The big day is Monday!!!!

Well we are having a baby girl on Monday, February 21st!!! That is if she doesn't come before then but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Today I had an ultrasound and they "estimated" her weight at 7 pounds 1 ounce. We will see how accurate that is. I will be going into Baptist at 6 in the morning, they will be inducing me and hopefully I will be able to have a normal vaginal delivery with no complications! We can pray for that, ha ha. I will be keeping you all updated on this blog with how things are going and how Hannah is doing. She will be going to Children's shortly after delivery and hopefully on Tuesday I can give you all a run down of what the doctors have to say.

Thanks to all our family and friends for your support and prayers. JP and I appreciate all you have done and continue to do. I am looking forward to seeing my baby girl very soon.

Snow 2011

Well we have already had snow two or three times this year already but now we have gotten it again. And since I am stuck at home and pretty bored I thought I would get some pics out of the boys playing in it. I feel bad that my last few posts have been about Hannah so here are some pics of Tate and Seth playing in the snow.

I love looking at the snow, it is sooooo pretty.

Hannah's birthday is approaching

I thought I would post a pic of my precious little girl and give some updates. We have had several echos and the prognosis has been the same. The only difference between now and the last post is that I have decided to deliver at Baptist. My doctor and I are comfortable with the care she will receive and since she will be going to Children's pretty soon after delivery the place really didn't matter all that much.

Oh and she has a birthday picked out..... Monday, February 21st. I will be in my 38th week of pregnancy and as long as I am progressing on my own the doctors are okay with me going early. Both the boys were born in the 38th week as well. So that is the plan but as you all know it can change so I will keep you posted. I will also try my best to continue to post updates about Hannah and how she is doing throughout her hospital stay.

I am getting very excited and still nervous as the same time. I am praying I get all my anxiety out before she gets here and then I will just kick into mommy mode after she arrives. The boys are excited, Tate especially. He is really looking forward to meeting baby Hannah. I don't think Seth really understands all that much right now. He will be happy to meet her too though, they both love babies.

Thanks to all who have given their prayers and encouragement to us. We REALLY appreciate it. Please continue to pray for us and for Hannah as we all get ready for her arrival. I can't wait to hold her and kiss on her and as you can see in her pic she is adorable.

Hannah's Heart

The last couple of weeks have been a complete roller coaster ride. As a precaution, Tate's cardiologist recommends having an fetal echo done on my babies, Seth had one and Hannah has had one. Well much to my surprise they found something wrong with Hannah's heart. And with sadness I tell you that my precious little Hannah has a heart defect similar to her brothers'.

Hannah has been diagnosed with Truncus Arteriosus. "This defect describes the incomplete development of the aorta and the pulmonary artery. During the formation of the heart and its vessels in utero, the pulmonary artery and aorta begin as one large 'trunk' of an artery. Eventually, as the heart twists and out-patches, the aorta and the pulmonary artery separate to form two distinctly separate vessels. In Truncus Arteriosus, the complete separation of these two vessels fails to occur. The arterial trunk usually ends up being positioned over a large hole in the wall between the right and left ventricle."

So basically what this means for us and our family, Hannah will be delivered at UAMS and transported to Children's (much like Tate) and will have open heart surgery, probably within the first to second week of her life, to repair the hole and to separate the aorta and the pulmonary artery, they will put in a pulmonary valve (just like Tate). Hopefully within two to four weeks she will be able to come home.

I know I probably sound very matter of fact but this news has been extremely hard on me. Even though I have been through this before it doesn't make it any easier. It has been hard for me to comprehend that this is happening again to a completely different child. That Tate and Hannah have very similar defects and will spend their life going into the hospital replacing worn out pulmonary valves. Even writing that I can't wrap my mind around it.

I have been pretty detailed with what we are expecting but I know that anything could change at anytime. That basically we won't know exactly how she is doing until she gets here or if by chance she has something else wrong that has triggered this defect. Her cardiologist (who is also Tate's) has told me that their type of defect is most common in siblings and that she could very well be just as normal, healthy and happy as her brother with nothing else wrong. But like I said we won't know anything for sure until we get to see her pretty little self.

Please pray for me and JP and our families as we prepare for our precious Hannah. I can't even fathom what is going to happen when she gets here but I do want to keep things as normal as I can for Tate and Seth. We will have lots of help to make that possible I'm sure. Pray also for me, I can honestly say this news has broken me once again. As God and I work through this He reminds me of His love and that "His ways are not my ways". We have wonderful family, friends and church home that I'm sure we will lean on when the time comes.

Pray also for baby Hannah, this is her heart and life I am writing about. I'm so incredibly sad for her but I know God is in control and loves her as well.

And thanks to all who are close to me that have to put up with me during this time, ha ha. The Lord knows I'm difficult on normal days so I can imagine what I am like when I'm out of whack. I'm am blessed with good friends!!!!

Think and pray for us often,
Ashley

I'm a Girl!!!

We are officially having a baby girl. She is due on March 4th. Name to come at a later date.

More pics of Disney World!

Disney World!!

We had such a great time in Disney World. Both of the boys loved every minute, even though I know they won't remember it. It was neat to get to see it through their eyes. It went by way too fast. You spend so much time planning for it and then it is here and gone before you know it. We got to basically see and do everything we wanted to. Even us big kids got to ride all the rides, ha ha. I am already starting to plan going back, can't wait!!!