Our little peanut is growing up :-(

Dinner out with the Sanders' and Christerson's - Truss and Hannah's first "date"

"Uncle" Jake and "Uncle" James with the kids

Daddy and Hannah time

Hannah's first real bath - She LOVED it!

Hannah is almost 3 weeks old and for some reason I feel like time is flying by.  I realize that 3 weeks is still VERY young, but I am just feeling so sad about her getting bigger! :-( 

The last few days have been full of firsts for Hannah.  On Friday night (March 26) she went out to dinner for the first time.  We went with our friends, James & Lindsay and Jake & Tally (and their 5 month old, Truss...Hannah's future husband...haha) to a Mexican restaurant.  It felt so good to get out of the house and feel more "normal".  It was great to see that our lives wouldn't be completely different now that we have Hannah and that we would still be able to do fun things!  We were even able to spend a few hours at Jake and Tally's house after dinner.  Oh to be an adult again! haha  On Saturday night (March 27) Hannah went to church for the first time.  She was SO well behaved.  We were sure to sit in the very back row so that we could make a speedy exit, if we needed to.  But thankfully, Hannah didn't make a peep.  It was so special to have her in church with us.  I spent much of the service reflecting back on the months of pleading with the Lord for a child.  The praise and worship songs had new meaning and holding my little peanut in my arms was a surreal experience.  I was overwhelmed with thankfulness and emotion.  Hannah is an answer to many years of prayers and pleadings with the Lord.  He heard our cries!

Last night Hannah decided to give us another full night of sleep. :-)  I fed her at 9pm and tried to put her down, but she was SO fussy!  After listening to her cry on and off for an hour (excrutiating!!) we decided to give her some formula to see if she was still hungry.  Low and behold, she sucked it down and took 1.5 oz.  Then we put her down again and she fell fast asleep for 7 hours!!  YEAH! :-)  What a difference a full night of sleep makes.  And now she is taking a good nap.  So far she has been down for 2 hours...hopefully she will sleep at least 1 more. :-)

Brian's family (mom, dad, and sister) are coming to visit for Easter and we can't wait!  His parents will be here from Friday thru Wednesday and Julie will be here just for the weekend.  We can't wait to celebrate Hannah's first Easter!

2 Weeks Old

Hannah is 2 weeks old today.  Time is flying, but at the same time it seems to be standing still! haha  This week was a lot better than the first week.  My parents left last Friday (when Hannah was 8 days old) and Brian's family came back the same day.  Brian's brother and sister came too, which was a lot of fun!  They stayed for a quick weekend trip and then everyone left on Sunday.  Sunday night was our first night alone with Hannah.  It was a scary thought to have to do this all on our own, but we did it and it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be!  The Lord has blessed us with a baby that generally likes to sleep, so we can't complain too much.  Brian stayed home from work on Monday (although he did work from home, so he wasn't able to help too much) but it was nice to have him here for support.  Then on Tuesday, it was just me and Hannah.  I managed to take her to the doctor all by myself!  She now weighs 8lb 3.5oz, so she has gained back her birth weight (8lb 2 oz) and then some!  YEAH! :-)  It's so good to know that everything is working right and I am able to provide her with all the nourishment she needs! 

This week we have been working on getting Hannah on a schedule, which isn't always easy.  We aim to feed her every 3-4 hours and so far she has been okay with that.  She is only waking me up once in the middle of the night (we put her down at about 11pm and she wakes me up around 2 or 3am) and then again at about 6 or 7am.  Can't complain too much about that!  But I do look forward to the day that I don't have to wake up at 2 or 3am to feed....oh to get a solid 6 or 7 hours of sleep! ;-)  Hannah has definitely become more aware during her wake periods.  She loves her swing and can sit in it just starring off in the distance for quite some time (as long as she has a full tummy and a clean diaper!)

I am feeling a lot better this week!  My emotions have leveled out a lot, although I still don't feel 100% "normal".  I so appreciate all the support I have been given and words of encouragement from moms who have been through this emotional rollercoaster!  It means so much to me to have friends and family that are so supportive and understanding of what we are going through!  So thanks!!  Physically I am healing well and starting to feel more and more like myself.  I have lost 32 pounds so far and have about 15-20 to go.  I can wear some of my pre-pregnancy clothes, which is nice!  But I still find myself grabbing my maternity pants from time to time, just because they are so comfy! haha

Oh what a difference a week makes! :-)  Thanks for the prayers...keep them coming!!

