My Baby Turned Two!

Here are some out of order pictures. You'd think I would have figured out this whole blog thing by now. I haven't. The two top pictures are of the baby's room. I haven't moved in the rocker yet because we still read books with Ella on it. Otherwise, it's done! Yay! Pictures 3, 4, and 5 are of Ella's big birthday party. She got a new bike from her Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian, and we haven't been able to get her off of it since! What a big girl! Ella enjoyed her cake and was kind enough to pose for a picture with her mommy and daddy. Curious George was the theme. Ella received lots of nice gifts and actually was excited to open them this year!

New baby update:
I am now 36 weeks and 1 day. I had an ultrasound today to make sure the little guy is growing okay. He is! He is estimated to be 6 pounds, 7 ounces at this point. After my ultrasound, I had my 36 week appointment. No weight gain since last week, blood pressure was good, platelets were stable...all good things! Still measuring small, but the doctor is no longer worried about that. He said it's because the baby is positioned so low. I was tested for Group B Strep and will find out in 48 hours if this will be a problem. I also found out that I am already 1 centimeter dialated. The doctor said that he would expect that I might deliver earlier than October 19th. If I were to go into labor now, they wouldn't try to stop it. So, now we just wait. I'm hoping to make it until after October 6th, which will allow me to be on maternity leave until after Christmas, so we can travel to Michigan and not worry about going back to work before that. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ella had her 2 year old check-up today. She's the size of a 3 year old. I asked what percentile she was in for height and weight, and the doctor said there really wasn't one that she fit into, since she's off the charts! But, at least her head is porportionate to the rest of her body! :) She received the Flu Mist vaccine, and that was it. We go back in 1 year for her 3 year old check-up. Ella starts daycare tomorrow. Joe will drop her off and I will pick her up. I just hope that she does okay. If I think about it too much, I get sad, just picturing her there, not understanding why she's there and where mommy and daddy are. I'm sure she'll do great, but I'm just being a mom. My parents will be leaving tomorrow. My mom has been here for 3 weeks taking care of Ella and my dad arrived last Thursday in order to be here for Ella's birthday. They'll be driving back to Michigan together tomorrow, probably just to turn around and come back for Nathan's birth!

Two people to keep in your thoughts:
My friend Stacey, who is 32 weeks pregnant, went into pre-term labor last week and was hospitalized for a few days. She is home now, but on bedrest. And also, my sister-in-law, Julia, who is only 21 weeks pregnant, also began having contractions and was hospitalized Saturday night. She is still in the hospital receiving medication to stop contractions. So far, they have stopped, but she will stay overnight to make sure. She's not sure yet what her restrictions will be at this point.

I'll keep posting short updates (unlike this novel) every week.