Jordan's Finished Nursery...

Jordan's Wooden Letters....painted by Me :-) Crafty & a Bargain!!!

Beautiful crib w/ bedding & mobile....love our new rocking chair!!!

The cutest sign ever....it's soooo true too!

Beautiful Disney Princess decorations

Disney Princess shelves...Pooh shelf, Bunny & Books, Diaper Changing Station

Dresser/Changing Table, Activity Table & Storage (stuff for the hospital too)

Book cubbies, bouncer, swing & suitcase packed & ready to go :-)

Closet, Crib w/ pink Disney Princess bedding, & her pretty name

Me & Jordan....36 1/2 weeks & counting!!!

Jordan's room is officially complete! Well, Daddy needs to install the ceiling fan, but that will be done soon ;-) We are packed & ready for the hospital too. I'm sure you are all shocked that I would be so well prepared. Haha. After I get off of the medicine & monitoring I am going to do NOTHING. I want to just lay around & wait for her...we just don't know how long we will be waiting. So, that is one reason I have to be prepared....but, I'm usually always this organized.

More news will come next week after our 37 week appointment....dun, dun, dun! Have a great weekend & we'll keep you posted as always.

Love xoxoxo,
The Helgerson's

36 Week Visit...

We are all doing fabulous :-) Had our 36 week appointment today & everything is perfect. I had a Group B Strep culture done today. It will check to see if I have Group B or not. 10% of pregnant woman have it & it can be harmful to the baby during delivery. If I do have it they will give me antibiotics during delivery so I don't pass it to Jordan. Without the antibiotic Jordan could get pneumonia & many other illnesses from this bacteria. I will know my results next week @ our 37 week appointment.

Next week we are off of our turbutaline pump & no longer need to monitor for contractions. After next week I will be doing nothing but laying around trying to keep Jordan put a little longer. I have heard mixed stories from a variety of people. Some woman have gone 2 weeks after being taken off their meds & other woman have gone 24 hours after. So, this week we are finishing Jordan's room. We also stocked our refrigerator & cabinets so we don't have to run out for anything. I'm in the process of getting our hospital bag packed w/ clothes, cameras, Jordan's clothes, car seat, magazines, bath things & anything else I can think of. That will be finished by tomorrow....waiting on laundry :-)

Once we are finished w/ Jordan's room I will get pictures posted. It's full of Disney Princess, but she is our Princess so it works. Thanks again to everyone who has supported us & prayed for us. We are so happy to be this far along. Next week will be scary to be off our meds, but also so exciting because we may be parents!

Next Wednesday 9/30 I have my last blood dr. appointment @ 10:30 a.m. My 37 wk visit @ our OB doctor is @ 2:15 p.m. We will as always keep you all posted.

Love xoxoxoxo,
Nate, Rachel, Jordan & Doozer :-)

35 1/2 Week Belly Pic...

Me & our 1st baby...Doozer. She has no idea what is about to happen to our lives ;-)

Me @ 35 1/2 weeks pregnant....just a few more weeks to go....we can't wait!!!

For those of you who don't get to see us often, you have been asking for a belly pic....so here it is :-) We are 35 1/2 weeks pregnant. We will be off of our medicine & monitoring at 37 wks, aka 9/30/09. Sooooo excited to meet Jordan. We will post pics of her room soon. It will be completely FINISHED this week!!!

35 1/2 weeks & counting...

Sweet Sleepy Jordan :-)

Not so happy Jordan :-( She loves her sleep time!

Precious little face...I love her nose

Nate thinks she has my chubby cheeks & lips...we can't wait to meet her

It looks like her right eye is open...I love her profile....cute little nose

Here she starts getting her arm in the way

She's looking very chubby....Yeah!!!

We had our 35 week OB visit today. Things are GREAT!!! Jordan's heart rate is perfect, Mom is doing well & we are measuring right where we should be :-) We will be off of our turbutaline pump & monitoring as of 9/30/09. We asked Dr. Holbrook what the odds are that we would deliver right away once we are taken off...she said very rare, most people it takes 2 to 3 weeks still to deliver. She also doesn't see us having to be induced...so that's nice. Things are going so well that Dr. Holbrook did say, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this has been a perfect pregnancy." It's definitely been an up & down pregnancy....but so worth it. Remember when we were put in the hospital 10 weeks ago & thought we wouldn't make it this far? Wahaha....gotta love miracles!

Our next appointment, 9/23/09 we will have a Group B Strep (GBS) Culture done. It is to check & make sure I do not have the GBS. A lot of woman have this throughout pregnancy & don't know it. If I do have it I could pass it to Jordan during delivery. It would cause her to have pneumonia & other illnesses. If I do have it, I will be given antibiotics during delivery so she will not get it. So, at least if I have it there is a way to help her not get it :-)

Before we went into our appointment today I told Nate that I missed seeing Jordan weekly. It's been over a month now since I last saw her or received a pic of her. So, as we walked out of the exam room Marlene (ultrasound tech) wasn't doing anything so I asked if we could take a peek at Jordan. She is just as excited to see her as we are. Haha. We got to see her open her mouth & saw her little tongue. She was also trying to cover her face w/ her arms & hands until we buzzed her. They buzzed my belly w/ this small hand held device. It vibrates & makes a loud noise. As soon as Marlene did that my stomach looked like Jordan was going to jump out of it. Haha. It doesn't hurt me or the baby....but, it got her to move so we could see her.