Milestone: Umbilical Cord Fell Off!

Nasty!!  haha  Hannah is 10 days old now and her umbilical cord stump fell off this morning.  We noticed yesterday that it was just hanging my a thread, but we didn't mess with it, hoping it would come off on its own.  Thankfully Grandma Vaccaro was changing her diaper when it came off because mommy would not have enjoyed that!  I'm a bit squeamish about those kinds of things!  Yuck!  The belly button still looks pretty strange and crusty, but the majority of it is gone.  We are looking forward to being able to give Hannah a full bath and not just a sponge bath (she's not a huge fan of the sponge bath). 

Our house is now empty.  All our company is gone and we are on our own....SCARY!  It has been SO nice to have our family here for the past 2 weeks and it was SO hard to say goodbye. :-(  It is going to be scary for us to be on our own tonight.  Having grandma's around to help with the middle of the night crying times has been wonderful!  We have even been able to get a decent amount of sleep as a result.  Brian is thankfully staying home from work tomorrow to help me transition into being home alone all day with Hannah...also scary!  But then on Tuesday, it will just be me and Hannah during the day.  I am definitely nervous about that, but hopeful that everything will be great! 

Now it's time to go wake up a peacefully sleeping baby to get her awake enough for a good 10pm feeding and then a long night of sleep..hopefully!!  If you can, please pray for us over the next few days!  We are trusting the Lord to guide us day by day in the raising of our precious lil' peanut.  And leaning on Him for the peace and comfort that we so desperately need.

1 Week Old

Hannah is one week old today!  Hard to believe, yet at the same time it seems like she has been here forever!  Weird! ;-)  This week has been full of ups and downs.  Hannah is so beautiful and gets prettier with each passing day!  She is generally a happy baby (except during her fussy times - dinner time and after her 2am feeding) and sleeps a lot!  (They all do that at this young age!)  She has wiggled her way into our hearts and we look forward to watching her grow!  Being a parent is a HUGE responsibilty and that reality has made this week a bit of an emotional one for me.  Since we tried to conceive for so long (2 years) I always thought that once I had a baby I would just be so thrilled that I wouldn't have to worry about any "baby blues", but boy was I wrong.  Apparently, it doesn't matter how long you try or how much you think you are ready...bringing home a baby is a HUGE transition and many emotions go along with that.  If you think about, please pray for me as I continue to struggle with the changes. 

In the past week we have seen lots of changes in Hannah....

• Weight: 8 lb. 2 oz. (birth), 7 lb. 5 oz (2 days old), 7 lb. 6 oz. (4 days old)
• Length: 20 inches (birth), 20 1/4 inches (4 days old)
• She has smiled a few times and not just from gas....she smiled when MeeMaw was tickling her chin (several times)
• She has really big dimples! :-)  And a cute button nose!
• She can track her rattle with her whole head when we shake it in front of her (though not every time)
• She can lift her neck and turn her head from side to side when on her tummy (so strong!)
• She loves to be held!
• She slept through the night for the first time at 5 days old!!  7 hours straight!  What a special gift for mommy and daddy!!  This special treat hasn't been repeated, but we are hopeful! :)
• She is giving us lots of dirty diapers to clean up!  The first few days home she wasn't having any dirty diapers, which gave us a scare (and an unnecessary trip to the ER...opps) but she is making up for that now!
• She is a good feeder in general, but has a little trouble latching on.  From what I have read about breastfeeding babies, she is a "gourmet" nurser.  She likes to play around and take a few tastes before finally settling in for a good feeding.  But once she starts, she feeds for 10-20 minutes on each side and is so content after her feedings.

Hannah is a special gift from the Lord and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!  Thank you all for the many prayers for her (from before she was conceived until after her birth!)  It means so much to us to know that there are people praying for our little family of three!  Please continue to pray for us! 

Hannah Grace has arrived!

Hannah Grace was born on March 11, 2010 at 12:29pm weighing 8 lb. 2 oz. and 20 inches long. She has a head full of hair and a cute button nose! She is precious!!

