Coming home--October 20

We came home on Saturday after Abbie's birthday. My family was there to greet us, which was nice and crazy at the same time. All of Abbie's cousins on my side were there to greet her. She was so thrilled, she slept through it. :-) My sister, Jeannie, had brought dinner and my other sister, Paige, ran some errands for us. Our new life begins!

At the hospital--part 3

We had lots of visitors at the hospital in Abbie's first few days of life. Mostly family members visited, but our friends John and Alison came by as well as two of my yearbook students, Jessica and Emily. I should have taken pictures of them with the baby to post, but alas, my pregnant brain still lingers. Here are a few pics from the hospital.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABIGAIL RAMSEY APICELLA!

Abigail Ramsey Apicella

October 16, 2007

10:21pm

9lbs. 6oz.

21 1/2 inches long

At the hospital--Part 2

Pre-baby and post-baby! :-)

At 6am on Tuesday, October 16th, the doctors started me on Pitocin, which induces labor. At 2pm, they broke my water and that's when "active" labor started. After about 10 hours of active labor, they checked my progression and I had gotten an infection, had a fever, and Abbie's heartrate had gone up. That's when they decided to do a C-section. We were scared because that was the LAST thing I wanted to do. You know, major surgery and all. But, all went well. She proved to be gianormous, 9 pounds and 6 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long. Check her out!

At the hospital--part one

So, we are here and it's beginning. We went to the OB today and had a non-stress test. Apparently, Abigail is so good that she doesn't want to move at all. So they are making her come out. (I warned her about this earlier.) They admitted me to the hospital tonight so that they can "ripen" my cervix. They will begin induction tomorrow at 6am. That's when the "fun" begins. We will post more tomorrow.
Be praying that we will remain calm.
We can't wait to see her!!!

40 weeks and still no Abbie!

So, we're at the due date and she is showing no signs of wanting to come out! This is obviously very frustrating for us! We are trying our best to be patient, because I know she'll be here soon enough. Then I might long for these quiet days. I told a friend the other day that if she is anything like us, she'll be late. I WAS JOKING!!!! But she is proving to be our daughter. hee, hee.

I haven't been working since September 28th, so at least I have some time to rest before the big day. I hope it comes soon! Hopefully the next post will be an introduction to our sweet one.

Nursery

We are ready for arrival!

This is the "bedtime corner." The piece of wood on the wall is a coat rack that we are going to use to hang pictures with ribbon attached to the frames.

View from rocking chair.

Reading/rocking corner.

36 weeks--9 months

Whoa!!! That's what I said when I saw this picture. I'm not holding my belly up, but it looks like I should! I didn't realize how big it had gotten! It looks much different from the top view.

Abbie is moving A LOT and I guess getting ready to come out soon. I have 3 1/2 weeks left until the due date. I'm going to the doctor every week now and today they felt for her position. She is head down. Good girl! They also asked me to make sure I know when to call them. Scott keeps insisting that we pack a bag, so I guess that will happen soon too.

The nursery is ready. I'll post pictures of that this week. I'm just not ready! Yikes!

Family Shower at Jeannie's--August 11th

On August 11th, Jeannie hosted a shower at her house for family members from both my side and Scott's side, as well as a few friends of mine from church in Richmond. That was really fun too! It was at 11 am, so the food was more brunch like, and DELICIOUS! The cake was so cute and was decorated to look similar to the invitation. How creative! We ate, opened presents, and played a few games led by my awesome nieces, Courtney and Katie. We played Baby Bingo, Guess the prices, and Guess the Girth (of my belly). The last game was a very uplifting and encouraging game, where everyone got to guess just how large my belly was. My mom was the triumphant winner of this game, by guessing the EXACT amount (pictured below). It was great to see everyone and share this special time with family.


The very cute cake and table decorations.


Mom wins "guess the girth."



Scott's sister, Amy, and mom, Pat.




RA's family: Melissa (cousin), Tricia (aunt), Mom, Dad, RA, and Jeannie

Shower at Mom's--August 4th, 2008

On August 4th, my Mom hosted a great shower at her house. The theme was giraffes and turtles in pink and green. We had lots of fun and delicious food. Those of you that know my Mom, know that it had all her little "special touches" around the house. We ate, socialized, opened presents, and listened to some "words of wisdom" which Mom had prepared people for by sending their "assignment" with the invitation. I really got some great advice, ideas, and encouraging words for when sweet Abigail decides to join us. (Not to mention some great presents.) Thanks Mom!

