Baby News and All About Baby Shower!

Okay, well today I am 37 weeks and 5 days! YAY :) I guess I will start by talking about my baby shower on the 25th of April. It was amazing! I couldn't ask for anything more (well it was HOT... 92 degrees that day)! The place, invitations, food were all amazing! Ella got way more than I ever expected and it was fun washing all her new clothes! I have attached some pictures below!


Here is her cake! It was from Knakel's Bakery in Culpeper. My favorite!!!

This is a picture of the whole place!

In case you can't read this, it says "Dresses, Ribbons and Hair to Curl! Congratulations Dana on Your Baby Girl." How cute!

Here is some of Brian's chocolate dipped strawberries. Ella's lucky to have such a good chef as a dad :)

I cannot begin to say HOW spoiled Ella is! She's one lucky girl!

This is with Dina, Sarah and Meghan! Oh such great friends I have!!

I definitely could not have asked for a better shower, friends and family.

I'm still feeling pretty good! The doctor has been saying recently that Ella has been measuring a little small for 37 weeks. I had a sonogram last week and they said she was measuring 5 lbs. 13 oz., but they said give or take a pound. Her head is measuring right on (of course, all Ward babies have big heads :) ). I think she's going to be great and I cannot wait to see who's features she takes! I will have another sonogram this week to make sure she is still growing. As much as she's had the hiccups this week, I bet she's grown a lot! Everything is all ready for her. Last night, Brian and I watched "The Happiest Baby on the Block." It was a good and informative video. I think we've learned a lot from it.

I have eight days (max) of work left. I guess who's counting? MEEEEEEEE! I can't wait to have 5 months off!

Lately I have been feeling some tightness in my stomach. I hope I'm not jumping the gun. I have also been nesting like a mad woman. Friday night I was up until 1:30 cleaning and organizing. I think this is a time that Brian enjoys the hormones of pregnancy! I'm trying to walk her out of me! Can't wait to meet her!

Easter and Ella's Room

Okay, so now I'm 32 weeks and 5 days :) I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! I got good news from the Hemotologist doctor. He seems to think that everything is okay with my blood and that the platelet count will not decrease during delivery. Tomorrow is another doctor's appointment. I'm going every two weeks now. Feels like you know it's getting close the more you see the doctor.

I'm not going to post belly pics because I feel like I'm getting huge. Therefore, I will post just some others that we took this weekend. It was Easter, therefore we went to church and had a family dinner at my brother Tim's house. Here are some pictures.

This is baby Sarah and I. She is so comfortable and so sweet. I bet she can't wait for her playmate to arrive!

So, this is at 32 weeks and 4 days. We are excited about being parents!

Okay, I just had to put this cute picture of Jackson, Nathan and Sarah up!

Next is Ella's room. It's so close to being finished! I have attached some pictures. The quilt still needs to be hung and she needs some more things on the walls, but the furniture is in place and her ceiling fan is up! It makes the room seems so bright and cheerful!

This is the bulk of Ella's room. As mentioned, her quilt still needs to be hung above her bed.

A close-up picture of her bookshelf. Her memory box needs her picture and footprint. She also needs some more books!

Ella's dresser. It's a little hard to see the design in the dresser. It looks empty on top because I haven't gotten the changing pad or lamp yet. I guess patience is a virtue!


Let there be light!!! It actually looks dark, but it really is bright! My dad installed this and he even had to run all the wires. We are so fortunate to have him! He's done so much for Ella already!


Lastly, this is Ella's take home dress from the hospital. I can't wait to see her in it with her little headband!

Almost 31 Weeks!

Today I am 30 weeks and 4 days. I am very excited about Ella arriving! There are still so many things that we need to do before her arrival date!

I'm feeling pretty good. I'm definitely getting a lot bigger and my back is usually sore by the end of the day. I don't really have swelling which is really good at this point in pregnancy, but I also don't have the energy to go out for a long walk. I really want sweets all the time and my self discipline is not going too well when it comes to that.

March is almost over, therefore I really only have April and May left!!!! Brian said he's ready for me to be done with pregnancy. My response was "you're ready, what do you think about me?!!!"

This is me with Ella's cousin, Sarah! They will only be a few months apart!

3D Ultrasound

I am always a few days behind, but better late than never! Last Saturday we toured the Reston Hospital. It was almost a little scary because we saw the delivery rooms. I cannot believe that I will be there in a little over two months! I'm sure I will be SO ready when the time comes.

