Tears

I've cried lots of happy tears today! First of all, the ultrasound of baby Ryleigh was amazing! They not only did the traditional ultrasound, they did a 4-D as well!! WOW!! I could see all the hairs on Ryleigh's head!! She's got lots of fuzzy hair! lol A button nose, CHUBBY cheeks and her lips were parted as she tried to put her fist in her mouth. Her eyes were closed. I saw her HEART!! It's teeny tiny and I saw it just a-pumping away! It was AMAZING!! I got a perfect view of the bottom of one of her feet...I could see all her toes! I saw her leg bones clearly, her fingers, etc. Oh my goodness. What a miracle! In one pose, she had her fingers on her check as she rested her chin in her hand like she was really bored! lol
She moved around a lot. She's already turned down so that her head is in Meranda's pelvic area. It won't be long now!!! Ryleigh weighs 5 pounds and 15 ounces!

Then, Meranda, her mom Kim and I went to my lawyer's office. That went really, really well! Meranda made her desires known concerning her hospital stay, etc. She signed an Intent to Adopt, etc.

I reassured Meranda that I would send pictures and updates at least twice a year, as long as she wanted them. I told her that Ryleigh would grow up knowing what a good person Meranda is and that Meranda truly does love her and wants a good life for her, etc. and how self-less and brave Meranda is. And, I cried. The attorney was teary eyed. Kim cried. Meranda was teary-eyed as well. It was just a good thing. =)

Ryleigh's Cadillac

Ryleigh's Grandpa & Grandma Peterson got her a "Cadillac" of a travel system today! It's an Eddie Bauer stroller and car seat that is just awesome!!

Tuesday

This coming Tuesday, Meranda will have another ultrasound. YAY! I'll get to be at this one! We'll know more about how much baby Ryleigh weighs and an anticipated due date, etc.

Then, right after that, Meranda, Amy and I will be going to our lawyer's office. Our lawyer, Rebecca Bruce, wants to get to know Meranda before the delivery, so that Meranda is more comfortable with her when she visits in the hospital, etc. Meranda will be signing some papers and things on Tuesday as well.



Check out my regular blog for some more Tuesday happenings at
http://petersoncreekprimitives.blogspot.com/

Ryleigh's Heartbeat in utereo

Click on the arrow to hear Ryleigh's heartbeat!

DR's visit

Birth mom Meranda, Amy and I went to the DR this morning. Meranda is doing great!
I stopped at McDonald's on the way to the DR to get a Diet Coke and I called to see if they wanted anything and Meranda needed a breakfast burrito! lol She said all she does is eat and sleep now.
She will be 34 weeks tomorrow, going by the records from the clinic she used to go to. Everything checked out great! I got to record the baby's heartbeat for Fred to hear. When he heard it later, he was pretty awed and choked up!
We go Tuesday for an ultrasound to see how big the baby is, exactly how far along she is, etc.
Meranda missed school yesterday because of pains all across her low back and her belly!!!! Dr R. said that if she goes into labor between now and week 37, he will stop the labor. Anything after 37 weeks we won't stop and he said we'll just have a "birthday party!" lol
The delivery room plan is that as soon as Ryleigh is born, Meranda will hold her and have her picture taken. Then, her mom and Amy will have a picture with the baby, then Meranda wants to be the one to pass the baby to me. I'll be in the floor bawling probably and she'll have to hand Ryleigh to Fred!! After she hands us Ryleigh, she wants us to take Ryleigh to our room and she doesn't want to see her anymore, as it will be too hard.
Meranda loves the name Ryleigh!
I feel so overwhelmed! In a good way though. It's a blessing that is so out of this world, my mind and my body cannot contain it.
Birth mom's preggo belly with Baby Ryleigh in there!!

Guest "room"

In preparation for all the in-law's and maybe a few out-law's that plan to visit when Ryleigh makes her debut, we brought home my in-law's RV. I've been fixing it up and getting it ready. I'm so excited!!

Phew! Three hours after leaving my in-law's near Frankfort, IN we pulled in the driveway!


Taking a breather in the driveway while deciding where we were going to park the camper.

Baby Shower

On the way to the shower in Bloomington, IN. Too early in the AM for me!

The shower was in a beautiful "gathering" room in my mom's apt. blg.

Mom and her 94 year old friend Theo. Theo gave us a hand-quilted baby quilt she's made!

The cake was gorgeous! It was decorated to resemble a baby blanket and read You're the Baby of our Dreams!


The decor was pink & sage green, to match our nursery colors.

My 94- year old Papaw Jack with my 2nd cousin Rebecca.
I loved it that my Papaw came to the shower!!


My sister Karen on the right and our Great-Aunt Kathleen


Me on the left, with Teresa, the friend who introduced me to Fred on September 15, 1991!

My friend Christa and her daughter Hannah. Christa & I attended school together from grades 3-12.



My cousin Monna & her mom, my great-aunt Kathleen
My Aunt Millie & my cousin Crystal, playing "What's in the dirty diaper?" game!


My Aunt Helen sniffing the "dirty" diaper! LOL They all had melted candy bars in them and you had to sniff to see what type of candy!
Me and my great-uncle Dexter. He is Papaw's 77 year old brother. He stayed for the shower!

Time for cake!

Me & cousin Crystal

I had told my Uncle Bob to forget a baby gift...I wanted morel mushrooms and guess what was in the sack!?!?

I totally danced a jig with my mushrooms!!

A happy moment

Another happy moment!

Our baby shower was so wonderful. It was full of laughter and happy tears! I did lots of crying! We've waited so long for a baby that it was all very overwhelming...all the love and support from family and friends. We feel very blessed! A special thank you to our hostesses: my sister Karen, My mom Anita, my MIL LaQuita and to my niece Hannah for all your hard work!

Busy Time

The days seem to be flying by!

First of all, Fred went back to work full-time yesterday, so PTL for that! I really miss him being at home though.

We passed our fingerprinting tests! I was scared because Fred got his results back less than 24 hours after the test! I didn't get anything!! Fred asked if I had a sullied past that he didn't know about! lol Anyway, I got my results back the next day.

Two days ago, Amy, our birth mom and I went to the family DR. Birth mom is doing well! She said she doesn't get much sleep at night now because the baby is so active! Of course we got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which feels so surreal and always makes me teary-eyed.
The birth mom is 32 weeks along, so it won't be long!!! Amy said she KNOWS this baby is coming June 7!! haha

Tomorrow, we're traveling to my mom's in Bloomington. She, my sister and my step-MIL are having a baby shower for us!! It's our first baby shower ever! LOL I'm really excited...but...I feel really fluish tonight. I'm shaky and feel like I'm going to be sick any moment. I'm really hoping I'm not sick tomorrow! We'll be on the road about 4 hours total.

I bought a new camera yesterday so hopefully I'll get some good photos at the shower and I'll post them here.