Plans are funny things.

We had a plan to finish all the construction projects in the house by the end of November. We had a plan to acquire all the remaining baby goods over the Thanksgiving weekend. We had bought some new maternity clothes and planned to take pre-baby Sean+April photos in early December. It turns out that the baby and my body had other plans.

On Sunday November 18th, after an intense four hour labor, Maya Renée Woods was born at 7:18 in the morning. She was about a month ahead of her due date, weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

Once the initial shock of Maya showing up early wore off and the worry over potential preterm issues was put to rest, we settled into learning how to properly care for her. Like any new parents, we have a ridiculous amount to learn, but so far we’ve managed to keep her happy and well. And of course, we are completely taken with her. We couldn’t be more pleased that we get to enjoy her for an extra month.

The only real issue we’ve encountered with Maya is jaundice. She had to stay an extra day in the hospital receiving phototherapy treatment to try and clear some of the excess bilirubin from her body. At her first visit to the pediatrician, her bilirubin levels were again high, so we rented a light blanket and started her back on phototherapy. As of this past Monday morning, her values were down. Unless something changes, it seems like the jaundice is something we can put behind us.

Maya the Glowworm – Wrapped in her phototherapy blanket

Sean has wanted to take pictures, but we’ve both been pretty busy (and sleep deprived) trying to catch up with our early baby. For now, here are the photos that were taken at the hospital when Maya was one day old. (Aunt Darci has also taken a very cute series of photos, which we’ll post once we are able.)