The First Four Weeks

It's hard to believe that this little girl is going to be four weeks old tomorrow. Time is going by way too fast, but we are trying to enjoy every minute of her! She is a really good baby as long as she is being held! She will only sleep at night if she is laying on me or snuggled up next to me. This was really cute for the first few weeks, but now I'm getting really tired and am ready for her to sleep in her basinette (which is only a foot away from my bed)! I am loving getting her dressed everyday and picking out her coordinating outfits, headbands, blankets, burp cloths, etc. I honestly love just sitting and holding her all day long, but now that my help is gone I'm having to put her down a little more so that I can get something done and help the boys with what they need. I wish she could just stay little forever!

Here is a picture recap of her first four weeks...

My friend, Catherine, had this sign made for Maggie and I still haven't taken it down because I love it so much!

The boys were so excited when they got home from school and saw that Maggie was finally home from the hospital and was here to stay!

Max has had a hard time adjusting to not being the baby of the family anymore. He went from just being angry and doing everything he could to misbehave to screaming at Maggie everytime she cried, to finally being able to deal with life and hopefully loving his little sister!

Jake and Nathan have been really good with her and love that Maggie is a part of our family now!

Maggie didn't want the boys to feel left out with her getting so many gifts and all, so she bought each of the boys a present and the boys bought a little baby doll for her!

It's so fun to see little splashes of pink around the house now!

Her first sponge bath was a family affair, but she didn't seem to mind everyone watching her!

Let the cute outfits begin...

(A lot of these were taken with my phone since I'm too lazy to get the camera out, so sorry about the low quality!)

This was right before her one week check-up. She weighed in at 9 lbs., 8 oz. and the doctor was a little concerned because I guess she should have been up to 10 lbs. by then. So she told me to feed her longer each time and since then she seems to be plumping up just fine!

The doctor also said that she looked a little jaundice, so we had to lay her in indirect sunlight twice a day for about 4 days or so.

I wanted to do something special for Maggie so I made this quilt for her.

More cute outfits...

She'll lay on this mat or sit in her swing for about 5 minutes at a time- I'm really working on getting her to not have to be held all of the time, but we've got a long ways to go!

Nathan loves to hold Maggie--even when she's sleeping and I ask him not to. He always just says that she's so sweet and adorable that he can't help it!

She's loves sleeping on daddy...

Not sure why these next 2 pictures got turned around, but you get the idea!

Aunt Heidi came to visit which was so much fun! We love whenever we get to hang out with her!!!

This was Maggie's first time going to church. She was 2 1/2 weeks old and everyone there was so excited to meet her!

A few more more cute outfits...

This was her second time going to church and this time we all coordinated with the purple theme!

I love this next series of pictures! It pretty much captures what life is really like around here!!!

I think Max is taking this picture- not sure who is holding the pillow up!

And there you have it- Maggie's first few weeks. We are loving this little girl so much and can't even remember what it was like without her!!!

Feeling the Love

Maggie has had so many visitors both in the hospital and since she's been home. She is definitely feeling the love from her family and friends!

Dr. Posner is my ob/perinatologist who I saw every two weeks throughout my pregnancy and who did the c-section. I love him! He is such a good doctor and makes me be really strict with my diabetes which is annoying at times, but is good since it makes me have healthy babies. I'm going to miss not seeing him and his staff any more!

Nurse Julie

My mom was the first one at the hospital after Maggie was born. She couldn't wait to meet her 23rd grandchild! I have to give a shout out to my mom. She had the boys the whole time we were in the hospital and then she came everyday the first week I was home and took the boys everywhere they needed to go and helped with Max and the baby. She was so helpful and I don't know what I would've done without her!

Soon after my mom got there, Holly, Christy and Bethany all showed up to meet Maggie. They then each came back separately throughout the next few days to keep me company. It was so nice of them!

Aunt Holly

Aunt Christy

Aunt Bethany

My dad stopped by to meet his newest grandchild and get to hold her. I think she has his cheeks!!!

