Short video of Gracie

Here's a little clip from the camera phone. Gracie is still doing great. Gaining weight and eating and all that fun stuff. Thanks for all the prayers!

Introducing Gracie Kay Ulrich!

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Born July 17th @ 8:30 pm, she weighed 4 pounds and 3 ounces. She is sweet little piece of heaven. She has brown hair, a lot more hair than Max ever had, and was 17 inches long.

Okay, so here is the long story of her birth. I felt yucky all week, a little crampy and my back was a little sore, but I thought I had just been holding Max too much. Then on Friday, I woke up early and went to Michelle's house to make some crafts for her room. When I finished up I felt super gross, and told Michelle I felt like an old lady cause my body was just achy. When I got home I realized that I really hadn't felt her move for a while so I starting doing kick counts. The doctor said I should feel the baby move at least 10 times in 2 hours. After about a half hour I started panicking because I had just eaten and she was usually so active. Finally, after a few intense contractions and still no movement I decided I had to go to the hospital. I dropped Max off at Michelle and Jake's and luckily Michelle came with me to the hospital.

When we got there they hooked me up to the monitors and told me she looked fine. I still didn't feel good about going home though, because I still hadn't felt her move and her heart rate was dropping every once in a while. I was also feeling contractions, but the monitor wasn't picking it up. The nurse kept assuring me that her heart rate looked good, but said she would call the doctor and let him know what was going on. The doctor ordered an ultrasound, and after 30 minutes there and trying to get her moving with no success, they sent me back to labor and delivery. I still wasn't too worried, or considering that they might deliver the baby, but I think that's cause Michelle was trying to distract me! Good job Michelle!

When we got back to Labor and Delivery the doctor was on the phone with a pediatric specialist at Primary Children's and he told my doctor they should deliver her based on the ultrasound. Apparently, she only got 2 out 10 points for her health. It was a whirlwind after that! Mike showed up right after I found out I had to deliver. They threw some clothes at him and rushed me back for surgery. It was crazy! Thanks to the big lunch I had I threw up the whole time they were delivering her and I didn't notice they had even begun when I heard her crying. I was so worried. They didn't show her to me or say anything...and I had to wait two hours before they rolled her into my room for 30 seconds.

Luckily, she has done extremely well since then and is already off oxygen and should be out of her isolette soon. She just started gaining weight and the nurse says she just needs to learn to eat now. She has already latched on a few times and has nursed really well about 5 times. Right now we are just letting her have her rest because she is a little jaundiced, and the doctor said it was best just to let her sleep that off before we try to stress her out and make her breastfeed.

I am so thankful for her sweet spirit and can't wait until Max gets to meet her tomorrow. What a crazy weekend! We are so grateful for our families and for all of their support. We hope she can grow up big and strong and come home soon!

Mini vacation.

I don't have any cool pictures to share because I didn't bring my memory card on our vacation, but I wanted to remember all the fun stuff we did last week so this will just be a short post.

Last week, Mike had to work in Idaho so Max and I tagged along. We went to Rexburg on Tuesday and met up with Liz and Jo and their little family. Liz and I took the kids to the park a couple of times, and Max finally decided that he likes to go down the slide at the park. It was fun to see him finally run around and enjoy the playground for once.

We also went to Bear World! I love Bear World. I have been there a few times but it's more fun now that Max can enjoy it with me. It's a little park right outside of Rexburg that you can drive your car through and see bears, elk, wolves, buffalo and moose. They also have a little petting zoo and free kiddie rides. Max loved it, and so did Mike and I. He kept asking me to go back to see the bears the next couple of days.

After Mike was done in Rexburg we drove an hour and a half to Jackson Hole. It was a beautiful drive and Max didn't ask to watch a movie for the entire drive. I think he liked seeing all the tractors. When we got to Jackson we found our hotel which was super cute and right next to the mountain. If I wasn't pregnant there would have been a lot more things for us to do. It was the perfect temperature for a big pregnant lady and I was in heaven. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not and Max was loving it. He wanted to see everything and he was asking a ton of questions. Then we went back to hotel and swam for an hour. Max loves to swim 'like a boat' and kick his legs in the water, but he refuses to put his head in the water, which is fine for now. Later that night we went back downtown and watched a gun fight in town square and then went to the Playhouse to see Grease. We had a great time. I think my favorite part was
the beautiful scenery and the wonderful weather!

We got home on Sunday, but Mike already had to turn around and get back to Logan, and then on to Idaho tomorrow. Hopefully, he can take a break from traveling soon so we can get the baby's room painted! I also have a few other chores for us to do before the baby gets here. I miss him, but I'm grateful that he's working so hard for our little family! He is a great husband and father and we are super lucky to have him when he is home!

Next week we are all heading back to Spanish Fork to hang out with my dad before he moves to Iowa. I am going to miss him too! I know I'm an old woman now, but I love being close enough to see my parents as much as I do right now, and Max loves his Grandpa Mike. My dad is such a good example to us. He has always worked so hard for our family, and we have always gotten everything we needed and almost everything we ever wanted. He has such a great personality, and everyone that meets him likes him. He can tease with the best of them, and Max can take a lot of harrassment because of him! I love my dad and I am going to miss him! I hope he can find a new job after a year and come back to Utah!

Only 8 more weeks until my due date, and we are getting really excited! I am nervous, but I know we can do it but it seems like forever since we have had a new born. It's one of those things that makes you nervous and really excited. Well, that's about it for now! I'm sure I will have a lot to post about in the coming weeks!