Dear Elijah,

You get to meet your mom and dad soon! You were too comfortable inside mommy's tummy, so daddy and I came to the hospital at midnight last night to start "evicting" you. We're just too excited to kiss your sweet face! Nothing exciting has happened yet. When we first got here, they took some blood (OUCH!), the night nurse tried to put in an "IV Lock", but failed the first time (OWWW), and left the 2nd one in, but when the morning nurse saw it she noticed that it wasn't in right and would have leaked the IV fluids all over the place, so they had to undo that one and poke me AGAIN. But this one seems to be working, and they're just pumping me with fluids for now to make sure I'm plenty hydrated. They won't let me eat anything (sadface), so I just get to sip on apple juice (til they take that away from me...). I did get to take some ambien after the cervadil was put in, so I got about 6-7 hours of sleep and am feeling pretty good right now. This bed is SO uncomfortable on my back and bottom. And I can't really get up and walk around because of all the stuff I'm hooked up to. But the monitors all say how perfect and happy you are, and all the nurses are surprised at how much moving you do! Makes me a little nervous about when you get to walking...! But I'm sure you'll be a blast. :)

I can't stop praying that you'll come out healthy. I have no reason to believe you aren't healthy, because I've had a very healthy pregnancy, but your mama worries a LOT, about EVERYTHING. Get used to that. :)

These next couple of days are going to be full of so many unknowns... most of all, though, I pray that in the end you ARE healthy, and that you are happy with me and daddy as your parents. We have no idea what we're going to do with a little man around the house, but I promise we will do everything we can to make sure you have the best life available! Just be patient with us. I'm sure there will be fits of screaming (from all three of us), but know that we love you unconditionally, and we'll always be by your side. :)

Overdue

My due date has came and gone...little man is already starting out perpetually late like his mom. And stubborn like the both of us! We do have an end date, though. My doctor said she would induce me at 41 weeks (Aug 3) if he hasn't came on his own by then. I'm not the biggest fan of induction, but at this point, we're just ready to meet him! J keeps telling me how "bored" he is, and that I need to hurry up and have Elijah so his life can be more "fun" and less "boring". Haha :)

Here is our stroller and car seat! When I first found out I was pregnant, I did a TON of research on the right/best/safest/budget-friendly car seat and stroller out there. I came across the Britax line, and fell in love! The stroller has 14 different configurations! You can snap the car seat right in it, or use the seat. Baby can face forward, or backward, and recline or not recline. :) We also got a free 2nd seat when we ordered the stroller! It snaps on underneath the main seat, so when we have Baby #2, we can still use this stroller! It's super sturdy, too. Feels like the "Bentley" of strollers! Can't wait to get little man in here and go for walks :)

Here is my 40 week picture. EVERYONE (but my doctor) told me I wouldn't make it to 40 weeks. And here I am, in all my beautiful glory.

How big is baby?: As big as a baby. Or a pumpkin maybe? Probably over 8lbs by now, and at least 20 inches.

Stretch marks?: Still ridiculous. I should win an award. And they're ITCHY now. ugh.

Maternity clothes?: I try not to wear clothes most days. Nothing fits, nothing is comfortable, everything makes me itchy.

Sleep: Sleep sucked last night. Can't get comfortable.

Best moment this week: Sunday was a pretty awesome day. :) J and I went to church, then went and visited with his family, and came home and hung out together. :) He's such a goober, and I can't wait to see how much Elijah loves his goofiness!

Movement: Not as many quick kicks, just rolling around in there.

Food cravings: Watermelon! And ice cream.

Gender: Still my little man, as far as I know.

Labor Signs: Still contractions. They've been getting worse, but nothing consistently unbearable yet. :( And despite being very overdue, those are the only signs I've had.

Belly Button in or out?: It has popped, but only the top half. It feels so weird!

What I miss: Not having backaches. And bodyaches.

What I am looking forward to: Baby coming out. And being off of work for a while. And for my belly to stop itching!!!!

7...more...days...til...due...date...

39 weeks today. Sigh. One more week until my due date, but I have a feeling Elijah's not coming out to meet us any time soon. I'm a big, whiny baby.

