HE'S HERE, HE'S HERE!!!

I am LOVING every second of being a mother! I want to soak up every minute of it before he grows up... Such a depressing thought...
We are incredibly happy and are so in love with our son. I will post the story and everything else very soon!!! It's time for me to feed my child but I will leave you with these few picture until I get back on here and blog again soon!

36 weeks and ready to go!!!

Just got a call to come in to the hospital at 2:00 this afternoon instead of 9:00 tonight!
I have never experienced this many emotions at one time.
I am so overly excited that I can hardly concentrate on anything. Good thing my bag is already packed!
i am just waiting for your dad to get home and then we are getting lunch and heading to the hospital... wow! I can't believe this is happening!!!
I will see you tomorrow little guy! TOMORROW!!!

Ultra Sound

Dear Winston,
This morning I woke up and immediately vomited for no reason. I did this exact same thing the morning I got married. I think that my body does this before a seriously life changing event... Um... Moving on.
We had your last ultra sound today! I am so happy to report that you are doing so good! You were measuring at 5 pounds and 10 ounces which kind of scares me because I don't have a single thing to fit you. I really did not think that you would be so tiny! You would not for one second move your hands away from your face so we did not get to see your cute little nose or lips. But, we will soon enough.  We did however see that you are practicing breathing which is a very good thing!
So, if everything goes to plan and my Dr. is still up for it, tomorrow is the day we get everything started! I am so excited!!! By this time next week you will be here... :)
So, on Thursday evening your uncle Cole went through the temple for the first time. After going through, him, my dad, and your dad came over to give me a blessing. (This was all before we knew that I would be induced). In the blessing that your father gave me he blessed that you of course would be healthy and strong and he said many other wonderful things. One phrase that he kept repeating was "please bless Emily is these FINAL DAYS of her pregnancy..." And I remember thinking, "Days? He must mean weeks because there is no way I am having this baby that early." I was wrong... :) Oh what a wonderful thing the priesthood is! I know that was an inspired blessing from Heavenly Father and he knows me and is aware of my situation. If there is one thing that I hope you learn while on this earth it is to love the Savior and our Heavenly Father. If you love them and put them first you will be so blessed and have so much happiness.
Winston, I can't believe how much your dad and I already love you. You have already changed our lives so much. We can't wait to meet you and have your sweet spirit in our home! This really is the best Christmas I could ever hope for.

Just some thoughts.

Now that this pregnancy is about to come to a close (CRAZY!!!) I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the past 9 or so months. I have decided that there are some things that I am going to miss about pregnancy...
- Like feeling my baby move and always knowing that he is there inside of me safe and warm.
- My stretchy pants that I don't have to button or zip.
- I am going to miss how fast my hair has grown. It is like a weed!
- Oddly enough (this one is going to shock my husband) I am going to miss trying to find clothes to wear with my new accessory, the bump.
- I am going to miss the way that people treat me (kind of). For example, I will  miss that I always get first dibs on seats and if anyone ever has left over food guess who is the first person to get offered some?
- Speaking of food I am going to miss getting to eat pretty much anything I want and saying "baby wants it" or "I am totally craving this right now!"
- I am going to miss being able to use the "I'm pregnant" excuse every time I do something stupid or forget something.

I feel like this time being pregnant has flown by! I told Steven last night that I might even do this whole pregnancy thing again someday... :) Hopefully we will be little better at planning next time around.

With all the things I am going to miss about pregnancy there are for sure more things that I am looking forward to with not being pregnant...
-Like having a brand new baby here straight from heaven.
- Getting to snuggle him and dress him.
- Getting to see Steven as a dad.
- Getting be  MOM!... and so on
and now on to more vain things...
- I am excited to have my body back! I know this one may take a while but I am looking forward to it.
- I am excited to be able to shave my legs without having a bump in the way and having to manuver around it.
- I am excited to no longer have horrendous heart burn or the ridiculous hair that has been covering my body or basically any of the pregnancy symptoms that are no fun.
- I AM EXCITED TO SLEEP ON MY STOMACH!!!
I know that I am forgetting tons of things in all catergories but I wanted to get this out before I forgot about it!
I am having a really hard time sleeping. Not just because I am so uncomfortable but because I am so sticking excited!!! My mind has way too much to think about to sleep! Just a few more days!!!

