Busy, Busy, Busy!

This is such a busy time of year for us. It seems like we have so many things going on as we prepare for Jason's Mom, Gerry, my Dad and Pam to come into town next week. We are also trying to prepare for Grace's baptism on 12/21 and our 3rd wedding anniversary next Saturday.

Grace is absolutely wonderful! She loves to suck on her fists. You can see her trying to do this while she is laying on her belly in a few of the pics. She is finally able to put them in her mouth while sitting up. We think it is super cute, especially because you can see her doing this in my 19 week ultrasound video. This past week has been wonderful because she is finally sleeping through the night! YAY! We put her in her crib between 11 and 11:30pm and she has been sleeping until about 6 or 7 am. At first I thought it was a fluke, but she has been doing this for about the past 6 days. Hopefully this continues! I am just very greatful for the time being. Grace has also been taking a 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap in the morning and in the afternoon. She slept from 3:10-5:30 the other day. Jason had to go and wake her up when he got home from work. We didn't really want to wake her up, but we were afraid that she wouldn't want to sleep during the night. It seems like all she ever wants to do now is sleep. I think it may just seem that way to me since we had such a hard time in the beginning with the thrush and gas. Whatever the reason, I am thankful for it now. It's amazing how happy a well-rested child can be!

Since Grace has been sleeping so well I have been able to complete all kinds of little projects around the house, which I am very thankful for. I will give you more updates on Grace's happenings next Friday when she turns 3 months old! My, how time flys!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We ended up staying at home for dinner because we knew that Christmas will be crazy with all of our visitors in town. It was very nice and peaceful. As you can see we dressed Grace up for the occasion. She actually had three outfit changes, but she was not very happy about the hat so we only have her picture in this outfit.

I decided to stay home Friday instead of going shopping. I have always hated crowds, but it's gotten a lot worse lately. Since I am home during the day, I usually go shopping during the week when there is hardly anyone out. However, I decided to go online and see if there were any deals and I found some! I ended up getting a bunch of things for Grace at Walmart.com. I found one item for $67 at Walmart that was listed at $89.99 at Babies R US. I also got a bunch of other items for about $4 cheaper for each item.

I hope everyone had as great of a day as we did!

2 Months & 5 Days Old!

Get ready because this is a long one! We cannot believe that it has already been 2 months since our little peanut was born. It has been the most crazy, sleep deprived, yet awesome two months of our lives. We could not ask for anything more. We are extremely blessed. Grace is doing so many wonderful things.

Here is a list of things she has started to do during the past month:

• On November 4th she started to show us her "real" smile. Wow is it a beautiful smile!
• She has started to lift her head during tummy time and lift her chest off of the ground. She is also starting to try and roll from her tummy to her back. Crazy but true! It's actually a bit scary. She also tries to scoot when she's on her tummy and gets really upset when she doesn't have anything to kick off of so we have to put her hands by her feet and she kind of kicks off of them and moves. She also does this when she's on our chest.
• She is starting to hold some of her weight when we stand her up on our lap.
• She absolutely loves to suck on her fists when she finds them. Usually this happens when she is on her tummy, but on Saturday night she actually stuck it in her month during bath time. It was adorable!
• She is following objects from across the room. Jason figured this out one night after dinner while she was in her swing. He walked away from her and notice she turned her head and followed him so he kept repeating it and watched her while she watched him.
• She loves to kick her legs and swing her arms. She swings her left arm around a lot. She looks like a little boxer.
• She loves to stick her tongue out and she will imitate us when we do this.
• She has started to coo and babble and she will also imitate us when we do the same thing back to her or when we talk to her.

Now for her likes:

• She loves lights! We just put our Christmas tree up because we know how much she would appreciate the lights on it!
• She loves music! Sometimes when she is crying she will just stop if she hears music. She also loves when we sing to her. She really seems to like "Old McDonald had a Farm".
• She loves her swing and bouncy chair. This child loves to be on the move and we really don't understand where she got it from. She hardly ever moved while she was in my belly. It must be from being on my feet all day while I was teaching. I don't know!
• She loves nursing. She will take the bottle when Grandma Peej or Daddy give it to her, but she is not a huge fan. She most definitely will not take a bottle from Mommy!

Now for her dislikes:

• She hates wet diapers. She will let you know the minute it's wet.
• Going to bed. She will always cry and we've just gotten used to it. She seems to like it more when Daddy puts her to bed rather than when Mommy does it. She cries and fusses a lot more for Mommy!

