Pictures of Lily!

All snuggled up after her bath....she's really not a fan of getting clean!

She found her thumb - this time with no help!

Snuggling with her best buddy - Baxter!!

Pretty sweet little family!

All bundled up - ready to go on a run with Dad and Baxter!  She was happy as long as Tom was running....not walking!  ;-) Haha!

This picture is post smile....I missed the real thing - but she's still pretty cute!

6 Weeks Old!!

Wow!!  Lily's first 6 weeks have already flown by....and it has been a crazy ride to say the least!!!  Lily, Tom, Baxter and I have all been learning a lot and settling in a little more every day!  For the first few weeks, Lily was like many newborns...not doing much besides eating, sleeping, peeing, and pooping!  Then, at around 3 or 4 weeks of age, she really started to show us her personality!!  She is definitely a red-head....and a lot like her mom - she goes from being quiet and content to wide awake...and then to seriously angry at times too!  Around her 4th week, I started to get a little concerned because at every feeding she would eat ferociously for about 4 to 5 minutes, and then scream and cry like something was hurting her!  This was not only incredibly concerning to me, but also frustrating for everyone!!  Lily would cry and cry unless she was swaddled and bounced...and once she fell asleep she would sleep like a rock.  It was so upsetting to me that my beautiful little girl was only crying when she was awake and eating...and otherwise seemed very uncomfortable.  We called the pediatrician right away and she suggested that maybe I was "letting-down" too fast for Lily, or that Lily had a little gas issue.  So, we started gas drops with every feeding, and I tried a couple of techniques to help slow my let-down.  The interventions really seemed to help for a few days, but then the problem seemed to get worse again.  I was really struggling not only because Lily was so unhappy, but also because I had come down with an awful rash all over my chest, arms and legs that was keeping me up itching like crazy every night!  So, even when Lily was sleeping, I wasn't able to sleep much at all!  The combination of issues was really stressful...between screaming episodes with Lily and dermatologist visits for me, we were busy and exhausted!!
    Thankfully I can now report that life has improved immensely!  After one day of trying to work through screaming during feedings, I decided to call the lactation consultants at the hospital.  They were incredibly helpful and quickly figured out what the problem was - I was making way too much milk!!  Poor Lily was practically drowning in milk when she was trying to eat...so instead of taking 10 to 15 minutes to eat 3 ounces or so...she was getting it all in about five minutes!  Talk about guzzling!!  Once we figured out what the problem was, we were able to try a bunch of things that started to help Lily almost immediately!  What a relief!!  She is now eating well, having happy awake time, and then taking nice long naps!  She is even sleeping up to 6 hour stretches at night!  It's been great for the past week or so and we are so relieved.  Even though I know we will likely have more surprises and bumps in the road ahead of us, I am very happy to be through this one!
    As for my rash...well, after multiple dermatologist visits, and a skin biopsy, we have figured out that I have hives all over my body that are caused by and unknown source!  So..it could be either a reaction to medication or just a random viral hive caused by some cold virus that I may have had.  Either way, I am happy to know what it is, and the dermatologist has suggested some meds and creams that seem to be helping a lot!  Finally!!!
    Well, it has definitely been an interesting and slightly rough few weeks, but Lily started SMILING just as this was all happening which has been so much fun!!  She still looks kind of like she's working really hard to make her mouth get into the "smile" shape sometimes, but it is honestly one of the sweetest things I have ever seen!  And when she looks me in the eye and gives me a huge smile - it pretty much makes all of those bad moments disappear and my heart just melts!  She is a complete sweetie and I am so in love with her!
    Not much else to say for now...I will try to get a picture of a smile soon and post it!  I took a video today and was successful at a smile capture...but I'm not sure I can post videos on here.  So...you'll have to wait!  ;-)  Hope everyone is well!
   Lots of love,
     Katie, Tom and Lily

Welcome Lily Katherine Dow!!

