Waiting for Ashtyn

Peter & I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our daughter Ashtyn. Since we have had a couple of alarming events during this pregnancy and we are so thankful to be able to say that today she is technically a "full-term" baby at 37 weeks. I have been on bed rest or some modified form of bed rest since 8/19/09 and I am so grateful that she has made it this many weeks. We would like to thank all of our family and friends that have offered us support during this time and have come by to visit me during the weekdays to help relieve me of my stress, loneliness, & boredom.

I have been scheduled for a C-section on 11/11/09, this coming Wednesday. It is hard to believe that we will be meeting our daughter in 4 days! My mom & dad will be driving down from Tulsa early that morning and my mom plans on staying with us to help out for at least the next week 1/2 or so. This will be great since I will have had surgery and have never taken care of a newborn.

On another note, we were told that the hospital currently has strict visitation restrictions due to the H1N1 ("Swine Flu") virus. We are only allowed 2 visitors at a time in our room and I was told that my own husband counts as "1" visitor! We were also told that visitors are not allowed to wait in the waiting rooms on the OB floor at this time as they do not want crowds of people who may be ill spreading germs to each other. And, no visitors younger than 14 are allowed on the OB floor at this time. Luckily, I received the H1N1 vaccine last Wednesday and was told that some antibodies from the vaccine could be given to my daughter through breast milk. This is great since children less than 6 mos old cannot receive the vaccine.

We feel anxious but ready. We have already welcomed her into our hearts and our dreams. Now, we are ready to welcome her into our home and our lives. Our hospital bags are packed and in the car. Her nursery is waiting for her...with lots of pink.