2 Month Check-Up:

She is now 10 pounds even and she is 21 3/4 inches long. Her head circumference is now 15 inches. She is now close to the 25th percentile in everything which is quite a jump from her 2 week checkup. Dr. Wells was shocked that she was tracking him with her eyes from across the room at her appointment. He was also quite impressed with her motor skills as she tried to pull an instrument he had in her ear out, then grabbed his arm, so all was well in that department --- he said she was showing skills that usually only 4-5 month olds start to develop!

She also had to have the dreaded 2 months vaccinations. I don't think I was quite prepared for that. I felt pretty bad for her. The nurses had me put Grace on the table and I held both of her hands and then they quickly administered the shots to her upper thighs. Grace's face turned bright red ( like fire engine red) and closed her eyes and opened her mouth. You could see actual tears on her eye lashes. She just laid there like that for about 30 seconds to a minute with no sound coming out of her mouth. Then the screaming began. So I immediately picked her up and tried to comfort her. Finally after a few minutes she calmed down and we went home. When we got home I took her out of her carseat and went to lay her down so I could go to the bathroom and she started crying again so I had to pick her up and hold her. I ended up nursing her and then she feel asleep so all was well. My mom and I ran to the mall to pick up a few things for Grace. When we got home my mom went to give her a bottle and she absolutely refused it. She just wanted her Mommy which was so rewarding to me. I think it made the past two months of frustration with nursing worth it! She ended up sleeping for most of the evening and she only woke up twice during the night and she seems to be doing a bit better today. At least we know that she won't get any "deadly" diseases and hopefully she will continue to stay happy and healthy!

I will get Jason to post a bunch more recent pics tonight or tomorrow!

7 Weeks Old and Sick Again... :(

Grace is now 7 weeks old and she is getting big! What a scary night we had! Last night our friends Lilac & PJ stopped by the see Grace. While they were here I took Grace into her room to change her diaper and I noticed that she had green stool. A little while later I took her into her room to change her again and she had green stool with a little bit of blood tinged mucus. I immediately took her temperature which was 99.7 degrees and then I called the doctor. Since it was 8:30 pm I had to speak to the answering service and then a nurse called me back a few minutes later. She wanted me to call our doctor's office immediately this morning to get her in, but she said if she had more blood or if she woke up inconsolable during the night then I would have to call back right away. Thankfully we didn't' have anymore bloody diapers and she actually slept for 6 hours straight during the night! I could not believe it! I called Genesis Pediatrics at 8:00am this morning and got her in for a 9 o'clock appointment. Thankfully they are open on Saturdays for illnesses! Well we found out that her Thrush is completely gone, but she does have rota virus (stomach virus). They are going to send her diaper for testing ( Yes we saved it and took it in) and they will let us know the results for sure in a few days. We also found out that she now weighs 8 lbs 13 1/2 oz. She has gained 11 1/2 ounces in a week! Mommy's milk must be good! She has also gained this much weight while sleeping for at least one 4 or 5 hour chunk per night. : )
I also had to go to see my doctor yesterday for my post partum visit and my Thrush is back so I have a new medicine that i need to use. Hopefully it works because nursing is very painful and Grace needs to eat frequently so she does not become dehydrated.
Needless to say, anyone who comes near Grace can expect us to tell them to wash and sanitize their hands before coming near her and then repeating the process many times. Sorry, but we need to protect our Peanut. She's been through too much already!

I'm Getting Older but I'm Still the Same...

... I'm just not that vacant anymore.

~ ONE MONTH, 15 DAYS - 20.5" | 8.2 lbs ~

As you may or may not know, today is my 25th birthday - and maybe it's the quarter-century milestone, but I think I'm actually feeling older this time around, way more than I usually do. I guess fatherhood will do that to you... Looking back, it has been a great run so far and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I've experienced more in my lifetime than many ever will and have been blessed more over than one person should ever be with all the Lord has chosen to give me thus far in life - my health, my family, my loving wife Stacey, and of course, our beautiful daughter Grace. If I'm able to provide Grace with half the things my parents have provided for me, she'll be a very lucky girl. Thanks to everyone I know for making my life so special and here's to another three-quarters-of-a-century to go!

I suppose I should back-track a little in the week though... The weekend before last - Friday & Saturday - we had a couple birthday parties for my paternal Grandpa ("Papa") - with one being a big surprise party at the Brook House - for his 80th birthday. Almost all of our family made it in town from VA and the likes, and it was great to see everyone - especially since we weren't able to make it down to VA for my cousins wedding - even though there was some travel hiccups along the way, and Grace was able to meet so many new family members for the first time. It was a blessed time and a deserved celebration for a great man! He also had NO CLUE about the surprise party, which made it even better.



