E.R.

No, not the show. I got to take a little trip to the emergency room last night. I'd been having pains on the right side of my stomach throughout the day. I figured it had to be trapped gas, a common side effect of a c-section. I took a walk, and lots of Gas-X, but it didn't help, and as the pain got worse, I was having a hard time breathing. I called my doctor and she told me to go to the emergency room where they had "imaging devices" to check me out. It was really stressful, because Samuel's family is slowly trickling into town, and he had taken some of them surfing. (Normally he wouldn't have left me, but his mom arrived a few days early, so we figured I'd be fine.)

Unfortunately, I couldn't get ahold of him, him being in the ocean and all, and he had the car and the carseat. I called someone for a ride and reluctantly left my sweet baby with her grandma, and a few bags of breastmilk. Samuel got my message shortly after that and met me at the hospital.

To make a long story short, they ran a zillion tests and drugged me up big time. I had a fever and they found signs of infection in my uterus and urinary tract. Luckily they were able to give me some IV antiobiotics, then some oral antibiotics, and discharged me.

I missed Kalia BIG TIME! And I was only away from her for six hours. But I wasn't able to breastfeed her for 24 hours because of the drugs I'd been given at the hospital. Luckily, a friend of mine has a 3 month old baby, and she has lots of frozen milk, which she generously shared with us.

Well, I saw my OB-GYN this morning, and she said that the infection probably started in the uterus as a result of my long labor, and the fact that I was dilated for so long...(leaving me wide open to germs and infection, pardon the pun.) She also told me I could breastfeed while on antibiotics (whew!) but that if my fever came back, I had to go back to the ER where they'd probably admit me and make me stay there with IV antibiotics until I was better.

MY WORD!! Who'd have ever thought. It's been really stressful, and the pain from the infection is so strong that pain killer only takes the edge off. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, after all, I don't know any different, this is all just part of RECOVERY to me, but anyway, it's been a crazy few days.

On one last (POSITIVE) note, I will tell you that I found out that a lot of my weight gain (especially at the end- 8 pounds in 2 weeks!) was water weight. I have lost 29 pounds in one week, isn't that crazy? It helps that 9 of it was baby. Sure makes me feel hopeful about getting back in shape. 15 lbs to go, and the nursing will help, no doubt.

Just wanted to share the good (and bad) news. Thanks again for all your love and support.

P.S. Kalia graduated out of her newborn diapers today. She lasted a whole week. She's already gained back the weight she lost, plus 2 ounces. We found out that she is 90th percentile in height and weight, and only 50th percentile in her head measurements, so no, she doesn't have an unusually big noggin. :)
Here's a few pictures:Me, my nursing shield, and my mother-in-law.Notice the feet!
This girl loves to sleep with her hands and arms UN-swaddled.
I swear she's not as big as she looks in this picture: :)

Birth Announcement

I am just trying out my hand at digital scrapbooking. I spent the last week of my pregnancy working on this- and I just e-mailed it out. I still have a ton to learn,and if you have any tips or favorite sites, please let me know!

A Long Labor means a Long Story

SHE WAS SO WORTH IT!!
I couldn't decide if I should put up all these pictures and the Labor Story, but then I realized, this blog is so much a journal to me now, how could I not? I am going to print it all out and glue it in. to my actual journal later. You don't have to read it all, but enjoy the pictures. (And notice how swollen my face is at the beginning of the 28 hours of labor, versus at the end. It's kinda funny. Even funnier, you should have seen my thighs! They pretty much quadrupled!)So, Tuesday I saw my doctor, and she said I was only 1 cm dilated (still) and it was probably a few days away. I had some on/off contractions during the day, and wouldn't you know it, just as I'm getting ready to go to bed around midnight, they started coming regularly. But they were manageable. Still, I started writing them down to see how far apart they were. I didn't sleep a wink. 17 minutes, the next one 13 minutes, then 8, 9, 5, 7,6...they stayed between 7-8 until 3 a.m., when I had to wake Samuel to help me count through them. I also had him apply counter pressure to my back, since that's where I was feeling the pain. We were wondering how long it would take, and as the morning approached they were still about 7 minutes apart. We decided he should go to work, since it's only a mile away. Then, as soon as he left, they started getting stronger and 5 minutes apart. I called 4 friends and my sister. 4 out of 5 said go to the hospital. So I called Samuel back, and at 10 a.m. they admitted me telling me I was 90% effaced and 2-3 cm. NICE! I thought labor might go quick.

