The Best Anniversary Gift Ever

Today is our 3 year anniversary and we couldn't imagine spending it any other way than taking care of our precious angel sent to us from God above. She has completely stolen our hearts -- we can barely take our eyes off of her! The above picture may just be my favorite so far. She is wearing a cloth diaper underneath that pretty cover...cute tush for an even cuter baby girl!

Birth story is still in the works (hey, I like details and it takes awhile!) but wanted to add some more pictures...these are her current hairstyles:

Hairstyle 1: The 'spike do'

Hairstyle 2: The 'mohawk do'

Hairstyle 3: The 'professional do'

Welcome to the World...

Imogen Eliana

May 24, 2008

6:07 PM

6 pounds 13 ounces

20 inches long

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with our pregnancy blog -- Baby Girl (otherwise known as Imogen) has finally arrived! Birth Story to follow...Stay Tuned :-)

Her name, Imogen, is an Irish name that Chris and I both really love and also has a great meaning -- Image of Her Mother (which she definitely is!). Her middle name, Eliana, is a tribute to many important women in our lives: One of each of our grandmothers, Elsie & Elvira, and both of our mothers (Linda & Anna).

Name pronunciation for anyone who is curious: Imogen (Im-O-Jen) Eliana (Ell-E-Auna)

Week 39

Baby Girl's Development in Week 39: She is waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds! The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

We sit and wait. I go to bed every night wondering if this is the night I will go into labor -- waking Chris up at 2AM with those words, 'It's time.' Like the song says, "All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...." These pictures are taken with our new camera :-) and that was the last piece we were waiting for (I mean, baby girl was waiting for).

I am still working from home so that I can lay down most of the day, and although it is extremely hard (for any of you who know me well, that wouldn't surprise you), I am taking it easy! I know most, if not all, of you are anxiously awaiting the news of baby girl's arrival and you can see her first pictures here on the blog! I will update it as soon as I can after we get home. I apologize in advance if you call and we don't answer or don't return your call -- but we are surely busy and will get back to you as soon as we can!

Here's to another week of being pregnant and the impending birth of our baby girl! I really hope you've enjoyed sharing the pregnancy with us! Will I take a 'Week 40' picture? Only she and God knows...

Relief...

As some of you already know, I had my 38 week appointment on Tuesday and it was more eventful than either Chris or I would have liked. My blood pressure was high! eek!! The midwife checked it several times and decided to send us over to the hospital for a non-stress test (for the baby) and blood pressure monitoring for me. We were there for about 4 hours and every time they took my blood pressure while I was laying on my back or sitting up, it was elevated or high. When they would take it while I was laying on my side, it was normal. So, I was placed on bedrest to keep it within a normal range. The baby looked extremely happy in there...the fluid levels were perfect and her heartrate was perfect. I wasn't really contracting all that much. My blood tests came back normal and there wasn't any protein in my urine, which is good because these are all signs of a very dangerous pregnancy complication called pre-ecclampsia. Since there weren't any signs of pre-ecclampsia besides the elevated blood pressure, which was normal when I layed down, they sent me home.

Today I had a follow up appointment so that I could get my blood pressure checked multiple times a week. It was back down to within a normal range. There still was no protein in my urine and I have no other symptoms of pre-ecclampsia, so that is very good! Chris and I were extremely relieved -- we had our bags ready to go just in case the midwife would have sent us to the hospital to get induced. Now, I have a regular midwife appointment scheduled each week and a non-stress test at the hospital each week until baby comes to make sure we are both healthy, but as of now, they are going to let baby girl come when she's ready!

The midwife said the head was very low and she expects baby girl to come soon!! :-) Stay tuned...

Zianna's Home!!

Just wanted to shout a resilient

WELCOME HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to baby girl's Zianna (aka...my little sister Anna!) Baby girl has been waiting for her homecoming before she made her appearance :-) Glad you had a great time in Sicily, Anna, but we are so excited to have you back in PA. Love you!!!!!

Week 38 -- Happy Mother's Day!!

