Graham has arrived!!!! 7 lbs, 8 oz/ 20 Inches Tall

Graham has arrived! He was born on December 29, 2008 at 2:39pm. The day started early was pitocin at 6:30 am, but progressed quickly. Dustin and Marcha were both there for the whole delivery and made the process much easier for me. The Green Family is doing great, we are so fortunate to have so many family and friends drop by the hospital to meet our newest family member. Hope and Graham are both feeling great and looking wonderful. Graham is a smaller baby than expected, but there are no complaints there. He weights 7 lbs, 8 ounces and is 20 inches tall. We should be going home on Wednesday morning as long as nothing changes. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers, hope to see you all soon.

The Green Family

38 Weeks

We are writing with very exciting news...we are scheduled to be induced on Monday, 12/29!!! It is hard to believe that we will be holding Graham in our arms in just 2 short days. I have continued having contractions since my last blog entry, but have not dilated anymore. At our appointment last Wednesday, Graham was measuring 2.5 weeks ahead of schedule (meaning he is continuing to grow quickly). They estimated him to weigh 8-8.5 pounds at his point. Of course this is only an estimate, but the fear is that if we wait until our due date he will weigh between 8.5-10.5 pounds. We have already said that there is no need for a 10 pound baby! So this, along with the swelling in my ankles (aka kankles), led the doctor to recommend an induction.

Please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. We will have the computer at the hospital and hope to keep everyone updated through out the day!

A Long Week

Well we are officially 37 weeks along this week. We thought Graham was trying to come into the world early, but he is still not here! I started having contractions 5-10 minutes apart on Sunday night. We went to the doctor/work on Monday. They put me on the monitor and I was contracting every 5-10 minutes and Graham's heart rate looked great. I was dilated 2 cm and 80% effaced. We were told to go walk and come back in an hour. After one hour I still had not dilated any more. We left to walk again and were told to come back at the end of the day to be checked again. I was still having regular contractions at 4:30, but my cervix had not changed. We were put back on the monitor. The doctor was concerned about how long my contractions were lasting and we were sent to the hospital for extended monitoring. After several more hours, we still had no change in dilation. We left the hospital at 8:30pm with Graham still in my stomach.

The rest of the week has been pretty much the same routine. Regular contractions, but more real cervical change. We are all sitting on go waiting for Graham to come! We will keep you all posted.

Washed, Organized, and Ready

We have finally hit the magical 36 weeks, full term, point of the pregnancy. Meaning Graham should be healthy and happy coming into the world from this point forward! Our doctor's appointment went well again this week. But, Graham seems to be plumping up at a fast rate. Last week he was measuring about 34 weeks, according to my belly height, and this week he was measuring about 37 weeks! Dr Lebel is estimating him to be 7 pounds right now. Most babies gain about .5 a pound a week during the last 4 weeks of pregnancy. Yes, that makes Graham have an estimated birth weight of around 9 pounds! YIKES! Of course all of this is a guess, but it makes me nervous none the less. Dr Lebel actually used the word "solid" to describe Graham. It looks like he may take after Dustin after all (who weighed 10 lbs 3 oz and was 23 inches long at birth).

We also have the nursery almost all finished! Jeanne finished the truck pictures (which we still need to hang) and Martha finished sewing the curtains/rocker cushions/crib skirt. All of these look better than I imagined! I included some pictures for everyone to see.

35 Weeks

Is anyone else as ready as we are for Graham to get here?!? We only have 4.5 weeks left until his due date. A lot is going on...Mimi (Dustin's Mom) is busy finishing up making his bed skirt, curtains, and the cushions for our rocking chair; Jeanne is painting the truck pictures to hang above his crib; and the picture man is putting new matting on the picture to go above the changing table. Meanwhile, Dustin has cleaned the house from top to bottom while I have washed, sterilized, and organized all of Graham's stuff. Whew, that run down is enough to make you tired just reading it!

Our doctor's appointment went well this week. Graham's heartbeat still makes me tear up to hear. I am not sure if we will do another ultrasound. Six is probably enough! Graham has dropped some this week, allowing me to breath easier. I can actually get through patient education without have to stop to catch my breath! We will now start with weekly doctor appointments.

We had our final baby shower last weekend and truly only have a few little things left to buy. Thank you to all of our family and friends for all you have done and given!

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day. We are 34 weeks and Graham is still doing great. He should weigh about 5 pounds and be about 18 inches long at this time. If you could see my stomach you would believe both these stats! He continues to have the hiccups 2-3 days a day. He still moves around a lot, but is not kicking as much because his space is running out. It looks like a wave is moving across my stomach when he moves. Very strange, but exciting none the less!

Over the past week we went to a wedding in Atlanta and were able to catch up with college friends, went to a baby shower for Lisa Williams (due 10 days before us), and celebrated my Dad's birthday.

I am officially in full nesting mode! We bought the fabric for the crib skirt and Dustin's mom is going to start making it this week. I am still trying to decide which rocking chair we are going to use. Don't worry, I have a coordinating fabric already picked out for Martha to make the cushion! Our friend, Jeanne, is going to paint pictures of trucks to hang above the crib. I have also bought detergent to start washing all of Graham's clothes and bedding. Only 6 more weeks until our due date!!!

33 Weeks

Another week closer to Graham getting here! We had our doctor's appointment this week and everything looks good. My blood pressure and weight are good (at least appropriate). Graham's heart rate is right where it should be and my tummy is measuring correct for his gestational age. It is hard to get an accurate measure of my stomach because Graham still likes to reside completely the left side of my stomach. Dr LeBel said she is guessing he is going to be a medium size baby. YEAH, no 10 pounder like his Daddy! Our next appointment will be in 2 weeks and then we go to weekly visits starting at 36 weeks.

We have had a busy week. I had two more baby showers this week. We are truly blessed to have so many generous family members and friends. The nursery is looking ready to have a baby live in it! We are making the final decisions...rockers, fabric for crib skirt and curtains, changing mattings on pictures, painting pictures, etc. I say "we" but Dustin is not helping too much with all of this. Afterall, he has no time with all the housework he is doing!

Still no news on selling the house. We had a showing this past Sunday, but have not heard anything. It was a couple re-locating from Florida. Our house was the first one they looked at. We did not expect to hear anything right away even if they loved it.