My darling baby girl, we are literally a week or less away from meeting you. I can not put into words how excited your daddy & I are to meet you! We talk endlessly everyday about how much our lives are about to change & how we couldn't be more ready to start this journey together creating a beautiful life together & with YOU! ( : It has been so hard on Mommy not to write to you as often as I'd like to of, but Daddy & I have been doing great & are so excited to share all the wonderful things that have been going on in our lives since we last wrote. So here is a little update. . .
October 7th was the first full day in our new home, and it didn't take us long to have everything put together, well everything but your nursery. Your nursery was a challenge for your daddy and I, but we are so happy with the way it all turned out ( : (Will post pictures soon) On October 13th your daddy and I made our way to TN for mommy to photograph a good friends wedding. It was such an incredible & fun day...that landed this mommy to be straight in the hospital. You made an attempt for an early escape as I lost my mucus plug and started having contractions. Thankfully we were able to stop the contractions & after a negative fft test we felt reassured that you would continue to bake a little longer.We also learned at this time that you were already flipped head down!
On October 23rd we went back for a check with our doctor and had an ultrasound done. Your heartbeat was 154 beats per minute, and they guessed you weighed 3lbs 9oz at 30 weeks along.( : We got some wonderful pictures that day that we were able to take and show off just days later at our TN baby shower.
On October 27th your daddy and I also had the opportunity to have our maternity pictures taken by your awesome Aunt Brandy and her husband Matthew. It was a extremely cold October day, but it was an experience that James and I will never forget. ♥ On October 28th at 31 weeks along we had friends and family gather at the Hilltop-Rosenwald park building in Mommy's home town for your 1st baby shower. We were so unbelievably blessed with all that we received that day and by the amount of support we were shown.
You are SO loved by so many people, its amazing. Some of mommies wonderful best friends came (all of these ladies I have known 6 + years) Your "Aunties" often call/text to check on us, as they are so anxious to meet you!
Melody, Myself, Amber, Drea, Bekka holding Laylah (Amber's baby)& Alyssa ( : See this beautiful cake?! Melody made this special for us! Can you say Blessed. Some more of the wonderful people that came to share their excitement with us, Jessica & "Auntie" Brooke (Mommy's old roommate & long-time best friend)
We also had so many other friends come & even more send their well wishes & gifts for you! We even got a present from Kristen, a good friend of mommies who is stationed all the way in Virginia. (:
The shower was hosted by your (TN) grandmother & great-grandmother, with photos done by Aunt Brandy. Here is you Aunt Brandy & the onesie she made for you! Isn't it just the cutest!
Your (AL) grandmother made this awesome diaper cake for us! Alabama, Mommy's favorite of course ( :
We played a few games including word searches,unscrambling words, and the dirty diaper pin game, but my favorite activity (& everyone elses) was decorating you some fabulous onesies!(seen here)
Mommy wasn't the only mommy to be there, Ashleigh, Janet & Myself.
It was such a fun filled and memorable day ( :
On October 31st we had another recheck with the doctor, and much to our surprise I had started dilating! It was only a finger-tip at that point but it was still unexpected. At that point our doctor was giving us between the end of November, first week of December as your estimated arrival dates. (Thankfully we passed those!) From that point on I was put on medicine to try and stop any contractions from happening for fear that you would once again try to escape. But of course that night (Yep Halloween) mommy did indeed start having contractions & went to spend the evening with your (AL)grandmother watching scary movies while daddy was at work. He was to scared to watch them when he came to pick mommy up too! ha ha On November 11th at 33 weeks along Daddy and I were blessed once again to receive a second baby shower, this time in our home state of Alabama. Your (AL) grandmother, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jason were gracious enough to host for us. It was so much fun to have all of daddy's siblings (4 including daddy) in one room. & Have some of Mommy's aunts,cousins and your wonderful great-grandmother there too! We were once again overjoyed with all the wonderful things & DIAPERS (HA HA) we received.