On Sunday, we took Grace down the road to a local farm and picked out some pumpkins. She was dressed in her full pumpkin wardrobe - hat, shirt, pants, booties - and we picked up three pumpkins for only $6. This was big to us as it cost us $30something for two in Vegas!! Here's a few pics from the event and the pumpkin carving that ensued the next day:



Friday night was Halloween and we weren't going to dress Grace up as she already had her pumpkin outfit and there really isn't many Halloween costumes for newborns, but Patty ended up picking one up a lion one for her and it was pretty adorable. As you can see, we dressed up the boys again as well - and Patty adorned the full witch costume (quite scary) to spook the little ones in the neighborhood - however, we didn't end up getting too many kids at all which was a bit of a bummer for her.



The next night, some of my Dad's family came over to celebrate my birthday, and my first with Grace. We had a great time as we got Nana (my paternal Grandma) and Papa to try out our Wii - bowling and baseball. They had a blast with it - Papa was good at the bowling, while Nana was better at baseball. Papa couldn't hit the ball to save his life and Nana kept trying to coach him and everyone else, shouting "NOW! NOW! SWING! NOW!", after she was feelin' good about hitting a home run. Here's a few pics from the event:



So that has been the past couple weeks --- Grace is doing well and trying to get the hang of sleeping a little longer at night. She's been going about 4 hours at a time during the night which has been much better than her usual 2 or so, and she still has some remnants of the thrush on her bum, but it seems to be doing a lot better. Her weight and length have been increasing as well as you may have noticed the stats from Saturday night at the top. That's about all I have to report... many more pictures have been posted to our gallery as well, so be sure to check them out!

I've Been Here for One Month!

~ 29 Days, 16 Hours ~

It has been almost one month since I arrived into the arms of my loving parents and I have already learned and witnessed so much! So far I have met most of my family and can't wait to meet even more of them next weekend - boy do we have a big family and I'm not really good with remembering names... As you can see, Dad has already set up my own email account, taught me how to use the computer to blog, and have online video chats with Grandma in Australia.



I'm still trying to get used to this "sleep at night" thing, but I think I'm getting better. Not sure if Mom thinks so, but hey, a girl needs to eat! I've really put Mom and Dad through the ringer with my fussiness at nighttime but thanks to cousin Karen who sent up a book on nursing, Mom may have cracked the case on what has been causing this irritating diaper rash on my bum and my bouts of fussiness --- thrush. I think it is the 5th different infection I've caused Mom to get, but hopefully things will start to get better now that we have figured it out! Plus, I really love having my butt blow-dried during each diaper change - very soothing! I have also started to get a little "tummy time" recently during the day as I can lift my head a bit as my neck muscles keep getting stronger, and my brothers really enjoy chilling alongside me on the mat.



The doctor said that I am growing at a nice, steady pace - 6 lbs 12 oz at our last visit - and I can feel myself getting stronger, larger, and longer by the day. My hair is also growing a bit longer and getting darker - it's still too short for my taste... I look like Dad enough already, so I can't wait for my hair to grow in! Other than that, life has been good and I have enjoyed my time here so far. Time to go watch the football games with Dad - he has me started with sports already... Don't forget to check out all of my new pictures in the gallery!

Two Weeks Old!

Grace had her 2 week check up today and it is official, she is a peanut! She is now 6 lbs. 3 oz. and 18 1/2 inches long. Her head circumference is 13.5 inches. Apparently her head really was swollen after birth since she went from 19 3/4 inches long to 18 1/2 inches long. She is in the 14th percentile for her head size and 3rd percentile for her height & weight.

We also talked about a little problem that we have been having at nighttime with Grace. For some reason between 1am and 6am every night she screams bloody murder. It doesn't matter what we do, she will still start to scream a couple minutes after we put her down. Her doctor said that it could be gas or it could be colic - we are really praying that it is just gas. We bought some gas drops and we will try them out tonight. Hopefully it does the trick! Otherwise we will be dealing with a colic baby for the next 3 weeks to 3 months :( I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy.

On a lighter note, we gave Grace another bath on Tuesday and of course she pooped in the tub not once but twice. It seems as though this is becoming her favorite past time. I cannot tell you how many times I have been pooped, peed, and tooted on in the past two weeks. I wouldn't trade it for anything though. Jason is smart - he is the official "hand holder" during diaper changes and baths so he gets to dodge all the messiness!

We will let you know how our night goes now with the gas drops. Please pray for us on this one! Jason also posted some new pics in the gallery of Grace and her funny faces. She makes the funniest facial expressions, even the nurses at the hospital commented on them! She's adorable! :)

Grace is in Today's Paper

We just wanted to let everyone know that Grace is in today's D&C paper in the "Our Towns" section!

The Past Few Days

~ SIX DAYS, 13 HOURS OLD ~

Hard to imagine that on this day one week ago we were just getting settled in our room at the hospital and Grace was knocking on the door to come on out! The last few days have gone by fast but they have been great days. Here's a quick rundown...

