Squishy

That’s how I’m feeling these days… Squishy all over.  I have been pleasantly surprised with how fast my “bump” has gone down… while there is still a visible redneck-beer-gut-shape to my midsection, it has disappeared quite a bit faster than I imagined it would.  However, it is incredibly squishy… along with the rest of my body.  As an avid pre-preggo runner, it’s weird to see and feel my body in this shape.  And since I haven’t been “released” to exercise, I can’t really do much about it yet.  (Though it makes me laugh out loud to think of trying to find time to exercise right now!  I can hardly find time to brush my teeth!)  And to be completely honest, my shrinking tummy got me a little excited to attempt to try on my pre-pregnancy wardrobe again – FAIL.  I know, I know… 9 months on, 9 months off.  And, looking into my sweet girl’s face makes all the squishy-ness totally worth it.J

In other news, Happy Halloween!!  It’s my sweet girl’s first Halloween, and I don’t think we’re QUITE ready to trick-or-treat, but we’ll still be putting her in her first costume once Daddy gets home from work. J  (Costume pics will be included next week!)

As I wrote last week, it’s definitely hard to find time to post on here, but I’m determined to keep it up as best as I can!  In the off-chance that I have a “free” minute, I’m usually trying to rest, do chores, bathe, eat, etc.  Our sweet girl is now three weeks old – crazy! – and though there have been many long days and nights, I’m still loving every minute of it.  I have to admit, however, that it’s even harder than I imagined.  It’s not necessarily the sleep deprivation that’s getting me down, but moreso my struggle to get better physically coupled with Cameron’s increasing fussiness.  Any mom knows how helpless you feel when your sweet baby is crying and you simply cannot figure out how to soothe him/her.  This has happened quite a bit more over the last few days, and the hub and I are continuing to try to “learn” our sweet girl well enough to figure out just what she needs.  I know it’ll continue to take time, I just want her to always feel loved and taken care of – and let me tell you it just breaks my heart when she seems so upset!

We’ve had a great, busy week with lots of excitement!  Cameron had another checkup, at which she was a little over 10 lbs… Woohoo!  We had a newborn photo shoot, and the pictures are AWESOME.  We concluded our visit with Bammy, and her leaving was sad for all three of us. L  We had so much fun while she was here and we miss her every second of everyday!  We had our first big outing to Target – which, despite the fact that Cameron had to be held the whole time, was pretty successful.  We had our first “big girl” bath – no more sponge baths!  And finally my sister and her boyfriend came in town for a visit, which Cameron LOVED.

This week will be my first full week by myself with my sweet girl while my hub is working.  I’m trying to stay confident in myself as a mom, which is hard sometimes (see previous paragraph about Cameron’s inconsolable moments).  But all I can do is try everyday to be the best mom I can be and keep her happy – because in all honesty, I have no clue what I’m doing. J

Enjoy some more sweet pics of my girl!!

 Cameron LOVES her Bammy so much!

 One of the few places she'll sleep!

 Daddy giving Cameron her first bath!

 She loved it!

 Aunt Whit!!!

 LOVE.

 Sleepy after a big outing!

 Uncle Ronald!

 SO sweet

Her 1st Halloween!

I've Survived 2 Weeks!

I’m now 2 weeks into motherhood and have realized a few things.

1.    Showers and teeth-brushing are luxuries.

2.    Sleeping for more than 2 hours straight feels like BLISS.

3.    People are ridiculously generous… Cameron (and the rest of the Peeles!) have been showered with love since the day she entered this world in the form of calls, emails, clothes, food, etc.

4.    Nursing is harder and more rewarding than I ever imagined.

5.    One does not fit into pre-pregnancy clothes after only 2 weeks.  Yeesh.

6.    My daughter is the best. J

7.    My blog posts are going to be getting quite a bit shorter – finding time to type is TOUGH!  Finding time to do ANYTHING (other than nurse, put her down for a nap, love on her, and breathe) is TOUGH.

Obviously, I’m loving every minute of this crazy ride.  And a crazy ride it’s been.  My hub and I continue to figure out and learn about our sweet baby girl, learning how to work together to try to give her everything she needs.  We obviously have no clue what we’re doing, but we’re working on it!

As I typed last time, the hardest part of it all has been my recovery… it totally caught me off guard.  And just as I was starting to feel better, I managed to get mastitis… which basically feels like the flu, and was NOT fun.

