Harper's last day of Grandma and Grandpa's visit.

Harper is 2 weeks old already! She had a doctor appoinment this week. She has grown 1 inch and is back to her birth weight.

My mom and dad headed back to St Louis today. Thanks mom and dad for all your help!!

Quote of the month from my dad:

"She's more advanced than most people her age."

Father's Day was fun having my Dad here and being Jamie's first Father's Day. We grilled out steaks and had a lazy day, it was nice!

Sorry for delay in posts again. We had a challenging week last week, but things are looking up now!

Harper had her first doctor visit on Tuesday, and she had gotten a little jaundice since leaving the hospital. So, her little heals became pin cushions over the next three days as we had to keep drawing blood and montitor her bilirubin levels (learn more here: http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/common/jaundice.html). So Tuesday night we had to put her in a bili-blanket and had a nurse come by Wednesday and Thursday to monitor her and draw more blood. She was able to get off the blanket, which is basically a UV light, on Thursday. She looked kind of futuristic hooked up to it, but was quite a trooper through it all.

Daddy gave her a bath while we had a break from the bili-blanket which was quite an adventure. First she pee'd, changed the water, then poo'd, changed again, and finally got her cleaned up!

She was happy to be all cleaned up!

Here's a sweet picture of her chilling in her swing.

Aunt Hilary came by on Thursday with a sweet delight from Lovejoy's bakery (mmmmmm). She knows how us Ortyl's like cake!

Thursday our little baby girl turned one week old! I can't believe it's been a week already. She already looks different then when we brought her home from the hospital.

Thursday I also started feeling bad and finally after getting uncontrollable cold chills turning into sweats I took my temperature on Friday. Turns out I was running 103 degree fever and had to head to urgent care friday night. Got on some antibiotics (UTI) and eating Tylenol like candy to keep fever down, but finally feeling a little better today (Sunday).

Bathtime with mommy.

We're home! My mom is staying with me for a couple weeks and Jamie is off all week. THANK GOD! I could not make it without their help! My Dad will also be back up this weekend to help out.

My mom and dad brought our flowers and gifts home and had them all about the nursery. My mom had also filled in our empty picture frames. How sweet that was to see!

We think Harper likes her new room. She has been sleeping in her crib pretty well. The picture here is her right when we got home with her "going home" outfit on.

Jamie's parents came back to Des Moines on Sunday for a visit. It was a fun visit with them, and we'll see them in a few weeks at the lake in Minnesota. My Dad took off on Sunday, but will be back later this week. It was fun have all the grandparents here on sunday!

We were released from the hospital on Saturday night. I think it is going to take a while until we are functioning and into a solid routine.

Harper is already causing drama. Friday in the hospital, Harper kicked off her security ankel bracelet while nursing, causing nurses to run to our room and alarms on our floor to go off. She has been keeping things exciting.

Friday night was a nice relaxing night with just the three of us. Friday night I was supposed to be going to the Coldplay concert, but we gave our tickets to our awesome nurse Jean, who gave them to her husband. It turned out that our seats were right next to people they knew from their home town, so it seems everything turned out as it was meant to be. The ironic thing was that the view from our room was of the arena where Coldplay was playing. So, Friday night we stared out the window and watched all the cars fill up the lot for the concert and listened to Coldplay on the laptop and hung out with Harper.

We are having so much fun with her and love her so much! I'll try to keep up with posts and pictures, but right now nursing every two hours and trying to get sleep and eat are consuming me.

Here's a few photos for now...more to come later.

Sorry for the delay between posts. We welcomed our little baby girl, Harper Mae Wahl, to this world June 11th, one day after our 3 year anniversary, at approx. 9:00 PM. She weighed 7lbs 13oz. Measured 19.5" long. Inside joke...but she is a darkie. Full head of dark hair. Both Harper and Shani are doing well...a bit sleep deprived but happy nonetheless. Only a day old and we love her so very much.

Checking in at 3:45. Shani made it to 5 cm and opted for the epidural. Went in great...she's reacting very well with it. But since than has been holding at 5 cm. They than administered Pitocin. Trying to get it dialed in with all the medication she is on. They are getting very close. Contractions are getting more intense and she is now dilated at 6 cm. Come on baby Wahl...can't wait to see you.

8:15 the next morning. Contractions started late last night...pretty light...shani got about 6 hours of sleep. Woke up this morning contractions started again...getting stronger. The Dr. is about to come in and break her water. Won't be long now...

Ok...here we are at the hospital. 7:00 PM June 10th...our anniversary. Shani was admitted this afternoon. They are going to start inducing tonight...not with Pitocin right away. Most likely Shani would give birth tomorrow morning...but who knows. We'll keep you posted.

Went to doctor today. Looks like now it may be a while before Baby Wahl arrives. Looks like they are just going to keep me on bedrest and wait for me to get dilated. So, could be a couple boring weeks ahead. I go back Wednesday for some more tests and a checkup.

Here is Baby Wahl's nursery...we hope she likes it!

Well Baby Wahl is almost here. I had a doctor appointment on Wednesday, and my blood pressure was a little high. I had to go back on Friday, still elevated, had to go to hospital, and thought they were going to have to induce. Back to hospital on Saturday, everything ok, go back tomorrow. I've been on bedrest since Friday, so I'm done at work, and just waiting for the baby to come!! We'll keep everyone posted, but looks like we may welcome Baby Wahl a little earlier than planned.

Here are some pictures of my growing belly...I've spared everyone the bare belly pics...The last one we took Jamie called me "octomom"...I'm just carrying her low, so it makes my belly look even bigger...right?

Here are some pictures of us getting ready for the baby.