36 Weeks- The final days

Dear Winston,
I just got back from the hospital to get more testing done. My body really hates being pregnant now.
When I first got into triage and had my blood pressure taken it was 150 over 104. Luckily though it steadily went down a little once I got onto my side.
My doctor came in to see me and decided that instead of waiting for me to get really sick she was just going to induce me to not risk the complications that could come.
I am now dialated to a 1 and you head is really low. That makes it really uncomfortable for me but at least things are progressing before I get induced.
I have an ultra sound on Monday morning and if everything with you looks good I am going to start the process of being induced on Tuesday the 21st at 9:00 PM and you will probably be here on Wednesday the 22! I can't even believe it!
You are going to be about a week old for the baby shower... Poor, poor planning...
I am glad though that most of my family will be in town and you will be here for Christmas!! CRAZY!!!
Since being on bed rest my friends and family have been so amazing!
Joni and Hailee have been keeping me company so I don't go too crazy and last night we had some friends over for games for Hailee's husbands Birthday. It was wonderful!
My mom has been especially helpful. I have been calling her for just about anything and everything. I love that my mom is a labor and delivery nurse and really knows her stuff. Yesterday she came over and gave me pedicure! With a foot scrub/ massage, paint, flowers and the works. I can't believe she was even brave enough to go near my feet. I am really, really grateful though that she did because my feet needed some attention BADLY. It's only over a year since I last had a pedicure...
Now, I am not going to lie. I am scared out of my mind. Your dad, however is all smiles and SO, SO excited. I love him. He helps me to stay calm.
I can't believe that by this time next week you will be here and I will be a mom! Now I don't feel so bad that I was not able to finish Christmas shopping before getting put on bed rest. Having you will be the most amazing Christmas present in the world... Now I just need to figure out how I am going to top that for next year.

Pictures taken by Larry Reeves.
Me at 30 ish weeks

Dr. Appointment- 35 weeks

Alright Winston.
How do I go my whole pregnancy perfectly healthy and fine and then BAM! all of a sudden my body hates being pregnant?
Yesterday I had another Dr.s appointment. I am going to try to explain what I learned as much as possible.
So, my blood pressure is still high, and I just found out that I have a little protein in my urine. At this point I am on the fast track to developing preeclampsia .
Dr.s orders I have to be on my side 100% of the time... I am not sure how on earth I am going to do that...
The point of me going to bed rest is to put off getting sicker for as long as I can because I soon as I do get sicker, you are coming out and you need to bake a little longer.
I have to go the hospital every couple days to have my blood pressure, blood and urine tested and as soon as they indicate that I have preeclampsia I am getting induced.
Also, I have an ultra sound on Monday morning to make sure that you are still doing good and if there is anything wrong with you... you guessed it, I am getting induced!
The only way for me not to be sick anymore is to have you. So, you staying in me longer is good for you, but bad for me. If I get too sick however, it could be bad for both of us... UH!
This pregnancy stuff is so weird! I just want you to be healthy!
Sitting on the couch all day has not been too bad. I have watched all the seasons of cake boss, re watched most of arrested development, and crocheted so much my hands hurt.
Sometimes I just get a little lonely, and hungry... Thank goodness I have friends that come to visit me and bring me food! What a lucky girl I am.
Winston, I love you... Just be healthy!

Bed rest

Dear Winston,

Yesterday was a little bit of a sad day. I went to the doctor for a regular appointment and found out (once again) that my blood pressure was high. About 140 over 98...  I was immediately sent back to the hospital to get monitored and get more testing done.
The final conclusion? BED REST.
I cried a little bit when I found out.
With it being the holidays and with you coming much sooner than anticipated there is still so much that I need to do... But if I can't do it from a computer, it's not gonna get done.
I will find out more information at my next Dr. appointment on Wednesday but at this point you are completely healthy and I am so glad for that! I will do anything to make sure that you are good and safe and stay in for as long as you can!

Pregnant Feet

Yes, I know my feet are gross. Someone (that would be me) needs a pedi pronto!

Yesterday I sent this picture to my mom.
She was at work (as a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital I am delivering you in) and she told me that I needed to come in immediately and have my blood pressure taken. I guess that she thought my feet  and ankles looked a little swollen???

