Look at that sweetie!
But before I impress you with more accomplishments and the full birth story, let me catch you up on the last months of pregnancy for the Shope family...
In April we all went on a roadtrip to San Jose for the California WIC Association conference for my job. It was held the last week of April and we were at 35 weeks- the same time when Owen made his debut, so we were a bit nervous about having our new baby in San Jose, but all went well and I had just a few contractions while we were there. Owen enjoyed his first stay in a fancy hotel and he and Brian hung out while I was in various sessions and then we also had some time to play together in the evenings. It was a fun adventure just the 3 of us before the 4th arrived.
Following our trip to San Jose we had a fabulous visit with Owen's godmother, Janine, and her now fiance, David. Janine is one of my very best friends in all the world and is living her passion working with an incredible non-profit, Nuru, working in Kenya living among communities while teaching them how to keep themselves and their families healthy using her stellar public health skills, and even more importantly, her passionate spirit and contagious energy. I love this girl!
She and David were awesome- coming not to sight see in LA, but to really care well for us as we prepared for our newest one. I was on empty at this point- Brian had just had the flu and I was exhausted. They came and loved us well doing dishes, playing with Owen, and sharing in the excitement and anticipation of another Shope. It was a great visit and really significant that they both came to be with us when she only had a short time back in the states before leaving once again for Africa. Thanks you guys- we love you!
Owen especially enjoyed time with his Auntie and soon to be Uncle David...
The beginning of May (May 8th to be exact) marked 5 years of marriage for Brian and I and we celebrated this milestone with Owen and the belly at the beach (an appropriate place to be, as we were married on the beach on the NC coast) followed by an amazing dinner just the two of us in Old Town Pasadena- it was a special day and we all enjoyed it immensely.
This was the first time Owen had been to the beach since he could walk (he was there several times as a baby). He loved the sand and the waves, pointing and grunting in excitement. We laughed that he is definitely our son, as we both love the beach.
As you can see the belly was pretty big at that point and I was slow and uncomfortable (hence the "waddles" in the title of this post!). I had never experienced the last month of pregnancy and I spent most of it trying to catch my breath and stay cool in the soCal heat.
At this point we were anticipating a baby any day since Owen was so early and trying to mark things off of our "list". I always have a list of things I want to accomplish before they're born and it's always much too long! We spent the last few weeks of May savoring the last bit of time as a family of three, trying to get organized, and finishing up school work for Brian and the last days of work for me before maternity leave.
I made it to my last day of work, May 21st and we were so thankful. I was really having trouble getting around with any speed at that point and was excited to get things in order (aka: continue nesting). The health dept was closed on Friday and Monday was Memorial Day, so we spent a long weekend playing with Owen, enjoying the farmers' market, cleaning, running errands, and had our good friends Nick, Audrey, and their baby Jonah over for an impromptu cook out Monday night.
At this point I was having contractions every day, but they always stopped when I rested and I was losing some of my mucus plug each day. Every day we woke up and said, "will today be THE day??!!" but I was hoping for a bit more time to cross things off the list, or not. :)
Monday night we grilled hot dogs and had picnic fare with the Read-Brown's and enjoyed the boys playing together. My Mom called and when she heard we were having hot dogs she called me back with glee and left a message to be careful, the baby must be coming soon (a significant event in my own birth story is the fact that my Mom stayed home the day I was born from school (she's a teacher) and cleaned while my grandma brought her hot dogs and onion rings, and then I popped out! three weeks early). We laughed about this with our friends and talked about the new one's debut- Nick and Audrey were at the top of the "care for Owen list" for folks who would come in the middle of the night to be with O once we went into labor- good friends are priceless!
I told Nick and Audrey I wanted to call the hospital and ask when Nicole, the labor and delivery nurse who helped us deliver Owen, would be working before I would have the baby. She was phenomenal; totally understanding and supporting our desire for a natural birth and I was so grateful for her presence with O. Brian and I talked scheduling for a bit after our friends left- we were planning on spending the days before our due date (Thursday May 28th) preparing and Brian was also hoping to get a bit of reading done for school before the little little made his/her debut. I also talked to my Grandma that evening, and she told me how she hadn't started the blanket yet, but she was pretty confident that the pink material she planned to use wouldn't go to waste (everyone! I mean, everyone!, except me and my college roommate, Eve, thought I was having a girl :).
We went to bed tired, but excited for the upcoming week, and I only got up once during the night (looking back it was my last full night, well, sort of full night of sleep for the next ???? how many months, Elias???).
I woke up Tuesday, May 26th, and.....
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