She's Finally Here!

She's finally here!

Aubree Paige Benich

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

1:35pm

7 pounds, 9 ounces

21 inches

We're so excited to introduce Aubree to you! Everyone is doing fine. We are all pretty sleepy though! The past few days have flown by. We went into the hospital Tuesday morning at 5:45am. Aubree was born at 1:35pm. We were discharged on Wednesday at approximately 3:00pm. Quick stay! Since then, it's been a steady wave of feedings, laundry, diapers, visitors and lack of sleep.

I've tried posting this about four times now...each time getting distracted and never finishing. So, in an effort to update the blog, I'm keeping this short and sweet, and attaching a few pictures because I know most of you just want to see those! I promise to get pics uploaded to snapfish soon. :)

"I can't believe you haven't gone into labor yet!"

That's what my doctor said at my 11:00 appointment today. I'm 4 cm dilated and apparently doing just fine. She said she would have sent me to the hospital except it's a mad house today. She told me that there is every possibility I could go into labor today/tonight, but if not, we'll be there at 5:45 tomorrow morning. So everyone cross your fingers things stay put until the morning. I was induced with Brock, and frankly, I'm a bit scared to actually go into labor naturally. Ok, so I guess I'm more scared of being too far along for an epidural!!! LOVE those drugs!!!

This morning I began talking to Brock about the baby's arrival. I told him Nana was coming today. She would stay with him while mom & dad go to the doctor tomorrow. The doctor was going to get the baby out of mommy's tummy. Well, I either freaked him out or he completely understands what is in store for him. His response was: "I don't want the baby to come out of mommy's tummy!" (In a very grumpy tone of voice.) I love my son dearly, but this is one thing I'm not willing to give in on. MOMMY wants this baby to come out! :) I've stocked up on some gifts for him from Aubree. Otherwise known as bribery! Like I said before, I'm very interested to see how he adjusts.

A few people have asked more about the nursery...here's the scoop. If you know me, you know I danced for nearly 15 years of my life. How could my little girl have anything BUT a ballerina themed nursery??? The crib skirt and vallance are done in ballerina skirts, the lamps both have toe shoes on them, I made her two quilts with ballerinas and toe shoes, found a twin size quilt with ballerinas on it for the extra bed in her room, and Dede painted 3 lovely pictures to wrap it all up. All it needs is a little ballerina now!

Well, the doctor said this little girl should be here by noon tomorrow...so here's to the last 23 hours of pregnancy! May they FLY BY!!

The last single days

Brides & Grooms-to-be have bachelorette/bachelor parties...we thought Brock should enjoy the last weekend he'll have as a single child. Saturday we took him to Incredible Pizza for the first time. He had a blast! I have to admit, Tom and I had a pretty good time ourselves. Miniature golf was a hit, he got really excited winning "TICKETS!!", and he and Tom placed FIRST in the go-carts!

Today after church, we headed to the park and pool. Lucky for this very pregnant mom, we only played at the park for about 5 minutes before transferring to the pool! After 6 weeks of swimming lessons at school, we can proudly say Brock DOESN'T get his head wet like a Pro! :) We can't quite classify him as a fish just yet, but he does enjoy playing, and he likes wearing his "gobbles" even though he doesn't get them wet!

If you're looking for a baby update...she seems perfectly content in her little and very snug home. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow at 11, but we expect we'll stick to the plans of going into the hospital at 6am on Tuesday.

Until next time!

3 more days...

Today is Saturday, August 9th. (Happy Birthday Kristen!)

I'm officially off work. If you don't know, I work on a team with 9 other men. No women...just me. I was often asked if I was looking forward to my "vacation". For those of you who are parents, you know that these 12 weeks will not be a vacation. In fact, saving my vacation time to use during these weeks off for a vacation that is not really a vacation is just wrong! Nevertheless, I'm done. The nursery is 99.9% complete. All baby must-haves are ready and now we're playing the waiting game. I had 3 hours of pretty strong contractions in the wee hours of Friday morning, but they just stopped. This little girl is teasing me. Whoever WAS born yesterday, on 8/8/08...has a pretty cool birthday.

We think Brock is ready...or as ready as a 3 1/2 year old can be. I know his life is going to change dramatically. He is totally NOT spoiled...yeah right. We ask him if he's ready for his sister to get here. The normal answer is yes. There are times though, when out of the blue, he'll say something like: Aubree is not going to play with my bubble blower. I just chuckle and tell him ok. When she's old enough to play with a bubble blower, chances are he won't really care. I've asked him if he's going to give her hugs and kisses when he gets here. "No, mommy give her hugs and kisses". Wish us all luck...especially Brock. I'm very anxious to see how this all goes.

Tom says he's ready to see his little girl and hold her tiny hands and feet. Wait...she's OUR daughter...no tiny feet there! Not with her mom's size 10 feet, and her dad's size 15 feet. Even Brock seems to be routinely 2-3 sizes larger than the rest of the kids in his class at school. Nevertheless, I don't think Tom knows exactly what is in store for him. As a long time running Daddy's girl, I know there is a special bond between a daughter and her daddy. I can't wait to see this bond root and grow. I imagine it won't be long before she has him wrapped around her finger...I predict...day 2.

And does anyone need to ask if I'm ready? Nearly 38 weeks pregnant...in TEXAS...in AUGUST? Finally ditch the Tums that have been in arms reach for months now. Be able to go more than 2 hours in between bathroom breaks? Able to SEE my feet...BEND OVER...and more?!?! You get the drift. Some women enjoy being pregnant. I don't enjoy pregnancy. I enjoy the outcome.

Some pics for you to enjoy:

First Timer

Alrighty, everywhere I turn, my friends are all starting and maintaining blogs. Some maintain better than others, but there is one thing in common. I love reading them. My last day of work before maternity leave was yesterday. I have three more days until this little girl is induced. SO, what's a soon-to-be-mom-of-two to do than add one more thing to her life? If I can manage to get one post out a week, I think a congratulations will be in order. I'm taking 12 weeks off work...so hopefully in those 12 weeks, you'll see at least 12 posts from us! After I return to working a full time job...shuffling 2 kids back and forth to daycare...supporting Tom through his last semester of grad school...and, well, you get the picture...we'll see how well I can keep up!! :)
I'm at least hoping this will let everyone see and hear how our little girl is doing in her first few weeks...and how her big brother is adjusting to not being the only child and sole attention stealer in this house.

OK, let's get this show started!!!