On another note...Jordan's Daddy is now to start physical therapy 3 times a week for 2 weeks. His foot doctor has given him a tentative date to return to work as of 9/29/09. He has a physical therapy evaluation today & they will let him know if he needs more or less & also if he can go back to work earlier. He's ok w/ staying home....getting lots of things done around the house & we both enjoy one another around. It's a good thing we like each other so much. Haha.

Well, as always thank you for the prayers. We have less than 5 weeks until our due date, 10/19/09 (Nate's Bday). We are delivering at Rockford Memorial Hospital....we will keep you all posted as usual.

Love xoxoxox,
Nate, Rachel, Jordan & Doozer :-)

3rd Baby Shower...

Brock, Mandy, Nate, Me, Melissa & Bob

Nate & I with Grandma & Grandpa Sanders

Nate & I w/ Grandma Helgerson

The delicious & beautiful dessert table

Jordan's 1st Purse...given by her purseaholic Aunt Mandy

Gorgeous fleece blanket made by Nate's Aunt Frances

Nate's loving all the pink...a pink sweater made by our pastor's wife

The wonderful pack n play given by Nate's parent

Well, we had another baby shower for little Jordan Sunday September 13th :-) Nate's Mom & Sister (Melissa & Mandy) threw us a great family shower. We had a lot of fun seeing & talking with everyone. It was also so nice to get all the wonderful gifts. We were given some clothes, bottles, bath items & so much more. We also got a white rocking chair for the nursery....I'm sooooo excited. Now the nursery is complete. Nate's parents gave us the cutest pink fall jacket for Jordan & a beautiful Graco Pack N Play. Now when we visit family & friends Jordan has a place of her own to sleep, change & play. Both sides of Nate's family came to celebrate our bundle of joy with us. It really meant a lot to both of us that everyone could come to the party. The food was delicious & the desserts were fabulous. The hostesses made all of our favorite foods...such a great idea. It turned out to be a beautiful day & we had a wonderful time. Now it's time to organize all the gifts...that's my favorite part ;-)

On another note...we are now 35 weeks today. We have made it this far & so happy about that. We didn't see ourselves getting this far back in July. Now we are just so excited to meet Jordan. In 2 weeks we will be off our medicine & monitoring & then it's in God's hands when Jordan arrives. We are guessing she'll be late, but we are glad that after 37 weeks there should be no health problems & she can come home with us when we leave RMH. Thanks to everyone for all of their prayers....we believe they have gotten us this far.

Love xoxoxo,
The Helgerson's

Another Week of Success....

Every weekly visit to the OB doctor has been successful lately. This week is another one of those visits. My belly is measuring at 34 weeks...which is where we are at. I'm now weighing 165 lbs. YIKES! Oh well, it's good for the baby :-) Jordan's heart rate is perfect, & we are all doing great!

We have 3 more weeks until we off the turbutaline pump & monitoring. We are very excited we've made it this far & we can't wait to meet Jordan :-) So, once we are off our medicine & monitoring we could go at anytime! Craziness! I have been feeling great. Jordan's room is almost ready to go...a few little things needed still. Nate's family is throwing us a baby shower this Sunday. We will have plenty of pics & info to post after Sunday.

On another note...my BFF, Dena has been at the hospital since yesterday afternoon trying to have her baby girl, Audrey. She is being induced & nothing seems to be happening yet. We will know more today...she may be put on different med, or be started on pitocin, or possible c-section. We are praying for her & the family. We went to visit her today & it was nice to be "visiting" the labor & delivery floor for once. Haha. We will update as we know.

That's all of our news for now. We hope you are all doing well.
Love xoxoxoxo,
The Helgerson's

Another Successful Appt...

We had another successful appointment this morning at the OB doctor. I now weigh 164 lbs...YIKES!!! I have gained 34 lbs so far...I'm going to guess I'm not done gaining weight though. Oh well, it's good for Jordan & we want a big healthy baby.

Last week at our appointment Dr. Holbrook mentioned taking us off the terbutaline pump & the at home monitoring at 36 weeks (which is 3 wks from now). Nate & I were a bit uncomfortable about that time frame. Our parents weren't too happy about it either. So, today I mentioned that we were concerned that maybe 36 wks is too soon & we'd prefer to get taken off at 37 wks. Dr. Holbrook said that would be fine too. She understood our concern & at 37 wks Jordan is considered full term. Anything prior to 37 wks is considered a premature birth. We did laugh that as soon as we are off the meds & monitoring Jordan will probably stay put until we need to be induced.

Dr. Holbrook also mentioned that Jordan was a big baby & should have no problems being delivered after 37 weeks. Her lungs will be fully developed & she shouldn't have to be in the NICU at all. She was telling Nate & I the odds of her having to be in the NICU & at 36 wks she has an 85% chance of being fine...we didn't like those odds, so we are good to wait w/ our meds until 37 wks. We have to get off the meds by 37 wks because the contractions are going to come no matter what. Our threshold for contractions was 3/hr. Now Dr. Holbrook has raised it to 6/hr. The further along we get the more contractions we will have. So, staying on the meds after 37 wks won't be any help for us or Jordan.

We are now at 33 wks (our weeks change on Mondays) & we can't wait to meet our daughter. It's becoming more real now that we are talking about getting off the meds & monitoring. This is really happening....we are going to be parents...Oh Lord help us :-) Haha. We will continue to have weekly OB visits & in 4 to 6 weeks we will have Jordan in our lives. Thanks to everyone for your support & prayers. We couldn't have gotten this far w/out all of your help. We will keep you updated as always!

Love xoxoxo,
The Helgerson's