A little bit of our Christmas!

1 Month Update

Adelyn was 1 Month old November 26th. She...

~weighed 9lbs 5oz and was 22 inches long.

~is wearing diaper size 1.

~ has started smiling really well when you talk to her or make faces at here.

~lost her belly button stub thingy and has the cutest belly button ever.

~is beginning to have better control over her arms/hands. She can bring them to her mouth now to suck on.

~loves bright objects and lights. She can focus on things really well now.

~talks a little, she coos and squeals. When she is hungry and is about to nurse she does this loud terradactyl scream. It's like she is saying, " I'm hungry and I want it NOW."

~bath time is becoming more of a calming experience rather than torture.

~she loves being carried in the baby bjorn and the sling. We normally use this for walks, or around 4 or 5 when I need to start dinner for Daniel. Around this time of day she wants to be held a lot.

~has fussy times, but normally can be calmed down. We are working on her being ok with being put down while she is awake. At times this doesn't bother her, but normally wants to be held.

~is nursing every 3 hours still during the day and is stretching it out to 4 to 5 hours at night! Praise God... can't wait for 6 and 7 hour stretches.

~has already had her first cold. She has had a stuffy nose off and on for two weeks. Just when we think it's going away...the boogies come back. We are using the humidifier in her room, so hopefully this is helping.

~has done well with her first bottles when Daniel and I go out on dates!

~is happiest in the morning. She wakes up smiling and is so fun to talk to. Whenever Daniel talks to her in the morning...she doesn't stop smiling. The other day right after he left she kept looking around the room and then stuck out her bottom lip really far. :( I think she was sad Daniel left.

~is still working on taking naps in her crib during the day. For some reason she knows the difference of napping on the sofa in the same room with me and being in her crib. Ugh.

~isn't too keen on stroller rides yet (when she is awake). She likes the stroller better that has her facing me.

~has started having tummy time. About 1/2 the time she is okay with it and the other 1/2 she screams the whole time. :)

~is holding her head up REALLY well.

~loves her first Christmas tree. She stares at the lights. (we will take photos soon)

Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving Day Adelyn was 1 month old... can't believe it. Daniel and I had a great time visiting in Lincolnton and Atlantic Beach for the Thanksgiving holiday. Adelyn did so well traveling.

Adelyn with her great grandmother, Mamaw.
Adelyn's first time on the beach.

With Aunt Kel and Uncle Micah.

Zoe holding Adelyn.

Adelyn with Uncle Barry.

First Thanksgiving :)

Adelyn's Cousins:)

Addie's first friend.

Daniel and I have great friends in Seth and Anna. Their son's name is Everett. He is just over 4 months old now. Him and Adelyn are quite good friends and may even one day get married. :) haha

Here they are hanging out.

Bath Time

Adelyn is beginning to like bath time. We could not say the same when we first started bathing her:) The only thing she really HATES now is the two seconds she is out of the bath before she gets in the towel. She cries harder than ever! It makes me feel so sad for her, but as soon as she is warm in the towel she calms down.

Calm after her bath.

Bath time at Nana's.

Adelyn's Photo Shoots

We were excited to hear that Amanda (Daniel's cousin) and Amy (a neighbor) wanted to take photos of Adelyn once she was born. They are both photographers and got some really great shots of her while they were here. Adelyn cooperated pretty well for being 1 and 2 weeks old :) Here are a few pics.

Birth Story

Adelyn is now over a month old and I am just getting around to posting her birth story. It is crazy to me to think of how badly a month ago I would have loved to know her birthday and how everything was going to play out. I know I need to go ahead and write the details out or I will start forgetting.

October 26th 6:58am.

I woke up at 6 am expecting a call from the labor and delivery nurse for us to come to the hospital so that they could start our induction. I didn't sleep to well that night because I was having some contractions and of course there was all of the excitement and anxiousness. I woke up at 6am and took a shower (let Daniel sleep a little longer). They told us to be expecting a call from 6-9 am. I was downstairs eating cereal and making sure we had our group email set up on the computer and my phone rang!!! It was the nurse asking how soon we could be at the hospital! I told her we could leave in about 20 minutes! I ran upstairs to wake Daniel up. I leaned over him and gave him a kiss and told him it was time for him to get up to go meet his daughter! He was excited and was able to get ready pretty quickly. I checked my list a couple more times and we headed off to the hospital by 7:30. I was shaking and praying and smiling on the way...holding Daniel's hand really tightly.

