+ You're Here! +
Following along with your mother's impatience, you decided you were ready to come on out and greet the world! I'll write your full birth story later, but for the other readers out there, here's your information...

Ceili Morgan O. was born at 1:25 a.m. on February 19, 2003 (3 weeks, 1 day early). She was delivered by Cesaerean Section when it was discovered that she was in a breech position (feet down). There were no complications with the surgery, or with recovery. She was 6 lbs. 3.4 oz., 18.5 inches long at birth. Upon discharge, her weight was down to 5 lbs. 8.5 oz., which the doctors say is fine (though it alarmed me!). Her Apgar scores were 9 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. She has blue eyes (of course), and lots of semi-curly dark blonde hair! For the moment, she appears to have Kerry's lips, chin and fingers, and Joe's eyes, nose and feet. She's positively gorgeous.

More to follow! Thanks for joining us on our journey, and best wishes to all the mothers and mothers-to-be out there!

edited to add: By the way, I did turn out to be Group B Strep positive, and Aunt Chelsie won the baby stats game. :-)

+ Terrific Tuesday +
Oh, I do have a Dr's appointment today, too. This will be our first internal. I have no idea what to expect, and I can't help but wonder if these endless twinges have done anything. Probably not, but I'm curious nonetheless. I'll try to take a picture of myself tonight. I've been remiss in that, sorry. Next appointment is next Monday, and every Monday thereafter until you're here. Remember, I don't meet your pediatrician until next Thursday, so could you try to hold off until then? Thanks.

+ Feelings +
So, as we near 37 weeks, I have some observations to make. First, I am continuing to grow at an alarming rate. How on earth I don't weigh a zillion more pounds is beyond me. My appetite is down a bit, my heartburn is up. In fact, it woke me up last night at about 1 a.m. and I couldn't go back to sleep until well after the Zantac finally kicked in. I don't sleep well with my head elevated, but I learned to breathe through the waves of heartburn nausea; wonder if I'll breathe through contractions as well? Speaking of contractions, I'm continually alarmed by the fact that you are going to have to exit my body at some point. You feel like a 15-pound octopus in there! I couldn't guess your position now for a million dollars. Sure, I can make guesses, but I truly can't distinguish much of anything. You aren't moving like you used to, but you're moving enough I'm not too worried. You like to poke my cervix (thanks!) and various other organs just to get a rise out of me once in a while. I'm peeing constantly, and quite crampy. My back was MUCH better over the weekend, leading me to the conclusion that the primary problem is both my work chair and sitting in one position all day. My feet and ankles have started swelling, which is simply lovel. My slide-on shoes that I nearly live in, and which used to flip off of my feet when I got them because they were too big, are now leaving slight imprints when removed. My fingers are swollen too, though not alarmingly. Just enough to make my transition rings too tight. I've resorted to wearing the biggest ring on my wedding ring finger and no others. Oh well. Meanwhile, we're getting everything else ready. I have things kind of half-done, like my hospital bag, your hospital bag, the diaper bag, etc. We're to a point where we could rush out of the house and be fine, but Daddy would still need to come home and get some things for us and get other things ready for you.

I just can't get over how close we're really getting. It's really starting to be real that we're going to be your parents. That's such a beautiful and awesome responsibility. On one hand, I can't wait. On the other, I'm terrified. Mostly, I just can't wait to meet you and find out all the wonderful things about you as you grow up. You do literally have your whole life ahead of you. What a blessing!