2 Week Check-Up

We have a beautiful, healthy baby girl!!!

At her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday - her 2 week check-up she weighed 7 lbs. 1.5 oz and is 19.5 inches long, which puts her at 20% for weight and 25% for height. Yep, she's little! But she started out little, so the fact that she is 5.5 oz. heavier than she was at birth is what's important and shows that she is a healthy girl. :)

On another random note: she found her thumb yesterday and has started sucking on it and it's SO CUTE!

Baby Love

My Absolute Favorite Moment of the Past Few Days
A few days ago I was standing in the kitchen when I heard Ryan start to whistle "Amazing Grace." He was holding and staring oh so lovingly at his baby girl while he hummed. Oh my! It was utterly heart-warming and a moment I will never ever forget!

Our First Trip Out
It was nice to finally get out of the house to go somewhere other than to the doctor either for me or Briella. All I wanted was to go to Payless and eat at Gandolfos, so we headed over to Vernal on Saturday. Briella is a champ in her carseat and pretty much slept the entire time other than when Ryan changed her diaper and when I fed her. So, we ended up going to Lowes, IFA, Gandolfos, the park to eat our yummy sandwiches, Kmart, and finally Payless.

It was the cutest thing, while I was in Gandolfos ordering our food, I noticed Ryan had moved to the back seat. So, I was worried that Briella was crying or hungry or whatnot, but when I got out there she was sleeping and he had gotten into the backseat just to keep her company. :) I'm pretty sure she already has him wrapped around her little finger! There's something special about a daddy-daughter relationship and I'm excited to watch it grow!

Once we made it to Payless, Ryan told me to take my time while he sat in the car with Briella, so that's just what I did. A little shoe shopping was just what I needed. :)

Pictures of our Precious Baby Girl!
We love her SO MUCH!

March 23 Edition of Being Thankful

Today, I am thankful...

• that we took Briella out for her first ride in her stroller yesterday evening. So much fun. :)
• for getting my appetite back. Mmmm...food. Ha ha.
• that it's the weekend and the weather is going to be beautiful for some outdoor fun.

March 22 Edition of Being Thankful

Today, I am thankful...

• to be a MOM!!! (yes, I thought I'd state the obvious. :))
• that I am finally feeling human again. :) After the last few days of feeling horrible and then discovering yesterday the reason why, I am feeling SO much better. Maybe now I can start to get into somewhat of a routine with Briella and feel more capable of takng care of her.
• for Ryan. I know I say that a lot, but this time I mean it in a whole new way. He has been my rock star ever since Briella was born. He has taken care of me and her in such an amazing way. I don't think I would have stayed even as sane I as did without him (and to tell you the truth there were times I thought I might lose it altogether).
• to be able to watch Ryan as a father, a daddy! A whole new side to him. He melts each time he sees her and whenever he is home he just wants to hold her. In his words, "I saw what she went through," meaning her birth and how traumatic it must have been. (It's a good thing that none of us remember being born. Ha!) She will definitely be a daddy's girl!
• for this beautiful weather. We may just have to break out the stroller and go for a walk later.

Briella Kai Roberts!

Briella Kai Roberts was born March 12, 2012 at 4:09 AM, weighing 6 lbs 12 oz and 19.5 inches long!

Briella means "God is my might" and Kai means "rejoice." As well, both of her grandmas' names start with the letters "Ka" and we wanted to honor them with a middle name beginning with those letters.

I do hope to write a more complete post about my birthing experience, but for now I just want to get these details down so I don't forget. Plus I like numbers, so this is fun for me. :)

I have to admit that things didn't go at all how I was hoping (all natural, unmedicated, etc.), but this is how my birthing experience went as told by numbers. And when all is said and done, Briella is here and all is good!

• 32 hours of total labor (back labor nonetheless. Yikes!)
• 11 hours of labor in the hospital
• 7 hours with an epidural
• 1 hour of pushing
• 3 attempts to get an IV in, including 3 different nurses. Apparently, I have tiny veins.
• 2 attempts to get an epidural in. Apparently, I was 1/10 cm away from being unable to have one.
• 2 times that I passed out following delivery
• 1 IV drip of glucose water following passing out
• 3 blood draws
• 1,000,000 stitches. Ha ha ha, not really, but seems like that. :)
• 1 AMAZING husband who massaged my back for hours to help with the incredibly intense back labor, plus much, much more. Could not have done it without him!
• 1 BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!

What an unbelievably amazing experience bringing new life into this world! Our lives are forever changed! We love you, Briella!

March 6 Edition of Being Thankful

So, it's been a while since I last wrote on here what I'm thankful for. Guess I just wasn't in the mood to write, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't thankful. :)

Anyway, I am thankful...

that baby girl will be here sometime soon! Not knowing when is so hard! But, I'm getting more and more excited. Had another dr appt today and all is going well and progressing, so could be any time (although I know statistically she will stay put until after her due date). Who knows. :) I'm currently dilated to 2+ cm.

for these warm, spring-like days. Even though we didn't have much of a winter, the warmer temperatures feel so nice.

for a wonderful, relaxing weekend. Somehow, they just go by too quickly. We played a little Xbox, drove over to Vernal for lunch and shopping, took the scenic route home, went skeet shooting (he did, I just hung out), watched some documentaries, and just plain ol hung out with each other. So great!