1 Week Old!

Clearly I missed my 41 Week update, but as you can see we were a bit busy last week! Last week we finally welcomed Baby Beeb into the world. Mom, Baby and Dad are all doing well!

Birth Story

I decided early on in my pregnancy that I didn’t want birth to be something that happened to me-I wanted to participate in the amazing miracle of delivering my baby. To prepare, we had taken a 10 week Bradley class. I remained active throughout the entire pregnancy and focused on staying healthy to reduce or eliminate any high risk factors. I felt strong, confident in my body, and confident in my partner’s ability to help me through. Then we hit week 41.

It seems most women have strong feelings about their pregnancies. Either they loved being pregnant or hated it. Honestly, for me I was pretty indifferent for the first 8 months. I kept up with my normal life (for the most part) and didn’t really “feel pregnant.” I am so happy I had such an amazing pregnancy, but when  my body suddenly woke up an realized in the last few weeks that I was growing a human, my will started to fade. I got uncomfortable. I developed severe carpal tunnel in my right hand, which left my fingers numb. I saw my due date pass. I was fully aware that most first time moms see their due date come and go, but marching towards that date for 9 months really does a number on you. So there we were, in week 41. Since we were past our estimated due date, each OB appointment consisted of a Non-Stress Test (NST) to see if baby’s heart rate is thriving and an ultrasound to measure fluids and other markers of baby’s happiness. Both my 40 week and 41 week appointments went fine, through each time we had to go over time on the NST for baby to pass, which is nerve wracking to say the least. After all our preparation, our patience had run out (and probably the fact that we were seeing an OB and not a midwife influenced us) and we scheduled an induction for Wednesday February 4 at 7am.

Tuesday, February 3

My morning slowly marched on. I felt so frustrated, like my body that I was once so confident in had failed me. Why didn’t it know how to go into labor! I was also scared. There was some peace in knowing tomorrow would be the day, but as I imagined how the morning would unfold after being induced, I also imagined my hopes for a natural birth fading away. Pitocin starts the slippery slope of interventions, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to hold out. To hopefully find some relaxation, I went for a prenatal massage. Not surprisingly, my mind was spinning with worries about tomorrow, and I couldn’t get fully relaxed. In fact, at the end I noticed my right arm was shaking. As I got up to get dressed and leave, my entire body started convulsing. I thought this was strange. I shook all the way to my car, and had to coach myself through driving home. Why was I shaking so hard? Was I having a panic attack? Could nerves do this to me? I also felt pretty achy in my hips and lower back, but that could just be being 10 months pregnant. I felt kind of nauseated too. When I got home, I crawled into bed to try to warm up and stop the shaking. If I was getting the flu, what terrible timing! This only compounded my fears for tomorrow! Would I have enough strength to make it though labor sick? I took my temperature, and it was normal, though Peter started to get concerned. I was shaking so hard. We took my temperature again about an hour later, and it was 100.4 degrees. He got on the phone with my doctor and explained what had transpired. They advised us to come into the office and we quickly gathered our things to head out. While we waited to be seen, Peter started taking my pulse, and found it was quite elevated. Sure enough, once we were seen I still had a fever and elevated heart rate. Thankfully, blood pressure was normal, but something wasn’t right in my body. We did another NST, and baby was not happy. Her poor little heart rate was sky high (in the 180s) and pretty flat. For reference, you want to see variability because it shows the baby is reacting. The NST also measure contractions, I still wasn’t showing any. I clearly had some kind of infection or the flu. The baby was stressed and needed to come out sooner than our induction scheduled for the next day. So the doctor (not my primary OB FYI) sent us straight to the hospital. I wonder how things may have been different had it been my primary OB I had been seeing.

Approximately 6:30PM

We went to the Labor and Delivery entrance, and I shivered up to the desk to check in. To make matters a bit more complicated, I was group B streptococcus positive. Normally this isn’t that big of a deal, you just get some antibiotics before delivery, but because I had a fever, there was a higher risk of the baby getting sick. The goal for the evening was to reduce my fever (they just gave me a bunch of acetaminophen) and two rounds of penicillin. The doc called and said she would be in around the time my second round of antibiotics finished to get things rolling. So we settled in for a long night. Because of the baby’s distress, I had to be hooked up to continuous fetal monitoring, which I remember frustrated me beyond belief. Every time I had to use the bathroom, we had to unplug all these contraptions and roll my IV to the bathroom. I felt like I had to go constantly. In retrospect, this may have been an early sign we should have noticed, but I attributed it to nerves and the massive amounts of IV fluids being pumped into me. I needed to get hydrated fast to help reduce my fever and lessen the burn penicillin can cause when administered via IV.

