The end of 'before'

This is it; a day I thought would never come. Today is the last day that we will be able to do as we please, when we please, of sleeping in on the weekends, of eating meals uninterrupted, or of going out and not worrying about bed times. The last time we will leave our house as DINKS (double-income, no kids) - We will return as parents! How strange/wonderful a feeling knowing that this truly is one of the most important days of our lives.

We really hoped that Samantha would come on her own, but here we stand, 40w4d and she is no more ready to enter the world today than she was 3 weeks ago. She is still only 1cm dilated and I have had no more progression or signs towards labor. Our doctor will not let us go past 41 weeks, and with this being my first, I really wanted her to deliver the baby. She is of course not scheduled this weekend when Samantha would officially be 41 weeks, so tonight we go to the hospital. I just got a call from the doctors office letting me know that my original check in time of 6:30 this evening has been pushed back to 10:00, which is kind of better, so we don't spend all evening at the hospital. I will get my first dose of cervidil once settled and they will give me two more doses over the following 12 hours - the ultimate goal is that once I get the cervidil, 'natural' labor will then occur, however if not, I will be given Pitocin in the morning to start the induction process. If all goes well, we will be able to meet baby Samantha by tomorrow evening!!

I never thought I would say this, but we are so ready for this next step in our lives. To share our love with our child and to raise a family together. Its such a wonderful/scary/exciting feeling and I can't wait! Here is hoping/praying that all goes well and that the doctors on staff know what they are doing :)

Lookout world, we are almost parents!!

Random events throughout my pregnany

 Below is quite the assortment of photos over the last few months with our families.  

 

Also a quick recap of who is who when it comes to photos of my nieces and nephews:

My oldest brother Shannon and his wife Amie have Dominic (2.5 yrs) and Miranda (4 months). My other brother Adam and his wife Sarah have Lucas (3 yrs) and Eli (3 months). Stephens older brother and his wife Amy have Luke (almost 4) and Lane (2). Stephens younger brother and his wife Lisa have Jainy (15 months). He also has a younger sister Jennifer and a step sister Amy that you will see in photos. And yes, for those of you confused - Samantha will think all boys are Uncle Adam (one on each side) and all girls are Aunt Amie/Amy (3 Amies!)

 

My very first baby purchase - Stephen and I went down to our friends Chase and Jen Blevin's, who live in Bedford, because Jen was so amazing and gave me all kinds of maternity clothes! We of course had to pick up Mother Bears pizza and stop at the Bookstore to see what we could find at the ol' Alma mater.

 

 

My brothers and SIL's came down for a visit one last time before the 2nd round of siblings were born. I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the DeVon girls hanging out sober and pregnant as all our friends/family cooked out and played card games all night!  Dominic and Lucas were testing out bath time in our tub. (This was in April)

 

 

Shannon and Amie had Miranda in May, so on our way to visit, we made a pit stop at Wrigley Field. Its hard to tell in the picture, but it was a 'first time at the park' certificate for Samantha.

 

 

Miranda's first outing! A diner close to where Shannon and Amie live in Lockport.

 

 

Eli came next, this was our first time meeting him in June. Dominic and Lucas already look like proud older brothers!

 

Our good friends Chad and Rachael got married at Purdue at the end of June and to say it was a PARTY was an understatement!

Jainy and Aunt Jennifer share the same birthday - July 13th - matching shirts for the birthday festivities.

 

All of the Wiley women at Jainy's birthday party

 

Lane's 2nd birthday in August. Amy and Michael had his birthday at the park and it was a great day!

 The 3 Wiley cousins at the party.

 

Stephen and I working on the nursery this summer.

 

 

Mac had to get in on the action too. She is not quite sure what to think about all of this.  

 

Yep, my pregnant swollen feet - awesome. Haven't worn anything other than flip flops in a month...

 

We went to South Bend for Lucas's 3rd birthday at the end of September. It was our last trip before Samantha is born and was quite busy. We went to the ND game, went apple picking and celebrated Lucas's birthday.

 

Lucas being a good big brother to Eli.

 

ND vs Michigan State - we must have been good luck charms, they won!

Dominic loved picking apples and eating them!

 

This past weekend Adam and Lisa came home from Pittsburgh and we had some of Stephen's family over Saturday night so everybody could be together to see Jainy. This was our prom picture of all of the Wiley children/spouses/grandchildren with Grandpa Glenn.

 

 

The best we could do trying to get a 1, 2 and 3 year old to cooperate and take a picture together :)

 

And finally, just because you all know I am a crazy cat lady and don't want my first babies to feel left out once Samantha comes, a few pictures of Mac and Louis.

PS - I added my 38 week photo to the Growing Baby Bump post.