Our Story...

Note: I intended to post the photos below the text, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that today. They're also in reverse chronological order, but we hope you enjoy them nevertheless! :)

Our Sleeping Beauty

We could stare at that adorable face for hours.

Daddy loves his little girl! ...and she adores her Daddy!

Daddy giving Laura her first manicure. Precious.

I'm speechless. She is fearfully and wonderfully made.

On our way home! We were able to go home 24 hours after Laura was born.

Hello, world!

Just after her first bath (at 1am!)

Meet Laura Madeline Doty. Check out the BROWN hair!

Here we go!

Well, it's been quite a week here at the Doty household. David and I have had a WONDERFUL week getting to know our baby girl. We are absolutely in love with her. She is such a good baby and has been a joy to care for. David has been a wonderful husband and daddy and has taken such good care of Laura and I this week as we adjust to life at home. We're really blessed that David works for a company that provides two weeks of paid paternity leave. It's such a joy to spend so much time with him. I had many unfounded fears that this first week would be dreadfully exhausting, full of tears and frustration and it's actually been my favorite week of our marriage (apart from our honeymoon, of course). We have had SO MUCH FUN!!!

I'll back up about a week and share a little about our birth story. Laura's due date was actually June 23, but my OB offered an induction on June 16. I was SO READY at that point to give birth, but we decided to decline. We prayed about it and just didn't sense that it was God's will at that point. We continued to pray through the week and decided that we were definitely ready to meet our little girl and Friday worked well for everyone. So, we headed to the hospital on Friday, June 19 for our 5:00am induction. Actually, when we arrived at the hospital, I was already 4cm and having contractions, although mild. They started the pitocin (the medication that mimics the hormone in our bodies that causes contractions) around 7am, broke my water, and active labor began shortly. I was able to have an epidural (thankfully!) around 10:30am. That was actually, the most painful part of the whole process. Holding still while having active, hard contractions is no easy feat! By 2pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. We pushed (and pushed and pushed) for two hours and there really wasn't much progression. The doctor had a few C sections to tend to, so he asked us to rest for a bit and let the contractions move the baby down. So, we rested for about 1/2 hour and he came back in. Still not much progress. He said that C section or a forceps delivery may be the only options, but he offered to give it a little more time. At that point, we were determined!!! David sent a rash of text messages to ask people to pray, and pray they did! Laura was born shortly after that at 6:08pm. Praise God!

Laura was born and the doctor said, "Wow! That's why this took so long. She's a big baby!" That's our girl. :) Healthy as can be. She weighed 8lb 3oz and 20 1/4 inches long. I have a bit of recovering to do because she was born so quickly in the end it was fairly "traumatic" to my body, if you know what I mean. :) But, I'll take it all in exchange for a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

We were able to breastfeed right away and she clearly is a fast learner! She has nursed beautifully from the first day. God has really answered our prayers. We prayed fervently that she would breastfeed well and not require any supplementation and that has definitely been the case. God is so kind.

We marvel at God's provision through it all. A "natural" delivery, healthy baby, relatively quick recovery, smooth first week... we simply couldn't ask for anything more. Thank you so much for praying with us and for us. We are so grateful for you!