Connor's Birthday!

Okay, I have once again slacked on the blogging so I will try to catch you up on the past month...

The biggest change in our lives is our adorable son was born July 25! Let me just say my birth story was almost the complete opposite of what I said I wanted to do. Let me start from the beginning. It was a Sunday (two days before my due date) and I went to cheer on Keith at his soccer game and afterwards I went with him and a few of the guys to eat some Mexican. We came back home like every other Sunday night and just went to bed not thinking anything. I, of course, couldn't sleep so I decided to google some stuff related to pregnancy (my vice at nights). As I laid in bed staring at the computer screen I realized I had googled pretty much everything at least twice...all except breaking of the water. Well, after reading a few posts I realized I had to pee (again...something that happened all the time when pregnant). Ironically, as I was sitting there, my water broke!! Despite just reading the posts about what it is like, I wasn't 100% sure so I called one of my friends, Jennifer (who is a nurse). She assured me that yes, my water had broke. So, I waited and counted contractions before going into the hospital (allowing Keith to sleep a little bit longer). About 4:00 AM we arrived at the hospital. I was wanting to have an all-natural labor, but, well, that didn't happen. I was only 3 cm and literally having contractions 1-2 minutes apart with no break between them. So, I opted for the epidural after a few hours in labor. Things began to progress quickly after that and my sweet baby boy was born at 5:35 PM! Connor Lincoln Edwards 6lbs 13oz 21.25 inches long.

Well, it's been a month since we welcomed Connor into our lives and it has been a whirlwind! First, let me just say that I have always been an emotional person (literally crying at pretty much anything). However, when I was pregnant I cried maybe twice the whole nine months! All of that ended when I came home from the hospital. The floodgates were opened at full force! It was as if my tear ducts were unloading nine months worth of tears in about 2 weeks. The worst part...I was crying for absolutely NO reason! Thankfully, that's over now and I'm back to normal.

We have been keeping busy since we brought him home. If you know me, you know that's nothing to be surprised about since it kills me to just sit still. I love being busy and active. 5 days after Connor was born we were taking him out and about. Keith and I have always said that we don't want to be the couple that sits at home because we have a kid now. We have pretty much been able to do most of what we did before...it just takes a little more effort. The hardest thing is finding things active that we can do together and that we enjoy now that we have a kid. For instance, we love mountain biking, but we can't do that with an infant. We did, however, go rock climbing a few weeks ago and took Connor with us. It makes it harder too since we don't live close to family. We are loving our new adventure!!

36 weeks = 9 months pregnant!!

I can't believe I'm 36 weeks pregnant today!! I feel like these last 9 months have seriously flown by. It's crazy to think that I could be a mom within the next few weeks. I am so excited! I had a doctor's appointment today. Everything looks good. The baby has dropped (I had no idea) but I'm still not dilated yet. Which is good since my house is not ready yet.

I've also hit panic mode. I had an amazing shower in Knoxville this past weekend where we got tons of awesome stuff for the baby! Now, I'm stressing to get the nursery completely together, laundry done, car seat in place and checked, and thank you notes written. So much to do!!

Camping with the Edwards

This past weekend Keith and I packed up the car to go camping with his family. To be honest, I wasn't real excited about it at first. Just something about being 34 and a half weeks pregnant sitting in the heat of June for an entire weekend just didn't appeal to me. However, I decided to suck it up and go. The main reason we were going was so everyone could go white water rafting. Yes, I was really upset at first that I wouldn't be able to go on the fun trip down the river, but it all worked out. The cabin we stayed in was actually rather cool with the fans going and the best part...it had a bathroom!! I was so grateful for this...and I know Keith was too. Espcially around 4:00 in the morning when mother nature called. Had we not had a bathroom, Keith would have to walk with me to the bathroom at the campground. While we were there we played 4-square and totally dominated the youth group that was there! It made me really want to get involved with Young Life again. While everyone went rafting, I enjoyed a nice nap in my hammock :) The weather wasn't too hot and actually had a nice breeze every now and then. We had a blast playing games, making up stories around the campfire, and of course making s'mores! 

Making ramen noodles on my new camping stove :)

Our cabin

My hammock. Yes, I had to stand on the bench to get in it. 

Keith and his Dad

Darcy in her new hammock

Me and the hubs

Darcy and Joel

The fam

Goofy!

