The first few days home

Here we are heading home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. It was so cold, but Abigail handled it really well.

It was really nice having Stephanie's parents here for the first week. We had lots of adjusting to do and new things to figure out. It was great having them here for help and support!!Here's Grandpa Estep talking to Abby as she just intently stares back. They quickly became good friends...he is always warm and makes funny faces and noises for her to enjoy. :)
She is all ready for her first time to church where she met lots of friends. What a big day!!

Just had to show off her sweet little face! She is so pretty...just like her shirt says.

Baby Abigail Arrives!!!!

Meet Our little Baby girl! Abigail Joy Upton

This picture was taken after we moved to postpartum... But gives a great picture of what our sweetpea looks like :)

Another pic of our Abigail

The day (January 23rd 2008!) began with Stephanie's water breaking at 2:15am at home. We got our stuff together as Stephanie was getting ready for the big day. We called the doctor's office and they told us to head to the hospital right away. We got the car packed up and headed to the hospital as quickly as we could. We got to the hospital at 3:30 and had monitors hooked up to measure the baby's heart rate, and Stephanie's contractions. The nurse confirmed that Stephanie's water had broken with a positive test for amniotic fluid, and then we were admitted.

We walked around for about an hour, and then we we're taken up to labor and delivery and the room we'd be in for the next many hours.

Mom did a great Job with Labor!!! She went to 6+ centimeters completely natural. Then she had an epidural around 4:00pm so that the labor could progress better with her relaxed. At 6:00pm she was fully dilated and ready to Push, and What a great job she did!! Abigail Joy was born at 7:23pm! She was 8 pounds 11 ounces and 20 1/4" Long! Here are some pics!

Our lil baby's first bath.... She did really well, but it sure wasn't fun for her!
Steph not to long after labor. Looks phenomenal for someone who has just pushed an 8 lb 11oz baby out!!!! Pics of everyone holding the baby... Mom, Dad, and the brand new grandparents Mike and Joanna estep... We had a great visit with our good friend and pastor Matt Tebbe.. He read from the passage where Jesus says "Let the little children come to me" and prayed for us.
Here are two videos...

Steph and baby!

Baby Sleeping and smacking her lips. She's great at that!



Mom and Baby are doing Great!! Breastfeeding is going well, and we're scheduled to head home Friday afternoon. We're gonna take her to her new home externally this time!!

It's the Final Countdown

Here I am, nine months pregnant and feeling ready to have the baby. I am trying to not think about the countdown too much which is hard with everyone constantly reminding me. We are so excited to meet her and hold her for the first time!
We are having weekly doctor appointments now and had a very eventful one this week. I am one cm dilated...so the process has officially started. We had an ultrasound that measured her to be about 7 lbs 5 oz with good levels of amniotic fluid. Found out I have strep B, I am not harmed by it but will need to be on antibiotics for the labor so it doesn't make Abigail sick. Finally, we went to the hospital to have a non-stress test. See the picture below...they strapped me up to measure the baby's heart rate and movement and all was normal. This was reasuring! So praise the Lord for all this good news! Hopefully she will come soon. :)

Christmas and New Year's

Boy does life go by quickly sometimes! We had a very busy Christmas and New Years...but it was great! For Christmas we flew to Maryland to see Michael's family and for New Year's my family came to visit here in Illinois.

Here are some pics from Christmas in Maryland:

Lexi absolutely loves to play with her baby dolls and takes great care of them. Here she is sitting in the pack-n-play giving Michael some tips.

Brianna just loved to talk to baby Abigail and feel her move in my tummy.

The always animated Jenny getting the rolls ready for Christmas dinner.


Here we are gathered around the table for a wonderful Christmas feast.

Brittany and Eliza on the computer...probaby playing with webkins.

Uncle Wayne with Brianna and Lexi...so cute!

It was fun to have my Mom, Dad, and brothers here for "Christmas at New Year's" this year. We had a great visit with them. I also really appreciated my Mom's help getting the baby's room ready. We are getting there and hope to be ready for when she comes. Only time will tell now!