On Tuesday we gave Grace her first bath at home - they had given her one at the hospital the day after she was born - and lemme tell ya, she did not enjoy it too much! She's not a big fan of stripping down to just her diaper, but I'm not going to complain about that... I had to end up consoling her towards the end by letting her have a grasp of one of my fingers in each hand, while she sucked on my pinky finger at the same time.



Grace had her 2nd doctors appointment on Wednesday and everything checked out fine. Her slight jaundice still wasn't of a concern and it has started to go down since then. Next visit is now scheduled for October 3rd (2 days before her original due date!) Also on Wednesday, Stacey was having some pains in her abdomen so we took a trip to her doctor and they said she had a bladder infection and her stitches were starting to get infected. Originally she wasn't going to go, but its a good thing she did as it could have progressed into something worse.

Sleep during the night has much improved since night #1, as Grace has been doing a good job of usually only waking up when she is hungry or can't stand being in a dirty diaper anymore. She has definitely taken after me in the way she sleeps - mouth open, arms spread way out, and twitching every so often. We keep her bassinet out in the living room and Orville's (our first dog) new favorite thing to do is keep a watchful eye over Grace. We did not expect Orville to be so protective / curious out of all three of our dogs as usually he is really laid back, but his new favorite thing to do is jump up on the couch on the arm rest and stick his head into the bassinet for a few seconds, make sure Grace is inside and asleep, then jump back off. I snapped a pic of him yesterday in the act.



Nothing else too exciting to report though, which I suppose is a good thing! Grace doesn't really fit into any clothes right just yet - they're either too big or the legs on her "preemie" outfits are too short - but I don't think she really minds... Other than that, we are wishing everyone from my Dad's side of the family safe travels to and from Virginia this weekend for my cousin Mike's wedding - hope it is a joyous time and we're bummed we couldn't be there to celebrate. --- Be sure to keep checking the online gallery for new pics, I'll try and post some every couple days.

1st Doctor's Visit, 2nd Night Home, & New Pics

Well we had a great 1st visit at the doctor's office. At least we thought it was great, but I don't think Grace really agrees with us on that one! We talked with the doctor about Grace's rough night and he thinks that she may have been allergic to something that I ate the night before. When we arrived home from the hospital, I had a glass of milk and a blueberry muffin from Wegmans. He gave us a list of foods to avoid or try in moderation to determine if your baby is allergic to them or not. I was a little disturbed when I realized that half the things on the list were given to me in the hospital. So for future breastfeeders make sure you know what these foods are and do not trust that the hospital is feeding you breastfeeding - friendly food (Even if they are a so-called "Baby-Friendly" hospital). We also learned that Grace jaundice is very mild so the doctor did not need to even test her to make sure her levels were good. When we were discharged from the hospital, they said that based on her physical Sunday morning she was down to 5 1bs. 4 1/2 oz. Yesterday she was up to 5 1bs. 9 oz ! We were really happy to hear this especially after our difficult evening. She will need to go back to the doctor's office on Wednesday for a weight/jaundice check , but it seems like she is doing a lot better now!

Now for our 2nd night home. It was glorious! Grace was able to sleep in her bassinet without any problems. She was also able to nurse without any problems and she hit her wet/soiled diaper goal by 7am this morning! I don't think she will have any problems gaining weight before her visit tomorrow. We were able to get a lot more sleep and things are very peaceful around the house this morning (thus the ability to actually get on the computer). Jason was also able to go into work for a few hours today to work on some things. Hopefully everything will continue to move in a positive direction and we will update you after our appointment tomorrow to let you know how Grace is doing. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! We really have appreciated all of the love and support that we have received over the past few days from all of our family and friends! We are so happy to share our wonderful miracle with you!

Here's a few new pics, but be sure to check the online gallery (link on the left <--- ) for more!

Oh, Sleepless Night

We made it back home around 7:30p last night with Grace! She did great in the car on the way home, didn't make a peep. We were very interested to see how the dogs would react to this new being in our life, so Stacey went in first, and I followed a few minutes later with Grace in my arms. To everyone's surprise, the dogs were calm as can be - we've never seen them that calm and not barking and running everywhere / going crazy after we had returned from a long time away! Patty had brought home a receiving blanket from the hospital and cut it into three pieces for them to play with before we got home and that may have helped some. Either way, they accepted her right from the start, only very slightly curious, and very much welcomed her home.

Grace was great and took in her new surroundings like a champ. We had been waiting for her second soiled diaper of the day to come, otherwise we would have had to call the doctor very early in the morning, but she finally did her business an hour or so after she was home. Everything was going great until it was time to get some sleep - and that's when the fun began... or not.