Robyn came by and hung out the first night and held Maggie the whole time she was there. She said her arms were a little sore the next day! That's what happens when you have a 10 pounder!!! She brought me some chocolate and a magazine which kept me busy throughout the next few days.

Jon went to work all day Wednesday so Meggan came by and kept me company all afternoon. It was so nice of her to stay that long and so fun to be able to sit and chat without kids distracting us!

Once we got home all of my nieces were dying to meet their new cousin so most of them stopped by and got to hold her.

Brynn

Cortney

Chloe

Abbey

Samantha

Laney

Hadley

Uncle Adam

I totally forgot to take a picture of my friend, Cortney when she came by to meet Maggie. Sorry, Cortney! But these are the beautiful flowers that she brought me. I had already eaten the chocolate bar that she brought as well by the time I took this picture!

Grandma Lorelei came to help out this last week. She was so good to get up early with the kids and take them to and from school everyday. The boys loved having her here and playing with her all week! She even snuck in some time to sit and hold Maggie! She was a great help and we were all sad to see her go.

And now it's time to get back to reality. I must say that I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to handle everything on my own, but we'll see how it goes! Thanks to everyone who has brought meals and helped us out these first few weeks. We have definitely felt the love!

Welcome, Baby Maggie!!!

Maggie Lynn Draper

March 1st, 7:55am

10 lbs. 1 oz.

20 1/2 inches

My c-section was scheduled for 7:15 in the morning which meant we had to be at the hospital at 5:15. So we dropped the boys off at my parent's house the night before and got up bright and early and headed to the hospital. I had to take one last pregnancy picture before we left to document just how big I was with this pregnancy!

Everything went so smoothly this time around. My nurse was Allison Neilson from the stake and she was awesome. The anesthesiologist was so good to listen to all of my concerns from my past c-sections and he made sure that none of them happened this time around. I love my doctor and he did a great job with the c-section. Overall it was such a better experience than I've ever had. It almost made me want to do it again... almost!

We had a little family contest to see who could come the closest to guessing Maggie's weight. My sister, Christy and my brother-in-law, Derek won both guessing 10 lbs. even. My guess was 9 lbs. 15 oz. so I was pretty close!

After the surgery we went to the recovery room for an hour or so where we got to hold Maggie for the first time.

We finally made it to our room and my mom and Max were waiting there to meet baby Maggie. Max was pretty excited to hold his little sister for the first time!

After school my mom brought all three boys to meet baby Maggie. Jake and Nathan were SO excited! Nathan had been counting down the days to her arrival and came into my room the morning before she was born and just stood there with his finger up. When I asked him what he was doing he said it meant that there is only one day left until Maggie is going to be born!

Jake ran into the hospital room when he got there and said, "Maggie came out!" He then said it about 50 more times while he was there because he was so excited!

Four men and a little lady...

First family picture with the six of us!

My mom brought even more gifts for baby Maggie and the boys loved helping me open all of them!

After about 20 minutes the boys sort of lost interest and started running around the room finding things they could play with.

Wait... this isn't what the closet is supposed to be used for???

Jon and the boys brought Maggie and me this balloon and flowers along with a nice card!

The next day I couldn't take it anymore and I had to put Maggie in her own nightgown and matching hat. Luckily the hospital didn't seem to mind since she looked so cute!

This is pretty much how I spent the rest of my time in the hospital when I didn't have visitors there. Maggie slept with me every night and now she doesn't want anything to do with her bassinett now that she's home. I just can't help holding her all of the time! She's such a sweet baby!

Friday morning it was time to go home so I got her dressed in this adorable outfit that my mom got for her. Notice also the quilt that she is laying on- my mom makes a quilt for every grandchild and this is the one she made for Maggie. I love it!

All packed up and ready to get home!

I'm actually one of those people who loves the hospital and the few days I get to spend with just the baby. I was a little sad to leave and nervous about facing the real world, but excited to get this little girl home and welcome her into our family!!!