A few of my favorite things...

After 2 (almost 3 weeks) with Gracie, I feel more confident as a mommy and am enjoying myself much more. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy being a mommy before, but things weren't as blissful as I thought they were supposed to be at first. My hormones seem to be more in check now, although I still find myself crying at things that never used to bother me.

Grace is such a good girl. She's a good eater... eating 3 ounces at each feeding (lactation measured) and gaining weight like a champ! She's definitely Ryan's and my daughter! She's also a good sleeper... she sleeps in her own bed (until the sun comes up, then mommy likes to snuggle in bed) and goes for at least 3, sometimes 4 hours between feedings at night. We're getting into a bit of a rhythm of feedings, naps, and playtime. When she's awake, she's really alert. We're enjoying our summer together!

Here are few pictures to show you some of my new favorite things... in chronological order (notice how she's changed in these few short weeks - makes mama sad!)

Family Walks

This is Gracie's first walk outside mommy's tummy!
It's much easier to make it up the hills with her in the stroller than my belly.
Tysie enjoys the family-time, too... although she doesn't trust that
her parents won't run her over with the stroller.

Playtime with Grace

Even though she's not a big girl yet and can't really see
much, I still like to get out her toys and books.
She seems to enjoy the bright colors and sounds!

Gracie's smile!

I know it's not her real smile yet, but she grins at us sometimes, which is just too cute!
Her smile is all gums right now... I think she'll have a nice teethy-smile when she's bigger!
She'll even laugh and snort sometimes - still trying to get that on video!

Gracie's Feet!

I'm not sure what it is about her feet, but I just love them!
She likes to have them rubbed... I have no idea where she gets that from!

Daddy with his daughter

I could watch Ryan snuggle with her all day!
He's a really good daddy... even if he's exhausted!
He's a great husband, too! He's doing so much around the house to help me keep up!

Our new little family

We went to a wedding in Omaha this weekend!
Our first family trip! It was a really good time and Grace did so well!

All things girly!

Gracie is getting big enough to fit into some of her really cute girly-clothes!
I've found some hair bows that fit her tiny head, too... super cute!
Little Gracie is one pretty girl.
I think she's destined to follow in her mommy and daddy's athletic footsteps,
but there's no reason why Gracie Mack can't be pretty, too!

Grace Mackenzie Weaver

She's finally here! I am filled with joy to be blogging out our little baby girl, Gracie Weaver! She arrived in a flurry at 4:38 pm on Wednesday, June 8th - one day past her due date. She weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. A healthy little lady who so far has been absolutely perfect! She even has red hair, which I adore!

Here are the highlights of the labor and delivery. Things didn't go how I had thought they would, but it all worked out how it was supposed to.

Checked in Tuesday night for cervical ripening via cytotec, which everyone said would most likely take a few days.

Woke up with intense contractions at 4:30 am.Began pitocin at 5:00 am - which only intensified the contractions.

Checked by doctor at 7:30 am - during which he stripped my membranes and explained that we would probably be doing this labor-thing again tomorrow. I cried.

Labored intensely while Ryan and my mom tried desperately to help.

9:45 am - doctor said I'd made enough progress to break my water and get my epidural - Thank you, Lord Jesus! Seriously...

10:15 - Got my epidural. Best decision of my life!

All afternoon we fiddled with contraction monitors, fluctuating blood pressure, heart rate drops, etc. My body finally kicked in with regular contractions so no more pitocin (who cared at this point since I couldn't feel them anyway, but good to know my body finally decided to show up!)

3:30 pm - checked by doctor, probably dilated to a 7 or so.

3:35 pm - I tell the nurse that I'm pretty sure there's a cantaloupe between my legs. The pressure below my pelvis was so intense.

3:36 pm - Nurse checks me and says I'm a 10.

For the next 30 minutes I labored-down - meaning breathed through the cantaloupe-pains between by legs until my body pushed the baby out further. Less chance of tearing and fewer pushes.

4:00 pm or so - Go time! After 3 clear directions from the doctor - harder, softer, or stop - we began pushing. My final prediction was Little Weaver girl. Ryan's was Little Weaver boy. But neither of us a had a clue!

4:38 pm - I watched as Grace Weaver arrived into the world. Her first cry was on my chest... mommy cried, too! A wonderful moment for our family.

Tired, relieved, amazed!

