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Polka Dots Girl Thank You Card

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Little Snowflake Girl Birth Announcement

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Registries

As an additional note, for those who have asked and others who may be curious, 

we are registered at Target and Babies R Us. 

We are asking everyone to please purchase items from the registry so that we can keep track of what we have and what we lack and avoid duplicate purchases. Every and any thing is greatly appreciated, big or small, and the Grahams thank you in advance! 

Stay tuned for the latest on our journey to meeting Sophie :) 

Muah ;)

Week 1: Big Girl Room

I'm going to frame this and
 put it in Sophie's room :)

Hey guys! I'm back!

I know some of you have been wondering what happened to me, but no worries, I'm here and all is well. Have I survived the first week of motherhood? 
Yes and no. I say that because Sophia is still in the NICU and I have yet to experience motherhood in its fullness :/ So far, motherhood has been great. We have been going up to the NICU every day since her birth and are loving EVERY minute of it. We love her soooo much!

Now, down to business. I have decided that it would be easier on my schedule and a bit more consistent if I post every Saturday/Sunday to summarize the week's events.





With that said, now let's talk about Sophie. After her birth, Sophia stayed on the main floor in the NICU for 4 days before moving to the "Big Girl" room on Tuesday, September 20. While she was on the floor, she was eating between 15-20 cc every feeding (every 3 hours). Once she moved to the big girl room, she was bumped up to 30 cc by bottle, NG tube (tube in her nose), or by breast. (Yes, I am breastfeeding :)) While she was on the main floor, the doctor noticed that she was a bit yellow (jaundice) and decided to place her under the photo therapy lights.

Our little glow worm.. She's under there somewhere..
Do you see her? 

September 21: Sophie was taken off the bili-blanket used for jaundice. Bye bye jaundice! Today was also my first day to breastfeed. Since Sophie came early, I did not have a chance to attend the breastfeeding class I signed up for at the end of August. As such, when it was time to feed, a maternal nutrition educator (MNE) came in to assist us. Sophia did great! She nursed for almost an hour and seemed as though she had been practicing..            Hmmmmmm.....

Sophie's incubator

Sophie's mom! 

Proud daddy! 

September 22: Today was the first day Sophie wore real clothes. She wore the most adorable pink and green polka dot onesie! Sophie acted like she didn't want to eat. She had a hard time nursing today and took most of her feeding by bottle. Breastfeeding is harder than feeding by bottle for babies because of how much harder they have to work. With Sophie being so small, she burns a lot of calories and has to work hard to nurse, so I guess she didn't feel like working today! lol..

She is back to her birth weight today! 3 lbs, 7 ounces and should continue to pick up weight from here on out. We had a visitor come by from church and also received an unexpected package courtesy of our cousin, Charmaine, from Texas: Baby Silk!

September 23: I attempted to breastfeed again today with the MNE. Sophie was not interested once again and I am starting to think that the bottle is making her lazy. She would latch on, but only suck a few times before she stopped and started daydreaming or sleeping. She completed her feeding by bottle. Her NG tube was removed, (she no longer has problems feeding) and she is on her way to being an independent eater :) 

Today she weighed 3 lbs, 6.6 oz and was dressed in the cutest white, pink, and green flowered onesie. I changed her diaper without assistance or monitoring and noticed Sophie had diaper rash. She is a poop machine! 

September 24: The nurse was already feeding by the time I arrived at 2:35 p.m and was near completion. I was a bit disappointed, but noticed that the nurse from yesterday did not leave the note on the board about me coming to BF at 2:30. I stayed and held and cuddled her until it was time for shift change, changed her diaper and then left. I cried when I got home. I also realized today that I love the way my little acorn smells. Since I was holding her close to my chest, my clothes smelled like her and it made me miss her even more. It doesn't help that she looks like Clifton; I cried worse whenever I looked at him. He thought I was crazy! :)

