Our first days at home....

Things are going well.  We are all still adjusting but overall doing well.   Last night was the first night we were able to get Carmen to sleep longer at night (she has her days and nights mixed up).

We had her first pediatrician appointment on Monday.   She was discharged from the hospital at 7lbs 15 ounces and weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz at the pediatrician!   Yeah!  All was well there and they said she is very healthy!   She's been a very good eater and her face is clearing up now too.  

Here are some more pictures......

Hanging with Daddy

 The wonderful gift baskets that were sent to us from Boeckermann, Grafstrom and Mayer.  Thank you very much!!!!!

Pictures from first days at home.......

Here are some pictures from when we got home.  You can see the scratches on her poor face..... luckily they are healing quickly and well......

Carmen Rose Benedict has Arrived!

Carmen Rose Benedict has arrived.  She was born on 12/1/2010 at 1:06pm weighing in at 8lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches long.  

All it took was for us to schedule the induction and she decided she wanted to arrive on her own. :-)

Due to the fact that Carmen was a week late, she had low blood sugar in the hospital.  They had to test her every couple of hours and since we couldn't get it high enough, they supplemented with some formula to help it regulate.  Luckily they were able to get it to a satisfactory level at the end of the first day and then we didn't have to worry about it any more.

Carmen was also born with quite long fingernails and did quite a number on her face. Since we didn't catch it right away, she was able to scratch her face in a couple of places.  Although it looks painful, she seems fine.  We have her hands covered now until her face heals and we are putting an antibiotic on it prescribed by her pediatrician.   It seems to be healing quite well and quickly.

We arrived home yesterday about noon and survived our first night at home!  We are all doing well!
Here are some pictures of her first fews days......

Here I am anxiously letting the epidural take its course! :-)

Proud Daddy!

For the first few hours of her life,  Carmen didn't cry.   In fact she made silly "sqwaking/squeaking" sounds.  Here is a video that we were able to capture of one of her little sqwaks.

Going Home!

Andy and I are loving every minute of being parents!!!

I will try to post pictures as often as possible!

Thank you to EVERYONE for the well wishes and thoughts!   We are truly excited for each and everyone of you to meet Carmen!

Update

Unfortunately this little one has decided to be quite stubborn. 

I had another doctor appointment today..... still not much progress.    Unless she decides to arrive on her own,  Friday is going to be the day.   I will be admitted to the hospital Friday night with the induction spanning between Friday night and Saturday morning...........  assuming this is what happens,  the very earliest she will be born is sometime on Saturday with the possibility of her arriving on Sunday.

Obviously we were hoping she'd make her grand entrance into this world by now, but she just must not be quite ready.......

We will continue to wait and provide updates when we have them.

Thanks for all the well wishes and thoughts!   We are extremely excited to introduce our new addition to each and everyone of you!!!! :-)

Mom's Help......

My Mom came over last night and helped me put up all my snowmen/Christmas decorations and Christmas tree.

I know it's still early, but it's something I normally do on Black Friday.   There's still a chance we will be at the hospital or just home from the hospital and it's just one of those things that nice to have done.

Pictures to come......
I even got yelled at......I put my snowmen on the top of the cabinets in the kitchen and wanted to help so I climbed up on the counter..... I was promptly told to get my butt down and let her do it!  Ha!

Thanks Mom for helping! 

Gopher Football 2010

Here's a roundup of pictures from the Gopher games this year.......  the highlight of the days were definitely tailgaiting since we know the Gophers didn't do so hot this year.

Thanks to everyone that came with us this year! It's been another fun and memorable year.

Ready, Set........ Wait!

Alright, so the nursery is ready,  the bassinet is in our room,  car seat is in the car, the bag is at least partially packed (a few odds and ends that are on a list to get thrown in the bag before we leave).

We are anxiously awaiting all the events to progress! Weekly Doctor appointment showed no progress........

I now have a pinched nerve in my back which has turned out to be very painful and uncomfortable.  I am hopeful that once the little one is born, these pains will go away quite quickly. 

Until then......... we wait!

