Meet Lucy Grace!

It's almost baby day!!!

Lucy's birthday has finally arrived! I came to the hospital to complete all the pre-op paperwork as planned. Unfortunately I think my nerves got the best of me. My blood pressure started at 136/81 and made a steady rise over the next couple of hours. By the time they decided to admit me it was 156/110. The good news is that within a few hours it was back down to 122/79...the bad news is I was already stuck here for the night.

I have so many emotions right now. Part of me still hasn't realized we are having a baby in a matter of hours. We are so excited to meet our baby girl, but so nervous about everything she will have to deal with in her first days of life. Part of me wishes we could fast forward a few weeks to when we are hopefully both well on the road to recovery and relaxing at home. I am frustrated and sad that after delivery we won't have our sweet little pink baby in the room with us for visitors to ooh and ahh over. I just want everything to be ok, and not to feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. We have been dealing with nothing but "wait and see" for months now. It is somewhat comforting to know that she will be here and we will be dealing with concrete problems instead of worrying about unknowns.

I keep trying to picture her little face. I know that once we meet our daughter we will forget there ever was a time she wasn't part of our family. I am so excited and anxious and nervous. Its 1:30am, I should be sleeping but I'm ready to have a baby!!!

Little Miss Difficult

It is already clear we are going to have a feisty little one on our hands. We have hardly had a single test where she cooperated. For the past month we have been subjected to weekly checkups, non-stress tests and ultrasounds. With each exam there is a certain criteria the baby must meet to be satisfactory. During the non-stress test the doctor is looking for a certain level of ups and downs in her heartbeat. After our first test lasted almost 40 mins passed the standard 20 mins, the nurse suggested the next time I bring a snack to try to stimulate the baby. So this week I came prepared with juice and granola. Lucy did cartwheels for the non-stress test and then completely fell asleep for the ultrasound. It's frustrating that because I fall under the "high-risk" umbrella due to the spina bifida we must be subjected to all these extra tests, even though we know there is nothing wrong...other than what we know is wrong. Other than the hole in her back, Lucy is perfectly healthy. Hmm. It's amazing how far the mind can progress in a matter of months. Our little peanut will surely face some challenges in her life. But in reality she will have much more in common with her peers than not.