Wednesday, September 20, 2017

It's a GIRL!!!!!!


Meet our darling daughter:

ELSIE JOYCE DALQUIST



But, let me back up a little bit...

On Wednesday, August 23rd @ 1:30am, my water broke and I knew things were happening. :)
No more sleep for me! 

Michael took this one last pregnancy picture of me later that morning (between contractions, of course). We had hoped and prayed that we could have our baby at home. After laboring through the day and into the night, I wasn't progressing with the labor as I should have been and we decided it was time to head for Bismarck. Thankfully, my parents were willing to drive us and our midwife there, as we were all very tired by this point.
 Long story short, the Dr. at the emergency room let me have a few contractions to see what was going on, then announced that I needed to have a C-section. ;(  Not what we wanted to hear but we know God knows best and has a reason for everything.

Michael was in the operating room with me. He was SUCH a blessing throughout the whole labor! He was my coach and my comfort the whole time. Our midwife was awesome too. And the Lord saw us safely through it all. PTL!

Name: Elsie Joyce Dalquist
Namesake: I knew a really neat elderly lady from our church whose name was Elsie
and Joyce is Michael's sweet grandma's name
Date of birth: August 24th, 2017
Weight: There was a mixup on her weight when she was born, but she was about 7lbs
Length: 20 1/2"
Time: 6:04am


We're just so thankful that our daughter is healthy and was born, safe and sound. As my arms shook uncontrollably as the surgeon finished sewing me up, I was thanking God for our little girl (and couldn't wait for them to finish up so I could get a better look at her). Michael got to watch her be "born". I still remember when I heard them say the word "GIRL". I had been so sure we were having a son. HA!

We're a family of 3 now!
 Andrew and Marie came later that day and took some of these photos for us.

A very proud daddy...

 
  

 ...and a very tired but thrilled mama.
 

 Time to go home! 
We got discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon.

 

 Elsie when she's a couple weeks old and so much more alert!

 My own personal living doll!
 


 Peek-a-boo

One of my very favorite pictures of our daughter and her little dimple cheek! :)

 Actually, this is one of my favorites too...
 Although, this one is pretty sweet too...
 She's awake!
 I think she likes being out in the big world and having room to stretch. :D
 Daddy, Mommy, and Baby...
 One of our many guests took this picture for us.

Can you tell that we're thoroughly in love with our sweet Elsie? :)

Look for many more pictures to come!