Happy Birthday Lydia!

We welcomed Lydia Harper today at 11:46 a.m.!!

She weighs 6 lbs 2 oz and is 19 inches long!

She's absolutely perfect and we couldn't be any happier or more in love!

38 Week Update

We are officially counting down the days until we get to meet this little one and find out if we have a Lydia or a Caleb! 7 days! As of today, the baby is still in the same breech position. We won't be expecting any changes in that respect by the 28th and will be hoping for the best possible outcomes with this c-section! Marissa is still feeling well and measuring on target.
We are pretty sure we have everything ready to go. We meet with the pediatrician this week and have everything set up at home to accommodate this little one's every possible need. Marissa's mom came up last weekend and helped out with picking up all of the last minute baby stuff. The car seat has been installed and we just need to get it inspected. The stroller came in last week and Marissa is loving it! We even added a new piece of artwork to the nursery (see above)! This piece was created by Justin Vining, an old college/climbing friend of Marissa's. He's a great artist and if you get a chance you should check out his work at www.justinvining.com.
The only this left for us to do is pack our bags for the hospital. We do have the baby's bag packed. At least one of us is ready to go...
We are trying to get in some last minute dinners out, movies, and ice cream runs over the next few days as we have realized that things will be changing very soon! David's been able to get in a few MLB games over the last few weeks, which he has enjoyed. Summer Advantage ends Friday for us! We are looking forward to relaxing and getting outside (more David than Marissa) for a few days in between Friday and Wednesday.
Our next update will probably be after the baby comes!

36 weeks

We've made it to 36 weeks and it's looking like we only have 3 weeks to go. Our doctor has decided that this baby has a very bony tush as she has been mistaking it for the head for the last few visits. Needless to say, this baby is not head down like we thought and is in a 'frank breech' position (which basically means that his/her head is up and the legs are in a pike position). At this point we have 3 options: 1) hope the baby turns 2) schedule a c-section during week 39 or 3) try an external version (where they try to turn the baby by pushing on the stomach).
We're hoping the baby turns, but if not we're opting for the c-section. The external version deal sounds a little risky with the fact that the placenta isn't in an optimal position, the amniotic fluid is low (not too low, just not great for this kind of procedure), the success rate in general is only 50%, and if something goes wrong then we have to have an emergency c-section at 37 weeks. Sounds promising, huh?!
Marissa is not very happy about this (to put it mildly), however, the baby is healthy and that's the ultimate goal here! We go back to the Dr. next Thursday and hopefully will know more at that point. Until then, let's hope this baby navigates his/her way to a better position.

On a positive note, we did get an unexpected ultrasound out of this AND learned that the baby is about 5 lbs 10 oz! :)

Nursery

The baby's furniture arrived today! We've been working on getting the crib bedding on, the drawers filled, and some decor on the walls. It's all starting to come together!

32 weeks

Big week this week! Not only is the belly getting bigger but this week brings with it some big changes in our house! David's track season officially ended this week with an awards night/pitch-in yesterday. He really enjoyed coaching this year and is already looking forward to next year! Yesterday we spent some time cleaning out the garage. It looks so much better! We even managed to make more room for the cars so that things aren't so tight! Thursday the nursery will be transformed into something that actually looks like a nursery as the furniture will arrive and be assembled that day. We can't wait! Marissa is really excited to get everything organized and decorated! We'll post pictures as soon as we can.
We spent the day today in Angola, Indiana touring the school we will be working at and securing housing for the 5 1/2 weeks we will be there. It looks like we will be residing in a hotel. The amenities are great. They have a pool, fitness center and breakfast every morning. The only drawback is the lack of a kitchen. They are putting a microwave and fridge in the room though. We'll have to be creative with dinner!
We go to the Dr. tomorrow morning. Things are going really well with the pregnancy and tomorrow's appointment should prove to be pretty routine and uneventful. The baby moves a lot! Marissa has been getting kicked in the ribs more often and has noticed that the baby has been pressing against her diaphragm causing shortness of breath every now and then. According to the weekly updates we get the baby should be around 3 to 3.5 pounds and between 17 and 19 inches long.

30 Weeks!

We've hit 30 weeks! Only 10 more to go....as David would say 'we're in the final quarter!' We're still in the process of picking out names. We've narrowed it down, but final decisions still haven't been made. We're waiting on the furniture to be delivered, which should be here in the next 3-5 weeks. Marissa spent some time today updating registries so that there is more to choose from at Babies R Us. Apparently our registries didn't provide enough choices. What can we say, we're new at this! Marissa passed the 3 hour glucose test with flying colors! She is seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. So far everything is looking good! We're really looking forward to the arrival of this little one, but hoping it doesn't happen anytime before July 24 as we've been placed 2 hours north for our 'summer jobs' for 6 weeks. David worked for this program last year and we've both jumped on board this summer. We're excited for the opportunity and think it'll be a very adventurous summer! No worries though, we've got emergency baby plans in place 'just in case'!

We forgot to take the 28 week picture, but the good news is -- we're now taking pics every 2 weeks!

Paint and Curtains!

Before

After

NEW CURTAINS!

The nursery has been painted a light blue color (It's hard to see in the pictures) and the curtains have been hung! We can't wait to get the furniture in so that we can really start putting this room together. A BIG Thank you goes out to Marissa's parents for all of the labor involved in this project! We are so grateful to have such a wonderful family.

New belly pictures will be posted soon as we come up on week 28. As an update on how the pregnancy is going, we can sum it up in one word -- great! We will start to see the Dr. every 2 weeks starting this week. Marissa is feeling well and has only experienced minor discomfort with heartburn. It's starting to get a little more difficult to get up from laying down. The belly is definitely feeling heavier! She did, unfortunately fail the glucose screen and has to go back for another (and longer) test to make sure she doesn't have gestational diabetes. We are pretty positive we will get a passing grade on this next test!

Our school years are quickly coming to an end and we are looking forward to a rather interesting summer! More on our summer adventures to come soon! :)