We checked in to labor and delivery...we walked up the 2nd floor and we were greeted by a friend of mine from high school who is a l&d nurse. She gave us a hug and said congrats! She told us she had a great l&d nurse picked out for us..her name was Lauren. :) She came about 5 minutes later to get us all set up. She brought us to our delivery room and had me get all set up in my hospital gown and explain the procedures to us. It was really surreal to be checking in to be induced. I got all set up and she started my IV around 8:30am. I can't say enough good things about our nurse. I loved her. She was really up beat and encouraging. She explained everything to us in great detail and didn't mind if we asked a million questions. At this point Daniel and I were the only ones there. We had talked to both of our parents by this point to give an update and my parents were going to be heading over soon to hang out and just be there if we needed anything.

10:30am

We had been in the room for a couple of hours at this point. Just talking, praying, hanging out...watching Rachel Ray on TV. I was trying to distract myself so that my nerves didn't get me.

I started feeling pain around this time that day. They had my IV in of Pitocin and PCN (I was Strep B positive). The pitocin started to kick in and I remember my first hard contraction very clearly. Mom and Dad were in the room and I started having a contraction and looked at Daniel like "oh my goodnesssss". I guess Mom saw the scared look on my face and said "ok, Lauren, maybe it's time to start breathing through them." So at that point they left the room and Daniel sat on the side of the bed and started helping me breath through them. At this point the contractions were strong but in between them there was absolutely no pain and I could talk and laugh. It wasn't too long after I started having regular contractions...maybe 20 minutes that Dr. Stephens came in and said she was going to check me and break my water. I think I was still at 3 cm when she broke my water. Ummm that was painful. But once she broke my water... the real pain began. It was the same type of pain just more intense. Daniel was still helping me breath through them and we decided it was time to try getting up out of the bed to see if I could get more comfortable (and we wanted gravity on our side). So I stood beside the bed. I couldn't go far because I had the IV in and had to have continuous fetal monitoring since I was on Pitocin. Standing up felt pretty good for a while. By this time I think it was around lunch. Daniel pulled out our notebook that we had prepared with some Bible verses to read to me or for me to read. This comforted me a lot, but it was still to the point that during a contraction all I could do was squeeze his hand really hard and close my eyes. We decided after about 30 minutes to try sitting on the birthing ball. This felt good for a little while... but then everything stepped it up a notch. I was sitting on the ball, Daniel was behind me rubbing my back. The contractions started to not completely go away in between. So I was not getting a little break every now and then. On top of that I started feeling light headed and nauseas. If you know me, you know that I am terrified of throwing up. Once I started feeling like that, I thought... Ok if I am going to be dealing with contractions and feeling like this, I think it's time to get the epidural. I kept talking it out with Daniel and then I decided I wanted to get it. As soon as I had this thought, I looked at Daniel and said... "Is it ok if I get it?". He looked at me very sweetly and said, "Lauren, I don't know why you are asking me, I have told you all along you could get it if you needed it." Once the decision was made the nurse said it would take about 15 minutes before the Dr. would come in to administer the epidural. They had to give me a lot of fluids before this could happen, so that my blood pressure didn't go down. The next 15 to 20 minutes were very intense.

2:30 pm

The anesthesiologist came in and the nurse already had me sitting on the side of the bed waiting for him to set up. They had Daniel sit down across the room. That was really hard not having him there to hold on to. The nurse stood in front of me while he put in the epidural. The difficult thing was staying completely still during a contraction while they were doing that. 15 minutes later I was already starting to feel relief. During this time through the afternoon. Adelyn was having a difficult time with labor. I believe around this time I was only 4 cm dilated. Adelyn's heartbeat kept going down during contractions and the doctors and nurses weren't happy with her dropping heart rate...so they kept moving me into different positions every ten minutes or so for the rest of the day! You can imagine how funny this would be when I am completely numb from the waist down and they are moving me from side to side. :)I had to try to keep hope at this point... I was really worried about her and kept staring at the monitor. I was ready and willing to have a c-section right away if she wasn't handling labor well. They kept a good eye on her and by dinner time I was 6 cm. The only problem was that I stayed at 6cm the majority of the night. All I can really remember was the nurse would check me, then an hour later the Dr. would check me and this went on over and over for the rest of the night. By this time my family had filled the waiting room downstairs. :) Our moms and my sister kept coming in periodically to check on us. (I was really starting to get discouraged at this point and it didn't help that my epidural was wearing off on one side and they kept having to add more meds to it to get it to work properly.) At this point Daniel was still by my side encouraging me constantly. Little did I know my uncle (in the waiting room) decided to get everyone together to pray for us. So they started praying. 45 minutes later... around 9:45 the Dr. came in again and looked at the monitor and said, "Baby isn't happy, and when baby isn't happy we aren't happy." My mom, Daniel and me looked at each other like, "oh no". We were about to get the C-Section conversation. The Dr. said, "well, let me check you one more time". I was 9 1/2CM! I looked at him and said, " you are joking". He said "I don't joke when I am at work." :) He told us I would be pushing very soon and left the room. The Lord answered their prayers very quickly! We were so excited and ready to go. The nurse started getting the room ready for delivery... Daniel and I just kept looking at each other smiling. They called the nurses from the special care nursery to come to the room to be ready for Adelyn because there was a little meconium in the water.

