Our first day with our little girl!

   Our first night at the hospital with Amelia definitely was a tiring one but it was a good one. We found out very quickly that Amelia had her days and nights mixed up. We were up all night with her because she obviously was not tired and she was given her first bath at 4am, which woke her up even more. Besides not getting any sleep, which was expected, we did get to spend alone time with our new baby girl! Garrett and I could not stop looking at our little princess, we could not believe that after waiting 9 long months for her she actually was in our arms!

Daddy and his new little baby girl. 

Good morning sunshine

     That next day we had many visitors, my Mom and Aunt Sharmain came up in the morning, then Aunt Brittiany,  Amelia's great grandpa, Uncle Dell and Collin, papa Blair, Granna Kathy, Aunt Sharmain, Kenzie, and then my Uncle Todd, Aunt Maureen, and then Cousins Grant and Lindsey.  We also had a photographer at the hospital take some pictures of Amelia. It was a busy but fun day! 

Amelia Grayce meets the family

    During the delivery, my family was waiting in the waiting room on the labor and delivery floor. All of my family members kept making excuses to go to the bathroom which was right next to my room so they could listen outside the door to see if they could hear Amelia crying. After everyone took turns to go by our room, my Aunt Sharmain went by our room and heard crying. She then went back to the waiting room and told everyone. Everyone then rushed to wait outside my door to see if they could hear little Amelia and they did! The family then waited in the waiting room until they got the ok from the nurse that they could come see us.

It took about an hour for baby Amelia to get assessed and for the doctor to finish up with me, so my family was more than ready to come meet our little girl!

The family in the waiting room

Dell and Collin waiting for Amelia

Nana- Amelia's Great Grandma

My Dad

Grammy (Amelia's Great Grandma- "GG") and Aunt Mandy listening for Amelia.

  

Induction Day!

   Thursday morning, Garrett and I woke up early to get ready to head to the hospital so I could be induced. I could not sleep at all that night because I was just so excited, I was ready to get up when the alarm went off! We got ready, put our bags in the car, and headed for the hospital. When we got to the hospital we checked in at the front desk and then headed to the labor and delivery floor. When we got to the floor, we went to the nurses station, where my two nurses introduced themselves to me and showed me my room. They then had me sign papers and I changed into the hospital gown.
   As I got in the hospital bed, it finally started to hit me that I was actually about to be induced and that we would be meeting our baby girl for the first time very soon. The nurses, then started me on Pitocin and my doctor, Dr. Wilkes, came in around 8:30am to check on me and try and get things started a little bit faster. She used this new type of catheter which makes you go into active labor quicker. When the doctor placed the catheter it hurt so bad! I just kept thinking what did I get myself into by being induced rather than going into labor naturally. My doctor then said she would check on me at noon and then break my water.
  As Garrett and I waited around for me to go into active labor, I caught up on the Bachelor and Garrett played games on his phone. At this point I wasn't in pain, so it was nice just hanging out doing nothing with G. Around 10:30 am my mom and Garrett's mom, Kathy came to the hospital to keep us company and we just hung out and watched T.V. Our mommas were with us the whole entire day and were so good about checking up on us to make sure were we doing ok.

Hanging out in our room.

  Finally noon came around and my doctor came to break my water. I was expecting the contractions to get a lot worse since she broke my water but I surprisingly felt really good and no had pain until around 1 pm... that is when I really started having contractions. Before I knew it I was dilated to a 5 and I wanted some IV pain meds asap! When I went into the hospital, I planned on trying to go as long as I could without a epidural and even try to have Amelia without the epidural but as my contractions got closer together I decided I just could not do it. I called the nurses in asking for IV pain meds and then they asked me if I wanted the epidural instead. I could not decide whether or not to get it.. I wanted to be able to know when to push and to know how it actually feels to have a baby but then the pain got so bad I decided to hold off on the pain meds and just get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in around 4 pm and gave me the epidural. I was so surprised the epidural did not hurt at all compared to the contractions. That epidural was the best and got me through labor even though I definitely still felt pain.  I had to get the anesthesiologist to come and up my dose a couple of times but in the end it was the best decision.

