Ruby's First Christmas!

Just a few days late, but here are some adorable pictures from Ruby's first Christmas. She had a fun day, starting with her first sponge bath (which she actually loved). We celebrated with my parents and my Granny who was visiting from New Mexico. It was a great day, and I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift than a happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl.

Ruby comes home

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve - we got to bring Ruby home that day! I loved her little outfit, although it was a bit big on her still. She was great in the car - she was awake for a bit, then quickly dozed off. I've never been more paranoid during a car ride though - Damian, sorry for flipping out when you "changed lanes in an intersection". :)

We came home to a surprise too - Ruby's Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Ashley had put up my Christmas tree and decorated it for baby Ruby's First Christmas. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture - I can't believe how blessed that I am to have such amazing friends.

I know I'm a bit behind with my posts - I'll catch up when Ruby's napping though. We have some cute ones from Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Ruby Catherine is finally here! She was born yesterday at 3:14 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 19.25 inches long. She and I are doing great and are getting to know each other, although I'm getting a good dose of sleep deprivation already! I'm probably a little biased, but I think that she's the most amazingly beautiful little girl in the world. She's passed all of her milestones with flying colors and all of the nurses up at the hospital just love her. She's really quiet (knock on wood) and is content just snuggling up in our arms and sleeping. Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. Thanks for everyone's well wishes. We hope that you have a blessed Christmas - I know that I got the best Christmas present ever.

I'm going to be a mommy tomorrow!

I really can't believe that it's here already! I'm going to be leaving in a few short hours to head to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital and I'll get to meet Ruby Catherine Shaver sometime tomorrow!! Hopefully I'll be hearing from Labor & Delivery in a short while and they'll tell me to head that direction. I'll keep the blog updated if anything changes though. My next post should be one with pictures of my beautiful baby girl though!!

Keep us in your prayers tonight and tomorrow. I keep telling myself that countless other women have actually lived through this whole childbirth process, so I probably have a fighting chance. I'm really nervous though! Wish me luck!!!

Ruby's Big Day is almost here!!!

I had another appointment yesterday with Dr. Dully, and we've scheduled my induction!!! I will be checking into Dallas Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday night (yes, THIS Sunday), and will be induced on Monday, December 22nd! I can't believe that it is almost here!!!

Ruby was measuring at 40-weeks for her fundal height (she's been ahead of the curve for most of the time). I am 2 - 3 cm dilated and 25% effaced, so Dr. Dullye thinks that if I keep making progress that the induction should go well. She sent me in for another unscheduled sonogram to make sure that Ruby's abdominal measurements were closer to what they should be. If they weren't, she was going to schedule me for a "medically necessary" induction. But thankfully, she was right on target! They think that she's going to be about 7 pounds when she's born.

I am so nervous and scared, but really excited to finally get to meet her! It's nice to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. This pelvic pain has been really tough on me, not to mention having to go through all of this alone for the most part.

Ruby Catherine Shaver will be the best Christmas present that I could have ever asked for. She's going to be such a blessing and I know that she's going to bring so much joy into my life.

Keep us in your prayers on Monday!

A much-needed update!

It seems like I haven't updated this in forever! Sorry for that - it's hard to keep me out of bed once I get home from work! Here's what's been going on the past few weeks.

We had what will probably be our last sonogram about a week and a half ago. Here's little Miss Ruby's most recent picture - she's still beautiful! Also, notice the whispy white marks around her head - that's her hair!! Fingers crossed that she has red curls!

She's very long and lean, from her measurements (one guess from where she gets this trait). At the time (36 weeks) she was measuring over 19 inches long and just over 5 pounds. The only measurement that they were concerned about was her abdominal measurement - they want to be sure that I'm still getting enough calories during the day. They said that at the rate that she is growing, she'll be about 7.5 pounds if she goes full-term.

The next week (37 weeks) I had my first cervical check. I was already 2 cm dilated, 10% effaced, and Ruby was in a -3 station. This probably doesn't mean much to anyone who isn't a recent mom, but it just generally means that Ruby and I are both getting ready for the big day! Dr. Dullye talked to me about scheduling an induction. I'm considering this for two reasons - primarially because my pelvic pain is just about unbearable at this point. My pelvis has started to crack really loudly when I move and I'm unable to get out of bed sometimes. Also, Dr. Dullye is going to be out of town for the holidays. She gave me the option of picking a date of December 22nd, 23rd, or 26th. I've talked to Damian and my family about it, and I think that we are leaning towards December 22nd!!! It's crazy to think that I might be a mom in 10 days! We won't be able to difinitively schedule anything until next Tuesday's appointment, but as of right now that's what our plan is!!!

Here are two of my most recent Belly Pictures - I'm about to pop! As of this morning, I'm officially at 7 pounds weight-gain.

I promise that I'll do better about keeping my blog up-to-date as Ruby's Birthday gets closer and closer!