Around 10:00 pm

I started pushing with just Daniel and the nurse in the room. They had me take in a deep breath and push for 10 LONG seconds, then take a quick breath and do this 2 more times during one contraction. I remember thinking my head was going to explode. After every push I would open my eyes and kind of shake my head, cause my vision was kind of blurry. :) They kept telling me I was doing really well. I looked at Daniel and told him I wanted to do well, but I couldn't really feel how to push (cause of the epidural). After about 30 minutes of pushing my epidural started to wear off some and I could feel where to push and really started making progress. Daniel was getting really excited and was coaching me so well. The nurse called the Dr. in and I continued pushing. At one point he said, after a couple more pushes, she will be here! We didn't know, but during this time some people in our family, mom (maybe, Kellie, and Daniel's mom Kim) were coming up to the floor and asking if she was born yet, and the nurses wouldn't really answer them. :) I think Kim heard a baby crying when she came up...and we think she heard Adelyn:) After 1hr and 30 minutes of pushing she was born! Our precious little Adelyn Elizabeth came into this world. The Dr. immediately set her up on my chest. She was crying so hard (which I loved hearing). She was bloody and goowy and I just kept looking at her saying, "It's ok, baby, it's ok." Finally I reached my hand to touch her little arm. I'll never forget that first touch. They quickly took her from me and cleaned her out really well. The nurse across the room kept saying, "wow, she is beautiful". I could hear them sucking the liquid out of her. Daniel was over there watching over her. I remembered to ask him to grab the video camera. The Dr. was sewing my up. eeek. After they cleaned me up and had Adelyn all set. They swaddled her and let Daniel bring her over to me. We just stared at her for a while and then the nurse told us it was ok for family to come in if we were ready. Daniel was leaving the room to go get the fam and looked back at me like, "oh man, here we go". He hates being the center of attention and here he was about to get to announce to a waiting room FULL of family that had been waiting literally all day. He looked a little overwhelmed. He came off of the elevator downstairs and said, "Who wants to come see a crying baby?!". They said they were waiting on edge to see him come off the elevator!! The grandparents and my great grandmother came up first to see her. I remember to everyone that came in the room, I just kept saying, "Isn't she so beautiful?" Everyone that was still waiting at the hospital came up to our room to meet her. She was born at 11:44pm on October 26th. I felt so humbled that everyone waited at the hospital until almost midnight! It was a great celebration. It was time for them to take Adelyn to the nursery to get cleaned up and to get her meds. Daniel was able to follow her to the nursery and was able to sit with the nurse and watch everything they did. I loved knowing that he was with her. While they were in the nursery the nurse got me ready to move to our other room. Mom, Dad and Kel were waiting for us in our room. We were in there visiting for a few minutes and then Daniel came in the door pushing Adelyn in her cart with a big proud smile on his face. I will never forget that picture in my head. I was so happy they were back in the room. That night we didn't go to sleep until around 3am. We did send her to the newborn nursery from 6-9am so that we could get a few hours of sleep. We were exhausted and I was HUNGRY. :)

The next couple of days were kind of a blur of doctors constantly coming in to check me and Adelyn. During the next night we sent her to the nursery again so that we could get some rest. I hated sending her away but I knew they would take good care of her and we desperately needed sleep. We had many great visitors at the hospital... we loved showing off our little girl. We were able to go home on Wednesday! We were very excited to get home. Mom came to the hospital that afternoon and brought us food and helped us get everything together and helped us get settled at home.

October 26th 2009 was the best day of mine and Daniel's life so far. The Lord has blessed us beyond what we deserve. I will write soon about the joys and challenges of bringing a newborn home....but I think this is enough of a book already.

We were greeted at home with pink ribbons and balloons :) Thanks to Kim and Kellie.

