Welcome to the World, Emily Elizabeth!

Thank you all for your kind e-mails, wishes, and congratulations! Our little bundle of joy, Emily Elizabeth Leonard, born on August 26th at 12:05 AM, is now home with us. Before I write more, I should make a correction . . . . Emily was 8 lbs 5 oz and 20.5 inches at birth. In her 36 hours of life outside of the womb, she has been mostly sleeping and eating. But she does have her intervals of looking at the world around her, taking in all that she can through her little blue eyes. Ben, at this point, thinks she takes after my mother's side of the family. She has really long fingers and toes, lean legs, and a more delicate build than her older sister, Katie.

The journey for Emily to arrive was rather long. Labor lasted 28 hours and culminated in a cesarean. Kudos to my doctor for doing everything in his power to help me have a natural birth! I am grateful to him, God, and Ben for walking with me in what was a rather arduous journey. Regardless of the process, we have a precious little girl who we have welcomed with open arms.

Katie met baby Emily yesterday and proceeded to name her little Colsanitas bear, Emy. According to my mom who has been visiting and helping us these last few weeks, Emy bear now needs to sleep with Katie. It is very sweet!

Since arriving home this afternoon, Katie has wanted to hold Emily, and of course, touch, put extra blankets on, and just be near her little sister. Life is changing rapidly for Katie, but I trust as we take it day by day, we'll adjust to be being a familyof four.

Here are some pictures from the last few days. The more recent ones were taken at home and in the hospital. The older ones were from a trek up Monserate while we were waiting for labor to begin. Enjoy!

No News is Good News?

A quick update . . . we are still in waiting mode . . . no effacement, no dilation . . . sounds a bit like Katie . .. once labor began, everything else started. Thankfully, our doctor is willing to wait a bit, so I'll see him on Tuesday (but hopefully sooner!). Here are the promised 40 week pictures. Forgive the post pilates attire!

The Latest

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We are still awaiting the arrival of our little girl. Today's fetal monitoring went very well. On the Fisher index, she received a 10 out of 10. In other words, we are in good shape for a natural birth. Unless labor begins tonight, I'll see the doctor tomorrow morning and then wait for labor to begin. Dr. Londono has agreed to give me up to 5 days leeway before inducing. We are trusting that our little one will arrive before those days pass. We'll keep you posted! And for those of you who asked, if I am still pregnant tomorrow, I'll post a 40 week picture.

While I know most of you are checking the blog to see if the littlest Leonard has arrived, I don't have much news to share on that front. I have plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions and general tiredness (huge surprise!), but the real event has not begun yet. Tomorrow, I have a fetal monitoring to make sure that the baby is in good shape for a natural birth, and Friday, if labor hasn't started, I'll see the doctor for my 40 week check up. At this point, I am really hoping labor starts soon, since my mom will only be here until the end of the month.

Meanwhile, days are full of spending time with Katie and making memories that will hopefully make the transition into big sisterhood a bit smoother. At 22 months, Katie is full of independence and adventure While she loves climbing the bars in the park and swinging from them, playing with her ball, and learning to use her scooter, she is also all little girl. She loves it when she is told she is pretty and twirls in circles to show off her newly done hair or an outfit. In the last weeks, she has begun to name the world around her, both in English and Spanish (although quite a bit more in English). I am trying to store up and savor each new attempted word and the daily growth and changes. In part because she is precious and in part because the world as we know it is about to change rather dramatically.

Here are some recent pictures of Katie from an outing to Parque Museo del Chico, breakfast time one moring, and a visit to La Granja, a petting zoo not to far from here. Enjoy, and we'll keep you posted as we have news! :-)

37 1/2 Weeks

Today we had my last sonogram before baby Leonard arrives. By all accounts, she is doing well and is growing rapidly. If the measurements are corrrect (and this radiologist was very accurate with Katie), our little munchkin is already 7 1/2 pounds and 20 inches long. So, we are anticipating a baby at least as big as Katie. Here's a little peek!