Hello pacifier, welcome to our family!

Thank God for pacifiers! Whoever invented the pacifier should be given an award.

As you can see, Mallory has discoverd the pacifier, and she loves it (and WE LOVE IT TOO). We lasted 3 weeks before introducing it. : )

This picture is hilarious...Mallory looks like she's about to rob someone!

Mallory's first bath...better than expected

Mallory's first bath went better than expected. I was kind of dreading this experience because I thought she'd scream and cry the whole time. It actually went much better than I expected...especially since I had no idea what I was doing. It was a first for BOTH of us!

During her second bath, she puked in the water. It was pretty gross, but we managed to get through it...

Our precious babay

Here are a couple more pictures of our tiny bundle of joy. We can't help but take pictures of her all day long. She's perfect!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a first...it's Mother's Day, and I'M A MOM!!! It's kind of strange being on the receiving end. It was a very special day. Andy bought me a "loving mother" necklace and Mallory was dedicated at church today. Here's our first family photo.

Oh yeah, and Happy Mother's Day to MY mom too!

The Proud Father

Here is a picture of the proud father. I love this picture of Andy and Mallory!
We're going to be just fine....

Our first night at home...Andy, that's a pillow, NOT Mallory!!

Wednesday, April 23rd, was our first night at home. During the night, Mallory started crying, so Andy took her out of the bassinet and laid her beside him. He fell asleep and rolled over to his side, so I woke him up and told him to put Mallory back in the bassinet. He got up and grabbed the little red pillow he sleeps with...he literally scooped it up and gently placed IT in the bassinet instead of Mallory! "Andy, that's your pillow...Mallory is still in the bed!"

A sign of true exhaustion.
I guess I didn't realize how tired Andy was too!

It was meant to be...our labor story

I started having contractions at 11:30pm on Sunday night (April 20th). I remember telling Andy my back ached and he mentioned they could be contractions. I dismissed his comment as absurd and went to bed. Then, the contractions began (how is he always right??). We were SO excited when we realized what was happening. We grabbed our "What to Expect" book and read through it to make sure we really were beginning the first stages of labor. We then grabbed our stop watch and began timing contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. The book suggested we go back to sleep in order to get some rest before the "big day." YEAH RIGHT! This was worse than waiting for Santa Clause...there was NO way we were going to get any sleep. We were too excited!

I called Dr Moore's office around 8:30 that morning to report that I was in labor. They informed me that Dr Moore was off that day, so someone else would be delivering my baby. I was disappointed, but what can you do?!? The contractions continued until about 9:30 am on Monday morning, when I told Andy we needed to head to the hospital. I tried to wait as long as I could because the last thing I wanted was to be one of those people who shows up at the hospital in false labor.

Well, that wasn't an issue. When we showed up, I was so lucky to find my friend Susan Johnson (who only works 2 days a week) happened to be working that day. It was SO great to have someone I was comfortable with by my side as my nurse. Thank goodness she was working that day!

By now, I was already 4 centimeters dilated, so they went on and gave me my epidural (which was a breeze, by the way). I got the epidural around 10:30 and little Mallory entered the world about 3 hours later.

Dr. Moore WAS off work that day, but she happened to run into Ann Watson (my boss' wife) at the park. Ann asked Dr. Moore if she had talked to me. Dr. Moore said, "No. Why?" When Ann told Dr Moore I was in labor she dropped everything and rushed to the hospital so she could deliver the baby! She arrived just in time. I had already pushed a few times when she came running into the delivery room. Dr. Moore noticed the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and her heart rate had dropped for several minutes, so she had to get Mallory out FAST. Within seconds she had vacuumed little Mallory out into this bright new world. Because Dr Moore reacted quickly, Mallory was OK. She came out kicking and screaming (I would be too with all that was going on). I am SO thankful Dr Moore was there to handle the delivery for me!

It was meant to be...