Tomorrow is The Day!!

In less than 24 hours, we will be at the hospital preparing for the birth of our daughter.

Yesterday we had a 12:45 appointment for an "operation ready" orientation at the hospital. I was told it was okay to bring Liam to the appointment so we did. We arrived around 12:30 because I knew there would be paperwork to fill out. I filled out the paperwork and we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally at 1:05 I went back to the front desk to ask if there was anything else I needed to do. As it turns out my appointment was actually for 1:00 and they tell you an earlier time to fill out the paperwork. We were then told it would be another five minutes. Thirty minutes later, we were brought into a side room (the surgery recovery room) because nothing else was available.
She went over my paperwork and let Liam ask some questions. The anesthesiologist came in and went over how the spinal block would work. He spent about ten minutes with us going over questions and forms. Our nurse came back in with the phlebotomist who took my blood for some testing. By then it was well past 2:00 and I had to ask for food. She brought me a sandwich and some juice, then put on my hospital ID wristband and yes, I get to wear it from yesterday until I check out of the hospital on Thursday. After that, she went over all the details of the surgery and after. I am glad she did! Things have changed so much since my surgery with Liam. There is a recovery room now, they feed you solids within a few hours, they make you walk around four times a day and they want you to shower on the second day! I am excited to see how it helps the recovery for the surgery.

Our timeline will be somewhat like this: 7:30am = check in to hospital, 9:30am = surgery starts (about an hour), 10:30am = recovery room for up to two hours, 12:30ish = back into our room. She suggested we wait until Tuesday for any visitors but we will take a few on Monday night. She also said it is up to us with how long we want to stay at the hospital. Our plan is to come home Thursday afternoon.

After the appointment, she took us to a room so that Liam could look around. He thought they were really cool and it got him even more excited. He is looking forward to walking around the halls with me on one of my required treks. He is also really looking forward to meeting his new sister.

Today we are going to relax as much as possible. I want to take one more set of tummy photos. We plan to go down to Powell's books and then I will get my hair cut one last time. We will have lunch in the Pearl district then come home and rest. The laundry is done and the house is clean. The bags are re-packed and we are ready to bring our daughter home. I cannot wait to share pictures with all of you. Please send us positive vibes!!

We Are Back!

Back by popular demand. We have started another family blog. While this one will be mostly about the kids, you can come here to find general family updates as well. Where to start...

Our baby girl, Pippa Grace, is due to be born by cesarean section on Monday April 18, 2011 at 9:30am...unless she decides to make her appearance sooner. Pippa was conceived over a year after my tubal ligation reversal surgery, while we were on vacation in Maui. The pregnancy has had it's ups and downs. I don't like to complain because so far, everything is normal and healthy. However, I am in a lot of constant pain and am looking forward to rolling over in bed again without having to make a 5-point-turn.

Liam is so excited to meet his little sister he is literally bouncing off the walls. Today, I have another pre-op appointment at the hospital and he will be coming with me. As the date gets closer, he is becoming more anxious and asking lots of questions (will there be blood?) so I want to calm his nerves a bit and show him the surroundings. He seems to want to help a lot right now with feeding and diapering but I'm not sure how long the honeymoon will last. Only time will tell.

These next two days will consist of laundry, re-packing hospital bags (for a longer stay) and cleaning the house to prepare for Pippa's arrival. Dan is taking this week off work (to start) and my mom will be coming into town sometime around the 23rd or 24th to help. My friend Shalom will also be staying with us for a few days starting the 30th. That means I have several weeks of help booked out so far. I will be taking six weeks full time off work and another six weeks half-time. After that, I plan to re-assess and see what I want to do.

Anyway, that's about it for today. Here are some pictures for everyone.

Pippa Grace in utero

36 weeks pregnant - home photo shoot

The entire Larson family - March 2011