One Month (and not what we expected)

This past Friday (August 2nd), Grady turned one month old!  I have no clue where the time is going, but now I can understand a little more why everyone kept telling me that it would go fast.

We had our first doctor's appointment a week after Grady was born, and he was growing good and healthy! G behaved so well and was the perfect little patient.

Measurements @ 1 month

Height/Length:  21"

Weight:  8lbs 10oz

Here's a little about some of what Grady's been up to these past several weeks:

SLEEPING/TUMMY TIME


Over the past month, Grady has started to sleep a little better (on certain nights).  He's still waking up to eat every 2-4 hours, but we're adjusting much better now.  During the days, he is awake a little more these days and loves to make faces at mommy.  We still don't get the point of tummy time, because Grady tends to think that means nap time.  He will lift his head and try to move around for a little bit, and then get comfortable and pass out.

FAMILY TIME

Grady loves visits from his Gani and Denny and Grandma and Grandpa!  Over the past month he has also spent some time with all his cousins.  Emma Grace and Ella Raegan sure do love him and take such good care of their baby cousin; and Owen has come by a few times to kick it with G.  It is going to be so much fun watching all of them grow up together.

And of course we can't forget about Aunt Bridgett/Uncle Mat, Aunt Stephanie, and Aunt Kelli/Uncle Justin...he loves them, too.

We love bath time!

We love walks in our stroller!

First doctors visit

2am face

We took our newborn pictures! More to come...

Just chillaxin'

Meeting a potential future girlfriend...

Definition of cuteness!

Smiling at mommy

Bad Day

On Monday, July 29th, Grady started to run a low fever and wasn't acting like he felt very well.  We took him in to the pediatrician to get checked out, and were sent to Children's Hospital to be admitted.  Definitely not something we were expecting within the first month of being parents. 

When we arrived at Children's, they started to run tests to determine if an infection was causing the fever, and where that infection might be.  Because he was so young, they immediately started him on 2 antibiotics to help treat anything they may find.  We were told to expect to be there for at least 48 hours while the labs were being completed.  After 24 hours, they found bacteria growth in his urine and determined that he had a UTI.  Because they had found the infection, this meant that we would be in the hospital for 10 days for him to receive his antibiotics through an IV.

It wasn't the easiest 10 days, but after 3 days on the antibiotics, his fever went away, his appetite came back, and he was able to come off the constant fluids.  His mood started to improve, and he was back to our happy cute little man.  Unfortunately, since he's so small/young, the only way for him to get his antibiotics was through the iv, so we had to stay in the hospital until it was done.

The first 2 days we were here were very scary for Kevin and I, and it broke our heart to see him feeling like he was.  After we knew what was causing the fever, it made things a little easier, and it was definitely good to see him improving.  We are so blessed to have the family and friends that we do, because everyone has had such kind words to say.  We have had visitors and people bringing food, and TONS of prayers lifted up for this little one.  

While it wasn't the best way to start his second month of life, I'm very grateful that he is getting better and almost ready to head home!

We're 1 month old today!

Hey mama!

Feeling much better.

We had a visit from some clowns that gave us all a nose transplant.

Mommy's so silly

Aunt Stephie came to take care of me

Napping with daddy

Feeling well enough to sit up

Ready to head home!

Introducing the newest Finnen...

Grady Franklin Finnen

Born: Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at 5:13am

7lbs 1oz and 20.5" long

In June, Kevin and I had arranged with our doctor to induce labor on July 2^nd, and were scheduled to arrive at the hospital on Monday(July 1st) evening at 8pm to get settled into our room. 

Before heading to the hospital

On Monday, July 1^st, Kevin and I were packing up the car to head to the hospital in hopes of meeting our baby boy.  I had actually started having contractions around 3:30am, but they weren't very strong and were 15 minutes apart.  Closer to 5pm, the contractions got stronger and were slowly getting closer together so we decided to head to the hospital a little early.

Upon arrival, I was in a lot of pain with each contraction, but they were still only 8 minutes apart.  After we got in our room, the nurse (Tammy) came in to hook me up to all of the monitors and to start my IV.  I was given some pain medication (that honestly did nothing for me, and probably doesn't help much for any woman in labor).  I wasn't dilating as fast as I (or any woman) had hoped and just knew that it was going to be a very long night.  Around 12am, I still wasn't dilated past 1.5cm, but was hurting so bad that they went ahead and started my epidural and small dose of Pitocin. That sure helped!

At 3:30am, I told Kevin to wake up because we were at 6cm (I’ve never seen him move that quick after waking up).  He called and texted family to let them know that we would be having a baby soon (hopefully).  Everyone started arriving at the hospital around 4:30am, just in time for us to tell them that we were at 10cm and ready to have this baby!  The nurse asked the fam to go to the waiting room, and we would let them know when Grady had arrived.

By 5:13am, 25 minutes after we started to push, Grady let out a little cry and was being passed to Kevin and me to hold.  Everything went so fast and I can’t even explain the emotions running through me at the time.  Once they had him all checked out and told us that we had a healthy baby, I told Kevin to grab my makeup bag and hair brush so I could freshen up before the crowd flooded into our room (priorities, healthy baby…check; fix the hot mess going on with my hair…).

Before

After (Bring 'em in)

The next few days/weeks were full of visits from family and friends coming to meet the baby.  We had some wonderful meals delivered to our house from our amazing church family at Hoover Church of Christ.  Kevin and I are so very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, and God added to our abundant blessings by giving us Grady.  

Below are a few pictures of the newest member of our family.  He's so perfect, and we just can't get enough of his sweet face.