Approximately 7:30PM

Andy and Hillary arrived with a few more things we needed from home. We had left in such a hurry we didn’t bring any of our essentials that were to be packed last minute in the hospital bag (computers, chargers, etc.) I don’t know what we would have done without them. Hillary was my doula, and Andy was going to shuttle back and forth of take care of Lacey. By this point, my fever had broken, and the baby’s heart rate was starting to look better. The nurse started coming in to ask me about my pain levels. I figured this was standard, if I was in labor someone would have told me, right? I was in the doctor’s office just an hour or two earlier with no signs of labor. Huh. Well I was pretty uncomfortable, but that was mainly due to the IV I really didn’t want sticking in my wrist and the extremely tight fetal monitoring belt ties around my waist that kept slipping off the baby and trying to pick up my heart rate instead. This was around the time I started looking at the monitor. I thought perhaps I might be experiencing some contractions, but couldn’t tell for sure. I looked to the monitor, which shows my stats and well as every other room on the floor. These other women had these crazy charts, showing contractions all over the place, and peaked pretty high on the graph. Every time I felt something, or thought I was feeling something, I turned to check mine. It was pretty pitiful. I was flat across the bottom of the graph and might get a little spike. I thought, if this is labor, clearly it must get much worse because my graph sucks!

Approximately 10PM

I started to feel some more intense pelvic pain, and thought again, wouldn’t someone tell me if I was in labor? In retrospect, I should have known myself! After all that planning, our birth class drilling into us signposts to look out for… still, I was stuck in this mindset that my body had failed on the whole learn how to labor part of the class and I was nervously waiting for my OB to arrive to start that terrifying induction. Meanwhile, I guess my body decided it was time to get on board with this labor. Hillary was timing what I now realize were contractions, and they were coming about every 2-5 minutes apart. I still thought, that can’t be right. If I were in labor, they would start every 20 minutes or so, and we would be dancing to the awesome playlists Hillary made to help me cope. Instead, we sat in a quiet room (occasionally we played the calming mix she made) and I kind of retreated into myself. I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, or be touched by anyone, until a contraction happened. At one point I decided a keyhole on one of the cabinets in the room helped me through. As I retreated into myself, I recall grunting at Peter “move!” After the contraction ended, I said sorry, you were in front of the keyhole. Haha. As they increased in intensity, having a focal point seemed less important. Peter would come over to hug me and I remember grabbing his shoulders and slightly hanging down. That seemed to help. But still I thought, this can’t be labor, right? Someone would tell me! Around this time the nurse came in for another check on my pain level. After pausing, I said, now I am fine, but do you mean during a contraction? That was the first time I acknowledged I had been having them. I reported a 5-6 level pain. I remember seeing Peter’s face and he looked shocked. I couldn’t tell if he thought I should have reported higher based on my actions, or if he was surprised it felt that bad to me. I started to get anxious again, looking at the clock. The OB was supposed to get here around midnight, and the 11 o’clock hour seemed to crawl by. I was still fascinated by the monitor. The entire evening, after I felt a contraction, I immediately turned to check how I measured up. My graph still looked pretty wimpy. I did have a regular pattern now though, with clearly marked peaks for contractions, but they still looked so small compared to everyone else. I though, gosh, this must mean I have so much farther to go. The only picture we took during what I now realize was in fact my labor, is pretty hilarious. It is time-stamped almost 2 hours before delivery, and I am leaning in the bed smiling. At least I was in good spirits!

Midnight came and went, and the OB hadn’t arrived. I still felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but now during contractions I felt like I had to cross my leg to hold everything in. In retrospect, this was probably the urge to push. I started chanting to myself, alternating between “I’m OK, I’m OK” and “You’re doing it, you’re doing it.” She finally arrived around 1AM. At this point, I think we all knew I was in labor, the question was how far. I thought maybe 7 cm, and I was preparing myself to look to Peter and Hillary to help me find the strength to push on without pain meds. I had come this far without even realizing it, I could surely do a little more. To my surprise, when she did an internal exam the OB said, just as I suspected, you are through transition and about 10 cm. Let’s get ready to push!

