Welcome Bethany!

On April 1, I called Noah at work to let him know that we were going to have a baby – and this was no joke. My water broke about 4 in the afternoon and by 2:15 the next morning, we had our baby. It is my pleasure to introduce Miss Bethany Grace.

Bethany had a bit of a rough start, coming into the world nearly a full 5 weeks early, weighing 5 lbs 15 oz and measuring 18.5 inches long. At first, she needed some help breathing, so she spent 8 days in the hospital NICU. There she quickly progressed from tube to tube, proving her strength time and again. On Good Friday, we were so excited to finally bring Beth home, just in time for Easter. She is now doing very well, exceeding her birth weight as of Tuesday. Noah and I want to send out our sincerest thanks to everyone who sent us their thoughts and prayers. The support we received was amazing. Beth is such a blessed girl to be loved so deeply, so early by so many.

As for Beth, she is amazingly strong (lifting her head, rolling on her side, using her legs to wriggle her way around) and has definite opinions on important issues, such as which way her head is facing or when we should conduct our social/awake time. She is also quite the practical joker, liking to surprise her father with mid-diaper-change explosions (complete with dimpled, impish smile) and pretending that 2am is the perfect time to play and cuddle, as if it were mid morning. Her jokes aside, we may be biased, but we think she is beautiful and absolutely perfect. I’m sure we will have more pictures than anyone will care to look at, but for those who aren’t yet sick of them, check out our photo set.