He's here!

I'll need to catch up on a few more details, but here's the official announcement (created with photography and design by Uncle Jason while he was visiting Brett):

ON OUR WAY!

My water broke around 5:15ish this morning! We are on our way to the hospital!!!!!

Updates and cute baby Brett photos to come!!

The countdown says 0!

Today's the big day! I can't believe it's April 14th. This could be the first day of the rest of Brett's life!!! (if he comes on time) It's only 9:20 a.m. but I'm hoping that today will be the day. This is the date that's been etched in our minds since October. He may have other plans but everyone is excited for his arrival. I can't believe that the 14th is already here! :)

Happy Easter!

(Our "dust bunny" that we received yesterday.)

Happy Easter! We went to church this morning and it was packed! We ended up standing for the hour-long service.

No Brett, yet.

We had a filling dinner that I made at home...ham (with ginger ale/pineapple juice/orange juice/brown sugar/cloves and pineapple rings) and green bean casserole...two of my favorites that Mom makes for Easter dinner. I also made a pistachio pudding with pineapple, marshmallows and bananas in it for dessert.

with 3 days to go...

Today we went to have Don's car windows tinted. If we like the final results, we'll have mine tinted by the same company. He's been wanting to do this for quite some time now and it should provide little Brett with some protection from the intense desert sun out here when he's riding in his car seat.

We also went to a local casino and had 10 dollars each in free slot play. We kept cashing out when we got ahead, even if it was a few cents. We ended up turning in lots of tickets for a total of just over$17.oo in free money. Then, we turned around and used it for a lunch at Johnny Rocket's. We split an original hamburger, fries/onion rings, and a strawberry shake. Yum! (It is good that we discovered Johnny Rocket's late in my pregnancy instead of having cravings for it for nine months!) :) We also received a promotional gift - a cute little bunny that doubles as a static-remover/dusting cloth for computer screens. I told the guy who was handing them out that they should be called "dust bunnies"! We also looked around the huge Bass Pro Shop store.

I felt a few more "twinges" this morning in my stomach - kind of a heartburn-type-of-squeezy feel. Just practicing for the real thing, I guess.

Last night I felt truly pregnant...who else would wake up in the middle of the night at 2:55 a.m. soooo hungry...AND go downstairs to actually get something to eat...just a pregnant woman, I'd say. I was so wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Brett was moving around and my stomach was growling so loudly, I had to go downstairs to satisfy my hunger. I hadn't been too hungry at dinner. So, at about 3 a.m. I ate not one, but two raspberry toaster strudles. I think my "bad" cravings have saved themselves for this last month! Mostly throughout my pregnancy the cravings have been "healthy"...baked potatoes, grapefruits, grapefruit juice and other juices, etc.

Off to take an afternoon nap...he's zapping my energy night and day.

Only 3 more days 'til our due date...

pickles and ice cream

Well, still no baby...but the counter says FOUR days to go. I can hardly believe it! I remember when it was in the 100's of days. We had our weekly doctor's appointment today and I am just barely dialated to 1 cm. Our doctor does not let his patients go over a week beyond their due date, so we know that little Brett Michael will be arriving sometime on or before the 21st of April. We are hoping that he will arrive naturally. However, if he is not here by the 20th, the induction process will begin (with a little balloon being inserted to help me dialate). Then, on the next day, we would start the oxytocin/pitocin, which is a chemical that a woman's body makes naturally but would be administered in a synthetic form. It sounds like it can be started and stopped as necessary and takes a very short time to be eliminated from the body by the liver so it shouldn't have negative effects on mom or baby.

After our doctor's appointment, Don and I stopped for lunch at Jason's Deli. We had very yummy sandwiches and I saved my pickle for a picture after lunch. Jason's Deli has free ice cream for dessert. We couldn't resist taking a stereo-typical pregnancy craving picture of me with a pickle and ice cream after lunch.

Pickles and ice cream! :) Ha!

We're in the home stretch!

We are packed and ready for the hospital.

One week to go! These 9 months have flown by and our lives are about to change in a great way! We can't wait to meet our little Brett Michael!

Last night we actually called the hospital. I was getting some feelings that kept coming and going in waves quite regularly. I think they must have been Braxton Hicks contractions or false labor pains. They weren't too intense but were regular enough that we thought we'd better call and check to see what we should do. It felt like heartburn that kept coming and going in waves but a bit different than heartburn and down lower in my stomach area, too. (It could have been the homemade salsa I made for our taco salads for lunch yesterday. :) The books and emails I've been reading say spicy foods and raw pineapple may help speed labor along or induce labor. I've had both in the past day or so. It doesn't hurt to try at this point! I'm ready for him to pop out at any time now!) Needless to say, we waited it out and even Tums didn't take away the pains. After sleeping all night, I haven't felt anything this morning, but I'm sure all of the feelings were just preparing me for the real thing.

Some wives' tales say that there are more births when there is a full moon. There is one on the 9th of this month. We'll see if it affects him in any way. (Interesting article below)

The Moon's Effect on Natural Childbirth online article is located here:

http://www.firsttimepregnancy.com/176.html

A full moon? A basketball? A watermelon?

I thought it'd be funny to take a picture of my view of Brett as I see it. I can no longer see my toes, but can see a basketball-shaped belly for sure!