Elise Faith Zimmerman

We are proud to announce the arrival of our daughter: Elise Faith Zimmerman. Elise was born Monday, October 8th at 5:41pm at St. Joseph Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds even and was 19 1/2 inches long. She also came with a full head of hair!

There is no way to type this without sounding cliche but parenthood is amazing! The amount of love that is pouring out of our hearts towards this little girl is indescribable. I said this when I was pregnant, but it resounds truer now: Our faith in God is strengthened by going through this life event. The bible tells us that the amount of love that we have for Elise as parents is so tiny compared to what God feels for us. (too lazy to get up and look for verse I'm thinking of) And by knowing how over the moon in love we are for her, it is astonishing to realize just how much God loves us. Like you "know" how much He loves you, but then when your own capacity for love gets doubled in such a way as this, it's just mind-blowing. If I feel this way towards her, and I know that God feels like that towards me.... the whole concept just brings a huge smile to your heart. Ok, I'm not going to keep dwelling on this point as I'm not doing it justice. Bottom line: Our capacity for love just increased exponentially in ways we could not even have imagined. Our love for her  equals less than God's love for us... thus God's love is seeming even more real and huge now.

I look forward to sharing our birth story soon, but as for now I will just provide some of our favorite pictures thus far.

Once we get caught up on sleep, I'll be back ! :)

Mommy's first time to meet her. Such an unforgettable moment

Her first few minutes in the world

Proud papa looking on as the hospital staff weighed her and cleaned her in the nursery

Such a calm natured baby - she barely even cried during all of her initial exams

1st family picture!

Life just got more complete

She definitely loves to sleep with her hands by her face - just like her daddy

Getting ready to leave the hospital. Little Bright Eyes is what we call her when she's so alert like this

We love all of her elusive grins. More pictures like this to come. She blesses us with little smiles like this all the time!

So peaceful

Our Angel

Final Pregnancy Reflections

Ok, we go in tomorrow for the induction. It appears that our daughter likes change as much as her daddy does (none) so she's not coming out without some "encouragement". As we sit here and watch the Aggie football game and attempt to act normal, I thought I would do one final blog on the ending statistics of this pregnancy. Now that tomorrow is D-day, I can confidently say, that it went by pretty fast. I'm mostly just writing that to encourage my future-self as I'm sure I'll be pregnant again down the road and be in misery wondering how I did this the first time  :)

How far along? 39 Weeks and 6 days 

Total weight gain: 39 lbs. It was close, but I made it to the end and didn't pass the 40 mark. I know they will weigh me one more time when we go to the hospital tomorrow but I refuse to accept any weight other than what my doctor told me on Thursday. Let's be clear: I don't care if this makes me a baby, a cheater, or a crazy pregnant lady in denial. "I gained less than 40 lbs" will be the story that I will tell. The ONLY story.

Maternity clothes? I think we are past maternity clothes... just huge t-shirts and basketball shorts have been the attire for the weekend.

Stretch marks?  As of this afternoon, I have 4 short stretch marks on each side of my hips. Poop

Sleep Been sleeping surprisingly great lately. Didn't ever get the insomnia that most pregnant women get at the end. I count this as an early Christmas present from the Lord because He KNOWS how much I treasure sleep

Best moment this week: Everytime I had Braxton Hicks contractions. It was so exciting thinking that the process was starting.

Miss Anything? Being able to watch TV without being distracted the entire time with what is going on in my head. It's like I'm trying to relax but my brain won't turn off long enough for me to enjoy a 30 minute show. I'll be honest with you: sometimes I just laugh when Casey laughs b/c I haven't been paying attention to the sitcom.

Heartburn: only when I make really stupid decisions like eating wings right before I go to bed. I mean, at some point I just have to take some personal responsibility, you know?

Food cravings: This is crazy to even write, but I haven't had one piece of watermelon in the last month. The craving just stopped. I will never forget all the good times we had together, but watermelon has just not been apart of my life during these final few weeks of pregnancy. I've just been eating rich foods (lots of sweets due the amazing girls I work with and their participation in my cravings)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nada   

Anything make you scared: That I've made a horrible decision in going forward with an induction and my labor will go on for four days and I'll regret it forever.

Belly Button in or out? still 1/2 in, 1/2 out. Never had it pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? Off and have been for a while.On a happy note, they are sparkling clean and ready to get back on my hands once the swelling goes down. Took them to the jeweler this week to have the professionals do a good cleaning job.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Both? I can't say moody b/c that implies I'm being a butt or unreasonable...but Happy doesn't quite tell the honest truth. I'm anxious, scared, restless AND Happy

Looking forward to: Feeling my daughter on my chest. 

Thirty Nine Weeks

Tired of picking outfits so I just wore the dress I got for my shower. Fits a little different now!! I'm standing in front of a wreath that my very creative friend, Kelly made for one of our shower gifts. This will be the wreath we put on the hospital room door and then on the door at our house once we get home. Instead of putting a stork in the yard or something, we'll just have a super cute wreath on the door letting our guests know they are at the right house to meet little Miss Elise!

Sticker on the belly says "Ready or not, here I come!" Expression on the face says "Let's get this over with!"

