I knew our baby girl Francis was going to come early. Ryan-Kate was and somehow I just felt like Francis was going to be the same way. She is such dream and these past few days our whole family has been all heart eyes for her. She is peaceful, sweet, beautiful, and so so perfect. Even though I knew she was coming early and had ben anticipated her birth for months, Andrew and I were still both surprised when she made her arrival. 

 On Thursday morning, September 27, I went in for my 38 week appointment. My doctor said I was already 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I thought that was encouraging but knew that women can sit there for a while too, so I tried to take it with a grain of salt. On Friday, we went on with our normal routine: getting Rk to school, grocery shopping, and spending some family time. We even started planning out our weekend and work commitments. It's such a strange place to be: in-between expectancy and waiting, knowing that things could change in an instant.

 That night, around 11am I woke up with contractions. At this point, I'm not sure if I am ready to call them contractions. Like once I say it I can't take it back and we are really doing this. I even debated on waiting until morning to tell Andrew. Once I woke up Andrew, we start to track my contractions. 7 minutes apart. So we start making arrangements for someone to sleep over with Rk so we can go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I feel nauseous and I have Andrew pull over so I can throw up. Not pretty and it was miserable.

 At the hospital, we get set up in the triage room where I am monitored for an hour to confirm that I indeed am in labor. It is now 1:30am and I am 5cm now each contraction only getting stronger. I get transferred to the delivery room, answer questions, get iv's, and request an epidural. My body was shaking so bad because of the contractions and I've about had my limit. At 2:30am and I get an epidural and it works almost instantly. I am now at 7cm and my water still has not yet broken.

 After the epidural, things start progressing a lot slower but I don't mind. I just let me body rest and both Andrew and I try to get some sleep. I wake up around 5am and I remember the room feeling so peaceful and I am overwhelmed with such much joy. I begin to bless my labor, my new baby girl, and the new life that is about to enter this world. Birth is such a beautiful, spiritual experience.   

 At 7am I can start feeling pain despite having the epidural and still pressing to delivery more pain relief. I am 9cm and my water still hasn't broken. My delivery doctor tells me that she wants to wait a little longer then she will break my water and I can deliver. My pain level is increasing and I start to feel so much pressure and I am pretty sure I need to push soon. Around 8am, I ring my nurses and tell them I feel like its time and that I need to start pushing. They seemed surprise but start preparing everything. The epidural is only sort of working and I can feel everything. People are coaching me and encouraging me and I am sure that I won't be able to do it. But then she was here and she was perfect.

 Andrew and I were both so happy and overwhelmed. I remember him being so emotional and I being  so happy. Francis Promise Nemeth was born at 8:26am. I cannot wait to see who she will become. She carries so much peace and joy already and I am honored to be her mother. 

There's this thing that continually happened with kids- they change constantly. And I guess, yeah I did realize it, but when this tiny human that I am always learning suddenly does something new it can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. I remember when we started Ryan- Kate's sleep training, I felt like I was going to go crazy. She was asking for milk a lot and only wanting to be in our bed, and we finally just toughed it out for a few nights and with in a week she was sleeping through the night. Recently, we had to go through the same thing again with her "big girl bed." I watch her through the baby monitor and it takes everything within me to not go to her when she asks for me. 

Transitions feel rough, and for me, I feel like I am going crazy while I am in the middle of it. Hopefully, when you are trying to get off these bottles and onto sippy cups it isn't as hard as it was for us like it was with sleep training. So, I am partnering with Twistshake to give all those mamas out there who are interested 30% off on their site for any pastel item or up to 40% off on their neon line through December. My daughter loves the color purple right now, so Twistshake is a current favorite i n our home right now. Just use the code lunasallett30 at checkout. there is also an additional discount on their neon line. When you purchase over $25 you will receive FREE shipping! Go check out it out!

Andrew and I celebrated 4 years of marriage and we decided to spend it in Salida, Colorado at the Amigo Motor Lodge. This was the fist trip we did without our daughter, but it was a perfect place to unwind and dream of what we want our marriage to look like for the years to come. Salida is a small, slow moving town, which allowed us to unplug for a while. We brought several books and spent most of our quiet mornings doing nothing- that's a luxury that we don't see as often anymore.

My Advice?  Take advantage of the slow paced life, spend some time wandering without a phone, go on a hike, and then take a drive to the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs to relax!

We spent an evening going to The Mt. Princeton Hot Springs near Buena Vista, which is about 20 minutes away from Amigo. After having dinner in Buena Vista, we concluded that Salida has the best food. Don't make the mistake we made by thinking mountain people know how to make sushi. Never again.

Where To Eat: