I call her Honey-child...
She lies here on my chest, sound asleep...wrapped in a white blanket with pink butterflies. Every once in awhile she lets out a satisfied little sigh and I reply...it's our way of talking to each other. It makes us smile. Her smile is like the sun bursting forth from behind a dark cloud, most often it's a lopsided grin but sometimes it's an open mouthed, silent laugh. Why don't we look that sweet without teeth? ;) Her lashes brush her cheeks before curling upwards. Wish mine were that long. Her medium brown hair, unmanageable as yet, sticks out at all angles from her head except where the cowlick makes it swirl round. Her long, slender fingers, perfect for piano playing, are grasping tightly to the neckline of my shirt. The dimples in her hands and elbows are deepening as her body grows rounder. I call her chubsie-ubsie. She is a mild-tempered child though if frightened or hungry she can raise her voice. Mommy plans on teaching her songs from the Christian Hymnal so she can sing with Grandpa someday. Altogether Daddy and Mommy think she's pretty special. And we're not prejudiced. ;)
Her name is Shaniya Raelyn. It means "gracious gift of GOD"
She entered this world weighing in at 8lbs, 2oz
She'll be tall like her Daddy according to her 22 1/4 inch length
Her eyes are blue. Whether that comes from Grandma Yoder or Pawpaw Stoltzfus we don't know
Everyone says she looks like her Mommy
Her due date was July 23rd.
I visited my midwife on Tuesday the 5th and she stripped my membranes hoping to start labor naturally but no go. Since she was being nervous and hiding away we decided to take the inducement route. On Thursday, August 7th, at 6:30am we left our home and headed for the hospital. At 8am I was dilated 1cm...they broke my water and I walked the halls till 9:30 when they stuck me into bed...contractions were every 15min...10am the oxytocin treatment started. By 11am contractions were every 3-4min. From there it was ever increasing...by 2:30pm I was dilated 5cm and contractions were every 1 1/2mins...I had back labor and we chose to get pain meds. That relieved me so I slept for 2 hrs waking at 4pm when the meds started wearing off. My midwife came in at 6pm and we were set to go. After 10min of push, She entered the world at 6:13pm. Barb, my midwife, did say that I would have been ready to deliver her at 4pm already...the nurses hadn't been checking my dilation and just waited till Barb got off her office duties..guess they figured if I was on meds it wasn't necessary to keep the process short. :) The slightly scary thing was She had already emptied her bowels since she was so late in arriving but since Barb could tell that once she broke my water they were ready with suction to clear out her nose and mouth as soon as her head was clear. I had to pause the pushing to let them complete that task and after she was completely out Barb still cleaned her out with those little suctiony things all mothers have... :) Kevin cut the cord and then calmed Her down while the nurses were cleaning her up. I tore thru labor and had to get stitched up...once that was done and we were both dressed in fresh, clean garments we moved out of Labor/Delivery to our room. I hadn't been allowed to eat all day so I devoured the food on the tray sent up! :) Shaniya also had her first meal out of womb and did/does a super job at eating! We spent the evening holding her and notifying family. The nurses took over thru the night which let us sleep and I was only up once to feed her.
Friday Kevin had to work part day so I sat in bed watching these "training" videos on caring for baby and all sorts of stuff. They wouldn't let us leave without watching them but since I'm not new to the care of infants I played them with the volume turned down so low I barely heard it.. ;) After 24hrs of hospital stay we headed home...Friday evening Kevin's Mom came to spend the night and again Shaniya slept the night thru which also gave me much needed rest...after doing some laundry for me, Sadie, his mom, left and Shaniya and I relaxed the afternoon away with a visit from my friend Heather! who also is an adopted aunt to Shaniya... ;)
On Sunday my family arrived from Ohio to visit the new addition...they stayed the day and then left my Mom here for the week. It was such a blessing to have her here helping out and getting me started on this new journey...she left us Thursday but the freezer was cleaned, stocked with soup and cookies, homemade granola filled the pantry and the house was cleaned from top to bottom. :)
Since then we have been learning the ropes together...can't ask for a better baby! She sleeps the night thru waking only to be fed, rarely cries, loves her baths and the great outdoors. She is a bit of a go-getter as she can already hold her head up quite well and is beginning to respond. (Example) when I tease her while feeding, it makes her smile or when I am ready to feed her she sometimes smirks like "Ha! got what I want..." :) My favorite time is after she's fed and just drifting off to sleep we sit and "sigh talk" together and she often grins thru it...
We took a ride on Daddy's semi last week and she took it like a trooper...the rocking motion kept her asleep most of the time.
Tomorrow we head to Ohio for a week..can't wait to see what my nephew and niece have to say about her... :)
*chuckle* so I just pulled off my engagement/wedding band..first time it's been off in 9 months... ;) just for your fyi.... :)
Better run, I still have our packing to do and now there's three instead of two...how do you pack for a baby?
Friday Kevin had to work part day so I sat in bed watching these "training" videos on caring for baby and all sorts of stuff. They wouldn't let us leave without watching them but since I'm not new to the care of infants I played them with the volume turned down so low I barely heard it.. ;) After 24hrs of hospital stay we headed home...Friday evening Kevin's Mom came to spend the night and again Shaniya slept the night thru which also gave me much needed rest...after doing some laundry for me, Sadie, his mom, left and Shaniya and I relaxed the afternoon away with a visit from my friend Heather! who also is an adopted aunt to Shaniya... ;)
On Sunday my family arrived from Ohio to visit the new addition...they stayed the day and then left my Mom here for the week. It was such a blessing to have her here helping out and getting me started on this new journey...she left us Thursday but the freezer was cleaned, stocked with soup and cookies, homemade granola filled the pantry and the house was cleaned from top to bottom. :)
Since then we have been learning the ropes together...can't ask for a better baby! She sleeps the night thru waking only to be fed, rarely cries, loves her baths and the great outdoors. She is a bit of a go-getter as she can already hold her head up quite well and is beginning to respond. (Example) when I tease her while feeding, it makes her smile or when I am ready to feed her she sometimes smirks like "Ha! got what I want..." :) My favorite time is after she's fed and just drifting off to sleep we sit and "sigh talk" together and she often grins thru it...
We took a ride on Daddy's semi last week and she took it like a trooper...the rocking motion kept her asleep most of the time.
Tomorrow we head to Ohio for a week..can't wait to see what my nephew and niece have to say about her... :)
*chuckle* so I just pulled off my engagement/wedding band..first time it's been off in 9 months... ;) just for your fyi.... :)
Better run, I still have our packing to do and now there's three instead of two...how do you pack for a baby?
Ready to leave the hospital...
Bath-time with Grandma...
Three Generations...