September 25: I wanted to go to church this morning, but made the decision to stay in and rest. I was able to sleep in for a bit between pumping and then got up to get some things together for my trip to see Sophie. I breastfed again today and initially Sophie acted like she wasn't interested. We had two visitors come in and Sophie showed out. Where she didn't want to feed initially, she was on it once she had an audience! Ain't that something?! She nursed for almost an hour and then completed her feeding by bottle. I held her until it was time for shift change and she did a great job maintaining her temperature and going to sleep :). Before it was time to go, I changed her diaper and realized that I didn't do a great job when I changed her diaper before her feeding. Sophie went to the bathroom and messed up her clothes because I didn't make sure the diaper was tight enough. Lesson learned and it won't happen again! lol.. This time I changed her with some tips from the nurse and put her in a new outfit. I didn't know that putting clothes on a baby was so difficult. I felt so slow! I'll get the hang of it though..

Oh the joys of motherhood :p

OMG!!!!

Hey guys! I know it has been a while since I last posted, but as you can imagine, I have been EXTREMELY busy. Sophia is doing well and still in the NICU, but she is making small, but significant progress every day. WE are so proud! Since Sophia came earlier than expected, we have been trying to play catch up with the work that wasn't finished before my extended hospital stay: cleaning up the house, dusting, organizing Sophia's room, and catching up on chores that Clifton could not manage to stay on top of with his dizzying schedule during my time in the hospital. So far, so good, but the work is far from done.

When I found out I was pregnant and shared it with my coworkers at work, one of the many questions that were asked was, "Have you started getting her room together?" Every time, and I mean every time, I heard the question, my response was, "What room? She's going to be in the room with us." Funny thing, after you see such a precious and tiny miracle before your eyes, you are willing to do ANYTHING for that little person! So now--yep, you guessed it--Sophia is getting her own room! (I know 2 of my readers will get a kick out of that confession!) Clif and I are hard at work to make things perfect for our little acorn.

And I know, this is only the beginning. I can only imagine.. She's not even here yet and I'm pooped. The hard work will be worth it though. It actually serves a dual purpose since our Spring cleaning did not go as successfully as we had hoped. Now things will be easier for when we move with all the junk already out of the house. 

Anyway, I will write more soon, I just had to get a post in while I had some free time. More pictures of Sophia coming soon :*

She's here, she's here!!!!

Yaaay!!! Our little acorn is here! 

Sophia was born yesterday, September 16, 2011 at 2:45 pm after 11 minutes of pushing and I don't know how many hours of labor. I will have to ask about the labor part. I attempted to go the natural route (no medicine for pain), but due to the pitocin, which was administered to initiate stronger contractions, and frustration about not dilating fast enough, I could not bear the pain nor the wait and asked for an epidural. That was by far the best decision I made that day! After sleeping only 45 minutes the night before due to contractions,  I was able to sleep for about an hour or so before Sophia started descending. Delivery went smoothly, much better than either of us had envisioned and Clif was by my side every step of the way-- he even cut her umbilical cord :) 

Because Sophia is so tiny, she will stay in the NICU for a couple of weeks so that she can get bigger and stronger. She is doing great so far--breathing on her own, feeding minimally from a bottle, and maintaining her temperature with assistance. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Here's our precious girl:

Sophia Marie, 3 lbs 7 oz, 16 inches

Sophia in the NICU.. First time I saw her eyes open! 

Minutes after delivery. Meeting my princess :)

Daddy and Sophia in the NICU. First time he held her :)

Drum Roll Please.........

Ok, so here goes, the big secret (for those who don't already know).. The news Clifton and I have been waiting to share with you for a day.. or maybe two! LOL..

Sophia Marie Graham 
will be making her big debut tomorrow,

Friday, September 16, 2011

:)

The process has already begun and we are looking forward to meeting our little acorn tomorrow. She will be delivered at 34 weeks and will be a premie so she will stay in the NICU for a couple of weeks while they monitor her progress. Please continue to pray for us as we anxiously await the arrival of our gift from God. We are rejoicing already for we know that she is in good health and strength; she just has a bit more growing to do! Stay tuned!