Hi Everyone, I'm Laura and my husband is Jeremiah and we are expeting our first child. Due date is March 23, 2008 (although everyone in my family goes overdue) and it's a GIRL!!! We are very excited and can't wait for her to come. Thankfully, my pregnancy has gone very well except for the common muscle aches and strains esp. with my scoliosis. But otherwise, great so far.

I really enjoy this site and am glad to read everyones stories and share my own with all of you. I wish I could have come across this site sooner. But thankful that I found it.

A little bit about us- I am a pediatric nurse and my husband runs the avionics dept at our airport. We have been married for two years but we have been best friends for 11 years now. We weren't really trying to have a baby but we were not upset with the wonderful news last July. We are fairly, prepared for her, but I don't know if any of us are really prepared for a new baby. All you can do, is just do the best you can and everything works out in the end.

Here is the first Ultrasound of Layla. The picture was put together by JHRJ Productions using the five ultasound pictures shown above it.

Feb. 9 2008

BABY SHOWER went very well despite my anxiety about getting everything perferct. My sister was in charge of most of the stuff but I did most of the planning. Everything went great and mostly everybody showed up despite the bizzardy conditions. My husband even surprised me with the expensive stroller that I picked out but knew we could not afford. He is such a WONDERFUL man, I don't know what I would do without him.

Feb. 13 2008

OB appt went well today except I had to see a different Dr. I think they will rotate me through all of them so I can get to know each one in case they happen to be on call during my labor. Baby is head down which is awsome. Her HR perfect 145 and regular. I tipped the scales this time with all that baby shower cake. l.o.l. otherwise I have been gaining weight pretty steady. Everything checks out okay!

Feb. 27 2008

Today I found out that I am 1 cm dialated and 50% effaced! Wow, it sounds like I am progressing just fine. The Dr said I could go any day now. I am so excited. I can't wait to see our baby girl!

March 4, 2008

Well this morning was unexpected and exciting. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with me and my sheets soaked down there. I was so startled and scared waking up like that. My husband woke up right away and started packing for the hospital- What a wonderful man he didn't even panic and made sure I was ok. Then we raced to the hopital and got evaluated by the nurses and doctors. Turned out my water did not break but it was a huge amt of watery discarge. They said it was even pooling in my vagina upon examinaition. I am still dilated 1 cm and about 70% effaced. My BP went up mostly I bet because I was scared and excited at the same time. Her HR was steady and normal with the use of their monitors was able to see a couple of irregular contractions. The wonderful thing about our trip was we were able to see Layla for the 2nd time on ultrasound. She is so adorable. She def has daddy's nose! Est. wt 7lbs already. And they detected no problems whic h is always comforting to hear. We are still just so excited for her to arrive!!!!!

March 6, 2008

Dr. appt went well today. I measuring at 37 and a half weeks- which is right on target. Urine checked out okay but my bp has been on the high side. Not enough to warrent bed rest thankfully. I am one of those women that would go crazy just lying in bed. Of course I would if it were necessary to protect my little girls well being. Not to many more OB appts. We are just so excited, I just can't say that enough. My back has been hurting a lot as well as my pelvis but sleep has been a little better lately. I pee every 2 hrs but going back to sleep quicker. Not to much longer to go!

March 12, 2008

Today did not go as expected. My BP was high 148/98 at Dr appt. They sent me to L&D to get evaluated. Layla's HR 160 and seems to be moving about normally. My BP remained high but decreased a little after lying on my Left side for about an hour. I couldn't believe it, I haven't really had any major problems so far. They put me on bed rest and a 24 hour urine collection to check for protein. If the results are abnormal they will induce me tomorrow. I am scared and excited at the same time. I just hope she is okay and will do everything in my power to rest as ordered. Thank God for my husband, he always is there to help me. I couldn't do any of this without him.

March 13, 2008

Turned in my urine and went to my OB appt. My BP was really high 153/98 so they had me lay on my left side again. It dropped down to 133/81, not perfect but much, much better. The doctor checked my cervix and I am now dilated to 3cm!! He scheduled my induction at 7am tomorrow. OMG, we couldn't believe it. I am happy though because I don't want this hypertension to affect Layla. They didn't have the results back yet from my 24 hour collection but they didn't see any protein in this visits urine. Otherwise I am doing okay. I have to rest up today and gain strength for labor tomorrow. Luckily, we are already packed for the most part but we are just so excited because we KNOW when Layla is going to come. We are so happy to finally meet our little angel. Hopefully, labor goes quick and she is healthy, that is all that matters to me now.

March 14, 2008

Layla came early due to my high BP. I was induced Friday 03-14-08 at 8:00 am. She arrived 10 hrs later. It took 9 hrs to dilate to 10 cm and then an hour of pushing. A about 6 cm I received an epidural and boy did it help. The epidural started to ware off towards the end which helped me push harder. I was lucky to have my husband and family there to coach me. The nurses were wonderful and very helpful in making it a relatively smooth delivery. Layla was born at 6:01 pm she was 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 in long. We are both at home now doing well and recovering.