Well, I know it has been a while since I've updated the blog so here goes!!  Life has changed incredibly for us in the last three weeks.  Lily Katherine Dow was born on September 14th at 2:48pm weighing in at 7lbs 2oz. and measuring 20 inches!  Just two days before her official due date, my water broke in the middle of the night on the 13th!  When we arrived at the hospital I wasn't really having many contractions (not painful ones at least!) so they ended up starting Pitocin to get the contractions going.  It's kind of ironic that after all of the weeks we spent trying to prevent contractions, when it finally came down to it....we had to use medication to get the contractions going!!  Anyhow, things moved along pretty well and by mid afternoon on the 14th, I got an epidural (which was fantastic!) and within a few hours we had our little Lily!!
    Life has been pretty hectic and crazy since we came home....but it has been absolutely wonderful at the same time!  She is officially 3 weeks old today!  Lily has been eating well and doing lots of sleeping, peeing, pooping, burping....and crying!!  She is quite a feisty little woman - not surprising considering the way she acted while she was inside ;-)  She definitely lets us know when she needs something, and has no problem with being too quiet...haha...her cry is loud (kind of like her parents' voices!)  We are starting to settle into more of a routine in the past few weeks, and we are very lucky that Lily tends to sleep quite well at night.  She even gave me a straight 4 hours of sleep last night!!!
   I will post some pictures - we have taken soooo many that it would take up way too much space if I posted even a tiny percentage of them!!  She is quite a beauty (though i might be biased!) and definitely has red hair which is so much fun!  We feel like she looks a lot like both me and Tom....but mostly she just looks like Lily!!  ;-)  Here are some pics so you can decide for yourself!!!
   Hope everyone is doing well - we are slowly feeling ready for more visitors....sometimes I'm just too tired to have much socialization during the day....but we will make sure that everyone gets to meet Lily soon!
    Lots of love,
       Tom, Katie and Lily

Just born....Happy Mama and baby

Proud Grandpa - Dad was so happy to meet Lily on her birthday...he had to leave for my cousin's wedding the next morning!  Lily has impeccable timing!

Happy Uncle Brian!  

Lily looking unsure about the bottle feeding they were giving her due to some low blood sugars right after delivery....you can tell she has red hair though!

Proud Papa!!  So happy to have his little girl in his arms!

Mom and Dad were in a wedding 3 days after Lily was born!  Lily got to come too....she is one social gal!

Getting ready for the wedding

Lily at about 2 and a half weeks old

Our little lady bug....haha...working on tummy time

Taking some posed pictures ;-)

Tiny little feet....

Proud parents (we need to edit this picture....just haven't gotten around to it yet!)

Big Belly!

I figured I better post a recent picture - my belly has really gotten big!!!

Doc Appointment Update!

Hello Hello!
  I had my doctor's appointment today and it looks like my "suffering" on friday may have done a little something to make it worth while ;-)  I am currently dilated to 2cm (apparently at my last visit I was more like 1 and a half or less....I must have been listening with optimistic ears!) and now about 75% effaced!  So...even though it's not dilating a lot, my cervix is definitely softening up more.  Baby's head is still down and in the engaged position, so everything is in a good place.  Who knows when this little one will arrive, but at least we are moving in the right direction!
   We talked to the doctor about what the plan will be in the event that she hasn't arrived by friday (my official due date) and it sounds like unless there is a medical reason deeming induction necessary, we would not induce labor until the following friday (when I would be 41 weeks) if that was the direction things needed to go.  So....hopefully we won't make it that far and this little lady will just come when she's ready!!  I will continue to work (full time now!) until she does...which is at least a really great distraction!  Plus, I do lots of walking, standing, squatting and moving about at work, so maybe it will get things going ;-)
     So, that's about it!!  Hope everyone is doing well!! Thanks for all of your encouragement and support - and thanks for putting up with all of my complaining/whiney posts in the last few weeks ;-) I am trying to stay positive and patient, but I don't always seem to have success!
     Love to you all,
         Katie and the Little Lady ;-)

