Looking back, one year ago today

B-Boy was originally expected on October 3rd, which was a Saturday. To be honest, no one thought he was coming anywhere near his due date. I had been to the doctor that Wednesday, and he had said he thought it would be another week or so.

B-Boy decided otherwise.

I was also convinced he wasn't coming near the day either. As a matter of fact, I just knew I would be back at work on Monday, October 5th. It was a good thing WorkBFF convinced me to clean off my desk and have all my responsibilities accounted for before I left for the weekend, just in case.

At 4pm on October 3rd, B-Boy decided he had cooked long enough, and my labor began. To be honest, I wasn't really convinced it was REALLY labor- I thought it was Braxton-Hicks contractions. But it was strong enough to make me take care of one-last-thing.

In order to tell you this story properly, I need to go back and tell you another story.

A few weeks before my due date, Neb and I went to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh to purchase a pumpkin. We chose carefully, as I wanted one that was the SAME size as my belly. It was pretty amusing to see all the other people at the Farmer's Market watching us pick a pumpkin by comparing it to my belly.

We brought it home and there it sat unitl October 3rd. When my labor started (even though I was still not convinced it was so), I told Neb we should start our jack-o-lantern project. You see, one of the things they tell you as you prepare for child birth is to have a plan of things to do to "distract" you from the labor.

And no, we weren't going to carve the pumpkin.

Our project? To paint a jack-o-lantern ON my belly.

I had purchased some face paints from a Halloween store, and Neb had the job to paint my belly with them. (Keep in mind neither of us thought we were going to have a baby for a week or so). We laughed at the thought of what would happen if I REALLY was in labor... and went to the hospital with a pumpkin painted on me. Could you imagine the looks on thier faces as they checked my belly? It still makes me chuckle thinking about it.

Once Neb painted it on, we then picked up the pumpkin to take some photos.

Only, the pumpkin that had been so perfectly sized to B-Boy was now tiny in comparrison. It was pretty shocking to see how much he had grown in a short time. But the evidence was there! What do you think?

We took several photos, and then I washed it off. Feeling like we had done all we wanted before the baby arrived, we were now ready for B-Boy. Later that night, the labor progressed and twelve hours after the labor started, I was being admitted to the hospital. I thought it was funny that I was admitted at 4am on October 4th. I still was not convinced that B-Boy was really coming, and I thought they would be sending me home. The pain was immense, and I remember hoping that was not the case!

At 7:16 pm on October 4th, B-Boy made his enterance into the world in a blaze of glory- and we were all changed for the better!

Happy last day of being zero baby boy. Tomorrow you will be one year old!