We put her down in bassinet #1 but about 15 minutes after, along came the wailing. We went through this all night long - holding her, rocking her, trying to feed her every 2-3 hours, checking her diaper, putting her in her crib and other bassinet - pretty much everything we could think of. She would be totally fine whenever in my arms but go to put her down and a few minutes later shed start to cry. We thought maybe Stacey wasn't getting any food out, as Grace wasn't latching on like she usually has, so we fired up the breast pump, but that wasn't the problem. We even fed her some breast milk out of a glass dropper like the nurse at the hospital suggested - and she would down all of it - but still, couldn't get to sleep on her own. I think we each might have slept off and on a total of 2 hours-ish. Was frustrating because she had been perfectly fine at the hospital and home up til this point sleeping on her own. Finally when it was time Stacey called the doctor to get in for an appointment this morning (we had one planned either way), and one of Grace's nurses at the hospital called at well, and it was determined that Grace probably had a belly ache from the dairy Stacey had eaten last night. So, hopefully that is the case. We are off to the doctors here in a few minutes - 11:30 appointment. Will update more on our return!

Discharge Very Soon!

Looks like we are all headed home sooner rather than later - probably after Stace gets her last meal around 5pm. Going to fill out Grace's discharge papers very shortly and then we will be pretty much set to go!

Patty brought a receiving blanket Grace used for a bit home to the boys so they could get some of her scent. Should be interesting to see how they react to the new inhabitant in their domain, and them getting a little lower on the totem pole. I'm sure they'll be very excited to see us, so Stace will be going in first and I will wait with Grace downstairs. Once we are home safe I'll be sure to let ya'll know.

Might Be Coming Home Today!

Great news - we have a good possibility of getting discharged today with our little one! They are allowing her to stay in our room pretty much all day today and only has to go back down to the SCU for a couple quick checkups and take any medicine she needs. We were not thinking we'd be able to take her home until at the earliest tomorrow morning so this is definitely awesome news!! She has one test that still needs to come back to be sure she is clear of infection, and should be hearing on that in the next few hours.

Grace is still doing rather well with her feedings as she has had a few more wet diapers - which she absolutely hates to be in and cries if she is. That is pretty much the only time she really cries so far except if she is really hungry and Mommy's food is taking too long to get to her mouth! Her favorite thing so far seems to be sucking on our pinky fingers - which she probably would do for who knows how long before we pulled them out. Also, she still has her little IV in her hand, which they had to switch to her other hand last night as the other one was leaking. Hopefully that will be out soon enough. Will post again either from home or when I know more about the discharge.

First Trip Out of the SCU!

Yay! Grace is now able to come down to our room for feedings and stay for a little while after! Here's a few pics from the first time (2:00p)... she's back down here again now and sleepin (5:25p).


Well, I went to post this and just before I did we had some issues trying to feed her and she was starting to get a little fussy. Couldn't tell if she wanted to eat, sleep, or was messin a diaper. She is however, already a Daddy's girl as she stopped fussing as soon as she was in my arms :) Shes back in the SCU now as we eat and rest til the next feeding... (btw 1 soiled diaper and 3 wet so far!)

New Life... - Concluding the Birth Blog

FYI: Posted a bunch more pics - just click here to view!

I'm sure many of you are wondering how it all went down last night after my last post around 7p...

An hour after Stacey had been dilated about 8cm (6:30p), I left Sue in the room with Stacey (about 7:30p) and went downstairs for some air and to use the restroom. Upon arriving back in to our room, the curtain was drawn, the doctor was in and prepping to start active labor. I could not believe it! The doctor was great and really wanted to see us have a natural birth and not have to go to have a C-section (Stace was dreading that - and I think with our normal doctor, he would have opted for the C without a doubt - that's how much of a fine line we were walking on). So, we had to move quickly as there was still some complications with heart rate a bit high, Stace having the fever, and the possibility of infection.

Active labor started around 7:54pm. They turned off the epidural once labor started and the contraction measuring device was not working at all for some reason, so we had to go by feel for each one. Stacey was a champ, and really pushed awesome and strong for being so tired. I took position on her left side, holding her head forward and left leg up during contractions, as well as rotating counting to 10 three times for each one with the nurse (who was on her right side). Sue was helping me at the head of the bed with ice water washcloth duty and Patty was also on leg support. The doctor had told us this stage usually takes around 2:30 hrs so we were ready for the long haul. I hadn't had a chance to eat any dinner besides a pear and a couple chips so at this point I was just hoping not to pass out as I had a pretty bad headache as well.

