40 weeks Pregnant

I sooooooooo was not going to post this massive 40 week belly picture because I feel very awkward doing so but, I decided to do it both to follow through on a double dare (hehe), and to show that my belly is really low now which my mama was curious to see. It doesn't look as low from the side but, from the front you can definitely tell. Okay, story time is over. lol.

My how fast these 40 weeks have gone by! I kept expecting time to come to a standstill in the last couple of weeks but, it has continued to blow right by me and in the process I almost feel like I haven't had time to process that I have reached the end of the pregnancy road! What is even more surprising to me is that I was miserable I'd say about 90% of this pregnancy and still the days kept chugging right on by me. I will give all credit and praise to God for that miracle and blessing!

Last night at around 12AM I was very close to going to the hospital. I didn't sleep at all Saturday night so I didn't feel great to begin with on Sunday but, the whole day I just felt weird. Joey and I went to dinner at Olive Garden (still trying to savor these last couple of days together) and after wards I began to have one contraction after another. I have Braxton Hicks contractions quite frequently and they are very uncomfortable but, these contractions were much stronger and far more painful both in my abdomin and my back. They were 5-10 minutes apart for several hours. I'd say they were pretty consistent from about 6PM until 1AM. It is soooooo hard to actually time contractions when they don't seem to have a definite start or end and when they seem to all blend together. A lot of women have told me they had the same problem but, obviously we all figure it out and make it to the hospital when we are supposed to...generally speaking:). Honestly though, I think the only reason I didn't head to the hospital is because Joey had me take a sleeping pill at 12 AM (I'm so grateful that he made me do that) and it literally knocked me unconscious at 1AM. I know I couldn't have fallen asleep if I was in "real" labor but, I will say that one minute I was on the computer at 12:45 AM reading up on labor contractions and the next minute I woke up at 4 AM wondering what the heck happened! hahahah I have to say, those sleeping pills are powerful little suckers for a good 3-5 hours! When I woke up my contractions had subsided and the baby was sleeping so perhaps it was all my body's way of preparing for what is to come. One way or another, either I will go into labor on my own in the next day or so, or she will be helped along by the induction. I have my 40 week appointment tomorrow afternoon to finalize the induction details and I will of course keep you all posted on that.

Thanks to all of you for your excitement and support throughout this entire pregnancy and especially as we near the finish line! You are all such a great bunch of cheerleaders and I really don't know how I would have made it this far without you. We are taking our laptop to the hospital for sure but, from what I hear we will not have access to facebook while we are there. We will definitely post updates and pictures of our baby girl on our blog as often as we can and feel up to it.

Last but certainly not least I just want to give Joey kuddos and some blog love for being such an amazing husband throughout this pregnancy. He stayed home from fishing this weekend to help me get some errands and deep cleaning done. And can I just say that when that boy puts his mind to it he can clean like it's nobody's business. Our bathroom is sparkling brighter now than when we first moved in!! It was such a treat to have him around and to get some things accomplished before our baby girl arrives. Joey has been walking with me in the evenings, letting me chat his ear off late at night and encouraging me constantly to keep pressing on through it all. I owe him a ton of credit for putting up with me and doing so lovingly over the past 10 months:). Thanks babe! You are going to be one amazing Daddy!