Baby Gretta

After a pretty uneventful pregnancy we welcomed little Gretta Renae into the world on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 12:25 p.m. She was 8 lbs 10 oz and 22.5 inches long.

I started labor officially on Wed. April 2 around bedtime with just some mild cramping, tightening, restlessness. So I didn't get much sleep that night. It stopped in the morning (Thursday) and I had a doctor appointment that morning and felt fine the rest of the day with just some mild cramping.

Around supper time on April 3 it started getting a little stronger, a little more uncomfortable and we started kind of keeping track of the time. We called the doctor on call who said to go ahead and come in when they were 5 minutes apart for more than an hour. We went into the hospital at midnight and they said I was at 3 cm so they wanted us to walk around a bit and see if I'd progress. We did and they checked again an hour later and I was at 4 cm so they admitted us. We continued to walk around all night until 6:30 in the morning and I hadn't progressed any more so we went home on Fri. morning April 4.

I continued to have contractions throughout the day on Friday, they weren't too uncomfortable just a little annoying. We had some Erberts and Gerberts for lunch, a strawberry malt and a walk to DQ later in the day and eggplant parmesean for supper, which we had read would do the trick! Contractions started getting worse Friday night and I wanted to wait until they were really unbearable because I did not want to walk around the hospital again all night! So around midnight again on Fri. night this time, we went to the hospital and I was at 6 to 7 cm so they admitted us and said we'd probably have our baby that day! (Saturday)

I got an epidural shortly after we got there and it helped so much since I hadn't slept for 2 nights and only had short naps during the day. I'm really glad I decided to have this so I'd have the strength later! We both got some sleep and then about 8 or 9 in the morning they broke my water and continued to monitor progress which was at 8 to 9 cm. Then around noon we started pushing and by 12:25 she was here! I only had to push for about a half an hour and it was the hardest part of the whole process! I was so glad it wasn't any longer than that. As you can see, it was of course, ALL worth it!

The new family at the hospital

Grandpa Steve and Grandma Peg

Grandpa Fred and Grandma Rachel

Pretty peaceful girl

Contemplating this new life....

Ride home from the hospital!

Big yawner!

Baby Belly

We decided to take some belly pictures when I was in the last days of pregnancy. Gretta was due April 13th so we thought we had a couple of weeks and didn't know we did these in the nick of time since she was born 4 days later!

The nursery all ready!