Introducing Grace Lynn

We are so very happy to finally introduce you to Grace Lynn Myers, our sweet baby girl.  She was born Tuesday, April 17th at 4:56pm.  She weighed in at 7lbs 1.3ozs and was 21" long.  Needless to say, since then she has lost a little bit of weight, but only 4 ounces which the pediatrician said was actually best out of all the other babies in the nursery at that time.  He called her his little rockstar because she was so good and such a cutie.  Maybe he was just being nice, but I don't think so, because she is pretty darn cute!  Grace has blonde hair and beautiful dark blue eyes.  We still aren't sure where all her hair came from.  We thought for sure she'd be bald, but nope, she proved us wrong.

2 days old; Love those eyes!

In a matter of a week, we are already seeing our baby girl smile (with a cute little dimple on her left cheek), hiccup (a LOT!), and show so many expressions.  Her eye focus is also so good!  She is already looking at us and looks around the room, etc.  She rarely is cross eyed if ever.  She also has a vary strong grip and is already trying to hold her head up.  Other things; I have been breastfeeding and Grace has taken to it quite well.  She loves to eat, lol... she eats so fast that she almost always gets the hiccups right after.  It is too cute, but at the same time I feel bad for her for getting them so often.

4 days old; look at that cute dimple!

2 days old; Love our little family of three!

Well, all in all, it has been wonderful having Grace at home with us since Thursday evening.  I don't know what we would've done without having my mama over these last couple days since Garrett has had to go back to work.  She has stayed with us and helped any way she could since I haven't been able to move around too too much.  She is the BEST!  Thanks mama!!    I am starting to feel a little bit better today and am able to get around a little better.  I am still taking percocet, but only as needed.  I would not trade anything of this whole experience though.  It was all definitely worth it for the beautiful baby girl that God has gifted us with.  Today she is 1 week old.  HAPPY 1 WEEK BIRTHDAY GRACE LYNN! :)

The Delivery: skip this if you don't want to know any details of the delivery, lol.

Garrett, my mother, and I made it to the hospital at 11:45pm on Monday the 16th.  I was given fluids at about 2am and then was put on the Pitocin at about 2:30am.  Before putting me on petocin, they monitored my heart rate, the baby's heart rate, and any contractions I may have.  To my surprise, the nurse said that I was actually already having contractions, but I was just unaware of them.  Shortly after this, the nurses came running back in and asked me to turn over because Grace's heartbeat had dropped.  As soon as I turned, I felt a lovely gush of something and that's when I realized my water had broke.  Grace's heartbeat then quickly came back up to a healthy beat.  She was doing great.  Once I hit about 2cm, I asked when I could get the epidural and they said whenever I wanted, so I went ahead and asked for it.  Because I was only about 1-2cm dilated, they did not give me the full epidural.  However, the contractions started coming stronger and I was in pain.  So, they came in and checked me out.  To their surprise I had dilated to 4cm in a matter of just an hour or maybe even less than that.  So, they immediately bumped the dosage up and I started to feel MUCH BETTER!

From this point on, it was just a waiting game.  Once I hit 7cm, I made it 10cm in only an hour.  So, I began to start pushing.  This was where things started to really take their time and got really hard.  The pressure hurt so bad (one reason being my pea-size bladder; so they put a catheter in and released it); it got a little bit better, but soon thereafter starting hurting again really bad.  This is because Grace had finally made her way down and was "RIGHT THERE".  However, the nurse and doctor both confirmed that Grace was coming out OP (Occiput Posterior), which means she was coming out face up, as opposed to the normal "face down" position.  They tried several different pushing positions with me to try and help, but she was not turning.  So, two and a half hours later, they decided to get the vacuum since the pushing was not proving successful.  I begged to not have a C-section, so they did all they could to get her out  However, the vacuum wasn't really helping too much either.  That's when the doctor decided that I needed to have an episiotomy.  After that, they started the vacuum again.  Finally, to much of our joy, Grace made her arrival!

When Grace came out, her head was sooo cone shaped from being in the canal so long and the vacuum.  The nurses and doctor all said that she would very likely have at least one black eye and bruises on her face from the pelvic bone.  But, she was a trooper and showed no sign of bruising on her face the next day.  She was BEAUTIFUL!!  She did however still have a nice big circular bruise on her head from the vacuum.  It has finally started to go away though and today you can hardly see it.  She really is a "rockstar" and I love her so stinkin' much!!  Because I had the episiotomy, they had to keep me at the hospital an extra day.  It was wonderful though because it just gave us more time to ask questions and more time for me to somewhat recuperate.

