2 Week Appointment Update

Friday brought about 2 appointments for Lauryn. We met with the pediatrician first, who had glowing reports! Although Lauryn is only in the 5th percentile for her size, she is growing at an amazing rate. They wanted her to be back to her birth weight of 5.15, and she blew that out of the water by weighing in at 6.9! We were thrilled to hear the news, and even more excited to listen to the doctor say that we can now "feed on demand" instead of the battling with waking her up every 2-3 hrs to eat. Megan was in tears with hearing that news. Not sure if that was due to excitement, lack of sleep, or irratic hormone levels!

The second appointment was with the lactation consultant ("Milk Maid" according to Eric) and she, too, said the same about the feedings! She wants us to supplement with an extra 2 bottles a day, but we will take that if we can sleep for 4-5 hours at a time instead of 1.5! When she weighed Lauryn and Megan made the comment of Lauryn becoming a "chunker", she laughed and said, "If 6.9lbs is a chunker, we are going to have to clarify a few things!"

Lauryn seems to be doing well with the new feeding plan, and we are back in on Tuesday for a weight check to see if she is getting enough from mom. We pray that she is because mom and dad are surely enjoying the more relaxing schedule of only feeding when she is hungry!

2 Weeks Old Already!

Indeed, Lauryn is 2 weeks old already today! We go in on Friday to visit with the pediatrican that was the first to meet her in the hospital. We are positive all will go well, as she is already getting some pudgy cheeks, which has to be a good sign!

Below are some random pics of Lauryn over the past few days. Her favorite sleeping spot in the bouncy chair from Uncle Buster, and the fun sun-dress from Grandpa Stan. You will notice bath time has gotten better with the Winnie-the-Pooh towel! We think she is pretty cute :-)

Thank You Medford School Friends!

A huge thank you goes out Chris Bangs & Gia Plate for organizing a wonderful shower for baby Lauryn on Saturday. It is so wonderful to have such great friends and former co-workers. To everyone who showered Lauryn with gifts - a warm thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And to Chris & Gia - your kindness and endless thoughtfulness is the best blessing a friend could have! Pictures include a "family" pic from the shower & Lauryn's first mini-skirt. And yes, dad already has rules about this mini-skirt for a 3 month old!!

Lauryn DOES wake up!

The video below proves that baby Lauryn does wake up occassionally. Of course, once we got the camera to record her being awake, she slowed down with her moving. The video seems like a long 2 minutes, but at least you can witness her moving and looking around! After 11 days of life, she has decided that she likes to be up for an hour or so in the late afternoon (prime nap time for mom & dad) and after her 11pm feeding and 5am feeding. Needless to say, these are not ideal awake times for mom & dad!! In addition, the little bean gets the hick-ups at least 5 times a day. Mom and dad know they are more annoying for them then they are for her, but Lauryn still gets sympathy whenever she gets them!

A World of Firsts!

Since the weather has been SO BEAUTIFUL, we have been able to get out with Lauryn to get some exercise. Walking with 2 dogs and a stroller is going to be quite the endeavor once Eric goes back to work. With the both of us on the walk yesterday, it went ok. Of course, Lauryn sleeps the entire time, but that proved quite nice during today's walk. Must be the weekend for garage sales in Carver, since we were able to swing by a handful of garage sales on our normal walking path. No great deals were found, but we realize that once Lauryn gets older and needs toys, the residents of Carver will be our resource!

We hope everyone is doing well and has been able to enjoy the great weather!

Aunt LaJena's Quilt

We got this last week already... quick poney express from the Dakota's to the big city of Carver ;-) LaJena made this for Lauryn, funny thing is that she made two quilts incase we had a boy (hope you can find use for that other one ;-) It is very beautiful and extremely 'snuggable' since both momma and poppa have snuggled with Lauryn in this quilt. Although the weather hasn't been cool enough it will get LOTS of use! Thanks Auntie LaJena, Uncle Brad, cousin Jacob and Adrian!

