AND SO IT BEGINS...

On May 22 of last year, I woke up feeling a little uncomfortable. For some reason, it was really uncomfortable to sit down. It was three days before my due date, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I had never had any Braxton Hicks contractions or really any discomfort yet during my pregnancy. (Not counting my feet, which had swelled to the size of Big T's. Believe me, that was NOT comfortable). But this morning, I felt a little crampy. And maybe a little pressure. I had a wave of excitement pulse through me. I was getting close.

But not close enough. I showered, got dressed for work, packed the exercise ball in the car, and left for work. Since it was uncomfortable to sit on a hard chair, I sat on my exercise ball at my desk all day. Got some weird looks, had people asking some strange questions--like when I was going to get my membranes stripped--um, yeah. Not something I was going to discuss with my male coworkers, and not something I was planning on having done. I was going to let this happen on its own.

I left for work that day with a lot of well wishes: "Have a great maternity leave! Good luck! I hope your labor goes well!" I was so excited. This was really happening.