Lael Scott McConnell

Lael was born on April 21 at 9:53pm, weighing 9 lb 3 oz and measuring 18 inches long. A few pictures below. The ones of the five of us were taken just as Iain and I were walking out the door to go to the hospital (don't worry, the mark on Avery's cheek is just some lipstick ... she needs someone besides me to teach her the proper application of makeup).





I'm putting some of the details here so that I don't forget them later. Feel free to stop reading here if this is more than you need ....=)

I went into labor just before 3pm (though it took me about an hour to figure out that I was having contractions and not just random stomach cramps). Iain was at work for a night flight so I called him to give him a head's-up and tell him I'd call him back if they got closer together (when I first called at 3:30, they were about 6 minutes apart and by the time I called him back at 4:30, they were about 2-3 minutes apart). When I called back, he was already on his way home (they decided to cancel the flight he was going to fly). My mom had gotten into town the night before (a trip that had been scheduled for over a month) so she stayed with the girls while Iain and I left for the hospital (including a stop through the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru so that Iain would have energy for the evening). =) By the time the doctors checked me around 6pm, I was 6cm dilated and they confirmed that I was in pre-term labor. Because Lael was in the breech position, they needed to check that the oncoming doctor wouldn't require a C-section (she didn't), and they thought that because he was 7 weeks early, he would be small and it would be a relatively quick labor and delivery. Meanwhile, at home, my mom put the girls to bed and then got to the hospital at about 8:15 (we had one friend come and stay with the girls while another drove her to the hospital), so it was really nice to have both Iain and my mom in the room when Lael was born at 9:53.

Because he was breech, his legs were born first and he was moving them around while I was delivering his tummy (which was quite large due to the amniotic fluid which had built up inside his bladder). Unfortunately, during the delivery of his abdomen, the umbilical cord was compressed and Lael passed away at some point during the last 20 minutes of pushing.

Immediately after delivery, they put Lael on my chest. Iain and I got to spend the next 6 hours with him, holding him, kissing him, talking to him, singing to him, telling him about his sisters and just loving him. It's time we wouldn't trade for anything.

Our little angel is beautiful and our hearts are broken because we will never be able to watch his first steps, see him play with Audrey and Avery, and hear his sweet voice. But I can imagine my own daddy rocking Lael to sleep and melting at his smiles. And we rejoice that he is playing at the feet of Jesus.