{the real work begins}

At two weeks postpartum, I think I have lost all of the 'easy' weight that I am going to. The scale (yes, it has unfortunately re-entered my life as a regular) has remained pretty stable the last four or five days. I am happy to say that I am only about 10 lbs away from my prepregnancy weight, although I won't be happy with that weight unless I am as fit as I was prior. IE: if I get to that weight and am still flabby, I'll be sad, but if I get to that weight and have the muscle and endurance I once did, then okay. I know it is going to take time to build up that muscle and endurance again and I am looking forward to it.

I'm not going to get hung up on how fast or slow the scale moves in the downward direction, because honestly, I am just so happy that I am feeling better. Really, this pregnancy did me in. I packed up all of my maternity clothes, but I don't know what to do with them. Right now I can't even think about being pregnant again, but I don't want to say that our family is complete either. If we don't add anymore children to our family, I'd be okay with that, but if we do, that'd be great too. Do I want to to be pregnant again, not really. But if I'm being completely honest, for as much as I disliked being pregnant, there have been moments here and there where I've missed those baby kicks and hiccups and just knowing that he was safe inside me.

Anyways, with that, I need to get my food in order. We just celebrated Easter and staying away from that Easter candy while I am home all day has been my biggest struggle. My meals themselves have been relatively healthy, it's all of the extra chocolate that I can't seem to keep out of my mouth! I typically have been having a fruit smoothie for breakfast, a sandwich thin and some fresh veggies or fruit for lunch, and then a smaller portion of whatever we are having for supper. I've also been trying to up my water intake again. They say you should drink about half your body weight in water each day and I've been pretty good about at least getting close to that.

The worst part is the crappy weather that we have been having lately. Now that I am feeling more like my old self (albeit not completely normal or fully healed yet), I want to be moving and outside. It is getting hard to just sit inside everyday, especially with a dog who wants to be outside and has a lot of energy. Yesterday, in the drizzling rain, I packed up the tiny man in his a car seat and stroller, double blanketed him so he wouldn't feel any wind or rain, leashed up the dog, and we went for a 3/4 mile walk. It was slow... I mean I was pushing a stroller and trying to handle a 65 lb dog who still isn't fully leash trained yet, but we made it. It was a little windy, but not too cold. I just needed to get out for a bit. I wanted to do a mile, but I didn't want to push myself too hard. I just needed to move a bit.

So, until I get the okay to start actually working out again, I'm going to really try focusing on healthy eating and the short walks that I go on during the hopefully non crappy weather that we will soon have. Hey, a girl can hope, right?! I want to enjoy at least some of my time off outside!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{daddy}

I've said it before, but it needs to be said again. I am so blessed to be married to Jay and to have him as the father of our children. Is our marriage perfect? No. But no ones is. Is he the perfect dad? No. But no one is. I mean, I can't even admit to being the perfect mom. No one can. But do we do the best that we can? Yes.

I think I mentioned how great that Jay was while we were in the hospital and how much help he was while I was having a hard time getting around. I could totally haven done it alone while in the hospital had I needed to, but there would have been a lot more crying as I was a lot more slow moving than he was. And things have continued to work well at home. 

Now that Jay has returned to work, I am home alone with Xander all day. I am really hoping the weather starts to warm up soon because I am getting antsy sitting inside and would like to go for some walks soon. I am really starting to feel like my old self and need to get out and moving. It is harder to do that when you have a new baby and it is not very warm out. And I'm in no shape ready to do any at home workouts... Not for another few weeks. I just want to go for a walk! Haha!

Because Jay is at work, the baby duty falls on me. The day and night stuff. But, when Jay does get home from work, even after a long day, he doesn't complain when I ask him to change a diaper or take the baby for a little while to give me a quick break. It makes for a much happier momma.

We kind of had an understanding that since he is working, I would do the night feelings because I can nap with Xander during the day. Pst, I have actually yet to slow down and nap with him though, so I'm really just as tired. Anyways, I have been doing the night feedings and I have to say that our little guy has been great so far... Having a bottle around 8 or 9, sleeping until about midnight, feed, sleeping until about 3 or 4, and then up again around 6. It may sound like a lot, but honestly, I was expecting it to be worse, so I'm happy for the time being because I know that there will be bad nights as well. Anyways, I was just exhausted last night and did the midnight feeding, but when Xander woke up around 3, I chanced it and asked Jay if he wouldn't mind feeding him and he didn't bat an eye and got right up with him. It was nice to be able to stay in bed for a few extra hours last night. Makes for a happier momma!