 

 

Well here we are. At the end of the road. We are going in to be induced on Sunday night (October 7th) if Elise hasn't made her way out yet. This would put her birthday on October 8th which was our due date from the very beginning. Kinda neat. The plan is to go in Sunday night, stay at the hospital over night as they "prime" my uterus overnight. If my water hasn't broken by morning, my doctor will be there at 8:00am to break my water. Does that sound painful to anyone else? Do they have to use the word "break"? They should call it something magical like "pop my blessing bag holding my sweet baby"... or something like that...

 

There are no words for this time. I know I will be able to articulate it better once we've been through it but as for now, there are no words that seem appropriate. For all the mom's out there that have been through this, I know you are just grinning with your "knowing" smile and perhaps chuckling at my novice-ness. For all my friends who have never been through this before, I'm sure you are reading this hoping I will give some insight into this crazy experience... but you are out of luck. I'm just as lost as you are. I feel like there are not enough braincells in my head to possibly comprehend what's about to happen. Or maybe my brain is protecting me from going into shock by not allowing me to really "get it"

 

So there is a lot that we DON'T know right now. But here is what I do know:

1. We are ready to meet Miss Elise
2. We trust in God
3. We have prayers and support galore pouring in to Jesus' Inbox on our behalf
4. I can't be pregnant forever 

All those things combined tells me we are going to be fine. So for now, I'll distract myself with more nesting and other remedial tasks.

The next update we give will be introducing our daughter. Whoop!

Thirty Eight Weeks

Thirty Seven Weeks

37 Weeks - Baby Girl is FULL TERM!

Thirty Six Weeks

Baby Elise is the size of a 6 lb. Watermelon!

Dear Sweet, Sweet Daughter:

I feel like it is only appropriate to start off by telling you that the word 'excitement' is an understatement in our house right now. Because your daddy and I are so head over heels in love with you - the anticipation of getting to see your face is almost too much to bear. In addition, mommy is being a little selfish with her body and would like it back so she is EXTRA excited for you to make your way here! Just so you know : your due date is October 8th. Which gives us less than a month of waiting left. I just wanted to bring that to your attention incase you hadn't started to pack your bags. Don't worry about bringing any clothes - we've been given PLENTY so your wardrobe is already taken care of. And let me tell you girl - you are going to be so stinking cute!

I wanted to re-assure you of some things so you felt comfortable making your way to this side of the womb. If you are anything like your mom, you like a little planning so I thought you would appreciate some of this:

• Your room is D.O.N.E. It would have been done a little sooner but mommy had a little meltdown last week and took everything out of the drawers, but dad swooped in and saved the day and now your room is back to normal. All clothes are washed, diaper pail is ready to go, bed is made and the decorations are hung perfectly. We know you aren't going to really sleep in there for the first few months, but I just thought I'd let you know it was ready incase you were scared to come home to a construction zone.
• Your dad and I have completed all of our child-prep classes and we are starting to feel like little smarty pants. You will certainly throw us for some loops, but atleast we have a tiny grasp on what to expect.
• The car seat and stroller have arrived. Not put in the car yet, but we'll get that done this weekend.  Don't let that hold you up because I'm sure it won't take that long.
• Our "go" bags are lying out and pretty much ready to go. Well, your dad only has pajamas packed but he says he can finish the rest in a hurry
• Your entire extended family is ready to drop their schedule at a drop of a hat when you say you are ready. Everyone will be here so get excited!!!

Thirty Five Weeks



35 Weeks. Baby and Mommy are both running out of room!



How far along? 35 Weeks and 3 days  (An ETERNITY)

Total weight gain: 33 lbs (the Weight of a 3 year old hanging on me all.day.long)

Maternity clothes? Is it possible to grow out of maternity clothes?

Stretch marks?  SO SAD to report that yes, I do in fact have one stretch mark on each side of my hips. OHHHH THE HORROR!!!!

Sleep: Let me level with you: Sleep is not the greatest. Hard to get comfy, hard to stay comfy. Haven't slept through the night once since at least June. Oh to have one blissful night where I don't wake up for 8 hours.

Best moment this week: Seeing the calender turn to September. We have waited for this month for so long. This month starts the baby preparation classes and the light at the end of the tunnel is near.

Miss Anything? Being able to sleep on my stomach, feeling attractive, and running. (in that order)

Heartburn: Much better than the first 3 quarters of the pregnancy. Now that I've got that new prescription, my life has gotten a lot better! (said the girl headed to rehab)

Food cravings: The usual suspects: Watermelon, sweets and anything cold. But let's be real - I'll eat anything.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Never have really gotten back to pulled pork.  

Anything make you scared: The thought of going into labor without Casey or my mom around. If either of them get more than 2 hours away from me, I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack.

Belly Button in or out? 1/2 in, 1/2 out

Wedding rings on or off? Off. As of two days ago, I had to take off the wedding rings because they are cutting off circulation. A cool front is supposed to hit our area this weekend so I'm hoping maybe my fingers go back down and I can get them on again. Crossing my chubby little fingers on that one.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody. I'm not proud to report it, but those are the facts.

Looking forward to: THE DELIVERY! This baby can start her evacuation plan as soon as she would like as far as I'm concerned. The room is mostly ready and I'm ready to have my baby in my arms, instead of in my ribs. Can I get an AMEN?