After about maybe 30 minutes of pushing, Grace had really started to get close to emerging, very much to our surprise! The doctor started prepping for delivery at this point, readying the table, and getting all of her instruments together. This was such good news as it was pretty much confirmed we would not have to go for the C-section, however the doctor said she would like to use a small amount of suction to get her out as soon as she could and because of Stacey's smaller pelvis. Patty had moved to the other side of the table holding Stacey's right leg, and after a bit Sue moved down to help with her left leg as the table was gone now so Stacey didnt have anywhere to set her legs down.

Around 8:37p Grace was on the verge! Stace was pushing strong like a champ and really impressed everybody in the room - the doctor, nurses, and of course, myself. The doctor used a slight bit of suction and after really only after about 5 minutes of pushing, at 8:45pm our little Grace was born! I recall the first thing I said to Stacey as soon as she came out was, "it's a girl!!!" (definitely exciting because we had been kind-of dreading it would be a boy at this point after we had gone all-girl on everything, clothes, decor, and of course, the mural!) I was able to cut the cord, which was pretty cool and something I hadn't been expecting to do, and then they turned the baby over to the other nurses / doctors in the room for the initial cleaning and tests.

I then left the bedside and went to take pictures on the other side of the room where they were dealing with Grace (the birthing suite was quite large - there was probably 15 people or more in the room at points). It was such an awesome experience and a great blessing that the delivery moved along so well once we were in active labor, as she came much faster than anyone had expected which also we hope helped vastly improve her chances of not getting any infection. I guess after I left the bed they removed the placenta and discovered Stace had 2nd degree natural tearing and they had to stitch her up which took a bit.

I was over at the warming table snapping pics and watching as they tested Grace. She did not cry much at all and was so attentive - eyes wide open the whole time looking around and barely fussy. Everyone could not believe how awake she was as she couldn't stop taking in her new world and staring at yours truly. They did her weight, her footprints, and attempted to get her dimensions. After that I was able to hold her for the first time - I dont think she took her eyes off me the whole time. However at this point I wasn't feeling so hot, just light-headed from not eating, a bit exhausted, and sweating some from the heat in the room, so I had to go get some fresh air. I did not think I would expend that much energy but I really should have eaten more - oh well, now I know for next time!

When I came back up, Grace was on her way over to the Special Care Unit and everybody (New Grandparents Patty, My Dad & Sue - Carrie, Stacey's Aunt Karen, and Kasey) was leaving for the night. Headed back to the room to see Stace - there was still quite a bit of blood on the floor - but she was doing very well and eating a sub! After that Staceys Dad and Pam, who had drove up from Virginia during the day and arrived in time for the delivery, took off and we were finally alone together... just missing our baby down in the SCU.

I went down to check on Grace about 15 min later, it was maybe 10:30 at this point. The doctor said she was doing great and everything was looking to check out, they just wouldn't know about any infection for 48 hours. I was able to spend some time with Grace before heading back to the room. Stinks she could not be with us in our room but as long as she is healthy, that is all that matters - and we do have the rest of her life to spend with her! I think that's where I left off last night... I'm sure I have forgot some things and it all seems like a bit of a blur at this point, but that should be the jist of it! We are now proud parents of an adorable baby girl and could not be happier!

Grace --- The Big Reveal!

...And here she is! I will upload more tomorrow, as well as pick up where I left everybody hanging on the running blog. I was just down in the Special Care Unit for a bit with Grace and she is doing very well. They won't know about any infections for 48 hours, but the nurse said she is doing great and she kept sticking her tongue out at me, mouthing like she is ready to feast on Mommy!! (as soon as Stace can make it down there). Thanks again to everyone for their support, every bit of it helped get us through the day. K, time to try and get some sleep!!!

11:51pm Update: Check that... we are going down to the SCU to see if Stace can give Grace some good eats tonight!

12:46am --- First feeding went pretty well, she did some good sucking for quite awhile, and of course seems like it will be a pretty trying process. I think she was as wiped out as we are from today's events! Okay, NOW it's time to try and sleep... til the nurse sounds the morning feasting horn...

She's Here!!!!

Grace Isabella Gringer --- 6lbs, 2oz - About 19"

Stacey is doing very well and she did so amazing!!! Will post more and update the running blog when I get a chance. Grace had to go to the special care unit because she was early and Stacey had the fever / possible infection, so they have to run some tests to make sure Grace doesnt have an infection and run a bunch of tests. Stay tuned for the pics - we love you all!

New Life Decides to Come Through the Front Door --- A Running Birth Blog

~ THIRTY-EIGHT WEEKS ~

FYI: This is a running blog I am attempting to keep on today's events, leading up to the birth of our first child! It's not going to be an exact science but I will do my best to keep everyone informed. Thank you in advance for all of your prayers!