A quick pic of Daddy falling in love with his daughter

Happy girl!

When we left the hospital everything was great! Gracie was eating well and thriving. All the nurses were telling us how great of an eater she was. We were breasfeeding and Gracie would chow down for 45 minutes to an hour and still want to suck everything she could get her hands on.

Our first night home from the hospital was a sleepless one. Gracie seemed to be consipated. She would tighten her belly and thrash and cry for minutes at a time. Neither one of us knew how to help her. She'd nurse and it still didn't help her go to the bathroom. We were 22 hours from her last dirty diaper and I was panicked. I called the maternity floor at the hospital and the pediatricians nurse help line. Neither could offer any advice that worked.

Finally at 6:45 Saturday morning, my mother's instincts kicked in and I gave her a formula bottle... which went against everything I had hoped for in the early days home. I was hoping for no formula, but definitely no bottles. Well... out the window with that. Daddy got to give her a bottle and she DOWNED it. Ten minutes and 55 mL later, she pooped. A short while later, she pooped again.

That morning we began supplementing breastfeeding with formula via a tube during nursing. This helped a lot. I also spoke to the lactaction nurses from NKCH (loved all the nurses there!) and they had me start pumping right away after every feeding to bring in my milk supply.

Thankfully, it worked! 24 hours later, my milk is in and Gracie can chow down as much as she needs to. She is much happier and so are we.

First bottle

What an unbelievable week. Ryan and I are working together to figure out our new normal. He is doing an amazing job juggling husband and Daddy duties. It's true that you fall in love with your husband all over again. My hormones are bit out of control and my body is sore, just like they said. I am in love with Gracie-girl. I can stare at her feet for hours. When she's alert, I love to look into her big blue eyes and tell her all the great things we have to look forward to. She has the cutest red hair and sweetest long fingers. Her skin is the softest and I kiss her every time I get the chance. She is such a blessing to us. Hence the name, Grace. Both Daddy and I are so thankful that God gave us this precious baby girl.

39 weeks

I'm just 2 days from the due date and I'm hoping Little Weaver decides to make an appearance on time.

This past week has been a bit of a rollercoaster of doctor's appointments and tests. The short story is that my blood pressure was elevated (130/90) when I went in for my Tuesday appointment. They went ahead and drew some blood and sent me home as long as I promised to put my feet up. After another appointment on Thursday (BP still up) they sent me to labor and delivery to have a non-stress test. The baby and I passed 'the test' and my blood pressure looked great. Then my assignment for Friday was to collect my urine for 24 hours (that was a lovely experience) and bring it to labor and delivery while I got another non-stress test on Saturday. Again, we passed the test and my urine came out fine, too.

At this point, we're just hoping my body kicks into gear and begins to thin/dilate on its own. The doctor called my cervix 'unfavorable' for an induction because I'm not thinning or dilating yet. She also explained that if they were to induce me (and they might) it could take 48 hours or more to get the prize. Eeek... that seems like a long time, to me. When I asked the labor and delivery nurse about it, she said not to worry because some women thin and dilate in a few hours. I'm hoping I'm one of those girls! So... if Ican keep my blood pressure under control at my appointment on Monday, then we can avoid an induction on Monday night. With my due date being Tuesday, I'd rather just wait till later in the week to see if my body figures things out. But if my blood pressure doesn't cooperate, then they'll most likely begin an induction on Monday evening.

I'll keep you all posted. Pray that I'm okay with whatever God's plan for the delivery is. His plans are always better than my own anyway!

Just Aunt Nerned, Kyle, and Kianna

I spent time hanging out with Kyle and Kianna the other day. It was probably one of the last times it'll be just three of us for a while. We had a quiet afternoon... I was actually pretty proud of myself. Here's how it went...

1:15 - Kyle takes a nap while Kianna and I play

2:15 - Kianna and I rock, then she goes down for a nap

4:00 - Kyle wakes up - he and I play while Kianna still sleeps

5:00 - Kianna wakes up

I'll be you can't guess what Aunt Nerned did during the 2:15-4:00 time?! If you guessed that I took a nap, you would be right! What a great afternoon!

Here's a little collage I made from my play-time with Kianna. I have tons of pictures of play time with Kyle at this age, but sometimes I forget to pull out the camera with Lil' Kia!

A girl and her cell phone.
Fast forward about 13 years and I'm sure she'll be on hers 'Like, all the time!'