Teach Your Children Well

Well, it's happened! We are parents as of May 11, 2010! Michaela came into the world after a tumultuous 23 hour labor. She was 7 pounds 1 ounce and 20 1/2 inches long. She has dark blue eyes and lots of Blonde hair! We couldn't believe it when the nurse said, "oh look, she has blonde hair." Mahan babies are not usually born with hair and I was expecting a baldie for sure. She has the prettiest little newborn hair! The general consensus is: she has Stef's nose and lips and Matt's chin and eye shape. She is the most beautiful thing that we have ever seen or been a part of in our lives. We are truly blessed to have her.

We came home from the hospital on Thursday the 13th and are just taking it easy here now. We already have amazing friends who are helping us with meals and we are so grateful for that. That's one of my favorite things about LDS people. Something happens and we bring food! Michaela is adjusting well. She is having trouble latching on to breastfeed. We are trying a lot of different techniques and will get it eventually. We are giving her formula from a bottle in addition to trying the breast at mealtimes so she has the nutrients she needs. I am not going to give up though. I really want her to be a breast fed baby. Hopefully when my milk comes fully in, we will get more in the habit of it. She is such a sweetie who loves to be held and swaddled. She will let us know real fast if she feels uncomfortable or upset about something. Her dad is already smitten. We both just can't stop looking at her!
Thank goodness she decided to wait until Tuesday. Her Aunt Jen flew in from Texas on Monday morning and my water broke on Monday afternoon... perfect timing. So, Jen and Matt were in the delivery room with me and I am soooo glad they were there to support me. (Literally, they held up my legs for me while I was pushing.) I couldn't have done this without them. I had written out a birth plan and was planning on going totally natural for the delivery. However, since my water broke first, they ended up giving me pitocin after I labored for 12 hours on my own since I was only dilated to 2 cm. I was able to endure 3 and a half hours of labor on the pitocin before I ended up getting an epidural. I couldn't believe how quickly the contractions came and how INTENSE they were.
They were pounding me one after another! I couldn't stand, sit, move, lean forward, anything! It was definitely the worst pain I've ever felt and at the end of 3 hours, I was still only 2 cm dilated. That was discouraging and we decided the best option was for me to get the epidural so I would have the energy to push later. It was the best decision I ever made! I got to sleep and, though it was really weird not being able to move my right leg, it was completely worth it when it only took 2 and half hours to get to 6 cm and then another 4 hours until I got to start pushing. I was dilated to 10 cm for 2 hours but didn't feel the pressure to push so my nurse let me wait until my body was ready on its own. I really appreciated the helpful nurses. We had an overall great experience at the hospital and I'm glad for the way it turned out.
So, now a new chapter of our life begins. We have the tiniest, cutest little daughter and the most supportive friends and family. We would like to say a genuine Thank You to all of you for your well wishes, messages and support of us in our life. We feel so blessed to have the special people in our lives that we do. We are looking forward to the future and all of the limitless possibilities that come along with a new life. We miss everyone in Colorado and look forward to all of the visitors that are coming in the next few months. Now if only Stef could get rid of this jelly belly quickly...

WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!! Matt, Stef and Michaela

Pictures and Video

Water...

And lots of it. Nashville is currently in a state of emergency due to the massive flooding all over middle Tennessee. People are saying there hasn't been flooding like this and rain in this magnitude since May of 1984. That's the year I was born. Here in our area we have received about 16 inches of rain in the last 36 hours. Luckily, our apartment is on the second floor and we are up on a hill so we are currently doing well. (Knock on wood.) There are over 36,000 houses that are without power and there are houses, cars and light poles etc that are floating down the "rivers" that used to be regular streets. The images on the news are so unbelievable. There are hundreds of people that are being rescued and a good portion of the city is under water. We are talking it could be days before they can even get power back or open up the schools again. We are so very blessed. We can look across the parking lot and see what used to be a green field that is now a brown "pond." If you can, please pray for all of the people who are without homes and belongings and transportation. Matt is out taking pictures right now since the rain has stopped for the moment. I will post them when he gets back in. A lot of the interstates are closed in various places so we are pretty much stuck here at our apartment until we can navigate the roadways. There have been over 600 water rescues in the last 36 hours by emergency crews and that doesn't include the citizens who have been helping out their neighbors. Boats are floating down the roadways full of people. Mother nature definitely reminds us that we need to respect her.