Had another normal doctor's appointment this week. Had to see the male doctor I saw in the beginning of my pregnancy (who I wasn't too keen on...), but he was nice. Wouldn't tell me anything, though, and sent me up to Labor & Delivery because I mentioned I wasn't feeling Elijah move that morning as much as I usually do. I was never worried about it, because we had just woken up and it usually takes him a little to get going. After being monitored for 20 minutes, and giving me a yummy popsicle, they let me go and said baby is perfect (which I knew all along...). It was weird being up in that area, but the nurses were SO nice, and now they have me in their system so when I DO finally go in to labor (you know, in like a month...) I won't have to answer many questions or worry about giving them any paperwork. Oh, and my feet started swelling last weekend. NOT A FAN. I prop them up when I'm sleeping and it goes down by morning, but even when they don't look swollen, the tops of them still hurt. While I am grateful that they didn't start swelling until this close to the end, I could have done without it all together. :(

How big is baby?: As big as a watermelon still!! Or around 20 inches and over 7 lbs.
Stretch marks?: Still ridiculous. I should win an award.
Maternity clothes?: Barely. Not much fits over this bellehhh still. But I have stopped caring as much.
Sleep: Sleep hasn't been too terrible this past week. J has to be up way early, so we're usually in bed early and it takes me a bit to fall asleep...but otherwise, sleep is okay.
Best moment this week: Hmmm...I've gotten to spend a fair amount of time with J this week. Which makes me happy. :) We went out to dinner Monday night, and I could barely eat anything and came home and passed out. Then we went out to dinner last night, and again, I barely ate anything and come home and was very sleepy...my stomach has no room anymore since this giant baby is taking up all the room in there!
Movement: Same as always. VERY active baby.
Food cravings: Hmmm Coldstone cupcakes have been good to me this week. :) I've been craving watermelon today, but not sure if that's good for my super-swelling feet...
Gender: Still my little man, as far as I know.
Labor Signs: Still just the contractions. The pain in my back sucks, but it's to be expected. I've been getting nauseous pretty often, which I've heard can be a labor sign, but alas, still pregnant.
Belly Button in or out?: I think it's popped as much as it ever will. When there aren't clothes covering it, you can see a little poking out.
What I miss: feeling normal.
What I am looking forward to: Our stroller is being delivered Monday!!!! AND J let me order this SUPER adorable hat for little man...can't WAIT to take pictures and blast them everywhere! And...baby. If he ever comes out...wah wah wahhhhh

me beautiful 39 week bellehhhh:

Still Pregnant...38 Weeks.

In the words of just about everyone I work with, "You're STILL pregnant???" Yup. I have a feeling we're in this for the long run. Everyone (but my doctor) has told me I'll probably go early. So, alas, I'm starting to accept that I'm probably not going to meet Elijah for at least another 2 weeks. At least he should be healthy, and hopefully it'll be an easy delivery and hospital stay! As cranky as I seem on Facebook, I'm trying to stay positive. :)

This week has been okay. These contractions are killing me, and every once in a while I'll get a pretty painful one, whether it's a pain in my stomach, or this new pain in my back that has just started creeping up. It's all for you, little man...


Had a check-up on Tuesday. Still boring and normal! Cervix is closed and high still. I start weekly appointments now, but my doctor was already all booked for next week so I have to see the male doctor that I saw in the beginning of my pregnancy and didn't care for. :-/ And J starts his "Academy" on Monday, so he won't be able to go to any more appointments with me. Sad face. Needless to say, I'm hoping my appointment will be another good, boring one, and I don't plan on getting "checked" because I want to get out of there as soon as possible. I can't believe the next time I have a scheduled appointment with MY doctor, I'll be 39 1/2 weeks pregnant!! This road has been long, but I still remember the morning I saw that word "pregnant" on my test. Crazy how so much has changed!! And it blows my mind how my body went from "tiny" (obviously I have NEVER been "tiny", but in comparison...), to the watermelon in my front I carry around daily now. God is one crafty Man!

