Happy 1 Week Birthday Inara Grace

Wow! I can't believe a week has gone by already. There is simply too much to write about, since I haven't written in awhile, but I'll keep it brief since it might be close to feeding time again. Last Friday was a whirlwind starting at 1:30am when I first started thinking I might be going into labor. By 10:30 am, I was checking into the hospital because my water had indeed broke and I was officially in labor. Unfortunately, baby girl was ready for delivery but I wasn't. She had progressed down fairly quickly before my cervix was ready for her. What this meant was I would dialate to a number then stay there for a few hours. I remember being at 4 centimeters for 3 hours and not progressing. Then I'd get to a 5 and stay there for a few hours. This went on until 11pm. My doctor said this happened because baby dropped and was putting pressure on the cervix which caused it to swell and then not progress. Like I said baby was ready but I wasn't. I ended up having a C-section and baby Inara arrived at 12:58 am on Saturday, Sept 15. Because she was under a bit of stress from Friday, her temp was unstable the first day so they kept her in the nursery to observe her more closely. Her temp finally stabilized by late Sunday and she stayed in the room with us from then on. We finally left the hospital on Tues. I had decided I wanted to stay that extra day to get some help with her and because I was still feeling quite a bit of pain from the surgery.

Once home, life has been unpredictable for the most part. The first night she was fussy and didn't want to sleep. The second night she had an upset tummy and cried for a few hours straight. The following night she was perfect and let mommy and daddy sleep for chunks of time. Like I said, life has been upredictable. One thing we can count on though is she loves to sleep during the day. We could have a ton of visitors passing her around during the day and the kid will sleep right through all the commotion. Maybe at night it's too quiet for her after a full day of noise so she feels out of sorts and starts crying. Who knows. As our pediatrician Dr. Kaplan said, we must stop thinking when it comes to baby and just roll with it. So true.

A few cute habits we've already seen in Inara. One, she hates to be swaddled, or at least to have her arms tied down. She must have her hands free because she loves to have her hands at her face when she sleeps. Funny thing is that was the way she was in womb because in the ultrasounds she had her hands up at her face too. The second habit which I could have also predicted is the girl loves to kick. Her legs are always moving. She kicks so much that last night she actually kicked her pj bottoms off. So again, we have to be careful with the way we swaddle her because she has to have some kicking room for her legs. Otherwise, she gets pissed. And I mean pissed. Another habit that we are so proud of is the girl is gassy. She has some killer farts. Actually, she farted on Pop, my dad, and nearly knocked him out with her stench. It was pretty hilarious actually. I thought for sure he was going to start gagging and have to run to the bathroom. Poor Pop. For only a week old, baby girl has already started to change so much. She is starting to grow into her own being and develop her personality. I just can't wait to see what she does next. So yes, I've become one of those crazy parents that just sits there and stares at her baby. I just don't want to miss anything she does. I love her so much and simply can't get enough of her, even at 2 o'clock in the morning when she's poopy and cranky. That's what motherhood is all about, right?

To see more pictures, frequently check out http://www.shawnandmarisa.com/. Shawn is trying to be good about posting pictures every couple of days. From there, you can also see Thane and Kristi's photo albums and the pictures they took in the waiting room Friday night. It seemed to be a good ol party with all the friends and family waiting around for Inara to arrive. We are so truly blessed by amazing family and friends and can't tell everyone enough how much we love them. Thank you to everyone for all the emails, calls, cards, and gifts. Inara has definitely come into this world surrounded by love. Thank you so very much!!