Well she’s here and she’s just perfect!!! I don’t even know how to start! I guess I’ll start with the days leading up do birth day! After the membrain sweep I starting having a few contractions but nothing I was happy or confident in. I was walking a lot like the dr said. I was doing about 3 miles!!! I was bouncing on my birth ball trying to get her to come down more and I was pumping! I went back to the dr on July 6th to see if I had had any more changes since the sweep on July 5th. Turns out I was still at 3cm dilated but I was about 60 to 70% effaced! So I was really hoping I would have baby Grace on 7/7 because Ellie was on 6/6!!! Well Grace said no way lol. So then I thought maybe she will come on 7/8 because that’s her moms birthday! Nope she was not sharing her big day with anyone lol. But she did decide to start labor on her mommy’s birthday!!! I had had zero contractions all day on Friday! So when my husband got home I said me and my mom were going for a pedicure! We did and the chairs were so relaxing just what I needed after all the 3 mile walks! Then I went home we got the kids in bed and got in bed ourselves. I wanted to watch 20/20! I’m old I know! I had one contraction and it hurt good! I didn’t say anything because I figured it was nothing then I had a second and third! I told my husband oh boy 3 in a row I bet this is it!!! He jumped right in the shower and was freaking out lol. I still was not convinced. My mom and husband kept saying call Molly call Molly! I didn’t want to get her all excited for nothing I wanted to be sure this was it! I was laying down and having them and during the commercials I would walk around and still have them. So about 9:30 or 9:45 I decided to text Molly that it may be real! She literally texted me as I was typing to see how I was! It was like she knew haha! I decided to get up and get my hair and makeup done before we went to the hospital! (I’m crazy I know) I just know after labor people come see you and take pictures etc and I just can’t look awful! Ricky got the kids back out of bed and to my parents! Kailynn my 5 year old was so sweet and excited she said well mom I need to come see Grace come out too! I explained to her that it would definitely take some time for her to arrive but once she had she could come see us! By the time Ricky got back I was done with hair and makeup! Molly was waiting on my text to let her know when we left for hospital! I told her to wait until I got there to know for sure if they were keeping me or not. Poor Molly was ready to leave the second I called and Jon is more practical and said let’s wait to see what the dr says. Once they had me hooked up the contractions got much stronger and closer together they were about every 3 mins and lasting about 90 seconds! I made Ricky text Molly and tell her I would feel better if they started heading our way because at that point I knew it was real and I was not going home! About 5 mins later they confirmed they were getting me a room! I told them I wanted the epidural right away in hopes of slowing my contractions down enough for them to make it! Well it worked the epidural worked so well it STOPED my contractions lol. I was only having a few every 20 mins or so! That was ok with me though. We tried to sleep for a few hours! Molly and Jon got there about 4ish. They made great time! They went to a hotel for a few hours of sleep also. Around 7 am my dr called and asked if I would be ok with a tiny bit of pitocen to start things. I said whatever she thinks! Then we would break my water after that. So after a few hours things got to going well again! Everyone was just sitting around and watching me lol. As they checked me I was 4 cm when I got there and then once my dr got there I was 6 cm! Then things got a bit sketchy… After my contractions poor Graces heart rate would start dropping…. It was too much of a repeat of Ellie for me… My dr told me she was watching it and as long as her heart rate came back up fast then it was fine. They put me on some oxygen anyway. To be honest I really just shut down a bit at that point. Everyone wanted to know if I was ok. Well honestly I wasn’t. I obviously would do anything in the world for Grace to be here safe and sound. I just really did not want to to have to include another c section. That was the worst thing for me to recover from! I missed my kids and I couldn’t do anything! So I just closed my eyes and I prayed and prayed and prayed the whole time! I prayed that God would allow me to have the V bac I wanted and to keep Grace safe. I wanted so badly to see Molly hold Grace for the first time I wanted her to get to catch her baby! I know it was all selfish but I can’t help it. I told my dr if I can just push I know I can get her out! I just focused on her coming down and me being able to push soon! It was probably only about 20 or 30 minutes later I told the nurse I was ready to push! She was like are you sure… I said yep get my dr. So in came dr Sammons and sure enough I was ready! 10cm! She had me give her a push and she smiled super big! She said this I can work with! I could have cried!!! I just knew I could push her out! They hurried and got the room ready and me where they needed me to be! I could see everything I like that! So when she let me push I could see her sweet head coming down! Everyone was there coaching me along! The dr did say she may have to use a vacuum if she wouldn’t come fast enough but that seemed better then a c section to me! She did have to cut me! I was not expecting that but anything was better then a major surgery at that point! I think she was having someone get the vacuum ready and I didn’t want that to happen either so I pushed extra hard again! I think I only pushed about 10 times it was only about 10 minutes maybe if that and she was out! It was absolutely beautiful everything I wanted and knew it would be!!! Molly grabbed her right away and snuggled her up! We were all tearing up and emotional! It was the most beautiful thing I’ve been able to be apart of! Jon even got to cut the cord! It took a little bit for my placenta to come out so I was a little worried but it came just fine! The next few days are almost a blur. So much love and happiness! I couldn’t be more proud of what we all accomplished! Of course leaving today and saying see you later was a little sad… Not because I wanted her to be with me or anything like that! It’s just sad missing my baby friend after 10 months! I can’t wait to go visit them soon! Seeing both girls together will be amazing! I can’t wait to see all the pictures our birth photographer took also! I hope she was able to capture in photos all the love that was felt in that room! I’ll post a ton of pictures for everyone to enjoy! Thanks again for everyone who has prayed and helped or supported us all in anyway, the names are to many to list! We love you all!!! 

