Hospital and Homecoming

Margaret's 2nd day of life was an exciting one!

She started her day off with a hearing test.

And then sweet friends came to meet her

Casey

PawPaw meeting his granddaughter for the 1st time


Tom's Aunt Val, with PatPat and Alice

Tom's cousins, Abbey and Taylor

Michelle, with Leah and Luke

Billy and Lauren

Henry loving on his sister

In Mimi's arms

Amy and Brinley came, bearing gifts for Henry from his friends Brinley, Witt, and Bekah

Amy and Brinley

We had some rest time

And then more friends!

Sara and Baby Leighton

The Smith Family

Finally, dear Liz....

... who brought these yummy cupcakes!



We had a pretty good night sleep that night.


And Miss Margaret was ready to start a new day!
Going home day!

A sweet smile


Tom got her dressed (despite the fact that he initially tried to put her shirt on backwards)

Not bad neck control for a 3 day old!

Sitting pretty by the beautiful flowers Amy brought


We were ready to go home!

(Even though I did enjoy the sweet nurses who waited on me like a queen)

Margaret's car ride home

I love how baby cheeks hang over the car seat straps!


Henry was there to greet us at the door:

He was SO excited to have his sister home!!

He's still working on covering his coughs :)

Papa and Henry, the camera is over here

The grandparents enjoying one last visit with each other.

We are so fortunate that our parents get along so well.

The Barkers came for a visit

Casey and Audrey

Tom and Barker with their daughters

Home, sweet home.

After the Barkers left, we all went down for a warm, winter's nap.

We are thrilled to have our little bundle of joy home with us!

Margaret Gray's Birthday

I woke up at 2:30 am on Thursday morning, and thought "ahh, the sound of light rain..."

2 seconds later, "RAIN!! It can't be! How are we supposed to get to the hospital?!?"

I knew the temps were dropping below freezing and was quite scared of slick roads and traffic jams. I told myself there was nothing I could do about it and fell asleep 2 hours later.

6:30 rolled around and I woke up and got ready.

Final belly pic

Tom and I dropped Henry off at PatPat and PawPaw's house and headed to the hospital.

1 1/2 hours later (AHHH! Was supposed to be a 30 min trip! -talk about stressful! Thank goodness I wasn't already in labor), we arrived at the hospital.

We got checked in.

I got an epidural and the team of my doctor, a resident, an intern, an anesthesiologist, and my labor and delivery nurse prepped me for the external version, or in layman terms- a flipping of the bebe.

With my doctor literally on her knees in bed with me, they man handled my belly and were successful at flipping Miss Margaret.

It wasn't painful (thank goodness for drugs) but sure did feel funny.

There was a big "YaHOO!" given by all when she turned.

(I had asked God to be there with His hands on Margaret... guiding her. My prayer is that she will always allow Him to lead her in His ways. Praise Him!)

After letting Margaret and me rest for about 30 mins, my doc broke my water. A little while later, they started the pitocin.

Contractions started getting intense.

I began to push.

Tom was awesome at encouraging me.

5-10 mins later (2:03 pm), Miss Margaret Gray Louis came into this world!

8 lbs 1 oz

20 inches

What an amazing experience!

Meeting Margaret

We were all surprised by how big she was (not that 8 lbs is huge, but my doc totally thought she wouldn't be bigger than 7 lbs) and her light hair!

(Oh, and my mom was there for the whole thing. So glad she got to share the experience with us... and take pics! Thanks Mom!)

My awesome OBGYN

My Labor and Delivery nurse

(She was wonderful- had warm blankets at the foot of my bed waiting for me... it was like being 1st class on an airplane!)

Getting cleaned up

Tom meeting his baby girl

Proud father

My sweet, sweet girl

PaPa was a trooper! Finally getting to meet his 5th grandchild

In MiMi's arms

About an hour after Margaret was born, we were moved to our postpartum room.

Tom checking out Margaret's long feet


After resting for a while, PatPat, Kate, Ella, Thomas, Alice, and Henry came to meet the newest family member (Margaret's #12 Louis grandchild)

(I thought I was videoing Henry meeting his little sister for the first time, but I had pushed the wrong button. ugh. Well, I guess I can't have everything perfect. Anyhoo- he was SUPER excited about meeting Margaret.. giving her kisses, hugs, tearing her hat off...He kept saying "Tister, Tister!")

It was so good to see Henry.

(Sorry so close up... I had to crop to make this world wide web appropriate)

PatPat meeting her 6th granddaughter

Our family of four. We are so blessed!

Louis cousins


Every one went home and we enjoyed some quiet time... and when I say quiet, I mean it. She's been such a good baby!

They finally came in to bathe Margaret around 8 pm.

All cleaned up and ready to start life.


What a day!

We are so glad that Margaret Gray is here!

(More to come)

Ready or Not!

Here she comes!

As most of you know, Miss Margaret Gray has decided to stay breech. In the morning, I'll go in to have an "external version" , where they try to manually turn the baby. Doesn't sound that pleasant to me, but I figured it was worth a try. If Margaret is willing to be turned, then they will induce me shortly after. If she is comfy how she is, I will have a c section.

Honestly, I had been looking forward to an easier, faster labor, delivery, and recovery, and seeing that a c section is major surgery, I'm kind of bummed about that option.

But I have to remember that Margaret being healthy is the most important thing, no matter how she arrives into this world.

It's been a crazy, emotional past few weeks, and I have found comfort in the following verse:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6,7

My sister in law, Megan, passed it on a few years ago, and it's stuck on my bathroom mirror.

It's a good one! and I'm so thankful that God does offer peace amongst stressful times.

So here we are getting ready for Margaret Gray's arrival:

Tom reading one last story to Henry, as the only child.
I had planned to go get a manicure, but that never came to fruition. So I painted my nails bright pink. I know that several years ago, celebrities painted their nails funky colors.... don't know if that's still the trend, but hey! I might have surgery tomorrow and my nails make me laugh.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. They mean the world to us!

So that's that! We'll let you know how things go!