Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy 2013 (Baby Pics Abound!)

Elizabeth JoDene Gravett (the first) was born on January 1, 2013 at 7:55 PM.  She was the third baby born in St. George in 2013.  Although such a claim to fame would be too much for most newborns to handle, Lizzy Jo is taking it all in stride, mainly by sleeping, eating, and yawning.  Merry is doing great as well and sends all her love to all you peeps out there in the interwebs. 

We knew that 2013 was going to be different right away.  At 4:15 AM Merry awoke me with a hard slap to the face and said, "My water just broke!" (translation: "Time to get your wife to the hospital, WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!!!")  Our delivery hospital was in St. George and we live 20 miles away in Mesquite; not too bad of a drive.  However, we were not in Mesquite; we had gone to Pahrump to spend New Years Eve with some friends from our old ward.  So, we were actually just outside the California state line when Merry's water broke.  We jumped  into the car and drove like manics to the hospital.  When we arrived two and a half hours later, Merry was 2+ cm dialated and fully effaced with contractions coming about four minutes apart (again, I had no idea any of that meant until yesterday, I now know it means, "Buckle up folks, it's going to be a long day.")

Once we settled into the torture room birthing room, Merry declined an epidural and decided to go natural until she hit 8 cm dialation.  Which meant a lot of time in the the birthing pool and lots of quality breathing.  She was awesome and did everything right, I was so impressed by her strength and determination.  She progressed quite nicely, dialating about 1 cm every 2 hours.  At 2:00 PM she hit 7+ cm dialation and got an epidural so she could sleep a little bit prior to the "pushing" phase.  The labor nurse initiated pushing at 7:00 PM.  Seven or so contractions later Lizzy Jo made her entrance to the world kicking and screaming, at 7:55 PM.  Needless to say, we're happily sleep deprived and loving every minute of it.

**Edit**Vital statistics at birth: 6 lbs, 5 oz, 20 inches

Now what everyone skipped through the post for: pictures!

(Merry smiling through a contraction, what a babe!)

(Merry after getting the epidural, so much happier.  This is not an endorsement of epidurals mind you, just a statement of fact.  And, it turns out, the epidural did cause some problems with the delivery down the road.)


(Lizzy Jo getting checked out right after being born, giving a very vocal opinion as to the situation.)


 (Lizzy Jo with her mom, where she wanted to be all along.  For those of you troubled by the immodesty, deal with it, birth is an immodest experience.)

(Lizzy Lo and Merry, both a little tired by their recent battle with each other--perhaps a harbinger of teenage years to come?--but otherwise doing great.

(This just in! The center of the known universe has just been discovered!)

14 comments:

  1. I have to say, something about Lizzie's face reminds me very much of Will Packard. Congrats you two!! Can't wait to meet her!

    Aunt Jenny

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  2. Woohoo! Congrats on being the parents of the world's second-best-looking newborn (sorry, I'm partial to our wee one), and hats off to Merry for surviving 2+ hours in the car while in labor! Ugh! We're super happy for you guys. Embrace the sleep-deprivation. You might look back on it fondly later.

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  3. Congratulations to you all!!! She looks perfect.

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  4. Ahh so darling! I loved the commentary Dave, too funny.

    Merry, you look like Jessa in that first pic! And man, I can't imagine having contractions in a car for 2 1/2 hours! That's so long.

    Congrats on such a beautiful baby girl! Yay for more cousins!

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  5. Congrats, Merry (and Dave). She's a cutie. And it's no failure to have an epidural. I've done it both ways. In my experience, transition labor is worse than pushing (and significantly tearing). Yep. You heard that right. Transition labor is worse than your own flesh pulling apart. So, no failure in getting an epidural for transition labor. Plus, nobody gave me a medal--or even a cookie--for when I did it naturally. She's here. She's beautiful. You did just what you should have done. Congratulations!

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  6. So awesome! And btw I don't think that have heard a more perfect description of the labor and delivery room. I hope everything went alright afterwards. Congrats again on your beautiful new arrival!

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  7. YAY!!! She is here! So happy for you Merry and Dave! Lizzy Jo is beautiful.

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  8. Dave, your prose is without compare. LOVE THIS. Thanks for sharing your adventure and your joy. I love the name Elizabeth and her nickname. *hugs* to the three of you. :)

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  9. Great Story! Way to hang in there Merry. Hope all is still going great with the sleep deprivation. You'll both be wonderful parents. Say goodbye to life as you knew it and welcome the sweet life of children.

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  10. Congratulations!!! A New Years baby makes for such an awesome memory! And Lizzy Jo is the cutest name ever. Way to go! :)

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  11. Soo exciting!! She is absolutly wonderful!

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  12. What a beautiful baby! Congratulations, Merry! Baby girls are wonderful! :)

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  13. Oh, she's precious. I'm so excited for you! Congrats. I hope her beautiful mommy is getting some rest. Take it easy, you're allowed to sit still and nap! I love you, and I'm sorry I can't come help out.

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  14. Oh, what a beauty! I'm so excited for you both. I hope her beautiful mommy is getting some rest. A week later, can you believe it's been that long? I love you both, and wish I could be there to help out. I'm thinking of you. Give a call whenever you have energy, and desire at the same time...I totally get it!

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