What a Weekend!

I hope that all of you have recovered from your long weekend. Robert and I enjoyed each and every minute of ours. We did a lot and had so much fun. The weather was beautiful and we went to the beach two days in a row! The water was cold once you got in, but as soon as a wave hit you, you quickly got use to it. I sported my hot maternity bathing suit and waddled up and down the beach. Women with kids gave me the pity/how cute look and the college girls looked in amazement at my big belly. Robert took pictures of me in front of the ocean (which I will not post). When I look down I see one thing, but then when I see a picture of myself I am amazed at how big my stomach is. We did a lot of walking, which was a nice treat for me. Robert and I ate a lot of great food and enjoyed out house and our deck very much. I even got in a nap over the weekend. It was grand!

One of the things I enjoyed was being able to pick up a book on Friday night and finish it last night. It was very good. I highly recommend this one for everyone. It's called The Namesake. They've made it in to a movie, but the book is well worth the time. It is written beautifully and I never found a lull in the story. Pick it up and enjoy a nice summer read. I'm going to read March next, which is a recommend from my friend Teresa. Her book club is reading it, so I thought I'd read it too. Feel free to post your book recommends here as I plan on doing a lot of lounging and reading until the kid comes.

Enjoy your short week. Just think, only a few days and we're going to be in June. Where is the time going?

Countdown Freak Out

I think every pregnant woman suddenly realizes how close she is to giving birth. Each and every one of us has that moment where we say, only ___ weeks/months/days until I have a baby. I've looked at the calendar before and said, ok, only ____ months. It never was a true reality. It is like saying now that Christmas is coming up and then before you know it, you're thinking crap, I better get shopping.

Well, it just now hit me. I read online that most women go in to labor between 37-40 weeks. That would put me at the end of June as the start of the likeness of labor. ONE MONTH! With the days and weeks passing quicker than I thought they could, this time is going to fly by. Then what-- then I'm a mother, Robert's a father and our lives are never going to be the same. Yes, it's a blessing and we're thrilled- don't get me wrong. It's just amazing that the time is flying by and now I am thinking, I've GOT to get the bag packed for the hospital, we've GOT to get the nursery completed and ready, we've GOT to get the car seats installed, we've GOT to get this stuff completed! AHHHHHHH!!! HA HA. It's exciting and scary all at the same time.

Robert's birthday is June 29th. I said to him the other day, are you going to be ok with the possibility of sharing you birthday with our baby? He got really excited and said, "I think that would be great! We'd get TWO cakes, TWO types of ice cream. We'd do an activity each year on our birthday, just for us...oh yeah, you could come too. That would be GREAT!" I love him to pieces, what a great answer.

I hope that everyone enjoys their long weekend. Keep safe everyone- you know the routine, if you're drinking beers, drink one for me.

Charleston Sunset

Just one of my photographs at sunset.

I love Charleston.

Ahoy!

This week was the Tall Ship Festival here in beautiful Charleston. Robert and I went to the parade on Sunday night and saw them leave the harbor. They're much bigger than I thought they would be and amazing to think that they sailed from all over the world to visit us.

I hope that everyone has grand plans for Memorial weekend. Robert and I are going to try to take it easy and get some rest. I am making Robert take me to the beach. So, if you hear about a beached whale in South Carolina, don't worry it's just me. HA! It's amazing to think that in a few days we'll be in June. I don't know where the time is going. I am looking forward to meeting the baby. I can't believe it's almost time.

Like Two Pigs Fighting Under A Blanket

What's on my iPod- Marvin Gaye- Got to Give It Up, Part 1. I found myself dancing to this in the car this morning. As I looked down and my big belly shifting back and forth, I thought of the famous line from Steel Magolias, "It's like two pigs fighting under a blanket." Download it and get your dance on.

You Look Like Jackie Gleason

Mother's Day weekend was wonderful. Robert's mom came and spent the weekend with us. It was nice to spend time with her. We went baby shopping while she was here and got a majority of it done. She helped wash the new clothes and now we've got that task completed. It was great to see her.

Robert finished the crib tonight and did an excellent job! I'm so proud. It is beautiful and we both love it. I then made him take pictures of me to show everyone how huge I've gotten. I think part of me realizes how big I am when I waddle around or when I have to prop myself up to get out of bed. However, it is never until you see pictures of yourself when you actually stop and say, "oh my God!" So as I am wearing the clothes that once fit me (see before picture) and they are shrinking Robert is snapping pictures. He is hysterically laughing and mumbling, "oh my God, you're huge." I laugh and say what, is there something sticking out? He says, no, um.. those pants don't exactly fit anymore and um, neither does the shirt. (insert laughter) Yeah, you pretty much look like Jackie Gleason. You're HUGE! I take the camera, look and say, oh wow. I AM huge and I have two months left. This is going to get interesting.

We're doing well and the baby is moving around and growing a lot. I'm still not having any real cravings, but find myself always wanting Gatorade Rain (flavor: Berry). It's not my typical drink, but it tastes better than the 64 oz of water I'm drinking on a daily basis.

Enjoy the pictures and your laugh. By the way, leave your name nominations on the blog as we still can't come up with anything.

