Pictures of Baby H

I never got my before picture, so this was taken at 3:00 a.m. right before we went to the hospital.

Pictures just don't do her justice, she's so much cuter in person :)

Big and little man meet their sister for the first time. They were very interested in her hands and her feet.

SHE"S HERE!!!!

Yay!! I didn't have to wait until Tuesday after all. Last night about 9:30 my contractions started, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, it felt more like a tummy ache. By midnight they were coming pretty regular and by 3:00 they were getting pretty strong, so I woke Jeff up and we headed for the hospital. When we arrived I was dialated to a 3 and it took until 9:30 to fully dialate. I think if would've gone much quicker if my water had been broken before I was at an 8, but that's when the Dr. arrived. After he broke my water I was ready to go in a matter of minutes. Epidurals are wonderful, however I don't think this one worked 100%. I still felt a ton of pressure with the contractions and I felt most of the delivery. It only took two pushes to get her out, but they were long, agonizing, very painful pushes. It's amazing what the human body can do. I'm just glad she's here and that she's happy and healthy. I was very surprised to see that she looked just like her brothers-a good combination of the two when they were babies. Sometimes I look at her and think she looks just like big man, except with a bow on her hat. She's adorable. She has a couple of 'stork bites' on her face (I think that's what they're called) just like little man did. She's perfect in every way and I feel so lucky to have her. She is by far my biggest baby to date weighing in at 6 lbs 10 ounces. When they put her on my tummy I thought for sure she was smaller than that. She looked so tiny. I was very surprised when they weighed her. She outweighed big man by almost a pound and little man by 8 ounces. She's 19 inches long. It was a long night-the first of many I'm sure-but worth every second.

(I'm having trouble attaching pictures on this network, but as soon as I'm able, I will post them)

The end is in sight...

I am on the schedule to be induced...next Tuesday. It's not nearly as soon as I would've liked, but at least it's before my due date. So now if I can get through the next four days with my sanity intact I will be doing well :) I've been really emotional and ornery the last few days. I know a lot of it has to do with not sleeping. That's one of my least favorite things about the end of the pregnancy. I know it's preparing me to be up with a newborn, but I'd rather get good rest for as long as I can.

The boys have been fighting with each other like mad which only adds to my ornery-ness or maybe they're fighting because I'm ornery. I don't know. I told Jeff I was going to ask for an extended stay in the hospital. I'm not quite sure they'd let me stay 8 days, but it would sure be a nice break :)

That's the latest. I'll keep you updated.

37 weeks and counting...

Yesterday was my second non-stress test and I passed with flying colors-darn it. I was hoping that I could be started, but no such luck. Maybe next week. My blood pressure is a little high, but not too worrisome, and she grew another centimeter so she's doing well. I'm glad that she's growing and active.

My next NST is next Thursday, so we'll see how it goes. My Dr. said it wouldn't take too much for him to start me, so hopefully there'll be some reason next week. Better yet, maybe she'll decide to come on her own.

This Wednesday also starts the muzzle loader hunt for Jeff. He's trying to figure out a time he can go and still be around or accessible if she decides to make her appearance. Good luck :)

Tonight I had an hour of pure relaxation-a pedicure. This is one of my favorite things to do at the end of a pregnancy. With Big Man the pedicure took the swelling on my ankles down a ton. This time my ankles aren't that big, but it still felt great. I almost fell asleep in the chair.

I'll keep you posted.

State Fair

We finally made it to the state fair. The boys had a great time looking at the animals.

Fun on the slide. Big man had a nervous look on his face when he came down.
Little man was all smiles. He thought it was great fun.

The best part of the fair-getting treats. They both enjoyed Tiger's blood snow cones on the way home.

Baby Shower

My cute visiting teacher offered to have a shower for me. I felt kind of bad since I already have two kids. But since this baby's a girl, I can always use more pink :) There was a good turnout of ward friends. They'd gone to a lot of work and it was very nice. I had a fun night.

This is why I don't take picture of me pregnant-I look chubby.

One of the girls in my ward made this diaper cake. It's way too cute to use. I'll have to display it in her room for a while.

Today started my non-stress tests. They actually cause me more stress, but that's beside the point. I'm 36 weeks. I visited my doctor afterwards. My blood pressure was a little bit higher this time and she only grew a centimeter in the last two weeks when she's been consistently gaining a centimeter a week, so I'm thinking she's slowing down. I go in again next Thursday, so we'll see how it goes. I was excited to learn that I'm already dialated to a 1 1/2 so if I do have to be induced this time, I won't have to do the Cervidel like last time-that was the worst. I'll keep you posted.

Preschool

Big man started preschool today. He was so excited. He looked so grown up in his school clothes and with his backpack on. He has two little friends from our ward that are in his same class so he was pretty excited to go with them.

Little man was a little confused why he didn't get to get out at the school as well. He was kind of quiet all morning without his brother, but we had fun. It's so much easier going places and doing errands with one instead of two. I'm not getting too used to it though, because in another few weeks it will be two instead of three. :)