Sleeping Beauty

Yesterday Leah was starting to get tired earlier than normal so I decided to get her ready for bed. I bathed her, we had some mommy & daughter time,  and I fed her.

Normally Leah will go to bed around 9:30-10:00 at night, but she was so tired that she fell asleep at 8:45. Usually she wakes around 6:00-6:30 in the morning to eat on days that I have to go to work, but since I didn't have to work the next day and she didn't wake to feed, I decided to let her sleep through and skip the feeding.........

6:30 came and went. At 7:30, I wasn't too concerned. At 8:30, I had my ear against the monitor hoping to hear something but didn't, so I went to check on her to make sure everything was okay. By 9:30, I was in a LOT of pain (you moms know what I'm talking about when you skip a feeding or in this case two!) and was getting worried that she was hungry, but told myself not to wake her because if she was hungry she would wake herself...it wasn't until 11:00 o'clock that I FINALLY had to WAKE HER UP...she was still asleep! She might have slept all day for all I know, but being the concerned mom that I am, I felt that I had to wake her up so she can eat. Leah slept a whopping 13 hours straight! Can you believe it?

THEN....a whole hour and a half later she lets out a huge yawn while we were playing...I couldn't BELIEVE that she was tired already. Leah slept another 3 hours! What a sleepy head :)

I thought for sure that I would have a hard time putting her to bed tonight, but she was tired and went to bed at 9:00 PM. She must be growing! LOL

Leah, Cody, and Chris in front of our Christmas tree

Leah at work

I was at work today and I get this text message from Chris that reads "I'm helping daddy" with this picture :) hehe...isn't she so darn cute!

Leah's First Christmas Tree

After spending 20 minutes stuffing Leah into her snowsuit we were finally on our way to cut down our Christmas tree. Once we got there it was bitterly cold and over a foot of snow. It took us a good while to find our tree whereas years past it never took us long...it was probably because it was Leah's first tree and we had to find the perfect tree :).

We ended up going far from the beaten track and trekking through over a foot of fresh snow to find a decent tree and once we found it, poor Chris had to drag the tree all by himself since I was carry Leah (and Chris wanted to bring Cody, our dog). The farm has a nice petting zoo and a store with fudge, hot cider, and other yummy treats, but we didn't go in since Leah slept the WHOLE time!

Leah's all ready for her big day :)

Thank you Grandpa & Grandma Cindy for my snowsuit, it kept me nice and warm!

Chris took this picture of Leah while waiting for me in the car

This would've been a nice picture if Chris was patient and waited another second :) haha

Leah had her 4 month checkup today

Chris took this picture of Leah and me while

we were waiting for Leah's doctor to come in.

Leah had her 4 month checkup and another round of shots today. Leah weighed 16 lb. 2 oz. (88th percentile) and was 26.5" long (97th percentile). 

Her doctor was very happy with the way she is growing and said that we can introduce solids whenever, which brought up my question of starting Leah on Avocados instead of rice cereal....I know it sounds crazy to some but here's my reasoning.

Avocados have a ton of nutrients, great for normal growth and development of the central nervous system and brain, is sodium and cholesterol free, do not require cooking, and is easy to mash and very creamy. I can go on and on about why I think avocados are a good first food for babies, but I won't bore you (too late LOL). The good news is that Leah's doctor does not have a problem with me starting her on Avocados :)

Anyway, we probably won't start her on solids until 6 months since research has shown that a baby who is breastfed exclusively for the first 5-6 months have a reduced chance of obesity, but of course that will all depend on when Leah is ready for solids. I personally would like to wait until 6 months, but if Leah is ready before that then of course we will introduce solids earlier. 

Picture Day

We had our first family portrait today and I guess you could say that it was very obvious that it was our first.

Our appointment was at 12:15 PM and we were there for hours! They only took about 12 pictures, but we had to choose the layouts for each picture that we liked, how many we wanted, the designs, etc. It was mind numbing!

Anyway, we should be getting the pictures back in about 2 weeks so hopefully it didn't turn out too bad.

Leah's First Babysitter

Well it happened...Leah was away from us for a little over 6 hours on November 20, 2008.

Chris had a big project on Tuesday and Wednesday so I worked Monday, and planned to work, Thursday and Friday to make up for the two days, but then Chris had appointments/meetings on Thursday that came up...ugh! I would've called in to work to let my boss know I wasn't going to come in, but I had a lot to do since my boss was going to be gone for a week and I had to prepare for our employee benefit meetings.

So, Auntie Frankie to the rescue :) 

She watched Leah for us and did an excellent job!

Not even a 1/2 hour later I get a text with this picture of Leah sound asleep (isn't she so cute). She slept 3 times in that 6 hour span...I guess you can say Leah was extremely comfortable with and at Auntie Frankie's. I bet it's because we see and go over there almost every week :D LOL.

