She's here!

Wow - I am SO sorry!  For those of you who read my blog, but don't know me otherwise, you are probably thinking something terrible happened!  Well - nothing terrible happened - quite the opposite!  After approximately 48 hours of steady contractions, our sweet precious girl, Caroline Grace Hull, entered my arms and became the newest love of my life.  I have a little bit of a crazy birth story and am going to start on it this week to post over a few different days, but for now I'll just leave you with this.  :)

Caroline Grace Hull

Born 11/16/11 at 10:04 pm

VBAC SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!

19 inches long

TONS of black hair

Eyes are dark

Most beautiful baby ever!  :)

Update 2:04

Contractions between 4-6 min apart... On way to hospital!!!!

Early labor...

Ok typing this on my phone so apologizing now for spelling and short sentences. I did this with Parkers labor so I feel the need to keep it up this time!! Contractions have been approximately 10-15 min apart since this afternoon after work. Kristin (one of my best friends/chiropractor) met me up at her office around 10pm to adjust me and get my body ready to push a baby out! We are in bed now trying to rest for what may be a really long night. Much easier said than done!! Chris is snoring but I want him to be well rested to help me through what is to come later today. We won't head for the hospital til my water breaks or my contractions are between 6-8 min apart... Or closer. Hmmm... Just had another contraction and it was 7 min 30 sec after the last one.... Guess I'll wait through a few more before waking up Mr. Snore Man and calling the doctor. All I can say is OUCH... These hurt so bad but I am so thankful to be expericing this right now!!! What an amazing thing is the woman's body... To just know exactly what to do and how to labor. Praying that progression continues tonight!!! 12:39 am.

12:45
Another contraction 7 min 30 sec after previous.

40 PLUS 4

= One miserable mommy.

40 week doctor's appointment this past Monday.  They don't normally check your cervix til you're in labor, but I asked Tia to (Tate's assistant because he was at the hospital delivering babies!) and she did.  I was 2 1/2 cm dilated, "medium" effaced and baby HAS moved down since last week, but is still not engaged in pelvic cavity.  Baby is MOSTLY turned towards my back but still has a bit more turning to do AND a bit more moving down to do.  She checked my fluids I've been leaking since Saturday and it's NOT the baby's amniotic fluid so that's great - just "other stuff".  I started having contractions last night - every 30 minutes - and that is continuing today for the most part.  They are NOT closer together than 30 minutes so I am not worried.  Most of my pain is in my back during contractions so that is just tons of fun.

The great news is that I never even MADE it to 2 1/2 cm WITH pitocin in my pregnancy with Parker so I feel like I've accomplished a lot!  I also never had contractions without pitocin with Parker so with each contraction wave that comes a long, I know I've made it one contraction closer to meeting this little baby :)

What am I most looking forward to?  LOTS!

• Being able to call family and say I am FINALLY in labor!  The first thing ANYONE asks right now when I call them is "Are you in labor?"  When I say "no" I get a "Oh - well what do you want..." response.  I am REALLY ready for that response to go away and for people to be excited to talk to me on the phone again.
• Falling in love with my husband in an entire new way because I know he's going to be an AMAZING coach to me during labor.
• After labor, I am most excited about having the baby ON my chest within SECONDS of it leaving my body.  After having a c-section with Parker - I don't remember having the baby anywhere near me until hours after he was born.  I can't wait to hold the gooey mess of baby immediately after labor.  This is something I long for and I know it will be an amazing moment for me.  Chris doesn't get it - and he admits it - and that's fine.  It's my chest the baby will be on - not his - so it doesn't matter.
• The second thing I'm excited to do after labor is HEAR WHAT SEX the baby is!  I'm hoping Chris will be really involved and I will be able to hear the words from him first.
• The third thing I'm excited to do after labor is NAME our baby - just me and Chris and baby - in the delivery room - deciding on a name for the baby.  I'm praying it just COMES to me and makes perfect sense.
• And the FOURTH thing I'm excited to experience after labor is allowing Chris to have "the moment" where he can go and tell our family WHAT the baby's sex is and WHAT the baby's name is!  I dont expect family to wait on me during labor but hoping they can all get to hospital at some point at same time after baby is born. If all goes PERFECTLY to plan, Parker will be able to be there with our family that is able to make it and we can allow him to come see the baby FIRST and have some special family time then allow Parker to go tell the rest of our family what the baby is.  I made some iron-on transfer shirts myself (see below) and we are planning to put Parker in the appropriate one for the big "reveal".  If we have the baby in the middle of the night, I'm hoping all our family - or at least a majority of our family who is in town - can come to the hospital after rush hour traffic and be there for "the reveal" - but of course - this is all just if it all works out right.  I'd like to be able to tell everyone in person - we'll see if it works out that way or not!