Oh so wrong. :) Here I am with my belly, waiting to get checked.I was trying to be strong, and not ask for an epidural too soon, so they wouldn't turn me down. But the back labor, as it's known, is believed to produce more painful contractions than regular ones. Still, I held out, and the nurse brought me a birthing ball, and that combined with breathing (TOTALLY HELPS!) more counter pressure from Samuel, and counting up and down through contractions, bought me another hour or two. (Don't I look so focused? Yeah, you have no choice BUT to focus.)
When we finally had a minute alone, Samuel gave me a beautiful blessing, and I knew that everything would be okay. That gave me peace throughout the long and hard ordeal.According to Samuel's notes, I got the blessing at 1 p.m., and the epidural at 1:45 p.m. They let Samuel watch it all, and he's still telling people stories of how crazy and cool it was. All I know is, I was contracting so hard while they were doing it, and then all of a sudden the pain MELTED away and I was literally in heaven.Next, my Dr. made a visit to the hospital and found that my water had not fully broken, as we thought. She called it a "forebag" which I'd never heard of. It was slowing down my labor-- I was still only at a 3. I was bummed. An hour or two later I made it to a 4, and they inserted a catheter since I wasn't peeing on my own (too numb!).

The first of the complications began. Every time I laid on my left side, (supposedly the "better side" for getting blood and oxygen to the baby) Kalia's heart rate would drop, drastically. They put me on oxygen, and made me stay on it, for the rest of labor (10 more hours).It wasn't helping enough. Next they decided they needed to put in more amniotic fluid (a substitute) hoping it would move the cord around, since it was possible that it was getting clamped or pinched or something like that. They inserted another cord/catheter thing and started flushing it into me. 4:30 p.m...and I'm only at a 5.

I talked to my mom on the phone at this point. She's sure I will dilate quickly from there, since the 1-4 part is usually the hardest. That didn't happen either.
At 8:15 p.m., my epidural suddenly wore off. The pain was unbelievable. It was still dripping into me, but within minutes I could feel full contractions, in the back, and also spreading like fire in the front. This hospital doesn't let you adjust it yourself. They had to bring the anaesthesiologist back in to do it-- and he was in a C-section, so I had to just wait it out. I tried to bear the pain, with Samuel desperately trying to help, but it took about 45 minutes for the dr. to come. I won't lie. I couldn't hardly bear it, and I cried several times.
I get my "booster" and they checked me again. This time I was sure I was almost there, after all, I'd felt the pain of those contractions! Bad news. ONLY dilated to a 6-7. AUGHH!! I couldn't believe it was taking so long. My doctor waited an hour and a half, then directed them to give me Pitocin to try to speed it up.
My epidural wore off again, this time the contractions were almost twice as strong, because you know that's what pitocin does. I was screaming for Samuel, begging for the Anaesthesiologist, and wouldn't you know it, he's in another c-section. More crying. He finally comes at 10:20 p.m. I hate him and love him all at the same moment.
The pitocin got me to a 9.5 at 10:55 p.m., but the baby wasn't moving down like she was supposed to. They waited another hour to see what happens.

Midnight: FREAKIN EPIDURAL WEARS OFF AGAIN. More crying- I am not as tough as I thought. I get another booster. Samuel's birthday comes and goes with me in labor the entire time. Baby doesn't land on his birthday.

