2 Weeks Old

Today Grace Lynn is two weeks old and growing like a little weed.  It is amazing how much she has changed since the day we first met our little girl.  She is doing wonderful and such a little joy!  She is eating so well and her sleep schedule is getting somewhat better.  She still does not like going to sleep at night when we are ready to, but once she does fall asleep she sleeps for about 4 hours, which is much better than those first couple nights we had her.

2 Weeks Old!

For me, things are definitely tough sometimes, but worth every minute.  I'm not going to lie; there have been nights that I have just woke up crying because I'm just so overwhelmed and emotional.  I contribute most of that to lack of sleep, but like I said before, that is starting to get a little bit better.  Garrett has been such a huge supporter and motivator through those nights when I just felt like crying and even when he gets home from work, he does not hesitate to take over and change diapers, etc. so I can get a little rest.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and Grace is also very blessed to have such a great daddy!

This week has been a great one.  We took Grace Lynn out for the first time (which also means mama got to get out of the house!).  She did great!  Our first trip was to Target to pick up a couple things.  She was a trooper.  Luckily we didn't stay long because she wasn't having it there at the end.  Then that evening, we went out with some friends from church to dinner and to watch the magic game.  Grace was SO GOOD!  She slept the whole time and we were actually able to get dinner, lol.  And, finally, Grace made her first church appearance.  We were so excited to finally be able to take her to church and get back into our weekly routine.  Again, she did great.  She slept most the time until the very end.  And, then all it took was me picking her up to get her asleep again.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl that brings us so much joy.  She is one wonderful little miracle baby.  How any one could have a baby or witness the birth of a baby and not believe in God is incredible because for me, looking at her every day emphasises just how great our God is.  He is amazing and I am so thankful for this blessing that he provided us!

Love this little face!

1st Trip to Target

 And, here is our first trip to Chuch as a family of three :)

Such a little angel!!



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.

37 weeks!

Well, the last of the baby showers has been had.  Thursday after work, Garrett and I met my mom out at her work for a "Grandma Shower" that they threw for her (and us).  It was a lot of fun and great to see those that I had not seen in quite a while.  I've have known many of my mom's co-workers for several years and they've watched me grow up over those several years.  It was so kind of them to put that together for my mom and us.  Not only did we get several smaller goodies and essentials, but many of them also went in together and bought us our rocker/ottoman that we registered for our nursery.  Garrett has already put it together and we love it!!

Saturday, we spent the day with our girls (Maggie and Cambrie) out at Garrett's families for their annual pig pickin'.  It was a lot of fun and both girls did great!  They certainly were pooped after the fact though and slept the best either of them have probably slept in a while.

I went Monday for my weekly doctor's appointment and again my mom went with me.  This time however, she and I both decided to take the day off and tackle a lot of those things that I had been stressing about and putting off.  The doctors visit went great.  I have only added 2lbs to my weight and blood pressure is still good.  The doctor did say that I need to start eating more red meat though because I am slightly anemic... nothing to really worry about though or be a cause of concern (Garrett is actually taking full advantage of it and came home with a load of hamburger meat and steaks, lol).  Afterwards, we went back to the house and started organizing Grace's clothes and washing them.  While they were washing we went out to lunch to one of our favorite places, Haystax, and got to see one of our favorite people, Beth!  Oh and I ate a nice big burger (got my share of red meat for the day).  After lunch, we had a nice time together getting pedicures before heading back to the house for more work.  Mom and I were able to get all of the bath, feeding, clothing, and diapering stuff organized... as well as all of Graces toys and blankets that she's received.  Our dresser/changing table is due to arrive this week and once it does, we'll be able to move clothes from the boxes into the dresser and be pretty much set! :)  Also, we packed my hospital bag.  It is all set to go, along with a packed diaper bag and both are in the car, ready and waiting.  Now, I can finally say I am ready for Grace to be here!!  (Whenever she is ready of course).  So, did I mention how incredibly awesome and amazing my mama is?!  She is... she is the absolute best!  Thanks mama for everything!  I am still amazed and happy that we got as much done as we did!

This has been a pretty great and productive week.  I am blessed to have such a great people to help me get organized and ease my worries, as the big day quickly approaches.  Grace has been very active also.  She really is moving more than ever, or so it seems.  Maybe it is just because she is running out of room, so her movement is considerably more noticeable.  Either way, I love it!  Also, she is still fairly high in my stomach and has not really dropped much yet.  Once she does drop though, who knows how quickly she'll make her arrival.  I do only have 17 days left until my due date.