Luckily with some antibiotics, love from my girl, and an amazing hub and mom I’m feeling MUCH better.

Yep, my mom is in town and has been for about 5 days to help me as my hub transitioned back to work.  As my hub put it last night, “I’ve never felt so taken care of!”  (By the way, I was kind of offended by that comment!)  But, he’s right.  My mom has been a-m-a-z-i-n-g.  She’s cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking this mama to get a pedicure, babysitting so we can have a date night, loving on our girl, changing diapers, giving the 4am bottle… pretty much all we could hope for and more.  I am going to be SO upset when she leaves on Wednesday… It’s gonna be scary to go at it alone!

Sweet Cameron continues to amaze me everyday.  She’s starting to stay awake a lot more (and is out of her “newborn coma”) and is making the cutest facial expressions I have ever seen.  As every parent knows, I could literally just stare at her all.day.long.  This love is incredible.

So remember when I said showers were a luxury?  I’m gonna take advantage of this rare moment of “nap time” and bathe myself. J

 Perfection

 Pretty in pink

 :)

 Fast asleep

 Sisters!

 Cameron Kate loves her Bammy!

 A tired, but happy mama

She's Here.

Omigoodness I’m a mom.  To the most precious little girl I have ever laid eyes on.  And this is how it happened.

Last Sunday, if you read my blog entry, I was definitely feeling different, but trying not to get my hopes up.  After I finished my worry-filled blog, I kicked back, relaxed, and had a nutritious dinner of pizza, a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and cotton candy.  (Hey, I figured pregnancy was almost over – why not splurge before I would be trying to get my body back!)  I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up at about 11:00pm with a sharp stomach/back pain.  I honestly didn’t think anything of it other than the fact that my choice of dinner was not settling well.  I tried to sleep for a few more minutes, but was awoken again a few minutes later to the same pain.  Hmmm, I thought.

       

I got up and got ready for bed.  The hub and I both settled into bed, and I quickly realized that the pains I was feeling were, in fact, contractions.  I started timing them and they were 5-7 minutes apart.  I did this until about 1:00am, noticing that while I could still talk through them, they were getting stronger.  I called the on-call nurse, who told me I needed to walk around the house until they were 3-5 minutes apart and were so painful they stopped me in my tracks.  I told my hub to get some sleep, and I retreated to the den and proceeded to pace around and watch some DVR, writing down the time and length of each contraction.  I was so worried that they would just disappear, but they kept getting stronger and stronger.  Around 2:15am I woke up my hub and said, “I think it’s time.”  To which he replied, “Are you sure?”  Well, I was as sure as I could be and was in pretty intense pain.  So we gathered some last minute things, stopped by his office to get his computer, and headed to the hospital.  Meanwhile, the contractions kept getting worse and worse in the car.  Despite the pain, I was so excited – this was it!!!!

We went ahead and called my mom on the way to tell her we thought this was it, but to wait until we confirmed at the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital at 3:00am, where I was checked… 3cm dilated – woohoo!  (I had only been 1 ½ at my Wednesday checkup.)  I stayed in triage for an hour and was told I’d have to make progress within that hour to be admitted.  Again, the contractions were increasing and I knew there was no way I could be sent home.  An hour later, I was at 4cm and was admitted.  All grandparents and siblings were called.  We were PUMPED.

Luckily, I was given the epidural pretty quickly upon getting into a room.  I was then good to go.  Grandparents arrived, excitement built, and all the nurses wanted to be a part of my delivery since we didn’t know what we were having!  Funny enough, every single nurse thought I was having a boy. J

Then, I got stuck at 5cm.  For what felt like forever.  The doctor broke my water and there was meconium in it… not good.  This meant that the NICU team would need to be in the room when our little one arrived because of increased risk.

Then, my epidural wore off on my right side.  I started feeling the contractions again – yikes!  They had my lay on my right side to try to get the medicine to go there, which worked… except then, our baby’s heart rate started dropping during contractions and wouldn’t go back up… again, not good.  They immediately put me back on my left side and had me wear an oxygen mask for awhile.  I was scared, upset, and extremely uncomfortable since the contractions were back on my right side – but I was willing to do anything to make sure our baby was okay.  I constantly checked the heart rate monitor and had a hard time relaxing.  By this point, it was about 4:00pm and I hadn’t been to bed in over 36 hours.  I really should’ve been sleeping to try to rest up for pushing, but I was too scared for our little one.