1:30 a.m. I've been at a 10 for awhile. They have me push to see if I can get the baby to move down. (For those of you who know/care, the baby should have been at a "2" station, and you can push to a 4 station, and then out. My baby was at 0 station. She NEVER even made it to a 2. Ever.)I pushed and pushed and pushed. I was sooooooooo exhausted. I hadn't slept the night before, I hadn't eaten for 24 hours, and my pushing wasn't moving her. I developed a fever. They start filling me up with antibiotics at 2 a.m. I now have like, 8 monitors and 12 bags of stuff dripping into me (thus, the swelling, etc.)Oh yeah, and I threw up three times there towards the end. I can't decide if I'll put up the picture of me, trying not to throw up into the barf bag. It feels so personal.Well, at this point I had been dilated to a 10 for 3 hours with no baby dropping, and I had pushed for two hours (with an hour break in between.) The pushing was almost killing me. I felt like I had run a marathon, and then shown up at track practice and it was "400 sprints day", some of you know, where you line up, sprint a 400, stop and rest for 3 minutes, sprint another one, almost DIE at the end, then step up the line, sprint again. I will never be able to explain the exhaustion. I will say this- If I HAD been making progress, I probably could have gone on for one more hour, but when they finally leveled with me and told me that there was NO progress after all this, I knew that was the end of the pushing. They also told me that while I was pushing my guts out, fluid filled with meconium (baby poop) came out, which means the baby was in distress, and had a bowel movement, and it 's dangerous to them if they swallow it. It just confirmed that we needed to get her out soon.My doctor, over the phone, kindly explained and told me her opinion was that Kalia was just too big for my body to push out. I find it weird- I'm not a thin girl, just average, with average hips. But anyway, I also asked my nurse, and the resident who had been trying so hard to help me birth the baby, and they also confirmed what the doctor thought. My doctor did give me the option of pushing for ANOTHER hour, but I knew there was NO WAY I could do it, knowing what I knew. I accepted the C-section idea with SO much relief that I was done with my part. I had nothing left to give. Samuel didn't like the C-section idea at all, but later (after he saw Kalia's head) realized she wouldn't have come out any other way. (He said he could actually see a ring on her head that she was trying to mold to in order to get out, and it was way too small. )The C-section was a blur, and really quite awful for me. I was so drugged that I could barely stay awake and make sense of my surroundings. I was shaking SO bad, Samuel was holding my jaw shut. I was so groggy and nauseous, I wasn't even sure when I heard a little cry if it was my baby or not. Samuel watched the ENTIRE thing over the curtain, and was pretty fascinated by it all, and he said he only "got queasy once."
Here's the first picture of Kalia. It was 3:56 when they got her out. Notice her hands, stained yellowish green from the meconium. Poor girl. You can't see it here, but she had a very long cone head, from being in the birth canal for so long. Samuel described her as "marge simpson" which I INSIST he stop saying.Samuel showed me our baby Kalia at some point, then the doctor kindly gave me valium or something, and knocked me out. I was SO grateful.This is me a few hours later when I woke up. Aren't I gorgeous. LOL. This was the sweet nurse that coached me with pushing (and told me that I was one of the strongest pushers she'd ever seen. She was so sweet to reassure me that it wasn't my fault, and I loved her for it.)
Now you see some of the swelling right??Well, I held Kalia the next morning around 9. Love at first sight-- what more can I say.
It was all so worth it, and truly, I would do it again tomorrow for her if I had to. After three days at home with a newborn, we have yet to turn on the TV or radio. The Spirit she has brought into our home has been unbelievable, and we don't want to ruin it. I have cried EVERY day, tears of joy to have her. I can't believe the love I have for this little person, and I can't believe the love I have for my husband as he loves and adores her, and also me. He's changed every diaper and picked up everything I drop, brings me everything I need, helps me sit down, stand up, and he even cleaned and mopped today while I slept.I think I'll stop for now. Thanks for reading this far, if you made it. Here's a few more pictures (You KNOW we take like, 1000 a day!)
A few notes:

• We love the boppy pillow!
• It's so hot during the day, without our air conditioning on, which we're trying to use sparingly. Even little Kalia is hot, and prefers to chill in her diaper.
• I still have lots of swelling in my legs, face, and hands (not to mention stomach) that should be leaving within the week, I hope. Stomach swelling, yeah, much longer than that.
  
