Hello Everyone!

I know this blog is somewhat delayed, especially for those of you who've wanted to keep up to date with the pregnancy, but live too far away to really do so. Up until now though, there honestly wouldn't have been much to tell. The only thing that really changed, besides the big things I made sure people knew anyway, was the degree in which I felt nauseous/sore. Now though, things are really starting to gear up and I suppose it's about time that I stopped being slack.

Today marks 24 days until the due date, which is both exciting and pretty nerve-racking. Everything's starting to shape up though.

• The nursery is painted and furnished, it just needs some decorating and for all of the boxes to be cleared out and either thrown away or put elsewhere (it was our Room of Requirement for quite some time, so there's a lot of little odds and ends everywhere).
• Our room, which is where the baby will sleep for the first little while in a bassinet, is slowly getting cleaner...though, with my size and Thomas' work schedule, it's definitely more slow than steady. 
• Thomas would probably like me to let you all know that he's getting a new tattoo (tonight, as a matter of fact). His coworker apparently does them and his mom offered to pay, so he's getting Adam written in Celtic Knotwork done on his upper arm.
• I'm actually roughly 3 cm dilated (as of this past Tuesday), which is kind of crazy. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. The first stage of labor, from what I've read, can last anywhere from hours to weeks, so active labor is still pretty much up in the air. 

Finally, I should let you all know that Thomas, his family, and I were in an accident last night. While it definitely wasn't ideal, it could have been a whole lot worse. We were stopped at a red light in Summerville and this woman (who turned out to be the Labor and Delivery manager at Summerville Medical oddly enough), didn't stop in time and rear-ended us. There was definitely a jolt in our car, but when we all got out and looked, there wasn't more than just a scratch or two on either car.

Being responsible though, we still called the 24-hour line at our doctor's office and went for an hour of fetal monitoring at Trident, just to make sure everything was a-okay...which it is. Despite the late hour and, of course, the reason we were there, it actually probably turned out to be an everything-happens-for-a-reason moment. I was put in a labor and delivery room, so touring the hospital is another thing I can mark off of my list. I got to experience, first hand, what it's like to sit in the ward, hooked up to several monitors. Also, we're assumedly preregistered at the hospital now, because they had to put us in the system and all of that jazz. Hopefully when we go for the delivery, we shouldn't have as much paperwork to fill out. Lastly, what was really good for me was, by watching the monitors, Thomas was able to help me figure out exactly which thing I was feeling was a contraction. They're obviously not very strong yet, but up until now, I've been unsure what was a contraction and what was the baby pushing.

To reiterate though, everything is fine. No one is hurt. The only pain I feel is the pain I was already feeling from carrying this big belly around and everything else that goes with it.

Since I have no pictures to post today, I'll just post the 3D ultrasound pictures for those who haven't really gotten a chance to check them out...or maybe want to look through them again. They're about two months old now, but still pretty awesome.

I miss all of y'all and I hope this finds you well,
much <3
-Alaina