7:05pm --- Fever has gone down! I have been on ice-washcloth duty switching out washcloths bathing in a bowl of ice water, onto Stace's forehead and neck. Now around 37.4 C and dropping!

6:30pm --- 8 cm dilated - Nevermind... still has a slight fever and if the dilation doesn't continue to progress and the fever doesn't go down much we may be looking at a C-Section as Grace's heart rate is still high.

6:01pm --- And looks like those worked... temperature starting to drop.

5:42pm --- Up to 7 cm --- Temperature has been up a bit over the 38 degree Celsius mark (fever) so they had to give Stace some Tylenol and antibiotics to try and keep any infection down if that were to happen.

5:15pm --- We've hit the 6 cm mark... heart rate back on the rise however.

4:45pm --- Quick update if I scared anybody with the last post... BP seems to have normalized now, and heart rate has stabilized for both Stace and Grace. Pitocin is back on.

4:26pm --- Dozed in and out for a bit and when I woke up Stacey's blood pressure was having some issues... very low and her heart rate was up a bit. They say usually that happens right after the epidural and weird it has happened so far after. Stopped the Pitocin for 30 minutes or so and they gave her some new drugs to hopefully help get her BP back up... hasn't been working so well but they seem to finally be getting somewhere. She is shaking quite a bit from the meds, they say - hope to turn it around soon by next update. Stay tuned... Also just wanted to say thanks for everybody's comments and encouragment - very much appreciated!!

3:10pm --- Started the Pitocin - or "Vitamin P" as they call it here... and Stace is doing real well. Grace's heartbeat has been steady for the most part all day, just went down a bit after the 2nd epidural and they had to give Stacey a bit of oxygen to help with that. Also, happy to report she does not need another dose of the Cytotec! Our nurse, Linda, is hoping we have the baby by the time she has to leave (7:30p) as the same thing happened to her yesterday with another lady - went all day and missed the birth! Everyone in the room here (Sue / Patty) agrees that would be a good thing (only 4 more hours of labor). Might try and take a nap here if possible --- only had 4 hours of sleep last night. Not good.

2:15pm --- 4 cm dilation - After many trials and tribulations, the anesthesiologist had to redo the epidural, as it wasn't in the correct way the first time and Stacey was still in a great deal of pain and able to feel most of her body, having some very painful contractions. Now that it is back in correctly, seems to be much smoother sailing and Stace is actually talking and laughing some. Trying to get a bit of rest now...

12:05pm --- 3 cm dilation - Epidural is only working on the left side of the body, trying to figure out what is up with the right side...

11:30am --- Epidural has been inserted - they seem to be having a busy day here with other couples as well... Dilated over 2 cm, 90% effaced, -1 position.

9:00 - 11:00am --- Moved into our room now, met with a doctor from Stacey's office (ours is not on call today), and they gave her a Cytotec pill to help "soften the cervix" and hopefully help get some dilation working. This dose will take about 4 hours and then they'll see if she needs to take another round of it. Stacey is having a lot of back pain and back labor along with the contractions which isn't helping much, however the labor actually seems to be progressing a lot faster now the meds have set in and the contractions are getting a lot stronger. Wasn't the original plan but will probably soon be going for the epidural...

7:30am --- Arrived at the hospital (Rochester General), went to triage unit. Everything checked out well - They told us we wouldn't be going home, Grace is head down, vital signs good. The nurses kept saying "what a happy baby" according to the heart beat. However, it seems like we are only dilated a tiny bit, which means we will be here quite awhile... The nurse couldn't get the IV in so well in either arm (veins collapsing) so they had to call up a IV specialist.

6:50am --- Leaving for hospital now!! --- Contractions ~5 min apart lasting ~56 sec

5:04am --- Contractions about 6 minutes apart and lasting around 53 seconds each.

4:03am --- Stacey's water breaks --- (see post below) Oh my, a little over 2 weeks early. Well, away we go...

We're Having a Baby (A lot Sooner Than We Thought)

Just wanted to let you all know that my water broke this morning at 4 am! What a shocker that was! I called my doctor and they said that to take my time and shower, pakce and eat some breakfast and get to the hospital by 8 am. It looks like we will have our little girl within the next few days!

FYI: Jason is going to have his laptop at the hospital and will attempt to keep a running blog of the events to keep everybody updated. Not sure how well this will work but he will try...

37 Week Appointment

I had my 37 week appointment today! The baby has started to drop. I had a feeling that she may have started to drop yesterday since I was having an easier time breathing while laying down and I also had to make many more trips to the bathroom. Dr. Ogden also checked to see if I had started to dilate yet, but no such luck there. Which is fine with us! My Group B Strep results were back too and I tested negative. That is also great news. Other than that he said I am having a perfectly normal pregnancy and normal does not mean boring! So I will go in on Monday for my 38 week appointment and update everyone then!