Here are the details of the labor and delivery:

My labor was very painful, as I did it without any pain medications. I was induced on Wednesday night (March 10). They inserted the cervadil around 10pm and the contractions started pretty quickly. I didn't get any sleep at all because I didn't want the sleep meds. The contractions started getting stronger and coming closer together, so the nurse said that they were going to pull the cervadil early. They took it out at about 4:30am and I was 3 cm dilated. I did an enema (made me throw up too) and then took a shower to clean up. From there I don't remember many details, but things got VERY painful!! The contractions were coming fast and hard and I had bad back labor. :-( I labored in the shower for a while, on all fours, with the hot water pouring on my back. That helped a little, but it was still SOOO painful! There were definitely times that I was begging for medicine and saying "I can't do this!!" It was excrutiating! The next time I was checked I was 6-7 cm (not sure what time that was, but I think it was around 9am or so). I continued to throw up throughout the labor and the back pain was intense! Then by about 11am I was 10cm and completely thinned out. They broke my water (it never broke on its own) and told me to make sure to call them when I felt the urge to push. It took a while for that to happen. I continued to have horrible contractions and back labor. They put me in all different weird positions to try to get the baby to flip (they thought that the baby might be posterior since I was having such bad back pain). Then at about 12pm I was finally feeling the urge to push. At the beginning of this stage I was so excited! I was thanking all the nurses and midwife for being so wonderful...and I was actually looking forward to pushing her out. Little did I know that the pushing stage would be the worst part of it all! :-( Thankfully I only pushed for 30 minutes and she was out! I had a 2nd degree tear (ouch) but she was SO worth it! However, next time I will be getting the epidural! That was the most pain I have ever felt!

The best part of the delivery was that right after she came out, they put her up under my gown and let us spend about 30 minutes skin-to-skin before they took her to be cleaned up and evaluated. She is beautiful!! Daddy was histerically crying when she came out and all I could say was, "She's beautiful!"

We are now home and adjusting to our new "normal". My parents are here (thankfully) and will be until Friday, but when they leave I just don't know how I will be able to manage! Plus, when Brian goes back to work (next week) I am going to lose it! He is my rock!!

We are just taking things day by day and thanking the Lord for the amazing blessing of Hannah!  She is such a miracle!  We are SO in love!!

On our way to the hospital

Moments after the birth

Daddy is in LOVE!

Our little peanut!

The car ride home :-)

40 Weeks 2 Days

STILL pregnant!!  Hannah seems to be very happy inside me and just doesn't want to come out.  I have had a good amount of contractions, but nothing consistent and nothing too painful (although they are more painful then they have been).  On Sunday night we did have a bit of a scare for a few hours.  When we were just going to bed, I started to feel very nauseous and shaky.  I was also having some pretty strong contractions and they were painful.  I felt very weak, like I was going to pass out and I was struggling to breath...scary!!  I definitely did not like that feeling!  Once Brian helped me calm down and bit a find a comfortable position, we started timing the contractions and getting excited...thinking she was on her way!  After timing the contractions for about an hour, they were starting to let up, so we decided to try to fall asleep and see what happened.  Well, needless to say, Hannah did not make her appearance that night (or the next two for that matter).  I was able to fall asleep without much trouble and when we woke up in the morning the contractions were pretty much gone.  But, because of the scare, we decided to head in to the doctor to get things checked out.  Unfortunately I was still only dilated 1 cm and 60% effaced....so NO change!  :-(  She stripped my membranes again (OUCH!) and told us that I was having prodromal labor (or false labor), which basically means I was having real contractions but they just aren't doing anything.  Ineffective contractions! :-(  When we came home from the doctor's we were so discouraged!  It is just so hard to be going through contractions and all these labor like things and then realizing that we aren't making any progress.  If we had seen some hint of progress, it would make me feel a little better...but nope!  We went back and forth trying to decide if we should just go into the hospital that night (Monday night) to begin the induction or wait until Wednesday night (as planned).  We really struggled to make that decision, but in the end we decided to just wait it out.  Thankfully, last night was uneventful, so I was able to sleep much better!

