"A Day" = December 27th

Its officially time for a countdown...8 days to be precise. On Monday the 27th at 5:30 pm we will welcome Adrian Joy Hamilton into this world. There are no words to describe the feelings I am having now knowing that in 8 days I will be someones mom and will finally get to lay my eyes on our baby. Our bags are mostly packed, the car seat is in the newly cleaned car, I just received a wonderful pedicure for the hospital and the housekeeper is set to come on Tuesday to clean the house in preparation. I think we are as ready as we can be!

Over dinner tonight Nick and I both made the comment that we wished we didn't have to work this week because we are so excited but before we could put too much thought into that we quickly decided that without work keeping our minds busy we would go crazy with anticipation. Four more days in the office for me...the next 12 weeks will be devoted to little Addi.

Our lives are about to change significantly and I couldn't be more aware or excited. It feels as if we have been waiting for this day forever and I know that once we meet her we will feel as if we have known her forever. I couldn't imagine walking down this path with anyone else other than Nick, my best friend and partner in life. This is just the beginning of our life together and the family we will grow into. I pray that all my friends and loved ones will have a joyous Christmas season and that they receive all that they have asked and dreamed for..I know we will! Next post will be to announce our daughter!

Have a terrific week!

Determined Baby

This baby of ours does not want to change positions at all and in fact is so comfortable in a head up position that I think she is just going to stay that way till the end. And to tell you the truth I dont really blame her- who wants to have all the blood rushing to your head all day!

So because of her determination we are going to go ahead and schedule a C-Section the last week of December. It will be either the 27th, 28th or 29th (TBD based on Doctors schedule). It is not the ideal situation since no one wants to have to go through surgery and then have the recovery time on top of that but I will do whatever is best for Adrian which at this point is going in and getting her! Of course she still has the opportunity to turn south but the odds get smaller and smaller everyday as she gets bigger and there is less room for her to turn - but heres to hoping! And of course I could also go into labor between now and then but for now our new "due date" will be the day of the section.

Here are some positives that could come from having a C-Section (what I have come up with to not be as anxious):
1) Knowing the date is awesome- I can actually somewhat plan around it
2) Babies always look prettier when they dont go through the birth canal
3) Who hasnt wanted a war scar..right?
4) I get an extra 2 weeks off paid my company if you have a c-section- so we now will be looking at 12 weeks instead of 10.
5)Nick will have to do all the heavy lifting around the house for awhile as I wont be able to (not like I do any now!)
6) I will have to stay longer in the hospital (not really a positive) but our family will probably now make it down in time to greet us in the hospital

Really that is all I can think of- if you have more please feel free to comment here to make me feel better about the situation! :)

Also, we found out that Adrian is weighing around 6 pounds and 3 ounces and if we went full term she would be around 8 so most likely she will be in the 7's. I am also closer to 50% effaced now but still the same in dilation.

It was a good morning for the Hamiltons now it is just time for a countdown - Possibly in 19 days we could be a Family of 3! Keep us in your prayers! Love you all.

35 weeks with big news!

We are getting so close! This morning we had our 35 week doctor appointment. No more weight gain (thank goodness) and blood pressure is doing great! I had my first exam though today which I was not expecting till next week so it looks as though I misjudged that a bit. These end of pregnancy exams are somewhat bitter sweet if you ask me- they are pretty painful and leave you very uncomfortable but you walk out of the office with great information that you have been waiting to hear for a long time! So I will take the good with the bad.

The great information we found out today is that at 35 weeks I am about 30% effaced (cervix is thinning) and probably about 1-2 cm dilated! My doctor told me that this was good news because this probably means that I will not go past my due date (which I of course told her that was not an option!) and that most women at 35 weeks are not at all effaced yet.

This news has told me that my body is beginning to get ready to have this baby! And I am so ready for her to be here. To Nick this news has made him a bit worried as we really need her to stay inside cooking till December 14th as this is the day I need to hit to get paid by my company while I am out on leave. But from what I have read women can stay at any dilation or effacement for weeks on end. So hopefully this will be my story as well. But as soon as December 14th comes I am more than ready to welcome Adrian into this world! We cannot stop talking about how much we want to meet her and be a family of three but I am not going to lie... I am ready to once again sleep on my stomach, lay on my back, not huff and puff while walking up stairs and for the Love wear my own clothes again! :)

This is a very exciting time for us and I cannot wait to introduce our newest family member to all of you. Please send your prayers our way so that she stays in till the time is ready and that she and I have a safe and healthily delivery. From here on out we will go every week (every Thursday actually) to the doctor- next week is our last sonogram as we still are not sure if she has turned yet to be head down but we do know that she has started to get low.

Happy holidays!

A-D-R-I-A-N

Over the weekend my mom came over and helped me put together Adrians letter for her room. I had purchased all the pieces at Hobby Lobby what seems like forever ago with my friend Melissa but they just sat on our bar in the kitchen which Nick was not too happy about ha. We finally put the time needed aside to paint, cut and glue and ended up with a fantastic result- or at least I think so! Nick and I hung them last night which just helped to put the final touches to her room. See the pics below- I hate taking pictures at night with my phone in her room as they never turn out very good. That should hopefully all change when Nick and I brave the crowds on Friday to buy our new Nikon family camera! I am so excited to finally have a nice camera as well as great pictures. It is our xmas gift to ourselves!


I am almost in disbelief that we only have 42 days left till our due date! The fact that in just a months time or less I could have a baby is crazy to me! I have my last over night trip for work on Monday to Atlanta so I will need all your prayers that I dont go into labor while in the air. My doctors office did not want me to go but did eventually provide me with a letter to use at the airport since i have not had any issues yet- this is a pretty big meeting for me and my department so fingers crossed it all goes well and I come back sans baby!