Baby Shower #2

~ THIRTY-FIVE WEEKS ~

Yesterday was the second, and last, of our two baby showers - this time thrown by Stacey's mother, Patty, and my step-mother, Sue - at Knollwood Lodge inside Northampton Park --- ironically there was also another baby shower at the same time at Northampton, for somebody else named 'Stacey'. We were blessed to have many family and friends in attendance, along with an over abundance of awesome, mostly homemade food and desserts - thanks to all who contributed! Grace is now even more spoiled (and also very much loved), as she received many more gifts, clothes, and everything else... If this baby is not a girl, we are definitely going to be in trouble with this large, predominately female-only wardrobe!! Many thanks to everybody for all of the gifts, everything is greatly appreciated for sure --- and luckily we didn't get anymore Bumbo seats!

A couple baby shower games were played --- 'guess the belly size in string length', and 'baby bingo'. Maggie Kolcon won the string game as most people's strings were way too long, and there was a bunch of different winners for bingo. I surprised Stacey by inviting one of her good childhood friends, Christina Morganti, who she used to dance with among other things, and hadn't seen in a long time, to the shower. When Stace saw her walk around the corner into the building, the look on her face was priceless, and she was definitely very surprised and happy to see her!

A few shower pictures are below, but you can check them all out by Clicking Here! Also, the nursery has pretty much been finished, as both sets of doors are now up - but I'll post more on that in the upcoming days with some updated nursery pics. We have spent last night and the first part of today putting everything together and away, and pretty much all that's left is Grace's arrival (tentatively Oct. 5)! Stacey is still feeling well, still getting kicked every so often, and ready for baby bump to be gone! Hope everybody has a great Labor Day.

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The Nursery -- Stage 3: Mural Complete + Furniture

Finally!!!

I finished the mural this past Friday night as I mentioned in the last post, a couple weeks after all of our nursery furniture arrived that we had ordered from Simon's -- many, many thanks to my Mom & Gerry for all of the furniture! I gave in to Stace and let her see the mural before it was done when the furniture came and she was very happy to finally be able to get back into the room (she loved the mural as well!!) Overall I am pleased with how it came out, as it was quite a task to complete and must say I'm happy to be done, as it took a lot more effort and time than I originally thought it would! I'm also really digging how everything came together (colors, furniture, mural, etc.), and as close to my original vision as I could have hoped for. Was a bit nervous that I was going to screw something up along the way... Alas, now that the paint has dried, we are definitely hoping the doctor did not make a mistake and that we are in fact having a girl!!! Especially with all of the clothes, shoes, and other misc. female items that have now accumulated in her closet / armoire -- such a spoiled baby already...

I've posted a few pictures below, but you can check them all out by Clicking Here - enjoy! (Pictures were taken before 1st Baby Shower - the room is quite a bit more full now...) Now all that's left to finish is installing the new main and closet doors (Stage 4) and it'll be all set for Grace's arrival in about 6 weeks! That's all for now - next post will be after Baby Shower #2 on the 30th - until then...

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Baby Shower #1 & Other Misc. Updates

~ THIRTY-THREE WEEKS ~

On Saturday we had our first of two baby showers, thrown by my Mom, at Hawthorne's on East Ave. near Pittsford (second shower is on the 30th of this month). About 30 people were in attendance, the food was great, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thanks again to everyone for the many gifts for Grace and I'm sure we will put them all to good use! The most popular gift for sure was the "Bumbo" seat, as we received three of them because for some reason it never was removed from our registry once the first one was purchased... but thats okay. Below are a few photos from the shower --- you can also view the full album here: Baby Shower #1. Sorry, didn't have a chance to get any of Stace opening gifts as I was busy helping out, but if anybody has any they took, please be sure to send them this way!

Last week we finished our 5 week long birth class and I think we have retained quite a bit of useful knowledge that will help us both with the upcoming delivery --- hopefully I won't forget most of it as I need to be on top of my coaching game when the day arrives. We also completed a breastfeeding class last weekend together and learned a bunch of tools, Stacey especially, as she attempts to undergo the feedings once Grace arrives. I'm sure it will be a trying process that will hopefully go smooth and well enough for all parties involved.

Also, the nursery is almosttt complete as the mural has been finished & baby furniture has been furnished, however we hit a little snag putting in the main and closet doors... Hopefully those will be in sometime this coming week with some more help from my Dad. I will however post some pictures of the completed mural and furniture in the upcoming days as it has been a very busy weekend and I wanted to get these up first --- so stay tuned!

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