He is here!!!

I will write a much longer post with details later, but wanted to let you know that he is here!

Calvin Edwin Williamson, IV

"Cal"

September 16th, 2009

Born at 2:48 P.M.

9 pounds, 3 ounces

20.5 inches long

Baby Watch 09

Doctor's appointment today at 4:00

Dr. Chappell checked me and I was very nervous she would say "nothing to report!", but instead, much to my delight, she told me I am fully effaced and 2-3 centimeters dilated! YAY!

As she was finishing the exam, something kind of hurt...down there... and when I let her know that it was uncomfortable, she said she did it on purpose. She stripped part of my membrane! Her advice to make the baby arrive? Sex. Lots of sex (!!!). She said the sperm would break down the rest of the membrane, etc, etc, etc.... Not real sure I see a night like that in my future! haha!

She said the baby's head was way low (she could feel it!), and I was a minus 1.

I asked her about an induction since my mother in law is coming next week. She said she didn't think there was any way I wouldn't have the baby before her arrival, but we could talk about it.... so, I scheduled an appointment on Tuesday for her to check me again, and if all looks good, we will have an induction on Wednesday! But she feels confident we won't need to go that long.

Sorry for all of the gory details in this post. There really isn't a pleasant way to write about this!

I will keep you posted! Thanks for checking in on us!

xoxoxo

Ohhhh jealousy....

OH. My...

I am super jealous. Kim, the girl from school who has been pregnant this whole time with me had her baby this morning. I got to school today and read an email that was sent announcing the birth of her baby girl! Her due date was 2 days before mine, so we will see!!!

I am SUPER happy for Kim and her baby Charlie. Can't wait for our kiddos to be friends!

Things I have learned about pregnancy....

Things I have learned about pregnancy:

1. Whoever said it was 9 months is stupid. 40 weeks = 10 months.

2. It is SO hard to shave your legs.

3. You will soon forget what your bikini line looks like...opps.

4. The exhaustion in first trimester returns in the end.

5. The emotions....oh. my. GOSH! out of control.

6. I want to poke out the eyes of anyone who says, "I only gained 18 pounds when I was pregnant..." Literally.

7. Your stomach gets so big in the end, that there's not room to eat a full meal.

8. Getting in and out of a car without grunting is a challenge.

9. EVERYONE wants to share their birthing stories with you. Whether you want to hear them or not.

10. Everyone has advice for a pregnant woman. Some of the advice I have heard (unsolicited):

a. Toughen up your nipples now (I swear, I have heard this from someone... to whom I am NOT related!)

b. Start freezing some food now, you will need it later

c. Don't eat chocolate; it's bad for the baby

d. Put oils on your belly to prevent stretch marks

e. Stretch out your legs now to stay flexible for delivery

(I swear, these are some of the tips I have gotten! These are only SOME of them! hahaha)

11. I will never, NEVER, ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained.

12. Swelling can happen at any time....even if you have never swelled in your whole life!

I have loved being pregnant and it really is fun to grow a baby in my belly! I am to the point now where I think it's funny to make lists like this one so that I will always remember being 15 months pregnant...okay, 10 months....

There is a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see if there is any progress...fingers crossed!!!

Nesting away!

It's Sunday and I have been a nesting FREAK today.

Let me back up....

Eddie's dad is a football coach at TCU. They were playing UVA on Saturday in Virginia. Eddie really wanted to go to the game to see his family and to see the game too! He was going to leave on Friday afternoon, spend Friday night, go to the game on Saturday, and then come home late Saturday night.

We went to dinner with a GREAT group of friends on Thursday night. All of the women sat on one end of the table and the guys sat at the other. Well, we did what women do and talked about birth and everyone was sharing their birthing stories. I then let my imagination get the best of me and all I could picture was my water breaking in the middle of the night, Eddie being in Virginia, and me driving myself to the hospital! It might be an over exaggeration, but what if it wasn't? What if something like that did happen?

So, I burst into tears on Thursday night and told Eddie I didn't want him to go. I was scared to be left alone over night and that I really wanted him to stay the night with me. Call me selfish. Call me silly. I DON'T CARE. I wanted him there with me! I m 39 weeks pregnant, for goodness sakes!

He didn't want to do anything that made me upset or uncomfortable, so he stayed with me Friday night and went to the game early on Saturday morning. I spent the day with my parents, so I would have someone there, just in case! Eddie got home last night around 11:00. We were both exhausted, and I finally had SUCH a good night's sleep last night. I think I only got up 2 or 3 times, which is a miracle these days!

We got up this morning and went to brunch and then to Lowe's to get a few things for the house. I just went in mega nesting mode. I even washed our shower curtain!

The whole house is vacuumed, kitchen scrubbed, wood dusted, etc, etc, etc.... Eddie has been outside doing all of the yard stuff... it's all looking good! I understand what people mean when they say you get a sudden burst of energy! I am like a mad woman cleaning like crazy! Maybe this means the little guy is on his way??????

