Welcome home Lauren Rene...

Well at long last our little one is here! Lauren Rene Meyers was born on Tuesday, May 13th, at 12:57pm, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 3 ounces and at a length of 20 inches.

Ashley started having sporatic contractions around 1:00am on Sunday. We were thinking maybe a Mother's Day baby but it wasn't to be as the contractions continued all day Sunday and all day Monday. The contractions were 8 to 15 minutes apart and about 30 seconds long for the first 24 hours, but then increased to 5 to 12 minutes apart and around 50 seconds long all day Monday. Finally, at 1:00am on Tuesday morning, we woke up to find her water had broke. 12 hours later Lauren was born!

The final 12 hours were intense but my wife did a wonderful job. We had our friend Sarah there to help out with coaching and to video. Labor at the hospital seemed never ending until the nurse asked Ashley to try and start really pushing with each contraction around 12:30. To everyone's surprise after about 20 minutes of hard pushing Lauren started crowning! This was a little ahead of schedule as the doctor was no where to be found at this point, but Lauren wouldn't wait for him. She was delivered and checked over by the wonderful nursing staff at Bartlett Hospital. The doc eventually made it in to give her a once over and take care of Ashley.

Preparing for her first car ride, Lauren gets buckled up in her car seat.

What a wonderful experience! We are in love with our new baby girl and can't imagine life without her. Our hospital stay was fantastic and we have made it back home together, just the three of us.

Love,

The Meyers

Ashley is officially on bed rest

Last Friday we went to the Doctor's office and learned Ashley has high blood pressure. The doc had her on bed rest through the weekend. Despite this, her blood pressure is still up so he has ordered she stay on bed rest until the birth.

Even more crazy news? The doc suggested we may induce labor as early as this Friday if Ashley's blood pressure doesn't drop. Holy cow! We know we are getting close to the big day, but didn't realize we could be a mere 4 days away! Needless to say, we are eagerly anticipating the next appointment on Wednesday. More updates to come...

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren

April rolling by...Concert was a hit!

April sure is flying by! Here is a photo of Ashley at 34 weeks. She is feeling good and has worked through recent aches and pains (i.e. swollen ankles and pelvis pain). Everything continues to go great with the pregnancy, no problems with each doctors visit. In a few weeks Lauren will officially be full term pretty crazy, huh? We wrapped up our child birth classes last Thursday, though we still have breastfeeding and just for dad classes to attend. We've had a great time at the classes and have learned so much, we both feel much more relaxed and prepared for the journey ahead.

B.J. and Nate had a great time at the concert in Seattle. The evening included a conversation between Dave Matthews and the Dalai Lama, opener Death Cab for Cutie, and a full set of Dave and Tim Reynolds acoustic. The concert was awesome! The next day the guys toured Seattle, including visits to Seattle's Underground (a series of underground passage ways created when the city was raised above the water table in the early 1900's), and the Museum of Flight near the Boeing Headquarters South of Seattle. The weather was gorgeous, mid 70's with blue sky's, they relished getting out and experiencing a bustling major city after being in tiny Juneau for the winter.

Love,
Ashley, B.J., & Lauren

8 weeks to go!!!

Hi everyone! Here is the latest ultrasound photo. This time it's a silhouette and you can make out her nose, lips and hand close to her mouth. The ultrasound went well, it appears that the hydronephrosis is beginning to subside in her left kidney, though the right kidney is still affected. Lauren's heartbeat was 140 bpm and she was kicking and moving around just like a healthy baby should!

We have been attending weekly birthing classes at Bartlett Hospital. They have been really fun and informative. Last week we got to take a tour of the OB ward which was recently completely remodeled. The rooms are huge and each include a jacuzzi tub and a view of the channel. We'll have plenty of room to walk around and work together during labor so that is good to know.

We're busy preparing for next weekend's garage sale. We've gotten Lauren's room all ready to go but realized we have lots of other spring cleaning to do.

Other than that, not much exciting going on. B.J. passed the online arctic engineering course he needed before he can take his P.E. test in October. B.J. and Nate are heading down to Seattle for a Dave Matthews concert in two weeks and are really excited to get out of town for a weekend. Don't worry, Ashley will have plenty of baby preparation (nesting) to keep her busy!

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren

Baby Face Photo

Hi Everyone. Here's an ultrasound image of Lauren taken this Monday. If you can't make it out, she is looking at the camera, her face is in the middle of the photo and her fist is directly above her cheek. She certainly looks like a chubby little girl, B.J. calls her our "Budda Baby"!

The pregnancy is going great. It's clear that Lauren does have hydronephrosis (when the flow of urine from the kidneys is obstructed leading to built up inside the kidneys) but the doctor tells us it is nothing to be scared about and that there are reliable ways to treat the condition once she is born. Everything else is good, steady heart beat and the like, so we are all smiles!

B.J. spent all day today at a seminar in town on how to be a more effective project and time manager. Despite this boring description it was actually very interesting and he learned lots of practical tips (for example, if you don't check your email for the first hour of each work day you'll be much more productive... studies say it's true!) Work is going great and projects keep rolling in. Current projects include: a school track lighting system, a couple of airport lighting systems, state building security systems, and a medical clinic remodel.

Ashley is on top of things at her office. Not too much exciting there. We've been busy with the baby's room, we fixed up an old elephant lamp B.J.'s mom used when she was a kid, and hung up several more craft items and art on the walls. The room is great and we can't wait for its occupant to arrive!

Valentine's Day on its way!

Hi everyone! We hope everyone is doing alright and having a great 2008. As you can see, Lauren is well on her way to making her debut. Ashley is still feeling great and has gotten her appetite back. We've got another ultrasound scheduled for the 25th and the pregnancy is going great. Lauren is kicking like crazy and keeping Ashley running to the bathroom all too often. Last Saturday B.J. felt Lauren kick twice within 5 minutes of waking up. It was very exciting,

Ashley's one week business trip to Anchorage when well. She was able to help out the staff at the office and hold down the fort while the employee situation got sorted out. She even got alittle shopping in. B.J. has been swamped at work, but that equals overtime which is always nice.

We've had lots of snow lately! We've must have gotten 3 feet since early January. The snow is beautiful but a pain in the butt for B.J. in his two wheel drive neon (Ashley is doing fine in the blazer). In fact, B.J. is parked on the street tonight because he couldn't get into the drive way. Oh well, better skiing when there's snow!

Love,
Ashley, B.J. & Lauren

Sunday Car Ride

Last Sunday we were bored so we decided to drive to the end of the road. It was a bright sunny day but really cold...hovering in the single digits. It was nice to get out of the house and take a look at the beautiful scenery, despite getting stuck in the snow! My favorite photo is the last one of Ashley in the truck. It was cool "sun bathing" in January.

-B.J.