• Recovery is going well, I'm sore everywhere, and the incision hurts, but I'll be just fine.
• I love love LOVE when Kalia curls up into a little ball on my chest. Even though she was 9 pounds, she's still so tiny:

Saying prayers?That beautiful smile we love:And that's all for now, folks!

P.S. Her Name

Kalia (pronounced Kuh-lee-uh) is Hawaiian for beauty
Ruth is my grandmas name, Ruth Esplin, in St. George (we love you!)
BIGler- 9 pound baby, hey, its in the name.
:)

We're home!

Wow, you guys, I have SO much to tell you. But first, because I know you've all been waiting for them, some pictures of Kalia. (AUGH! I AM SO IN LOVE WITH HER!)
Most of them are ones I took with Samuel, she looks most like herself I think.

4 a.m. picture-- she was so fussy all night and finally fell asleep next to daddy. He's so whooped over her.
Do you guys remember this ultrasound picture from week 26 where the ultrasound tech was all excited about her hair? Well, it just kept growing. It's almost long enough in the back for a little pony tail.



Proud Papa
Leaving the Hospital- Cute carseat cover, eh??Lots more to come. I have to go now and warm up the footballs (milk came in today and baby can barely nurse! Working on that. She's done really her first few days though!) We're glad to be home, and it was so fun to read all your comments.

To all who have been waiting

I just saw that Tara posted the info, too, so some of this is a repeat of what she said...

Haven't we all been waiting? This just in--after a very LONG and hard labor, it was determined that Heather would need a C-section. She had several rounds of epidural, which helped with the pain, but she just couldn't seem to push the baby out and was, understandably, exhausted.

Kalia Ruth Bigler was born at 3:56 am. She weighed 9 lbs 1/2 oz and 21 inches long (hence the need for a C-section, where did the big baby come from?). She has lots of dark hair and quite a large conehead. She did have a bit of meconium, and was grunting more than she was crying, so she's being watched fairly closely, although Samuel feels she is doing better. Heather is "a little loopy," according to Sam, as they have given her some drugs to help her rest. I'm sure MUCH more will come in the hours, days and weeks, but just know that she is finally here. YAY!

slowly but surely

Tara here. I just talked to Heather and she is at a 5. she had her epidural and in her exact words "It's Heaven". She was having a lot of back pain with the contractions cause the baby is turned the other way (i think that is what she said) or something to that effect. but i guess the nurse told her that it makes contractions a lot worse. She said she is trying to sleep but its hard for her. Its almost 5pm her time so hopefully Baby B. will be here soon!!

The Real Thing

Krystal here. Just talked to Samuel. Heather just had the epidural and they were waiting for another check to see how she's progressing. Hopefully she's feeling much better right about now. Tara and I will try to keep this thing updated throughout the night (Tara, call me and I'll give you Heather's info so you can post if it gets too late for me).

Is This It?

Can't type much...contractions coming...for the last 9 hours. Dr. said go get checked. We're going. Next entry will either be a "she's here" or "false alarm"
love you guys
Heather

Update

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments! It is fun that you guys are almost as excited as we are for the baby!! Aughh!! I can't believe I'm really going to be a mom. So, now we're 4 days from the due date. First I have to tell you about my repentance as of last night.

I was feeling kinda sorry for myself, having to go to the end of my 40 weeks, and possibly longer. I've been trying all the labor-inducers, and while they bring on contractions, they don't hurt much, and I finally realized SHE'S NOT COMIN' OUT 'TIL SHE'S GOOD AND READY!!