Hold on, 10 cm, how is this possible? Who cares! I might not have had the labor I imagined, having fun distractions at home before going in for the real deal. But I ended up making it though labor drug free, somehow without even realizing it for most of the time, in about 6 hours! She broke my water (it really does feel like a warm gush) and everything happened pretty quickly after that. I wanted to use a birth bar, so the nurse set that up. We waited through another contraction or two before the doctor came back, and then it was go time!

Sometime after 1AM

Pushing really did feel so much better. It was like a bunch of pressure had built up inside of me, and pushing released some of it. After one contraction with pushing, the baby’s heart rate started to drop. So we switched positions. From a semi-seated angle, we could see the baby’s progression much more easily. The doctor started to get concerned about the baby’s heart rate, which frightened me. She grabbed a mirror and set it up in front of me, so I could see the baby’s progress. WOW. Within another set of pushes (we did 3 per contraction) I could see the head. WOW. WOW. WOW. It really was amazing. I remember the OB getting more and more concerned, and she started talking about urgency in getting the baby out, or we might need to do an emergency C-Section. Oh hell no. I was going to do this. I am this far, I can see her, and I am NOT having surgery. With a few more pushes she was almost there. The OB said she needed to come out on the next one because the baby wasn’t looking happy. When I felt the next wave I pushed with everything I had. I couldn’t see the mirror anymore, but I could feel the difference. The OB confirmed what I was feeling, that the head was out. I am chalking it up to a mixture of adrenaline, disbelief, and determination, because I don’t remember this being painful at all. I had completely lost all sense of time, but it seemed to take forever before she announced there are the shoulders, and the rest of our baby slipped right out. After a few seconds I heard her cry! I did it! I looked to my left and saw Peter crying. Because of her heart rate issues, the NICU nurses had to see her first, instead of doing immediate skin-to-skin with me. Peter went with her to the corner of the room where they examined her. Hillary stayed with me and then went to check on the baby too. I had already delivered the placenta and gotten cleaned up by the OB by the time our baby girl was ready to come back to me. You hear people talk about the body’s hormones masking any feeling of pain, and creating a natural high after birth. I felt like I was on cloud nine. I felt proud. As I held our baby girl in my arms I felt a joy I never knew existed. We had both had a pretty unexpected evening, but we pulled through together. Josie Marilyn Mullins came into this world at 1:19AM weighing 8lbs, 9ozs and measuring 21 inches long.

40 Weeks

How far along? 40 Weeks and 4 Days. As I write this we are moving into week 41. Yes, I am still pregnant. Yes, this is frustrating. According to Peter, my face in this picture reads "I'm over it."
Baby is the size of a(n): Jackfruit...whatever that is!
Maternity Clothes? Still living in yoga pants (both maternity and pre-maternity), maternity sweaters, and normal yoga tops. Normal tops are a bit short now...
Sleep: Still interrupted. This has been a pretty mentally taxing week. As if I don't spend enough of the day wondering if each twinge or contraction is finally "it" when I wake up I think maybe my body is telling me its time. No such luck. :(
Best moment of the week: While this might not be classified as a "best moment," it was pretty interesting! Hillary and I got street harassed. Not sure if being hollered at 40+ weeks pregnant is flattering or very strange. Especially when I sport a giant coat that resembles a garbage bag...
One pretty proud moment for me was realizing that at almost 41 weeks I am still holding my own in regular yoga classes. I have started to feel pretty uncomfortable over the last week or so, but sticking with my practice helps me feel in tune with my body and calm my mind down a bit. I am only making it to one or two regular classes (the rest are prenatal) but it still makes me feel accomplished!
Worst moment of the week: I started to avoid answering messages, which makes me feel pretty crappy. If I haven't responded to you, I apologize! We feel so blessed to be surrounded (both near and far) by friends and family wishing us well, but for my own sanity I had to stop saying "no baby yet!" I am already pretty bummed out that we haven't gotten to meet our little girl yet, so vocalizing that just started to become too difficult. We will keep you all informed once we have some news to share, until then we appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers!
Missing the most: Right hand still numb. Also missing having more options in my wardrobe. I am fully aware that the average first time pregnancy is more than 41 weeks, yet for some reason I really didn't see myself still being pregnant now. I can't wait to wear some different clothes again!
Cravings: I think I am back on a milk binge again. Pretty sure I drank a gallon by myself over the course of a few days.
Wedding rings on or off? Ringless!
Belly button in or out? FLAT. With the raised ridge encircling the flatness. I have been preoccupied worrying about my belly button for so long now! It is strange to think that soon (hopefully!) I won't have this obsession. What on earth will I stress about??
Looking forward to: Having this baby! Maybe she will decide to arrive during the Super Bowl? Maybe she will continue to take her sweet time in there. Also, my appointments now consist of a non-stress test (about 20-30 minutes hooked up to a monitor), the normal exam, and a 30 minute ultrasound to check baby's movement, breathing, and to measure the fluid levels to make sure baby is still safe in there. We have another appointment on Monday, so maybe she could cooperate and make her debut this weekend? :) In any case, I just want to meet her. One way or another, we get to do that this week, which is pretty exciting!