  Around 7:30 pm I started to feel my contractions again and was in a lot of pain. My contractions were getting really close together but the monitors were not showing them as frequent as I was having them so the nurses tried to figure out what was going on with the monitors. At this time my doctor was supposed to be coming to check me so the nurses were holding off on seeing if I was progressing. After waiting a little while for the doctor the nurses decided to check me and when she did she said she could see the babies head and I was a "+2", and she said that meant baby was coming like now! They called the doctor again and she hurried over to the hospital and got there at 8:10pm.
   All of the nurses in the room and my doctor were amazing in the delivery! The actual delivery was actually not bad at all! The epidural was working but I could still feel my contractions a little bit so I knew when to push. Everyone was cracking jokes while I was delivering and making me laugh, so it made me calm down and really not stress at all! Garrett did really well too! He was worried about passing out, but he just stayed by the side of the bed and held my hand.
  Baby Amelia was born at 8:18 pm 6 pounds 4 0z and 19 1/2 inches long. The second she was born the doctor put her on my stomach. Being the baby that I am just sat there holding my baby girl and cried as I looked at her! I was so happy that my she was finally in my arms safe! It was such an amazing experience even though I am so happy that the delivery is over! Our baby girl was so alert when she was born, she just sat there and looked around at everyone.

One of Amelia's first pictures.

   After Garrett cut the cord, the nurse then took her and got her all cleaned up on the other side of the room. While Garrett was taking pictures of Amelia, Garrett had his hand by her and she reached up and grabbed his finger and would not let go. Garrett just stood there with his baby girl holding his hand. She already has him "wrapped around her finger." After they cleaned her and assessed her the nurse bundled her up and then brought her to me. Garrett and I could not believe she was finally in our arms. It was such a special time for our new little family! We love our little girl! To be continued...

Amelia holding her daddy's hand

Baby Amelia 6 pounds 4 oz

Mommy and Amelia

Our Little Family

Daddy and Amelia

We love her.

Last week of being pregnant!

  My last week of being pregnant with Amelia went by so slow! I was so uncomfortable and was just ready to be able to hold my baby girl! I went to the doctors office when I was 38 weeks and had asked my doctor about when they induce pregnancies because I did not want her to go over 40 weeks. She said that she would induce me at 39 weeks if Amelia had not come on her own by then since there was no risk for her to come a week early. I decided that this is what I wanted to do.That entire week following my doctor appointment, I continued to try and walk a lot by going on daily walks to the dock with Garrett and shopping trips in order to try and get her out early but no such luck. That next Wednesday, I was 39 weeks and went in for my doctors appointment. My doctor checked me and I was only dilated to a 1. My doctor then again asked me if I wanted to go ahead and schedule a induction for sometime at the end of the week and I of course said YES!! My doctor then left the room to go see when the hospital had an opening and then she came back to tell me the news. She said that she scheduled me for induction for the next morning which was Thursday and I needed to be on the Labor and Delivery Floor at 7am to start the whole induction process! I was so excited that the hospital was able to get me in and I would not have to wait any longer! I could not believe that I would be holding my baby girl the next day! My mom had gone with me to my appointment that day because we were running errands after so right when I got out of my appointment I told her the exciting news and then called Garrett to tell him his baby girl would be born tomorrow! Garrett was really excited and we both could not believe that she would actually be with us soon! After talking to Garrett on the phone I then called all of our family and told them the good news!

Hospital Bags packed! Can you tell I was ready?

Baby Shower!

     This past Saturday, my Aunt Sharmain threw me a baby shower at my parent's house! Before the shower my mom made sure everything was perfect before everyone came over and had everything decorated so perfectly! Everything was decorated in a "Shabby Chic" theme which is how her nursery is going to be decorated! I just loved how everything was pink! 

 

 

37 Weeks!

 

 

 

The food was so yummy. We had pink lemonade, light appetizers, and of course yummy desserts, that included cupcakes, cake pops, cookies and strawberry mousse!

 

 

Pink Lemonade!

 

 

Yummy Cupcakes!

 

 

 

Diaper cake that mom made!

 

Mom and I

 

Aunt Sharmain and Kenzie

 

Grammy

 

Britt and I

Nana and I