Lily In Motion

Lillian's First Week

It's true one teeny, tiny person can change your life forever....

Sleeping peacefully, which Lillian does most of the day & night!  What an angel.

Snug as a bug!

Aunt Kim made Lillian this great sign welcoming us home from the hospital last Wednesday.

Daddy is smitten!

Grandma and Opa shucking corn on the cob with the "big" grandkids.

Our 4 generation picture with Great Grandpa.

Lillian's 1st Ladies Luncheon with my friends Gwen, Kay and Leslie - Mom was there too but someone had to take the picture!

If a picture's worth a thousand words; here's a few thousand words....

Mother's Day





My Lily of the Valley bloomed this weekend! Just in time for Lillian's birth. Lily of the Valley is the official flower of May, and it holds a special place in my heart because I transplanted these plants from my Grandmother' s garden the summer after she passed away.

 What an exciting weekend!  It's a very strange feeling knowing your daughter will be born in less than 24 hours.    Mike snapped this picture of me trimming rose bushes! Apparently, he thinks I'm one of the only 9 month pregnant women in the world who gardens the day before giving birth!

We're so happy to have our parents here to welcome their next grandchild! 

Lillian's Birth - Day

When does life ever go as planned?  By the 3rd trimester, most babies are head down, ready to go.  But Lillian's head is still squeezed, uncomfortably, right up top, under my rib cage.  Her poor head is football shaped (which Casey and I take as a sign that she's going to love football like we do!!!).  I feel her trying desperately to "flip" upside down but she just can't make it for some reason.  Mike and I have researched breech babies till our eyes get tired and we've tried every wives tale there is!  And let me tell you, people try some desperate things, and I've followed in their footsteps!  I've tried:

• Crouching down on my knees with my arms laid out in front of me
• Rocking side to side on my hands and knees
• Laying on the floor with pillows stacked under my rear end (tilting me up)
• Laying on an ironing board propped up on the couch with my feet up in the air and my head on a pillow below (yes this is very uncomfortable at 38 weeks pregnant!!!)
• Burning Chinese Moxi Sticks at my bare toes (we did this in the house one cold night but after we woke up and our house smelled like pot we decided to burn them outside no matter how cold it was that night!)
• Holding a flashlight at the base of  my belly while Mike talks to her and tries to draw her down.
• Holding a bag of frozen vegetables at the top of my belly trying to make her uncomfortable enough to flip over.
• And finally, we tried External Cephalic Version, a hospital procedure where the doctor tries to twist her downward.  The doctor got her head down, but she flipped right back up - 3 TIMES! 

Unfortunately, Lily's just plain stuck this way.  Like I said, I feel her head jutting out on my far right side,  pushing downward and I feel her foot, lodged down in my pelvis, pulling upward, almost daily.  She's really trying to do what nature intends her to do, but apparently, God has other plans for her!  So, Lillian Kerschen will come into this world quite peacefully, via Cesarean next Monday, May 9th - the same day her brothers entered so peacefully exactly one year ago.  Karma?  A gift from God?  A gentle reminder of how precious life is?  Or just plain perfect, Mike and I couldn't be happpier to be her parents.  We can't wait to meet you, Lily-Bird.