Anyway, when Chris was done with his appointments, he went to pick up Leah and she was so happy to see daddy, but also very comfortable lying in her bed that Aunt Frankie made for her. Leah was just lying there content as can be :)

Thank you Frankie for watching Leah!

Back to work :(

Leah has been giggling, responding, and smiling a lot more lately. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. It seems like it was just yesterday when we found out that we were pregnant and finally expecting our first child. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for this precious gift and it amazes me how much love I have for her. There are days where I just look at her and can't believe that she's actually ours...she truly is a gift from God. Now speaking frankly, It also amazes me that God provided us, women, an ability to feed our young and give them the nutrients they need to grow and be healthy. I sometimes look at Leah and am just amazed that she is growing so wonderfully with just the milk that is produced by my body and have no need for any solid foods or formula at this point in her life...thank you God!

Anyway, I headed back to work on November 3 and I have to admit that it was extremely difficult and that I almost didn't even make it. I was extremely emotional that morning while I was feeding Leah and the poor girl was trenched in my tears, but thankfully she went back to bed and didn't seem to be bothered by the wetness of her hair. For those of you that don't already know, Chris watches Leah while I work 3 days out of the week. He is doing an excellent job with her, but of course our prayer is that God will make a way for me to stay home and take care of Leah, while Chris focuses on our business. Our biggest challenge at this point is that health insurance cost so much that it's extremely difficult for self-employed individuals to purchase insurance at a reasonable price.

No more mohawk

These pictures were taken with my cell phone. Leah's hair has finally grown out so we had to say "bye bye" to the mohawk. I know everyone's upset about it, but you all knew it had to go away sooner or later :) 

I took this picture over the weekend. Leah is wearing her new PJ's from Auntie Frankie :)

Cheeze! Here's my new hairdo...do you like?

Mommy, I don't know what to do with all these toys!

Leah's 3 months old

I am so sorry that I haven't had time to update the blog. Leah's been doing awesome!

Her last doctor visit was the beginning of October when she got her first round of vaccinations. Leah weighed 12 lbs. 15 oz. and was 23" long. Her doctor said she's doing absolutely wonderful and that she looks beautiful and healthy.

Ever since I started a bedtime routine, Leah's been sleeping through the night. The longest she has slept so far is 8.5 hours and that's only because I got nervous and woke her up :) 

New Leah Pics

Big Yawn!!

With Great Grandpa

Awww

"I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way!"

Drying off after her first "real" bath

With "Snowy Bear" the same bear Michelle had when she was born....he's aged well!

More pics

Well as you can imagine things have gotten quite busy at the Grosso household lately. I've heard there's been a lot of people from both coasts requesting more pictures...so here I am while I SHOULD be sleeping I'm taking the time to honor your request....

Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of a newborn with their eyes open? Gotta say though...mighty cute isn't she?!  

Ahh back to the closed eyes....Leah getting burped after a feeding.

Ok admittedly not the most exciting picture...but you really haven't seen the back of her head yet ;). Plus do you know how hard it is to edit videos with just one hand? You can tell by the look on my face I am concentrating hard on making money to keep this baby in diapers.

Ok so at this point all she'll do is eat, sleep and poop. How many pictures of her sleeping can you stand? You certainly don't want to see the pooping, and no you can't see the feeding!  We'll get more pics up soon....

Pictures of Leah

Here is the first ever picture take of Leah Victoria Grosso. This is just two minutes after she was born.  Michelle had requested that the baby be placed right on her right after the was born, this picture was taken seconds after the cord was cut.

She looks so huge in this picture! This is where Leah got officially weighed.  You can see the "8lbs 9oz." on the readout.

 She definatley has mommy's lips!                                           

                                                                                      

"From such pain so much joy"

Welcome Leah Victoria

After a long and painful 20 hours we could finally say hello to Leah. Michelle gave birth at 148am July 26 to a 8lb 9oz. 20.5" baby girl.

We're still at the hospital and I'll be sure to post pictures once we're home, everyone is ok and Leah is a very healthy and way to cute baby. Michelle had to put in some serious hours and didn't think she could do it after a series of "I can't do this anymore" but when it came time to actually push she rose to the occasion and she was now determined to get this baby out.

Her labor went so long because, while she was having many contractions throughout, they weren't doing much in the way of moving the baby. We decided to use Pitocin to help regulate the contractions after 15 hours. I need to point out that Michelle went into this not wanting any type of medication but in this case, after she wore herself out completely after 15 hours of pain we had to do something...so she had Nubain, which is a mild pain reliever to help her rest in between contractions. And make no mistake, there was still an unbelievable amount of pain but something in a mother's brain triggers when it's time to push that baby out.

20 minutes into pushing we could see....hair, lot's of it. The head was very visible after that point and with some more work (I can't remember exactly how long) the head came out...from there it wasn't too much more for Michelle to push out the shoulders and with some "easy pushes" (meaning the Dr. said "don't push as hard") the rest came out.

