Grace's birth story

Grace Elizabeth Wallace 10 lbs | 21 1/4 inches long born on 1/7/16 at 12:25 pm

On Monday January 4th, my due date- the day we'd been looking forward to for so long, I went into my 40 week appointment. Still only 1cm dilated for the 3rd week in a row, and no sign of Grace coming on her own anytime soon. Dr. Groves and I decided to be induced on 1/7. I would have waited longer to let her come on her own rather than to be induced, and honestly hated the thought of being induced, but with 3 ultrasounds having her measuring in the 90th percentiles, I wanted to reduce my chance of having to have a c-section because of her size. Dr. Groves scheduled me to admit at the hospital at 12 pm on 1/6, start cytotec to help me to dilate at 2pm, then we'd start the pictocin to induce me at 3am on 1/7.  On Wednesday morning my mom and my sister drove in town. They came with Larry and I to ihop to have my "last meal" as we were calling it since I wouldn't be able to eat anything after checking into the hospital. My last bump picture! At noon we checked into the hospital and things were pretty low key. That night, Larry and I fell asleep to watching Nurse Jackie on Netflix on my laptop. I couldn't really sleep well in the hospital bed with an IV,but I tried. At 3 am the nurse came in and started the Pictocin. I started feeling contractions not long after that. At 4:30am Larry was laying in the hospital bed with me when my water broke. I remember telling him "ummm you may want to get up, I think my water broke." He quickly jumped out and then I felt the gush of water... "Yepp it definitely broke!" Larry called both our moms to let them know to make their way back to the hospital. I shed a few tears because it was finally real we were so so close to meeting Grace.

One pro to getting induced- hair and makeup done!

 I remember contractions starting to get bad not long after that. They weren't bad enough to ask for an epidural yet though so I requested some pain meds. I don't remember what they gave me but if definitely helped... It also made me hallucinate! Lol! Everyone thought I was sleeping but I could hear everything they were saying and in my mind I was seeing cartoons. Imagine the scene in Dumbo where Dumbo gets drunk. That's what my mind looked like.

 When the pain meds wore off, contractions became extremely painful. I had quite a few people in the room at that point and I had to ask them all to leave (except Larry of course). It was time for the epidural.

The anesthesiologist came in to administer it and it really didn't hurt at all. I barely felt it to be honest. After all of the shots I had to receive for IVF, I have a very high tolerance for needles I suppose. After that, it was smooth sailing. I barely felt anything, and time seemed to pass by pretty quickly.

 At 11, the nurse came in to check me and I was 7cm dilated. She came back right before noon, and she said we were ready! She had me do some practice pushes then called Dr. Groves in. While waiting on him, she had me do a few more practice pushes. She then said, "well, she's got dark hair!" Everyone's face in the room was shocked! Larry and I's hair is both darker now, but we were both blonde babies!

 Dr. Groves seemed to take his time getting his gloves on and what not, I was scared she's end up falling out!! As I started pushing, I couldn't help but to smile. My dream was coming true. I was finally going to be a mommy! One of the nurses must have thought I was trying to smile for pictures because she told me "you don't have to smile!"

 At 12:25 my baby girl was born and placed on my chest. It was a moment of pure bliss! She was the most beautiful thingI've ever seen!

Grace Elizabeth - 1 month

On Sunday, our sweet baby girl made 1 month old already!! Yes, I am posting her 1 month update before posting her birth story. But hey, give me a break, I have a baby now and her birth story is a long one... or at least I'm making it long because I want to remember each and every detail. It will be up soon though.

Weight/Height: 11 lbs, 22 inches long [95th percentile for weight, 90th for height] Likes: diaper changes, being sang to, Christian music, riding in the car (falls asleep instantly), being rocked, eating (I call her Piglet), looking around, her pacifier (mama calls it a nu-nu, daddy calls it pappy),laying on her changing pad (no idea why but she smiles a ton when I put her on it!) Dislikes: getting put into her car seat, dirty diapers, hiccups Wears: 0-3 months (I squeezed her into newborn for 2 weeks) First Outing: Panera Bread and Target First Intentional Smile: January 27th Farts like daddy... Seriously, she farts like a man. She's often called Tooter. Punches her arms when she's mad  Makes the funniest faces in her sleep.