On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment and all went well except my platelet count is still a little low so she wants me to see a hematologist. I'm not too worried, I just don't want the chance to miss out on the epidural! She said that I shouldn't worry, but they would be able to tell why it is dropping (started out at 122, now 115).

Wednesday was the fun day! We were able to see Ella in 3D! It was definitely an experience. My mom was able to come up for the appointment. These are the three best pictures.

She didn't like the camera, her hand was in front of her face most of the time!

These are her feet and hands. The tech loved her toe!

This was the best image of her face. A little freaky!

I'm still feeling pretty good. Bathroom visits are much more frequent as well as some back aches. Overall, I still feel like I have no reason to complain about this pregnancy. Brian and I are both getting much more excited about her appearance!

25 weeks 4 days!

This picture was actually take at 25 weeks and 2 days, but there is such a difference from the previous picture.

I'm still feeling great! I am definitely trying to get the entire house together. There are several things that we have done in the past couple of months such as painting the living room and nursery, redoing the guest bedroom and getting rid of all of our extra "things." You can collect a lot of stuff even when living in a house a little over two years. I want the house to be completely ready for Ella when she arrives.

Yesterday Sarah and I went shopping and I was able to get her dresser. Now, Brian just needs to put it together (which could take a LONG while).

I'm also noticing a difference in my body by not being able to bend over as easily and finding it a little harder to get up from a chair. Ella goes CRAZY usually around 7 pm. She's pretty wild and definitely let's me know she there and glad that I'm finally sitting down for the day.

I'm really excited to see who Ella is going to look like. Will the Asian gene dominate? Will my daughter even look like me? Only a little over 3 months to wait!

This is her newly put together crib that was completed last Monday!

21 weeks today!

This past weekend was successful for Ella :) Not only did she get her room painted, but she also got her bedding in the mail and wooden letters painted with her name on it! The Patterson grandparents came up the entire weekend and helped paint the nursery and the Ward grandparents came up to help get some other things accomplished (such as measuring the walls in her room for the crown molding and lights put up in the basement). She also got a ton of clothes, bottle warmer, boppy and bottles from Aunt MJ. It's great being a baby after so many cousins! She recruits everything!


I feel great and seems like I have just as much energy as ever. Yesterday Ella seemed to be all over the place in my stomach, she was definitely making herself known! I cannot believe that I am already over half way through my pregnancy, I can't WAIT to meet her!!

I have also finally broken down and bought some maternity clothes! My old clothes just don't fit anymore and it seems like the regular clothes are cuter than ever! It just gives me motivation to get back down to my normal size post Ella!!!

These are just some of the many clothes that were bought for her or given to her. She's already rotten!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

This is Ella at 20 weeks! She's definitely showing her stuff now! I feel flutters often.

Okay, so Brian and I found out on Friday (January 9th) that is was a 99% chance that it was a girl :) I was really excited and I'm sure I would have been just as excited if it was a boy, but it's great to know what I am having so the planning process can begin!! So what if it already has with a quilt personalized (Ella of course!) and the tons of clothes that Grandma bought her this weekend. She also got some headbands so that there is no question about her gender if she's born without hair.

There is been so much going on this past week that I could go on all day writing about. I went out to dinner with my friend Lauren and she also bought Ella two outfits. They are so tiny and I can't imagine a human actually fitting into them. She also received a teddy bear and a book from a neighbor. It's going to go great in the nursery!

Friday was the sonogram. They looked at everything from the brain to the heart to making sure of 10 fingers and 10 toes. It's amazing how much can be seen. She seemed like she might be a gymnast some day! Her heartbeat was 155 which was the same as my last doctor's appointment.

On Monday, I had my 20 week doctor's appointment. Everything went well. I gained one pound since the previous doctor's appointment four weeks before. They also drew blood to make sure everything was going okay. I can't believe that I am already over half way through!

I guess this sums up most of my pregnancy so far. The last thing I want to end on is that we did get several Christmas cards that included the baby on them. I took a picture of the one that I thought was the most clever. This was from our neighbors. In case you cannot read it, it says: "Brian, Dana, Mason & Pepper (& Dana's passenger). Wishing you guys the Merriest of Christmas Holidays."

I never thought of it as having a passenger, but it's totally true (even if she's only 10.5 ounces).