My pregnancy...

We found out we were pregnant in November 2007, I found out first and decided to be creative in telling Peter. I bought a pair of baby booties and put them in a little box. After we had finished eating dinner I told him I had something for him and handed him the box - needless to say we were overjoyed!

"first sighting of offspring"

However, morning sickness hit me quickly and it was hard to keep our big secret. Thanksgiving was especially difficult, as I had to "pretend" to eat and try to saunter to the bathroom instead of making a mad dash. But we were able to make it through the weekend without telling although I did hear later that some wondered why I was so quiet and not drinking alcohol.

We decided to wait until Christmas to tell people our news. We enclosed a poem in our Christmas cards announcing our impending arrival. The reaction was wonderful, our neighbors were overjoyed and our family kept the phone ringing off the hook, it was a fun time. Here is the poem we used.

I do not have a face to see,

Or put inside a frame.

I do not have soft cheeks to kiss,

I don't yet have a name.

You can't yet hold my tiny hands, 'nor whisper in my ear.

It's still too soon to sing a song, or cuddle me so near.

But all will change come summer time,

That’s when they say I'm due.

I'll be the first child and can't wait till I meet you.

So have a Merry Christmas

A wish to you from me.

I cannot wait to be a part

Of my new family!

Over the next few months we got busy preparing for baby. Peter decided to replace the carpet in the nursery with wood flooring. Once that was finished I repainted the walls. We were very fortunate when it came to furnishing the room; I jokingly called it our "budget nursery". The crib was given to us by Peter's sister, we found the changing table on clearance, the dresser we found for $35 at a thrift store (it looks completely different than when we got it!!) and the glider rocker we found on Craig's list.

I continued to deal with morning sickness; actually it was morning, afternoon, evening and night sickness! The doctor eventually put me on a medication that helped although I still felt queasy and was still sick till the end.

In February we had our 2nd sonogram and found out that we were having a boy. Peter claimed that the sonogram only confirmed what he already knew. It was neat to know that it was a boy and be able to start planning accordingly.

"our little boy, you can see his hands up by his face"

In April our neighbors hosted a baby shower for us. We received many nice gifts and were very grateful to have such great neighbors!

I loved being pregnant. I loved feeling the baby move, so much so that I could sit for hours watching my belly move. For some reason whenever I got in the bathtub the baby would go crazy, jumping around so much it looked like he was trying to get out. I was afraid that when the baby was born I would miss being pregnant. Little did I know that I wouldn’t have time to even think about that! My 7th month was probably my favorite. I was obviously pregnant, loving my big belly, I wasn’t as sick and I had more energy. I remember thinking that it would be nice to be 7 months pregnant for several months.

8 months pregnant

9 months pregnant

By the middle of June I was 1 centimeter dilated and was 100% effaced. My due date wasn’t until July 11th and I was more than happy to wait until then. At the beginning of July my doctor was talking about inducing but I was ready. I was getting increasing uncomfortable and tired but I wasn’t as miserable as I thought I should be for 9 months. Then on Monday morning, July 7th, I woke up having contractions and as they say…the rest is history.

'til next time...