File this post under one of the many things I intended to have done before our sweet boy’s arrival. I actually photographed the nursery a few hours before I went into the hospital thinking I would be able to blog it the following day! But fate had other plans! If you want to hear my birth story, check out this post! But I finally had a chance to edit the photos and get this post up like I promised you guys!

If you missed part 1 of James’ birth story, get caught up here. Picking up where we left off. My contractions go from manageable to can’t-get-words-out real quick. And there was now almost no break between contractions. I knew that was the sign that it was time to get the epidural. I get the epidural and feel great. They check me and I’m still 4cm, so they go ahead and break my water. Shortly after this, I start to feel a little sharp pain in my right side. We try turning me to my right side to use gravity to get the medicine to that side. But with each contraction, that little spot where I feel pain gets bigger and bigger until my entire abdomen and back are now no longer numb. The nurse anesthetist comes back to give me a new dose of medicine. No change. People always tell you that epidurals don’t always work, but I never in a million years thought that would happen to me.

I had every intention of sitting down to write out James’ birth story a week, maybe two weeks, after he was born. Yeah, no. I’ll say that the inability to get things done with a newborn is one of the things I definitely underestimated! But I can’t complain as baby snuggles beat work and chores any day! So, on to the birth story!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And with that comes my favorite version of our home- when it’s decked out for Christmas!! There’s just something so magical about a lit tree in the corner of the room. It can brighten up any dreary day! 

Our sweet baby James is coming for us, whether we are ready or not! We are officially in the 3rd trimester!! Pregnancy is such a whirlwind! Every week comes with a new set of emotions, excitement and disbelief! And somehow the whole process feels so slow yet so fast at the same time!! He’s not even in our arms yet, but our whole world has already been turned upside down in the best way!! 

I have always loved the idea of doing a fun gender reveal when we would get pregnant one day. But with Branden being an Ob/Gyn resident, I knew it would be hard to keep the gender from him since he would easily be able to spot it during ultrasounds. And I didn’t want him to not be able to watch those early ultrasounds, so I figured it was just something we wouldn’t be able to do.