39 Weeks....Here Come the False Alarms!!

Well Friday marked 39 weeks and started what I fear may be the first of many false alarms!!  I have been back at work now for a week and it has been going really well.  Besides having some hip and back pain, (probably due to me not being used to my new body weight after so many weeks of bed rest) I have felt really good!  I love my job and love doing anesthesia, so being back at work has been a wonderful distraction from wondering when our little lady will make her debut.
    On friday my shift started off normally - I was feeling more contractions in the morning than I had been feeling earlier in the week, but with my history of contracting all the time, I really didn't think much of it!  I had a busy day and by lunch time I was starving and so happy to eat.  I probably scarfed my food a little too fast, but while I was eating lunch I started having some really strong pains in my lower abdomen, and noticed that I was having pretty firm contractions as well.  The pains and uterine tightening didn't seem to be happening at the same time, but I couldn't really figure out what was going on.  All I knew is that I was really really uncomfortable and it was not fun!!  I continued to do my work (which was challenging to say the least) and even though I was in a lot of pain, I wasn't convinced that I was in labor, so I just tried to tough it out!  I really didn't want to cry wolf and ask to leave work, only to return on monday still pregnant!!
   So...things continued, and to make a long story short....the pains I was having continued throughout the afternoon and into the evening.  I drove to my Mom and Dad's house after work in serious pain and called the nurse at my doctor's office, who didn't seem to think the pains I was having were labor pains.  I relaxed with my parents for a while and Tom came over to help out as well.  Things calmed down a little but I was really uncomfortable throughout the evening and continued to wake up in the middle of the night with awful pains about every 10-30 minutes.  By saturday morning, I was feeling much more comfortable, but was contracting every 3 to 5 minutes all morning.  The contractions were enough to get my attention and make me catch my breath, but I was not in serious pain.  We decided after an hour or so to call the doctor.  The on-call doctor who I spoke with basically said that I was not "in labor" until I was having contractions that were so painful that I wasn't able to talk or walk through them, and they had to be 5 minutes apart.  Well....this was quite frustrating for us considering that the pains I was having on friday were terribly painful but weren't considered labor, and now I was having contractions every 3 minutes, but they weren't labor either!!!  Talk about FRUSTRATION!!!!  Both Tom and I had gotten excited that morning with the frequent contractions, and made sure all of our bags were in the car adn ready to go!  Unfortunately...it looked like there was no need for excitement ;-)
     After a while I just decided to stop timing everything because it was just making me more disappointed and upset than anything to see that I was probably not in labor and that everything on friday was just a big false alarm!  So, as you can probably gather from my tone...I was not in the best mood yesterday after so much pain on friday, and a terrible nights sleep....and then more frustration when I realized that it was not really a sign of anything...big bummer.  But I guess that's how it is with labor....lots of people probably go through this so I shouldn't complain!  I guess I just figured that after 16 weeks on bed rest, that I would just go into labor pretty quickly after I was allowed to be up - guess this baby has other ideas!!
   Thankfully, I am feeling much better today!  I have still been contracting quite a lot, but like I said - I'm not timing anything until I can barely stand how much it hurts....then maybe I will finally believe that what I'm feeling is labor!  Until then - I will not be convinced ;-)  Haha....my stubborn attitude is coming out now.  I am happy to be healthy and able to be up and living life - so I just need to continue enjoying myself and accomplishing things that will be much more complicated once we have our little lady with us and outside of the womb ;-)
    I will have my 39 week doctors appointment tomorrow with my regular doctor who I haven't been able to see for the last two weeks, so I am really looking forward to talking to her about what our plan will be if we get to 40 weeks or beyond! ;-)  I will let you all know how that goes and if anything changes at all.  For now....all is well, and we are continuing to wait....but not so patiently!  ;-)
   Lots of love,
      Katie, Tom and The Little Lady