 So - we'll see if these contractions increase today!  I have a really good feeling the baby will come this week!

Please pray for safe arrival of baby #2 and successful VBAC for mommy!

XO - Hillary

40 weeks.

So - I truly have TOO much to do today to even think about writing this.  But I have to get these feelings down - I think it's good therapy for me.  And I think I'll enjoy looking back at the silliness of these feelings one day.

I'm 40 weeks today.  I'm there.  I'm SO close.  I have seriously had the most amazing pregnancy.  I have had NO issues, no complications, nothing bad... and I am so blessed and I thank God for this ability every day.  I truly do.  But for some reason, I am just so sad today.  I woke up a little weepy, I cried through my shower, I cried while putting on my make up (not easy), I cried on my way to work  (2 hours late - awesome) and I'm crying now.  I don't know WHY I'm so sad.  I have nothing to be sad about.  I have a miracle in my belly and it is going to enter this world ANY day now.  I know that.  I know I know I know.  I know I should just be happy and thankful and just feel blessed to have every extra day to soak up some Parker and Chris time.  I don't know.  I have so many friends, family members, and blog friends I've never met who are unable to conceive, who have had miscarriages, who have had stillborn births....  They may never experience this amazing-ness.  And this all makes me feel even more guilty for feeling sad today.  But I just do. 

This entire pregnancy, I have OF COURSE been excited about the baby being born - but I've been pretty content just being pregnant... because pregnancy has been virtually pain free and EASY.  But this past week, I just started to realize that I am ready and just WANT to meet this  precious baby!  I am ready to bring him or her home.  I am ready for the sleepless nights ahead of me.  I am ready to experience the awesome-ness of breast feeding again.  I am ready for the bloody nipples (sorry for the graphic detail).  I am ready for the labor.  I am ready to experience my second child's skin-to-skin touch within seconds after "it" leaves my body.  I am ready for my mom to come take care of me - and then for Chris' mom to come take care of me the next week.  I am ready.  I am ready.  I just want this baby here.  I.  Am.  Just.  Ready. 

Oh - and I spilt my coffee all over my shirt on my way in to work today.  And yes - I cried about it.

Sorry - this post is pretty selfish - and silly - I'm sure you all think I'm nuts - and that's OK.  But I actually feel a little better now.  I'm off to accomplish a VERY busy day at work.  :)

39 WEEKS?

 I am 39 weeks pregnant... THIRTY NINE!  I honestly never thought I'd make it this far!  Here is a little trip down memory lane...

 I had good intentions of keeping this little progression shot up after week 29 but I am 100% sure that if you saw me in my work out outfit NOW you would probably throw up.  Arm pit fat is at an all-time HIGH, cellulite-covered legs are as chunky as cottage cheese (large curd type - barf!) and the sports bra I am wearing in all these pictures would not even cover one half of my chest right now.  The first thing I do when I get home every afternoon is put on a MUCH bigger sports bra that used to FALL off of me pre-baby, one of Chris' XXL tee shirts (that DOES NOT cover my entire belly anymore) and some size EXTRA large pajama pants.  Oh - and you can't forget the fuzzy pink slippers.  Yes.  My husband is SO lucky to have me as a wife right now.  I no longer cook, I no longer clean, I no longer shave my legs... and he comes home to a pot-bellied, tummy falling out, EXTREMELY moody pregnant lady every afternoon.  Betcha he can't wait for the post-baby hormones to kick in!  He's so blessed y'all!

