The New Life - Part II

Well, the first couple weeks seem to be a blur.  It is amazing how much our lives have changed for the better in such a short amount of time.  Morgan is keeping us busy and we have had lots of help from both of our families. She is really something else and I am so in awe of what an amazing blessing from God she is.  He consistently reminds me that he has big plans for our little girl.  We are already starting to see some of her personality.  She is quite a stinker and has the funniest facial expressions.  Morgan is so sweet but at the same time let's us know exactly what she is thinking! (Why doesn't that surprise me?)

Morgan had her two-week follow up appointment on Tuesday.  Right before that appointment, we had three really rough nights with her up crying and the doctor says she probably has colic.  She is up most hours of the night with the exception of last night!  She actually slept for 2 3-hour stretches and it was the most sleep I have gotten since we've come home. Jeremy and I take shifts during the night and realize that the colic won't last forever.  Our pediatrician was so impressed with how well she is eating and putting on weight.  She was 8 lb., 1 oz when she was born and was 7 lb. 5 oz at her 3 day follow up.  She had already gained back that weight and is over 9 pounds.  Dr. Henderson called her "Porky Peters" at one point during the appointment and said he was very pleased.  I'm sure she will really appreciate that one day.

Well, I have definitely fallen down on the job with not posting many pics this week.  Hopefully we will get some posted later today.

The New Life

We have been home for about 5 days, and ironically enough, last Friday was the original due date.  We have come a long way in a week.  This time last week, we were making sure the bags were packed and making sure Karin got enough to eat and drink before midnight.  Now we have our perfect little Morgan home and are getting used to our new life.

As you can probably tell, Karin is still letting me update the blog.  The funny thing is that Karin has opened her laptop once since we went to the hospital Monday morning. 

Things have been going well.  Morgan has been eating more and sleeping more.  Our moms have been spending the nights (one at a time), which has helped a lot, but I think we are starting to get into our routines. 

Here are some new pictures.  As you can see, Morgan has already changed a lot.  Check back for more updates.  I'm sure Karin will start writing at some point.  At which time the blog will become more informative and contain more of what you want to know. 

Home

Well we are home now.  Karin and Morgan are sleeping, I'm blogging.  Apparently we have collected quite a following.

Karin is feeling much better today.  She is walking and getting around a lot more.  Morgan is great too, although her progress is isolated to sleeping, eating, and pooping.  But I guess that is our lives for the coming months.

Karin hasn't approved this one, but its cute:

Well, I am micro-managing the timing of sleeping, feeding, changing, and taking meds.  So I better get back to it.  Check back for updates.

The Next Day

Well, it was a very interesting night.  Nurses coming in, what seemed like every other hour, and feedings all through the night.  Karin was in a lot of pain throughout the night.  The Vicadin did not work real well overnight. 

Today, Karin's doctor put her on some stronger pain killers, and they seem to be working very well.  This morning was very interesting.  We got about a dozen visits from what I have dubbed the "Cavalcade of Knowledge".  Apparently, St. Joseph's lines up experts of all sorts at your door to come tell you how to be a good parent and not injure your child.  This experts included the anesthesiologist, several people who claimed to be experts on breast feeding, the pediatrician, a photographer, and a woman who I think was trying to convince me that I may not be the father.  Needless to say, we were happy when people quit coming in.  The best part was about halfway through, they decided knocking was not needed.  That made things real interesting.

Karin is doing a lot better now on the new pain killers.  She is moving around a lot better, and was able to get quite a long nap in this afternoon.  I have not. 

Morgan is doing well.  She has been feeding regularly, and apparently we are the talk of the nursery because we have "3 poopy diapers and 1 peepee diaper".  This is a good thing, although I am thinking in about a week or so, I will fail to realize the value. 

If things continue to improve, we will probably be discharged tomorrow, and be back home.  I am looking forward to this, as my "home" now consist of an 18" wide by 6' long vinyl bench.

While my sense of humor has seemed to returned amid the hours of lost sleep, this has been an amazing experience.  All in all, everything has gone very well.  Karin has done a great job and is a terrific mother. 

Keep checking back for updates, and I will try to get some more pictures up soon.  (Karin has high standards for the quality of pictures posted to the world wide web.  Unfortunately, these standards are not widely available in a hospital, post-pardom environment.)

Pictures

Morgan's Here

Morgan Kathryn arrived today at 2:40 pm.  She is 8 lbs. 1.1 oz., 20.5".  She and Karin are doing very well. 

She is perfect, and we are both thrilled and extremely blessed. 

Pictures to come.

Waiting...

Well Karin is resting fairly well right now.  The epidural is helping a lot.  She is at 9.5 cm, and the nurse said she will start pushing pretty soon.  Check back for updates...

Here are some pics from earlier: 

Walking through nature

Well apparently we "really like" epidurals.  Karin is living the high life, and we are just waiting to start pushing.  Things are much better with the epidural. 

Epidural

Well, the epidural is in, and Karin is feeling much better.  Dr. thinks baby could be here real soon.  Check back for updates. 

At the Hospital

Well, we are at the hospital, checked in, and in the delivery room.  Karin just got start the IV and the Doctor is about to be here shortly.  Keep checking back for updates.

The Waiting Game

     Since our boring lives are about to become much more eventful with the upcoming arrival of our daughter Morgan, we decided it was finally time to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog.  Hopefully it will be a way for family and friends to keep up-to-date on our daily activities.  In the process, I'm sure it will provide lots of comic relief as I try to navigate this new realm called "Motherhood".

     Miss Morgan is definitely keeping us on our toes.  I have progressed quite a bit for 38 weeks and we have been told that she can come "any day now."  Those are difficult words to hear for a planner such as myself, but I know that God's timing is perfect and can't wait to see her beautiful face.  I keep telling myself that if my water breaks in the middle of Thanksgiving Dinner, it will make for a great story later on.  We do know that my doctor will induce on November 29th if she doesn't come before then.  So, we are very close!!!

     My pregnancy hasn't been horrible but I wouldn't say it has been uneventful.  I had to finish my full-time position at Central a month sooner because I was having some trouble with my heart beating too fast.  So far it hasn't been a major cause for concern but its something my doctor is keeping her eye on.  I have had morning sickness in the first and third trimesters and have had severe muscle spasms in the last few weeks.  At least I can say I'm getting the full experience but overall, things are going very well and ALL of Morgan's tests have come back fine.  We feel very blessed to await the arrival of our sweet little girl (and part-time kickboxer).

     We decided on the name Morgan because it was one of the very few names that Jeremy and I both really liked.  I also feel strongly about her having a name that works well for her when she is an adult also.  So, her name will be "Morgan Kathryn Peters".  "Kathryn" is the middle name of both of our mothers so we consider that to be very special.  Also, "Karin" and "Kathryn" are derived from the same Greek word which means "pure". 

 

     Throughout the pregnancy, Jeremy has been a huge help.  He has put up with lots of mood swings, my endless need to make lists and has even managed keep me calm through this process.  Right now, the nursery is done, all of our gear is put together and the bags are packed.   Stay posted as we'll hopefully have some news soon!

Here are some pics of her room:

This took longer than you'd think....but was worth it.