38 Plus Weeks!

Hey Everyone!
 Just wanted to give you a quick update after my doctor's appointment today.  I guess they always say "no news is good news" and that's pretty much all I have for you this week!  As far as the baby goes, her heart rate is strong and we are both growing well and right on track! As far as my body goes - looks like nothing is changing!!  So...after lots of work trying to keep this baby from coming too soon...it looks like we will be doing some more waiting for her to arrive!  My cervix hasn't really changed since my last appointment, and although I do seem to be having more contractions every day - I guess they aren't really making a big difference!  If I make it to friday, I will be 39 weeks!!
   So...I will continue to enjoy being pregnant and off bed rest for now....until I can't stand it anymore and just get plan impatient about this whole ordeal!  I am back at work (3 days under my belt now!) and it has really been a lifesaver (or sanity-saver I guess!) by keeping me busy and distracted.  I really am so lucky to love my job so much - I am really loving having something to do other than wait and wonder when our little lady will finally decide to show her face!  I am working 6 hour shifts now and hoping to be doing 8 hours by the end of the week!  Who knows...maybe I'll be back to a full time schedule by next week!  Besides my hips and back being pretty sore when I get home - I feel great!!
     Hope everyone is well!!  I'll be sure to add updates if there is anything worth sharing!
     Love,
       Katie and Little Lady

A Busy Weekend Ahead!

Well, we made it to 38 weeks as of friday!  Still can't believe that we are here and that I am still pregnant!!  I had a great thursday and friday back at work - just worked short shifts from 10am-2pm, but it was so wonderful to be back with my wonderful coworkers and get back into the swing of things in the world of anesthesia!!  I was happy to find that I haven't forgotten everything I know....not even close!!  I plan to work some longer shifts (6 hours and maybe 8 hours) next week as long as I keep feeling good.  Besides having a sore back and hips, I really felt great being up and back at work!
     As for this weekend, Tom and I seem to have plans every day!!  It's funny because we weren't really making many plans for a while since we just kept expecting the baby to arrive, but now we have decided there is nothing to lose!  We are excited to spend some time with friends and with each other while I'm "upright" in the world ;-)  Looking forward to spending time as a "twosome" before we become a "threesome!"  Hope that everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend!  I will continue to post any new and exciting news as it comes....I'll try to get a current picture up as well.  My belly is definitely growing exponentially!
     Love to all of you,
          Katie, Tom and Baby Dow

Going Back to Work!

Well it's official - I'm allowed to go back to work!!  My appointment went well today - dilated to about 2cm and about 50% effaced (that's the thinning/shortening of the cervix)...so not a ton of change from last visit, but a little.  The doc is ok with me heading back to work - and I am quite excited about it!! I talked to my boss and I will start out with a four hour shift from 10am-2pm on thursday and see how it goes.  Then we will decide if I want to increase hours or just stick to short shifts for the next few weeks (or however many days this little lady is going to wait to arrive!)  It will be great to see my coworkers and also to get back into the groove of doing anesthesia again!
   Other than that...no news to share! I'm happy to be going back to work and still just can't wait to meet our little girl!!  Hope everyone is doing well - I'll be sure to update with any changes!
    Lots of love,
       Tom, Katie and Little Lady

