Rewind

We just received our birth photos in the mail and love them! Matt and I are spending the weekend listening to our church leaders, but I'll try to find time in the next few days to sort through all the pictures and gather my thoughts. I hope I'll be able to share Jake's birth story with you at the beginning of next week. Meanwhile, to appease my type-A desire to blog in semi-chronological order, I'm going to rewind a bit and document our final few days before Jake's arrival.

Thursday, September 1st:

Matt was in charge of an important event on base. His boss had all but begged our unborn baby to stay in my belly until after September 1st. Matt and I assured him we'd do our best to keep the baby in there. In fact, we were so confident our baby would come after his due date (September 9th) that I was even assigned photography duty for the day. As predicted, Jake stayed in my belly and the event was perfect.

Friday:

Matt worked such long hours and did such a great job with the event that his boss gifted him a half day on Friday. So, of course, I suggested we spend the day doing what any sane 39-week pregnant lady would want to do -- playing at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Seriously, doesn't the mere mention of Disneyland make you feel all warm and fuzzy? It was an excellent place to celebrate my birthday eve. We even got the celebration pins to make it all official again (although, I didn't get half as many birthday wishes as last year. People were probably too distracted by my big belly to notice my little birthday pin, I suppose!).

Matt and I kicked off our party at California Adventure, where we got the best seats in the house on Soarin', achieved new high scores on Toy Story, introduced Mickey to my baby bump, and indulged in Mickey-shaped ice cream as we walked along the pier.

Then we ventured over to Disneyland, where the baby slept through Pirates of the Caribbean but seemed to thoroughly enjoy his carousel ride.

Hooray for free birthday desserts! As if we weren't eating enough sugar that day already...

The highlight of the day was seeing Liz, my best friend from college whose family was on a last-minute vacation in Orange County. It was the best birthday surprise.

(Fully aware that this picture is out of focus, but can we all just love that my belly is eating Elizabeth's? K thanks.)

Matt and I rounded out the night (and our year of Disney!) with churros, fireworks and the World of Color. I'm pretty sure it was my favorite birthday eve ever.

Saturday:
We celebrated my birthday, of course!
Sunday:

Church, naps and plenty of Skype action, as usual.

Monday:

Labor Day! Matt and I slept in, played tennis, went to the pool, took an afternoon nap, and then walked the golf course while Matt squeezed in nine holes before sunset. It was one of those simply perfect days and I wish I'd taken just one picture of it.

Tuesday:

I, frustratingly, spent basically the entire day at a doctor's appointment. After driving 40 minutes one-way and waiting for more than 2.5 hours, I finally saw my doctor's partner (love my doctor, not his partner), who spent approximately three minutes with me -- just long enough to do a quick check and say "Nothing. See you Friday." The zero labor progress thing was fine (I was convinced my baby would be late anyway, remember?), but his bedside manner after such a long wait bugged me. Then, they hooked me up for yet another non-stress test and forgot about me, leaving me in there for an entire hour instead of the usual 20 minutes. I texted Matt to pass the time.

His favorite line from me during that exchange?

"I don't think our baby is coming any time remotely soon."

Seven hours later, I was in labor.