Flo-Town

I haven't seen my Florence friends in far too long and since I am done with teaching and have only a couple weeks left to travel far distances I thought...let's go to Florence! Not exactly my idea of a dream vacation, but seeing old friends was well worth it. So, Norah and I loaded our stuff up in the car and took off down the highway. Staying with Heather is always an adventure and so much fun! We visited some of her friends, went to the school I used to teach at to visit people, casted my belly, and painted a tree to hang up in my house! Belly casting was HILARIOUS! Norah was so confused as to what in the world we were doing. Still not sure what I'm going to do with it now that I have it home, but it was fun during the process. When it came to the tree painting...let's just say I am not the most creative, artistic person. I can't even draw stick figures to proportion. Heather was so patient with me though. I am very impressed with what I was able to do! Granted, she definitely helped me A LOT!! I am still pretty proud of myself :)

Baby Shower

Two of the sweetest women in my life threw me a baby shower in Asheville a couple weeks ago. I feel so blessed to have such amazing women in my life to help me celebrate my future baby boy! I was so happy to see all the girls who came and very surprised that my friend, Amanda drove all the way from Greenville, SC to see me!! We also decorated the most adorable onsies for Baby Edwards! I can't wait to dress him up! Now if I could just get caught up on the Thank You notes...

 Laura, Me, and Whitney. My amazing hostesses!

Me with the adorable onsies we made! 

Making onsies! 

Me and my good friend from college, Sarah. She just had the most beautiful little girl!

Farewell Teaching

Today was my last official day of teaching...bittersweet. However, I don't think it will really hit me until August rolls around and I am not going back to school. After teaching and coaching for five years it will be very different staying at home. With that being said, I truly am excited about this new journey God is taking me on...being a stay at home mom!!

It still is a little surreal that I am going to have a kid in just 6 weeks! I remember the day I found out I was pregnant and now I'm 34 weeks (tomorrow). Lately, things have become a little more difficult to do and that makes it exhausting. I've been taking naps in the afternoon which only aids in the insomnia at night. But I guess that's just my body preparing me for sleepless nights when Baby Edwards arrives. Other than the back pain, exhaustion, and clothes not fitting (except for Keith's tshirts), things have been going really well. Baby Edwards is staying very active and seems to be healthy (based on the checkups). Oh! Keith and I started going to birthing classes a couple weeks ago. They have been very helpful in knowing what to expect during labor as well as some relaxation techniques. The funny thing is that labor itself doesn't scare or worry me or even make me nervous. What makes me nervous is when we actually bring this little boy home and we are in charge of him.

Back to Blogging

Well, it sure has been a while since I've lasted posted. The main reason I stopped is because I realized that nobody was really even reading my blog. I thought, "why waste my time when nobody is reading it?". Then, I realized that I don't do this for anyone else; but, rather, I do this for me. It's sort of a release for me. So, I'm getting back into it.

Well, as of today I am 30 weeks pregnant!! I can't believe I only have 10 more weeks to carry this precious little boy inside of me. My favorite thing these days is feeling him move. And boy does he move! I don't think I'll have any trouble getting my pre-pregnancy body back after he's born...he'll keep me busy and moving!

It's been a pretty uneventful pregnancy (I'm not complaining...I feel blessed to have had it so easy)...until two nights ago. Keith and I just got back from Ohio and were going to bed. One thing I have not been immune to during pregnancy is having to go to the bathroom...A LOT!! Sunday night was different though. I felt like I had to pee, but couldn't...weird. I woke up about 11:30 to pee (again) and started having the WORST pain I have ever felt. It was in my back and wrapping around to the front of my left side. I realized it was something to do with my kidney. I woke Keith up and called the doctor. I was in so much pain that I couldn't wait for the doc on call to call us back. I asked Keith is he would just take me to the ER. As soon as we walked in they brought us a wheelchair and Keith wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery. They decided to admit me for the night to control my pain. Keith was such a trooper the whole time! He was there helping me in every aspect of my horrible night. I was feeling much better yesterday morning but once they started monitoring Baby Edwards, they saw that I was having some consistent contractions so they decided to keep me another night to monitor that situation. Needless to say, I am feeling much better and was home by lunch time today! I am so grateful for the nursing staff, doctors, and nutrition department...not to mention, my amazing husband!! At least now I know that they will be super nice when I go back in 10 weeks to greet this little boy!