First Week Photo Update

I cannot believe it has already been a week!  It has been the fastest week of our lives and we have had so much fun getting to know this guy.  Here is a photo packed update from week one.

Grady met big puppy sister Bella who is absolutely amazing with him, a little to my surprise and much to my delight!

We were all spoiled with the help of Kim.  She swooped in like a little angel cooking meals, doing laundry, lending a hand, and giving Grady lots of extra snuggles.  We were SO GRATEFUL for her help and so happy that Grady got in 4 full days of grandma loving.

Another grandma stopped by with the most awesome gift for Grady.  Robin has a tradition of making a quilt for each grandbaby and this time around she refused to give it to us until we told her his name, which she embroidered on the alligator.  It is the most beautiful quilt ever and just so special!!!!  Thank you Robin!

Grandpa snuck some cuddles in too!

Chris took the week off and we found ourselves creating new family traditions like evenings on the porch and nighttime walks.   I might lose it tomorrow morning when we say goodbye to him in the morning.

We cannot really tell who the little man looks more like, but we've decided that he definitely has his dad's feet, big toe and all. 

Grady met his first girlfriend Kennedy, daughter of friends Ty and Leah born June 23rd.  Grady has a bit to catch up on in the hair category. 

We've been enjoying the warm summer evenings outside as we poke and prod Grady for the two hours before bedtime trying to readjust his days and nights.  I will proudly say that this little man only woke up once last night! Woooo hoooo Grady!  I know every night won't be like that, but I will celebrate that victory.

And we've all spent time cuddling with Grady under his big orange G making sure to absorb this special time as much as we can.

We are so blessed.  Tonight we celebrate 6 years of marriage and Grady gets his first Gradysitter. 

Grady is here!

Hello world!!!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our son Grady Christopher Johnson!  Apparently this little man loves the Olympics as much as his mama and didn't want to miss any of the action.  He was born at 6:54pm on July 29th and weighed in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. We are so in love!

39 weeks! The end.

Little stinker came 5 days early.

Right before leaving for the hospital.

Here are some pics from Grady's first 24 hours.  I will hold off on posting the other several hundred pics (only a slight exageration) I've taken since we got home for now and will post them in the next couple of days.

Going home!

Mainly for my own purposes, here is the summary of Grady's birth.

On Saturday night after watching Lochte win gold, we showered and got ready for bed around 11:00 o'clock.  Chris was already in bed when I notified him that "uhhhh, I think my water just broke." We headed to the hospital and were checked into our room by 2:00 a.m.  Upon check in, I was also re-informed by the nurse how small my pelvis is and the likelihood of a delivery by C-section, a reality that I'd come to accept. Something was in the air in Boise because I was the 8th woman who checked in to labor and delivery that night whose water had broken, but hadn't gone in to active labor.  To give perspective, the hospital delivers around 120 babies per month so 8 in one night is a ton and only 8-10% of women have their water break before they go in to labor.

The hospital was short staffed to be able to handle the volume of women that night and so we sat without contractions until 10:30 a.m., when the nursing ratio was at a point where they could give me Pitocin to start contractions.  Once the Pitocin was administered, my contractions came hard and fast.  We seemed to shock our nurses when 2 hours later I was dilated to a 6 and half hour later was at an 8 when I was given the heaven sent epidural (power to the mamas who go all natural, but I am not one of them).  Thank goodness for the epidural because when I reached a 10 within that hour, they made the decision that my best chance of avoiding a C-section was to let my body "labor down".  Laboring down is the process of letting a woman's body try to work a baby through the pelvis on its own when she is otherwise ready to start actively pushing.  So again, there we sat for 3 and a half hours.  Again, I praise whoever invented the epidural because I would not want to have endured that without pain management. 

Finally, we were given the green light to try to push. Things were going well until little G-man's heart rate began to drop with each contraction.  I could tell our nurse was beginning to become alarmed and the next thing I knew 7 nurses and Dr.'s were in the room (remember this is with the short staffing).  At that point I knew they wanted the baby out and wanted him out fast.  They told us that they would try to use a vacuum to assist with labor and that I had two contractions to get him out or else they'd have to do a C-section.  So through tears and prayers and a little help from modern technology,  I avoided a C-Section by the narrowest of margins.  I joke that Grady was born vacuum sealed and kissed by an angel (the mark on his forehead is called an angel kiss - also referred to as a stork bite when it is on the back of the neck).  Our little man had a round yamaka looking bruise on his head, but otherwise came out of his traumatic birth just fine and we couldn't be more grateful.  When they put him on my chest, I totally lost it.  I couldn't believe that he was finally here and Chris proudly announced his name to the nurses, "Grady Christopher Johnson." 

Through it all, Chris was the best support person that a person could ask for.  Our marriage is different, it is better.  Becoming parents has certainly changed things on its own, but going through the process of labor with all of its ups and downs together as a team changed our relationship in a profound way. 

Murphy Wedding!

I am late in posting this, but I'd be sad not to be able to highlight the wedding of my college roommate and dear friend Lisa. I had to steal photos from various folks (thanks again Stace). About a month ago, I had the opportunity to be a bridesmaid in one of the most beautiful and unique weddings ever. Lisa's sweetheart is a pilot and they were fittingly married in an a airplane hanger with John flying all of the groomsmen in. Their eye for design turned this hanger into quite the awesome setting!

801 girls!!

2012 801 mamma baby bump!

2011 & 2012 801 mammas (sans Tara)!

The wedding was beautiful and overflowing with love, friendship and happiness.  It was so much fun to celebrate with Lisa and John and I was so happy that I could be a part of it all, even if I ruined some wedding photos with what I affectionately referred to as "being the big blueberry." Congratulations you guys, you could not have had a better wedding!

The photographers had a photobooth like set-up, but it was even cooler than other's I've seen.

So much fun!

Belly Shots

I was not inclined to get any maternity photos at all.  I am not one of those people who feels attractive in my body of late and I figured if I ever really wanted to remember what I looked like pregnant, I have this blog that I can look at anytime.  On a whim when I found out that I would have some spare time before bridesmaid time kicked in on our trip to L.A., I asked my dear friend and wonderful photographer Stacy if she'd mind snapping some shots of us. 

We hadn't planned for it ahead of time so we pulled out things from our suitcase without much thought and headed down to the beach by our hotel.  In broad sunlight and with awkward subjects, Stace made her magic work.  I am so grateful to have these pictures to document this time in our lives.  I am also so grateful to our dear friend who took time from her vacation on a spur of a moment request by us. She gave us a great gift by sharing her talents with us and I am so glad that we did it.

Stacy lives in the Bay Area and does a beautiful job documenting families in a very natural way.  Her photography blog and personal blogs are linked on the right hand side of this blog. Check out her beautiful photos and darling little boy.  THANK YOU AGAIN STACE!

This little boy will be here soon!