Garrett and I and my mama were so impressed with our nurse Jessica and of course we loved Dr. Bevitz.  They were the absolute best and I only hope to have just as wonderful of a labor experience for any future children.  They both made the delivery so wonderful and their encouragement really kept our hopes high and helped to encourage me to continue pushing as hard as I possibly could, through the pain and troubles.  She was a stubborn little one, but certainly beautiful and worth every minute of labor.

The Countdown Begins

Less than 12 hours from now Garrett, my mother, and I will be at Winnie Palmer Hospital, if not sooner.  I am going in tonight at midnight for induction.  I cannot believe this day has finally come.  We are both so excited!  Today is my last day at work for several weeks... kind of bitter sweet, but I cannot wait to hold our sweet baby girl in my arms.  Here are the latest pictures of me taken today at work on the fly (thanks Erin!).  They aren't the best, but is kind of nice to have my last shots before baby Grace gets here.  The next pictures you all will see will include little Miss Grace Lynn.  Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts.  I cannot wait to introduce you all to Grace real soon!

As of today, theBump.com says:

Your baby's the size of a jackfruit!

In month nine, the average fetus is about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.19 inches (wow!). But you really won't know exactly how big your baby is until his birth.

your baby at 40 weeks

• She's continuing to grow hair and nails.
• And she's keeping up that lung development, too.

39 weeks!

Well today is 39 weeks, 4 days.  Only 3 days until my due date... can't believe the time is already here.  Yep, we were hoping for an Easter baby, but I guess our little girl had other plans.  She still has not made her arrival.  No biggie really, but I do hope she decides to come soon!  I did have my weekly doctor's appointment on Monday.  My blood pressure is still good and I did not gain any weight since my last appointment.  He said that her size looks good as well.  So, all in all, I guess our little girl is just pretty content in my tummy.  After the doctor's appointment, my dad, Garrett, and I went out to breakfast and then off to get some work done from home.  It was a wonderful day.

This weekend was also Easter weekend.  Garrett and I went to Sunrise Service and then out to breakfast with our friends from church.  We had such a great time and enjoyed trying yet another little local restaurant that we had not yet made it out to.  Monday evening, Garrett and I decided to spoil ourselves, but also take it easy since I had to work from home and my day got started a little later than normal after the doctors appointment.  We went downtown and ate at his favorite authentic Mexican restaurant (Fiesta Grande) and spiced up our food as best we could, followed by a nice stroll around downtown Mount Dora.  We figured it wouldn't hurt to do some walking and spice up the foods to help Grace along, but guess she enjoyed it because she stayed on in there.  Garrett even bought me one of my favorite desserts, carrot cake, from a quaint bakery.  It was delicious!!

Other things this week, we got some new additions to the family... our hens hatched 5 little baby chicks yesterday.  They were absolutely adorable!  However, if you know chickens, you know that chickens can be quite mean... well, when we got home from work today, we learned that the hens had killed all but one little chick.  I was very sad and I know Garrett was pretty upset too because we actually were planning to separate them out today.  Now, I'm just hoping that this last little one survives.  Guess we'll have to wait and see.  Chickens are not my favorite animal... not sure why they have to be so cruel to their own offspring.  We also received some slightly older baby hens from a co-worker of Garrett's.  They are in a separate cage because they are an in between age and we knew for sure the older hens would not take well to them yet.  So, in all, we now have 11 hens, a rooster, 5 (-4) chicks, and potentially more chicks to hatch.  We absolutely love all our animals (except the mean big hens right now).  I can't wait for Grace to arrive and be blessed by all of them too!  Garrett also received his banjo this week... yep, Garrett is going to start trying to pick up playing the banjo.  We are both actually quite excited about it.  It is my favorite instrument and I'd love to be able to just sit around a fire and listen to my hubby play some songs on it.

Baby chicks Before losing 4 of them :(

That about sums up the latest and greatest with the Myers'.  We are doing wonderful and just enjoying our last little bit of time together simply as husband and wife before we also become mama and daddy.  We cannot wait for the new chapter of our lives that we are about to embark on.  We are both excited beyond words and cannot wait to provide our parents with their first grandchild.  This may very well be the last pregnancy blog, as Grace could arrive anytime now and doctor may have me induced next Tuesday if she hasn't arrived by then and if I am inducible.  Please keep us in your prayers and baby Grace in your prayers as well.  This coming week may be a big one for us.  We are very eager to meet our little girl!

