*winkswildworld*

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. We're adjusting to life with Vaughan, which I must say has been pretty wonderful. She's a VERY good baby. She barely ever cries. The first night or two she had an hour where she just had to scream, but other than that she's been such an angel.

Here are the details of how it all went down. On Sat 22nd around 5am I started having contractions on and off and that morning around 6 I lost my mucus plug. Contractions lasted ALL DAY. I missed Erika's baby shower that afternoon:( Around 6pm the contractions started getting worse and closer together - around 7-8 minutes apart. I was told by the doc to come in when the contractions were 6 minutes apart. About 8:45pm Brett and I decided we should probably get things together to go to the hospital so I called the doc and he said come in. We left for Barrington at 9 and got there about 10. They checked me and I was only 2+ cm dilated. I was like "THAT'S ALL!!??, AFTER ALL DAY?!" So I got the epidural shortly after that and was a little more comfortable. I couldn't sleep all night though. I think if I would have slept some then the pushing part wouldn't have been so bad. I ended up starting to push around 6am and Vaughan made her appearance at 7:14. So I pushed for a little over an hour. I thought that part sucked personally. I think my second dose of the epidural really made that whole experience worse for me because I couldn't feel my legs, butt, lower back, nothing, to the point where it felt like jello to touch. I couldn't even lift my leg an inch. I couldn't lift my butt. I was pretty much worthless. The doc said that if I wouldn't have been so numb that I probably would have had an easier time pushing and it wouldn't have gone on for so long. Poor Vaughan, all that I kept thinking was this poor child is going to have a cone head because I cannot push her out!!! She did have it a little, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined. When the doc said "It's a girl!" I almost died! I mean, of course I was over the moon when I saw her, but that was a shock. Both Brett and I thought boy for sure. So much for mother's intuition! All the other details and stuff went well I guess. Although, I did have an episiotomy to the side and I also tore on the other side. Ouch! Every single nurse that came in the check "my bottom", as they call it, would look and say, "oooh, sweetie, you're so swollen." I was SO swollen in fact that it looked like I had testicles!!! That was awful. Ugh, I shiver just thinking about that. All the nurses were wonderful, they helped me TREMENDOUSLY through everything.

Everything else is going really well. I am already fitting back in some of my old jeans!! My stomach has gone down almost completely. My belly button is still funky and my linea negra is still really dark, but that will go away with time.

I promise to post more pictures soon. I have been having to blog and check emails from Brett's work computer and it takes DAYS to load pictures and I just haven't had the time. Actually, I have to go now. Vaughan is hungry. I will try to write again soon. Thank you all for all the comments.

I thought maybe yesterday was it, but nope! It was so nice yesterday, (45 degrees and the sun was actually out, yes, that's nice), that I decided to walk to this lunch place just a few blocks away from my office down the bike path. Mid-way through the walk there, I started contracting and my pelvis started throbbing. I could tell that the baby's head was pushing down there. So I slowly waddled the rest of the way, in a little bit of pain, but not bad. Got there, got my sandwich and I was on my way back. UGH. That was tougher, it was going to be up-hill most of the way. I had the same pains walking back, but I made it, and when I got back to the office the stairs just about killed me! Of course after a while of resting, I was fine, and no more contractions. Wednesday was actually very similar when I went to the mall and walked around on my lunch. The same thing happened just not as painful. I am HOPING that this means not much longer to go!!!!!! It will be a very busy weekend, with Erika's baby shower on Saturday and Easter running around on Sunday, so hopefully I will be reporting back that he/she has finally arrived!

38 weeks

39 weeks

Had a little emergency visit to the doc yesterday. I was really active over the weekend and thought that I may be leaking fluid so decided yesterday morning to call the doc. The nurse was concerned right away because it had been going on a few days and if it was amniotic fluid there was risk of infection to me and the baby. So I was scheduled to leave work at 2:45 but then at 1:45 I got a call from the office saying that the doc wanted me to come RIGHT AWAY. So I hurried out of here and made it up to Barrington only to find it was a false alarm and all is normal. I was pretty sure that I was fine, but I guess it's better safe than sorry. When my mother-in-law was pregnant with either Brett or Derek, she WAS leaking amniotic fluid in her last week or so and didn't go to the doc. When she finally went to her appointment she got yelled at and was admitted right away! Luckily her and baby were fine, obviously, but it's better to get it checked out I guess.

So, still no baby. Still 1+ cm dilated and 75% effaced. UGH.

It's getting REALLY hard to come to work now. This morning I just cried while rolling out of bed, pulling on the same pants that I have worn for the past 3 days. Another day, another dollar. Or, more like another day, another quarter, for me!

My s-i-l Shannon asked me to find some cool sites for my nephew Jack. He's in that tweener stage now so that can be hard. He seems to be getting into his own groovy style though now, so I found some sites for Shannon to help him on his way!

http://www.upandriding.com/

Volcom is a snowboarding/skateboarding brand that is hip. Even if he's not into that they still have a few cool things that he might dig.

http://beckersurf.com/home.aspx

I can TOTALLY see Jack in a beanie! This one is Quicksilver.