Immediately following the full body being out....within seconds...the baby was placed on Michelle's chest where she laid for about 10 minutes. I cut the cord and the baby let out the necessary cry then just rested herself on Michelle and was completely content.

After everyone agreed how cute the baby was we spent some time just holding her and watching her react to the new world around her. We got back to our room (we had to deliver in a different room) at 4am to get a nap...Michelle had to be back up at 5am (can you imagine!) with the nurse to feed etc. Michelle stay in the hospital until Monday to heal, but it's ok we have a private room and she can be with the baby 24 hours a day.

I'll be sure to post some pics ASAP. I'm sure Michelle will have her take on all this.....stay tuned...

One Step Forward...Two Steps Back

Well Michelle has fought as hard as she could. 945pm and we had to move to another room that would allow for medication. After nearly 15 hours of enduring pain I could never imagine she's just too worn out. We are both working on no sleep over the past few nights but she has to add to that the pain and exhaustion of labor.

So here's where we are:
1. Michelle needed to get an IV inserted because she had lost too many fluids

2. She literally couldn't stand the pain any more so she's on a pain reliever..the contractions were killing her and killing me to see her in a situation where none of us could control the outcome

3. She's going to be given a medication soon to quicken her contractions. While she was having big painful contractions they were sporadic.

The killer was that after 4 hours the Dr. checked her again at 800pm and she was still at 4cm. She hadn't budged. She was in no shape (from the pain) to deal with anything and we had a serious talk about our options and here we are. This all sucks right now but I know that the last post in this blog will make it all worth it.

So we are in for a long night...she will get to rest finally and hopefully the baby comes tonight but I've learned not to get my hopes up. Again the staff here are great and I can't wait to thank them all when this is over. Right now I just want this over and I'm not even the one going through all the pain.

Making Progress...

At 3:30pm MidWife came in and said Michelle is at 4cm dilation. This is good because she has been stuck at 1cm for just over a month. To help things along the midwife broke a "Waterbag" that was just in front of the baby's head. This has seemed to help move things along.

More contractions...more pain. Amazingly Michelle is still able to get through, her pain level has increased from a 3 to around 6 out of 10 (they keep asking her what level her pain is). Still she just closes her eyes and focuses, this makes my job much easier basically I just stare at her until she's done and say "all done"...wow what a help I am right? I'm guessing my crowning moment is yet to come...

The Water Breaks.....

At 5:30 this morning (EST for you Vancouver folks!) Michelle's water broke. Woken up after a full hour sleep I heard her from the other room (yes I was sleeping in the other room...ever try sleeping with a large itchy pregnant woman?) "Hun...it happened".

My first reaction was to strip the soiled sheets off the bed and put them in the washing machine...which I did. Supportive husband right! Anyway we called the Dr. and he told us to head right to the hospital. My biggest fear for the past 9 months was getting lost on the way to the hospital...I'm happy to say we made it...without my GPS!! After getting strapped to all the necessary monitoring equipment the next thing Michelle did was order an Omelette with everything...mushrooms, cheese, ham, green peppers, onions..the works. She obviously has her priorities straight. The food here is actually very good, not like typical hospital food....this is all very important to us!

It's 12:30pm now and Michelle is doing great. She's been having contractions but nothing really significant has happened yet, which is normal. I have to say it's amazing to watch her as a contraction hits, she is able to bear down and focus away the pain...it's hard to explain unless you see it but so far she is able to put the pain aside.

The staff here at St. Joe's have been great checking her every 30 minutes. Either way by 6am tomorrow morning we're walking out of here with a baby...got to go...Michelle's Caesar salad just came in.....

More later....

Keep praying!

Well it's Wednesday evening and still no sign of Leah *_*

We went to the doctors yesterday and it's the same news...1cm dilated and no contractions. Before the doctor left our exam room, she said to try eating eggplant parmesan as she heard that it may help with starting labor, so guess what we did...we went to an Italian restaurant for eggplant parmesan :D LOL

We've also been walking around the neighborhood hoping that gravity will help out, but nothing yet!

Our next appointment is Friday. Hopefully she'll come before then!

Still Nothing!

Well, it's Sunday night and still no Leah. Chris and I have been going for walks hoping that it'll help, but it doesn't seem to be helping at all!

I still have no contractions and feel very very uncomfortable. I never thought I would ever be sick of being pregnant, but everyone's right...the last month is the worst :(

Just waiting!

Well it's July 19th...my due date...and still no Leah!

I went to the doctor's yesterday and I'm still only 1cm dilated. I had a sono and the technician thinks she'll be about 7 lbs. 13 oz. (I guess she's getting fat and staying happy in there). The stress test sounded good with no sign of contractions :(

Well, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for Tuesday and Friday, if she doesn't come before then.

PLEASE PRAY THAT SHE COMES NATURALLY WITHIN THIS WEEK SO I WON'T HAVE TO BE INDUCED!

God help me :)