J and I both have the day off today, and it was payday for both of us, so we get to run around town running errands and stocking up on everything we may need in the next month. This could be my last paycheck before baby! :) Poor guy worked until 6am, though, then came home, I made breakfast, and he had to go to the dentist for a deep cleaning. Then when he got home, he said he was gonna nap while I got ready for us to start our day, and he looked SO peaceful sleeping that I haven't woken him up yet (it's been a couple hours). It shouldn't take us that long to get everything done that we need to, and I want him to be rested. Luckily he has the rest of the weekend off, so he should be able to relax a lot this weekend! My job is still semi-kicking my butt, but I'm hanging in there! I won the "All-Star" award for June (a manager is nominated for their hard work/dedication to WOWing guests each summer month) and am super happy about that. :) Next week we have a Supervisor that's transferring from Baltimore starting, and my boss put him on just about every shift of mine, so it'll be nice to not have to do so much, and to make sure he gets trained in how to do things the Norfolk way. :)


Pic from this week:

J surprised me on Tuesday with a finished guest bathroom! It has needed to be painted, and has had paint cans/house stuff in the bathtub since we moved in at the end of April. Now it's a fun yellow color, and I could set up little man's bathtub in the big tub and hang a couple of his towels!! :) Now to just figure out what to put on the walls.....but that may wait.

How big is baby?: As big as a watermelon!! Or a leak. Whatever that is. Or around 19.75 inches and 6.8 lbs.
Stretch marks?: Still ridiculous. I should win an award.
Maternity clothes?: Barely. Not much fits over this bellehhh nowadays. I'm getting tired of wearing the same clothes over and over, but in the end I say to myself "Whatever. I'm pregnant. No one cares." I bought Crocs a month or so ago because my work shoes were hurting (not the clogs. eew.), and they only had these loafer-looking ones with a blue trim (I wanted some more like ballet flats). The blue doesn't match everything I wear, but again, I'm (verrry) pregnant. No one cares.
Sleep: Sleep still SUCKS. I have a hard time falling asleep, and have had to sleep on the couch a couple times in the last week. Not sure why I sleep better out there, but our chaise is uber comfortable! I'm on dinner shifts next week, so I'll at least get to sleep in a little more. :)
Best moment this week: Our carseat came in on Monday while I was at work!! As did the Rock-n-Play and Moby wrap. :) I was *so* excited to get home, and immediately started setting everything up. As soon as I got the carseat out of the box (okay, J took it out...it was too heavy for me!), J went and put on his shoes. I asked him why, and he said "Because I know what's coming next. We're going to have to go outside and install it right away..." Love that man :) So we got the infant seat installed in my car, and the convertible one in his car. We're ready!! :)
Movement: Still lots! It's not as frequent, or as fast, as they have been in the past. He's running out of room! But I get LOTS of feet in my ribs/hips. It's uncomfortable, but adorable and I love pushing it out of there and feeling the tiny foot. :) I can't wait to see what it looks/feels like in person!
Food cravings: Today? Coke. And that new fruit salad from Wendy's. And chocolate milkshakes. Always chocolate milkshakes.
Gender: Still my little man, as far as I know. I keep wondering what if he comes out with girl parts...that'd be so crazy and I'd feel bad for calling her/him the wrong name these past five months!
Labor Signs: Still just the contractions. The pain in my back sucks, but it's to be expected. I tried doing jumping jacks the other night, and stopped at 20 because I was laughing at myself.
Belly Button in or out?: Just starting to poke out a little! I don't think it'll ever get completely popped though.
What I miss: Not having these back pains. And being able to do things for myself. And not bumping in to EVERY.THING with my bellehh.
What I am looking forward to: BABY. Can I please meet you soon, little man? I'm ready to have 3 weeks off of work to play with him everyday (i.e. watch him sleep...haha). And I'm looking forward to J starting the Academy Monday! He's gonna have actual stuff to do at work, and will get to learn cool stuff like how to shoot, and they do role-plays and stuff! He was showing me pictures of past Academies online the other night; it looks so cool! I'm so excited for him. :) It's a 12-ish week thing, and after that he'll be certified and can carry his gun anywhere and will get a badge and a new uniform! MMMMM he's gonna be so sexy!! :P