Eventually, I started progressing again – first 7cm, then 8cm, then 10cm – woohoo!  I was so excited, except that our baby’s head was still not dropping low enough to begin the pushing part.  Our nurse was so bummed when her shift ended at 7:00pm because she’d always wanted to deliver a surprise baby. J  I was bummed, too – I thought we’d surely meet our son/daughter by then!  I also wasn’t feeling great, and lo and behold I started running a fever.  This was due to the meconium that had been in my water.  They told me because of the fever and the baby’s position, I couldn’t push yet.  This is when my frustration finally kicked in.  I was tired, running a fever, and feeling contractions on the right side of my body – I was ready to get the show on the road!  They had me sit up in bed to try to let gravity run its course and gave me some Tylenol.  An hour later, our baby had moved down and my fever was dropping.  FINALLY it was time to push!

Then there was a knock on the door, and my doctor walked in!  He wasn’t on call, but decided to surprise me and my hub and deliver our baby.  We were so excited!  He is the BEST.  He left for awhile since I needed to try some "practice pushes" to learn how to push.  When I started my “practice pushes,” our baby started moving down right away.  The nurse had to have me STOP pushing and breathe through contractions (which was SO hard) in order to get the NICU team ready and the doctor back in the room.  Finally, it was go-time.  Honestly, the pushing part was easier than I anticipated.  I think I was just SO ready to meet our baby and had already endured so much… also, being able to feel the contractions ended up being a blessing in disguise because I could really tell where/how to push.  Also, my hub was absolutely incredible.  It makes me tear up just thinking about how supportive and positive he was, and I think that’s why the delivery went so well.  He was my rock, coaching me along and telling me he could see our little one’s head (with lots of dark hair!) and just getting me pumped up enough to endure the exhaustion of pushing with every ounce of strength I had left after 21 hours of labor.

         And then... she was here.

         And then, my entire life made sense… my marriage became stronger, my world was complete, and I became a mom to the most beautiful, precious, perfect little girl.

         At 8:19pm on 10/10/11 (my actual due date!), Cameron Kate made her appearance at a whopping 9 lbs, 13.6 ounces.

         I have never in my life been so in love.  It was the most beautiful, surreal moment I have ever experienced.

         I remember when my hub said, “It’s a girl!!!!”

         I remember when the doctor said, “Wow, it really IS a toddler!”

         I remember immediately hearing her perfect little cries.  A sound I’ve been waiting for since January 31^st when I took the pregnancy test.

         The NICU team immediately checked her out, and while she was okay, she was running a little fever so they had to keep an eye on her for a minute.  They let my hub cut the cord and immediately gave her to him.  He sat down on the chair in the room and just let his emotions take him over.  It was the second most beautiful moment I’ve ever experienced.

         Unfortunately, due to her size and the damage done to me during her delivery, I didn’t get to have her in my arms for quite a while since the doctor needed to tend to me.  It was totally worth the wait.

         Tears are streaming down my cheeks as I remember them putting her in my arms.

         My first thought?  “She’s heavy!”  My second…

         “Oh.my.goodness.”

         And I have fallen in love with her more every single second that has passed since the moment she entered this world.

As I type this, Cameron Kate is now a week old – Time needs to SLOW down!!!  The past week has been the best and craziest of my life.  Being a mom is more than I could have ever imagined.  It is already the best job I will ever have.  The most difficult part of it all has been my recovery.  I have been a little surprised at how much my body was battered and bruised (hello, almost 10 pounds of baby!) and it’s been hard not feeling well.  I’ve tried so hard to push it all aside, though, and focus on the immense amount of joy my little one brings me.

Cameron had her first checkup on Friday, and while everything looked great, she was down to 8 lbs 15.5 ounces, an almost 9% loss.  They don’t like babies to lose more than 10%, so the doctor put us on a formula supplementation to bring her weight up.  I was overly, hormone-ally devastated to have to use formula.  I want to provide for my baby all on my own!  But her health is most important, so we supplemented for 48 hours and at her checkup yesterday she was up 7 ounces… woohoo Cameron!  We’re now OFF of the supplementation for 48 hours and go back tomorrow to make sure she’s not losing.  I have to admit, I’m terrified she’ll be back down.  But hopefully not!

We’ve had a wonderful week with lots of visitors… THANK YOU to all of the family and friends that have stopped by to say hi, send their love, or help out around the house while we venture through this awesome journey of parenthood!

