Day 2

We all had a VERY long night!!! Harper loves cuddling with her daddy.

Mommy & Daddy cuddling with Harper!

My dad paid us a surprise visit!

Baby is here!!!

She already knows her daddy - look at how she turned to the camera when she heard his voice!

Harper Catherine came into this world on Thursday April 30th at 11:09am weighing 8lbs 14 oz & 21 1/4 inches. I went to the hospital at 12 noon on April 29th and after almost 24 hours of induced labor our baby girl finally is here! The days spent in the hospital were pretty painful for me as I am trying to recover & thankfully Jeff was awesome and helped me with everything I needed. My mom made it up from Florida just in time to see Harper be born and is staying for the week to help us all get adjusted. It was an amazing experience although one that we can both definetly wait a while to have again. Right now we are just getting used to Harper and slowely trying to figure out this whole parenting thing. We came home from the hospital on Saturday and Harper had her first doctor's appt yesterday morning. She is doing great!!!

40 weeks coming & going

Well still here -- no baby! It's 95 degrees in April & I'm sitting her in the AC eating ice cream... I've been waiting since August for this baby & sealed my end of the bargain keeping her safe & sound for 40 full weeks.....Now it's your turn little Harper to come out & join us!!! Mommy needs a drink!

The Waiting Game

Well looks like Harper will have to make her way into the world on her own. My fluid levels went up a little from last week which is a good thing, but also means that it'll be a little longer until I get to meet my little girl. At my 38 week appt today I was only a fingertip dialated & 20% effaced. I go back next Wednesday to see what progress I make -- so this weekend its lots of walking! I also went out & got red raspberry leaf tea & evening primrose oil supplements that the midwife recommended to try to help things along.....This stuff tastes horrible, nothing like raspberries - more like dirt, so I just really hope it is doing something & not just making me gag!

37 weeks 3 days

Today I had another sonogram & Harper is measuring 7lbs 10 oz....I'm hoping to have her sooner than later so she doesn't keep getting bigger! Apparantly my fluid is low so I have to go back for another ultrasound next week, if it doesn't go up they'll induce me ~ which means we could have our baby next week???

Jeff's Work Shower

Jeff had no idea his co-workers were planning a surprise baby shower. They contacted me the week before to make sure I'd be there to see this precious look on his face. He thought he was being paged into a budget meeting.

Jeff's boss Ray's wife handknit Harper this adorable sweater.

The jogging stroller was a huge surprise & we are both excited to test it out with Harper this summer!

I purposefully made Jeff open each cute gift & he is also in charge of writing all the thank you cards for his co-workers.

Our Baby-Q

Jeff was in charge of taking notes of what people gave us...When I started writing my thank you cards today, I was cracking up. Ex) Sara gave us a swaddle-me (a blanket you use to wrap up the baby) Next to Sara's name - Jeff wrote "swallow me". Men?! I give him A for effort - but a C- for accuracy =)

Mike gave us Harper's first pair of sunglasses -- they are adorable!

We made sure to let Jeff practice holding Nicolas, Dominic & Amber's adorable baby. Doesn't he look like a natural?

This is how the guys celebrated Harper's upcoming arrival ~ Let's just say that this was not the first or last group shot of the night.