So Samuel and I were talking last night, and I had a major realization...you moms could probably vouch for this best, but motherhood is the most selfless thing in the world-- there's no more "ME" time (well, it's rare, right?) and it's all about your little one(s) and your family in general. I admire you guys so much. It dawned on me that I've been living a pretty "ME" centered life, and it's time for that chapter to close. I realized last night that my hopes for an early baby were PURELY SELFISH. In other words, I didn't want any more long, torturous days/nights, weight gain, swollen fingers, numb hands, etc. etc. etc. It was all about me.

But then I thought about what was best for the baby. Truly, it is best if she stays in there as long as she can!She'll only be healthier, chubbier, and stronger because of it. It was really a humbling moment when I realized how selfish I've been to try to make her come out sooner. I almost wondered if Heavenly Father wanted me to consciously realize this, and there wouldn't be any baby action until I did.

Anyway, I repented last night for my selfishness. Maybe it means I learned what I was supposed to, but this morning I woke up to a little surprise...two words...Bloody Show. I assume most of you know what that is, if you've had a baby. If not...google it, I won't go into details here. But it is a good sign that the baby will be born within a few days, and I'm thrilled about it. (P.S. If she's NOT here by Monday, (day-after-the-due-date) then my doctor will induce me.

So, I think I'm ready to give up my selfish life and welcome in a new one that will make me a better person.

Girls Night

No baby news yet-- just feel yucky overall. So here's some quick pics from Friday. Ew, I don't even want to post this one.Friday was a fun, much-needed girls night out. Melody (I've mentioned her many times in my blog) is moving in a little over a week. She's like the glue that holds us all together out here and we are all so dang sad she's leaving. She's the one on my left in both pictures, and if you can't tell, she's about 29? weeks along with her little girl, Carly Belle. We were able to go get pedicures and then go to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory, and we had a blast. Thanks to Katie, (in the top right of the pedicure picture) for supplying me with these pictures.(sigh) I love girlfriends. What would we do without them.

One little centimeter

Yes, that's all I have to say. I'm 1 cm dilated. I know it doesn't mean labor is around the corner, but it was SO nice to know that my body knows what to do, it IS starting the process, and it really is almost time. That makes the waiting a little easier.

Oh, and my doctor is out of town for 5 days!! My mom thinks that's a surefire way to have your baby....just wait til the doctor leaves.

We'll see. Thanks again to everyone for their support. It's so fun to have you all to share this with.

13 days to go

So, here's a story for you. One hot night I was sitting in our apartment, sweating, counting down the minutes until I could turn the a/c on, and I was just slouched in this chair in front of a fan. And I didn't have very many items of clothing on...and Samuel walks by and in amazement says, "WOW honey, your belly is SO BIG!! It doesn't even fit your body anymore. Can it get any bigger??" (At around 26 weeks this might have bothered me, but these days, it doesn't at all. It's kind of funny that he's so amazed by it all.) I didn't realize I was THAT big, until he insisted on taking this picture, which, amazingly, captured it exactly:This was TWO weeks ago, mind you. Please excuse my nakedness. I was hesitant to put on the this picture since I'm showing so much skin (but don't you love the shiny sports bra?) So we took this picture last night, hoping it would be an alternative, but it wasn't working out. All the pictures were magnifying my face fat and triple chins, which grow bigger EVERY DAY! Seriously! It was just not fun to see. I made Samuel take at least 14 other pictures because of the face fat. This was the best of the lot, and I'm not that thrilled with it either. So I think this is the last pregnancy picture, for my own self-esteem's sake. (I know, I'm lame for complaining about face fat when there are such great things in store. You're right. I should delete this whole thing. No, I won't. These are my true feelings, so they'll stay.)

