Lilly Faith Heiner
She is here!!! We couldn't be happier or more grateful for a healthy baby girl. And yes, you get to hear the whole story... Thursday I had an appointment for an ultrasound and check-up. I had been having pretty painful contractions off and on all night and I wasn't feeling well at all. I dropped the kids off at my friend's house (thank you Heather!) and met John at my appointment. Well in true "Melanie" fashion my blood pressure had sky rocketed to 160/110 and I was contracting consistently. The nurses got excited thinking they were going to get to experience a delivery in the office. Well, the doctor decided it was best to induce me because I was spilling protein in my urine and because of my elevated blood pressure.
We went straight to labor and delivery at 2:30 pm and we waited for a while before they even started me on oxytocin. I was having pretty consistent contractions anyway! My good friend Amy and who I teased was my "midwife" and photographer came to help me through the process and kept John in good company. Thank you Amy for being there (and for grabbing the car seat).
After they started the oxytocin I didn't progress as fast as I thought I would. I waited until the contractions were pretty bad before I got my epidural. Once I did, I was obviously in heaven but only dilated to a three. About an hour after the epidural I started feeling serious pain and told the nurses I needed more anesthesia medicine. My epidural was wearing off!!!! They gave me more medicine but the nurse said it would take 15-20 minutes to take affect. The nurse checked me and I was complete and ready to push and the new dose of epidural medicine still hadn't kicked in!!!! Let me just say it was the most painful delivery I have ever had. I was grateful that I only had to push three times and she was out.
Our little Lilly Faith was born at 12:10 am on September 4th. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces (Hailey's exact weight when she was born) and was 20 inches long. I'm so happy she is here and so grateful she is healthy!
Our neighbor Todd told us for months that he knew Lilly was going to be born on his birthday. He guessed to the exact day when Lilly was going to be born! During my labor John kept teasing me that I had to hurry and have the baby before 12:00 on September 4th because we couldn't name our baby Todd even if it was in honor of him guessing her birthday! Happy Birthday Todd and Lilly!
The girls loved seeing their new baby sister!! Hailey wanted to do it all by herself. When I called to tell her she had a new baby sister she said, "I'll be very soft to her...at first."
The girls loved seeing their new baby sister!! Hailey wanted to do it all by herself. When I called to tell her she had a new baby sister she said, "I'll be very soft to her...at first." 
This is my sweet mother-in-law Arlene. THANK YOU for jumping on a plane to share this special moment with us and help me with absolutely everything! Mom, we'll see you on the 14th!
WE LOVE YOU LILLY!
It's hard to fully explain the excitement in our home today. Both girls began dance class! Yes, Kate too! Thank heavens our sweet dance teacher allowed Kate to be in the 3-4 year old class even though she doesn't turn 3 until October. I don't know what we would have done! She is so ready and so happy to be involved in something! Both Hailey and Kate did so well and had a blast! 
I can't believe I am almost there! Although this pregnancy hasn't been an easy one, having a new sweet baby will make it all worth it. I have to see my doctor twice a week because of my constant blood pressure issues, but so far I have been truly blessed and everything looks fine. I'm sure when my blood pressure spikes I will either have to go on bed rest or they will have to induce me. I was induced two weeks early with Hailey and almost three weeks early with Kate because of pregnancy induced hypertension, so we will see what happens with baby number three! I'm trying to take it easy so that this baby can cook as long as possible. I'm hoping everything will be just fine!
