The Cowley's

Monday, October 26, 2009

Fall

Fall has to be my favorite time of year. I love the change of the leaves and the crispness in the air. Austin and I decided to take a drive over the Alpine Loop to see the fall colors. We'd been talking about it since mid September. Unfortunately, we were a few weeks too late. The color was pretty much gone. There were a few aspen trees still with their bright yellow leaves, but most were already barren. It was a nice drive regardless.

The backside of Mt. Timpanogos

Enjoying the Fall air!

Bridal Veil Falls

Our little family

Our sweet little girl!

After our drive over the loop, we stopped to see my Grandma Summerhays. I was anxious for Jenna to meet her great-grandma. Grandma is 92 and is still hangin' in there. She is an amazing woman who has influenced my life greatly. She is the one who taught me how to drive! She brings that up frequently and is quite proud of it. :o) We love her so! Jenna is her 34th great-grandchild.

Jenna with Grandma

Jenna, Grandma, Me

Monday, October 19, 2009

2 weeks old

I can't believe Jenna is 2 weeks old already. The time has flown by! But, then again it also feels like an eternity! There have been many sleepless nights. My goal is to get Jenna's days and nights figured out by the time I go back work. I've started to give her a bath at night. It seems to help her sleep better. I really hope we can get it figured out. :o)
Jenna is such a good little baby. She doesn't fuss much and when she is awake she is very wide eyed and alert. We love her lots! I look at her and can't think of life without her.
She had her 2 week check up today. She is now 8lbs. 2oz. and 22 in. long. Her length puts her in the 94th percentile for her age! I want her to stay little for awhile, but can't wait for the next stages in her life. Austin can't wait until she is more responsive and playful. I can wait, but look forward to it too.

Here are some pictures from the last 2 weeks. Enjoy!

Jenna's first bath at home with Grandma Summerhays.

Having her hair washed

Screaming the whole way through her bath.

Happy it's over!
Thanks Grandma for giving me a bath!

Jenna loves to tuck her feet up underneath her.
It's how she was inside me.
It looks like she doesn't even have legs or feet in this pic.

My cute little monkey!

1 week old

Deep in thought as she sleeps.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Coming Home

We left the hospital on Sunday Oct. 4th. It was a nice feeling. I was ready to be in my own home, sleeping in my own bed. The hospital wasn't the easiest experience after the birth. I loved getting Jenna dressed in her own clothes. She looked so cute. She came home in a little ladybug outfit. She is mommy's little lady for sure.

Jenna makes the funniest facial expressions.
Each picture has a different face!

Her favorite most common face is the scowl. She furrows that little brow of hers and looks like she's concentrating hard on something. She makes it the most when she is feeding. It's like she has to think really hard about what she's doing. It is serious business!

Jenna loves snuggling up with daddy. Daddy loves it too!

Trying out the car seat for the first time.
She looks pretty warm and snug!

Happy to be home at last! We make such a cute family!

We got home and were glad to have visitors. Austin's parents made the 4 hour drive from St. George to come and spend a few hours with us only to turn around and drive the 4 hours back home. A long day for them, but we are grateful they made the trek to come see their newest grandchild.

A proud Grandma and Grandpa Cowley

Aunt Whitney came to visit too!

Josh and Lisa brought Mallory over to see the baby. My mom and little sister Eliza also came to bring us dinner. Lisa said that as they got out of the car Mallory said, "I cited!" She is a cutie! Because of the flu season starting, the hospital has made a policy that no one under the age of 14 is aloud to come onto the Labor/Delivery or the Mother/Baby floors. So Mallory couldn't come to the hospital to see Jenna. She came in and sat next to my mom and said, "I hold Jenna." Mallory held her arms out and my mom helped her hold the baby. After about 30 seconds, she turns to me and says, "Mimi, I want the care bear." She was done.

Mallory holding baby Jenna.

Austin's good friend Wes came down from Sandy to visit as well.

Jenna looks so tiny in his big arms!

Thanks to all who came to visit us and welcome us home!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Delivery

Friday October 2nd started bright and early for Austin and I. We were scheduled to be at the hospital by 7am to start the induction. I was pretty calm about the whole thing. By the time all the paper work was done and my IV was put in, it was 9am. Those two hours went by pretty quick. When the nurse checked me I was 2cm and 80% effaced. She called the doctor and he came in and said that they were going to start the pitocin and break my water. I was hoping they would break my water right off. I felt that if they did, things would go faster. By this time it was 9:30am. It didn't take long for the contractions to start coming strong and regularly. They were about 4 min. apart. After about 30 minutes contracting that way, I was ready for an epidural. Call me a wimp if you must, but I don' t do well with pain. By the time the epidural was in I'd been feeling them for a little over an hour. Getting the epidural wasn't as painful as I was thinking it would be. Having my IV put in was a lot worse.

When I was completely numb I was quite content. I was checked again and had progressed to 3cm in an hours time. Not bad, but I was not looking forward to the waiting game. I was truly hoping not to have to go all day long through labor. We both dozed off for about an hour and a half. Then Austin went down to get some lunch and came back. They checked me again and I was at 9cm! Whoohoo! The nurse said we'd wait another hour and probably be able to start pushing. I was ecstatic. Austin was thrilled too. An hour later I was at a 10 and ready to start pushing.

For the first hour of pushing (which sounds long, but really didn't feel like an hour) it was me, Austin and our wonderful nurse Pam. When the baby started to crown, they called the doctor in and 10 min. later she was born at 3:29 pm. It was such a surreal experience. They held her up and I could not believe I was a mom. I was so overcome and when she started to cry I started to cry too. (I'm crying now just remembering all those emotions.) Austin was able to cut the cord, which I'm a little bummed because I didn't get to see it. They were holding her below the edge of the bed. They put her on my stomach for a min. so I could say hi and give her a kiss. Then they took her and cleaned her up a bit, weighed and measured her and handed her back to me. Oh she was so beautiful. Austin was a little emotional himself. After loving her up for a minute, I passed her off to her daddy. As soon as she hit his arms and heard his voice she stopped crying. It was so sweet. Austin was such a proud looking papa. From start to finish, it was 6 hours. The nurses couldn't believe how fast it was considering I was induced and it was my first baby. I was truly grateful for the quickness of it all.

We got to spend a little over an hour together and then Austin went with the baby to the nursery for her bath. I was moved to my room and she came back to me all clean and looking as cute as can be! It is amazing how you can love someone so much in just an instant. It took us a few hours to finally decide on her name. Austin was the one who came up with Jenna a few months ago. Her middle name is the phonetic Chinese spelling of the word meaning "beautiful". And that is definitely what she is. We are so happy she is here and in our lives now. Life will be different, but definitely for the better!