Little Lauryn sleeps alot!! But nice to be able to sleep in comfortable and loving blankets!!

First Visitors

We have been blessed to have many visitors these past few days. We decided to post pictures of Lauryn with her closest kin! Photos are as follows:
1 - Lauryn with Grandpa & Grandma McMahan in the hospital, just hours after being born
2- Lauryn with Uncle Sam on Day 1 in the hospital
3- Lauryn with Grandpa Gruis on Day 1 in the hospital
4- Lauryn with Uncle Buster on Day 3 at home

Lauryn's First Bath

On Saturday, Lauryn experienced her first sponge bath and papa experienced being peed and pooped on for the first time! Papa ended up being dirtier than Lauryn started! It was certainly an expereince to giggle at, and all parents out there know that a bath = another bath! Momma and Papa were laughing so hard, momma remembered she did just have a baby a few days ago, and laughing so hard does cause pain! Enjoy!

No More Glowing Baby!!!

Hey.... just to let everyone know Lauryn is no longer needing the Bili light treatment anymore!!!! We were extremely excited and blessed to find this out later this afternoon following an appointment. Poor little girl has had her feet poked everyday (it seems) since she has been born.. a whole 4 days ago!! Crazy things happen when you have babies.... you become paranoid and overly protective. Hence my OCD has almost come full tilt with asking questions about germs with the doctor and not wanting to bring Lauryn into a public setting.. not even into Target! And who doesn't like going into Target? Megan continues to amaze me with her energy and strength. She seems to have forgotten that she gave birth less than a week ago... and yet she is running around cleaning, nesting and resting only when the little one is down for a nap. Thanks for the prayers and support for Lauryn... we are glad that we won't have to sleep in a room that feels like a night club with black lights on!! I wonder what the neighbors thought??

A little small, but FINALLY home!

Yes! We are finally home! It feels so good. Although Lauryn is battling the challenge of jaundice, they let us come home with a bili light in hopes she will continue to progress. Her numbers are going down, and she continues to eat more at each feeding. We will be back in on Sunday to get her numbers checked, and hopefully this means we can get rid of the bili light and be able to snuggle with her when she is not eating or dirtying a diaper! It is so sad to see her laying naked on a tanning bed, but we are willing to do whatever it takes to get her where she needs to be! It does give us a little more time to get the house in order and figure out how to manage with the little bean around. Enjoy a few pictures of Lauryn in her bili bed - her hospital home since Thursday night, and us coming home and finally being home. You can tell just how tiny she is in the carseat and newborn outfit - how sillly she looks! Notice how cool-calm-and collected Lauryn looks as she lays on the bili light at home. She must get that relaxed, go wtih the flow attitude from her mother....HA!

Welcome Lauryn Elizabeth Gruis!!!

It gives me GREAT pride to introduce the newest member of the Gruis household. Lauryn Elizabeth Gruis was born on this day May 12th at 1:45 p.m. at 5.15 lbs. 19 inches long and a full set of lungs!! God has blessed us... yes indeed!!! Lauryn came into the world with her eyes open and already taking in all that there is in her ever so early life thus far. She also wanted to remind momma and poppa that she has a voice and wanted everyone to hear it! Megan is someone so special... obviously I am biased but hey this is our blog right! Anyhow... she was SUPER AWESOME!!! NO DRUGS!!! NOTHING!!!! All natural and through prayer and focus she pushed and pushed. She never gave up nor did she waiver a little, strong to the end. I could not be any more proud of the way that Megan went through what she did... honestly honey way to go! Labor actually started yesterday around midnight, however Megan wasn't even close to being ready to go. I came home around that time and in a short shower later and 2 loads of laundry she called and I jumped out of bed and into the car I left back to Waconia. Megan had called and was having contractions and unable to sleep. Once I arrived she was tired enough (and so was I) that she did finally get a couple hours of sleep. I went into another room to catch a wink or two... and as soon as I knew it, Megan was above me telling me it is time to start the journey! They started a drip in her IV to help with inducing labor more.... then the fun began! She actually had a full couple of hours of contractions and then it went on from there. At about 11 a.m. she was ready to push the little bean and bless us with it's arrival. Megan never lost focused and without an AWESOME nurse Christy... a nurse from heaven.... we would have NEVER gotten through it! Christy had Megan doing many different positions and methods that helped the process along. It almost seemed that with every push Megan made, little Bean thought she didn't want to come just quite yet. Then around 1 p.m. we KNEW that it was the real finish line. Megan ran a marathon and finished solid! Way ahead of the rest of the pack!! There are MANY babies being born today! Ah... so tired right now... but SO PROUD of our new daughter Lauryn... welcome babe.... I will write more later... thank you everyone for so many encouraging words and prayers!!! Faith, Family and Friends... can't have it any other way!!! Pictures will be posted tomorrow sometime.... until then...