So, on my lunch break I made the trip down to the hospital to get my blood pressure taken (mostly to please my mom). I thought it would be a short little nothing and I could grab some food, and be back to work before my hour lunch break was over.
I walked into the hospital lobby and waited for my mom to come take my BP. She took it and discovered that it was high for me. Then she continued to gawk at how swollen my feet, hands, and face were. It was awesome.
From there my mom suggested that I go over to triage to have some tests done...
So I headed into triage and got a little comfyy room. I got hooked up to a machine that monitored you and me and I also had my blood pressure taken every few minutes.
After a few minutes of getting settled in the room my nurse walked back in and looked at the screen that was monitoring me.
She told me that aapparently I had three contractions in a row without even realizing it. I continued to have contractions until I was given a shot and an IV.
Getting the IV was a little tricky. Since I was so swollen, they could not find a vien in my writs. Luckily though I had one vein that was shouting "pick me, pick me" in my right hand so I didn't have to get poked again and again.
I had some tests done and it turns out that I have a little infection that was was causing the contractions that I am now taking medication for.
Besides having the high BP I am still not exactly sure what caused the swelling of my body and considering that I am still swollen, I think this just might be something that I am going to have to deal with till the end of this pregnancy. The good news is that you are still doing great! You were moving around and kicking like crazy.
Even though I may have protested at first, I am certainly glad I went. I learned my lesson and will be much more careful from now on! I want you to be a big chunky baby and that's not gonna happen if I don't take care of myself and get you to bake longer.
So, for being my first little hospital visit/ scare since being pregnant it was not that bad. I just hope I don't have to go back till January!
(Or at least after my baby shower...)

Some things you should know.

Dear Winston,

People say funny things to you when you are pregnant. Some of these things are worth documenting. Maybe someday you can look back at these and laugh but more than anything I hope that you learn what not to say to a pregnant women (or just me when I'm pregnant).

1. Don't complain about how tired you are or how much your body aches around me when I am pregnant.
Now, I am not completely crazy and I know that peoples bodies still hurt and people still get tired when they are not pregnant but... please don't come to me to complain about it.

2. Don't tell a pregnant women that she looks like she is about to "POP!" especially if she is a month or two away from her due date. That will only make her want to punch you.

3. Along the same lines as the last one don't tell a pregnant women that she is way too small to be that far along. When it really comes down to it you can only control so much of how your body grows when it is pregnant. Everyone is different and bellies grow differently.

4. If you see that a pregnant women has food (or anything else) on the bottom of her shirt, tell her. I would really appreciate it if someone would let me know when I am walking around with crap on my shirt. When your stomach sticks out it is nearly impossible to see the bottom of your shirt unless you lift your shirt up to look at it and that can very unlady like.
I feel like I have no control over what my stomach does and by the end of the day, when I take my clothes off, I find that my stomach has been dipped into all different kinds of food without my knowledge. It's wonderful.

5. If you know any horror stories about pregnancy, miscarriages, or labor DO NOT SHARE THESE WITH A PREGNANT WOMAN. 
I don't know why people do this! The very second I started to let people know that I was pregnant they wanted to share with me the most horrific stories of pregnancy that they could think of... which in turn made me even more paranoid about everything.
If you have any stories about women who had the best pregnancy and enjoyed labor more than anything in the world and had perfect babies who slept through the night as soon as they got home please share THOSE stories with me. Thank you.

Everyday at work everyone feels the need to comment on how my stomach looks that day. It was cute at first, really, it was.  But now I feel like I am going to be examined and judged when I come into work everyday and it kind of makes me uncomfortable.
Here is an example of what happens...
I walk into work after my lunch break and walk by a group of women talking. One of them will stop me and the women will stand back, and stare at me. Then one by one they will start commenting.
Saying things like,
"Oh, you got much bigger after lunch."
" You look like you are getting really close."
"I bet you are peeing a lot now."
"I remember when I was pregnant... "Cue random story.
"You are way too small to be that far along. You should eat more."

These are really things that people have said to me since being pregnant. The last one is my least favorite. Well, pretty much any comment about my size (unless it's my Dr. who actually knows) does not make me super happy. Unless you follow it up with a, "wow, you really look great!"

To end this rant I want to share with you a little story about my Wal Mart experience.
One night Steven and I were checking out of Walmart and the lady on the register just stared at me.
Finally, as we were about to leave she says,
"Are you really pregnant or are you just wearing a shirt that makes you look like you are?"
Now, in her defense I have seen plenty of girls and wondered the same exact thing. However, I would never dream of asking them.
I kind of admire her forwardness... However awkward it may have been.

Now, if you want to make me really happy, say these things to me,

1. You are really glowing!
Not really even sure what this means but I know it is something good so I will take it!

2. You are probably really tired. Why don't you sit down while I rub your feet and back?... That one does not happen nearly as often as I would like.

3. Your have the perfect pregnant belly!

4. Pregnancy really suits you.

5. You are the most beautiful pregnant women in the whole world!... too much?

Winston, I want to remember these things for when your wife is pregnant (in many, many years from now).
I love you Winston. I can not wait to meet you!!!
We bought you a crib and I am so, so, so excited for it to get here and to set it up!!! I hope that you are getting ready because we sure are!

Just thinking...

Hey Winston,

See you next month!

(Feels so weird/ good to say that!)