37 Weeks PLUS!

Hello Everyone!
 I was hoping that I would have an update today after our doc appt, but unfortunately it was cancelled because another patient was in labor!  Needless to say I was slightly jealous (of the lady in labor!) but also a little bummed because I had really been looking forward to finding out if my body had made any progress!  So...don't really have any official news to share, but life off of bed rest has been great so far!!
    I made it to 37 weeks last friday and Mom and I went to the state fair on thursday to celebrate a day early!!   We had a wonderful time (as usual) and I was just so thrilled to be able to go to the fair because considering everything that has gone on in the past few months...I really didn't think it would be an option! We decided to drive instead of riding the bus (just in case the little lady decided to come check out the excitement of the fair herself) so we arrived bright and early at 6:50am!!! We dropped Tom off at the airport to head to Yale...and then headed to the fair and got an amazing parking spot!  I don't think I have been to the fair this early since Mom, Grandma and I used to go together when I was much younger.  It was great!!  The bathrooms were line-free, and we were able to poke around for a bit before things got crowded.  Plus, it was nice and cool - so we could avoid pregnancy overheating!  I had my traditional corn dog by 9:30am...and overall we just had a blast!  We walked a lot, saw all of the "regular" spots that we like to frequent...and besides skipping the onion rings, we had my favorite fair foods.
     So, here I am....still pregnant at 37 and a half weeks!!  Definitely not the way I had anticipated it after about 16 weeks of bed rest...but even with the incredible amount impatience I am feeling, I have to remind myself of how thankful I am every day that our little girl has stayed safe inside of me!  We rescheduled our doctor's visit for tomorrow afternoon so I will try to update the blog with new changes (if there are any!)  Until then...I'm just waiting for our little lady to decide its time to make her debut!   Love to you all!  Enjoy the state fair pics...;-)

We figured this would be a great place to be in case I went into labor!

The happy ladies at the fair

Our new hats - pretty sexy!  The salesman told us we needed to focus on our "Hattitude!"

I was a little worn out, but still having fun!  I felt very refreshed after I finished my enormous lemonade!

   

   

We Made it to 36 Weeks!!

Well, we are so thrilled to say "HELLO 36 WEEKS!!!"  Technically we reached 36 weeks yesterday, but I was too busy being excited to do anything with the blog ;-)  Our doctor's appointment went very well  - everything is looking great!  Cervix is definitely dilated maybe over 1cm, and is also very "anterior" which is where it tends to move when getting ready for delivery.  So, who knows what will happen now, but we can sleep well knowing that if she arrives soon, she will likely do wonderfully considering that 37 weeks is technically "term!"
   Here are some pics that Tom took to document the 36 week mark!  Enjoy!! Thanks again to everyone for your support - we truly couldn't have done it without all of your love, prayers, kind words, not to mention incredible amounts of help during the past 15 weeks!!  It's been quite a wild ride....and when this little lady arrives, it will probably only get crazier!!  We can't wait!! ;-)
 

Baxter wanted to be involved in the celebration too!!

 
Tom proved to be quite the photographer!!  So glad he could document our special day!!


Lots of love,
 Tom, Katie and The Little Lady

The room is almost ready!

Hey everyone!
  Sorry I still don't have a 35 week picture and now we are already 35 and a half weeks!!  I did want to post some pics of the little lady's room - which has really come together in the last day!!  We got our changing table/dresser and a great storage bin/shelving unit as well!!  We are really happy with the way everything is coming together - we are finally starting to feel ready for our little one's arrival - which may be sooner than we think!!
   Last night I had yet another episode of pretty significant contractions (every 3-4 minutes for over 2 and a half hours) and some nasty low back pain!  We did call the doctor, but at that point the contractions seemed to be slowing down.  She told me that we should go to the hospital if they continued to come so close together, and especially if they became more painful.  Otherwise - we were ok to stay home....which is what we did!!  I really wish that my body could just make a decision one way or the other!  It would be so nice to have a more "black and white" thing happen to help us know whether real labor is happening or not!  It's also hard because I am still on the medication that is meant to stop contractions - so it definitely seems to make them less intense than they might be without medicine.  Anyhow, for now we are still home and I'm still pregnant!!  We will see what happens this week...and in the next few weeks!  We will keep you all updated!  For now, here are some pics of the baby room!  Enjoy!!

Yesterday Marked 35 Weeks!