What Mama has learned: Things no longer go my way or as I schedule them. I no longer eat when I'm hungry or pee when I have to. My baby girl is always put first and I'm second. I've learned that being a mama and specifically breast feeding is the most selfless thing you can do. When you become a mom, you will always put your child before you no matter what. And I wouldn't change it for the world. This month has been one of the toughest, yet the most rewarding. I love being her mama!

39&40 weeks

{40 weeks}

Well today is the day I've been looking forward to for long, it's officially my due date! Little Miss Grace already wants to be like her mommy and be overdue (I came a whole 10 days late). I went to my last appointment today and we have a plan. So if Grace decides not to come before then, I'm going in Wednesday at noon to be induced. I'm still praying, wishing, and hoping though that she'll come on her own before then. I just wish my body would go into labor on it's own. Nevertheless this is for sure the week we'll meet our baby girl!!

So this week, I figured I'd change it up a bit, because the answers to my little questionnaire are getting a little bit monotonous.


Things I'll miss about being pregnant:

-the built in personal table
-feeling all her kicks and movements throughout the day
-being able to wear leggings as pants with no shame
-shamelessly eating whatever sweets I want
-my beautiful baby bump
-staring at my belly watching her move around
-being told I'm so cute ;)

Things I won't miss about being pregnant:

-my limited wardrobe
-not being able to bend over
-people telling me not lift things or stand on stools and small latters
-not being able to get comfortable when sleeping or even just sitting on the couch
-people always asking how I feel (I know it's just that they care!)

37 weeks

How far along?  37 weeks + 2 days

Baby is the size of a: Watermelon a baby

Total weight gain: 25 lbs, unsure of anymore

Sleep: A little better than last week. Back to waking up 2-3 times a night though.

Movement: She's just as active as ever. 

Labor Symptoms: I started having Braxton hicks contractions. We'll find out Friday if any dilation. 

Thoughts: Last week I said I was ready, but this week I'm even more ready. Also, way too tired to write much more this week. ;)

Looking forward to: Having this baby girl!

maternity pictures

3D ultrasound

We did our 3D ultrasound around 30/31 weeks, but I'm just getting around to post about it!

We didn't get the best pictures of Grace because she was snuggled up with her face so close to the placenta, so it was making the picture blurry. But from what we could see, everyone agreed that we have a mini-me! She's for sure got my cheeks and nose and maybe even lips too! She's absolutely adorable already and I just can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks!

Another thing we found out was that this girl is measuring pretty big... like 90th percentile big. Her weight measured at approximately 4.9 lbs already (they say it can give or take a lb, it's obviously just an estimate). Regardless if the ultrasound tech was a little off, she's obviously no where near going to be a small baby. I was somewhat shocked to see that she's measuring big because throughout my pregnancy, everyone has commented on how small my belly is, and everyone has said how I'll have a tiny baby. But on the other hand, big babies run in my family, so I really shouldn't be shocked!

what's in a name?

Grace: The unmerited, undeserving favor of God
The story of Grace's name starts out pretty funny... when Larry and I first started dating, he liked the name Grace for a girl. I, however, could only think of Grace from The Secret Life of the American Teenager, the annoying little Christian girl. It was not a name I ever thought I'd name my little girl, maybe for a middle name, but definitely not a first name. 
As our engagement came and talk about children and how we'd be able to conceive, we talked more about baby names. Larry still loved the name Grace. He felt that God placed it on his heart to have a girl named Grace. For a while, I was still pretty against it. But one day, we went to a special service at church where John Bevere preached. It was all about how by God's grace, we can do anything. That was the point where Larry and I agreed, if it was by God's grace that we could have a child, we would name her Grace (well if it was girl). 
When we found out we were expecting, Grace was of course our first name on the list. Many people tried to change our minds, tried to give us names to go with Grace as a middle name, but we weren't budging. This was our Grace from the start and we knew it. I'm glad we stuck with it too, because I just feel like her name was meant to be for her. And even though she's not here yet, I can already tell it suits her.