I am soaking up every single moment I have with my hub while he’s home.  Just as I predicted, he is the most incredible dad I have ever seen.  Some of my greatest joys over the past week have come from watching him with his girl. J  He goes back to work this Thursday, and it makes me so sad just thinking about it.  Luckily my mom will be coming up for a week to help out – Cameron can’t wait to hang out with her Bammy!

So inbetween loving on my little girl and feeding her and attempting to nap, this post has taken me three days and many, many breaks to type… However, I really hope to keep this blog up with weekly doses of all things happening in the Peele family.

Now, of course, get ready for some pictures. J

 10 cm... Woohoo!

 Me & my mama :)

 My incredible hub

 DIGBY!

 Daddy cutting the cord

 BIG girl!

 Cameron Kate, named for her "Bammy" (my mama)

 No words.

 We get to go home today!

 :)

 Meeting her big sister, Bailey!

 LOVE

A VERY happy family!

Still Here... Still Pregnant

As my husband likes to point out, I haven’t reached my due date yet (tomorrow!) – so really I shouldn’t complain.  But complaining is just easier than sucking it up. J

I’m definitely feeling incredibly blessed to be sitting here, a day away from 40 weeks pregnant, carrying a full-term, albeit LARGE baby.  I just can’t wait to meet this little one!!  I know y’all are sick of hearing about how anxious I am, but geez – I am so freakin’ excited.  Remember when I compared everyday to Christmas morning in a previous post, saying that the anticipation of knowing that I could go into labor at any moment was ridiculously exciting?  Yeah, well, now it feels like I’m stuck at the top of the stairs at my house on Christmas morning and my mom won’t let me down to see my presents.  (All of my siblings, I know you totally get this analogy.)

         Patience is definitely a virtue.

We had our 39 week checkup this week, and I was showing a little more progress than three weeks ago, so that’s good.  Hub and I decided before the appointment that we would let the doctor put all of the cards on the table and see what he had to say before we started asking questions.  The doctor immediately brought up induction options… I think he knows I’m a little antsy. J  Medically speaking, it’s always better to go into labor spontaneously.  But the question is, when would my body do that?  Tonight, next week, two weeks from now?  I imagine because the doctor knows it’s a big baby and that I’m slightly obsessed with meeting our son/daughter he broached the subject of induction.

So anyway, based on my progress at my appointment last Wednesday, the doctor said there would be a slightly higher risk of having to have a c-section if I went for an induction.  He wants me back tomorrow (Monday) to check for more progress, and he went ahead and tentatively scheduled an induction for Tuesday afternoon depending on my progress and how the hub and I are feeling.  (Tuesday was chosen based on when he’ll be on call at the hospital.)  He did say that if I am still sitting at the same progress I was on Wednesday, he’d leave the decision up to the hub and me.

And let me tell you my brain has not turned off since that appointment.

I know, I know – I should just wait until Monday and see how my body is doing before I try to make any decisions.  But it’s hard to ignore the what-ifs – What if I haven’t progressed at all, and the doc leaves the decision up to us?  What if I’ve made good progress, and am thus a good candidate for induction?  What if I choose induction, and I would have gone into labor the very next day?  What if I put off induction, not knowing that my body needs medical intervention to get things going?  What if the baby gets too big while I put off induction and I have to have a c-section?  What if, no matter what, I’m going to have to have a c-section anyway?

I know, I’m slightly neurotic.  But this blog started as a private pregnancy “journal,” and it’s always been an outlet for me to let it all out.  So that’s what I’m doing. J

Obviously my hub and I have talked A LOT about how we will proceed after the appointment tomorrow.  He respects me and my level of comfort and will support whatever I want to do in terms of waiting versus being induced.  Obviously, from the outside looking in anyone would say, “You’ve made it this far!  Keep waiting!”  But that’s easier said than done.  Though my hub is convinced that I’m handling being 40 weeks pregnant quite well, I’m bordering on miserable.  And have I expressed how ready I am to be a mom?!  So literally one hour I’m leaning toward being patient, and the next hour I’m leaning toward induction, getting so ridiculously excited at the prospect of knowing we could meet our little one on Tuesday or Wednesday. (!!!)

         Whew… are you exhausted yet?

In all honesty, I probably wouldn’t go much further than Thursday or Friday “waiting it out” – I have to admit that I am getting a little nervous about the size of this bug.  So that would mean waiting two-ish days longer than the Tuesday induction, and that I’d be at the mercy of whatever doctor was on-call.