Hey everyone!
  We have made it to 35 weeks and managed to keep this little lady where she belongs while Tom was away at Yale!!  I had a great week with Cathi, my Mom, and Dad (and even my brother when he stopped by!)!!  Cathi came from California to make sure I was well fed and taken are of, and my parents were both at the house almost every day helping out with cleaning, meals, yardwork, sewing projects...and anything else I needed!  The baby room is coming along - Cathi sewed up some darling curtains for us and they look great!!  She also did some shopping for some room accessories - a new lamp, some book ends, and a new mirror too!  My Mom made my day by sewing some blankets that I had planned on making before the little lady arrived - and they are so cute!!  I was so happy to have her help since I'm not allowed to sit up long enough to sew anything until I come off of bedrest!  On monday our changing table (courtesy of Jim and Greta) should be arriving and I can't wait!!  The baby's room will be almost complete - only waiting for a little girl to make it complete ;-)  I'll make sure to post some pictures as soon as we get organized!  I will also post a 35 week belly picture eventually!
  Not much else to report - feeling blessed and thrilled to be this far along, and to have such an amazing support system in our families and friends!!  Love to you all!

Another Good Appointment!

     Well, yesterday we had our weekly doctor's appointment, and I'm happy to report that things are looking great!!  I am still dilated 1cm, but it seems that the bed rest has managed to keep everything the same as last week (cervical thickness, etc.) so that is wonderful!!  The medication and all of this laying around seem to be doing their job!  I will be 35 weeks this friday, which gets us another week closer to the very happy number of 37 weeks!  My doctor would really like it if I could make it that far, so we are starting to make plans about when to stop the medication and bed rest all together!!  The funny thing is that when people ask me what the first thing I'll do when I am allowed off bed rest, my response is typically something as simple as "drive myself to the grocery store and walk around" or "take the dog on a walk or to the dog park."  It's funny how the little things in life end up being the ones you miss the most when you aren't allowed to do anything!
      I had both of my Moms at the appointment - my mom, Jane, and my mother-in-law, Cathi.  It was really nice to have them there to hear everything the doctor had to say.  Everything else looked good as far as the appointment goes.  The baby has a nice strong heartbeat, and is active as can be!  My belly is still measuring on the small side, but the doctor is not concerned after seeing the results of the ultrasound last week.  The baby is growing wonderfully, however she is scooted so far down in the canal that she doesn't measure right from the outside.  ;-)  She is kind of a little stinker!
    Anyhow, now my job for the rest of the week is to stay down and keep still and make sure that everything is calm at least until Tom gets home.  He will be back on friday and we are counting the days already!  I am so lucky to have his mom here taking care of me - she is making sure I'm well fed and that everyone in the house (meaning baxter, lucy, and bosco) are all ok!  My parents have been helping out tons as well - they are over here almost every day spending time with me, helping clean, giving baxter haircuts and baths - I am so lucky!!
  Hope everyone has a wonderful week!  There will be another update when we reach 35 weeks!!
     

34 Weeks!!!

Well we have made it another week!!  So happy to be here - and really keeping my fingers crossed that we can make it at least another week so that this little lady doesn't arrive while Tom is in New Haven!!  He has a week long intensive at Yale coming up this week so he will be gone from sunday until friday.  Tom's mom, Cathi, is in town to help take care of me and make sure I behave while Tom is out of town, so I have plenty of people watching out for me, between Cathi, my parents and all of our wonderful friends!!
  Things have been stable this week - we will have another appointment on Monday with the doctor and I'll post an update after we find out if anything has changed.  The medication seems to be keeping the intense contractions away for the most part, so I'm hoping that come monday, we won't have made any big changes in the last week!
  Here is our 34 week picture!  This little lady is moving like crazy and keeps making my belly look slightly lopsided (thank goodness she was behaving during the picture!)  Have a great weekend!!

She's just the right size!

