Progress Already

She went from 55 to 126. Whatever that is, it sounds good. They called her an over achiever.

Let the Games Begin

We've arrived and Ashley is all hooked up and still smiling.

The Night Before

Well here we sit, waiting for our new little girl to arrive. The house is ready and calm and the parents are trying to be. Tomorrow is the day we meet her. Daddy plans to keep updates on this site as much as he can. We look forward to bringing her home. Check back tomorrow for "play by play" updates.

2 more days

Last week, I entered my 38th week of pregnancy. I was feeling great, and getting excited to meet my little girl in just a few weeks. I went in for my weekly check-up with T.J. and Elliana in tow, a nice safety net this late in pregnancy.

Little did I know how odd my 38 week appointment would be! Before I knew it, I was being wheeled in a wheelchair to the hospital with bleeding and contractions. Elliana loved riding in the wheelchair and considered it all a grand adventure.

The contractions continued to get stronger and I was hooked on a monitor to track the baby's heartbeat while I waited for an ultrasound to determine why and where the bleeding was coming from. Being in the maternity triage unit, hooked up to machines while my daughter runs in circles and my husband felt ill, was what could be considered a stressful situation. I found myself laughing. Perhaps it was self preservation or the fact that I couldn't stop thinking of all the things I hadn't yet packed in my hospital bag if indeed I was staying.

Finally we went for the ultrasound, where luckily no cause for the bleeding was found. The technician did find a healthy, 8 lb baby girl, with a head of hair, in a breech position. A COMPLETE SURPRISE! Contractions and bleeding continued as I was wheeled back to triage where my mom was waiting to pick up Elliana, a fabulous blessing on such short notice!!! The nurse gave me a shot to stop the contractions as they didn't want me going into labor with a breech baby. I was sent home and put on modified bedrest until I could see my doctor again on Friday.

And so, I was on bed rest for 2.5 days and it isn't as fun as it sounds like it would be. I am so grateful for my mom and friends, and of course my hubby who all stepped up and helped with Elliana, waited on me, provided food and encouragement.

Friday evening I was released from bed rest, and was encouraged to go live an active life, as the baby had flipped back into proper position! The more active I was the more likely she would stay that way, but to ensure they scheduled an induction for this week, in hopes of having her arrive naturally and not a c-section.

We are just a couple of days until our newest little girl will officially be in our family. I am excited, anxious, thrilled, nervous and a bit terrified. But most of all, I am grateful.

24 hours...

This past weekend, Grandma and Papa offered to keep Elliana overnight to give T.J. and I some downtime before baby officially makes her appearance. We had no grandiose plans for the evening alone, though we did feel pressure to make it memorable. We dropped off Elliana around 4ish, ran a few errands (a bit quicker without a little one in tow), and by 6:00 had no idea what we were going to the rest of the night. We weren't yet hungry for dinner, so we decided to go home and read. Yes, to read.

The idea of being able to sit quietly, and actually read and comprehend what we were reading during daylight hours sounded appealing and rare, so we headed home. I read for approximately 5 minutes before falling asleep on the bed. I awoke two hours later to find my hubby nestled up next to me, also asleep. It was 8:30ish in the evening, and I had awoken with the most comforted, relaxed feeling. After waking at our own pace (another rare thing), we ventured out in our jammies to pick up food and hurried home to watch a movie we actually had energy for (given our nap).

The next morning, we slept in (rare). We ate a huge breakfast, came back home and found ourselves ready for another nap. Yep, that's right. Another nap.

Overall, we calculated that in the 24 hours Elliana was with her grandparents, we slept approximately 14 or 15 hours. Spent 3 hours eating and approximately 3 or 4 hours driving. On our way to pick up Elliana, we reflected on our child free day and how quickly time had passed. We decided if we could do it all over again, we would spend more time sleeping...or perhaps eating. So, we didn't have grandiose plans, but we did truly have a memorable date night.