37 Weeks = Full Term!

How big is baby?: As big as a "swiss chard". no comprende. Or around 19.25 inches and 6.3 lbs.
Stretch marks?: Still ridiculous. I should win an award.
Maternity clothes?: Barely. Not much fits over this bellehhh nowadays.
Sleep: Sleep still SUCKS. Been worse lately. My calves feel super tight, and my whole legs are just super restless. Doesn't help that J works 6p-6a now. At least it's just for another week...
Best moment this week: Every moment with J :) He makes me laugh...we don't see too much of each other because of our schedules, so the times we do see each other are very special!
Movement: Still lots! He has found my ribs and loves to cozy up into them. I always push his feet/hands out of them, which makes me giggle.
Food cravings: Today it's been grape kool-aid. The last week it's been Somen noodles.
Gender: Still my little man, as far as I know.
Labor Signs: Been having contractions the last week or so. SUPER uncomfortable. Nothing too too painful, and I don't really know how to time them, but hopefully they're doing something down there.
Belly Button in or out?: Half and Half. It's about even with my belly now.
What I miss: Not having restless legs and back pains!!!! And being able to sleep easily. And I miss people not doing a double-take whenever they see me because of how large my bellehh is.
What I am looking forward to: BABY. Can I please meet you soon, little man?  I'm also very much looking forward to my amazon orders coming in the next week :) My sister ordered us the carseat I've been dreaming of since I first became pregnant and did a ton of research! :)

Pic from last week:

 Pic from this week (excuse the zero makeup):

 Comparison Pic (looks like baby may have dropped a little?):

I've been slacking...!

I didn't realize how long it's been since I had posted! Not like anyone cares, but I don't like feeling like a slacker. :)

Life has been SO busy! I am 36 weeks and 4 days today. Friday is 37 weeks, which means FULL TERM BABY!! And I'm officially 9 months pregnant. Only 24 days til my due date! I can't believe Elijah is almost on the outside...I still have my moments of freaking out, but I've been mostly calm and happy these last couple of days. We are MORE than ready for his arrival now, and every day I wake up wondering if this is going to be the day he decides to make his appearance. :) They say the pregnancy flies by...but mine feels like it's taking FOREVER. One of my servers told me the other day that they think I have the gestational period of an elephant (22 months). Guess that's what happens when you over-share with people. :P

Last Monday I started having contractions. I've been having them ever since, but there's no pattern to them. They're definitely worse than the Braxton Hicks ones I had earlier in the third trimester! At my doctor's appt last week, she checked me and said there is absolutely nothing going on "down there". Boooooo. I have another appointment next Tuesday, so hopefully there will be some progress! Next Tuesday's appt is the last one J will be able to go with me to. :( He starts his "Academy" on the 16th, which is a M-F commitment, from 5a-5p. If Elijah doesn't make his appearance before the 16th, I'm crossing my fingers that he comes on a weekend so J can actually be there!! He can't exactly leave the academy while it's going on, so if he comes on a week day, J won't be able to be there until after 5pm...all of these unknowns are stressful!!

Little man's room is all set up and waiting for him now :) We got this bedding set last week from a friend of J's family. :)

And we scored a ton of free stuff from another one of J's family friends! This is just some of it. :)

And we now have a convertible car seat for John's car, and my sister told me last night she's buying our infant car seat for my car. :) I also have a good friend who has an almost-8-week-old who just grew out of her newborn diapers, so she gave me all of the ones she had left! I have 3 big boxes of newborn diapers from my brother and his girlfriend, but if I can not open them and return them for size 1's, it'll help a ton! Little man isn't going to be tiny, either...so we shouldn't need many newborn anything. Haha :)

My wonderful coworkers threw me a surprise shower at work yesterday! I have no idea how I didn't catch on...but they're sneaky people!! We got a Diaper Genie, 25 outfits (I had to count..haha) mostly 0-3months, a safety kit, a monitor set, and a gift card that I used to buy a Moby wrap and Fisher Price Rock-n-Play! We have been SO blessed with everything that has been given to us. :)

Here's the SUPER yummy, and adorable, cake! :)

And some of the items. The socks you can see are Converse ones!! And the "It's a Boy!" sign we can put in our yard after he gets here. :)

While I am well aware that baby will get here when he's ready, and that I need to be patient (a skill I have NEVER had...), I am SO ready to meet Elijah!! So many moms on my "July Mom's Board" have had their babies already, and they just make me want mine even more! I'm ready to be a mom. I'm ready for this new adventure. I'm READY to kiss those cheeks!!!!

Please keep the opinions to yourself. 

New Collage!

This is just the last 8 weeks that we've been in our new house! Crrrazy!