39 Weeks

How far along? 39 Weeks and 3 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Watermelon
Maternity Clothes? Still living in yoga pants (both maternity and pre-maternity), maternity sweaters, and normal yoga tops.
Sleep: So I guess it is training for what life will be like soon...I wake up every night, sometimes more than once. For no apparent reason too!
Best moment of the week: What a week! Lacey met a baby! One of Peter's classmates has a 5 month old, and it was the first baby Lacey has met up close and personal. She was petrified! For the most part, she seemed cautiously afraid, she licked the baby's legs a lot, and seemed generally afraid. Thankfully, she ended up getting some alone time to get some good sniffs, and it went really well. She was still pretty jumpy, but definitely seems like she will be OK with a baby in the house. Peter on the other hand...at least his instinct was to hold the child like a newborn. A 5 month old didn't seem to appreciate this...but hopefully our baby girl will! :)
SEAHAWKS. NFC Champions. Need I say more?
Also, a pretty great (and weird) moment was logging off my work laptop on Friday. I officially made Friday my last day of work before leave. I have been so stressed about leaving things in good shape for someone else to pick up, that having a definitive end date brought me some peace and closure. I am going to try to focus on relaxing from here on out, and hopefully that will make this baby want to make her debut! I even got another prenatal massage, which was amazing!
Worst moment of the week: Still being pregnant. And being constantly reminded that I am still pregnant. Trust me, I am more aware than anyone that I am still carrying a baby inside of me.
Missing the most: The numbness in my hand is still pretty bad, so I am still missing having feeling in my right hand.
Cravings: DONUTS! The long awaited opening of a new donut shop took place this week, and boy are they amazing! It is called Sugar Shack, and I think they are the tastiest thing I have ever eaten. If anyone is in Alexandria (or Richmond, VA where they are from) I highly recommend the strawberry frosted. Seriously. SO. GOOD.
Wedding rings on or off? Ringless!
Belly button in or out? FLAT. With a raised ridge encircling the flatness. I think I can feel the center now though when I lay down. Yikes!
Looking forward to: Having this baby! I kind of switch back and forth between being glad she is still hanging out in there, because labor seems slightly terrifying, and super frustrated because I will most certainly be the first person to be pregnant forever. As I write this, we have switched over to 40 weeks, which means entering month 10. I am not a spicy food person, but maybe I should branch out? Any other ideas to meet our baby sooner would be much appreciated!