Further, there are some rummage sales that I plan on going to this weekend and Jay didn't bat an eye when I told him that I was leaving the kiddos at home with him. And the great thing is that I didn't even think twice about leaving him with the kids alone. I know that he can handle them. And honestly, I am kind of looking forward to a little baby free time. I could cuddle Xander all day, but I'm also in need of some adult conversation and interaction. 

My mom is coming over on Saturday morning to watch the tiny man so that Jay and I can go watch Ayden's soccer game and I am excited to go see him without the babe just because I'll be able to focus all of my attention on him for a little while. I've been trying really hard to make sure he doesn't feel left out at all. Then it's rummage sale time and after that we are having Easter with my immediate family. It's going to be a busy and fun Saturday!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{January 2015}

So, I may just be crazy... Okay, so I know that I am crazy... I have been for quite a while,  I mean why else would the white vans be after me? You know who you are if you get that reference, haha! I've always enjoyed being outside the box and doing the unexpected. It makes people think twice about you and think, wow, she is someone to watch out for. I mean, who else wears a picture of a 'hot guy' one their shirt every Friday during their senior year of high school? It may have even been during a bit of my junior year as well, I don't remember. Yes, crazy.

Crazy enough to end up pregnant at 17 (okay, so that wasn't exactly planned), and then crazy enough to not let it affect her goals and plans and go to college, get her bachelors, get her doctorate, and then marry her best friend. Yeah, crazy, haha!

Anyways, what does any of this have to do with January 2015? Nothing really, I just felt like babbling for a little while.

However, as of yesterday, I may have just done the craziest thing that I've ever done in my entire life and that is registering for the Dopey  Challenge at Disney World this coming January. What is the Dopey Challenge you ask? Well I am so glad that you did. The Dopey Challenge is something new and in fact, this past year was the first year that Disney actually had it. The Dopey Challenge is a series of runs in the Disney parks. It is a four day event, where on day one you run a 5K, day two you run a 10K, day three you run a half marathon (13.1 miles) and on day four you run a full marathon (26.2 miles). Yes, you read that right... A full marathon! 

And the best part, it all takes place at Disney and you end up with six medals at the end, and did I mention that it is at Disney? My bestie, Victoria, and I are doing this together! I am SO excited and yet scared crapless about it too. You need to have a pace time of a 16 minute mile in order to not be 'swept' up on the course and not finish, but that is essentially walking pace and the only one that I am really worried about right now is the full marathon. Although I figure I could walk the whole thing and still be okay. Anyways, Victoria and I have a training plan all set up and I cannot wait to get started! 

At this point I'm still taking things nice and slow. Obviously no working out less than two weeks post baby. I've gone for a walk, and been out to a few stores walking, but nothing long or far. Still healing and in don't want to hinder the healing process at all, so slow it Is. 

The Dopey Challenge is my big after baby accomplishment that I want to do! It is going to be great!

Also, on another positive note, 9 days post baby, I tried on a pair of prepregnancy jeans and they fit! Granted, they are one of the bigger pairs I had and by fit, I mean, I was able to suck in far enough to get them buttoned, haha! I didn't say they fit well or even super comfortable, but even so, made my day! There are definitely more pairs that won't fit than that will fit at this point, but who cares... It is after all ONLY 9 days after Xander has been born. I never dreamed I'd fit into them this fast. Honestly, it has done wonders for my mood though feeling more and more like my old self every day now. Although, I'd love a full nights sleep, lol! As if that is going to happen anytime soon! 

So, wish me luck or call me crazy for signing up for the Dopey Challenge... Either way, I refuse to do anything but ROCK it! Just you wait and see!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{post baby everything}

Xander is officially a week old today and I cannot believe where the last week has gone. The week before he was born went extremely slow because I couldn’t wait to meet him and now that he is here, time just doesn’t seem to slow down! It doesn’t help that we have been relatively busy this past week getting into a routine at home and having visitors over and it being Easter and all. I just hope that the next couple of weeks while I am off don’t fly by as fast because I want to really enjoy the time that I have off with the tiny man.