Some decorations around the house.

I love presents! :-)

Four of my best friends (left to right): Becky Chapman (college roommate), Alison Worsham (from church), me, Christian Reynolds (best friend from high school).

32 week ultrasound

Now the moment you've all been waiting for. . .Right?

This is a profile shot. It's a little bit blurry. Her arm is the round thing toward the top left. Then all the way to the right is her forehead, nose, mouth, and chest. I hope you can see it.

I scanned this one on it's side, because I feel like you can see it better from this angle. She is looking straight at you. It looks like she might have my (RA) cheeks, but most babies have fat cheeks, so that might be it.

The pictures don't do it justice. She looked so cute during the ultrasound and even yawned at one point. It was soo cool. After the ultrasound and the measurements they took, the doctor told us that she was in the 67th percentile for growth and weighed about 4 lbs 3 oz, give or take. That means that by delivery, she should be over 8 pounds. I was expecting that, but hoping for smaller, given how babies come out and all. Anyway, we probably won't get anymore pictures of Abbie in the womb, so the next time you see her, she will be with us! It's closer than ever!

32 weeks--8 months

The belly is growing!!! I've been getting a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. Our doctor said that's good, because my body is practicing for the real thing. Yippee (sarcastic). It is very uncomfortable. I do think my belly is rather cute, though. I really feel like pregnancy fits me! That isn't to say that I'm anxious to do it again any time soon, but I am willing to eventually. It is getting much, much harder to do everyday things like bending over and getting up off the couch.

We got ultrasound pictures this week at the doctor, but I'll post them later this week.

School starts on Friday, so that's when the fun swelling time begins.

We are excited about only having single digit weeks left. It's getting so close!!! Yikes!

More later.

28 weeks--7 months

I went to the doctor this week and he said that I was measuring at 31 cm. Your centimeters are supposed to match how many weeks you are, so Abbie is a bit big! In three weeks, they are going to do another ultrasound to see how big she is and to check the fluid around her. I can tell she is bigger, because when she moves, it feels like limbs instead of like twitching. :-) Every night at about the same time, she likes to cozy in really low, which puts a lot of pressure on my bladder and whatever else is down there!

This is getting fun, but uncomfortable!

26 weeks--6 1/2 months

Well, we've hit the 6 1/2 month mark, and it's really feeling imminent. She is moving a bunch and others can see it and feel it. I've been doing water aerobics every day and really enjoying it. I feel like it is helping keep my weight down and toning my muscles. I go to the doctor on Friday and have the glucose test, so hopefully all will go well. Other than that, I feel fine and everything seems to be progressing normally. I hope that will continue. I'll write more later.

22 weeks belly pictures

So here are some pictures of what I look like at 5 1/2 months. I think I'm pretty average. I feel huge, though. I guess I'm just not used to having a belly that sticks out. I kind of feel like it isn't a part of me, like I'm underneath the belly and it's just stuck on the front. I started feeling Abbie move around 20 weeks and that has been weird too. This whole experience is just odd, but I like it. I'm going to a new doctor this week, one that is closer to our house. That way, I can deliver 15 minutes from our house instead of 45 minutes away. I'll post more soon.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!

Her girl parts are there! The ultrasound technician said that she doesn't say unless she is sure, so here's her photo! The arrows are pointing to the girl parts, distinctive by 3 lines. The cursor is on her left butt cheek/hip bone, and the blur to the right are her feet. (As if she were sitting on the camera)

These are two really good profile shots that the technician got within seconds of each other. The top one is mostly her face and body and her hand is on top of her head. The bottom one is a good full body profile, showing her legs bent at the knees (long legs!!).

The ultrasound lasted for about 30 minutes or more. And she was flipping and turning all over the place. The technician spent a long time checking her heart, spine, and brain for any abnormalities. Her report said that everything looks normal and healthy. So thank goodness!!!!

We think these profile shots are really good and we think she already looks so cute! Scott and I are super excited and already love her so much! Thank you everyone for your prayers and keep praying for our sweet little girl!