In other news, it appears there is a big Hurricane headed to the Hawaiian islands: Flossie! We live on Oahu, the second island from the top. The island in the most danger is the Big Island, at the bottom. We are spending our FHE making sure our 72-hour survival kit is up to par, just in case the hurricane really does hit full force. We should be fine, but it's just interesting how much I've been feeling the need to make sure we're prepared...and now, here's a perfect example of why it's a good idea.

For Old Times Sake

*I have a lot of time on my hands...this is like the 4th day in a row I've posted! Oh well.

Shoutout to the treehouse girls!! My freshman year of college I went to Dixie, but my mom encouraged me to have the "real" college experience by living with roommates, and somehow I got lucky enough to move into the "Treehouse", a 7-bedroom house with 10 other girls. Life was like one big party, I'm amazed we passed any classes. We are all married now, and still in touch, (Angie K. and Aly L. are two that have blogs, we're working on the other 8!) Here was our Christmas tree and gift exchange party. Love you girls! Start a blog!

Camera Shots

I spent the afternoon lounging at Melody's pool, and I couldn't resist trying out the new camera on some of the lovely surroundings. I love the camera, and the quality of the pictures. I'm no expert on photography or anything, but hopefully the camera makes up for it.

No progress

Apparently it's a little too early to be worried about labor since I'M NOT DILATED OR EFFACED! *What? All these pains for NOTHING?* And, to add insult to injury, I gained three pounds this week. I hope it's all in my ankles. That wasn't a fun appointment. I know. Be patient, self. She'll get here eventually.

Labor Day

Yes, Labor Day is coming up (in September) - in fact, some of Samuel's family will be here to visit. Yay! But the Labor Day that's on my mind is the other labor day. And I have to be honest. I'm scared. My achy back comes and goes, but I've had two really big contractions that made my eyes water and took my breath away.

HOW AM I GOING TO DO IT?? I can barely get through those few seconds, and I'm supposed to breathe through these every few minutes, for hours??

I know I'm not supposed to be afraid, cause fear causes tension which causes more pain, blah blah blah. I know. But still. I was so excited to have my baby, now I'm wondering if I should just hope she stays in there longer so I can put off Scary Labor.

For those of you who are wondering, I AM planning on getting the epidural. ESPECIALLY now that I've had a TINY taste of labor pains.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are both really tough and have had natural births. I respect that SO much, and they are not pressuring me to do it (although I'm sure it would make them proud.)

However, I have discovered that my pain threshold is low. That's all.

So, blogging friends, please tell me your labor stories. And it's OKAY if they're long, hard, scary labor stories. Tell me what your "early labor" signs were, and then the "real labor" signs, and even describe your contractions. Tell me about your c/section, if you had one, and what the recovery was really like.

I'd rather have a better idea of what to expect (as opposed to a sugar coated story). My motto is expect the worst, hope for the best, and enjoy the in-between.

That's all for now.

New Camera

We decided on a camera!! And it's here and I can't wait to really use it. (In fact, I'll take another picture of my big belly, which is two inches bigger than the last time I posted a picture.) It's the Canon PowerShot A570 IS. I had WAY too much fun browsing every website in the world looking for the best deal. It was much cheaper online than it was at certain stores here, which meant I had to factor in "shipping to Hawaii" . (Priority mail costs the same everywhere, but FedEx and UPS are pretty pricey.) Long story short, we got a great deal from beachcamera.com, even with FedEx shipping it was cheaper than going to Circuit City (they had it on sale) and anyway, thanks to everyone for your awesome advice.

We mostly chose it because it has Image Stabilization, a new little technology that makes your pictures even more clear by (obviously) stabilizing the image for you, so you don't have to worry about holding it really still. It also has some really fun color options, lots of manual controls (I am actually reading the manual to figure it all out) and something else called Face Detection where it recognizes human faces and adjust the pictures to make the face look the best. (One other unique thing, it has an "Underwater" setting, so if we get a waterproof case, we can get some awesome watershots.)