Daniel as a Daddy

We are at the 2 week mark today! We made it through what I hear can be the most difficult time with a new born. I feel like she is slowing adjusting to this great big world she is now living in. I wanted to basically brag on my husband for a minute.

When we found out we were pregnant, I knew Daniel would be a great Dad... and throughout the pregnancy this was confirmed more and more by the way he would talk to her in my belly and the way he took care of me... now that little Adelyn is here, I have been blown away at how wonderful Daniel has been. As anyone would expect his face lights up when he sees her... but Daniel cares for Adelyn like he has known her all along. He has not really had any experience with newborns/babies in the past... well you wouldn't know that when you see him with her. He isn't afraid to jump right in and change her diaper or try to calm her when she is crying. And Adelyn's love for him is just the same. She LOVES when he holds her and talks to her. She stares at his face as if she knows the strength he has and that he will protect her. Many people have mentioned (even us) how it must be kinda hard for Daniel (any new dad) cause there isn't really much that he can do for her right now... since Mom has the milk... daddy's touch can only go so far :) But the last time that conversation was brought up... I couldn't help but think that Daniel's huge purpose right now has been supporting me (as I care for Adelyn). The past two weeks have been the most challenging... just adjusting to a newborn being in our family, the hormones, the emotions, the love we have for her, sleep loss and trying to make her as happy as we can. With that said, I could not have made it through labor and these two weeks with out him. In one of the lunches I made him last week when he went to work I wrote him a little note and told him that he truly has been my "hero" through this. Any of you that know Daniel know that he has a quiet strength and doesn't ever really get worked up. Well this has been a huge blessing. He prays over me, he holds me, he gets in my face very often and tells me how proud he is of me and how in love he is with me. All of this to say... I am so thankful for him. I get super excited whenever he comes home for lunch and even more when he gets off work. (I mean really when he came in the door for lunch today, I literally ran and jumped up on him...haha.) I am so in love with him. It is so amazing to see the Lord's hand in our relationship and to know that He is already working in our little family.

Adelyn's Nursery

I have yet to post pictures of Adelyn's nursery! These photos were taken by Katherine Fallis and can be seen on Katie Moore's Design Website as well.

Adelyn has only slept in her room one time so far:) She has been sleeping in her cradle in our room at night or napping downstairs. This morning she took a nap in her crib for the first time and when she woke up I went in to see her and she was there just looking around quiet and content. It was precious. Love love love her.

Happy Halloween from Adelyn.

We are enjoying our little girl and trying to learn how to be the best parents we can be. I will post the birth story as soon as possible. :)

Baby Adelyn is Here!

Born October 26th, 2009 11:44pm. 7lbs 6 ounces! :) More pictures to come.

Dates with Daniel (Week 40)

The past two weeks... Daniel and I have had the best time together one on one. Since we have not known when I would go into labor we haven't made plans ahead of time and haven't been as busy... so this has left lots of time for just the two of us. It has been GREAT. We have enjoyed it so much, even though there is the underlying thought constantly "wonder if it will be today???". On the 20th we went out to eat at Red Room (one of our favorites) for our anniversary and last night we were brave and ventured out to the fair. I love going to the fair every year (Daniel not so much). We raided our pantry and took canned food to donate in place of fair tickets and walked around a good bit. I was hoping that would do the trick... but obviously since I am posting right now... we have no news yet. She just wants to hang on to me as long as she can... have I mentioned that I myself was ten days late!!!! Well at least we know Monday is the big day if she decides not to join us this weekend. :)

40 weeks!!!

Adelyn's first trip to the fair :)

Fair at 40 weeks and 2 days. People may or may not have been constantly looking at my belly wondering why I was there... :) At one point I was wondering the same thing when some of smells almost sent me over the edge :)

If we can't see her in person yet...

then at least we can peak at her through ultrasound right? Her Beautiful Face
Check out those lips!!! :)

This is the bottom of her foot... 8cm!

The "It's a girl, still!!!" picture. :)

It was so exciting for us to get to see her on ultrasound yesterday. She passed her biophysical exam with flying colors... 8 out of 8. They are estimating she weighs 7lbs 12. We got to watch her strong heartbeat again and she was moving her arms around the whole time. We even got to see her eyes open and close. It was amazing! We were praising the Lord for the encouragement of such a great doctors appointment. Because her ultrasound looked so good they didn't even feel the need to do the non stress test. They set us up to induced on Monday 10/26/09 if we haven't gone into labor before then. So that was crazy to leave the appointment yesterday and know that her birthday will be 10/26/09 if not before then... FINALLY:)

Very soon we will get to meet her...

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.