Baby Girl's Development in Week 38: She has really plumped up! She weighs close to 7 lbs and is over 19 1/2 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which we'll soon be able to test when we hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color her eyes will be? If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

This week we had a very quick midwife appointment. My blood pressure was back to normal, baby girl was still head down (and probably too big at this point to turn over), and I was still measuring 38 cm! The swelling in my feet was nothing to be concerned about as well, so all is good.

We also finished packing our bags for the Midwife Center! I am very excited about that. We have her coming home outfit selected, which you'll see in pictures in the near future :-)

I definitely think she has dropped...but only because I can really feel my belly on my lap when I sit down. The midwife said I may not experience the 'relief' that some women do when the baby drops (such as increased lung and stomach capacity) because I have a short torso.

This week we went to Babies R Us and picked up all of the remaining essentials for baby's first few weeks at home. Chris set up the co-sleeper today and we have all of her clothes and sheets washed. Now we sit and wait patiently, knowing that at any moment, our lives will change forever.

Happy Mother's Day to all mother's and moms-to-be out there!!!!!!!

The Nursery

We finally got everything opened, washed and sorted and have the nursery almost complete! Here are a few pictures :-)

My nursing corner. The chair is SO comfy cozy!

Our beautiful double dresser made by the Amish. It's quite large and heavy! (and gorgeous!)

The matching bookshelf, complete with all of our children's books! Thank you to everyone who gave us one. Baby girl will have bedtime stories to listen to for years to come.

Last but certainly not least, our beautiful crib! It turned out better than we ever expected!

Chris and I have just been sitting in the room in the evenings because it's so comfortable in there. I'm sure we'll both be spending a lot of our time in the nursery in the days to come. The countdown continues...

Week 37 -- Full Term!

Baby Girl's Development This Week: Yay! She is officially full term! So if baby arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb. She weighs a little over 6 pounds and measures between 19 and 2o inches.

This week we had our 36 week appointment at The Midwife Center. Everything was looking good. Baby Girl is again measuring two weeks ahead – now measuring 38 weeks! The midwife said this is still in the normal range and is nothing to be concerned about. She felt baby’s position…still head down with her back anterior (which is good!). Her heart rate was in the 140s, so quite consistent, along with my consistently low blood pressure. It’s amazing how the midwife can do it, but she closes her eyes and feels the baby in my belly from all different angles and then she says, “The baby weighs about 6 pounds 4 ounces.” Just like that. I guess when you don’t rely on ultrasound equipment you get good at going by touch. I love our midwives!!

We also reviewed our birth plan and what to do in the event that my water breaks or contractions start at home. And we've done it folks -- we finally packed our bags!! Well, except for the few items that we need to go out and buy, but I'm relieved to have that mostly done. Many of you know it's been weighing on my mind...

This past Saturday was my baby shower and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g in every way :-) The generocity of others never ceases to amaze me! We got so many great gifts, too many to mention in fact! (although I have a few pictures of ones from my immediate family below) A special thank you to everyone who traveled from afar to share in my special day! You all mean so much to me...and you know that baby girl is so lucky to have a great extended network of friends and family. She tells me every day how much she can't wait to meet you all!!!


A very special gift from my mom. On the right are some ice-cream Robeez shoes. Could baby girl wear any other?? And on the left is a dress that my mom made for ME when I was a baby. She hasn't saved much from when we were little, but she did save this dress and gave it to me so baby girl could wear it. It's just beautiful!


My older sister, Lisa, knitted baby girl this awesome blanket! It is just as soft as it looks. I'm sure she spent countless hours on it and baby girl (and me) appreciate it so much!!


Finally a gift from my younger sister, Anna, who is studying in Sicily now. She sent the little mask case from Venice...and also baby girl's first pair of earrings! It is an Italian tradition to give jewelry to the baby and she now has her first hoops. We'll probably get her ears pierced around 6-8 weeks of age and these hoops will look just adorable on her. They are so tiny!

I want to reiterate how very thankful that Chris and I are for everything!!! We love our friends and family so very much :-)

Have a great week everyone -- and let the countdown begin...