Thanksgiving 2009

I am Thankful for...
My Father in Heaven
The love of my life and two wonderful children
Family near and far
Friends all across the country
A place that I call home
Thanksgiving food (Snicker Salad)


These are just a few things that I am grateful for this holiday season.

A few pictures of Thanksgiving in Little Rock 2009





Back in Iowa with Uncle John from Michigan

2 Weeks

I couldn't help but add this one of my two handsome men.



Hard to believe that we've already made it past the first two weeks of Eva's life. It's been a wonderful couple weeks so far and very busy too. Not sure when things will actually slow down at this point. Thanks to many who have stopped by to say hello, bring a gift, food...etc. The Lord has blessed us with many wonderful friends and family who have spoilled us and we are grateful.
Eva had her two week appointment on Friday and weighed in at 7.2 lbs. She has been an EXCELLENT little eater so far and is beginning to fill out those little cheeks. She slept so well the first week + and then the last few nights has decided that she likes to be held throughout the night. Such a stinker at a young age. Oh well, I do love cuddling with my baby girl and so I'm just gonna enjoy it while it lasts. Thank goodness for nap time.
John's parents, sister Sarah, and her two little ladies are coming into town this week and we are so very excited. Eva can't wait to meet her two cousins. Edward is ready for a playmate his age too. Hope that Greta doesn't mind playing with tractors and airplanes.

Family of four

Meaning of Evangeline - Good news; bearer of good news; like an angel.
May she be a little evangelist for our Lord one day very soon.

God has truly blessed our family today!

John, Edward, and myself are happy to announce the birth of our daughter:
Evangeline Mae Heller
Born: September 25th 2009
Time: 1:21 AM
Weight: 6 lbs, 7 ounces (Exactly the same as her big brother Edward at his delivery).
Length: 20 In.
Lots of long dark hair, beautiful blue eyes, and she has a definite girly sounding cry.

A short recap of the delivery:
The Lord blesesed me with an amazing delivery!
Contractions began at 11 PM, I tried to straighten my hair between them. :)
We arrived at the hospital around 12:15 AM.
The nurse checked me initailly at 12:43 AM and stated that I was 8 cm's and had "majorly bulging membranes." Ahhhhhh!
They moved me to my delivery room shortly after, it felt like forever.
I hated having the monitor on my stomach for the required 20 minutes and kept asking to have it removed.
Didn't have time for a nice warm bubble bath or pain meds.
The midwife made it to the hospital around 1:10ish, broke my water, and after one BIG push, Eva Mae made her apperance at 1:21 AM.
THANK THE LORD!!!
We are all doing wonderful!
The Daddy is almost asleep, poor thing. :)
Pictures to come...

The latest

Today I went for my 39 week appointment and found out that I'm 4cm's, 80% efface, 0 station, bulging membranes, and my fundal height had went down 1 cm. Thus, she ordered another u/s which showed that in one week, my amniotic fluid had gone from 11+ to 5.32 which happens to be a very low normal. They wanted me to deliver today or tomorrow, but based on a great NST today, they are letting me wait until tomorrow. However, she seemed to think that I may go on my own tonight based on everything else and continued ctxn's. WHO knows! If Eva doens't come tonight, we will go into the hospital at 7 am to brake my water...not planning on having pitocin unless needed.
I've been doing last minute laundry, cleaning, and mentally preparing for what is to come. Kinda neat that Evangeline Mae will most likely be born on my Grandma Rinehart's, (name sake) acutal birthday. Pretty amazing!
We will try to keep you all posted. Please keep us all in your prayers and especially little Eva as we are praying for a healthy, happy little girl. Edward will need some prayer too with all the big changes that are about to happen.
So that is the latest...but soon we hope to have more specific details and actual pictures of our little girl.

Baby Update

Just letting you all know that I went in for my 38 week appointment and all looks great so far. They performed another u/s due to low amniotic fluid at my last apt. and it looked better today. I'm measuring small still, but at least changing weekly. 3 cm's, 80% efface, head low, ctxn's...hum, every 6-10 min's started last night from 11 pm - 6 am. Random the rest of the today. Sooo, I'm PRAYING that I actually get some sleep tonight. Definitely NOT feeling myself at this point, but I could stay pregnant another few weeks. The Lord knows!

Edward's 2 year and Maternity Pictures

My cousin Rebekah took Edward's two year pictures and my eight month maternity pictures. She is such a talented photographer. Check out her website and I'll add a couple more from the huge amount that she took. Thanks so much for all your hard work and amazing expertise Bekah!
We are getting close to D-Day. Can't believe she'll be here any day now. I'm feeling really good and wouldn't mind being pregnant another month or so...because I'm starting to get really nervous about all the changes that await us. However, we are really excited to meet our little girl whenever the Lord determines that it's time. I have another u/s and 38 week appointment scheduled for this Friday so we'll know a lot more at that time.
I'll try to keep you all posted if possible. My computer is pretty much broke at this point, but thank goodness for John's work computer. Thus, night time is when I am able to catch up on things.
Thanks again to everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers.

Update

Many of you have prayed, emailed, and/or called about the u/s results, thanks so much! For those who haven't heard, I wanted to write a quick update. Apparently, we have a little one on our hands according to the u/s and my measurements. However, I know that u/s measurements can always be a lb or so off thus, I'm not worrying too much at this point. They are estimating her weight at approx. four and a half lbs right now. I am scheduled for another u/s in two weeks to make sure she is growing appropriately. I've also begun the weekly apt's until delivery. It's hard to believe that this pregnancy is almost over. I'm really trying to enjoy every last moment before life really changes all over again. We are praying that induction won't be necessary unless of course the midwife/Dr. determines that it is important due to the baby's size.
I've just finished washing her clothes, packing the hospital bags, and I'm trying to complete the final touches on her room. Maybe I'll actually be ready this time around. Edward came two weeks early and I was not as prepared as I would have liked.
Thanks again for all your prayers and thoughts, I appreciate you all so much.

