Big Baby Girl!

Hello All,

As some of you know, Shaun and I had a little adventure this past Sunday and got to have a quick stay in the Labor and Delivery portion of the hospital. Now, no worries! I started having contractions Saturday night. I didn't know that was what they were though. I just thought it was weird cramping. They continued through the night and finally Sunday morning we left church and went in. They gave me some meds to stop them and a bag of fluids to rehydrate and ordered rest. I wasn't in labor, just having contractions. So, we are totally fine! I am resting as ordered and bought a baby book so I could read up on preterm labor. Hadn't thought that far ahead yet! :-)

In the hospital, she was very active. Her heart is strong and she was just kicking away. An active baby is a healthy baby, so we are very blessed. It was neat to see and hear her moving and kicking.

We went to the Dr. on Thursday and had a sonogram. Good news is that there wasn't too much fluid and Elliott is measuring almost 2 weeks ahead. That means that I am 25 weeks and she is measuring 27 weeks. Right now, that isn't enough to move the due date because she may have a had a growth spurt and will level out. If next visit, she is measuring progressively larger, then they will move the due date. I have a great picture of her face, but can't upload it right now due to our office being a disaster in prep for the remodel. It looked like she has my eyes and Shaun's nose! She was asleep the entire time, so they were able to get some good measurements and still photos. Of course as soon as we walked out of the sonogram suite, she was wide awake and kicking up a storm!

I wasn't put on bed rest, but ordered to start taking it easy and no lifting over 20 pounds. We can still go on vacation to Arkansas with Jan, Gary and the Boys. It is a 9-11 hour drive, so I'll have plenty of time to rest. I was told that there will be no cave exploring for me. Maybe they can just take a picture of me in the helmet with the light and the knee pads?! I am still able to do everything else, so whoo hoo!!!

While we are gone, the remodel of the house is to be completed. That means that the cabinets in the office will be installed and the baby furniture will finally be brought in. I need to be cleaning everything out right now and will quit procrastinating soon. Ughh.

So when we get home, we will have a nice surprise and can finally get things ready for baby. Shaun put together the glider and ottoman that Rachele and Patrick bought for us. It looks great! Thank y'all! We also received and awesome gift card from Grandma Stella to use to purchase baby stuff. Thank you!!! I think that a baby shower is being planned here for us at the end of the month of August, but the girls won't tell me anything, so I don't know! If you get an invitation, please do not feel like you have to come! Save your trip for when you can actually meet Elliott!

We also took Tyson to the specialist this week. He is doing better. He was placed on a new antibiotic and seems to be responding well. They gave us permission to board him at our vets office, so that is a HUGE win as before, they had said that wouldn't be good due to his immune system being weak. So, he is getting stronger! His first birthday is August the 8th. Poor pup has survived so much his first year and he is a fighter! We love him so much and can see glimpses of Jackson and Sebastian in him. Of course, Preston is still the same stubborn, goofy pup that he always is, except his is now quite plump.

We have to get a new windshield for the Tiguan now thanks to the intelligent city planners in New Orleans. On the way there, the windshield got hit with a rock from a truck and it cracked. Someone in the City thought that it would be a good idea to place palm trees covered in pea gravel in the median of the freeway. That's Katrina recovery money in action folks! Seriously!! So, our car gets to have a new windshield now. It has been ordered, so hopefully it will be soon. Thank goodness we have insurance! I swear since we moved here, we have replaced more windshields. This will be our 4rth! I miss the nice and smooth roads of Texas!

That's all the updates for this week. Now, off to get that office cleaned out!

Love,

Jessica