 So I took this progression shot thinking it would SURELY be my last - yup - that was weeks ago.  UGH!

 AND THIS ONE - is comparison from a few weeks ago to this week.  I see like NO CHANGE Y'ALL. 

A few other stats I want to keep track of because I'll care when I look back on this one day.  Weight is between 185-190 every morning - that's 50-55 pounds up - and I seem to gain every day.  I didn't gain any weight between week 38-39 - YAY - and that's what I was hoping for since I gained a whopping 11 pounds between my previous visit. 

Working out?  Yeah - not really.  I stopped working out the week that Parker got so sick because when Chris got home on those afternoons, I had to hop on my lap top to try to get in as many hours with my company before bed.  Then the next week, I caught whatever sickness Parker had and working out would NOT have been feasible.  After all the sickness was over, I was around 35 weeks and I managed to hop on the elliptical once or twice but it just hasn't been happening since.  I do walk the neighborhood and my office complex when I can and I count all the times I go UP and DOWN the stairs in my office and home as exercise too!  HA!  

I still mostly feel great.  I have had a few days of weird aches and pains - then they seem to go away.  After trick-or-treating with Parker for 2 hours on Halloween night, I did sit up with false labor from 2-5 am which was great - then it went away (I was bummed.)  Today my back is aching on one side but no contractions.  

I have had a few moments of total "freak out" when I think about what my life is about to become.  In my opinion, going from 0 kids to 1 kid was WAY easier than it will be going from 1 kid to 2 kids!  KIDS - PLURAL!  Scary.

Park's last day at daycare was October 28 and I've been relying on his old nannies to watch him a few days a week (we can only afford 3 days of nanny-pay).  So yesterday, Whitney watched him, and today Chris' sister's husband, Jeffrey, is watching him.  I had them all planned for "back ups" because I honestly didn't think I'd need them!  But now I'm to the point of getting day care all planned out for him next week.... thank goodness he loves his nannies and hanging with family all day!  I love knowing he's with them and enjoying some fun time with by himself on the days he's with the nanny and with his cousins on the day he's with my sister or Chris' sister.  

Halloween candy will be the death of me.  It's at home - it's at work - it's at Moe's.  I.  Can't.  Stop.  Eating.  It.  

The "shock" factor of EVERYTHING happening to me is really starting to FREAK me out.  My doctor doesn't check to see if I'm effaced, dilated, etc until I'm full term.  He also doesn't try to guess the baby's weight.  Both of which I think are GREAT because I would just walk around worried about being dilated - or lack thereof - and about being told I was going to have a 10 pound baby.  The less I know - the better.  But really - we have the "surprise element" in so much right now.  The date I'll go into labor, How I'll go into labor (since I know he won't induce me til the last week of the month!), The gender of the baby, The NAME of the baby (for CRYING out loud we haven't even decided on a name yet!), How my labor will go, Will I be able to have a VBAC, Will I be able to do it?  I have so many questions.  And all I can say is THANK HEAVENS I have my awesome God and to know He is fully in control.  Is He going to make everything perfect and let it all play out how "I" have it planned in my head?  Probably not.  But will it all happen exactly how it's supposed to?  You betcha.

I guess that's all!  Praying this will be my last pregnancy update and I will be uploading picture of a precious new little Hull before next week!  Fingers crossed!

Happy Halloween!

I am super cheap and refuse to buy Halloween costumes because there are just TOO many cute costumes that my friends have that I can borrow!  SO - we borrowed the Taylors' costume from last year and we started practicing wearing it a few weeks ago.  We took it to KK's house last week and since KK was playing dress up in her Cinderella outfit, we decided to let Parker dress up, too.  We didn't tell Chris this, but Parker was MUCH more interested in dressing up in K's Cinderella stuff than he was keeping his lion on!  He especially loved wearing her heels! 

