Elliana Jane is Born!!!

(*Added 2 more pictures that I missed before*)

Our precious daughter has arrived! Elliana "Ellie" Jane Cerven was born at 2:42am on Dec. 16th, weighing in at 8 lbs., 15 oz. and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. I ended up being induced since we missed our due date...so, the Pitocin was a little rough for me. Labor was totally surreal, though...I'm sure all you moms out there can understand how inexplicable the whole thing is: the good, the bad, and the ugly parts! :) Little Ellie is healthy, content, and loves to sleep. She's already smiling and squirming out of her swaddled blankets.

Anyway, I'm sure more to come when we can! It's practically all I can do to finally get a few pics up and think beyond "feed, burp, change diaper, sleep...repeat." :)

Last picture of my tummy as we head to the hospital!!


Last picture as "just us" - off to get our daughter!!


Just minutes after Ellie was born!! Content already... :)


A close up of a precious little face!


Her "leaving-the-hospital" outfit...check out the feet! :)

Our new family leaving the hospital!

A precious little smile already!!

39 Weeks and Counting...

39 weeks and a few days...people have been telling me that I'm "all baby" (which I'm glad to hear!), and by the looks of this picture, she sure is just stickin' right out there! SOO funny to me to see a profile picture of myself, when I spend most of my days looking down...and then of course, just seeing the top of my belly! This child has been known to push pretty hard outwards - I don't know if that's common or not for other women, but there are times that you can feel how hard certain parts of my tummy are as if she was pushing her feet on my spine and her back out towards my stomach. Totally different sensation than the kick to the lungs or the stomach.

If we make it until my appointment on Wed., I am VERY curious what the next steps are. My due date is this Sat., and my doctor seems willing to help speed things along with the lovely skin rash/irritation that I've acquired now, BUT he won't be in town from Thurs-Sun! If I could guarantee one specific doctors that I like of the 3 remaining in the practice, I'd be all for getting this moving along...otherwise, I'd much rather have my doctor. Hmmm...we'll just see. At this point, if she'd rather come NOW (before Thurs), the highway is now open (making our trip much easier!),she could have the same bday as my brother, and my doctor would be in town...would be the SIMPLE way to go, but then again, let's think back about most of this pregnancy. :)