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That’s what this little girl was made of. Meet Lily. My first baby girl newborn I had the privilege of photographing. Lily is such a beautiful baby and she was so good. Thank you Lily and Lisa for allowing me to photograph you both. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek.
I think pretty much any mom would agree that any baby is a special blessing from above. But sometimes those blessings are extra special.
Stephanie and her husband Skip have two adorable children, Emerald (love her name) and Calvin (yeah, kinda like that one too ;D I met Stephanie last spring at our annual Wea Golf Tournament. They had recently moved to Kansas from Texas. She shared with me that she and her husband had adopted Emerald and Calvin while living in Texas.
I would see Stephanie here and there occasionally, but our paths didn’t cross much. Later this fall I got to catch up with her at a girls night out. Dressed in maternity clothes, I found out Stephanie was unexpectedly expecting. How exciting! I was so happy for her. She was due at the end of February.
Everyone knows babies have their own schedule and plan. Stephanie’s son Zach just couldn’t wait to meet his mom and dad and new sister and brother. He arrived 8 weeks early at 31 weeks. Not due until February, Zachary arrived on December 27th. Going through the posts on Stephanie’s blog, found here, is no less than heart wrenching. Seeing just how small and fragile this teeny tiny baby is. Hooked up to tubes and machines. Giving birth is such a joyous miracle. But to have to go through all that. My heart goes out to not only Stephanie and Skip, but any parent who was to experience this.
Zachary came home on February 7th. Between the time he was born and his home coming, Stephanie had such a exhausting schedule. She had two babies at home that needed her, but a newborn in the hospital that she had to feed to on a schedule. Stephanie goes into great detail on her blog, but to give you a brief description, it went something like this:
* 41 hours in the car traveling back and forth to the hospital–time spent w/o any of my children in most circumstances.
* Over 5 hours of time spent solely scrubbing in and/or washing hands–you know, got to make those hands bleed 
* 70 + hours pumping, time usually devoted to my youngest, but usually w/o him anywhere near me
* 25 + hours of preparing/cleaning pump parts/pumps before and after use both at home and at the hospital
* over 13 hours of traveling from the car to Zach’s room and back again (the parking lot is always packed and he is on the 4th floor, elevators are awful!)
* guessing at least 5 hours time devoted to insurance issues dealing with this experience, and surely more to come
To say that Stephanie was tired is more than just an understatement! I don’t know how you did it Stephanie. My hat goes off to you. During all this, Stephanie seemed to remain so positive and kept up with posting to her blog. If you have a moment, stop by and visit Stephanie’s blog. This girl deserves some kind of Mother of the year award, in my eyes.
And finally, here he is. Meet Zach, weighing in at around 6 pounds at at little over 4 weeks old. I can’t fathom it. My babies all came out tipping the scale at at least 8 pounds or more. Congratulations Stephanie, Skip, Emerald and Calvin. We are so happy for you.
