She's 1 week old!

Today Mackenzy is 1 week old! This week has been a roller coaster ride, but we're getting through it beautifully. She is an amazing baby and although she has her days and nights a little mixed up, she's very easy to read and easy to soothe.

I've been feeling pretty good. I'm still a little sore at times and I can tell my body is using muscles I haven't used in months, but I can tell I get a little stronger each day. I have had one of our mothers with me just about every day when Ray leaves for work and they have been amazing. My mom has been doing the cooking and his mom has been tending to her while I take a nap/shower/have a baby free moment. I'm so thankful for a wonderful support system and this week would not have gone as smoothly without them.

After much research on baby carriers, I decided to purchase a Moby Wrap (http://www.mobywrap.com/) and she absolutely loves it! I put her in there at least once a day and it enables me to get some stuff done since I have 2 hands!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to convince Ray to wear the Moby Wrap, but he likes the Infantino baby carrier better so that works. Little bit is so small so we decided to wait a little bit before we use that carrier on her, but we had to give it a try!

If you come to our house during the day, this is most likely the sleepy face you'll see! She's a little confused about night and day and although I wake her up every 3 hours to feed her, she'll go right back to sleep...

Here she is again sleeping in the co-sleeper. It's been amazing to have her right next to me on the side of the bed. If she wakes up crying or I have to wake her up to feed her, she's just an arms reach away. I highly recommend this bed!

And of course... what kind of parents would be be if we didn't document the 1st bath at home. Ray gave her the bath because he was in the nursery when they gave her one in the hospital and knew what to do. She definitely does not like being washed, but she loves having her hair washed. It took 2 of us to wash her and we got water all over the floor, but at least she's clean!

Below is my attempt to document Mackenzy with her eyes open and cracking a bit of a smile. Most people don't get to see her pretty eyes because she sleeps during the day!

Our Beautiful Little Girl

I'm here! 6lb 11oz and 20.5 inches long! She's our little bit!

Proud daddy holding her for the 1st time

Proud Nana already spoiling her!

Proud MamaRita admiring her granddaughter!

Hey Grandad! Can I borrow $20?

Great Grandmother Mary Stewart

It's amazing how you can love someone you just met so much...

Hey I kinda like this bouncy seat thing! Or maybe I just have gas!

Baby Mackenzy Has Arrived!

Baby Mackenzy Star Cheek has arrived! She was born 9/19/09, weighs 6lbs 11oz, and is 20.5 inches long!

I had a suspicion that my water had broken on Friday night and when I called the midwife on call she advised me that I could come in for testing to see if that was true. I decided to weight it out a little bit because she said that if my water had broken I would probably go in to labor within 24 hours and the hospital copay is kind of steep! We wanted to make sure I was going to be admitted before we made any quick decisions.

Around 2:30am on Saturday morning, I woke up and was having some mild pain with my contractions, which was a new feeling. I decided to start timing them and over the course of 2 hours they went from about 13 min apart to 6 minutes apart! So I decided to wake my sleeping husband and we headed over to the hospital. After I was admitted, it was confirmed that I was 4-5cm dilated and that my water had indeed broken the previous day. I was in my hospital room around 7:30 am requesting an epidural that almost came to late! Around 10:15 I had an urge to push and after checking me they realized that I was 10cm and told me that I could push. I pushed for about 20 minutes and Mackenzy popped out around 10:45 am! My labor and delivery has been the talk of the hospital all weekend and I feel blessed to have such a beautiful little girl!

I'll post pictures as soon as I get a free moment!

38 weeks and still pregnant...

***UPDATE: I went to see my midwife today and I am still about 1-2 cm dialated, but I am now 90% effaced! She doesn't think I'll make it to my due date so hopefully Mackenzy will be here soon! My blood pressure and weight were excellent and I have another appointment next week which will hopefully be my last...

Well folks, I'm 38 weeks pregnant and Mackenzy is still in there! I've become very uncomfortable and I have a lovely waddle because my lower abdomen and pelvis are very painful. I've been having contractions, but they aren't regular or getting stronger, but I hope they are still doing their job. Today I went for a long walk with my dog in hopes that it would help me go in to labor, but he just wanted to sit down on the concrete every 5 seconds! Such a lazy dog!

I go back to see my midwife on Wednesday and hopefully she'll tell me I've dialated some more. I've been pregnant for 9.5 months and it's definately time for her to come out...

38 weeks, 2 days

Update

I went to my appointment today which took forever but it was very eventful! My cervix is 1.5 cm dilated (open) and 75% effaced (thinned) which means that I could go in to labor at any point. It also means that she could be stubborn and stay in there for a few more weeks! Either way, Mackenzy is head down and heading towards the light and my body is preparing for her.

I also found out that I tested positive for Group B Strep which means that I'll have to have an IV with antibiotics during labor, but she assured me that that was no big deal.

Maternity Pictures and a Crib!

Hi Everyone! This weekend I took my maternity pictures, and I had a wonderful time posing for the camera and documenting my final weeks of pregnancy! After the session I had over 31 pictures and various styles to choose from and although I wanted to buy them all, I realized that we'll be back in the studio to take pictures with Baby Mackenzy in a few weeks! Below are just a few of my favorite poses...

We also bought the crib this weekend. That was our excitement on Saturday night! Fitting a crib and a mattress in the back of a Camry was a challenge, but we got home with the help of some string holding the trunk closed! Ray put the crib together while Nicholas and I watched and I think it turned out pretty well! All we need is our baby girl here so she can test it out!

37 weeks and Full Term!

We've finally made it! Mackenzy is full term and she could come at any point! I'm 37 weeks and 1 day and waddling along. I've been feeling pretty good this week. Other than the usual swelling, back pain, and pelvic pain things are going really well. I can finally tell that my belly is slightly lower, but luckily I'm not going to the bathroom any more than I have been so far! Even though people have been telling me that "I've dropped" since 28 weeks, the mom's have said it so it must be true! I believe she is looking for the light and hopefully she'll find it on or before my due date in 3 weeks!

"Go in to the light Mackenzy!"