Please welcome... Julia Grace!

Minutes after birth, hanging out with NICU Nurse friends Christine and Angela. NICU Nurses are at all deliveries at Dameron. We had 2 during the delivery because both are friends we have made over the last year - and they both wanted to be a part of Julia's entrance into the world.


Another photo op with NICU Nurse friend Christine and Respiratory Therapist friend Roselle. All deliveries at Dameron have a Respiratory Therapist on hand, not that we needed one, but she is a friend we met last year along with Christine and Angela.


Here is Julia in Dad's hands - while I was being tended to by the doctors.


While I was in the OR finishing up with surgery, Dad got to do Kangaroo Care - or skin to skin contact to establish an immediate bond after birth. Since I was still in surgery, Dameron encourages the dad's to do this instead. Nana and Papa Hove got to "sneak" into the recovery room - against the hospital policy. We must have pull around this joint!


This is Julia during her first hands on assessment. This is usually done by the nurses and/or Pediatricians, but the Neonatalogist from the NICU - and one of our favorites, Dr. Simko, lent a helping hand. Dr. Simko was one of Will's doctors and kept in touch with us throughout this pregnancy.


Julia's first bath - scrubbing in... Dr. Simko, Neonatalogist. From what I hear, this is a first for him, he doesn't usually give babies baths. Almost everyone that heard was shocked that he did this. Now that is an expensive bath - hope Kaiser doesn't catch word of this one! :-)


This is the first time I got to hold our little miracle. She had been spending so much time with Dad at this point, she was looking around for his familiar face, so David was reassuring her.
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First wardrobe change - NICU Nurse friend Angela came by in the morning to be the first one to change her into a new outfit she gave to Julia... complete with butt ruffle!


Here is a little perspective on how tiny she is... in Daddy's arms. She just loves to cuddle up with her Daddy - she already has him wrapped around her little finger, that's for sure!


Yes, we know - those are socks on her hands. A little trick we learned from our friend Dominic, this way she doesn't scratch her face with her nails. And by the way, her request for someone to "Love Her" as indicated on her onesie has already been fulfilled, but we are still taking applications!
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Our NICU friends decorated a custom bassinet during our stay. All the other babies in the hospital had plain bassinets with a white mattress and yucky striped blankets. We were totally spoiled and they made a custom name tag and provided hand sewn blankets that were donated to the NICU from the Sorensen Family. This family belongs to little Jacob if anyone remembers me talking about him while he was in the NICU. His grandparents donated 150+ hand sewn blankets all sterilized and individually packaged. We scored 3 of them!

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Sporting a new knit cap (plus 2 others), donated by the Stockton Police Dispatch and our NICU friend Sean (and Mom and Dad, Janelle and Jim). We were hooked up with the swag!

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After her morning feeding, Julia takes a quick nap before Nana comes over for a visit.

I promise to try and post more regularly now that we are home - and starting a routine. Thank you again to everyone for your thoughts and prayers - emails and calls. We are on top of the moon with love.