Gopher Badger Football Weekend 2010

This is slightly out of order, but Andy, Laura and I went to Madison October 8-10 for the Gopher/Badger Football weekend.   We started the tradition of going to the game every year when Laura was in college.

Laura found some awesome tickets this year on Ebay.  We were on the upper deck, but pretty much on the 50 yard line.  Couldn't have asked for much better.    Laura's friend Julia joined us at the game as well.

It was a little bit more low key than we were used to..... maybe because I am pregnant,  or maybe because we are getting older, but we still had a lot of fun.   (Too bad the Gophers couldn't find a way to win ;-) )

 This one didn't turn out very well, but I still wanted to include it.

Thanks Laura for another fun and memorable weekend!

The Nursery

We purchased a new shoot and share camcorder this weekend and wanted to try it out.  So for those of you who haven't seen the nursery yet, here you go. 

Here's a video tour of the nursery.  It's not quite complete..... but we are much closer.

Baby Shower #3

We were fortunate to have a third baby shower!

This one wasn't quite the "traditional" shower rather a gathering of Friends at Shantytown.  My sister Laura, Kelley, and Gretchen so graciously organized a shower with both our summer and fall softball teams! Yeah Foul Swingers and 10RF's.

We also celebrated the impending arrival of Baby Reedy.  Hoping he/she will arrive very soon and be a close friend with Baby Benedict! :-)


A majority of the group made a bet on when Baby Benedict will arrive.....

Here's those results:


Marcus & Tammy: 11-15 @ 5:23 am cst
Dave: 11-19 am
Doug: 11-19 pm
Gretchen: 11-21 am
Aaron: 11-22 am
Laura: 11-23 am
Kelley: 11-23 pm
Michelle: 11-25 pm
Heath: 11-26 am
Steph: 11-26 pm
Renee: 11-27 am
Ang: 11-27 pm
Nate: 11-29 pm
Pam: 12-1 am

I go back and forth on when I hope for her arrival.  Part of me wants her to arrive early, but there's a small part of me that wants her to come a little later........ We'll see.   November 27th is the Gophers/Iowa Football game,  part of me really wants to go to that game and I know Daddy Benedict is hoping he can go.

Thanks again to all those who attended our Shantytown shower!  We had a great time and got more great gifts!

Baby Shower #2

Andy's two sisters and Mom put on my 2nd baby shower for me.   It was again a full house with over 20 people there.   It was a very fun afternoon full of laughter, conversation, good food and games.

We played the Price is Right which I've never done at a baby shower before.   I was in a group with Andy's Aunt Mary and my sister and we ended up winning!  Guess it pays off to look at prices when you register for things.......

I am overwhelmed at the generosity of those whom attended.   After that shower we were pretty much almost set.   We got our car seat/stroller combination,  pack and play,  booster chair (in place of a high chair) amongst many other smaller necessities.

Thanks again Loretta, Christina and Nikki for a memorable day!   Can't wait to introduce you to Baby Benedict!

NIU Gopher Football

Erin and the kids came home for my shower and since the Gophers were playing Northern Illinois, we had extended an invitation for Erin and Adam to join us.  Unfortunately Adam wasn't able to come to Minnesota, but Erin made it and joined us at the game.   Laura came and tailgated with us too for a while.

On a side note..... not too often you'll see Laura wearing Maroon and Gold ;-)

Andy's sister Nikki also joined us, unfortunately I wasn't very good at getting a picture of all of us!

Thanks to all of you for coming with.

Baby Shower #1

My Sisters and my Mom put on a baby shower for me on September 26. It was with my entire extended family from both sides and some close family friends. I'm not sure how many people there were, but it had to have been in the 30s.

I am amazed at how generous people can be. Baby Girl Benedict is so lucky to have so many loving people around here and excited to meet her.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Thank you Mom, Erin and Laura for a very nice day! 

Baby Girl Benedict is one lucky girl!  Can't wait for you guys to meet her!

3D Ultrasound

On Thursday, September 9, we went and had a 3D ultrasound done. The company that we went to recently got new technology where they were able to give even better more precise pictures. They are currently the only company in the entire nation using the new product. Andy and I were absolutely amazed at the clarity.

We think we have a potential gymnast on our hands..... her feet were by her head the entire time.