Matt's birthday is tomorrow! He turns 24 and it looks like we will be celebrating at home. I got him an awesome shirt for his birthday. (Pictured above). I love it. He is adorable:) I'm so excited for him to be a daddy. I will add the pics of the flooding as soon as he gets back. We will update the situation this week as we know more about what's happening.

Oh, and please pray that Michaela decides to wait just a little longer until she comes. At least until we can get to the hospital... Thanks.

It's Baby Time!

Ok, ok, so maybe not quite yet. But it's getting so close we can taste it! Matt and I went to the Doctor today for our 37 week visit. I love the doc visits cause it is one more thing to look forward to and check off the list of things that are happening before Michaela comes. Today was a good visit. I am already 1 cm dilated!! Woo hoo!! For those of you who have had kids before, you may be thinking; "That is not very exciting. You can be 1 cm dilated for a month before the baby actually comes." And that is true. BUT, I have never had a baby before and the fact that my body is progressing through the natural stages on its own is so exciting to me! And the doc said that Miki is definitely sitting head down which takes a weight off of my mind. My best friend just had to have a c-section cause her baby was sitting breech so I am very relieved and I hope the baby stays that way. We are also anticipating a big baby. My belly is measuring 38 inches which is an inch more than the average for 37 weeks. And I was an 8 pounder so the doc says there is a good chance she will be around 8 pounds. I don't care how big or small she is as long as she's healthy. We already know she'll be cute:) Let's start taking bets on hair color, (if she even has hair), eye color, size, length etc etc. I'm thinking she won't have hair, she'll have very pale skin with rosy cheeks like a little cherub, she'll be long cause I was my moms longest baby so definitely over 20 inches, and I'm thinking green or blue eyes. We won't know all of the answers right away of course but we will in a few short months. So, what do you all think?? There is also a good chance she'll have curly hair. Wouldn't that be cute? Oh how I love me some babies! Especially now that we'll have one of our very own.

In other news, I, (Stef), only have 9 more working days until I'm done with my part time job for now. Friday the 7th of May is my last day. I'm getting very excited for a break so I will be able to have tons of family and baby time. We are anxiously anticipating all of the visits that we will be blessed to receive in the next few months. If you wanna come to Nashville, feel free! Matt will be busy with band stuff this summer so I will be hanging out with Michaela and we would love company. We have a nice pool in our apartment complex and a bed in the guest room and a few couches. Just let us know when you want to come and you'll have a place to stay. (Just don't all choose the same days to visit, k?)

Can you tell that I'm just a leetle excited about life right now? We are blessed beyond measure. Signing off for now. Stef

And away we go!

So, we have decided to jump on the bandwagon and join the world of the bloggers. There are some pretty significant things coming up in our lives and we want to be able to share them with all of the amazing people that we love. I will add more of our history and such as I become more accustomed to the layout of this blog thing. Right now, I just wanted to say that we are happy, healthy and blessed. Our baby is going to be born sometime in the next few weeks. She is due on May 16th... exactly 3 weeks from today! We are practically overflowing with anticipation. You dream of this day your whole life and at times it feels like it may never come. Well, here we are. It's very close and we are feeling all of the joy and anxiety of a new arrival that will change our lives forever. Michaela Jones Griffith is a very active little baby inside the womb. And I mean ACTIVE. She is running out of wiggle room and I am enjoying all of her hiccups, kicks and punches. We can't wait to see what she looks like and if she has hair and how big she is and hear her cry and... shall I go on? We just can't wait to meet her! Matt will be the stinkin' cutest dad and I'm hoping that I will be able to be 1/2 the mom that I want to be. I had some pretty good examples:) Those of you who know my mom and grandmas know what I am talking about. I look forward to making this a really fun place for friends and fam to catch up with us out here in Nashville. We miss you all and love you. Signing off for now! Stef