Graham Lee-Wen Pridgen is here!!!

Our baby finally arrived just over a week ago. Everything has been so hectic that I haven't been able to update my blog. Any extra time we have has gone to taking naps! Bobby and I did not sleep very much earlier in the week once we returned from the 2-night stay at the hospital, but thankfully we are slowly but surely getting the hang of feeding time and sleep time for our little Graham.

So here he is!
Little Graham was born on May 22, 2010 at 5:50pm. He measured at 21" long and weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz. So yeah, perhaps not so little! We knew he was going to be a big boy since the last ultrasound estimated Graham at 9 lbs 4 oz (95th percentile), so I'm glad we opted for the epidural.
My water broke at 6:30am that Saturday and we checked into the hospital by 9am, since my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and were about 30-45 seconds long. I was about 4cm dilated starting out and by about 3pm-ish, I was dilated to 9cm and that's when the nurse decided that we start pushing. We pushed for over 2 hours and since baby Graham's head just did not want to progress very much, the nurse called for the doctor. And with the help of forceps and a few good pushes, he was out! What a feeling that was!
Recovery has been slow but despite the pain and discomfort, looking at our little angel has been so worth it. Bobby and I still can't believe we have a baby in the house!
And he makes the funniest faces! This one is my favorite (for now :-)
We are so glad and thankful that Bobby's mom and Bob are here to help us out. Grandma has been really good at putting little Graham to sleep - almost too good that Bobby and I struggle to do the same thing in the middle of the night! We have also been taking advantage of Bob's presence here to help out with some yard work!

We celebrated Graham's one-week birthday yesterday with some cupcakes. Yes, Graham loves cake (if you can recall the leftover cake from the baby shower thrown by Bobby's office)!

So within this past week, I've witness the "pee projectile", been peed on twice - the first when we were giving Graham a wipe-down and the second during a feeding session when Daddy didn't put on his diaper properly! I guess I should be lucky it was just pee and not poop!
Parenthood definitely has its challenges but I think we are doing a little bit better as each day progresses. The consultation with the lactation nurse during Graham's first visit to the pediatrician last Wednesday was a god-send. The feeding sessions are so much better and manageable.
Ahhh... the joys of being a mom. I still can't believe I'm a mom!