Lorelai's Birth

May 2009

Lorelai Marie Lane was born on the 1st of May in 2009 at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside California.  Below are pictures and a letter of her birth story.

8pm April 30, 2009 Just arrived at the hospital and am ready to be induced

Welcome to the world Lorelai Marie

A few minutes old



Grandma Susie Sewell

Grandpa Cordell McDonald

Grandma Janette McDonald

Grandpa Vern Sewell

We are now a family of 3! 

Sweet baby girl

Leaving the hospital May 2, 2009 in the afternoon

Getting the hang of being a new mom

Audrey Reisenhofer.  One of Lorelai's first visitors

Katie and Jewel Larson (2 months) one of the first visitors along with Jagger and Matt Larson

Getting some good advice from my cousin

First Car ride!  We needed to get out of the house, so on the 3rd of May we took a drive.
We ended up stopping by South Coast Plaza for a quick return and a visit with Katie Larson and family

 Lorelai, this is your birth story.

Dear Lorelai,

I have to admit the truth is…I didn’t like being pregnant.  I had morning sickness, aches and pains, low energy, and I gained 50 pounds!  I hated feeling fat and bloated all the time!  But I was so excited to find out who this little mystery person was inside my tummy.  When I found out you were a girl, I was so excited (I had secretly wanted a girl).  I couldn’t wait to meet you wondering what you would look like and what having a newborn baby would be like.  You were expected to be due April 25^th 2009, but you came late.   Dr Darcy Bryan, my doctor, scheduled an appointment for you to be induced on April 30^th.  So with bags packed I checked into Riverside Community Hospital that night.  My cervix was not yet dilated so they had to ripen it for 12 hours!  Ugh!  That was not what I was expecting!  So I had to lie in the hospital bed all night long while the suppository took effect.  Do you think I got any sleep?!! No way!  I was attached to so many machines I couldn’t really get up and down.  I sent dad home to sleep so he didn’t have to sleep in a chair.  I have to admit, it was pretty lonely, being in a hospital and anxious about things to come.  Dad and I had not yet decided on your name.  We had three we were considering, Lorelai, Guinevere and Savannah.  We ended up dropping Savannah and it was down to Lorelai and Guinevere.  I felt like I had to see your face to make the final decision.  Sometime around 2am I turned on the TV flipping through channels and I stopped at a Marilyn Monroe movie called “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”  I have always loved old movies so it caught my attention.  In the movie Marilyn Monroe plays a character named “Lorelei Lee.”  It was then that I knew!!  It sounded so sophisticated as all these classy characters would say her name “Lorelei Lee” I just loved it!  So then I had to decide how to spell it.  The correct way to spell Lorelai is actually “Lorelei” but I actually had picked your name years before from a TV show character named Lorelai Gilmore from “Gilmore Girls.”  This is originally when I first fell in love with the name and I liked the spelling better from the TV show.  We then decided on Marie as your middle name because my beloved grandmother Joanne Marie had passed a few years before you were born.  I wanted to honor her.  She was a 2^nd mother to me.  I loved her dearly and when she passed was one of the hardest times for me.  I hope you love your name as much as I do.  I think it is beautiful. 

Well the next morning, I started to have a few minor contractions so I called dad to come over, he arrived around 6am.  I then was giving a drug called Pitocin which induces contractions.  Once my contractions started to get really painful, I asked for an epidural (why would I want to feel pain?!!)  The epidural was scary because it was a little painful and a lot of pressure in my back, plus I was having contractions.  Once the medicine kicked in, I no longer felt pain, or anything for that matter, my legs were numb!  So then we just had to wait and wait and wait until I was dilated to 10 cm and ready to push you out!  So we waited, luckily I was pain free!  All your grandparents came too.  Grandma Susie and Janette and Grandpa Cordell and Vern were all there waiting!  Finally the time arrived!   It was time to push.  I was nervous, but knew it would all be ok.  We had lots of nurses and Dr Bryan and dad there.  In a weird way, pushing was actually fun!  Everyone was cheering me on and didn’t feel any pain (epidurals are great!) I could hear daddy saying “look there’s the head!”  I got excited and pushed more!  Daddy was getting really excited because he could see you coming out.  I pushed for about 45 minutes and finally Dr Bryan gave me an episiotomy and you pushed right out! Wow! I was so tired!  All the nurses were gushing about how beautiful you were.  So I asked everyone so is she a Lorelai?  And they all said YES!  Daddy was crying and I was exhausted.  It was amazing to see, you were this little stranger that just arrived.  I held you and looked at how beautiful you were.  My heart sang!  I loved you even though I didn’t know you.  All the grandparents came in and held you too.  You had arrived!  Later when you went to the nursery to get cleaned up, our friend Mike Ramirez and Renee Gonzalez came to visit you too. That night daddy and I tried to figure out how to be parents for the first time, breastfeeding, changing diapers, it was all new.  The next day we were anxious to get home.  My cousin Katie and Matt Larson, and Jagger and baby Jewel came to visit as well as my friend Audrey Reisenhofer.  Everyone was excited to see you. 

It took a while for me to figure out what being a mother is all about; I had no idea how much love I could have.  My heart is overwhelmed with love for you.  I can’t even explain how much joy and love you bring to me and dad.  We never realized that our life would be so full until you came along.  Dad and I had waited a long time to have you here, and never realized that it wasn’t until you that our life truly began.  I love you more than I can possibly express and I want the best for you.  I want you to be happy and have joy.  This is your birth story.

Love, Mom