I'll definitely be keeping you, my friends and family, posted.

Things I've been experiencing this past week:

• Extreme lack of sleep
• Sore back
• Ginormous cankles
• Baby brain... not thinking quite as clearly as I normally would
• Lower movement in my stomach... Grace is slowly making her way down

Even with all of that though, this has been one heck of a pregnancy up to now... I have actually enjoyed it very much!  I think Garrett might be able to have his baseball team of kids, haha.  We'll see after Grace arrives though to be sure.

TheBump.com says:

Your baby's the size of a wintermelon!

Baby keeps growing, despite being so crowded in there. She probably weighs around 6.2 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.9 inches

your baby at 39 weeks

• She's probably able to flex her limbs now.
• Her brain is still rapidly developing -- she's getting smarter by the week!
• Her nails may extend past his fingertips.

38 weeks!

I cannot believe I am already 38 weeks and 4 days.  Only 10 more days from today until my official due date.  Garrett and I are both however very ready for Grace to be here, as soon as she is ready of course.  This weekend is Easter weekend and I would love nothing more than to have a little girl with us then.  It is also a full moon weekend, which we all know can affect the timing (Garrett thinks she will be here this weekend... and I'd like that!), but really, it is all in God's timing and we will welcome our little girl when He brings her to us whether it be sooner or later.

This Monday I had my weekly appointment and it went quite well.  I gained no weight from last week's appointment until this week's and blood pressure is still great.  He also said that her head is really low and that I could go into labor really anytime here on out.  As I was leaving his office, he said "see you next week, if not sooner!"  Ahh... can't believe we are this close, but I am so very excited!  Daddy went with me to this appointment since mama and Garrett were unable to go.  Also, he wanted to treat me to breakfast afterwards.  I won't argue that :)  It was so great to have my dad there and to spend some good daddy-daughter time with him.  He is very excited and that makes me so happy!

Also this week, we received our dresser/changing table and got it all put together and loaded.  Mama came over Saturday to check out the nursery and head to Target with me to pick up a few last minute things.  Here's a little peak at our nursery.  It is a light blue and tan with a chalkboard wall, bedding as shown, changing table/dresser, rocker/ottoman set, and just the right amount of room for our little girl to start her life :)

 

 

After the Target run with mama, we met my Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Cookie at Haystax for lunch (That is probably one of my favorite restaurants, up there with logans and steak 'n shake, lol; love it!).  It was my grandparent's 53rd wedding anniversary, so we wanted to celebrate with them and just spend time with them of course.  They are so cute and I love them so much!  Happy Anniversary Grandma and Papa!

Oh and Thursday Garrett got lunch with a friend of ours, Andy.  At lunch, he surprised Garrett (and ME!) with a signed framed photo of Hedo Turkoglu (my favorite for those who didn't know)!  He had it signed earlier that day.  I was so ecstatic when Garrett brought it home from him.  Thank you so much Andy.  It really did mean a lot to me and I love it!!

All in all, things are going great and I am just trying to sleep as much as I can at night.  Bathroom breaks are still very frequent and I still get the occasional heartburn, but I've only had one really bad night that I just could not sleep at ALL.  Most nights though, I'm able to get a sporadic 5 hours, maybe.  The hardest part is probably just having to wake up for work at 5 and just trying to manage to get through the work day productively, making sure my co-workers are up-to-date with what I am working on, etc, as I prepare for Grace to arrive.  I am managing though and am fortunate to work at an awesome company that is so supportive and that I really do just enjoy to go to work at.  Hmm.... other things; my feet are still pretty swollen... I think I forgot what my ankles look like.  Back is a little sore here and there, but Garrett will give me the occasional massage, which is wonderful!  Love him!!  Belly is growing and moving as much as ever... best feeling in the world!  Well, now the countdown really begins.  Our sweet girl will be here before we know it!

TheBump.com says:

Your baby's the size of a pumpkin!

Baby is about 18.9 to 20.9 inches long and weighs about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds. Her head is now about the same circumference as her abdomen.

your baby at 38 weeks

• She may have about an inch or so of hair already.
• She's slowly shedding that white goo on her skin (called vernix caseosa) but you might see some of it at birth.