Why Does Time Fly By?

My baby will be three tomorrow. THREE! I cannot believe it. I know we have many, many more years of birthdays, but this one is making my heart hurt (I think the other 2 did also). He is a real-live boy, with his own, very definite, opinions and ideas life. I just can't believe it has been 3 years already. I remember May 6, 2008 like it was yesterday (and that's saying a lot since I have a hard time remembering what I even did yesterday!)

It was a Tuesday. I was wearing a pinkish-peach sleeveless dress. I was 36 weeks pregnant (or so I thought. Come to find out at 3:50 pm May 7, I was really 34 weeks. Due date was wrong.) I was wearing the Crocs flip flops I begrudgingly bought months before when my feet starts to swell like sausages.

At school that day, I had to give my kinders the DIBELS assessment, a literacy fluency test. That meant I split up my kiddos amongst the other 7 kinder teachers & I tested one at a time all day. When we were assigning days to administer the test, I was given the last day of the testing window. I very vividly remember protesting, "I'd like to go first. What if I have the baby before then?" Well, no one thought that would happen since my due date was a month away and first time moms always go past their due date! So I got the last day.

The first week of May the staff took pity on me. My feet, ankles, calves, belly, face, everything was HUGE!! I had a hard time walking around campus. It HURT!! The principal was kind enough to reserve a parking spot right up front for me. The custodian even made a reserved sign in front of my designated space. How sweet. I was touched.

I spent Tuesday with my feet up on a chair while I assessed my kids. At the end of the day I was exhausted. Just drained. I had no energy left. A friend of mine came to check on my in my classroom and before she even said hello, she said, "Anabelle, you get home right now! You look terrible. You should be on the couch with your feet up." Normally, I would protest. The kids had only been gone 10 minutes, my classroom was a disaster, I wasn't ready for Wednesday. But I listened. I did feel crappy. So I left, at 3:15. I was home before Oprah even started at 4:00. that NEVER happens! I stay at school until at least 5:00 pm every day.

I remember putting a pillow on the chair and lying ont he floor with my feet propped on the chair & pillow. Then I took this picture and sent it to my parents

"What's that?!?!" my dad said when he saw it. Yes, those were my poor, gigantic feet. I mean seriously, don't they look like they belong to a woman that weighs 300 pounds?? At least they were pedicured.

I stayed like that for hours. I couldn't move. Then at 10:00 pm I headed upstairs for bed, but not before Brian took my belly picture. We forgot to take it Monday, I think Brian was out of town

showered and got to bed. Well, as I'm lying in bed I feel something quite peculiar trickling down my legs. Hmmm. Had I wet myself again? But this went on a lot longer than a little leakage. 15 minutes. Then I said something to Brian, "Do you remember what the lady on our birthing class said it felt like when your water broke?"

"Umm no, I wasn't paying attention."

"Yeah me either, but something weird is going on down there."

"You probably just peed on yourself again." I guess it happened more than I cared to remembered.

"Your probably right." a few more minutes passed. I was still leaking. "I'm still dribbling Brian."

"Call the midwife then and ask."

I did not want to do this. I felt like an idiot. Of course it wasn't my water. I was too early. But I did anyway.

Bingo! It was my water. The moment I got up to get the phone a gush came out all over the carpet. The midwife said, pack your bags, take a shower and head to the hospital. Um yeah. I had no bags to pack! I didn't even have a maternity pajama. That was going to be done this weekend. I wanted something really pretty. And what does one wear to the hospital when one is about to give birth???

Brian was a trooper. He sprang right into action. I on the other literally did circles in the bathroom, crying. This can't be. I'm not ready to have a baby. What if it hurts? Oh my! My classroom is a disaster! I have no sub plans. Do we have time to go to school?

We were at the hospital an hour later. and 16 hours after that my sweet, tiny, preemie little boy was born. The little boy who could not wait until June to be born. The little boy who was out in 3 pushes. The little boy who never went to the NICU even though he was 6 weeks early. The little boy who was the smallest baby Women's Hospital had ever had in their "regular" maternity ward. The little boy who stole our hearts.