One Month Old!

Gracie turned one month old this past weekend. She is really getting big. At our last check she weighed 7lbs 4oz, and if I had to guess, I'd say she's 8lbs now. She is still sleeping only 2-3 hours at a time. That means that I sleep 1-2 hours at a time! As tired as I am, she is totally worth it. There are times when all I do is just stare at her. She is so beautiful!

She's growing like a little weed!

Grace Marie has been such an incredible addition to our family! We are truly blessed to have been sent such a sweet little angel!

I am still only getting two hours of sleep at a time. I am really looking forward to the day when I get a full 4 hours. Everyone tells me that once that happens I will feel like a new woman! I'll be sure to post that when it happens!

Grace had a doctor's appointment the day after we brought her home from the hospital. She lost weight, which is normal, and was down to 5lbs 6oz. Her next visit was on Friday the 7th. She exceeded her birth weight and came in at 6lbs 3.5oz. The doctor was thrilled! That means that she is getting plenty of nutrition. The first thing to use the nutrients that she takes in is her brain and head. Since her body weight is up that means she has "left over" nutrients for the rest of her body to grow! We are very happy about that!

This week, Bryan went back to work. Monday was a bit difficult because I couldn't sleep during the day. I must have been to wound up to take a nap. Tuesday and Wednesday were much better days. I think I'm getting the hang of it!

Today she is 2 weeks and 5 days old! I have taken her out in the car a few times...very scary, but I managed ok. Today I am going to try to take her for a walk in the stroller. I've been a bit stir crazy being in the house all day. I think a walk around the neighborhood will be great for both of us!

We have had a ton of email well wishes, dinners brought over, help offered, etc. Bryan and I are so appreciative of these gestures. Again, we are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Formal thank you cards will be sent as soon as I can get to them...I promise!!

Our gift from God has arrived!!

Well, she's finally here!! Baby Grace Marie was born on Saturday, February 23, 2008. She was 5lbs 13oz and was 18-3/4in long. She is so tiny, but perfect in every way!

On Friday night we had dinner with some friends of ours. I wasn't feeling particularly comfortable that night. At about 11:30pm that evening I started having a crampy feeling in my back. It wasn't anything regular, as I had this a few times before that week. I was able to go to sleep, then around 2:00am the cramps got worse. I was still able to sleep through some of them, but at 4:00am they were pretty strong and were getting more regular.

I finally got out of bed at 5:00am and my water broke! I woke Bryan up and told him it was time to go to the hospital! We showered, ate breakfast (yes...I'm very cranky if I don't eat!!), and took care of some last minute things around the house. All the while pausing to breath through the contractions that were coming every 5 minutes.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:00am and they admitted me. They started the pytocin and things progressed from there.

I finally asked for the epidural at 11:30am. At that point I was 4cm dilated. Which is funny, because I was 4cm dilated all week! There were some issues with the epidural. It didn't go all the way to my left side, so they had to give me another dose of medicine. That was really weird because my lower body felt SO heavy...even more than it had. It was kind of a scary feeling as I didn't like not having control over my body. A few hours later, the epidural wore off on my right side of my body. Now this was extremely painful becuase at this point the contractions were right on top of eachother and Bryan said, according to the monitor they were pretty strong. I felt the pain up the right side of my back...not fun. I tried breathing through them, but asked for the anesthesiologist to come back. At 2:00pm they gave me another dose of medicine and the pain went away. BUT...the nurse had not checked me before that. So she decided to check me again before the anesthesiologist left and I was 10cm!! They had me wait for an hour for the medicine to wear off so I could start pushing. At 3:00pm I still couldn't feel a thing, THANK GOD, but they had me push anyway. With the help of Bryan, my mom, and my sister, I pushed for 42 minutes...which was hard work I tell you!! At 3:42pm Princess Grace arrived! What a surreal and amazing moment for Bryan and I! We both immediately were overcome with joy!!

We brought Gracie home on Monday night. We are adjusting to being parents. It has definitely been a learning process, but with each day things get better and we feel more confident! We couldn't be happier! We also couldn't do it without the support of family and friends! Everyone has been so generous bringing dinners, cleaning our house, cutting our grass, bringing over preemie clothes because nothing fit her, taking care of our animals, etc. Bryan and I are truly blessed! God works miracles in so many ways...even small ones!

Enjoy the pictures and I will try to post updates when I can!