D Day = Delivery Day!!

Tomorrow is the day!  Our little miracle will show her beautiful face.  I have dreamt of this day my whole life.  I always wondered what my children would look like and tomorrow, I will really find out.  The only word I can use to describe it is....surreal.  I have felt like there have been so many layers of this pregnancy.  I have been worried, scared, nervous, thrilled, skeptical, overjoyed, and remarkably in love.  In love with something that started out as the size of a poppy seed.  I have marveled at how remarkable my body is as well as the little body that is growing inside me.  I have loved being pregnant.  As uncomfortable as I may have felt at times, it does not compare with how empowering and wonderful it felt knowing I was helping our daughter grow big and strong.  The first 8 weeks and the last 8 weeks were by far the hardest.  Even though we knew that we were pregnant, seeing that little flicker of a heartbeat on the screen was the most amazing feeling in the world.  It was the best Birthday present I could have ever had!  The last weeks tested my patience while waiting for the inevitable.  What will she look like?  Who will she look like?  Will she have hair?  What faces will she make?  Will she sleep easily?  The middle part of pregnancy seemed to fly by.  I felt great and finding out if the little angel in my belly was a girl or boy was one of the best moments of my life.  It made everything seem that much more real.  It was a little girl...our daughter that was sharing every moment with me.  I talked to her, I sung to her, and I watched her move inside me.  Feeling those flutters and then those big movements  was indescribable.  Having Chris feel her after a long trip to China was also an amazing feeling.  My favorite past time now is resting my arm on my belly and after a couple of seconds, she kicks it as to say, "Mommy...I can't wait to meet you!"  Well, I cannot wait to meet you, little one.  And now it is all drawing to a close.  The first chapter of our daughter's story is coming to a close, but the real story is yet to be written.  And so is our story of being parents.  A job that I think will be the most amazing and rewarding job we have ever had.  I cannot wait to cuddle our little beautiful miracle tomorrow and I am ready to fully embrace the best day of our life.  I leave you with the last bump shot.

Ready to POP!

Our Little Pumpkin!

Hello, Week 38!!  Baby Girl Aiello is the size of a pumpkin!  As of today, we have 5 days or less!!

She is between 18.9 inches and 20.9 inches.  She weighs between 6.2-9.2 pounds...that is a pretty big difference!  She also could have at least an inch of hair.  That would be nice since she does have a lot of cute hairbows and headbands waiting for her!  :)  We are getting very anxious, excited, nervous, and thrilled to meet her!  I don't think I have ever felt so many emotions all at once.  I know these 5 days will just fly by!  Especially since today is the first day of my Maternity leave.  It is weird to not be at work and not be going somewhere on vacation, but I am ready to treasure every moment here with her!  Here is our 38 week photo:

While I have loved being pregnant thus far, I am ready to meet our little princess!  I can no longer sleep in bed because the cramping is pretty intense, I need help off the couch, I can't bend down, and my feet have their own zip code.  See?

I know it will all be worth it though!

This is my newest purchase for her...I am in love with these!!  I had to share. :)

We finally have her nursery completely done!!  I am so happy with how it turned out!  Here are some pics:

 The only thing missing in this picture are the letters for her name that I love!  The wall looks bare without them. :)  But I will post it in 5 days. :)

I am leaving you with some pictures of Chris & Lola that are too cute not to share!  Our little family of  3 will be a family of 4 very soon!

Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing Dads out there!!!

Baby Girl Aiello is Full Term!

This week marks the biggest milestone for Baby Aiello!  She is now in the safe zone and is 37 weeks!  They would no longer stop labor and she can now breathe on her own.  Dr. Star estimates that she is between 7-7.5 pounds!  He said to stop buying newbown clothes and estimates she will be about 8.5 pounds at birth.  I explained that I have a lot of cute things, so I want her to be able to wear them. :)  No wonder I have been feeling so drained and exhausted...that's a lot of baby!  :)  She is also between 18.9-20.9 inches and is the size of a winter melon. 

I am not quite sure exactly what this mythical fruit is.  Does anyone out there just love the winter melon??

We are getting very anxious/excited/nervous!  She could really come any day now and I am still working full time, which makes things a little more difficult.  Next Friday, the 15th is my last day before maternity leave.  We almost have everything completed for her arrival!  We just need to pack a hospital bag and finish some of her laundry.  We also finally received her name letters to put above her crib, so the nursery is nearly complete!  I hope to be done with EVERYTHING by this weekend!  Fingers crossed! :)

Here is our 37 week belly shots!  I am feeling rather large. :)

In other news, we finally got our new car!!  Yay!!  We got a Limited 2012 Hyundai Tucson.  We love it!  It has leather seats for easy clean up with the little one.  I say it's the baby mobile.  Here is Chris right after we bought the car. :)

Have a great weekend, Blogger Land!

"Honey, Dew I Look Big??"

That's right!  Baby Girl Aiello is the size of a honeydew this week and she sure does feel like one!  She is between 17.2-18.7 inches right now and around 6 pounds.  The main thing she is working on now is her breathing.  She has had a lot of hiccups the past couple of weeks!  Chris gets excited when she does because he says, "She's learning to breathe!"  I always feel bad for her when she has them for a long time.  It just feels like tiny little pops.

The pressure is getting pretty intense.  Literally!  She is a hyper little thing and her movements really hurt.  I feel bad for her too though because I know she is running out of room in there.  I had a doctor's appointment this week and I am 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated already!  This little girl could stay in until June 20th or come anytime.  We really have no idea!  A 20 day countdown seems short enough!  Her heartbeat was in the 180's when Dr. Star first checked it, which was very high.  But, she was moving so we listened for about four more minutes (whihc I did not mind!) and it slowed down to the 160's.  He said it is a good sign that the baby's heart rate goes up when they are active. 

I have finally hit the uncomfortable stage, but I want her to stay in a couple more weeks for further lung development.  I have loved being pregnant, but I am feeling like I am getting bigger by the day.  It hurts so bad to sleep and do pretty much anything.  Chris has been amazing helping me around the house and with everything!!  My Mom has helped clean and run errands for me, Mark has helped with the yard, and Chris's parents have helped with the nursery.  Thank you so much to everyone that has helped!  I cannot thank you enough!

I am starting to have a lot of anxiety about the surgery.  I am sure that day is going to be really rough for me.  I have not had a surgery since October 2007.  Since I had eight surgeries in 2 years, I am sure it will bring back a lot of those feelings and memories.  But I know I can do anything for our little girl!  And Chris will be there for me every step of the way which just thinking about that calms me.  I know that unlike the surgeries in the past, I get the most amazing gift in the end.  I cannot wait to meet our little girl and hear her and compare who she looks like.  It will be the greatest day of our lives next to our Wedding day.  I know that we can do it...together.  :)  On a lighter note, here is our 36 week shot:

Below are the pictures of our Maternity photo shoot!  The pictures were taken by Blue Ballon Photography.  We had such a great time and I think they turned out pretty well!

We have one more with her name, but you will just have to wait for that one. ;-)