Today is the first day that Jay has gone back to work since Xander has been born. It has just been me and Ayden at home because he still had off school for Easter. We’ve been doing alright. Jay didn’t sleep well last night, so I hope that his first day back is going alright. I took the night feedings last night, so it wasn’t because he was up with the baby. I think he was just nervous about going back to work. Nervous for what, I don’t know… I do know that he said he was ready to go back. He is a doer and doesn’t really like sitting around doing nothing and after a week off, he was ready to go back.

Me, I’m still doing pretty good for just having a baby a week ago. Tired, yes. Extremely tired yet, not quite. Sore, yes, but definitely not as sore as I was a week ago and each day continues to get better and better. I feel more like my old self than I have in the last nine months and I know that that is helping with my mood immensely. I am able to fit back into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes and it feels great. I haven’t tried any pre-pregnancy jeans on yet, but that is okay because I know that they won’t quite fit and I’m not ready to tackle those feelings yet, haha!

I did brave stepping on the scale though. I just had to see the number. My pre-pregnancy weight was 123. At my last doctor’s appointment (three days before Xander was born), the scale read 156. That is a 33lb weight gain for the pregnancy which was I was totally okay with. I was also okay with the fact that it was going to take just as long to lose the weight as it was to gain it. When I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 136lbs. 20lbs gone in a week. I’ll take that! 13lbs to go! Actually, the number on the scale isn’t as important as being healthy and feeling good (and fitting back into my clothes).

I’m even brave enough to share a picture with ya’ll. On the left is pre-pregnancy. Damn, I felt good about that body! On the right is one week after baby. Thank you Belly Band for helping that pooch get back to where it belongs. Honestly, I did not expect the pooch to go down as fast as it has, but you won’t find me complaining about it either. I know that I’ll get back to where I was at some point. No working out/running for me until I get the okay from the doctor. Until then, I’m going to concentrate on trying to eat a little healthier now that I can tolerate more of the food that I couldn’t last week. Really, it’s like Xander ONLY wanted me to eat carbs, haha! I’ll get back into my running and workouts soon enough. No rush. It just helps that my overall mood right now that I am feeling better, even if it isn’t perfect. My little man is doing great as usual. He is still as sassy and loveable as ever and I cannot get enough of him. He had a great Easter and was spoiled and will be spoiled next week as well when we have a little Easter at our house with my mom, sister, and brother. It’s never ending fun around here! And here are my boys on Easter! My boys. I seriously cannot get over the fact that I now have children. Children. Two kids. Two boys. More than one. Crazy! Love it! Love them! Seriously though, are they not just the two cutest little guys you’ve ever seen! Biased, yes! My heart overflows! Feeling overly blessed! And here are a few pictures from Xander’s first photoshoot with mommy! He did great and slept through most of it, albeit it wasn’t very long. I wanted to do a quick one when we got home from the hospital, but that didn’t happen, so I had to wait to do a ‘one week old’ one, haha! Okay, so I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. He’s definitely in for it, haha! He’s donning the adorable hat and booties that my cousin, Amanda, made for him. Aren’t they seriously the cutest things you’ve ever seen! I cannot get over them! CIAO! LOVE ME!

{life as a family of four}

We are finishing up our first week as a family of four and I have to say that it has been nothing but perfect. Okay, I lie, there are definitely things that could be better... wonderful, yes, perfect, no. Like the fact that I'm still moving kind of slow, Xander cries when I change his diaper, I'm starting to feel a little sleep deprived, etc... but, you know what... life isn't EVER perfect, so all of those 'complaints' are totally and typically normal. I can't imagine our family without Xander now. He has fit in pretty seamlessly so far. Or as Ayden mentioned the night that we came home, 'Mom, things don't really seem that different.'

Physically wise I am doing probably as well as can be expected for just having an 8 lb 9 oz baby. The first few days I was in quite a bit of pain yet. Moving very slow, even to the point where I had to have Jay help me out of the hospital bed a few times. Now that we are five days out, I am feeling stronger and more like my old self again. I'm definitely still sore and moving slower than I would like, but each day gets a little bit better. The postpartum girdle that I got to help 'shrink' the left over baby pooch now fits and it has helped support my back quite a bit more than I thought it was going to which makes getting up and off things easier. (Although, I had my brother teasing me today that my grandpa is able to get up and around faster than I am. He's so nice... isn't he?!)