Other than baby prepping the house, and baby prepping ourselves we have just been trying to spend these last few weeks together while we still have some free time. I feel very lucky that Adrian is due during the holidays so that way we have more time off than usual to get things done. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Cant believe it is the last one as just a family of 2!

-The background on the letters is pink polka dot- hard to tell in the pictures. If you click on the picture it will show it to you in larger size.

The To Do List

It is Friday and I could not be more ready for a relaxing weekend with my little family. Things are going well for us- just have many small action items that need to be taken care of around the house over the next few weeks before Adrians arrival. Here is a sampling from my to do list just to give you a glimpse into my life and the nesting that is already beginning:

1) Finish the letters for her name
2) Hang said letter
3) Buy baby/dog gate
4) Clean out wine glass storage in kitchen for baby bottles - never thought I would say that but luckily we have bar storage
5) Finish washing bottles and baby clothes
6) Organize storage areas in her bathroom, closet and kitchen
7) Put together toys and pack n play
8) Buy photo albums for newly developed 300 pics
9) Have car seat tested
10) File all outstanding paperwork
11) Finish writing thank you notes
12) Plan out and publish maternity leave action plan for team at work
13) Clean out guest closet and my closet
14) Xmas shopping!

There are many more items but I wont bore you with the details. It is crazy thinking about all the things you could do to prepare for something as big as a child in your house. In a way I am excited to get all these things crossed off my list. It may seem like I have a lot left to do but I have been told that I am actually ahead of the game at least in some areas- such as, already have interviewed and signed up with our pediatrician, all baby classes have been taken and we even have her baptism somewhat planned and officially on the books for the church - March 19th by the way!

We just recently were sent our proofs from our Family photos that were taken 2 weeks ago. We wanted to capture our life as it is now so that way we could share them with Adrian and other kids that may follow as well as get some good belly pictures for our memories. We both think they turned out amazing and are going to have a difficult time choosing the ones to have printed. It is somewhat overwhelming to look at myself X amount of pounds heavier in these but I know that she is so worth it. If anything I will have some before and after pictures once I shed all this weight! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law Joy! Wish we were there to celebrate with you today. Love you!

31 Week Sonogram

Well we are happy to report that Adrian is currently in the 47th percentile when it comes to baby weight (meaning she is right at average). She is right on the cusp of weighing 4 pounds and will begin to gain weight pretty rapidly from here on out. She is currently in the upright breach position but we are hoping that she will turn head down over the next 4 weeks. We are set to have another scan at that time to see- if she hasn't turned at that point we will have to go ahead and schedule a c-section. So lets all hope she starts making her way south as this mommy does not want to have a c-section if possible!


We are still on track for our current due date of January 5th but the doctor did say that if everything stays on course and I start to show even a little bit at the 38th or 39th week that we can then schedule an induction for the last week of Dec!!! She will only make us wait it out if my body hasn't started to prepare at all. I just have a feeling that we wont make it that long but who knows!

Nicks dad got into town this morning and they are out enjoying a day of golf. With him he brought the rest of our goodies from our Indiana shower- I cant wait to play with it all! Sadly, the are both leaving early tomorrow morning to head back to Indiana where Nick will spend the weekend with his family and fly back Monday. I wish I could go with them but just don't think my body is up for the long 14-15 hour haul. I am happy that Nick gets to have this time with his dad and that I get a a little bit of time with them tonight.

I will post some sonogram pictures hopefully tonight- in these you can actually make out her face in a more defined way. She looks to have pretty chubby cheeks and kept sticking her tongue out and then swallowing the majority of the time. It was pretty cool to watch!

31 weeks

One holiday down and two more to go! That is how I am looking at any way. We flew through Halloween then once we get through Thanksgiving and Christmas little Adrian will be here! I am officially ready for her arrival- maybe not with all the necessities in the house but I am getting to the point that I just cant stand not being able to hold her and see what she looks like. Up until this point I was still watching my body morph and and was a bit stressed out by the thought of having so much to do to prepare for her...but now that things are beginning to pull together and I am as big as a house we now just want to hold her in our arms and start the next phase of our lives.

Last night was my first "mommy moment" and I thoroughly enjoyed it - I did the first two loads of Adrian's laundry and began organizing her closet and drawers. Knowing that she will be wearing these clothes soon was almost more than I could handle while Nick could not get over the fact that she would be that small to fit into the 0-3 month size clothes!

Her room is beginning to really shape up thanks to Nick and Bills sweat and tears and my mom and Allisons decorating sense. I have posted pictures below of what we have so far. I am still working on completing the letters to go above her crib as well as other wall hangings. But finally I feel that if she were to come early we could be ready for her! It is an amazing feeling!

On Wednesday we go to the doctor for a sonogram- I am really looking forward to seeing her again since it has been two months. I am hoping at this time they will be able to track her growth and tell us if we are still on track for Jan 5th or if the date will be moved up (fingers crossed!). We also want to hear that everything looks good of course and be able to see the difference in her size. Also on Wednesday our good friends the Stahlers will be welcoming their little baby boy Drake into the world- we are so ecstatic to meet him and tell him all about his little future girlfriend that is just 2 months behind him. We are praying that everything goes very smoothly for them! I will update again after the sonogram! Have a great week.

We didnt do much for Halloween as it isnt my favorite holiday but we did carve some pumpkins.

Nesbitts came over to partake- Ben was the scary music DJ

31 weeks after church and lunch with my parents

Adrians room before the sheer drapes. Room doesnt look as green in real life.

Dresser still needs the knobs put on but you get the idea

It is a very relaxing room- our dogs cant get enough of hanging out in here.