Well our doctor's appointment today was full of GOOD NEWS!!  We had an ultrasound before our appointment to check on the little lady's growth, and she is doing wonderfully!!  She is approximated to weight in around 4lbs 10 oz. right now which is right on track for the 50th percentile for her gestational age!  Her little heart was beating strong at a rate of 143 and we could see all of the little heart valves doing their job just perfectly!  She is in the head down position and she is hanging out quite low in the canal - which is likely the reason that she has been measuring small!  Typically babies aren't as low as she is until around 37-38 weeks, but she is just in hurry I guess ;-)

  When we met with the doctor, she checked my cervix and I am still dilated to 1cm which is good - we are going for no change here since I have been on the medications to slow contractions and have also been following strict bed rest rules!  It was really comforting to know that things seem to be holding strong for the time being.  When I asked, my doc said that she would like me to remain on this level of bedrest and on the medication to stop contractions at least until 36 weeks and then we can kind of see how things go.  So - a few more weeks of good behavior and then maybe I'll be allowed to get some activity back in my life!  All in all, the visit was a great one and we are all just happy to have gotten as far as we have!!  I will be 34 weeks on friday, so we have more milestones to look forward to!  Hopefully this will be a nice quiet week!  Here is a little pic of our lady - enjoy and have a great week!!  I'll write updates if anything changes ;-)   Love to you all!

Here is a little profile snapshot from our "growth" ultrasound today!  She is pretty squished in there so it was hard to get a good shot - but you can see her little nose and mouth if you look closely ;-)  The top of her head is on the right....then on the left you see a jumble of tummy, umbilical cord, hand, etc....hard to tell!

We made it through the weekend...almost!

Hello everyone!
  I'm happy to report that the weekend is almost done, and we are still pregnant ;-)  It has been a busy/stressful weekend for our family with Tom busy hosting a bachelor party from thursday until today - but everything went well, and we are looking forward to our doctor's appointment tomorrow morning!
  Mom and Dad Grivna got a little dose of excitement last night with a quick (and luckily uneventful!) trip to the hospital!  I had been feeling like there was a possibility I was leaking fluid, and after calling my doctor, we decided it would be best to go into the hospital to get checked and make sure that my membranes hadn't ruptured.  Thankfully, the nurses at the hospital were wonderful, and were able to do a very quick and easy test to ensure that the fluid was NOT amniotic fluid!  Thank goodness!!  We spent about 40 minutes at the hospital all together, and then happily headed home to bed - glad that it had just been a false alarm.  As much as I thought everything was ok, I knew it was better to be safe than sorry - and with everything that we have been going through, I'm just not willing to take any risks!
   Tom was informed of everything as it was going on - and he was very concerned.  I was so happy when I could call him with the good news so that he could continue his evening and not worry anymore!
    We are really looking forward to our doctor's appointment tomorrow.  We have an ultrasound scheduled before our appointment to do some measurements of the baby as she has been measuring a little on the small side the past couple of weeks.  It will be fun to see her on the screen and see how big she really is!  It's hard to know if the measurements that the doctor takes in the office are very accurate (they really just measure the size of my belly!) because it all depends on the baby's position at the time of measurement....and a number of other things that I don't even know about.
   I will be sure to update the blog with our appointment information so that you can all stay up to date!  Thank you everyone for your continued love and support!  We are feeling very optimistic and happy about the way things are going!  This little girl has managed to stay put for a long time, and we feel so thankful for every day that she decides to stay where she belongs!

Photos of our journey!

Just the beginning!

Baxter is all set to welcome a new little sister!

The baby's room after Tom and my Mom painted all weekend!  The crib tent is not to prevent bugs, in case you were wondering...it is to keep the cats out!  They want to be in that crib so badly!

A Happy Milestone! (3 weeks of bedrest down!)

My wonderful baby shower at 26 weeks!

Happy 33 weeks today!!  We missed a few pictures in the last few weeks I guess ;-)

The crib has clean sheets (thanks to Mom!) and the closet is getting more organized!  At least now we have a bookshelf for all of the great books we have received!  I am starting to feel a little more prepared!

Enjoying the wonderful rocker and foot rest from Mimi and Boompa!  This chair has become a regular favorite of mine for my "reclining" moments in bed rest duty!