leah jane johnson

early the morning of april 22, at 41 weeks gestation, miss leah jane finally decided to join us on the outside! i started having "are these still Braxton-Hicks or not?" contractions around 1:30 am, and by 3:30 was sure they were definitely not! at 4:45 am, i woke kevin and let him know that leah had finally settled on her birthdate and wouldn't be waiting until monday (or wednesday) for an induction. we got ready, and by 6:30 were on our way to the hospital!

we finished checking in just before 7 am, with contractions every 5 minutes or so and dilated to 4 cm. within 30 minutes we were at 5 cm, they broke my water, and things picked up quickly from there! we progressed quickly to 7 cm, 9 cm, then it was time to welcome leah into the world! at 11:29 am, leah jane johnson was born weighing 8 lbs., 6 oz. and measuring 21 inches! she has a full head of hair, so unlike her big sister who was bald for a year!

Leah Jane Johnson

i'm convinced things went quickly because 1) she was a week past her due date and well-baked!, and 2) we opted for a natural VBAC delivery so nothing was slowed down by epidurals or other drugs. it was definitely the most intense thing we've ever done, but so worth it! we went home 26 hours after leah was born and have been settling into our new lives as a family of four!

faith is beyond thrilled with her baby sister, leah is "just the baby she wanted!" it's so sweet to see our girls together at last!

meeting Leah for the first time

 Faith and Leah with the little toy big sister picked out for her

i'll do another post with more pictures soon, but wanted to get something up before i began to forget some of the details of the day! we're so blessed!