Today we spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather.  Brian and his sister, Julie played tennis and I was their ball girl! HAHA  What a sight! ;-)  Now we are getting ready to eat a nice steak dinner and enjoy our last night home without Hannah.  Crazy to think that tomorrow night we will be heading to the hospital!  We are still praying that my labor will start on its own before tomorrow night.  Also, we are praying that if we do have to induce, that the Lord will somehow give me the strength to get through it without an epidural!  I know it seems like a silly thing...to not want to get an epidural...but that is what we have wanted from the beginning and even though we are having to induce, we still want to try to labor as naturally as possible.  So please pray that we are able to do that!

39 Weeks 6 Days

1 day until my due date!  I didn't write yesterday because Brian's sister, Julie is in town.  We got pedicures, which was so nice!  It had been months since I did that...definitely needed!  But I realized that I didn't update since my doctor's appointment on Thursday afternoon.  So, here goes...nothing has changed.  I am still 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced.  She stripped my membranes, which was awful!  I won't go into all the details, but if you don't know what that means, google it.  Just know that it's really painful!!!  The idea is that after they do that, if your body is ready to go into labor, it will happen within 48 hours.  If it's not ready, nothing will happen.  So, here's hoping something will happen today (within the 48 hour window!)  So yesterday I had a good amount of contractions, but nothing consistent enough to get too excited about.  We were timing them for about 2 hours and I was having them about 8 minutes apart, but then some would be 12 minutes, 3 minutes, 23 minutes, etc....so very inconsistent! :-(  We took a long walk around the neighborhood and that actually stopped the contractions almost completely, which stinks.  Then this morning we had a little bit of excitement when my plug came out!  (I won't call it my its actual name because it's just gross sounding).  It was pretty funny when it came out...I was sitting on the couch and I sneezed.  I thought I had peed my pant a little and was hysterically laughing about it.  Well, needless to say, I hadn't peed...it was the plug.  Nasty!  Anyway, it doesn't necessarily mean that labor is eminent, but it is a step in the right direction! :-)

So, at the doctor appointment on Thursday we talked about induction.  They will not let me go past March 15th (41 weeks) without inducing.  So, she told us that we could pick any day next week to induce.  We really don't want to induce because I want to go naturally (without an epidural) and inducing makes doing that much harder!  We asked her if we could just wait to schedule the induction after one more appointment next week and she said we could, however she advised that we should get our names on the list asap.  She said the hospital gets "booked up" pretty fast, so we should pick our date and then if we wanted to change our minds, we could.  So we just went ahead and picked Thursday March 11th.  The plan is (if Hannah doesn't come on her own before then) that we will go into the hospital on Wednesday night (around 7pm) and start cervadil.  They will keep that in for 12 hours and then take it out and hook me up to the pitocin.  So, Hannah will be here Thursday March 11th at the latest.  But please pray that she comes sooner!!  I don't want her to come earlier because I am uncomfortable (although I am) but only because I want to try to have a natural delivery.  I honestly would stay pregnant for another week or two if I could, but since they won't let me anyway, we just decided to pick Thursday, which works best for family and it's the day our midwife is on call.

Anyway, all that to say that we just really are asking for your prayers!   Pray that Hannah will come before Thursday!

Thank you all for all your prayers!  They are so appreciated!

39 Weeks 4 Days

I'm up early this morning after a night of not so great sleep.  We went out to dinner at a local pizza place and when we came home I just wasn't feeling so well.  I ate a salad there that I had gotten sick from earlier in my pregnancy and eating it brought back those same feelings.  Then, while we were sitting on the couch watching tv, I had some pretty consistent contractions...enough to time them.  So we decided to go to sleep and see what happened.  Well, I had some nasty indigestion (again, from that salad) so had trouble falling asleep.  Then I woke up several times in the night to pee.  I knew I was having some contractions because I would wake up feeling like I was going to pee my pants! haha I did finally get some sleep, but when Brian got up for work (6am) I just decided to get up too....mainly because I was starving! ;-)  I may try to take a nap on the couch this morning, but no promises.  The contractions seem to have calmed down a lot, so that stinks!  But we have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so hopefully we will get some good news that those contractions are doing something!  We'll see....