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

I love that song.... and it's true for me right now!

My bags are packed and just waiting to be grabbed to go to the hospital...

No signs of Cal coming any time soon. He's been moving a LOT lately and he feels super super low, but I haven't had any other signs or symptoms. I am pretty crampy lately (like period-like cramps), and I have had a few contractions here and there.

Not working has been AMAZING. I am soooo thankful for these last few days out of the classroom. It has been super nice to be able to sleep in until 7 (I usually get up at 6!), because I am NOT sleeping at night at all. I am running errands and I guess nesting here and there. I think we are pretty ready for this baby to arrive though!

It is now 3:25 and time for my afternoon nap...heehee.... gotta sleep while I can! Hank and I are enjoying an afternoon nap together. Speaking of Hank, he knows something's up. He is my constant shadow lately. I can't walk up the stairs without him running behind me. As I sit in my kitchen writing this, Hank is curled up at my feet.

N1H1/Swine flu

Today is 9/9/09... so far, no baby!

There was some excitement however in school today. After a night of NO sleep at all, I stayed in bed for an extra hour and went into school at 8:45 instead of 7:45. A few teachers were talking about the flu going around in the lower school, but I honestly didn't think twice about it. I was having such a productive day in my room with my replacement teacher. I actually had things I needed to do for her and it was a great day!

Well, a few teachers came in to talk to me about the 5 confirmed cases in the lower school and the current case in the middle school. Turns out, the 5 lower school sickies all had siblings that were in the middle school (they weren't sick, but they were in school). My very close colleague, Julie, has 3 kids: Lucy had a case in her class, Ida Scott had a case in her class, and Zeb is in my LA class.... all kind of scary to think of the contact that could be coming my way!

So I called the doctor to see what she thought, and she thought I would be okay to stay at school, and just avoid the "sick kids." Ummmm.... anyone who has ever been around a school knows that avoiding the sick kids is darn near impossible! There is snot and spit and....well, stuff everywhere! The kids constantly have their hands in their mouths and touching desks.

There is another pregnant girl at school with me (due on the 16th), and she called her doctor who said, "Why take the risk?" and sent her home. I followed her doctor's orders because it just isn't worth it to me, and went home too. I called my doctor back and explained the situation and he wrote me a note to stay away from school for 3 works days. I will stay away for Thursday, Friday, and Monday and then we will reevaluate the amount of sick people.

Now if we could just get this baby to come then! That would be perfect!!!

9-9-09?

Tomorrow is September 9th, 2009: 09-09-09!

There is another pregnant girl at work and we are both hoping for a delivery tomorrow... it would be too neat to deliver on 9/9/09!

Again... I don't want Cal to come before he's ready, but I am ready for him to be ready! I just can't wait to meet him!

Had a few contractions today, but nothing too big, and nothing worth timing. I will try to stay on top of the updates now that we are getting close!

PS-- we celebrated my brother's birthday tonight... had a great time at 411 West. I couldn't even eat half of my meal. I guess what they say about your stomach shrinking is true! That is so unlike me! haha

FALSE LABOR!

I went to the doctor this morning after my eventful Labor Day yesterday. The contractions stopped around 9 all together with just little ones here and there after that.

Turns out, it was false labor! The doctor said it was my body's way of getting ready for labor. He checked me and I am not dilated at all nor am I effaced. I kind of had that feeling, but I needed to hear it from the doctor too just to confirm it.

Soooo, I am back at work after a long break. I will keep everything updated as anything new happens!

Labor Pains on Labor Day

I posted last about my fear of going into labor while at the beach.... well, we made it home today around 1:00.

At 2:00, I had some stomach pains, and about 9 minutes later, I had more pains. Hmmm.... well, I started timing these "pains" in the off chance that they were something more, and they were very sporadic and all over the place. Eddie was on the golf course and I was determined not to call him off the course for nothing!

After a few hours of this, I called the doctor on call, just to see what was up. He said it definitely sounded like the onset of labor and when my contractions reached 5 minutes apart, I should call him again to go meet him at the hospital.

For the next few hours, I had a contraction ever 6 minutes (almost to the second!). I called Eddie on the golf course and told him he might want to come on home... who knew how long it would take me to get to 5 minute apart contractions??

Eddie came home and started timing the contractions for me. They were pretty steady at 6 minutes, but some were closer and some were further apart. It lost it's consistency. I got up to walk around a bit and the contractions pretty much went away.

That was a LOT of excitement for everyone in our family. My dad is now answering the phone, "BABY WATCH!", and my mother is afraid to go to sleep in case she won't hear the phone ring. My mother in law is in Texas waiting on the word to hit "submit" to purchase a ticket out here immediately.

At least I am home and with Eddie... Cal can come at any time now! On a side note, my brother's birthday was yesterday. All he wanted for his birthday was a nephew... isn't that cute?

I will update more tomorrow.... I am going to go to the doctor just to get checked and make sure everything is okay. That is....IF we don't make a run to the hospital tonight!