Belly pictures

For the longest time, I didn't have any way to post my pictures because Dan lost his USB cord.  Well, a couple of days ago we finally bought one!  So now I can post pictures that I wanted to long ago.

This trip to Huntington was a little rough because I had morning sickness, and nothing sounded good to eat.  For those who know me, that is my favorite part of the vacation.  I was barely pregnant here.

For my 26th birthday, Dan and I stayed at a resort, went to The Melting Pot, and Dan took me shopping!  I think I'm 4 months pregnant here.

It's funny to look at these and see how I'm not showing very much at all.  At the time, I thought I was getting so big!

This was when I started to really poke out.

Here I am, about to pop.  Towards the end, I had bad swelling!  My legs and feet were embarrassingly huge.  That ornament is a plumeria ornament my sweet mom brought back for me from her anniversary trip with dad to Oahu.  It is special to me.

Pregnancy was horrible at first because of the nausea and the acid reflux, but that soon went away (the nausea at least!).  When I first felt little flutterings in my belly I was so excited because I finally felt like I was pregnant, even though I wasn't showing yet.  I felt so thick in the beginning months, I wanted to show so badly because I didn't like how I just looked fat!  I always thought it was funny how in the movies, the pregnant women said, "I'm so fat!" all the time when they didn't look it.  Well now I know what they meant because you just feel fat!

It's exciting when strangers look at you, smile, and say, "How far along are you?", or "What are you having?"

Hearing the heartbeat at the doctors always brought me such relief and always put a smile on my face.

Seeing the baby at the ultrasound appointments was so special because I could actually see the little guy moving in there!

People always asked me if I had any cravings during my pregnancy.  I never did.  I ate a lot of grapes and ice cream, but I didn't crave them necessarily.  I have more cravings now that he is born, and I am breast feeding.  I can't get enough Squirt soda.

One of the perks I noticed right away was being blessed with an ample bosom, as you can see in the 2nd picture.  Hello!

I really missed lying on my stomach and flat on my back.  It feels so good to now!

It's a weird thing not to be able to see your feet.

The baby kicks began to get pretty violent there at the end.  Something was constantly wedged in my ribs on the right side, which got pretty painful.  Oh yeah, and the constant urge to pee was torture.

It was all worth it because I got this little boy.  

Catching Up

 It's time to catch up on life!  My baby Drake is now 8 weeks old, and I am the happiest girl in the world.  So, I will start with Thanksgiving... just three months ago.

Thanksgiving

I remember Thanksgiving well.  I was in some serious pain because I had eaten too much.  Room in the stomach is very limited when you are 7 months pregnant!

Baby Shower

My baby shower was so fun!  We had yummy food and treats, and even hot cocoa!  It was so nice of everyone to come.

Mickey made me this diaper tower/cake, and I am still using these diapers to this day!  Thanks Mickey!

The shower was at Christine's beautiful home.  Christine, Connie, Jenny, and Mickey did such a great job throwing the best baby shower ever.  I'm glad my two favorite girls, Abbey and Stella, were able to come to my shower as well.

"D" Day

Here I am looking refreshed before Drake was born.  I had only been in labor for an hour or so.  My water had broken around 10:00 pm while Dan and I were watching Rambo II.  The movie selection was not my choice!  This was taken down stairs before they took me up to the nice Maternity area.  The nurse behind me gave me the most painful experience in my life.  It was worse than everything combined during the whole labor and delivery.  I shiver just thinking about it.  She checked me to see how much I had dilated and effaced.  That's all I gotta say about that!

And here I am after delivering Drake.  Notice the haggardness?  I was in labor for 12 hours total, and pushed for 45 minutes.  Soon after I got into my room before Drake was born, I was given the epidural, which didn't even hurt at all.  Connie and Christine slept in the room on the floor, poor souls!  The nurse kept coming in to change my positioning so that the numbness was distributing evenly throughout my lower body, so I didn't get a very good nights rest either.  Dan was snoozing on the couch.  Christine had to leave to drop off her car, and we were worried she would miss Drake being born, but she made it!  Connie and Dan had each of my legs (since I couldn't feel anything), and Christine was taking pictures.  It is so hard to push out a baby!  I was not prepared for that.  Maybe it was extra hard because of Drake's hair!

My beautiful, healthy baby boy.  Words cannot express how life changes and becomes so much sweeter after you become a mother.  

My sweet sisters, who are always there for me.  Thank you Connie and Christine!

One of my favorite moments after a baby is born is when they get their first bath.  They almost always cry.  Drake stopped crying when his hair was being washed, it was so cute!  He was really enjoying it.  He still loves it to this day.

We were in the hospital a couple of days extra because the doctor was worried Drake had an infection in his umbilical cord.  They had to put an IV in his poor little arm and keep him in the nursery to give him antibiotics.  All the blood cultures came back normal, thank goodness.  Because we stayed for a few more days, we celebrated New Years in the hospital.  Christine brought a bag of goodies for me and Dan including Martinelli's sparkling cider.  Thanks Christine!  Baby Drake was my first kiss of 2011.

Welcome home baby!