Oh and her stats!!! Born July 9th at 1:27 pm she was 20.25 inches long! 

My first after pregnancy margarita!! Yummy!

She held my hand before she left! 

Look at the happy family! So much love!!!shes perfect we love her so much!!!shes a very cuddly baby! I fed her before she went home! The kids were so excited to meet her! But only for about 10 minutes haha night time love! Extra cuddle time! She loves sleeping Ricky holding her!!first bath!!!she really was not a fan hahamy first meal after 24 hours!!! I ordered two Chinese meals haha. The first time I got to hold her!!!shes so perfect and I LOVE her strawberry blonde hair!!! This was two days before she was born! I can’t believe she was in there!!!birth ball!!! 

Yesterday I went for our 38 week appointment and the dr said I was 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced! Dr Sammons said she doesn’t think I’ll make it to our next appointment next Tuesday! She did the sweep the best she could! Miss Grace was not putting as much pressure down there like she wanted! I came home and pumped for Grace and went on a 3 mile walk! (That may have been a bit much lol)  I had some good contractions last night and this morning from about 4am to 6am. Then nothing lol. Hopefully were busy at work tonight and I can keep things moving! In case anyone was wondering the membrain sweep wasn’t that bad at all. Keep praying that Molly and Jon make it in time and that we have a nice safe birth!!! 

Well for the last two weeks I’ve been 2 cm dilated! Dr Sammons said she’s still way up there though floating in my ribs! I can tell haha! I’ve been having a bit of acid reflux when I sleep but other then that I feel fabulous! I’m pretty sure Baby Grace is now content and has no intention of leaving soon. She’s just getting fat and happy! I’m trying to really soak up these last couple weeks we get together! I love when she starts moving and playing! Although sometimes her moving hurts lol! She’s just as fun as her big sister was! I can not wait to see how much they look alike when she decides to make her big debut! I can’t lie I’m getting a bit more nervous about the birth since everything that happened last time… Im just praying and trusting God that everything will be fine! We’re hoping for a wonderful V-Bac. So here is what Baby Grace is up to this week! 

Hey, your little one isn’t so little anymore, weighing close to seven pounds and measuring 20 inches long. Fetal development is nearly complete as your baby tends to a few last-minute details like shedding the skin-protecting vernix and lanugo. She’s  also producing more surfactant, a substance that prevents the air sacs in her lungs from sticking to one another once she starts to breathe. 
Most of the changes this week are small but important: She’s  continuing to add fat (so she can take advantage of all those photo ops by sporting a round, cute baby look!) and fine-tuning her brain and nervous system (so she can deal with all the stimulation that awaits her once she makes her entrance into the world).