Another update...

I promise I plan on posting more than once a week!  It's just that (1) I'm just now figuring out how best to utilize the time between feedings (I swear, I feel like my life is now measured out in three-hour increments...) and (2) not much has been going on around here.  But I did want to stop in and say hello anyway because I miss you guys!

Grace is growing and changing every day!  I feel like she already looks so different from the chubby-cheeked girl we brought home from the hospital.

Sometimes I just sit and stare at her in awe.  It's still so amazing that she's ours.  This love is so utterly consuming, and I am absolutely loving being a mom.

Let's see... what's new?  She's doing much, much better at night!  She's had a few four-hour stretches of sleep, and she's definitely better at going back to sleep after feedings.  So I'm usually getting a good two-hour stretch of sleep between each feeding, and at least an hour-long nap while she sleeps during the day.  She's nursing well, and as of last Thursday she was back up to 8 pounds, 8 ounces.  So I am slowly weaning her off the formula supplements.  I'm still struggling with the inflexibility of nursing, but hopefully we'll make it to 12 weeks when I go back to work.  We'll see... :)

(silly girl... :))

Also, we had her newborn pictures taken last weekend, and I should be getting them back (along with the labor and delivery images) at the end of this week.  I can't wait to see them and show them to you.  Just looking at the back of Lauren's camera during the newborn shoot brought me to tears a time or two. 

The hard part now is trying to get back into the swing of things.  I've been so wrapped up in caring for Grace that cooking dinner is a distant memory and I'm not even sure I remember how to do laundry. :)  We have ventured out eat a few times, which was so nice (and Grace did incredibly - either slept or stayed awake and quiet the entire time!).  And I'm cleared to drive now, so I'm hoping to make a trip to Target and test out our stroller sometime this week.

Because I know this time of getting to stay home with her is short, I'm just trying to soak it all up.

She's so darned sweet and snuggly it's not even funny.

I promise I'll be back to "regular" posting relatively soon.  Until then, be looking out for Grace's birth story and her newborn pictures. :)

How we're doing...

When you're pregnant, everyone tells you that your life is about to change in a dramatic way.  And during those nine months, you begin to grasp that reality in a very basic way.  But until you're actually holding your very own little person in your arms, you can't really comprehend how different your life has actually become.

So much of it is the best kind of change you can imagine.  From the sound of Grace's first cry, I was overwhelmed with a love I've never known.  I had worried that I wouldn't feel bonded or connected to her immediately, but something instinctual took over my heart in that moment.  And in the days that followed, it only grew.  I'd just look at her and cry, overcome with adoration for every tiny part of her.  I'd thank the Lord over and over for such a blessing.  And I marveled at the fact that she was ours and that we made her. 

My love for Micah grew as well.  During the pregnancy, he was so incredible and adorable, and I kept thinking that there was no way I'd ever be able to love him more than I did then.  Ha.  Holding his hand during the labor and delivery, watching him hold our little girl, laughing as he changed the first diaper... I've honestly never been more thankful for him.  We bonded in a way that I couldn't have imagined, and I feel like our marriage has never been stronger.

But they weren't lying when they said that life with a newborn is trying. 

The hormones coursing through my body after I had Grace (and probably even now) were/are no joke.  Tears came ridiculously easy, good and bad, and I felt overwhelmed with emotion most of the time during those first few days.

And I'll likely write a whole post on this at some point, but nursing hasn't been the easiest thing in the world for us.  Grace dropped from 9 pounds to 7 pounds 10 ounces by the fifth day, and I was stressed to the max.  Nursing was incredibly painful, the colostrum didn't seem to be there, and my milk took forever to come in.  Because of the weight loss, we've ended up having to supplement nursing with formula bottles, and Grace started to prefer the bottles and wouldn't latch for almost a full day.  Thankfully, we switched to Tommy Tippee bottles, and she's been able to go back and forth much more easily, but it's still tough.  Micah has been amazingly helpful, but nursing means that I'm the only one who can feed her.  With feedings happening every three hours around the clock, I've started to feel like a milk cow, and the inflexibility of it is kind of frustrating.   

