grace anne kepley

ONE WEEK OLD ALREADY?!

Wow! I’m pretty sure that I am behind and must catch up! This may take a little while.
The last few days have been good, busy and tiring as any new parent would expect and any experienced parent would remember.

We had a little issue with bowel movements, or should we say the lack there of. It was very frustrating to her, you could tell- poor baby was stressing and straining! On Wednesday night it had been 24 hours and she couldn’t take it—tears were rolling off her face and we experienced the first 1 ½ crying session. I will say, her lungs were clear and I wouldn’t doubt the whole neighborhood heard her! Unfortunately, her diaper was still clean. Thursday morning didn’t bring any diaper surprises. Daddy was starting to get very concerned since she had been so routined up until this point. But, hours later while changing and dressing her for the pediatrician we were pleasantly surprised! Yes, you guessed it--- a bowel movement! It might as well have been her first word—we were so very excited! The streak has not continued, but after a 36 hour wait we were elated! And, ease to your curiosity, the doctor wasn’t concerned, just urged us to keep an eye on it. She had a good appointment. She is still at 6lbs. 11 oz. – so no weight lost, but he wants to start seeing gains.

After the doctor, Kris checked the mail. He walked in behind us and said.. “Oh no!.” I had no idea what he was referring to, but he followed his comment by telling us that Grace Anne got a gift in the mail—from a boy! The Andersons sent Grace Anne a sweet arrival gift and Kris joked that Davis (who is 52 whole weeks and 1 day older than her) was already making a move! I’m sure Davis had a lot to do with buying a Zutano bib and hat (if you aren’t familiar with Zutano, you are missing out! It is adorable!) The Andersons also got Grace Anne a Sophie Giraffe. She is one hip kid with all the latest in toys and style.. well she is getting there at least. After Daddy’s concern about boys passed, the whole entire Kepley family took a nap! It was a much needed nap at that. Everyone says sleep while the baby sleeps-- and let me tell you, that’s nearly impossible with everything else you have to do! But, we let those things go and it was a fabulous plan!

When we woke up from our nap, it was feeding time! Kris got her started on a bottle. She apparently was sucking on the bottle, but not swallowing what was in her mouth. All of the sudden Kris jumped up and said she looked very uncomfortable; she spit up a little through her nose and mouth about that time. I grabbed her and went to the nursery to get the suction bulb from the hospital. I just start sucking everything out of her nose and mouth and she grew redder. Kris went to get a cold washcloth. Her sweet little body started to feel limb and her body began to turn purple from head to toe. I was scared at this point, I had been calm but calm was out the window. I continued to suction and took her clothes off to cool her down and hopeful calm her down from the panic. The purple didn’t last long and she soon began to get some sort of a normal skin tone back. I was relieved to see red versus purple. Kris called the hospital and they said we handled the situation perfectly, they had us count her breaths per minute and told us a few tips.. we were thankful for their reassurance. We had a major SIGH of relief. Luckily, the eventfulness slowed down. She was resting and sleeping peacefully within an hour.

Our friend Rusty came to visit and she had the nerve to sleep through most of the time he was here. Haha. But, he understood completely!

Last night and this morning she sounds like she has a snotty nose and her stuffiness really took a toll on her sleeping. Laying flat in the bassinet was impossible. Daddy got up with her about 4 times before 3am. Mommy got up with her 3 or 4 times after 3 am. Mommy gave up about 6:30. She will sleep in the Boppy pillow sitting up, but she doesn’t do well flat. But, of course, we have to keep an eye on her in the Boppy so no sleep for us.

Even with all the events and lack of sleep I wouldn’t trade these days for anything! Mommy and Daddy are loving parenthood! It’s so hard to believe she is a week old. This week has flown by and I sure hope that slows down because I love her being so tiny! I know the days ahead will be just as exciting, but there is no rush for them to get here! We are loving this time together as a family and we are thankful to report that UPS won’t be seeing Daddy next week--- he is all ours!