What's in a name?

"Aww! What a cute baby! What's her name?" 

These comments precede many conversations Steve and I have with strangers  these days. When we reply "Thank you! Her name is Ruth." 9 out of ten times people stop and say "Oh, I like that, you don't hear that very often. Why did you name her Ruth? Is it a family name?"

We wanted to share our answer with all of you! A good bit of thought went into why we named Ruth, Ruth and we love to tell the story.

First off I must say there is a lot of pressure in naming a child. They are stuck with it for the rest of their life! We wanted her to love it (the jury is still out on that one) and for it to have meaning. On top of that both Steve and I had to like it too. We didn't want either of us to feel just "ok" about it. We had to both love it.

From the moment we found out we were pregnant (ok not the moment, because we were on a youth trip and had no privacy, but shortly after) we started talking about names. Being seminary students we learned that names hold a lot of weight in the Bible. Your name often times dictated your path. For example the name Eve means "mother" and David means "beloved." Eve was the first mother and David was a man after God's own heart.

We also liked the idea of naming our child after someone in scripture. We wanted to be able to share scripture with them from the very beginning and what better way than to tell them about their name. This can be tricky as many of them are not people you would want to name your child after. Another example: Someone suggested "Jonah." While it is a lovely name we did not want our child to mimic the story of Jonah's life! A man unwilling to follow God's call and being bitter about it once he did! YIKES!

After much discussion we ended up with our girl name as "Ruth Elizabeth." Two women from scripture who loved the Lord and finished their lives strong. Ruth means "friend" and Elizabeth means "Consecrated to God." Like her name, Elizabeth, suggests, we have given her life over to the Lord and our hope is that Ruth's personality would reflect her name. We hope that she is a true friend to everyone she knows. For us the truest friend she can be is one who shares the love of Christ with everyone she knows. For her first Sunday at church the sermon was on friendship. Isn't God cool!

We had two other reasons that we loved the name Ruth. The first is that the story of Ruth is one of our favorite stories in the Bible. It is such a picture of the gospel! A women who represents all things against God was brought into his family and used to for Gods glory (She is even in the line of Jesus!) The second reason we loved this name is that it is my mother's middle name. We wanted to honor my mother with giving her a name sake. She is another woman who has lived for God and been a friend to all.


Ruth Elizabeth,

Mama and Daddy hope you love your name! We picked it out special just for you! You are already such a sweet friend to all the people you meet! Our prayer is that you will know God and live for him all the days of your life!

We love you,
Mama and Daddy

Ruth 1 Month Old!

How long the days seam to be and how quickly the time passes! I know this sounds like an oxymoron, however, all you other parents out there are sure to relate. It's hard to believe our sweet Ruth is already a month old! To try and remember the little things I will attempt to give a monthly update for the first year on Ruth. I want to be able to look back and see how she has grown and changed. So here we go:

At Birth:
Height: 19 inches
Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Clothes size: Newborn
Diaper size: Newborn Huggies

At 1 month:
Height: 21 inches
Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz
Clothes Size: Newborn and a few 0-3 month
Diaper size: Newborn Huggies

Likes: Being snuggled, being held vertically, the sound of running water, being in her car seat, the sink foset, lights, our frosted glass door, the "hanging out" position, tummy time, car rides, sitting in her bouncy chair, holding her head up, sucking her hand, trying to climb up higher while being held.

Dislikes: diaper changes, getting dressed, being hungry, sitting in poop for a long time, having her hair brushed, being swaddled at first, being strapped into her car seat.

We are in the midst of trying to work on putting her more on a schedule. For now it looks like this:
Between 5-7 AM wakeup and eat
Between 6-8 AM go down for a nap
9ish AM wake-up
9:30ish AM eat and bath
10:30ish- 11:30ish AM play time
11:30ish-12:30 PM nap
Afternoon-Evening No clue
10:30 PM eat
11:30 PM Down to sleep
2:30 AM eat
3 AM Back to sleep

Firsts: (Well of course everything was a first for Ruth this month so I will try and highlight a few of the big things she did for the first time this month.)

This month Ruth went to church for the first time. It was a beautiful Sunday where Dr. Shouse preached on friendship. A little fact about Ruth, her name means friend! Isn't God cool! Ruth got to meet all her grandparents this month! My parents (Gammy and Papaw) were first to arrive shortly after Steve's parents (Nana and Pops) came to visit. This month Ruth also went shopping for the first time. She doesn't seam to mind it at all as long as she's moving. She shopped at: Babies-R-Us, Goodwill, Target, Macy's, CVS, and Michael's. Ruth attended her first party this month, the TBC youth Luau. She had so much fun that she exploded 2 diapers at it! Lucky for us we managed to remember extra clothes. Ruth at at her first restaurant this month which was "Star" in Novato. The waitresses were in love and promised to sneak her french fries when she gets a little bigger. Finally, Ruth started to smile for the first time this month! On a really hard day where I was just a bit down I smiled at Ruth and she smiled back! It really gave me the motivation to keep going!

Ruth "Hanging Out"

Enjoying her fist

Ruth's very first bath

Just call me a burrito

Visiting with Papaw and Gammy

Smiling for the camera

First shopping trip at Babies-R-Us

Outfit #1 for the Luau

In Outfit #2 visiting with Nana and Pops

Newborn Pictures

 At 10 days old Juanita Cannan a local bay area photographer came and did a photo shoot of Ruth to capture her as a newborn. We could not be more pleased with how they all turned out! Looking at them now it's hard to believe how much she has changed in just 2 weeks! I'm so thankful we took the time to capture what she looked like at such an early age!