Well, I may have bored you to death with that, but I don't have a lot to post about right now...I'm done working, I LOVE NOT WORKING, and I am finding ways to fill the time. I have a semi-constant lower ache in my back and I've had some pains...I hope it's a sign that SOMETHING is happening down there. Dr. appt. tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted.
OF COURSE!

Happy Birthday M&M

Oh, I don't want to forget, Happy Birthday today, to my nephews Maddux and Malakai- The cutest twin boys there ever was. Wish we could come to your big party on Saturday. 1 year old!! Love you guys!

3 a.m.

Hmm, well, I guess the title of this post says it all. It's 3 a.m. and I'm wide awake. This is pretty normal these days. I got 2 solid hours of sleep from 12-2, woke up to go to the bathroom, and haven't been able to fall back asleep since. I gave up a few minutes ago, and came out to the computer. First I checked my e-mail...nope, nothing there, then I checked google reader for updates (I'm really loving that, thanks Kristen, for the help getting that set up.) Nothing there either. That's okay...it is only 7 a.m. in Utah...9 a.m. on the east coast though! I know Jaesi and Krystal are probably up out there in Virginia and Florida! Good morning!!

So, speaking of Jaesi, she wrote a great post once where she mentioned a few things she was sick of...but she followed every thing up with something she did like. I liked her example of staying positive, despite the negative. And I don't want to complain too much, because we feel so blessed just be able to have this baby coming to our family. So, tonight as I sit here pondering the end of pregnancy, I will try to do the same. Here are the things I am thankful for right now:

1. The little a/c unit in our bedroom that has made it just cool enough to sleep.
2. The fans in every other corner of the house that make it bearable during the day (well, if I'm wearing minimal clothes that is.)
3. The easy office job that I am quitting on Friday....that has allowed me to work up until this point.
4. It's been a low-risk pregnancy, and I haven't suffered from heartburn, leg cramps, gestational diabetes, or constipation. And the morning sickness stopped at 14 weeks. I'm sooo grateful for that.
5. The stretch marks haven't shown up on the giant Belly (yet).
6. Great advice and encouragement from my fellow bloggers.
7. Samuel just found out he gets two whole weeks off from work when the baby comes- way more than I anticipated. YES!!

Now, here's the list of things I will be thankful for when they're GONE:

1. My swollen-arthritis knuckles. I have so much more empathy for old people.
2. A pea-sized bladder (and 14 trips to the bathroom per night).
3. The sweaty heat pocket in the cleavage and under the Jugs.
4. My sore ribs.
5. Being so dang hot. My hands are letting off so much heat I could iron shirts with them.
   
6. Garments that are too tight in the legs, and that only cover half my belly.
7. The belly-scraping syndrome (sorry baby, didn't mean to scrape you into the doorway. When did you get so big?)
8. Lying down after eating and feeling like all my food is in my throat. Yech.
9. Being so uncomfortable no matter how I sit, stand or lay.
   
10. THE ANTICPATION/UNKNOWN OF WHEN IN THE HECK THIS BABY'S COMING!

Finally, here are the things I will miss when I'm not pregnant:

1. Feeling baby move inside me-- and of course, the hiccups.
   
2. The ease of "taking care" of this baby. All I do is eat, and she grows. So easy.
   
3. The extra smiles and concern I get from strangers, offering to help in every way.
   
4. All the extra foot rubs I've been getting from Samuel
5. My excuse for being tired, moody, or crazy. "I'm pregnant."
6. The fast-growing hair and nails. What a bonus.
7. My Cleavage (if only we could all be as lucky as Emma. :) See comments from previous post. (well, at least I can hold onto it for a little while longer, while I'm nursing.)

So, dear friends, it's been quite a ride, and I'm so glad I've been able to share it with all of you. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated on everything, you know I won't leave you hanging. Maybe I can go to sleep now. Good night Moon.