I am tired, but not nodding off during conversations yet. Yet. The sleep deprivation hasn't completely caught up with me, but I know that it is going to in the next few days probably. I have to say that I was full prepared to be up a lot more during the night with Xander than we have been. I also have to say that Jay has been amazing at helping out. Because we are bottle feeding, Jay is able to take at least one feeding during the night. And (knock on wood), Xander has gone back to sleep after his night time bottles pretty easily as well. Another plus, not having to get up every hour to two hours to go to the bathroom, haha! I am definitely enjoying that part! Also, the fact that I no longer have to use a bazillion pillows on the bed to feel comfortable. Our queen size bed feels ginormous now with all of the pillows gone. I really was hogging a lot of the bed during my pregnancy. Poor Jay!

Speaking of Jay... he has been amazeballs. I mean, I already knew that he was a great father. He has been since the moment that Ayden was born. There really was no question in my mind whatsoever that he would be great with Xander, but it has been SO long since I've seen him with a tiny one. And really, if you know Jay in real life, you know that he really isn't the mushy gushy show his loving feelings type (most of the time to people), and that he is more of a jokester. Let me tell you, he was SO cute in the hospital with Xander. He'll probably want to kill me for writing this, but he has no idea how much it warmed my heart to hear him talking with Xander while I was taking a bath and how he changed all but one diaper in the hospital and how he is being so great with him at home (even though he admitted to me last night that he's not a huge fan of the tiny baby stage). And of course, this momma's hormones are still flowing at an all time high.

Ayden has also been a great big brother so far! He loves to hold him and we've spent quite a lot of time just sitting together on the couch all cuddling together. Today we had Xander's first doctor's appointment for a jaundice level check and Ayden came along because he didn't have school. Well, at the appointment, the nurse had to prick Xander's heal and draw some blood to check his bili levels. Of course this meant that the tiny man wasn't too happy and was crying pretty loudly. I remember this with Ayden and Jay had accompanied me to that appointment as well. During that appointment this new momma was almost in tears. During this appointment, (Jay was along as well) and I held it together much better, but what surprised me the most was Ayden's reaction. He did NOT like it that they were making Xander cry and he was almost in tears himself. Well, that almost made me cry seeing him get so emotional about it. It was the cutest thing ever. Thankfully, we just got a call from the doctor and Xander's levels have gone down since his release from the hospital and he doesn't need any treatment for jaundice. Yeah!

On other Xander news, he did end up failing the hearing screening in his left ear, both times that they tested him. Of course the audiologist's son would fail his hearing screening in at least one ear. That just means we have to make another follow up appointment for retesting in a week or so. It is typical for newborns to fail their screenings for many reasons, so I am not worried that he has any hearing loss at this point. And honestly, even if he did have some in that ear, it's not a bad thing. It is something that we would totally work with.

I find that I could just sit and cuddle with the tiny man all day long and I am SO looking forward to enjoying these next weeks with him. I know that they are going to just fly by WAY too fast which is going to suck (although, admittedly, I do miss my patients to a certain extent as well) and that before I know it, I'll be headed back to work craving the weekends.

Our pup has taken to Xander pretty well. He definitely knows that he is around and has sniffed him quite a few times, but for the most part he just leaves him alone. The same thing kind of goes for the cat. Like I said, Xander just fits right in!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{birth story}

(Started on April 15th... finished on April 17th, you know... because with a new baby things never get done all at once anymore.)

I'm currently sitting in a ginormous hospital bed (like seriously, it's at least a full size bed, St. Elizabeth's doesn't mess around), next to the hubby who is munching on a cherry slushy, with the new babe sleeping away in his little bed right next to us. I guess it is no secret now that we are a family of four and we could not feel anymore blessed! Alexander, whom we are calling Xander, Paul was born yesterday on April 14 at 1:55pm. He weighed in at a hefty 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21.5 inches long and is honestly pure perfection.

We definitely didn't think that he would weigh more than his big brother, who weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, but he surprised us all. I don't remember how long Ayden was when he was born, but I'm thinking he was probably a little shorter as well.

So, before I continue on and on about how much we are in love with the new tiny man that has invaded our lives, let's rewind a little bit and talk about his entrance into the world. FYI, because I'm definitely a detail person, this may be TMI for some people, but I will do my best to keep it not too graphic or gory.