Your baby's the size of a watermelon!

Yay! Baby has reached full term. She likely measures around 18.9 to 20.9 inches and weighs about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds. She's gaining about 1/2 ounce each day.

your baby at 37 weeks

• She's practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking.
• She's getting his first sticky poop (called meconium) ready for his first diaper.

36 weeks!

Well, only 24 days to go... I cannot believe it!  Last week I mentioned the wonderful maternity shoot that I had with Jackie.  Well, be sure to check out the Ihnenfeld Photography Blog for a sneak peak of some of Jackie's favorite pictures :)  Here are just two of my favorites, as hard as it is for me to even narrow it down that much...

Thank you again so much Jackie for the fun session and beautiful pictures!

This week our wonderful Gospel Community family threw Garrett and I a fun co-ed baby shower.  We had a wonderful time and yet again were showered with some fun and practical gifts for grace.  Thank you to each of you for your generosity and support!  We appreciate it more than you know!!  Garrett and I are so blessed to have met this wonderful group of believers this year, that we now like to call friends and family.

Saturday and Sunday Garrett and I drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to surprise my sister at her dance competition.  This is the only competition before Grace is due to arrive and one that would work out for us to definitely be at.  So, we decided to not tell her we were coming and just showed up to surprise her.  We had such a great time and it was so nice to be able to watch my little sister perform on stage.  Her solo was, yet again, unbelievable!!  She never ceases to amaze me.  Thank you so much to Andre and Lauren for letting us stay at their home for the weekend and for the sweet goodie bag for Grace.  You both are such wonderful friends and Garrett and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Monday was my weekly doctor's appointment.  Mama went with me since Garrett had to work and it is not really feasible to take that much time off work every week now for him.  So, she got to come in and hear Grace's heartbeat and experience the joy with me.  Grace was pretty active during the appointment too, so I could see my belly move while he was measuring her heartbeat... such a great feeling!  I was also very happy to hear that all is going well; Dr. Bevitz had no bad news for me.  Grace Lynn is growing as she should be and again, I did not gain any pounds from my last appointment!  That is quite the accomplishment for me and again, I'm not going to count on that happening here on out because I am in the last few weeks and she will be doing a lot of growing... I just hope it's all her growing and not just me, lol.

Some changes/milestones include:

• Yep, my belly is becoming an outie... you can see in the pictures that it is definitely sticking out.  But, there is still a small portion hanging in there.  I guess we'll call it an outie though since most believe that is what it looks most like, lol.
• My feet look like elephant feet (at least to me they do).  They have been swelling up so much lately; it is crazy.  I also had to take my wedding rings off because I did not want to risk them getting stuck and Garrett would probably have a heart attack if they had to cut them off, lol.  He says "better safe than sorry".  I just cannot wait to put them back on after Grace arrives and all this swelling hopefully goes down.  Yes, I know, does not sound very flattering... but I guess that is part of being pregnant.
• Sleep is still pretty rough.  I wake up on average about 5 times a night (between 9pm and 5am) with either heartburn or to use the restroom.  It's not terrible; just makes for some tiring days.
• The weight of the belly is finally becoming more noticeable to me.  Throughout the day I don't really notice it, but when I get home and wind down, that is when my back starts to hurt some.
• I've also just noticed how much my hips have stickin' grown!  I tried on a pair of shorts that used to be slightly big on me and I can't even get them past my hips :(  I know that I'm not going to be able to button them obviously, but was at least hoping my legs had stayed close to the same size and my hips had not gotten that wide, but no such luck.  Please tell me that these massive hips I'm not used to will go back down closer to my normal size at least.  I am really hoping to get back into pre-baby body shape and clothes, but right now, it's just hard to imagine.

I know all that sounds kind of negative, but please don't get me wrong, this pregnancy has been great!  I would not change anything for the world.  I still love very much feeling Grace move.  And, I get so excited when Garrett gets excited about seeing and feeling her move.  We are both very ready and anxious to be parents.  He is constantly saying that she can come any day now... he's ready for her to be here.  I love that he is so excited about this new journey and I know that he is going to be one heck of a father!

TheBump.com says:

Your baby's the size of a coconut!

She's still in the 17.2- to 18.7-inch and 4.2- to 5.8-pound range and continues to beef up.

 

your baby at 36 weeks

• She's getting closer and closer to being able to breathe on her own.
• Her skin is getting smooth and soft and her gums are rigid.
• Her liver and kidneys are in working order.
• Circulation and immune systems are basically good to go, too.