I know we will have to experience a large part of this journey again for #2 and we are excited about that, because we know together we can get through anything. We pray that our FET journey (when we decide to begin) will be just as successful!

Some things I have learned from mommy hood are:

- It is AMAZING! You never can imagine how much you could love someone- and seeing your husband with your baby is the best feeling in the world

- You can never have enough bibs- spit up happens A LOT!

- You think you didn’t sleep while you were pregnant with the frequent pees, but ha, now you really don’t sleep! (Well, maybe not everyone, I am just a really light sleeper and it takes me a long time to fall asleep)

- Trust your instincts- if you think something is wrong with your baby, you are probably right

- You will co-sleep- maybe not for long, but we did it for a few hours every night the first month

- cutting babies nails is super duper frightening- do it at their first nap after bath time while the nails are soft

- Only the socks that are tight around the ankles will stay on- you are wasting money on the rest

- Losing the baby weight is HARD! my whole body still aches from the 9 months of pregnancy and the laboring. I am down 18 and have about 24 more to go, but they are not budging, the 18 came off after the first week just from fluid

My contractions started getting very intense around 9 pm on Wednesday. They weren’t very close at all, but when they came they were definitely painful. By Thursday I thought woah, these are getting worse, I am not going to make it into work today, so I called in sick. I kept contemplating on what to do as they got more and more painful, but still not super close together. By 6 oclock when Allan got home from work I thought ok, you know what, better safe than sorry, let’s go to the hospital. At this point my contractions were anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes apart and very very painful. We got to the hospital around 7 pm, they monitored me for a while and sent me home telling me “take some tylenol pm and keep your Monday appointment with your doctor”. OMG- I was so sad. I went home took tylenol pm and tried desperately to get some rest. There was nooo way! I called my after hours doctor line and talked to the on call nurse. She told me if I was  in that much pain to go back to the hospital and at minimum they should be able to help relieve some of the pain. So…3 hours later we are back at the hospital.

This time they did help. They gave me some ambien and 2 other things to help me get some rest. They told me by morning the contractions should at least be manageable and I could go home. Me and AL slept till about 6:15 am. I still felt the contractions, but the medicine did make them manageable. The nurses came in that morning and when I woke up, before I could even get out of bed, my water broke- GAME ON! I told them something wasn’t right!

After my water broke, I finally began dilating- thank God! I was 3 cm and they started the pitocin pretty quickly. They told us she should be there by 4 pm. Around 10 or so I asked for the epidural and can I say…WOW! It makes everything so much better. A little after noon they finally checked me again and boom, 10 cm, they scrambled fast and 3 pushes later our baby girl was here!!! It was the most amazing moment ever. To be in that room with my husband sharing that moment was absolutely incredible!! AL was there and watched every step of the way and even cut her cord and helped with her first bath.

At my appt on Monday they will of course check my progress and get a date (either Wed or Thurs) on the calendar to get induced. They will also be doing a growth ultrasound to check her approximate size and my fluid levels one last time.

I hope she will decide to come on her own. I would love sooner than later, b/c I am STRUGGLING! But…whatever happens, I feel confident we will have a happy, healthy baby by next weekend!

First, we decided on the citi mini stroller- LOVE! It is lightweight, cute and practical. It was only around $250. Originally we were going to get this and the BOB for strolls/jogging- but since we “think” we want to have another fairly close in age, we decided to wait to make the investment on the double BOB. My boss gave me an older fancy jogging stroller that I we will use in the mean time.

We decided on the Chicco Key Fit infant car seat. It is compatible with the citimini stroller and we have heard great things about it, so it was an easy decision.

Originally, we bought 2 bases for the infant seat, but then thought, since she won’t be in the truck too often, why spend $80 on a base when we can just go ahead and get a convertible seat and put it in the truck for when it is needed.  So for the convertible car seat we decided on the Britax Marathon- we read great things about the Britax and the seat goes from birth to like 70 pounds. It was a big investment at almost $300, but everyone from consumer reports to the lady at babies r us said it was the best, so we were sold!

Pregnancy was a tough journey for us and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it definitely hasn’t gotten a whole lot easier for me. I know 100% things could be much, much worse and I am grateful to have a healthy baby growing inside of me, but I sure have experienced almost all of the common not-so lovely joys of pregnancy- Nausea, swelling, carpal tunnel- fun fun!

Oh my little Gianna, this weekend you will be at 36 weeks, next weekend will mean full term (YEAH) and after that you are more than welcome to make your appearance any time. Mommy and Daddy cannot wait to meet you!