Etnies, DC, Billabong along with Volcom and Quicksilver are all skateboarding/surfing/snowboarding brands that have youth clothing. They all seem to have some gear that Jack might like.

http://www.dogfunk.com/

This zip up jacket (below) is also Quicksilver. I found it at Nordstroms.

J Crew has their new kids line "Crewcuts" and there are some good everyday things on there. I love the camo shorts, fun tees and baseball tees.

Does Jack do flip flops in the summer? J Crew has good ones there, otherwise Old Navy would do for those.

Zappos is not only known for it's fantastic shoe collection, but now has bags, clothes and accessories. Paul Frank has a line for infants, toddlers and kids called Small Paul. I absolutely love the stuff. I think some of it would work for Jack.

Then while you are on zappos.com check out the Vans for Jack. He could go with the classic slip-on or the classic hi-top (Brett sports these!)

Thanks to http://www.designmom.com/ , one of my favorite blog links to browse, I found http://www.shoploveyoubaby.com/?shop

http://www.knuckleheadsclothing.com/catalog/index.php has the funkiest clothes. I will definitely have to shop here.

http://www.blackwagon.com/

http://www.tuttibella.com/

My doctor reported that I have made no further progress since last week. Still 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced. I was a little disappointed, but I guess it just means that this baby is not ready to meet us quite yet. He/she has a few more things to accomplish in there:) Last week, after my appointment and news of the progress, I was really excited and anxious to get this moving, but now I am more relaxed about it. I guess I don't have a choice in the matter! It's getting harder and harder to roll out of bed to get to work these days. Everybody said that the last few weeks would be miserable. Not that I didn't believe them, but I just thought, "I'm not going to resign to that fate, we'll just see." I'm here to report, for me, it is definitely rough, and it would make it a lot easier if I didn't have to work right now, but I haven't gotten to the point where I want to give up just yet. It must be the sunshine today that has me saying this:)ha. YES, I most positively have my bad days, and more so now than ever. Last week I think I cried on the way home from work at least two days out of the week just because I was overtired and who knows what else. However, I know that this will all soon come to an end and I will have a beautiful baby to show for all my hard work (as Brett says when I get down, "you're doing great, babe.") How wonderful is that? At this point I cannot ask for more.

Oh yeah, and BTW, the baby is doing wonderful, the heart rate was 136.

Seeing the doctor today at 3pm so I will let you all know how it goes. I feel like I have made more progress since last Tuesday, but we shall see. The baby hasn't been moving that much this morning. I am hoping it's a sign that he/she is "engaged" and focused on coming out to meet us!!

I got my new Urban Outfitters catalog in the mail the other day and LOVE a ton of stuff in it. I am sure being 9 months pregnant has something to do with wanting everything I lay my eyes on these days. I am DYING to fit into my old jeans again and dying to get new ones:)

True Religion is my favorite brand of jeans and I think I might have to treat myself IF and WHEN I get back to my goal weight. What am I talking about? WHEN I get back down to my goal weight, I am definitely getting new jeans! Jeans are my addiction if you don't already know this about me. My husband would say that I own to many pairs, but in my defense, I wear them everyday. I am lucky enough to work in a casual environment where I can do so!

I want, I want, I want!!!

Saw my doctor yesterday and I'm 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced! The baby was moving around like crazy and wasn't liking the doppler at all. All that I can think about now is labor. I am trying to stay positive and calm, but honestly, fear of the unknown starts to creep in once in a while and I start to freak out a little bit. I think I slept 3 hours last night. I flipped and flopped, got up to pee a few times and my mind could not stop racing. The next thing I knew it was 5am and I went down on the couch. The baby was doing morning kickboxing or something in there by that time and of course it was time to get up and go to work. Ugh.
Oh, I have some venting, so please excuse for one moment. Bare with me.
IF ONE MORE PERSON SAYS TO ME, "Oh, you think you're tired now, JUST WAIT!" I'M HONESTLY GOING TO GIVE THEM A SWIFT EAR PUNCH!!!!!!!! They asked me how I feel and I tell them that I'm tired. Then they proceed to give me advice that I didn't ask for, don't want, don't need. It's not even advice! It's like some sort of warning, like I don't already know that I'm going to be up every 2-4 hours breastfeeding, rocking, changing and everything else that I SIGNED UP FOR 9 MONTHS AGO. At least after the baby is born I will not be lugging around 25-30 extra pounds everywhere I go with a backache or groin ache or hip ache or the baby using my bladder as a punching bag or the baby's feet kicking me in the ribs!!!! Why do people find it necessary to tell you how YOU will feel? what YOU will go through? THEY have NO IDEA! It's MY experience! NOT theirs!

OK. I think I am done for now. Sorry for the wild rant. I feel a better.