Meet the Gray House Studio Intern

We are super excited to introduce our little Gray House Studio intern, our son, Connor Jack!

We just wanted to give a little personal update because Gray House Studio and our little world has forever been changed for the better three weeks ago. We welcomed our son (and Gray House Studio intern) on October 1, 2016 at 5:12pm. He weighed a whopping 9 pounds and 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.

My doctor told me at 37 weeks he could come any day. But Connor must have been nice and cozy where he was and had his own plans and it did not include showing his face on my due date which came and went on September 26th.

However, he was considerate enough to stay put long enough for us to finish every project in the nursery so it would be ready for him when he arrived. We even finished our reading nook tent which was the last project on our list.

On Saturday, October 1st my doctor decided it was time to induce me and he would have to make his way into the world whether he was ready or not. I had a relatively easy labor process that day and decided to go without the epidural or any pain medication, a decision I was content with up until they broke my water broke and then was in some seriously intense pain for about thirty minutes.

Luckily, Brent was amazing by my side and talked me through it and helped me mutter my go to phrase, “I will dominate these contractions” over and over again – ha. Thankfully Connor came fast because that last round of contractions were no joke and I was making the most cliche labor groans ever, sounds right out of a movie. So loud I might add that my family and Brent’s family sitting outside in the waiting room could hear every last grunt and moan. Awkward….

Little did I know when I decided to turn down the epidural, this little due was going to be a BIG dude with a proportional size big head. All the nurses and even the doctor were a little surprised at his size. Now that it is over, I am happy with my decision again and kind of proud at my stubbornness, I mean determination.

Connor did have a little trouble regulating his glucose and was taken to the NICU for about 24 hours to be hooked up to an IV. Which led to the LONGEST and most tiring night of our life having to get up and walk every three hours from my room on the third floor to the NICU on the second floor to feed him, only about 10 hours after giving birth.

Thank goodness for Brent encouraging me and doing everything he could to help me push through it. I am really lucky to have him as my husband and partner in life. These types of situations really bond you for sure. He is seriously my rock and already the sweetest dad.

Connor’s glucose levels came up and after four days in the hospital, it was time to bring him home to see his nursery! We immediately took him in the room and showed him around and I rocked him in his rocking chair that his dad built just for him.

We are over the moon and so in love with our little guy. We worked so hard on his nursery and spent most nights imagining what he would look like sleeping in his crib or being rocked in his chair and now that it is a reality, it is so much fun.

I’m not going to lie, going from a couple to a family of three and trying to adapt to having a newborn in the home is tricky. The first few weeks are just a constant pattern of feeding him, rocking him to sleep (my favorite), changing diapers and just about zero sleep for this new mom and dad.

One nursery project we are really getting a lot of use out of is the changing table. We have already put it to some serious use as well as our nursery wall storage and both storage solutions make life so much easier and work perfectly.

Although, keeping this area looking like it did when we first took the photos (before baby) is a difficult task in itself. The baskets are usually empty now and half the burp cloths are dirty on the ground because that is real life with a newborn, wonderful but REALLY messy.

We still have a few more nursery projects to share, plus a full tour of the room but posts might be a little more sporadic than usual for a while as we try and figure this whole parenting thing out.

Brent made this sweet video of Connor’s first week of life. I love watching it over and over. It makes me so happy.