My Happy Ever After

As all moms know, a birth story hardly begins when labor begins. My story begins on Monday October 19th, the day after my due date. I've had contractions here and there for at least a month but this was the day they started to become regular. Started to wake me up at night and take over my thoughts during the day. This went on all week, I started to wonder when to call the midwife to let her know something was up. It was so hard to go through each day as normal when all I wanted to do was be lazy. Thursday evening we drove to Durham to pick up a bookshelf from someone on craigslist. The original plan was to go for it Saturday, but I knew we wouldn't make it. Friday morning the 23rd I woke up with contractions around 5am and some other signs that baby would soon be here. We got in touch with the midwife and our parents, we were excited that we would finally have our little girl in our arms! I was anticipating a quick and easy labor, especially in comparison to my posterior b...

You know how most pregnancies seem like they'll never end in those last few weeks? Like you'll be pregnant forever? Somehow it doesn't feel that way for me this time around. People like to ask, "how are you feeling?" and it seems everyone I run into says that these days. Instead of giving them the answer they're expecting I smile and say, "Great! How are you?" As if I don't know they're referring to my pregnancy. But it's true! Sure my back aches, I don't sleep well and I constantly have to pee. But that's nothing compared to the blessing this little one will be in our lives. I'm not "ready" yet, I have things to do to get ready for my little one, laundry to put away, diapers to prep and a few more things to buy. Also I don't feel ready, mentally, emotionally. This may be our last baby and I want to cherish every last karate chop and wiggle, the big round belly being a symbol of a precious new life and the honor ...