38 Weeks

How far along? 38 Weeks and 3 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Pumpkin!
Maternity Clothes? Still living in yoga pants (both maternity and pre-maternity), maternity sweaters, and normal yoga tops. Shoes have become my enemy.
Sleep: Has gotten much worse this week! :( I wake up every few hours, my breathing is pretty poor (nasal passages are completely constricted), and we have been "camping" in our guest bedroom due to the smoke situation in our bedroom. While kind of neat at first, the three, make that four, of us in a double bed has become pretty noticeable.
Best moment of the week: Lacey's 4th Birthday! She will always be the first child to us. Our little fur baby has been with us for a little more than 3 1/2 years, and we adore her. I think she was pretty pleased to still be getting all the attention this week. Her world is about to change soon, so I am cuddling up on her while I still can!
Worst moment of the week: Situation with the smokers next door continued this week. They supposedly got an air purifier and maintenance was going to go in on Friday to just seal off their bathroom vent. The theory is that there is a clog preventing the air from going outside, and may be pumping to our unit instead. It has been one day since they sealed it off, and we noticed a big improvement. We are going to give it one more day, and are hoping to move back into our bedroom tomorrow. Note to self: NEVER live in a multifamily building that allows smoking.
Also, our disappointment with my OB practice continued. We waited a long time again, had a pretty non-eventful appointment with the other physician, and gathered our things to leave. Just as we were approached the exit, they chased me down, ushered me into the nearest room, and all I heard was pre-eclampsia. Well Yikes! The way they approached me made it seem like I needed to be rushed to the hospital. I was clearly upset, and they said they needed to take some blood (PS I have a huge fear of needles) and re-take my blood pressure to rule it out. My initial blood pressure reading was "slightly elevated" they said. Of course, thinking of the impending blood draw, and my plans for a natural birth shattering before me, my blood pressure became extremely elevated! What do you expect! When I asked what the initial reading that concerned them was, it was only 2 points higher than last week. Big woop. No need to scare me like that. After I calmed down a bit, they re-took it and it was of course normal. They still took three vials of blood from me. I totally understand that pre-eclampsia is a serious condition that they need to look out for, but how they handled the situation was completely unnecessary.
Missing the most: Feeling in my hands. :( My body has decided to finally recognize that it is pregnant, and unfortunately that means the joints in my fingers and wrists are swelling, and causing some numbness in my fingers.
Cravings: Nothing notable this week.
Wedding rings on or off? I think I have finally admitted defeat. I am ringless right now.
Belly button in or out? Oh dear, still super flat. Really flat. Like, I might not even have a belly button if it flattens much more.
Looking forward to: Playoff games tomorrow! Also, I am looking forward to our 39 week appointment. Gosh, I thought that might be the last one I had to make, so I didn't make any appointments after that. I am starting to accept the fact that I probably will be going to a 40 week appointment too. Regardless of how frustrating our experience has been lately, I am still excited to see where things are at, and probably finalize my last day at work. Not knowing an end date has probably made this more stressful, so that will give me some peace of mind.

Full Term Baby! 37 Weeks

How far along? 37 Weeks exactly. First pic is from the prenatal photo shoot for Refresh!
Baby is the size of a(n): Winter Melon
Maternity Clothes? Mainly living in yoga pants (both maternity and pre-maternity), maternity sweaters, and normal yoga tops. My work appropriate attire has become pretty dismal, so it is a good thing I will be working from home exclusively from here on out!
Sleep: I definitely wake up a few times throughout the night, but that is probably a good thing because it reminds me to switch sides.
Best moment of the week: Finally seeing our doctor! This was a crazy week, and a bit frustrating with the practice I go to. My appointment on Tuesday was canceled, which turned out to be a great change since it took 2 hours to go anywhere from the snow that morning. We showed up Wednesday, and the Doc had just left, and no other physician was in the office to see me. Finally, on Friday afternoon we got to see my doctor. Being days away from 38 weeks, it was pretty exciting and reassuring to hear things are moving along! Baby is doing great, staying in good position, and my body is prepping for the big day. I know it is tough for Peter to join me at these appointments, especially this week with all of the changes, but I am so grateful to have him by my side supporting me. It is crazy to think how soon we will get to meet out little girl!
Worst moment of the week: What a week it has been. First, it has been a pretty frustrating experience with my doctor this week. Second, we have been having some issues with cigarette smoke being pumped into our apartment through the vents. It has been occurring on and off for the last 2 months, and we have been complaining to the management company continuously. It seems to get better, and then get much worse. Thursday night, it smelled like a bowling ally in our bedroom. It had gotten so bad we couldn't sleep in there, and we had to move all of the freshly washed baby bedding and co-sleeper out of the room. It makes me so nervous to have our tiny human with tiny lungs sleeping in those conditions. We are hoping maintenance can figure out how to prevent this from continuing, and soon!
Missing the most: Shoes. I did so well for such a long time, but most of my shoes are no longer comfy options. :( I keep telling myself I have almost reached the end!
Cravings: I guess yogurt. I started eating a bunch of yogurt this week for some reason. It seems I may have a dairy obsession, since previously it was milk.
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring on intermittently.
Belly button in or out? The battle continues. Through clothing, it looks out. The top ridge it poking out from the inside belly button trying to push out above where the hole is. I feel like every time I move it is going to shift and pop out. Ahh!
Looking forward to: Tonight is Hillary's birthday! Excited to celebrate her this evening, and of course watch the Seahawks game! Unfortunately for her, when birthday falls on a playoff weekend, compromises need to be made. Baby Mullins may be in the same boat someday. :)

