This is me on my last day of work at the end of my 37th week. I was having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions and wasn't sure if I was going to go into labor so Keith and I decided to take pictures as if we were heading to the hospital. Here I am pretending to leave the house.
Of course this was Keith's idea. I thought it was kind of silly, but I would soon learn I would do many more silly things for my soon to arrive son. You can see how thrilled I was by the picture below. Keith had to get the house number in the picture. I am not sure why this was important, but I guess this might be nice for Axel to know where his first house was.
I also wanted to mention the wonderful baby showers that were thrown for us. I was mostly against having a baby shower because of Keith's and my wedding the 
summer before. I thought it was too soon to ask family and friends to "shower" us with gifts. I was quickly reminded that a baby shower is for the baby and therefore I shouldn't think twice about having one, especially if someone wants to throw one for us. Keith and I were shocked that several "someones" wanted to throw us a baby shower. So for not wanting a baby shower we ended up having 5. My good friends Cindy and Gwen threw us the first one. It included all of the people in the physical therapy department at work, although only about 5 coworkers and their family's attended. It was a nice relaxing evening and Keith and I really enjoyed ourselves. He loved the jello squares!
summer before. I thought it was too soon to ask family and friends to "shower" us with gifts. I was quickly reminded that a baby shower is for the baby and therefore I shouldn't think twice about having one, especially if someone wants to throw one for us. Keith and I were shocked that several "someones" wanted to throw us a baby shower. So for not wanting a baby shower we ended up having 5. My good friends Cindy and Gwen threw us the first one. It included all of the people in the physical therapy department at work, although only about 5 coworkers and their family's attended. It was a nice relaxing evening and Keith and I really enjoyed ourselves. He loved the jello squares!Mom and Shannon threw the second baby shower the following weekend. You can see from this picture how proud and excited they were.
I was shocked to discover the orthopedic department also wanted to throw a baby shower for Axel and I. This was held at lunch during my last week of work. I was then truly surprised at Bible Study when the women in my discussion group turned one of our fellowship dinners into a surprise baby shower for us. The 5th and final "baby shower" was a dinner with our close friends the week before Axel arrived. We tried to stress in the evite that it was just a dinner, but no matter how many times we told everyone it wasn't a baby shower most of our friends still brought gifts for Axel. I guess everyone realizes how truly awesome it is to have a child and want to somehow be apart of it and help out their fellow family member, friend, or coworker. What I learned from this whole experience is how truly blessed Keith and I are and how truly grateful I am to have such an amazing family and group of friends. God has never shown me more clearly that it is not about me.....it is about HIM and HE can provide and bless us in any way HE chooses.
The last thing I wanted to include in this "prequel" is a picture
of how I had to sleep for almost the entire 9 months. For those of you who don't know I find it quite amusing. I have a very weak sphincter in my esophagus. The hormones of pregnancy made it even weaker because Relaxin targets all smooth muscle and it is a smooth muscle. I typically have GERD. My GERD was intensified because of my growing belly which caused me to have chronic gastritis which then caused me to vomit nearly every day for almost the entire pregnancy regardless of what I ate. I would almost always throw up if I laid flat so I had to prop myself up with the use of 6 pillows. Keith thought it was funny to take a picture of my sleeping arrangement. I of course was "posing" here because he interrupted my daily bible reading, however, I did sleep this elevated, but on my L side.
of how I had to sleep for almost the entire 9 months. For those of you who don't know I find it quite amusing. I have a very weak sphincter in my esophagus. The hormones of pregnancy made it even weaker because Relaxin targets all smooth muscle and it is a smooth muscle. I typically have GERD. My GERD was intensified because of my growing belly which caused me to have chronic gastritis which then caused me to vomit nearly every day for almost the entire pregnancy regardless of what I ate. I would almost always throw up if I laid flat so I had to prop myself up with the use of 6 pillows. Keith thought it was funny to take a picture of my sleeping arrangement. I of course was "posing" here because he interrupted my daily bible reading, however, I did sleep this elevated, but on my L side. Now I am going to try to tackle transferring the 6 posts I have on facebook. I am hoping Axel will continue to nap so I can get this done today! Wish me luck!
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