Our little angel...

It has now been just over three weeks since our little angel came into our lives. She is such a blessing and we couldn't have asked for more.

The first few weeks were a little rough, mainly because she had her days and nights confused and she was up most nights and the lack of sleep had me looking like a walking zombie! (She's just now starting to sleep a little better, thank God). Other than that though we have been learning more and more about little Michaiah and about being parents.

She has been doing great though. She definitely takes after her daddy in the eating department that's for sure!! Michaiah is a big eater and has quickly grown our of her newborn clothes. She had her second doctors appointment on Friday and she is a little over 9lbs now and the doctor says she's doing really well.

Bathtime has started to get easier as she is starting to enjoy being in the warm water. We FINALLY got her to take a pacifier as well which helps soothe her somewhat. Turns out that she didn't like the one I originally tried to give her but I bought a Soothie this morning and tried it and thank goodness it worked!

The last milestone this week was that she took a bottle too! I had been strictly breast feeding her since day one since I didn't want to have to deal with the whole nipple confusion thing, but we decided to give her a bottle a few times a week so that she'll get used to it and hopefully before long Michael and I will be able to get out for some time to ourselves.

She is just too cute for words.

After bath time...

Daddy & Michaiah

Michaiah's first bottle.

More pictures of Michaiah...

My First Bath

Michaiah after her first sponge bath enjoying some skin to skin time with her daddy. Three days old and she's already trying to hold her head up.

Michaiah Eliana Stephens - Born 9/22/10

After 9 months of waiting for our daughter to arrive, Michaiah finally made her appearance on Wednesday, September 22 at 8:52pm. I went in for my weekly appointment that same day around 11:30am and found out that I was 3 centimeters. However, while I was being examined, my water broke!

Shortly after my appointment, about 1pm, I was admitted to labor and delivery and there we began our journey. The rooms at the hospital were very nice and all of the nurses were great. Michael and I watched a movie, took a nap, ate some sushi and walked laps around the hospital to get things moving. 

We continued to do laps around the hospital but these laps kept getting shorter and shorter as the contractions were becoming more and more frequent and stronger and stronger. It wasn’t too much longer until I was 6 centimeters and then just when I thought I couldn’t take any more pain and wanted an epidural the nurse checked me again and I was at 9 ½ centimeters! The only thing left to do really was to push. After about 10-15 minutes of pushing, and about 8 hours after my water breaking, our little blessing, Michaiah Eliana, was born.

Michaiah Eliana Stephens was born at 8:52pm weighing 7lbs 10oz and 20½ inches long. She has bluish gray eyes and what looked like black curly hair is now straight brown hair. She couldn’t be more perfect in our eyes. She’s truly a gift from God and we feel truly blessed to have her in our lives.

38 Weeks...

Michaiah has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which I'll soon be able to test when I hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.


The last bits of vernix caseosa (the white goo keeping baby's skin moist) and lanugo (downy hair) are slowly shedding into m amniotic fluid. Michaiah's head is about the same circumference as her abdomen, and her head could be covered in an inch or so of hair.

I finished my last week of work...yippie!! I am so excited to be done and to just put up my feet and relax until she is ready to make her appearance. We still have to get the car seat installed (Monday), so hopefully she'll wait until we get that done before she decides to come. Everything is ready and we are just anxiously awaiting her arrival.

My last doctor visit revealed that I am 1.5 centimeters dilated and that her head is down right where it should be. So again, we are just waiting.....

Michael's First 5K Race

So Michael raced in his first 5K races a few weekends ago and did pretty good. He finished 7th in his age group (would have been better had he not had to stop behind a tree to relieve himself during the race). He plans to keep running and entering more and more races. Hopefully after the baby, we'll be able to do a few races together and then hopefully a triathlon! We'll see.

He raced with one of his friends, Will, from the boxing gym who ended up finishing 7th overall out of about 600 people and 1st in his age group. Michael told me that Will could probably win it and sure enough he almost did.

Good job guys!!

37 Weeks...

Another week closer. My last doctor visit revealed that Michaiah's head is really low and that I am dilated one centimeter. I know...I have a lot more centimeters to go but hey it's a start.

Michaiah's now the size of a watermelon!
I am full-term (yay!) even though my due date is three weeks away.  If I were to go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though). She is also brushing up on skills for the outside world: blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling, and gripping (it's getting strong!).
 
She weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). She's also acquiring important antibodies from me that will protect her from life-threatening diseases, when she enters into this world. She receives 'natural immunization' for another six months after her birth with breast milk.

36 Weeks....

Michaiah is now the size of a honeydew!!

Her skin is getting smooth and soft, her gums are rigid, her liver and kidneys are in working order, and her circulation and immune system are basically good to go. Her lungs are the only organs that still need to fully mature, but every day she gets a little closer to breathing on her own. Her lungs will continue to mature after she is born.

She is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. She swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions (nice), resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.


She's already descending into my pelvis, putting the brunt of her weight on my hips and pelvis, making them pretty sore. And don't forget those ever-loosening ligaments puttting strain on the 'ol pelvic area as well.

We just can't wait to meet our little girl!

Beautiful Sunflowers

A few pictures of our beautiful sunflowers!! Aren't they gorgeous?

35 Weeks...

Ok, so it looks like my good luck with having such a great pregnancy has run out. Last Friday while at work, I got up to use the restroom and was overcome with pain over my pubic bone. Every step I took the pain got worse unfortunately and it never ceased. So I looked it up on the internet and apparently what I have is called Pubic Symphysis Diastasis. This is where, usually in later pregnancy, the hormone relaxin causes the pelvis, particularly at the pubic bone, to loosen. This is supposed to make birth easier for mom and baby. I guess that is my body's way of preparing for childbirth which shouldn't be too far away now. My last two visits to the doctor confirmed that her head was down as she's preparing.

I went to the doctor just to get things checked out and he said that unfortunately it probably won't get better but will get worse. I can't really complain though because I have truly been blessed with such a good pregnancy up to this point. The only downfall though, besides the pain of course, is that I can't work out because it hurts to even walk. I have been lucky enough to work from home which has been nice and hopefully will help with the pain.

Michaiah is now the size of a honeydew and weighs about 5.5 lbs now.From now on, her growth is mostly in the plumping up department -- though she won't get much longer, she'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth. (She's about 15 percent right now and will be about 30 percent by full-term.) Her hearing is also totally developed.

Almost there...

Michaiah's size at 35 weeks