a smile... or two!!!

a few interim pictures

these arent the best pictures because i took them with my phone, but you can get the idea of how much he's grown! he's wearing the hat they put on him when he was born and now it barely fits!

Aidan.. not Aiden

One more thing... We decided last minute to spell the little man's name with an A instead of an E, and here's why:

I had agreed to go with the E since I was so outvoted both here and in "real life." However, after a really REALLY rough labor and delivery which involved 2 different epidurals (neither worked) and 4 straight hours of pushing (3 pushes every contraction!), Mr. F told me anyone who had gone through all of that could name their child anything they wanted so we should go with the A. LOL... so all I had to do was give birth to get my way? Sweet...

hopelessly behind

First things first, Happy New Year!!! I can hardly believe how fast 2008 went and how much my life has changed and been enriched in ways I could only imagine. 2008 was the year I got married to the man of my dreams, finished my first year and a half of grad school, and had a beautiful baby. I have no idea what 2009 will bring, but I'm certainly excited to find out!

I've also spent the last 6 weeks adjusting to motherhood and realizing just what a luxery showers are and I've gotten quite good at eating...and doing everything else...one handed. I've also learned the true meaning of sleep deprivation, and it isnt pretty. And, for Christmas I was given the most amazing gift, Aidan's first smile! It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and yes, I got quite choked up. Seeing that goofy toothless grin meant more to me than anything and makes those sleepless nights so worth it. Its been tough to catch on film, but as soon as we do, you'll get pictures.

The little man is growing so fast and I had to pack up all of his newborn sized clothes because this kid is well fed :) in 6 weeks he's grown 3 inches and gained 4 lbs. Thats right, he's a whopping 12 lbs 3 oz, a 50% increase since birth and I'm proud to say its all breast milk.

Over break we were also on baby tour '08 introducing Aidan to all of the aunts, uncles and cousins who came to meet him. It was great, but I'm never doing that again. I need a break from break because we didnt get a moment to ourselves. Oh, and I also had to finish 3 papers before Christmas. Miracle of miracles, they got done, but I have done NO work on my thesis and its starting to stress me out.

To top it all off the day before we were supposed to come back to Philly Mr. F tore a meniscus in his knee and is hobbling around. He'll get an MRI on Thursday, but will most likely need surgery in the next 3 weeks. Its never a dull moment in our house, but I certainly wouldnt mind one!

Something extra special to be thankful for this year

I'll write an actual entry later, but for now here are some pictures:)

Aiden coming soon!

So the day has finally arrived and tonight we check in to the hospital to begin the induction process. Tonight they will give me cervidil to hopefully do some dilating work and will begin pitocin in the morning. However, the cervidil may be enough to start labor on its own and that would be WONDERFUL. I'd love to avoid a pitocin induced labor!

I'm so nervous about everything, especially the needles! but trying to keep in the front of my mind how wonderful it will be to hold our little boy tomorrow night. Mr. F and I woke up with HUGE smiles this morning knowing we've spent our last night in our apartment without Aiden and the first addition to our family is almost here.

Pregnancy has been a wonderful adventure and I'm so thankful to have been given this gift. It certainly hasnt been all roses all the time and I'm really looking forward to it being over. I've even been dreaming about my non-maternity clothes! It goes without saying that Im most excited to meet Aiden, but I'd be lying if I said a nice big glass of wine was far from my mind too:)

The next post should be baby pictures! Stay tuned!!

40 weeks 3 days

Well, D-day came and went and aside from some random contractions, not much has happened since Friday. However, we did have a false alarm and went to the hospital on Saturday night, but sent back home. Disappointing, but not surprising. We did discover that instead of a duffel bag, I should repack into a rolling suitcase so Mr. F does have to lug my bad all the way to the hospital (we live close enough to walk there). Today I had another appointment and no change since last week, which is a bummer and the raspberry tea did NOTHING, nor did all the walking or any other suggested method. However, my Dr. has decided to schedule me for an induction Wed night/Thursday morning, which means Aiden will be here around dinner on Thursday (he has 48 hrs to do it on his own)! The plan is to admit me on Wednesday night and start the pitocin on Thurs morning. I am def having mixed feelings about this because I really want to go naturally and I've heard terrible things about pitocin induced labor. BUT, knowing when he's coming will make going to the hospital more relaxing and our parents can just plan to come up on Friday. Not to mention, Mr. F will get a 4 day weekend! :)

This weekend was also great because we got one last grocery trip in, did all the laundry and had some people over for chips and salsa while we watched the Giants win!

Its so strange, every once in awhile Mr. F and I look at eachother and ask "Are you ready for all of this?" and it hits us at different times that our family is taking shape. Its so hard to put into words the variety of emotions conjured up each time, but suffice it to say that we are beyond excited and so ready to meet this little man.

I've learned so much about life through this whole process of being pregnant and I'm sure the lessons are just getting started. The one thing I know for sure is that I have an amazing husband and partner and there is no way I'd want to do any of this without him. I am a very blessed woman, and I know it.