Daddy rocking Grady

 

Mommy and Grady

Nap Time with Daddy

Talking with Daddy

Helping daddy on the computer

First Family Photo

Happy 4th of July! We're going home!

Grady likes to watch TV with Daddy

On the left is Kevin at 8 weeks old, and Grady at 3 weeks is on the right.  Somebody looks a lot like their daddy!

Our Family is Growing!

Well, it seems that I have a reason to blog again.  I guess I've had a reason for the past several months; however, I get busy with other things, and that leads to my inconsistent blog posts.  I digress...

If you don't already know, Kevin and I are very happy to announce that we will be expecting Baby Finnen this July! We are currently at 24 weeks and knee deep in all the baby preparations.  Now, I'm going to attempt to go back and recap the past 5 months.

October 24, 2012 - This is one of the happiest days of my life, because it's the day we took an at home test that showed 2 pink lines!  We took another 2-3 tests for safe measure, and then were so excited to call the doctor and set up our first official appointment!  (BONUS:  we had just found out a few weeks earlier that my sister and her husband were expecting, so this put our babies being only 5 weeks apart)

Barely there....we just stared at each other confused when we saw this.

So we tried another brand, and this one was MUCH more clear. (I guess they chose their name appropriately.)

November 2012 - We decided after a few weeks of keeping this secret to ourselves that it was time to tell the family.  For starters we wanted to just tell our immediate families and wait until 12 weeks (around Christmas) to tell the rest of the aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We told Kevin's family first.  Our niece, Emma Grace (2 yrs old) was a little confused when I kept telling her that I was going to have a baby.  She kept thinking it was her baby.  She will figure it out soon enough.  Next, was my family.  My parents were a little on the shocked side, because just 4 weeks earlier my sister and brother-in-law had shared their news.  Telling both families was pretty priceless.

December 2012 - Our 12 week mark was just before Christmas, so when we went home for the holidays we let the rest of the family know about our new addition.  Most all of our friends also found out around this time (of course all of my friends found out a little earlier, because I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut).

January 2013 - Finally not feeling sick any more (hallelujah!).  The most exciting news that happened in January was finding a house to rent. Kevin and I have been in an apartment for the past year, but really wanted to be in a house before we had a baby.  God has other plans sometimes, but in addition to the blessing he had already given us, he provided the perfect opportunity for us to move.  We packed up in one week and made the move to a 3 bed/2 bath house in Bluff Park.

February 2013 - This is a big month, because we got to find out the gender of Baby Finnen.  I don't really do surprises well, and Kevin was too impatient to even consider not finding out the gender.  As soon as they would let us find out we we're scheduled to get that wonderful ultrasound that would tell us if we were having a Grady or Kennadie.  The day finally came, and we learned that we were going to be having a little BOY!!!!  (p.s. my sister is also having a boy)

REVEAL
We had our family over to the house for a cookout to reveal the gender to everyone at the same time.  Before we found out the gender, I thought it was a girl, and Kevin thought it was a boy.  We decided for the reveal to make t-shirts that said "It's a.." then " Boy" or "Girl".  If it was a girl, I would get to wear the gender shirt, and if it was a boy, Kevin would wear it.  So the day of the reveal, once our families arrived we set up to unveil the news.  Below is a video (not great quality, but you can get the idea).  My parents couldn't make it down, so we had them on facetime so that they could still be a part of it (love technology).

Kevin's side of the family.  Everyone naturally wore blue, because we have 2 little girls on his side already.  Therefore, everyone in the Finnen clan was hoping for a little boy.

We are so glad that we are having a little boy, as are both families!  Kevin and I have chosen our son's name to be Grady Franklin Finnen. 

My friends have affectionately chosen the nicknames "Frank the Tank" and "The Real Slim Grady" (thanks Shug and Em), and I sometimes refer to our little nugget as G-Train. He's so loved!

Just Kickin' It

Another great milestone for February, I got to feel Grady kick!  It's such an amazing feeling to experience, and I just smile every time it happens.  Even better than me getting to feel him move, Kevin was able to feel him move about 2 weeks after I could.  To see his face light up when he felt that little kick, just melted my heart!  It still hasn't gotten old and I let him feel Grady move every chance we have.

The Belly has arrived

I'm not super into all the ultrasound shots and belly shots, but here's how big we're getting at the end of February, early March (22 weeks)...

March 2013 - I guess it's time to really start preparing for this little boy.  Last weekend, Kevin and I took on the overwhelming task of starting our baby registry at Buy Buy Baby....kiddos sure do come with a lot of accessories (if anyone has any suggestion of things you used/didn't use, please let me know).

Once we set our registry, we picked out furniture and paint colors to get his nursery started. Last night, we went to pick up his bed and dresser from the store (we still have to order the chair we want).  I cannot wait to start getting his room together!

This brings us to today!  After church this morning, we came in and Kevin started painting Grady's room. Here are some of the pictures before, the progress, and after.

Before

Getting started...

Lighthouse Shadows

Dad is getting all the corners.

After the first coat

Workin' hard...

Paint is done!

Grady's Dresser

Furniture is put together! We have a few nautical decorations that we're going to put on the walls (no, the net will not be staying on the bed).

I had a very important job...telling Kevin what to do.

It's been a long, but very productive day.  Next on our to do list is to select fabrics for bedding and curtains.  We have picked out an arm chair that we like, and just need to go place the order.  Grady's room is coming together now, and pretty soon will be ready for him to get here (and hopefully enjoy sleeping in there).  Here's to hoping at least!

Maybe I will update this a little more regularly in the next few months. Maybe...