39 Weeks 3 Days

Apparently the snow did not entice Hannah to come.  Still pregnant! ;-)  Yesterday I had a few painful contractions, so I was hopeful, but then they stopped.  If you could see me right now, you would laugh!  I am sitting on our couch with towels underneath me!  haha  Brian was very concerned about our couch getting ruined if my water broke while I was sitting on it, so he requested that if I want to sit on the couch, I need to sit on towels...just in case! ;-)  Too funny!  Yesterday I even had a bit more energy to do some cleaning, so that made me hopeful too (the whole "nesting" thing causing labor), but nope. 

Tomorrow night, Brian's sister is coming for a visit.  YEAH!  She is staying until next Tuesday, so we are really hoping that Hannah makes her appearance while Julie is here.  Come on Hannah!!!!  We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we will get an update on what's going on and will probably talk about when we would like to induce (which of course, we don't want to do...but it might be inevitable).  Please pray that Hannah comes soon so that induction is not something we have to think about!!

Vote for Hannah!

I entered a picture of my 36 week pregnant belly into a contest and would love to win!  Please vote!! :-)

http://www.whattoexpect.com/photo-contest/vote.aspx?contestId=27

39 Weeks 2 Days

Still here! ;-)  Nothing new and exciting to report, although I have been having some contractions and few have even been semi-painful...so here's hoping!  We keep rubbing my belly and telling Hannah that we want her to come out so we can hold her and kiss her, but she's not listening yet.  I think she likes it in there.  Guess I don't blame her...it's dark, warm and cozy!  :-)

The one piece of exciting news is that is is SNOWING in Atlanta....a bunch!  We were hearing all over the news that it might snow a little today, but it's snowing a ton!  The flakes are massive and falling like crazy.  Gotta love Atlanta...you just never know!?  Hannah, don't you want to come out and play in the snow today? ;-)

Baby To-Do List (Update)

I am a list maker! I love lists and I love crossing things off once I've accomplished them! :-) So, I have made a massive to-do list for the arrival of our lil' peanut. The items in BOLD are must do's and the others are things I would like to do before she arrives.

*Purchase and install the car seat 

*Get the car seat inspected, to be sure we did it right! :)

*Get new carpet installed in the nursery (January 8th)

*Paint the walls in the nursery (including touching up the trim) 

*Change all the light switch covers and window hardware in the nursery

*Change the doorknobs on the closet doors in the nursery

*Pick up the nursery furniture and set it up

*Hang the curtains in the nursery

*Decorate the nursery - artwork, etc. 

*Get maternity pics taken! (Feb. 6th)

*Order the chandelier for the nursery and schedule the electrician to come put it in

*Wash Hannah's clothes and bedding and towels 

*Organize all Hannah's clothes into sizes and make a baby clothing inventory 

*Organize all of Hannah's clothes and "stuff" into dresser drawers (once it's delivered) and baskets

*Air out the crib mattress for 28 days before Hannah's arrival (gets rid of chemicals) 

*Pack hospital bag

*Set up the pack and play, bouncer, swing, activity mat

*Keep up with thank you cards

*Write a will

*Buy and paint (or cover in scrapbook paper) some wooden letters that spell baby’s name for her nursery

*Make a cd or itunes playlist for baby (lullabies and favorite songs) 

*Buy a baby book and remember to bring it to the hospital 

*Research vaccines

*Buy anything else we need for Hannah

*Have a date night with Brian

*Make and freeze meals for after Hannah arrives (Decided to let the Grandma's do this when they are here)

What am I forgetting?? I would love to hear your ideas! So much to do and so little time!

39 Weeks 1 Day

Still pregnant! ;-)  I was really hoping that Hannah would make her debut yesterday (Feb. 28th) so she could share her birthday with my cousin, Stephanie.  Stephanie was the one who introduced me and Brian (8 years ago) and we are using her middle name (Grace) for Hannah.  So, it would have been fitting for Hannah to be born on her birthday...but nope!  I guess Hannah didn't want to share her birthday.  Today is her cousin Kyle's 4th birthday, so I am doubtful that she will make an appearance today.  Maybe tomorrow! :-)  But one thing is certain, if she arrives late, that will not work for our family!  Brian and I are always early to everything...one of our pet peeves is lateness.  So, Hannah will not fit in our family if she comes late.  ;-)  Come on little peanut....we are SO ready to meet you!!