36 Weeks

How far along? 36 Weeks and 3 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Honeydew
Maternity Clothes? No change-pants yes, shirts both.
Sleep: Pretty good considering we are now in month 9! A bit restless, but nothing too bad. Thankfully I mostly sleep through the night, only waking up from worrying about getting things done (or about my belly button).
Best moment of the week: Being able to go on a date! The two (well, 3) of us rarely go out by ourselves. We tried a local Italian restaurant in our neighborhood on New Years Eve, and it was soooo good. We loved it so much we went back a few nights later. ;) We kept it pretty low key on New Year's, but it was nice to have some time for just us.
We also had our 36 week check up, which means from here on out we will be visiting the doc every week. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by! Baby is still in good position, but unfortunately no signs of imminent birth.
To finish the week, I became a prenatal model! Hillary's yoga studio asked me to model for prenatal promotional materials, which was kind of neat! Their marketing/photographer person took photos of me in lots of different positions that highlight the belly. I can't wait to see how they turn out!
Worst moment of the week: Hearing comments from co-workers about my preggo self. I really don't understand why people feel obligated or entitled to comment on any changing body parts due to pregnancy. One woman in my office has taken to insisting my face if puffy, and has told me multiple times this week. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!
Missing the most: Family! It was so nice to have my parents here, and I wish both of our parents could be here when the baby comes.
Cravings: None for me, but sympathy pregnancy symptoms manifest in frozen custard for Peter.
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring is still on. Missing my normal rings. :(
Belly button in or out? It has gotten even more flat, if that is possible. I can see the skin closest to the hole is lighter, because it is usually inside and not exposed! I still wake up sometimes panicked about the status of my belly button. I think I can touch the dead center now. Weird!
Looking forward to: Hitting the 37 week mark this weekend means that we have made to to full term! Yay! Now we just need to make sure baby stays in good position, and get ready to welcome our little bundle of joy into this world. Bags packed: mostly. Changing table: finally built. Laundry:done. Almost there!

35 Weeks

How far along? 35 Weeks and 3 Days
Baby is the size of a(n): Coconut (how is this bigger than butternut squash?)
Maternity Clothes? No change-pants yes, shirts both.
Sleep: Pretty good for me. Not so great for Peter. ;) My nasal passages have been pretty tight for most of the pregnancy, and my attempt to breathe at night is keeping poor Peter up!
Best moment of the week: The holidays!! Since no airline would let me on a plane after this weekend, and Dr.'s orders included avoiding planes for the final 2 months, we were home bound for the holidays. Unfortunately this means our home in Virginia, not home to Seattle. My parents came out to join us for Christmas this year, and Hillary's mom Amy came out too. Best moment of the week would have to be on Christmas. I made some yummy monkey bread from scratch for breakfast, which unfortunately left some gooey topping on the bottom of the oven. Feeling a bit pooped after standing most of the morning, I left dinner preparations to Peter. This was his first attempt at being head chef, and he did an excellent job. However...the gooey cinnamon topping had other plans for him. Most of the meal cooked slow and low. However the final 30 minutes or so he was trying to roast some veggies at a higher temp. Hot oven plus spilled sugary topping makes for a lot of smoke! The smoke alarms started going off, the dogs started barking, and chaos ensued. Thankfully we were able to air most of the apartment out, and calm the puppies down. Lesson learned, don't forget about the spill in the oven before cooking. :)
Worst moment of the week: Still getting a bit beat up by this baby! I had a few more days of sharp pains in my upper right quadrant, kind of like a muscle being pulled out of my body. Thankfully that has gone away again.
Missing the most: Being in Seattle for the holidays. It was a strange year. I loved having my parents out here and having them meet Hillary's mom too, but I did miss some of the traditions of the northwest. Going downtown shopping with my mom, seeing more family at holiday meals, and spending time with Peter's parents to name a few.
Cravings: Milk, milk, and more MILK!
Wedding rings on or off? Old anniversary ring is staying on. Missing my normal rings. :(
Belly button in or out? Still very, very, very flat.
Looking forward to: Our 36 week appointment this week! I am excited to make sure she is still positioned correctly and see how things are going. My plans to get ready for baby didn't really pan out last week, so I will hopefully make some progress this week. Also looking forward to toasting to the new year. Happy New Year everyone!