sleeping baby

Baby Kyla is sleeping, so I thought I would take this opportunity to quickly share some more pictures. She is 18 days old today. In some ways it's hard to believe that the days are going so quickly, but it also feels like she has been with us much longer than 18 days. We just love being mommy and daddy. We both have found it so fulfilling, even though a little tiring :) She is such a wonderful baby. She only fusses when she is tired and ready to fall asleep. I finally decided to introduce the pacifier to her today. She took it right away- like a pro. I'm only going to use it when she is ready to sleep though. I don't like how it hides her adorable face. :)
As you can tell from the pictures, we have already taken her swimming. She loves the water. She loves showers, pools, etc. She also loves having her diaper changed. If she's crying, all you have to do to settle her down is change her diaper- even if it isn't wet. She's going to be an over-the-top clean person just like her parents :)
We went on a date to Starbucks last night. So good to get out. Kyla slept the whole time, which I was so thankful for as the whole nursing thing is still not totally figured out, especially nursing in public.
Kyla sleeps wonderfully at night. She eats at 10:30pm, wakes up at 2:30am to eat, and then sleeps until 6:30am. After she eats at 6:30, we continue sleeping until 9:30-10am. It's the perfect schedule. She's been on this night schedule pretty much from day 1.
She makes the cutest faces too. I try to capture them in pictures, but the pictures really don't do it justice. She has so much personality already.
My parents come to visit this Friday. We are very excited for them to arrive. It will be a constant fight though for who gets to hold Kyla. :)
I've added more pictures on my facebook picture page, so you can go there to see more pics.
http://cedarville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035346&l=b2334&id=141303528

6 days old

Kyla is 6 days old today. This week has just flown by. Nate had this whole week off of work, so it's been so nice just resting. Kyla is such a cutie. I'm getting ready to go take another nap, but thought I would post a few pictures first. I posted a picture of Dr. Yang with Kyla. We are so thankful for Dr. Yang. He made this whole experience wonderful.

Kyla Noel Leman!!!

Our baby girl, Kyla Noel Leman, was born on Saturday, November 10 at 2:08pm Beijing Standard time in Chengdu, China. She weighed in at 3050 grams (about 6 lbs, 11 ounces) and is 55 cm long (19.5 inches). She is a beautiful baby, and we are just overwhelmed with thankfulness at how many prayers were answered. The labor was very long and painful (I was in labor basically from Sunday night the 4th until I delivered on the 10th), but with no complications, and the delivery was as uncomplicated as any delivery could be. :) Kyla was born perfectly healthy and beautiful. She never left our side from the moment she was born. What a blessing to spend every single second with her from birth. She is just so precious and we spend all of our time holding her and loving on her. She is such a good baby..hardly ever cries and is sleeping so well at night already. She makes the most adorable faces and sounds.

The Chinese doctors, midwives, and nurses were all wonderful and patient. We were able to go home 24 hours after her birth, which we were very thankful for, as the hospital facilities weren't very comfortable :). Your friends and family are your primary providers in the hospitals here. Nate and a few close friends were responsible for all of my needs, down to providing all of our food and drink; cleaning and bathing me, even right after the delivery; taking care of my toiletry needs, etc. We had to provide all of our own food, drinks, towels and washcloths, hospital clothes, etc. We knew all of this though in advance, so it wasn't a surprise and we were very prepared. (We had a ton of bags packed for our day and a half stay :) I don't have an ounce of regret delivering in China. Everything went so smoothly. I would do it all over again if given the choice. One of my friends, Michelle, is a nurse. She was with us for the whole process. Her Chinese is much better than ours too, so she was able to help a lot with the translation. She has had 4 children, and has helped with numerous deliveries in the past, so was an incredible blessing to us. I don't think we could have survived without her. Jenny was there for almost the whole hospital stay also, running errands, taking care of meal details, providing love and encouragement. What would we do without Jenny???
Nate was an incredible coach. He had been up with me every night since Sunday also helping me breathe and relax through each contraction. He never left my side and was so willing to do whatever needed to be done. I'm sure he was nearly as exhausted as me after the delivery. I am just amazed at how wonderful and patient he was through the whole process. My love and appreciation for him seriously doubled (if that's possible) through this whole thing. I cry every time I think of how he was with me holding my hand, encouraging me, breathing with me through every contraction and through the delivery. Even now, he is constantly up getting me whatever I need, changing diapers, running errands, taking care of the dogs, cooking, cleaning, and the list goes on and on. I am so blessed!!!!

We are all doing very well now. We are seriously overwhelmed with how faithful God has been to us. We had been praying for many things through this whole pregnancy, and are just amazed and thankful at how he answered each one, even more than we could have imagined to ask for.

There are more pictures at http://cedarville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035346&l=b2334&id=141303528 and http://cedarville.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035291&l=1bb10&id=141303528

38 week pics..and Sophie's stitches (not for the weak of stomach)

You can tell by my attire that it is starting to cool off here. We have to wear multiple layers in the house to keep warm (un-insulated cement walls and tiled floors keep the house nice and cold).
Sophie, our bassett hound, had exploratory surgery last Wednesday looking for the infection that she's had for 5 weeks now. The doctor didn't find any abscesses or cancer, so that's good; but is still a little confused on where exactly the infection is located. She's had a high fever for over a month, and her white blood cell count has been 3x higher than it should be. One of her kidneys was enlarged, so right now we are continuing to treat the problem as a kidney infection. You can see from the picture the large incision, and all the external bruising. Poor thing.

Friday was my last day of work. It seems a little weird to be done, but I'm looking forward to having some time to get stuff done.

My weekly doctor's appointment this morning was fine. Everything is normal. Baby is continuing to grow, her heart beat is normal, my blood pressure and weight is all normal, everything is good. I'm supposed to call my doctor if I start having 20 contractions, painful or not, a day so that they can prepare a room for me. The hospital is so full right now that they don't even have enough rooms for everyone. All the birthing hospitals in Chengdu are super full right now because it is a Golden Year of the Pig..an especially good luck year which only comes around once every 60 years, so people purposefully have babies in this year. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7417324 Here is an NPR story that explains it in more detail.