We took family vacations, became more active in going to church every weekend, Lennon learned about God and Jesus and was dedicated at church on Mother's Day - the best Mother's Day gift ever. Lennon started preschool, learned how to ride a bike, learned some awesome Beatles songs which she sings every time we are in the car and we both made new friends! And finally, after that long, fun, exhausting year we welcomed London Marie into our family! It's been an amazing year and I'm looking forward to another one. 

Here's our year in pictures...

We jumped on beds. A lot. 

Lennon and Luke became best friends this year. They argued like he's a human and they snuggled more than ever. I fell in love with my dog, it's true. 

Crafts. All day, every day when it was cold and yucky outside!

Lennon reading us The Bible through pictures. So darn cute. 

We dance, and play and sing and dance some more... While wearing tutu's! Why not?

Learning and having fun doing it. Lennon learned the letters in her name and how to write it this year. We are so proud!

This is the face of a child's first time at the zoo this year. "Monkeys! Mom, the monkeys are coming!" This is why I'm a stay at home mom. This is the joy I love to see! 

We made a trip to visit both of our BIFFs in Grand Rapids. The girls had so much fun together!

Most days were spent in tutu's! 

 Here's our big announcement we made to family and friends!

We planted flowers for the first time at our new home. It was so fun! 

Lennon turned into a fish this summer. She spent hours in the pool and at the beach. We both got a great tan so I can't complain! That girls loves the water just like her mama. 

Our little firecracker on the 4th of July! 

We spent many days in swim suits and play clothes but I must say we clean up well! 

Lennons third birthday party was a success filled with a life sized Sophia balloon, corn hole, a bounce house and too much cake! Next year maybe we will get a clown too ;) 

We embraces the silly moments a lot this year! 

Lennons first trip to Tawas - my favorite spot as a kid and it was just like I remember. Slides and animals galore!

Our first baseball game as a family!

The happiest day of this little girls year! She was so excited to go to school.  No tears for her but too many for me!!!! 

Lennons first bike ride on her new "big girl" bike!

Halloween was cold, and rainy and quick! We made it to a few houses before heading to a church carnival for fun and games! 

We spent many mornings walking hand in hand into church but this moment made my heart melt. The love between a man and his daughter is a blessing like none other!

Finally, a family of 4! 

Lennon held her baby sister for the first time and her face says it all! Pure love! 

 ... and for the first time in 5 years we spent NYE home on the couch in our pajamas with our little champagne glasses and our girls sleeping. That beats the over-crowded, overly obnoxious bar scene any day!

Happy 2016! 

I can't wait to watch our girls grow and fall in love with my family more than ever. 

London's Birth Story

Since the moment I found out 

"we're pregnant!" 

I knew that I wanted this birth to be different, better, more natural and intimate than the last. We spent countless hours researching natural births, medication interventions, midwifery and doula's. I joined a support group of other expecting moms and they've since become my closest friends sharing in everything from pregnancy pains, birth stories, breastfeeding tips and baby poosplosions! We began our journey in March 2016 when we found out we were pregnant! It was so exciting walking into the playroom where Dan and Lennon were to show him the pregnancy test! We were both so excited!

I documented my pregnancy month by month on my blog and that was so fun! It is so cool looking back on my cravings, aversions, and all other crazy pregnancy things! 

We spent a lot of time looking into natural birthing methods and the astonishing success rate of hiring a doula and how helpful they are. With my history of anxiety and how awful the last birth was with an epidural and pain medication drugging me up we opted for a doula! We hired a doula and her assistant - Rita Gnida from Bay City - and she was phenomenal. 100% I could not have done this birth without her and my midwife Kelly!  

Here is our birth story!

At my 40 week appointment there still wasn't much progress. Dilated to 1-2 cm, 50% effaced and no sign of baby coming soon. So we scheduled an induction for 41 weeks, 1 week overdue. That morning I had a lot of contractions and bloody mucus, and went in for my scheduled induction. 

11:00 AM - Checked into labor & delivery. Got the biggest room on the floor with a jacuzzi tub! Changed into my gown, got situated and went through paperwork. That was the easy part!

12:00 PM - Midwife, Kelly, came to check cervix and get induction started. Cervix dilated about 1-2cm and 50% effaced, no change since last appointment. Baby's head engaged and has moved really far down (about -1) since my last appointment. She said her bone was on my pelvic bone and she was ready! 

12:10 PM - Cytotec inserted inside cervix (capsule broken for quicker release).

1:00 PM - Started to feel some uncomfortable cramps. Ate lunch. Contractions were 1-2 mins apart and lasting about 30seconds. I sat, rocked and swayed on the big birthing ball, watched some shows on Netflix and tried to relax before my doula came in! I lasted on the ball for a little more than an hour. Midwife came in periodically and said her guess for birth time was between 5-7:00 PM!! I was getting so nervous! As the contractions got more intense and closer together I texted my doula and she was on her way!

2:40 PM - Doula, Rita, & her assistant, Crystal, arrived and got me in the jacuzzi tub, in the super hot water, jets on with peppermint oil! It helped the contractions intensify. At first it was so relaxing... Until contractions intensified! I was moaning and laying on my side through most of them while Rita applied pressure to my back to help the back pain. I had extreme back labor pains that felt like someone ripped my muscles apart through the contraction. It was so intense! 

3:20 PM - Midwife came in! With each contraction I was grunting and there was definitely a ton of pressure so she wanted me out of the tub ASAP! So we got out of the tub, she checked me and I was already at 6-7cm dilated! I got in the bed on all 4's and rocked through each contraction while my doula applied a lot of pressure to my lower back, cold wash cloths to my face and Dan was such a great support holding my hand and squeezing it. After that I got on my side, nursing staff came in to prepare for birth. That's when my midwife checked me again because I was in terrible, excruciating pain... like none other. I had progressed to 9cm and that's when she broke my water! I had her give me a shot of nubane to help take the edge off, it definitely didn't help with the contraction itself but it helped me relax and save my energy in between ... I was almost falling asleep between each one! I begged for an epidural but of course my midwife said no, you can do it without one... Thankfully, because I did and by the time they would have gotten it up here it would have been too late! I also begged for a c-section - crazy hormones and  pain had me wishing this baby out of my anyway possible besides through the birth canal! Haha! While I was on my side I began pushing through each contraction. My midwife was at the foot of my bed rooting me on, and yelling at me to listen to her and not scream. Oops! Dan was holding my hands and my doula was rubbing my back, applying a cold wash cloth to my forehead and coaching me through each contraction! She was amazing! Within 3 pushes her head came out, and on the last push I reached down to grab her and I pulled her out! The most amazing feeling in the world! 

4:49 PM -  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LONDON MARIE KLEPSCH! She's here! No epidural, no tears, no stitches!!! We left the placenta in while the cord was attached. Once hubby cut the cord a few minutes later I delivered the placenta with one small push. It was more of a tugging feeling than a contraction and it was so weird feeling. Gross! 

The first night she slept on and off, feeding went okay, still learning to latch with her entire mouth. We got a couple hours of sleep... and snuggled a lot! I'm so happy! The next day we were already preparing to go home, my uterus was shrinking great, and getting lower which is perfect. My entire body was sore, I was definitely exhausted... Labor takes all of your energy! Holy cow! Lennon came to visit, the first thing she said when she walked in was "Daddy where's my baby?" It was too cute! We went home and enjoyed our first night home and ever since she's been an angel. 

Born 12/11/15

4:49 PM

7lbs 11oz.

18.25 inches