         Anyway, I’ll quit boring you with my mental ridiculousness.

To get out of my mind yesterday, I decided to go to the Wake Forest game with the hub and we had a blast!!  We had awesome seats, though we ended up having to switch sides and sit up realllly high to get my big butt in the shade.  After nearly two hours in direct sunlight I almost fainted and thought we were going to have to leave.  But once we were in the shade (and the Deacs were winning!), I was good to go.  When we went to the shaded side, we ended up sitting around a lot of older folks.  One man just could not wrap his brain around the fact that I was two days away from my due date.  He kept telling everyone around him that I was due on Monday, and kept saying that I was making him nervous.  One lady said, “I hope you don’t have that baby today!”  To which I replied, “Well I hope I do!”  Another lady assured me she was a nurse and was there if I needed anything.  Too bad I didn’t go into labor at the game – the hub would have LOVED to tell that story!

I had hoped that I wouldn’t be typing this blog update OR have to make the induction decision – and this morning, I really thought that might be the case!  I started having contractions and strong cramps at about 7:00am… They were anywhere from 7 to 15 minutes apart, sometimes uncomfortable (enough to wake me up from my 5-minute spurts of sleep), but sometimes just tightening.  I finally got out of bed around 8:30am, and they continued.  The hub and I went for a walk around 11:15am to see if they’d go away, and they got worse.  It was a rough walk!  We’d talked about going to the movies today, but on our way back home I was convinced it was about time to call in and see how I should proceed.  I managed to take a shower and eat an apple, and things seemed to be slowing down.  L  Bummer.  So we proceeded to go to the movies (Moneyball… Great movie!), and while I’ve still had some tightening and noticeable cramping on and off, it obviously isn’t what I was hoping it was.  Oh the mind games!  Hopefully, though, the pain and discomfort is a sign that things are progressing in there. J

Have I mentioned some of my new pregnancy joys?  Carpal tunnel?  Lovely.  Groin cramps?  You should see what I look like when I’m walking down the hallway and I get one of these – hilarious!  And oh, the snoring – or more like snorting/grunting.  Most of the time I’ll snort so loud it will wake me up… Imagine how my hub feels?!  To be woken up about thirteen times a night to a snorting, sweating, swollen, mound of flesh who weighs more than he does.

The good news is, all the books say that a lot of the late pregnancy woes disappear quite quickly upon delivery.  So don’t worry, babe. J

So, thanks for listening to/reading my neurotic post today.  Thoughts and prayers that my body finds a way to kick itself into gear over the next 24/48 hours are greatly appreciated.  Yes, I realize I should be soaking in these last few child-free days, these last few days with my wonderful hub, these last few mornings of being lazy.  But I’m ready for the chaos.  For the sleepless nights.  For the hazy mind.  For the amount of love everyone tells me I’ll feel for this little creature.  For the time when I won’t be able to tell up from down, or left from right.  I can’t wait to go through the journey with my hub… But I guess I have to… for now. J

And now, a sneak peak at the nursery!!

 Standing in the doorway looking in...

 Crib & Glider

 Bookshelf and Shadow Box (which will be filled with Baby Peele memories soon!)

 Dresser/Changing Table, Hamper, Diaper Holder, and Shelves

 Shelves will be filled with all things Baby Peele soon!

 Closer Up

 Looking in the crib (yes, I know - No stuffed animals or bumper once Baby Peele sleeps in here!)

 Art over Crib

 Glider (with a very special quilt!)

 ABC Art to match decor

Can't wait to rock our bug here!

 39 Weeks!  Due tomorrow!

The Expertise of 5- and 6-Year-Olds

          Conversation with a 1^st Grader (Tyiesha):

          “Mrs. Peele… Can I tell you something?”

         “Sure!”

         “I hear when you have that baby, it’s gonna hurt.”

            Conversation between three 1^st Graders:

“How are they gonna get the baby out?”

“All you gotta do is push!”

“No, they cut it out!”

“With scissors?  Ewwww!!!”

             A matter-of-fact statement from a Kindergartener:

“Mrs. Peele, but why don’t you know if it’s a boy or a girl?  All they have to do is put a machine up to you and look for boy private parts or girl private parts.”

         Interesting information from a Kindergartener:

         “My mom is pregnant, and it was a boy, but now it’s a girl.”

          My response?  “Wow, that’s a miracle!”