Say a little prayer

Gaining weight doesn't seem to be a problem this second time around...
However, I had my 34 week apt today and I'm measuring pretty small. I haven't changed since before my 30 week exam. Meaning that I've stayed at 29 cm's for six weeks now. Thus, I am scheduled for an u/s next week to check on a few things. Apparently the midwife wasn't too concerned or she would have done one today. I've also had LOTS of movement as usual and the heart rate was great and strong, (130's). Nevertheless, keep this little one in your prayers.

Feeling the strettccchhhhhhh

~ Celebrating Daniel's return
~ Soaking up time as a family before Daniel and Anna leave for Emmaus Bible College.
~ Eight months! Counting down the last few weeks before the arrival of our baby girl.
~ Finding myself a little emotional as I realize that my relationship may/will change with Edward once the baby arrives.
~ Enjoying every moment with my two men.
~ Thankful to my Lord for His unconditional love and rich blessings.

HypnoBirthing

Has anyone read this book before? (Other then a few of you ladies I've already talked with about this matter, you know who you are.)


HypnoBirthing® - The Mongan Method - is a unique method of relaxed, natural childbirth education, enhanced by self-hypnosis techniques. HypnoBirthing® provides the missing link that allows women to use their natural instincts to bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birthing. Emphasis is placed on pregnancy and childbirth, as well as on pre-birth parenting and the consciousness of the pre-born baby. As a birthing method, HypnoBirthing® is as new as tomorrow and as old as ancient times.

I've been reading this book lately and it sure has some interesting concepts. There definitely are some helpful things to take away from it's pages. However, there's also some pretty crazy things too.
Is it ACTUALLY possible to have a pain free delivery?

Chicago 7/09

Home sweet home! However, how nice to get away for a little family vacation. Chicago is one of my favorite cities to visit. There are so many fun things to do and see. The Lincoln Park Zoo is wonderful and FREE! We also went on an architectural cruise and loved it. There is so much history in all those buildings and the city itself. The beach on Lake Michigan is great too and offers palm trees, sand, and waves. Then there was Great America, shopping on Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, and awesome food. I probably gained 10 + lbs, ugh! Of course, we especially enjoyed spending time with two of my sisters, their husbands, my youngest brother Daniel, and some cousins.
Now I feel the need to get moving on some house projects before the baby arrives. What to do first?!

Ticking along

Just noticed my pregnancy widget/ticker thing and thought it was worthy to post:
30 Weeks so far
70 Days left
10 Weeks to go
210 Days so far, YAY!

In other news, we have decided to take a VERY last minute vacation to Chicago. This will be the last trip with just the three of us before baby Eva arrives. Not too sure what the near future holds, but we look forward to a new life.
Edward amazes me everyday. I so wish that I would have taped his reaction yesterday when I first showed him "Eva Mae's" newborn diaper. He was absolutely delighted and in unbelief/awe by it's size. He then found some newborn shoes and now I can hardly get them out of his hands. He's been carrying them all around and occasionally putting them up to my belly to see if they will fit Eva's little feet. He's definitely getting excited about having a baby sis around soon.
I've been enjoying the nesting phase lately and getting a lot done. I just completed the whole long process of stripping, sanding, and staining two dressers for the kids rooms. I was really excited to find handles that were reasonably priced, fit correctly, and most importantly ones I liked. Pictures to come, I promise.
And lastly, I don't remember hitting the third trimester with my first pregnancy and being SOOOO uncomfortable. Either I have forgotten or I was in MUCH better shape...or something. Almost the exact day I hit the 28 week mark things have gone down hill. The bathroom is my best friend lately, thank goodness for my comforting body pillow, and discomfort/pain/feelings of HUGENESS, well, I could go on and on. I'm already tired of the complaining too.
Anyways, thanks for listening.

Sleepy Wrap

I just found this Sleepy wrap at a local thrift store and I am really excited to try it out when our baby girl arrives. Just wondering how many of you used the same or similar wraps for your babies. I've been experimenting with it already and I think it's going to be pretty comfortable. I used a Baby Bjorn with Edward and found that my back would bother me a lot. It also wasn't as versatile as this one seems to be. I've also heard a LOT about the Moby wrap. I chose this one because it was in great shape and really cheap.

OLD NAVY SALE?

Call me crazy, but I am getting so anxious and excited for the upcoming Old Navy sale...just not sure when it will actually happen. SOOO, if you hear any news ladies, let me and the rest of us know.
Also, I'm trying to decide what size to buy for Edward for next summer. He is wearing 2T's at this point. Would you buy 3T or 4T? I need your advice, thanks!

End of June, Beginning of July

This Summer is FLYING by for our family. So much has happened in such a short amount of time. The Lord has certainly been a great comfort and help in these last few weeks. We are looking and trusting in him for all things to come.

My sweet cousin Elisha came back from OR for a quick visit. Only a few of the 20+ cousins were able to get together.

Anna and myself got to meet Shawn Johnson...she's really short!

Yay for VIP passes

A highlight for Edward at the 4th of July Conference.

The "thunderboomers are loud!"

Third trimester, can't wait to meet this little girl.