When I look at my baby girl!!! Here are some more pictures of Dakota. We LOVE her so much. You can also read below for a very lengthy description of our first two weeks. Hopefully we will get better at posting once we get our schedule figured out...and hopefully one day we will get
internet so I don't have to go to the library to post.
Dakota in her Cradle that her Papa made for her.
Dakota with her Vermont Teddy Bear from Aunt Patty. The first thing she got with her name on it!!
This is a funny face that she makes a lot. She sure looks confused and distraught but I can't help but laugh!
After bath time she loves being cuddled in her hooded towels. She gets the double chin from her daddy. :)
I'm so cute!First of all, Thank you Carie for posting on my behalf when Dakota was born. It really helped get the news out and allowed me to share some pictures with everybody.
The first two weeks of Dakota’s life have been amazing. I am overjoyed with her and I cannot stop thanking God for the amazing blessing that He has given our family. Every time I look at her I want to praise Him and my heart beams at His graciousness in allowing me to be her mother.
I figured I would fill everybody in on the labor and delivery story so here goes…(excuse all grammatical mistakes as I am typing this like I talk).
Sunday, August 5th at about 3 in the morning I woke up feeling a little “crampy.” I slept off and on until 8 when the alarm went off to wake us for church. I told Jacob that I didn’t really feel up to going to Sunday school and that I would like to sleep a little longer. I can’t remember the last time that I skipped church because I didn’t feel well. He decided he would go work in the yard and told me if I felt up to going to church at 10:50 to let him know and he would come inside and get ready. I stayed in bed and realized that maybe I was having contractions. I grabbed a watch with a timer on it and started timing them for the next hour. They started at about 7 minutes apart at 8:30 and by the time an hour was up they were less than 6 minutes apart lasting about 45-50 seconds each. My doctor said to come in when they were 5 minutes apart. I went and told Jacob that I thought today was the day and that maybe we should consider getting ready for the hospital. We didn’t rush because I wasn’t in a lot of pain but I was definitely having consistent contractions and knew that if I was really in labor the contractions would get closer and stronger. I took a shower, shaved my legs, added a few extra things to our bags, packed Jacob some snacks, made Jacob shave (I told him he couldn’t be prickly when he met our baby for the first time), Jacob vacuumed and at around noon I decided it was definitely time to head to the hospital. I was at the point I had to stop whatever I was doing when a contraction came. We got there and they made Jacob wait in the waiting room while they took me to triage and asked me a lot of questions and began hooking me up to monitors to make sure I was really in labor. I was so thankful to hear the words from the nurse, “Today is Baby Day…let’s move you to your room.”
We got to our room at about 2 something and the contractions were getting a lot closer and stronger. I was uncomfortable but not sure if I was really in need of an epidural yet. I told Jacob I was going to ask for it at 4 because I knew it could take about an hour from the time I requested it to get it administered and for it to kick in. Well, at 3:45 in the midst of a pretty strong contraction, my water broke. And boy did it break. I’ve heard of some people just having a trickle…mine was like an explosion…it didn’t hurt…it just felt like a water balloon busted between my legs (nice description, I know). Well, after that all went down…I was in A LOT of pain and told them I was going to need that epidural….NOW. They worked as quickly as they could but those last several contractions before I got the epidural were extremely painful and I was almost in tears. Once the epidural kicked in…I was on cloud 9. I couldn’t feel a thing and it was WONDERFUL. I would say to Jacob, “I think I might be having a contraction.” And he would look at the monitor and say, “Yea, that was a bad one.” And we would laugh that I couldn’t feel them. To all my pregnant friends out there…GET AN EPIDURAL! They are wonderful and it made for a great day for me and Jacob. We just watched t.v. and played a game of Yahtzee. Each hour they would check how I was dilating and things were moving pretty fast. Over a centimeter an hour which is great timing. At about 8pm the nurse checked me and I was 8 cm. At 9 I met the doctor for the first time (unfortunately since it was the weekend my doctor wasn’t on call) and she checked me and said, “Oh, she’s complete. I can see the head. It’s time to start pushing.” So they got everything prepped and we started pushing. I still couldn’t feel anything (not even any pressure) so I had no clue if my pushing was accomplishing anything. They kept saying I was doing a great job but quite honestly I didn’t feel like I was doing anything. At 9:38 I gave a push and her head was free and then one more and her whole little body came wiggling out. It was really quite amazing. Then I heard them say, “IT”S A GIRL.” And I wanted to cry with excitement and joy…instead I just smiled really big and watched Jacob cut the umbilical cord and then they let me see her and she was really, really cute and I was just ecstatic. She was having trouble breathing because she had mucus caught in her throat that she couldn’t cry out and they took her away from us to get oxygen. I wasn’t worried though because God’s hand has been on us since the day we conceived and I knew He would take care of her. Jacob wanted to be with her so he went and kept an eye on her while I got “fixed up” and they monitored me for the next hour. By about midnight I finally got moved to my room and got to hold my baby girl and feed her for the first time.
She didn’t sleep well that first night but that’s ok…I couldn’t really sleep either. The rest of the week went really fast with all of our family coming in town. My dad, Martha and Sally got here around lunchtime on Monday. We were home early afternoon on Tuesday. Lauren arrived on Tuesday night. Dad and Martha left on Wednesday around lunch. Brad and Chad arrived Thursday evening and Clarence arrived Friday evening. Brad, Chad and Lauren left Sunday morning and Sally and Clarence left on Monday. Now it’s just me and Dakota at home. Jacob went back to work on Monday. He was sad to leave her and told me he wasn’t ever going to leave her again but I guess he realized that somebody has to make the money to pay our bills.
Dakota and I had a good week by ourselves but are still have a lot adjusting to do. We haven't quite gotten on a schedule and I haven't been that productive. I guess we will in time get all of that figured out. I was able to get out of the house yesterday (Friday) and have lunch with my group at work for a birthday. I surprised them and it was great to see my friends. Dakota didn't make a peep while we enjoyed lunch.
So…that’s a breakdown of our first few weeks with Dakota Eileen. We all love her so much and she really is such a good baby. She doesn’t cry much (except for the night I had baked beans and they gave her a tummy ache). She is finally eating really well and I can tell she is beginning to plump up. The first several days were pretty difficult and stressful with feeding her but now she and I have it under control and she is doing great. Honestly, that was the hardest part…harder than labor or delivery. Feeling like you are failing at feeding your baby is really hard but I prayed a lot about it…and just like everything else throughout our pregnancy and labor and delivery…God has heard my prayers and been gracious to us. He never leaves us.
I better go now…not sure if any of you are still reading this far because it is quite the book. Thanks to EVERYBODY for all of your prayers and phone calls and gifts and and dinners and thanks to our family for taking time off work and driving out here and special thanks to Sally for cleaning our house and cooking meals. Please continue to pray for us as we try and get in a routine and figure out how to make the best use of our days. God is too Good!!!
And pretty soon Dakota's boyfriend will be here...so be praying for Carie and Chris as they finish up the last couple of weeks of pregnancy!!!
Look how tall she is!!
Ready for a Ride!!
All Snuggled Up in her Bathrobe!!
She loves laying on daddy's tummy and looking at him.
"My Daddy sure is Cute."
"I love my daddy!"
SO Cute. 
Dakota in her Cradle that her Papa made for her.
Dakota with her Vermont Teddy Bear from Aunt Patty. The first thing she got with her name on it!!
This is a funny face that she makes a lot. She sure looks confused and distraught but I can't help but laugh!
After bath time she loves being cuddled in her hooded towels. She gets the double chin from her daddy. :)
I'm so cute!
