Here he is!

Grant Manuel Gollner
1/29/12
3:42 AM
9# 3 oz.
20.5 inches

Born at 40 weeks, 4 days. (And with his size, thank goodness it wasn't a day later!)

I plan to write out a full birth story eventually, but the short story is my water broke when I got out of bed at 6:30 AM Saturday morning, labor didn't get going like it should when your water breaks first, so I had an induction that officially started at 5 pm Saturday and lasted almost 11 hours (including 2 hours of pushing).

It was the hardest thing I've ever done but at the same time the most amazing thing I've ever done! (Couldn't have done it without our awesome doula!)

We're still in the hospital. Grant is doing great, I'm slowly recovering but feeling pretty good. We're both learning the ropes of nursing, but I think we're doing pretty well for day 2.

It's cliche, but seeing your husband hold your brand new baby makes you fall in love all over again. New Dad is going great too and changing a lot of diapers while I watch from the hospital bed. :)

We plan to go home tomorrow, introduce Grant to his dog siblings and get settled as a family of three (well... 5 with the pups!)

Thanks for all the well wishes, emails, texts and Facebook posts! We appreciate all the love and support!

Big Foot!

Just like his Mama.

Grant's 40w2d foot print.

40 weeks!

Due date!

Songs

I love coming up with songs that could be the soundtrack of my life.  Here's what's currently running through my head.

Europe - The Final Countdown  (thanks, Carey!)



Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - The Waiting



Unk - Walk it Out  (shout out, Hayley!)



And hopefully very soon...

Salt N Pepa - Push It

Nursery

The nursery is ready to go!  All we need is a sweet, little baby boy to make it complete.

As you walk in to Grant's Galaxy:

These black out curtains are no joke.  The room is pitch black all day long.  They're not the prettiest fabric, but I hope it pays off for nap time!

  

Changing table/dresser:

Hanging these pictures was the hardest thing ever.  You know the DIY saying "measure twice, cut once" yeah, we like to measure 5 times, then hammer 6 or 7.  Not pretty!  And seeing them in these pictures makes me cringe at some of the spacing/angles.  (sorry for the flash and lighting.)  These are the famous planets that we had to substitute the Sun for Pluto for accuracy.    

Bookshelf/Recliner:

This corner bookshelf was hard to find, but once we did, it fit perfectly!  It's not the best for large books because of the angle of the shelves, but it's great for all the small board books.  My childhood piggy bank from Germany, all of Grant's Star Wars toys, both my childhood stuffed animal (the bear) and Chris' (duck-o) are also on the shelves.

The recliner is SO comfortable.  We decided to go with a recliner instead of a glider to hopefully last us a long time and be able to move into the living room eventually.    

 The crib:

I had the bedding custom made and I could not be happier with how it turned out!  I searched the internet  high and low for the perfect fabrics and even though I know we're not supposed to have bumpers and the crib skirt is just going to collect dust - I don't care - I LOVE it!

We still want to hang something over the crib, but we have to wait until he's born.  

iphone pics of the fabric up close:

and a bonus little pillow!

Thanks to both sets of Grandparents for helping us furnish this lucky little boy's room!  And of course all our friends and family who have given us several of the things throughout in his room - especially his stuffed dresser and closet.

The details:

Curtains

Dresser

Orange Changing Pad Cover (the only orange one I could find!)

Framed Planets and "Grant" Space Ship art

Star Lamp

Bookshelf

Recliner

Crib

Custom bedding

Planet fabric (actually a sheet set)

Orange Chevron fabric (again - the ONLY orange chevron we could find!)

sh*t my husband says

I need to document more of these moments for posterity...

• New Year's Weekend wearing a robe and drinking Chimay beer out of his new chalice:  "Do you want to take my picture for your blog?"

• Asking how old Grant will be this summer when he's out of school for summer break:  "Will he be able to go camping yet?"

• Probably since last week when I hit the 37 week mark - EVERY time he misses a call from me he calls me back immediately:  "Is he crowning?"  (Don't worry - no picture for this one!)  

Pregnancy Dreams

I haven't had too many strange pregnancy dreams.  I've only dreamed about Grant a handful of times and only once recently did I finally see his face.  I can't remember what he looked like, just that he was cute! 

Friday night I had a dream about having him again.  But Chris and I had signed up for a research study and instead of a tiny little newborn bundle, we got a fully grown man.  Not just any man, a Chinese Basketball player.  Yes, I dreamed that I gave birth to Yao Ming!

 
I was a little embarrassed about our "baby" so I remember not wanting to call my friends.  I finally called my friend Valentina and told her that I had the baby, but things were a little different than expected! 

When I told him about it, Chris was excited about the thought of a tall, basketball playing son.  I didn't consult a dream dictionary, but I think it's safe to say that this Mom-to-be is a little nervous about having a big baby!