We played a game where everyone had to guess how many sheets of toilet paper would fit around my belly. Lets just say some of the guesses were way off with numbers as high as 26 sheets, but Daddy some how managed to be the closest with his guess of 13 sheets (Actual amount was 11 sheets) We also had everyone guess what your birth stats would be (birth date, weight & length) as well as give us the first time parents to be some much appreciated advice. The earliest anyone thought you'd arrive was November 20th; Smallest weight anyone thought you'd be is 4lbs 5oz, and smallest length was 15 inches. The latest anyone thought you'd arrive was December 21st; Largest weight guessed was 7lbs 6oz, and longest length was 22 inches long. Here is the funniest piece of advice we received..."Make James change dirty diapers!"..Ok so maybe daddy didn't think it was all that funny but I sure did! & One of the sweetest and most true pieces of advice we received was, "Always remember Harper will be gone and grown one day & all you will have is each other." We pray everyday that as you grow up and get big that your our love for each other as well as you only continues to grow stronger. (:
Your (AL)grandmother made so much amazing food that day, and we were able to show off once again the diaper cake she made. Her & Rodney also made daddy the greatest Daddy to be gift EVER! It was an apron which included ear plugs, gloves, protective eye glasses, nose plug, wipes & so many other things that I am unable to remember. Once again we were blessed with a wonderful day filled with great memories (:
On November 15th we went back to the doctor for another recheck, this time we found out that while I had not dilated anymore I had started to thin out, making us believe once again you would try to escape early. Aunt Brandy,Uncle Matthew, your grandpa (my dad),your great grandmother ,daddy and I spent a wonderful day filled with great food and even better company on Thanksgiving.After all the food we were happy to go shopping and give our bellies a break. We enjoyed a late thanksgiving a few days later with daddy's side of the family & loved every laugh filled moment there too ( : On November 25th we celebrated Daddy's 22nd Birthday. The day before we had gone to Tuscaloosa and ate lunch & spend a fun filled day together, but on the day of Daddy's birthday he requested and received a relaxing day curled up on the couch watching movies all day (: Mommy & your great-grandmother made daddy his very own diaper bag! Camo & all, he was at a loss for words when he received it, but was so happy! Your daddy received lots of nice things for his birthday, and claimed it may have been his very best birthday to date..(Something says with you here it will be even better!) On November 26th we went back to the doctors once again for a check-up. We were so excited to have an ultrasound done, your heartbeat was 141 beats per minute, and they guessed that you weighed 6lbs and 1oz at 35 weeks. This appointment however was not a typical one as we actually believed mommy was in labor & had to make an emergency appointment with the doctor. We were once again given a fft test, but this time it came back positive, stating that you would arrive within 2 weeks. At this appointment we learned that I had dilated to a 1 had continued to thin out. I was told to increase my contraction medicine to 4 times a day, and completely stop any activity. I was told to not even do laundry. Yikes! We received a very special little gift on December 2nd in the form of your daddy's doggie named Shorty (seen here) He has been the biggest comfort for me, as I sometimes get lonely being at home all day by myself while your sweet daddy works his butt off for us. He will be such a good "big brother" for you!
On December 4th we went back to the doctor for another check-up, this time we were told that I was dilated to a 1 . 5, and 80 percent thinned, and Dr. W even said he could feel your head! At this time I came off all my contraction medicines, and was allowed to resume activity (Thank goodness!) We really believed that you would be here within that week...WRONG. You my little lady have discovered the Hurry up & wait game, you make us believe you are coming and then nope you decide to stay a little longer! Somehow though your daddy & I are getting a little giggle out of it, because it shows us that your going to have our well worn senses of humor.On December 11th on my way home from visiting your great-grandmother, and aunt I managed to take the life of a little deer, while it managed to damage the front of my car. It has been so hard on mommy not having my own wheels, especially because it was our planned vehicle to take to & from the hospital. :/ Thankfully my airbags didn't deploy, nor did it cause you or I any injuries! Which we confirmed on December 12th when we went back to the doctors for another recheck, honestly believing that we would be put in the hospital after the weeks and the ones prior events. After a ultrasound showed you weighing 6lbs 14oz with a heartbeat of 153 beats per minute we truly believed Dr W would tell us that I had dilated lots more & we would be rushed over to the hospital in preparation for your birth. . .Well much to our surprise I had made no progress at all! I'm not going to say that we weren't a little disappointed, but we know that God has a planned day for your birth & we just have to wait it out, well till the 20th at least when our scheduled induction date is! As for the past few days, I have been nurturing your sick daddy back to health and trying my best to live in these last few days of silence. I see lots of cooking, cleaning and laundry though in my future for the next few days. We go back Monday for a recheck with Dr. W & he told us things do look promising for that day so I want us to be as prepared as possible!(: As always my little love we can not wait to meet you & we love you SO much! -Love Mommy & Daddy
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