Reality Hit Me

Things are going well. I'm starting to feel as though we're going to make it full term. Day two of work and feeling great! Robert and I made the dreaded (and long postponed) trip to Babies R Us last night. We purchased the car seat, stroller and other baby necessities. I feel a lot better having those big items purchased. As Robert pushed the display stroller though the store, I looked at him and thought, "we're going to have a baby." I know, thank you Captain Obvious. However, I'm good at ignoring situations until the last minute. Seeing my beautiful husband pushing a stroller was a moment for me. It was a reality check, if you will. Another reality check for me was when we got to the counter and paid for our purchases and the woman helping bag our items saw that total and blurted out, "Sweet, Jesus". Robert smiled and said, "Yes, thank you. We're going to need all the prayers we can get." HA! We still have a few more things to get, but that will come over the next few months. We're just happy to have the big stuff out of the way. I'm looking forward to all that is going to happen in a few months. It's a great journey and we're enjoying each moment.

Good to Go

We went to the baby Doctor yesterday and they said that things appear to be fine. I am happy to say that I am back at work today. It nice to focus on something other than the baby issues. Hell, it's nice to just be out of the house. We're keeping a positive outlook, taking it easy and appreciating each day. We're looking forward and hoping to make it full term. Thank you again for all your prayers. It seems to have worked. We'll keep you posted as we go forward.

Quote of the Day

Just a quick post to let you all know that things seem to be fine so far. We're heading to the Doctor tomorrow morning. After 9 days in bed, I'll be glad to hopefully have good news of letting me off bed rest. Keep your fingers crossed. Robert took me to dinner tonight and then I supervised as he got the crib half completed. One of the key screws that was included was mis-threaded, so we couldn't complete it. However, I can't tell you how good we feel to have it at least started and will finish it this week.

Robert's mom, Fannie, will be coming down next weekend for Mother's Day. We're looking forward to have her visit.

I'll be sure to post pictures of the crib and of my belly. As if I didn't think I could get bigger, I keep expanding. I think it was the bed rest this week. I think the baby is doubled in size. Robert laughed and said that I had the quote of the week this morning. I laid in bed and glanced at myself in the mirror. I evaluated my huge stomach, my bed head and the fact that I was eating off a tray in bed and said, "I never thought that it would be like this when I peed on a stick 7 months ago."

Thanks again for all your calls, emails and posts of care and concern. We appreciate it more than you know.

Oh, finally- a post of congratulations to my best friend Teresa who brought home a golden retriever puppy this which I think she named Bella. We hope to see pictures on her blog soon.

Pre-Term Labor Sucks

Well, I'm sitting in my bed as I post to this blog. It's been awhile because I spent the entire weekend in the hospital having pre-term labor. NICE. Now, I'm home on bed rest. I'm not sure which was worse, the hospital or bed rest. Just kidding, I'm glad and blessed to be home.

You're all now freaked out asking, "What happened?" Well, for the guys out there reading this, I'll keep it as clinical as I can. I went for my glucose test on Thursday and while I was there they gave me a pelvic exam. Not unusual. So, on Friday while at work, I was spotting just a little bit. I freaked, called the Doctor and they said it was probably just a result of my exam. I agreed as it was not that much and I wasn't cramping. So, went through the rest of my day and got home and eventually went to bed. I woke up at 5 am for my normal, "I have a baby resting on my bladder routine" and went to the restroom. While there, I felt and heard something unusual. I turned on the light and looked down to the toilet where there was a lot of blood. I woke Robert up and said, "I'm bleeding, we've got to go to the hospital".

We fly (who knew Robert could break the law) to the hospital where they immediately put me in a labor room, hook me up to monitors for the baby's heartbeat and the contractions. They confirm that I am in pre-term labor and that I am having contractions. I cry. Robert is the rock. They inject me with something to make the contractions stop. Thank God, my body responds to it and they stop... for about an hour, then they start again. They keep me on the monitors and the Doctor orders the shot every few hours until they can get them stopped. They calmly explain to us that if they can't get them to stop and we go in to full labor (which means I would start to dialate), they will have to transfer us to the other hospital in our town which has a neonatal unit for premature babies. This, of course, scares us. We try to stay calm and not stress out. We just sit and wait and watch the contraction monitor go up and down- all day long. They decide that they're going to keep me overnight until the contractions stop. They stop during the night and in the morning they decide to release me to bed rest. They gave me pills to take (which is the equivalent of the shots) in case the contractions start up again.

It's been a few days without any further bleeding or contractions. On Monday, we went to the Doctor again for an ultrasound. They were looking to see if there was anything wrong with my placenta or any of the numerous baby things that could go wrong. They couldn't find anything wrong. They chalked it up to the exam and my body just holding on to the blood trying to clot and when it got too heavy, it just came out. The contractions were a result of all of this. We seems to be okay now and just trying to take it day by day, saying a ton of prayers and taking each day as a blessing.

I try to learn a lesson from every experience. There is so much to take away from this one. I never knew how quickly your life can change and God can make you reevaluate what is important. My husband is my hero. He not only held it together, he was my advocate, my best friend, my comfort and now my caregiver. Without him, honestly I don't know what I would do. Our family and friends are such blessings. I am a firm believer that God was listening to their constant prayers and we were happy to hear such an out pour of concern and support.

It's been a long few days and I am just happy to have my belly bulging out and having the baby kicking me as we speak. During the ultrasound, they showed us the face and Robert and I were both stunned at how much it has grown. How much the face has more human features and even staring to get some chubby cheeks. Robert and I both agreed that the baby looks like him. We saw it open it's mouth and I was absolutely amazed that this is growing inside of me.

I'll try to keep everyone posted as we go forward. However, I'm trying to stay off the computer, but only once in awhile. If I don't get back to your emails directly, things are probably fine, I'm just "offline" for awhile.

I hope you are all well. I'll keep you posted.