Welcome to the World, Nora!

It's been an interesting two weeks at the Graffam house - we had a beautiful baby GIRL!  Most everyone predicted that Baby G would be a boy, but we were blessed with a pink bundle that we named Nora Renee.

Nora's arrival didn't come without a few last-minute "hitches".  This whole pregnancy, I was never very comfortable with my OB.  To be fair, I didn't even meet him until the second trimester.  We had been seeing a fertility specialist for a few years, and my regular OB (who was also a Millsaps grad) passed away from cancer last summer.  When my pregnancy was downgraded from high-risk and I was released from the specialist to see my regular OB, I just picked a doctor from the same group that all my friends recommended.  He was a good doctor, but a popular one.  I thought before each appointment that I would feel better about him as my OB, but after each check-up I still did not feel like he knew me from Adam.  The day before my induction, I called the clinic about my reservations going forward with the induction.  Honestly, I was just thinking that we would push the induction back a little bit, but the nurse was adamant that I meet with another OB in the group that she thought would be a better fit.  Long story short, 14 hours before my induction at 40 weeks and 5 days, I switched OBs and am so glad that I did.  20 hours of labor with its own share of minor complications was much easier to endure thanks to our knowledgeable and compassionate OB.  If you live in the Memphis area and are looking for an OB, I would definitely recommend Dr. Jason Mullenix with MOGA!

Back to Nora - she has been such a sweet baby from the beginning!  It was pretty obvious from the start that she looks just like her Daddy:

JD as a baby:

She was born at 11:44 on March 13th, weighing 7 lb, 4 oz, 19 in long.  The nurses kept commenting on how big her feet are - that's how we know she is also my daughter!  

Since birth, she has regained her birthweight and grown an inch.  Currently she is in the 25% range for her weight, and the 75% range for her height.  Long and skinny:)

JD has been wonderful about changing diapers and taking care of both of us while he was on paternity leave.  These past two weeks have been filled with family and friends meeting Nora, and bringing us wonderful food and sweet baby gifts.  Nora doesn't need to spend a day without wearing pink for a very long time:)

About 75% of the time, Nora will sleep through the night, only waking for me to feed her.  Other nights, she prefer that we all stay up with her.  As each day passes, she is easier to get on a schedule.  Right now, I feed her about every three hours for forty minutes.  She only "snacks" when she is upset, but I don't mind.  If I just got evicted from my warm, comfy home of nine months, I might want a snack too.

Now that JD is back at work, we are working on getting back to our routine.  I hit the gym for the first time the other day, and hope to be able to go back more often.  When the weather warms up over the next few weeks, I hope to start running again.  I have a few weeks to wrap up a research project for school, and then Nora and I will have the summer to ourselves!  My brother comes back from Afghanistan in a few weeks, and we are looking forward to spending time with him and my sister and her family over these next few months.  My niece, Emma, is totally in love with Nora and enjoys being the wise, "older" cousin:)  I can't wait to see how Nora changes as she grows!

Last Pre-Baby Update...I Hope

Since the last 32 week update, we've had four more baby showers and seven more weeks to prepare for this baby.  Feast your eyes on my uuber-preparedness:

That's right.  I have nothing done.  OK, so all of the duplicate gifts have been returned, clothing has been washed and the pack and play is set up in our room.  The nursery is just a little on the 'sparse side.'  Furniture is set to come in next week, then we are waiting on Baby G's arrival to decorate the nursery.  I guess that's the downside to waiting on finding out the gender if you ALSO don't want a gender neutral nursery, you just wait.  I hardly think that an infant cares if its name is on the wall when it comes home.

UPDATE - furniture has arrived and everything is put away.

The most fun part of all of this has been the baby showers.  The first shower was from our Sunday School, Shower #2 was hosted by my sister, Megan, and my high school best friend, Jennifer:

Shower #3 was hosted by JD's Louisiana family in Shreveport.  We had a great time catching up with relatives we haven't seen in years:

Can you tell that Julie and I both have mouthfuls of cake when this picture was snapped??  This was also back when I had ankles...

Shower #4 was a fun, relaxed Simple Focus dinner and shower hosted by Casey and Laura.  Laura went to culinary school, so I knew the food was going to be awesome:

Shower #5 was a total surprise.  JD is on the board of the Memphis chapter of the AIGA.  One night, while attending a board meeting, the other members surprised him baby gifts and treats!  After spending the evening organizing the nursery with my mother, JD showed up with cupcakes and books from the shower.  If only he'd get on those thank you notes - hint, hint...


I honestly thought that I'd be one of those glowing mommas who would post a baby bump picture every week, but I am convinced that those are the type of women who have Pinterest boards, totally organized nurseries by 30 weeks and make their own fabulous burp cloths.  Sorry, kid, your mom won't be crafty.

41 Week Update:

BABY STATS

How far along: I am in my 41st week - you can tell by how tired I look! Maybe wearing makeup would help...


How big is baby: The doctor thinks the baby weighs somewhere between six and seven pounds.


Total weight gain:  I am up to twelve pounds gained.  I was holding steady for a few weeks at six pounds, but I am hoping the baby gained those extra pounds and not me!


Maternity clothes: Maternity clothes to work and out with friends.  Regular clothes for everything else.


Sleep: I am finding that I fall asleep fast, but don't stay asleep.  My sinuses have been bothering me, so I'll usually gravitate towards JD's recliner in the middle of the night if I am having too much trouble breathing.  JD has been trying to come up with the right pillow combo so I can sleep in the bed propped up, but it seems unnatural to me to try to sleep that way.


Best moment of the week: Scheduling the induction.  Which was also the worst moment of the week.  I am excited to know that there is an end in sight (being induced on Wednesday, March 13th), but extremely disappointed that this baby won't come on its own.  There has been very little progress these past few weeks.


Food cravings:  Starting to crave more sweets - no wonder I went from only gaining three pounds to packing on seven more pounds in seven weeks.


Food aversions:  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Just my usual texture weirdness.


Symptoms:  Swelling ankles - it's not pretty either.  So much so that I think Buddy got scared when he saw them.  I only let myself view my ankles in the morning.  The doctor assures me this will go away after delivery.


Movements: The baby has slowed down a bit on account of dropping further down to get ready for the big day.  It definitely feels more like a 'gut' and less like a baby bump.  The lower position does allow the baby to get in some painful jabs while I attempt to sleep.


Gender:  Unknown - waiting until the big day!


What I am looking forward to: This being over.  Getting my ankles back.  Being the only person occupying my body.  Take your pick.


What I miss:  Pants with zippers.  Tying my shoes without having to sit in a chair first.  Running.  Sweating when I work out.


Next appointment: We went in today for the 41 week check-up.  I used to think I was 'lucky' because I was so tall and the baby didn't poke out as much because it had more room to grow, now I am realizing that translates into a longer gestational period because it has plenty of room to hang out!  Not cool at all...we are headed to the hospital on Wednesday at 4 a.m. to evict him or her.