I am way overdue in updating the blog! As soon as I was taken off bed rest I hit the ground running. I knew my time was limited before baby came and I had a lot on my to-do list. Although some of the pictures and things in this post are old news, I want to make sure to capture the things I know I will want to remember one day. We started this blog to update friends and family about our upcoming arrival and continue to update about our life, but I have discovered that a blog is also like a baby book for our kids and a journal for me. I have gone back to old posts to see when Ava met certain milestones and what she weighed at different stages. A friend of mine actually took all the posts from Ava's first year of life and turned them into a book for us. It is such a wonderful keepsake for Ava and the rest of of us. I want to do the same for Harper, so I will try my best to keep up with the blog updating about Harper and the rest of us too!
August began celebrating our 5th year anniversary. With me on bed rest there wasn't much we could do to celebrate, but Steve still managed to make it a special day by surprising me with a new car (one we had been planning, shopping, and saving for since last year).
August 18th was a happy day! I was taken off bed rest. I was 36 weeks, almost full term and had gone a few weeks with no changes to my cervix so the doctor felt comfortable taking me off all medication and bed rest. I took it easy for the first few days trying to regain my strength and energy, but once I felt up to it I started checking things off my long to-do list.
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| At the top of my to-do list…..Take Ava Swimming!! |
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| Next up, go to the beach |
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And take Mimi and Ava to the pier
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| One more trip to the aquarium |
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| Another item on the list, take Ava to art class. The little chairs weren't really cutting it for me so Mimi did a lot of the art activities with Ava while I watched from a comfortable "grown-up" chair nearby. |
Then 37 weeks came, 38 weeks, and we were beginning to think this baby was going to be closer to her due date, maybe even past. The doctor and I discussed the plan of action if I go past due. Well later on that week things went from 0 to 60 pretty quickly. I was barley having any contractions (for someone who had been contracting since 30 weeks, this was shocking) and my cervix wasn't changing much, until Harper decided it was time. The night before I went into labor we went to Steve's football game at his new high school. It was HOT, long, and a lot of walking around. I guess that is all I needed to send my body into full blown labor because later that night (midnight) I woke up and knew that it was time.
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| 36 weeks! No more bed rest…woohoo!! |
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| 37 weeks….full term!! |
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| 38 weeks….happy to still be prego, but starting to really feel the discomfort of the last few weeks of pregnancy |
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| Last outing as a family of 3…..at the Calabasas high school football game. Ava and the mascot |
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| The last picture of just the three of us. |
Just as August began on a happy note it also ended on a happy note. On August 30th at 10:51 am Harper Evans made her arrival into the world.
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| Just when you think your heart can't get any bigger! This was truly an amazing experience and I feel so blessed I was able to experience it (twice). More about her birth and our experience in the next post. |