So on Halloween Day, I rushed home to get him all ready.  I made a dinner meal for Kristin who just had her baby a few weeks ago so we decided we would use the fact that we were taking a meal to her as a short practice round of trick or treating!  Parker practiced saying "CHICK AH CHEAT" all the way over to K's house and when he got to her door, he completely froze!  She opened the door and he just looked at her like - ummmmmm - I forgot what to say.  After a little coaxing and reminding, he did say it and he got to choose his candy out of her bowl.  She was giving away SKITTLES which is mommy's fave candy so I let him take 2 packs!  :)  Pretty sure I've eaten both of them.  When we got home, he didn't even want to take his costume off to eat dinner - he just wanted to run around and scream ROAR and take candy from our own candy bowl.

We had one more practice run at our own house before we hit the streets....

 I think he's got the hang of it...

All ready to CHICK AH CHEAT!

We stopped across the street first to see Ms. Felicity (one of his many future girlfriends!) and Ms. April.  Mr. Tim is a police officer so I feel like Felicity would be a good fit for him one day - her daddy definitely keep him in a straight line!

One of our first stops!

We took turns walking up to the door with him.  (Gotta love Chris REALLY trying to get a good side shot of me.)

We stopped at Ms. Wenda's house (who had had just spent the entire day with).  We actually took Parker out of school - last week was his last week - so Ms. Wenda has been helping to watch him for us, along with Ms. Julie - until the baby comes!

Our LAST stop was Mr. Jon and Ms. Robin's house.

We let him have 2 pieces of candy when we got home - this kid was JUMPING off the walls!

One of his favorite things was a spider ring!  He's been wearing it since Monday.

CBI Shower!

Chris' company threw us SUCH a sweet shower last Friday afternoon during lunch!  It was DEFINITELY a favorite of mine because A) they catered in MEXICAN! B) they didn't wrap any gifts so there was no awkward "watch Hillary and Chris open each gift" silent time and no "when I read who the gift is from I look up not really knowing everyone's names and not knowing who to thank" moments and C) they had Publix cupcake cake for dessert and D) everything we got was a definite NEED item that I know we'll USE asap!  They were so sweet to offer to throw us this shower and we feel so blessed for Chris to have such an amazing work group!

 Mmmm - definitely ate 3 of these that day!  Yes - I know - I have NO reason to complain about my huge weight gain!  51 pounds and counting!

 Our loot!  They got us our CAR SEAT which is AMAZING  because it is definitley the SINGLE most expensive item we will need to buy before baby #2 turns 1!  We also got stocked up on diapers, several gift cards, a grocery cart cover, bottle brush, the Brest Friend pillow and they even got a gift for Parker!  He got a tee, bat and ball which he has played with non stop since Friday! 

 SO - the guys of CBI DEFINITELY have no issues playing jokes on each other whenever the chance comes up!  Some of the stories Chris comes home with just make my jaw drop to the floor - we won't go there - but anyway here is the story behind this.

Apparently, when Chris' boss and his wife asked him what "big" items we needed for baby #2, Chris said "A Green Egg" - yes - he said we need a GRILL for baby #2.  Owning a green egg is definitely a dream of Chris', but seeing that they cost a fortune and I don't trust that he'll actually cook enough to make it worth it, The Egg has not been on our top list of items to invest in the past few years.  SO - they all teased Chris about asking for an Egg and  when the shower began last week, several of his co-workers mentioned that some guys were outside getting Chris' portion of the shower gift together.  They bring in this HUGE box that takes 2 guys to carry and bring it in saying it was "Chris' gift" blah blah blah.  So he opens the card with it and it has a grill on it and says "Tis the Season to season" - making him really think his company got him a Green Egg!  WELL - he opens up the ONLY wrapped gift in the room and it's a GREEN EGG BOX!  Chris is like JUMPING up and down excited so they all tell him to OPEN the box and well guess what - it's not a green egg.  It's 2 green egg salt and pepper shakers and a bunch of bricks to make the box heavy.  All the guys think it's super funny, ha ha ha, and poor Chris is let down again that his dream of owning a Green Egg will not come true.  Some guys in his office ACTUALLY traveled 30 minutes away to the Green Egg store to get an actual Egg box and to buy the shakers... so lame... but still a little funny :)  But serves him right seeing that he actually ASKED for an egg in honor of baby #2.