Two weeks

Family Pic

We finally got a family pic...

Apple Techie

Looks like Apple brainwashed Joshua at an early age...

One Week Old

And then there were four...

We're home, and enjoying life as a family of four. We were released from the hospital on Thursday night, and are glad to be resting at home. The pediatrician wanted us to stay an extra day due to Makayla having some low blood glucose levels, which I guess is common in larger babies. We are also keeping an eye on the fact that she is a bit jaundice. The pediatrician isn't too worried about either, so hopefully everything works itself out in the next few days as she begins to eat more and adjust to life outside the womb.

The labor and delivery went extremely well. They started the Pitocin drip at 9:45am to get the contractions going, and Makayla was delivered at 5:08pm. I guess I'm pretty consistent when it comes to inductions because I delivered Joshua in 7 hours, and Makayla in 7.5 hours. I decided to go with the epidural this time, and enjoyed the labor process a lot more than the first time around. I'm pretty sure it was a lot easier on Andrew and my mom as well ; )

Makayla Joy Grundstrom

1/17/2012

9 lbs, 0.2 oz; 21 inches

 

Joshua is a bit unsure of his little sister, and still trying to figure her out. This usually entails him poking her in the eyes and patting her face. Needless to say, we're working on being a gentle big brother. Andrew and I are doing our best to give him equal attention, but he's definitely aware of the fact that he is no longer the star of the show.

Joshua's first meeting with Makayla

Joshua welcoming Makayla home

We can't wait for you to meet our little girl, and will try to keep up with the pictures in the mean time. We have already seen the quantity of pictures dwindle due to second kid syndrome. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for me, specifically, in the next week as I try and adjust to life at home with two kids. I know there will be hard times, but I also know that God's strength is manifested in my weaknesses.

First road trip

 

Makayla (L) and Joshua (R) Birth Photos

Makayla's Eviction Notice

  

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and wanted to give you all an update on some things that were talked about. After getting my weight and blood pressure, and listening to Makayla's heart beat, my doctor performed an abdominal exam to check on her positioning, and to see how much she's grown since the last appointment. Insert bummer news here... After being pretty optimistic last week that Makayla would be around 8 lbs by the time of her due date, he wasn't so optimistic this time around. His guess was that she had grown quite a bit in just the past week, and was figuring she was already about 8.5 lbs one week before her due date. That, coupled with the fact that my belly was measuring larger than normal, and my weight shot up more than normal over the past week, only increased his suspicion. To top it off, his check of everything else revealed that not much progress had occurred since my last visit...double bummer!!  I'd like to say that I hadn't noticed anything different, and that I was feeling pretty good, but that's not the case. Things just seemed harder over the past week, and sleep has been SO uncomfortable. So, I knew the topic I had been trying to avoid for the past 39 weeks was about to be brought up - induction (ugh!).

On that note, Makayla has been given an eviction notice of Tuesday at 6:00am. After talking things through with Andrew, we feel like this is the wisest decision. In the meantime, we will pray hard, and ask that you pray hard for us, that she comes on her own before then. Though this isn't the way I want it to go, it is comforting to know that at the end of labor, we will be holding dear little Makayla in our arms. Please pray that we would experience God's peace in this decision, and that I would not give into fear or anxious thoughts concerning the induction if it gets to that point. We will get a picture out as soon as she's here, so stay tuned!

Puppy Love

New Pictures

See the links to the lower right for new pictures from the last couple months.

Room Progress

It seems like every time Andrew's parents come and visit, we put them to work. The guys worked on various things around the house, while Jeannette and I worked on projects for Makayla's room.  I had seen a couple of projects on Pinterest that I wanted to try out, so I got to break out my new sewing machine. On a side note...Pinterest is the most amazing website EVER. If you like being creative, you most definitely want to check it out. Okay, so back to the room...

Jeannette helped me conquer my fear of the overwhelming fabric store, and we picked out some cute fabric for curtains, and some hanging book pockets. It was fun to have a hand in the decorating, and I'm excited to use my sewing machine for even more projects in the future. I also stole an idea from Pinterest in which you cover letters with yarn. While tedious at first, I love how they turned out, and they bring in so much color to the room. Here are some pictures of how everything turned out:

River of Lights

We took Andrew's parents to see the River of Lights while they were here. The River of Lights is a display that the Botanical Gardens host every year during the Christmas season. Despite the cool temperatures and insane amount of people, we had lots of fun looking at the lights.

Christmas Re-cap

It's weird to think that Christmas has already come and gone. There is so much build-up to the day, and just like that, it's over. We woke up on Christmas morning and had snowman pancakes with chocolate chips (okay, so our traditions aren't the healthiest - donuts on Christmas Eve and chocolate chip pancakes on Christmas!).

After breakfast, we opened our family presents. Andrew and I both went out on a limb and got each other things we know nothing about. I got Andrew a cordless jigsaw, and he got me a new sewing machine. I guess it's time to put each other to work! Joshua got some sing-along DVD's, bath stuff, and the Big Picture Story Bible (we knew he would get tons of gifts from the grandparents, and we were right!). After the gifts, we went to church and had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ with our church family. It was really refreshing to go to church on Christmas day because it provided us with a time to stop and meditate on the truth of what Christmas is all about.

After church, we picked up Andrew's parents from the airport and headed over to my parents for dinner and gifts. The meal was great, being around family was awesome, and the gifts were plentiful. Joshua and Makayla were definitely spoiled in true grandparent fashion.

The funniest part of the whole night was watching my grandpa with his disposable camera. He made sure to capture every moment, and we would just laugh when we heard the click, followed by the wheel being cranked...good times!