          His classmate’s response (a fellow five-year-old):  “That’s just weird.”

Oh the joys of working in an elementary school when you’re nine months pregnant.  (Or should I say ten months pregnant, because if you think about it, 40 weeks is MORE than nine months, people.)  If you can’t tell, I’ve been teaching in 1^st Grade and Kindergarten classes for the past week, and there’s never a dull moment when the kids realize you’re pregnant.  While I try to keep the pregnancy comments/questions to a minimum (because, let’s face it, you never know what will come out of a five- or six-year-old’s mouth), some manage to slip in their expertise and knowledge on all things baby.

The funny thing is, if you’ve ever been pregnant, you know that sporting a baby bump means every human being on the planet wants to tell you every little thing they experienced or know about being pregnant – from funny stories, to horror stories, to constant pieces of advice you don’t necessarily care to hear, to their opinions on how you look or how you’re handling pregnancy – so in all honesty, it’s much more refreshing to take in pregnancy tidbits from these students. J

In case anyone is counting, we’re now in SINGLE DIGITS – single digits in terms of how many days I have left at work, and single digits in terms of how far away I am from my due date!!!!!  I’m trying not to get my hopes up about the latter, since most first-time moms go PAST their due dates.  But omigosh if I have to be this pregnant for much longer I swear this baby is going to burst out of my belly button.

We had a good, but uneventful 38-week checkup this week.  Just the standard weight (yikes!), blood pressure, pee in a cup, heartbeat checks.  By the way, you’d think that after peeing in about 27 cups since January I’d be an expert, but I can NEVER do it without peeing on my hand.  What the heck?!

Anyway, I told the doctor I’ve been very crampy and feeling pressure, and he said those were good signs and if I want him to he’ll check me next week to see if there’s any progress.  I’m sort of on the fence about the whole being checked thing – you can show ZERO progress and go into labor an hour later, or walk around three centimeters dilated for weeks.  I don’t really want to get my hopes up or down, but dangit, I’m curious!

When we made our 39-week appointment, the doctor said, “Hopefully you won’t need it!”  As the days pass me by, it looks like I’ll need it after all.  And as I’ve said, I definitely want our little one to stay in this mama-to-be as long as he/she needs to – I’m just ready to meet him/her… like now. J

I definitely struggled at work this week.  Mondays through Wednesdays are normally tolerable, but by the end of the week I am DUNZO.  This past week I was in charge of our Curriculum Night on Thursday, which equaled a 13-hour workday for a very pregnant lady.  I ALMOST didn’t make it to work on Friday, but I sucked it up and trekked through the day, only to be even more miserable and swollen that night.

 Gross #1

 Gross #2

Gross #3

Yep, those are pics of my ankles/feet with an indention where I pressed my finger for a mere 5 seconds.  Now, I have pretty skinny ankles and feet in my normal, non-pregnant life.  So seeing this fluid retention and swelling is CRAZINESS.  Thus, minus a few trips up and down the stairs for laundry and a trip to the grocery store, I parked my big butt on the couch all day on Saturday in an attempt to combat the swelling.  I’m feeling much better, just in time to start my last week of work.  I’m hopeful that this week will go by quickly, but that’s doubtful.  Maybe I won’t last the whole week… (You hear that, Baby Peele?!)

We started a pool at work where people guess the bug's sex, birth date, and birth weight, and I have to say it’s been interesting to see what people think.  Last time I checked, I think 5 out of the 15 people who’ve wagered the obligatory dollar so far think it’s a boy, with the rest predicting girl.  The earliest birth date guess was today (not looking likely!) with the latest being my own prediction of October 11^th.  We’ll see!!!

I’ve tried to be on my feet most of today in hopes that it’ll help my progress.  I had a few painful contractions on Friday evening, but nothing consistent or predictable.  I had another couple yesterday, and so far one today that almost stopped me in my tracks at Costco… but that’s about it.  Now the hub and I are going to take the pup for a walk, and then I’ll be back to counting down the days, hours, and minutes left ‘til the end of the work week and our little one’s arrival.

You see, Tyiesha, at this point, I don’t really care how much it’s going to hurt to have this baby.  Bring it on.

 HOLY MOLY... Hub and I just did a quick picture change between this tummy shot and my pic from 4 weeks ago.  YIKES.  Baby, or should I say Toddler Peele is growing for sure.  Also, for what it's worth, everyone keeps telling me I've dropped!  Including the doctor!  WOOHOO!!