Abigail is here!

**Alyssa here on behalf of Kelly and Taras**

Kelly and Taras welcomed Abigail Ruth at 8:11pm. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and hadn't been measured when we headed home. She is gorgeous! Black hair, chubby cheeks, we will be putting up pictures as soon as possible! My mom is staying there tonight to help out because Kelly and Taras are so tired. The new family is doing really well and can't wait for everyone to meet their baby girl.

Alyssa

Baby Update: 37-ish Weeks

Well, here I am at 37 weeks. Taras and I had a picnic in the park after I got my great new haircut! This photo doesn't show the haircut very well because it was so breezy. The breeze and sunshine definitely made for a beautiful time in the park!

I went for my 37-week prenatal appointment on Monday afternoon (technically 37 weeks and 3 days). I am now 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced! Abigail seems to want to be a June baby, but we'll see! As long as she waits until her grandparents get back from Russia on Saturday, I don't mind if she comes a bit early.

I think the midwife who checked me yesterday thought she was being really encouraging when she said it could be "any day now" (she isn't my primary midwife, so she didn't know about my parents being out of the country!). She gave me all sorts of great advice about how to speed things up—I didn't mention to her that I'm trying to avoid going into labor this week if I can help it! On the other hand, I did tuck away her suggestions in case we're still waiting 2 weeks from now!

At this point I'm still feeling pretty well. Abigail seems to be doing great—just growing and wiggling a lot, and getting ready to make her appearance. Here's another picture that shows how much she's grown!

We're trying to be as ready as we can! On Sunday we cleaned out our van and installed Abigail's car seat. We've almost washed all her clothes and other stuff, and her room is certainly inhabitable and cute, if not completely organized. We still have some assembling, organizing, and washing to do—and lots of thank-you notes to write! Everyone has been so generous and kind to us, and we feel so very blessed!

What is the next thing on our to-do list? Start packing for the hospital! It's hard to believe, but we're getting close and we want to be prepared! We're praying we won't need that little duffle bag until sometime after Sunday, but you never know...