Happy Birthday Ruth!

As I am sitting watching Ruth swing away in her swing I can hardly believe she is 3 weeks old. I doesn't seem like she should be that old already! As many parents have told me don't blink. I guess I blinked! Our little girl is growing so fast!

Friday April 5th was my last day of work. I was pretty tired and knew that even though Baby Reynolds had not arrived yet my body told me it was time to slow down. Carlena volunteered to go on a walk with me that afternoon to see if we could get labor going while Steve was a work. Our 3 hour walk took us all over Novato, Costco, and through a few clothing stores. I came home exhausted but with no noticeable changes in how I felt.

Steve encouraged me to take a nap (which I am so thankful he did!) I woke up several hours later just in time for Jeopardy. Sitting on the couch I sneezed. To my surprise I felt like I peed a little. I told Steve either I peed or my water broke! After calling the doctor he told us to watch and see if contractions started... which low and behold they did about an hour later!

Since I had slept through the time we would have made dinner we decided to go out and eat. We ended up at Phyllis's Giant Burgers eating yummy burgers and garlic fries. The contractions started to pick up so we ate quickly and left. On the way home we made a quick pit stop to the CVS for some snacks to bring to the hospital.

Once we got home I decided to take a minute and change into my purple dress for one last picture before the baby arrived. Looking back at it I can't believe I was that big!

We spent the evening watching TV as Steve tracked the contractions. Around 3 AM we decided it was time to leave for the hospital.  I remember two things from the drive: 1 wanting to get there quickly so I could stand up again and 2 why are there so many people on the road at 3 AM???

Once we checked in they put us in a room to labor until 8 AM when I would be checked for the first time. After all night we had progressed nicely and they gave me the thumbs up for an epidural.

Around 11 they moved us into the labor and delivery room. for the epidural. The Anesthesiologist set me up and thanks to many prayers was able to get it in on her first try. As I said "praise God" she told me she was glad I called on whatever higher power I had because she had stuck me blindly not knowing if it would work! Thank goodness we do have a good God who even allowed me to show his power in the midst of our delivery day.

Enjoying my epidural

Around 3 in the afternoon it was time to push. Unfortunately Baby Reynolds was not facing the right direction. Even with help the baby could not be rotated. We continued to push anyways hoping that eventually something would change. The longer we went the less my epidural was working. The baby's heart rate also began to be affected. At that point we had to make the difficult decision to have a C-section. As much as I was disappointed I was ready to meet this baby and make sure they were healthy!

They wheeled me into the operating room and I was nearly half asleep. They had given me a stronger form of an epidural so that I would not feel the surgery. They asked if I could feel anything and I said no and then asked where is Steve??? They then said "oh I guess he can come in now." Several minutes after he came in the baby was delivered!!! (I'm glad I said something, Steve might have missed the whole thing!)

Steve was asked to announce the baby's sex and with some encouragement he peaked over the sheet to tell the room "It's a boy!" a few seconds later laughing from the staff erupted and they said "no she's not! It's a Girl." Poor Steve he really wasn't looking too good as he wasn't interested in seeing the blood and guts. We could not be more excited for a daughter!

They whisked her away before I could get a look to check and make sure she was ok. I wasn't worried as she came out making a few crying sounds. Steve cut the cord, which was the one thing I was disapointed I didn't get to see or get a picture of. After I started yelling for Steve to take some pictures he realized the camera had been left outside the OR. They let him run and get it and we were still able to capture the moment.

Once she had been weighed (7 lbs 8 oz) they put her on my chest to meet! It was love at first sight. I am still amazed at how instant it was! All I could think was how blessed I was to be her mother.

Our first family picture

She right away started showing off her moves by sticking out her tongue and blowing some bubbles. Her tongue hasn't stopped since :)

Our Beautiful Ruth Elizabeth Reynolds

We named our daughter Ruth Elizabeth. There is a lot of meaning behind why we chose that name which will have to be saved for another blog for times sake.

Ruth one day old

Ruth and Daddy

Meeting Gammy for the first time

Ruth's first bath

After 3 nights we had the sad news given to us that Ruth was Jaundice. This meant that she had to spend all her time in an incubator except when she was feeding. We were so sad but, thankful that they had discovered it while they could still take care of it. Our hearts went out to all the other families and babies that were in the NICU. Most were much smaller and sicker. It put everything into perspective and made us really thankful Ruth wouldn't be there long.

Under the lights with her sun shades on.

After two long days under the lights Ruth was given the green light to go home! We were overjoyed!

Dressed in the outfit we bought her the day we found out we were pregnant.

Welcome home Ruth!

Pregnancy Progress Final Picture!

Ruth Elizabeth Reynolds was born April 6, 2013! Her birthday story will be saved for another post as my computer time is limited due to feedings, changing, and of course loving on my little here. For now, however, here is the final picture I took in my purple dress :)

8 Weeks

14 Weeks

26 Weeks

30 Weekds

40 Weeks!
(The night we went to the hospital.)

Ruth 1 Week and 1 Day old