My doctor and I had an induction date set for the 14th for some time. I was originally due on the 17th, but let's be honest here, I thought that 4-14-14 would make a pretty darn cool birthday and it worked out for my doctor and with Ayden and the dog, it kind of worked out best having something on the books because then we wouldn't have to scramble at the last minute for sitters and so forth. Of course, we knew that something may come up and he could make an appearance earlier, but he stayed put.

And you know, because I was saying it the entire pregnancy that we wouldn't have any bad weather because we were already in the middle of April, it snowed out the night before and our drive to the hospital on Monday morning was slower than normal. Seriously, Mother Nature is still being a hag! Can't she make up her mind as to what season she wants it to be right now? We had such great weather last week and this week it is cold again! We made it to the hospital only about five minutes later than I would have liked, but it was okay.

We checked in and made our way to the labor and delivery floor where we got settled in for the day. At my last doctor's appointment the Friday before, my doctor had said that I was about 3 cm dilated already and she wouldn't be surprised if she saw me in the hospital over the weekend ready to have a baby. Unfortunately, over the weekend I just continued to have irregular contractions that didn't really lead any where. By the time they got me all hooked up to the monitors on Monday morning, my nurse said that I was already contracting about every 6-8 minutes. I could feel them, but to me they just felt like the uncomfortable ones I'd been having for about a week by that point.

My doctor came in about an hour after we arrived and was going to start the induction process then, but when she checked me, she said that I had progressed to 4 cm dilated and that because my contractions were starting to come pretty regularly by then, albeit still not super close, that she was just going to break my water and see what that caused. If we could get things rolling without any extra intervention all the more better. She broke my water and there was definitely no turning back from that point. That certainly got things moving along!

It wasn't long after that that the contractions started to pick up! Going into the day I had every intention of getting an epidural. I don't remember the exact pain from Ayden's birth, but I know my body and my pain tolerance and like I said in my last post, it was something that I knew I was going to need in order to get through Xander's entrance into the world and I wasn't ashamed by that. After my doctor broke my water she said that I could pretty much get the epidural whenever because I was already dilated far enough for it, but I wanted to hold off a bit because I wanted to make sure that it didn't wear off before I actually to had push him out. I didn't want to feel that pain, haha! So, before requesting it, Jay and I walked around the halls just a bit to have gravity help things along. Because I was unaware of how big the actual labor and delivery floor was, we didn't walk too far or for too long outside of the room, but that was probably a good thing because by the time we got back to the room I had another huge gush of fluid and left a nice big puddle on the floor, haha! I know, another TMI moment. It was rather funny though! And then the contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable.

My water was broke around 8am, and around 10am I requested the epidural because the contractions were starting to get to the point where they weren't unbearable, but I knew that it was going to take some time to get the doctor in there to administer the epi. And I was right, because before I could get the epi, I needed a bag of fluid. It wasn't until about an hour and a half later that I got the epidural and by that point, boy was I ready for it! I labored through the contractions with the help of Jay. He was great at rubbing my back for me during them. Getting the epidural wasn't painful or anything for me. I was just ready for the pain relief at that point and when it kicked in, oh I was in heaven again, haha! After I got it and was more relaxed, the nurse checked me and I was already at a 7... and at this point it was just around noon.

It was maybe 45 minutes to an hour later when my doctor stopped back in to see how things were progressing and she checked me again and said that it was pretty much baby time. By this point I was no longer feeling any pain... just the pressure of the baby moving down. My doctor said that since I wasn't having any pain that she would let me 'labor down' for a little while yet while she finished up a meeting. She was back in about a half hour and it was go time!

At this point it was becoming real to me. We were about to have a baby! After nine long months my second son was about to enter the world! With Ayden I ended up pushing for about 2-2 1/2 hours and needed the vacuum assistance to help deliver him. I was worried that the same was going to happen with Xander and that the epidural was going to hinder my pushing abilities because I really couldn't feel the contractions coming. I could certainly feel his head getting lower, but it wasn't painful, so when I was pushing I didn't know if I was being effective or not. Apparently I was doing a good job though because everyone said I was. The situation/environment was so calm though... much calmer than I remember with Ayden, although when the vacuum is involved they often bring in a lot of other doctor's and nurses. This time it was just me, Jay, two nurses, my doctor, and a resident.

