7 Days...

... and our world turned upside down

"For this child we have prayed..."

She didn't get the memo that she's out of the womb and now has room to stretch

Daddy and his girl

Always put the baby to sleep in her own bed...awake...you don't want her to get spoiled...

Getting ready to head home

Gigi and Papa J

Baby Doll

LOVES the carseat...yeah right

Welcome Home Darling!


So here is the short(er) story of how miss Lofton arrived. We went to our regularly scheduled sonogram on May 18th and her fluid level had dropped again. After speaking with the MFM doctor the decision was made that the risks of carrying the pregnancy any further outweighed any benefits of keeping her in longer so we decided to proceed with delivery. When we arrived in Labor and Delivery my cervix was noted to be...CLOSED!! not a great set-up for a routine vaginal delivery. Well we did a 12 hour overnight medicine (cervidil) to try and make a little progress and after a sleepless night of moderate contractions every 3-5 minutes and constant back pain, I had progressed to 1 cm :( So with the help of my friends and colleagues (yes, 2 of my girlfriends have now checked my cervix) we did a method to place mechanical pressure on the cervix and force dilation. And then the tears came... I refused an epidural b/c i didn't want to be one of "those" that gets there epidural at 1cm and 12 hours later gets a c/s. Plus, I knew that if it didn't work we might do the cervidil AGAIN and delivery may be hours and hours away. BUT about 4 hours after placement of the foley in my uterus I was 3 cm. woohoo!! I was absolutely thrilled and knew actual labor was on its way. So I asked for my epidural (i'm no fool afterall) and was 5cm an hour later. Now comfy with my epidural, which by the way is the BEST invention of all time, I settled in for a nap. No time though b/c 2 hours after that I was completely dilated and she was ready to make her debut. 3 pushes later at 3:28pm on May 19th Lofton Elizabeth entered the world screaming and flailing. NICU team needed, nope! Stimulation needed, nope! Formula needed to help her blood sugar, nope! This child is a fighter. They have an entire protocol for late pretermers and she flew through without a hitch. Her weight dropped to 4lb 7oz which is totally normal. We headed home as a family of 3 on Friday with an appointment to see our pediatrician on Saturday morning to check her weight and jaundice. We knew that formula supplementation may be necessary since she's so tiny. Much to Dr. Yaeger's surprise her weight did not drop any further and jaundice was on its way out without treatment. He said we couldn't ask for more from a full term baby.

For some comic relief we did arrive home from the hospital to a television that the volume had gone out and a fire alarm that died and beeping ensued at midnight our first night home :) we just laughed (and went to best buy after leaving the pedi...). Also, on Saturday I opened up my brand new pump for some much needed relief and oops! it was packaged wrong and a vital piece was missing. Funny now, but not then. We are now just chilling and loving life. Come visit (as long as you're over 12 and don't mind hand sanitizer). We'll be here!

Love, Dewey, Jordan, and Lofton

ps-if you want some wake time, 2am is your best bet. our days and nights have gotten a little confused these last few days...

Lofton Elizabeth

our sweet angel has arrived! Lofton Elizabeth Mitchell born may 19th at 3:28pm weighing 4lb 12oz and 17 3/4 inches long. We are all doing wonderful and plan to head home tomorrow. I'll update with details of the birth story soon, but right now i'm too busy kissing and cuddling my little blessing!

Maternity Pics and Sono

Genny (8/24, harper) Jordan (6/14, lofton) Whitney (6/11 hayden) college roomies now expecting a lot of sass and frills this summer!

Just returned from a sono and little miss lofton looks great! her fluid level was 9.8 this morning which is oh so normal, praise the Lord! she was moving and breathing and doing everything she's supposed to do. so well behaved all ready :) below are pics in no particular order (b/c the blogger site and i have not made friends and this is my third attempt at this post so i give up!). the grey dress is today (35 weeks!). aren't i getting big?! i credit the biscuits and gravy... the maternity pics were taken april 11th by http://www.jillellison.com/. she took a ton of pics, is very patient with kiddos (i.e. husbands) and is super affordable! i'll brush up on my skills before i try and post again...

Mother's Day

happy mother's day to my mom, mimi, SIL's, and all the other mama's out there. you have each taught me something unique and different about being the best mom i can be. i pray i remember all your tips at 3am...

my sweet husband made breakfast this morning including biscuits and gravy, a hashbrown casserole, chocolate chip pancakes, and fruit salad. he's been a little concerned about my lack of weight gain and apparently tried to solve the problem in one meal-mission accomplished :)

everything is about the same here. there's only so much to report when you sit on the couch ALL day long... i did finally start the twilight series (i realize i'm approximately 2 years behind the rest of the female population age 15-40...) and make daily honey-do lists for my honey. he LOVES to come home from a full day of work to a new list of things that i've thought of that need to be done before little lofton's arrival :)

we had 3 sonos this week instead of 2 b/c we noticed at the beginning of the week that her fluid level had dropped to 8. it did stay stable throughout the week which was great and helped us avoid another hospital admission. 35 weeks tomorrow (yea!) so most likely 2 more weeks before we induce unless something changes and requires delivery sooner. she continues to drop in weight percentile (her actual weight is increasing but for her gestational age the percentile continues to decline). she's going to be long and skinny so we'll be trying to fatten her up ASAP. maybe i can give her some of my mother's day breakfast so she can fit into THIS...

Blog Beginnings

I planned to start a blog once we were expecting a baby. Well, between work, preparing for our baby girl, and soaking up as much time as possible with my husband, that project was pushed to the backburner. Unfortunately, about 7 and a half weeks before my due date, my doctor found that my baby wasn't growing very well and her amniotic fluid levels were low-signs that the placenta isn't working well. why?? who knows... Regardless, I spent a few nights in the hospital and was completely prepared for a preemie, but praise the Lord things improved and I am now home on bedrest. We may still have a scrawny little thing that comes a little earlier than expected, but we are SO thankful for the last two weeks of much needed "cooking". All that to say, I have some extra time on my hands...

We are now doing sonograms twice a week to follow her fluid levels, overall well-being, and growth. Her fluid dropped a little bit this week, so we'll follow up today. I'm praying that the fluid has either improved or remained stable. Otherwise, I may see another hospital admission in my future... We're packed and ready either way and my sweet hubby put together all of our gadgets this week.
This is a pic from my maternity photo session (about 3 and a half weeks ago). My belly looks just about the same....