Pictures :)

Hannah had her newborn session today and she did amazing!! She only cried at the very end because she was hungry and after I fed her a little, she was back to being amazing. I'm so proud of her!

I was able to get a sneak peek of some of the pictures.

Here they are! Isn't she beautiful? I'll be uploading more pictures of her birth soon.

Hannah Dawn is here!

I have to apologize for not getting on here earlier. I've been so caught up with our daughter and soooo much in love with her that I'm cherishing every minute with her.

And also our wireless went out so the only way to go online is in our office which is inconvenient. :(

Needless to say, I haven't been on the computer much so I haven't been able to blog at all or check blogs. Life sure is different with a newborn! It's aoooo amazing.

For those who don't know, Hannah was born December 20, 2011 at 4:41 p.m. She was 6 lb 8 oz and 18 inches long. Just a tiny thing. :) She is soooo perfect and it's amazing to me how many people say she looks just like Mark. :)

She is definitely a night owl. We bond a lot at night. If anyone has any tricks to get her to switch over, I'm all ears. :)

I'm soooo bummed but the blogger isn't letting me download pics right now. :( I've tried 3 times and it's not working. :( I'll try again later.

Update

Thank you so much for all your supportive words and encouragement. It means a lot to me and helps me realize that I'm normal. Thank you so much!!

It's so hard to believe that we leave for Utah in just a couple days. Wow! Yes, the urge to puke is still there. I'm very happy and excited and can't believe this day is finally here after so long! It doesn't seem real. But, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very nervous.

We talked to the birthmom on Wednesday and she is 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced right now! I hope she holds out until we get there.

We've also been very busy getting ready for the benefit, very busy. So much to do. But, we've been so overwhelmed at all the support we've gotten and how much people have come together to help us. It's just so amazing to us.

Otherwise, mostly we've been getting ready for things to happen! Wow. It still doesn't feel real at all. I mean, in a week, I'll be holding my daughter. My daughter. Wow.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update my blog in the next couple weeks. I will make sure our FB page will be updated. Here is that site: Hannah's Coming Home

I have a couple friends who will be updating with updates and pictures as able. I'm not sure how much internet access I will have or how much time but will update personally when I can. :)

Thank you again for all your love and support and prayers. We would so appreciate all the prayers during this time. Thank you! Love to all!

Oh and if I don't get on to mention it before the day, Merry Christmas!!!

How I'm feeling

I feel like I’m ready to puke.

I am very happy, very excited and I know what a miracle this is. I really do.

But, I’m so nervous about everything that, yes, indeed, I feel like I’m gonna puke.

We’re going to be meeting the birthmom, the woman who is giving us the most precious gift you could ever imagine. I’ll be in the delivery room, something I’ve never done before (but VERY happy I get that opportunity). We’ll be staying in Utah for over a week after the baby is discharged, not in the comfort of our own home. We’ll be flying with a newborn and it’s nerve-racking enough flying with Mark.

And of course I’m nervous about overall being a good mother. Will I mess up? Is she going to be okay with me as her mom? How will I know if she’s hungry?, etc. Yeah, I know, these are all the “normal” mom-to-be fears but as the days get closer and closer, I think about them more and more.

Right now, unless she goes earlier, she will be induced on the 20th. We’ll be leaving for Utah on the 18th.

It’s an exciting, amazing time, a true miracle.

And I’m so nervous.

A video of our journey

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Update

We talked to the birthmom on Friday. You can tell she's in a lot of pain...a lot of pain. She's having contractions and really bad low back pain. I felt so bad for her when we were talking to her.

She sees the doctor on Tuesday again. She's hoping to set an induction date. I guess the earliest they will do it is a week before she's due so we're hoping Dec 20 but we'll see what the doctor says on Tuesday.

What's truly amazing is that we had told our social worker that my mom would be there and so before the conference call she told Lois to see how she felt about my mom being at the hospital. Get this...she says it's okay for my mom to be in the delivery room!! Isn't that awesome?? The birthmom said this is our special day and our time and she says whoever we want in the delivery room is just fine and she's very open.

She is so sweet. I just love her. I've always wanted my mom in the delivery room when I had my first child and she will be. :) Not the way I imagined but I still get my wish. :)

I know I say it all the time but we really are truly blessed.

A little update...

Birthmom saw doc on Tues. She's measuring 36 weeks, baby is down and she's 1 cm dilated. We were supposed to have a conference call the last 2 days but she hasn't been feeling well so we've had to reschedule a couple times.

So, votes?? When do you guys think? :)

I've been crazy busy lately. I'm still working 55 hours a week, coaching 10-15 hours a week, getting all the paperwork and documents for stuff, getting the nursery ready and also getting ready for the benefit and asking for donations, etc.

I told Mark I'm exhausted and the baby isn't even here yet. :)

Wow. So much to do....it's crazy.

On an off topic note, today is Mark's and my "second" anniversary. When we got married in 2001, we were originally going to get married on Dec 1 but because of Mark being so sick, we moved it up to May 5. But, we still celebrate our anniversary on Dec 1.

So I have send a shout-out to my best friend and the father of our children, 10 angels and our Hannah Dawn. Happy anniversary sweetie. I love you!!