And although Grace is mostly an incredibly easy and content baby, she has had trouble with her days and nights.  She sleeps like a rock during the day but has very interrupted and sometimes fussy sleep at night.  And while I've been shocked at God's provision of energy and strength, you can't help but be exhausted when you've gone almost two weeks without getting more than five (interrupted) hours of sleep a night.  I live in pajama pants, and I feel like I smell like spit up most of the time.

Plus, it's just a whole new world for us.  Neither Micah nor I have really had that much experience with kids, let alone newborns.  Learning how to change diapers, swaddle, and even change her clothes without suffocating her has taken time (and some tears). 

But we're figuring it out.  We're learning that love covers a multitude of shortcomings, and a little snuggling dries a lot of tears.  And I know that although the struggles will grow and change, so will the blessings.  And that all we can give her is our best. 

So here's to hopefully a little less spit up and a little more sleep. :)

All-American girl...

Since the day they got married
He'd been praying for a little baby boy
Someone he could take fishing
Throw the football, be his pride and joy
He could already see him holding that trophy
Taking his team to state
But when the nurse came in with a little pink blanket
All those big dreams changed

 

 
(me, 1985)

 

And now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American girl

 

(me and Daddy, 1985)

 

Sixteen short years later
She was falling for the senior junior football star

 

(Micah, 2002)

Before you knew it he was dropping passes
Skipping practice just to spend more time with her
The coach said, "hey son what's your problem
Tell me have you lost your mind"
Daddy said, "you'll lose your free ride to college
Boy, you better tell her goodbye"


(me and Micah, 2002)

 

But now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American girl

 

 
(me and Micah, 2008)

 

And when they got married and decided to have one of their own
She said, "be honest, tell me what you want"
And he said, "honey you outta know..."

 

(me and Micah, 2013)

 

"A sweet, little, beautiful one just like you
I want a beautiful, wonderful, perfect All American girl"

 

 
(Grace, 2013)

 

Now, he's wrapped around her finger
She's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect
All American girl


(Micah and Grace, 2013)

Lyrics:  All-American Girl by Carrie Underwood

We're home!

I was fortunate enough to have my talented best friend/photographer in the delivery and operating rooms, so I want to wait to post Grace's full birth story until I have those pictures (which I know I'll cherish forever!).  I promise I'll get it up as soon as possible!

Whew!  The last five days have been such a whirlwind!  After three great days in the hospital, we left for home on Saturday afternoon with our little Gracie in tow.  I followed the advice of many moms and sent her to the nursery between feedings at night, so I left feeling tired but not completely worn out.  And both she and I left with a clean bill of health. Praise Him!

My mom stayed with us the first night, and Micah's mom stayed the second night.  I can't even explain how wonderful it was to have them with us.  And Miss Priss has been doing pretty great.  We're breastfeeding, and she's doing pretty darned good, although she's a bit of a sleepy eater.  But she's lost a lot of weight since birth and my milk still isn't in yet, so our pediatrician suggested that we supplement with some formula until she gets back up to her birth weight.  I won't lie... the weight loss has me pretty stressed out, but I know it's very common and that she'll start growing like a weed soon enough. :) 

The c-section hasn't been as much of a drag as I thought it would be.  I'm more mobile than I expected, and I'm getting better every day (but thank heaven for pain medication!).  I won't be cleared to drive or pick up anything heavier than Grace for another week and a half, but Micah has been incredible in making sure I'm comfortable and happy.  I can't even think about how wonderful he's been, to me and to Grace, without crying (although I cry tears of joy at just about anything these days... these emotions are insane).   

And our friends and family have been equally wonderful.  We've been so fortunate to have wonderful vistors at the hospital and people bringing us meals.  I'll probably write an entire post about what a blessing the people we love have been to us already... 

I'll check in again soon, I promise.  For now, I'm just fighting the urge to go wake her up from her nap for cuddles. But I know we've got plenty of time for that. :)

She's here!

Miss Grace Riley made her debut on Wednesday at 11:35 pm. We went through over fourteen hours of labor and two hours of pushing before we ended up deciding on a c-section. But our little blue-eyed brunette finally arrived safe and sound, measuring 19.5 inches and nine pounds!

I'll definitely post her full birth story soon, but I just wanted let you all know that she's here and she's perfect, and we're just smitten.

XOXO