Introducing Grace Elizabeth De Haan!

Our second little girl- Grace Elizabeth- was welcomed into the world on September 11, 2011 at 6:32 AM! (Yes, nearly a month ago, but I am slightly behind. :) Two kids has been busy!)

She was nearly a week late, but she did actually arrive on her own- the day before I was scheduled to be induced, so just in time.

Her birth story: I started having some contractions in the morning on September 10, but they went away in the afternoon, so I wasn't too concerned. I was pretty positive that this little girl was going to be like her big sister and wasn't going to come on her own. However, I started having contractions again around 9 or 10 that night, and around midnight I was pretty sure I was in labor. I tried to sleep until about 2:30, but that wasn't really happening due to the contractions and excitement, so I got up and showered.

After I showered, my contractions started becoming a little closer together, maybe 7 minutes apart. However, I didn't call the OB until about 4 am as I was taking my sweet time getting ready and getting the house all organized. They said we could come in at anytime, so we called my parents to have them stay with Bella. I was still doing my hair when my parents arrived (although my dad was trying to kick me out of the house!) so we didn't actually leave for the hospital until a little before 5. I was hoping that I would be dilated to like a 4 or a 5. I wasn't in a ton of pain, so I didn't think it would be further than that. However, once we got to the hospital and the nurse checked me, I was already dilated to an 8. Ooops- guess I should've listened to my dad! :)

Things moved very quickly from then out! I couldn't have an epidural as there wouldn't have been enough time for it to take effect, but my nurse said I could have an intrathecal, which is something that the Pella Hospital does that provides pain relief but doesn't numb everything. My nurse called the anesthesiologist and my doctor and then got my IV started. My contractions were very intense at this point, so I was praying for them to quickly arrive. My nurse checked me again around 5:30, and she then informed me I may be doing this naturally as I was about fully dilated. I was freaking out slightly as I was in quite a lot of pain by that pointand definitely wasn't planning on a natural childbirth! Thankfully, both the doctors then arrived, and my doctor said as long as I wasn't feeling a lot of pressure, I could have the intrathecal to have relief for pushing. I was feeling some pressure, but I was willing to wait. :)

After the intrathecal was given, probably around 6 AM, I was MUCH more comfortable. My doctor checked me, and her head was already coming down, but he wanted to wait for me to push so that she would just come out easily. And that definitely worked! A little before 6:30, I started to push, and with about 2 contractions in 8 minutes she was out. Our next beautiful little girl!

In the waiting period before the doctors arrived- obviously I wasn't having a contraction at this point since I was still smiling. :)
Mommy holding our sweet little Grace for the first time! So very glad to finally meet her, even though she took her sweet little time coming into the world.
She weighed in at 7 lbs 3.8 oz and was 19 1/2" long. Just a little smaller than Bella, and looking quite a bit like her!
Getting all checked out!
A very proud mommy with our newest little girl.
So pretty and tiny!
Daddy is already in love!
Our first visitor was big sister Bella. I wanted to make sure that Bella was first to meet Miss Grace, so my parents brought her over after she got up in the morning and had breakfast. Bella was a little in awe of meeting her sister for the first time! We had talked about it a lot, but that didn't fully prepare her for actually meeting whatever was in Mommy's belly. She wasn't too interested in Grace at first as it was a little overwhelming for her. She was much more excited about receiving her "big sister" present from Grace- her own baby doll to take care of!

Baby Bella (as the baby doll was named) visited all the places that Grace did in the hospital. Bella also enjoyed performing all the acts to baby Bella that the nurses did to Mommy and Grace. She kept quite busy in the hospital room with all the new stuff to play with! We may have used about 10 pairs of gloves... and a stethoscope might have been played with as well.
I think she is cutting the baby's fingernails in this picture?
After a little bit, Bella became much more interested in Grace. Apparently, her baby doll's bottles needed to be fed to Grace!
Giving the first of MANY kisses!
Still Mommy's girl- snuggling and taking care of her baby. :) I was worried that seeing Mommy in a different environment would freak her out, but Bella took it with no problem at all. She had lots of fun playing in the hospital room and was even fine leaving with Grandpa and Grandma. This was the first time we have been away from her overnight, so it was hard for Mommy to be gone. :)
Big yawn after a big morning!
Grace had quite the little head of hair! Unfortunately, it is already going away.... :(
When Bella came back in the afternoon, she was much more interested in seeing Grace. Here she is holding her for the first time- giving kisses again. :)
Our first family of 4 picture!
We had quite possibly one of the shortest hospital stays for a childbirth. I was anxious to get home (again, didn't like being gone from Bella!), and my doctor said that since both Grace and I were doing well on Monday we could go home that afternoon. So we were only there for about 32 hours!
Taking some pictures of our sweet girl before we were discharged- we love those chubby cheeks!
Taking a little snooze on Mommy.
And all dressed up to go home! We are sooo thankful to God for blessing us with another beautiful little girl. Grace has definitely lived up to the meaning of her name. She is the perfect addition to our family and has been a wonderful baby so far!