The Bean is on its WAY!!!!

Just an exciting little update from the father-to-be (me!!) It is my honor to report that momma (to be) Megan is currently getting a little shut eye before our big day tomorrow!!! Megan came home from work and her 36 week OB appointment today and decided to take a little nap.... not too long into her little slumber her water broke!!! Megan calmly woke up and took care of herself and called me at work... just after 5 p.m. on 5/11/10. She told me what had happened. I then raced like a mad man through the busy streets of Chaska and home on old highway 212... not really I drove a little over the speed limit but I think that even Buster (Megan's brother) would have been impressed of my driving skills!! I made it home and Megan... like everyone knows how she is... was all over the house getting things ready to go to the hospital and CLEANING the house as she went!! After getting everything ready and packed in the car we were on our way. We made it just fine to Waconia and got all checked into our room and meet the nurses, doctors and staff. Crazy thing is that we were not expecting the Bean until June 8th!! We are 36 weeks into the pregnancy and we are in the 'safe' zone to deliver.... really we have no choice right now! And in all honesty, just a few short 2 hours before her water broke, the OB appointment went swell. She had NO SIGNS of an early or progressing labor. Things change in a few short 120min!! I am extremely PROUD of Megan and her focused determination with the birth of our first baby! God has truly blessed us with everything we have and will soon bless us with a little crumbsnatcher in our home. As of right now momma is resting in the hospital and getting some much needed sleep for the big day tomorrow!! At 5:30 a.m. they will induce labor and get the Bean going!! We are indeed excited about this process... a little nervous... but knowing our faith in God, family and friends will get us through this. I will try to keep everyone updated and hopefully this will help you all know to keep us in your thoughts and prayers... until tomorrow!!!!

3 Generations...Almost

Megan's parents spoiled us by getting us a travel system for the little bean over the weekend. Megan and her mom decided to take a picture in the baby store, so we almost have our first 3-generation picture. From this picture, Megan realized 2 things - 1 - she really DOES look alot like her mom, and -2- it must be nice to stand next to her in a picture, since her belly is so large! As Megan's friend Amanda said "I am affraid that your "bean" appears to be more "plant" size now! AND IT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT COULD POP OUT OF THE POT ANYTIME!"

Bean's First Target Field Experience

Monday night was staff social time for Pioneer Ridge Middle School, and we had 50 tickets for the Twins vs. Tigers game. It was the bean's first experience at Target field, and it was awesome! The stadium is absolutely amazing and with a 10-4 win, we couldn't have asked for anything better (minus the off-and-on rain)! The only negative was the 15 year old behind us that lit up a cigarette. He got yelled at by a very angry pregnant woman and eventually decided that might not be the place to sit for the rest of the evening. Next Wednesday will be the bean's 2nd experience at Target Field, as Megan is helping to chaperone nearly 500 7th & 8th graders to the 12:10 game. It should be quite the fun time!