At home nurse visit...

The hospital sends a nurse to check in with families after a couple days of being home. Both Larkyn and I checked out very well, with the exception of Larkyn's weight. According to the nurse's scale, Larkyn had dropped down to 7 lbs. 2 oz. which meant she had lost 10% of her body weight from birth. This was obviously a concern, but the nurse said now that my milk has come in her eating would be more consistent and she should not have a problem putting the weight back on. We have an appointment with her pediatrician tomorrow where she will be weighed again.

Great Grandpa and Grandma come to visit...

Today my grandparents came to visit their first Great Grandchild. Larkyn was so excited to see them she slept almost the entire time! We heard many great stories of how each of their five children were born and all the places they would take them and things they use to do. Things have definitely changed over the last 46 years!

Coming home...

On Monday, March 15th Larkyn had a check up with Dr. Mitha and was good to go home!

Larkyn wore her "I love hugs" fleece sleeper for her going home outfit. She received the outfit for Christmas from Aunt May May!

That afternoon, Larkyn was introduced to her new home! Daddy and Larkyn had some "skin time" together and took a little snooze. It was a beautiful day and once we were all rested and settled in, we took her for her first walk around the neighborhood. We barely made it out of the driveway before stopping to see our neighbors who were anxiously awaiting her arrival! We ended up getting around the block eventually, but stopped many times to see and meet all of her new friends.

Larkyn found her new bed to be quite comfy. Although it took her a little while to sleep more than an hour or two at a time:)

Some of Larkyn's FIRSTs in life...

Larkyn's First Visitors

My mom and sister Megan, and Shea's mom and sister Megan were able to make the trip to Minnesota to see Larkyn in her first hours after birth. They were all very excited to see her! They left the hospital for a short time and returned with large Kohl's bags full of clothes for Larkyn. I'm pretty sure she will be set for quite a long time with the way they all shop!

Grandma Debbie
Granny Janny
Aunt May May
Aunt Megan
Cousin Kayce
Cousin Jake
Mike and Katie (Mike and Katie are friends ours that we met through church. They are expecting a little boy in May. Mike and Katie were taking the weekend birthing/parenting class the weekend we were in the hospital. We joked for weeks about them being on their Labor/Delivery tour as we are in the hospital. Sure enough it happend! Their instructor was the same instructor we had for our birthing/parenting class so we were able to see her as well!)

Chris and Jessi (Chris and Jessi are friends from Winona State. They currently live in the cities area and were in a church small group with us this past fall. Jessi is a Spanish teacher at Eagan High School. They are expecting a baby girl on March 22nd.)

Jessi and (Hannah)

(Hannah-was born on March 16th, just three days after Miss Larkyn)

Grandpa Jim

Grandpa Jim made the trip up Sunday morning to spend some time with Larkyn.

Shannon (Shannon and I teach Kindergarten together at Diamond Path. Shannon has also been a great resource for me during pregnancy. She has two little girls and has provided us with great advice, clothes, toys, etc.)

Kelly

The ladies of the neighborhood decided to leave their husbands and children at home to come and visit baby Larkyn. All of them, with the exception of Kate, thought we were having a boy. I wasn't sure if Jess would really believe us or not when we told her we had a girl!

Tanya

Daina

Jess

Kate

Larkyn's First Check-up with the Doctor

She checked out great!

Daddy's First Diaper Change

Larkyn's First Bath
She was getting all cleaned up to snuggle with us!

Welcome Larkyn Kate!

Well, we didn't make game night on Saturday! Larkyn Kate decided to join us at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 13th. She weighed 8 lbs. 0 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. I woke up Friday morning with some back pain, which turned into mild contractions ranging from 5-17 minutes apart. I decided they were so inconsistent that I would go to work and focus my attention on 5 and 6 year olds! Friday night, we went out for dinner with some friends and the contractions were coming on stronger, but still 5-10 minutes apart. We continued about our night, began cleaning up around the house (getting ready just in case) and ended up going for a walk around 10:30 p.m. My contractions were still 5-10 minutes apart so I decided we should just go to bed. If it was the real thing we would need the sleep anyway! We went to bed around 11:30 and I shot out of bed around 1:30 a.m. with a BIG contraction! That is when I told Shea, "I don't think we will be going back to bed any time soon!" After another hour or so of laboring at home, my contractions were getting closer (2-3 minutes apart). After a call to the doctor, we were on our way to Fairview Ridges Hosptial in Burnsville, Minnesota. We arrived just after 3 a.m. and by 3:45 I was dilated to 5 cm. An hour later and after more intense back contractions I was dilated to 7-8 cm and things were progressing well. The whole thing went so fast because the next thing I knew it I was dilated to a 10! They ended up breaking my water at 6:29 a.m. and we had a little girl at 7:00 a.m. on the dot!

No change...

Mama Mueske at 39 weeks and counting...

We had our 39 week appointment this morning. Getting closer to the due date, but no change from last week:( I'm still feeling well though and am finally healthy, so what can a week or two more hurt! I know everyone is anxious, including us, but the reward will be worth the wait! We'll keep you posted...

Doctor visit at 38 weeks...

We had our 38 week appointment on the 3rd and things continue to go very well. I am dilated 1 cm and 75% effaced. The doctor is pretty sure she will still see me at our next appointment on the morning of the 10th. She also gave Shea and I homework this week. Dr. Cho gave us strict orders to go out and enjoy our time together. We followed her orders as we went out for dinner together and did some shopping on Friday night. We also had a great weekend "nesting" together as we cleaned out cupboards and drawers, got things done around the house, and cooked some meals to freeze! We also had the opportunity to go out with our neighbor friends on Saturday night. I ordered something spicy thinking it might help get things going, but no luck! Maybe next weekend! We already have dinner plans for Friday night and game night at the Johnson's on Saturday. So Sunday it is!