Unfortunately, as I was pushing, Xander's heart rate would drop and my doctor wanted to get him out asap. Thankfully when I wasn't having a contraction his heart rate went back to normal. She thought that maybe his cord was just getting compressed some as he was descending. It was just under a half hour after I started pushing that the tiny man entered the world and I couldn't believe it! He was beautiful!

There's a bit more to the story, but baby is calling!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

{last day}

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Today marks the last day of me being pregnant and our last day as a family of three. Not that any of you know quite yet... Well I suppose that a few of you might already know, but we haven't told all that many people about our induction date, mostly just the important people that needed to know because of Ayden and the dog and then a few friends because we all know that I can't keep my mouth shut when I have exciting news. Hey, at least I haven't spilled the name yet and Jay already told his boss! Lol! I don't blame him. And if we are being honest, I did tell one of my patients, but she was from the Saukville office and I know she doesn't know any of my family to tell anyone else so the secret was safe with her.

Am I ready to be a mom to children and not just one child? I am not so sure about that right now. As much as I've wanted this pregnancy to fly by for the majority of it, here I sit the day before baby is most

likely going to be born (I say most likely because it totally could still happen today, but at this point I am not going to keep my hopes up) and I'm sort of freaking out a little bit. Oh, I am MORE than ready to have my body back, knowing full well that even the week or so after he is born is bound to have me. Of feeling normal yet, but it has been ten years since I've had a baby and what if I don't remember anything? Of course I've held babies in that time, but not often and typically not for long. It is definitely different when it is your own baby. I'm not in full on freak out mode though so that is good...right? Haha! I am very excited. 

The closer the time comes to tomorrow the more nervous I am becoming about the actual labor and delivery part though. It is something that I haven't been nervous about this entire pregnancy...knowing that I've survived it once before (who knows how, lol) and that my body knows what to do. I am not the 'hero' type and I fully intend on getting the epidural as soon as they will allow me. I don't like pain, I don't handle it well and I personally will find no gratification in trying to go natural. Props to those who can or want to and do, good for them. I don't judge their decisions and I hope they don't judge mine... Same goes for any other parenting technique. Everyone has something that works best for them and I say good for you! 

But before this turns into some sort of parenting post, back to the whole labor thing. Like I said, I am nervous about it, but I just try to keep thinking about the outcome of it all and that it will be worth it in the end. Plus, I'd like to think that I am at least just a tiny bit prepared because I've been having rather uncomfortable, sometimes take your breath away practice contractions for days now... To the point where I've wished they would become more consistent and painful to start the actual labor process. To no avail though. Although (and forewarning, this may be TMI for some) at my last doctor visit, my doctor did say that I had progressed from one centimeter dilated to about three and I was eighty percent thinned and that baby's head was pretty low (but I could have told her that because the pelvic pressure is insane right now) out so my body is headed in the right direction! That just means three less centimeters that I have to go before I get to see my new tiny man.

We are kind of soaking up our last day as a family of three. The weather has been pretty crappy this weekend, so we haven't been able to get outside really, but better now and this coming week when I probably won't want to go outside than this past week or the week after. This past week was actually pretty nice and there were several occasions when I just sat outside with Drake watching him play because it was so nice and I couldn't stand sitting inside any longer. We even took the plastic off of our windows finally and opened them up for a few hours each day. It definitely felt nice... Well as nice as it can feel at nine months pregnant, lol! 

This week was kind of the breaking point for me. I had intended on working through Thursday this week, but ended up having last week be my last week. I was in just too much pain by the end of the day, having contractions on my entire drive home (which is 45 minutes) and took almost five minutes to get from my car to inside the house when I got home because my hips hurt so bad. Side note,we have stairs that I need to climb to get in our house and that was super painful so that is why it took so long. Plus, mentally I was done. Literally every little thing was bothering me and my attitude was horrible. I felt bad for my coworkers having to deal with me, but per usual they were great! Miss them already and honestly, would I have been better physically and mentally this week I would have rather been at work because I enjoy it usually and the week just drug on by! I am ready to enjoy a few weeks off with the baby though!

Keep your eyes open for tiny man's birth story!

CIAO! LOVE ME