Birth Story

I came home from work a little bit late on Wednesday to find that Missy thought that her water might have broken while she was sitting on the toilet. I guess if your water is going to break early, the toilet isn't a bad place to have it happen! We called our doctor, who directed us to go to the hospital to get checked.

While we knew that if Missy's water really had broken the doctors would want us to have the baby within 24 hours to minimize the risk of infection, I also remembered that hospitals will generally send women who are not actively laboring home early. Even though I was pretty sure the hospital would end up sending us back home, "just in case" I put our car seat and our pre-packed labor bags into the car, and off we went!

Once we got to the hospital, though, it became clear that we wouldn't be going back home! The doctor wanted us to go into active labor, and soon, to try and have the baby within the 24-hour window.

I was kind of upset by this, because in my head, I was thinking that we wouldn't be anywhere near the hospital until we'd already labored for several hours, and Missy was just about ready to have the baby. Nevertheless, though, we did our best to get Missy to go into labor by walking around the hospital in the vicinity of our labor room, and having Missy take a shower. My mom also arrived to help us out -- she was a big help in keeping us calm and focused since things weren't exactly going to plan!

Missy ended up getting Oxytocin around 3:00am to get into active labor. After having the IV in for a few hours, this certainly got things moving, but it made the contractions a lot more difficult for Missy to handle. Up to that point, she had pretty much been cruising through them using the relaxation techniques that we'd learned in the Bradley Method class and practiced in the weeks leading up to the birth. Now, though, contractions were much more forceful and they came on a lot more sharply, which made it very difficult for Missy to get into her relaxed state before the contraction started peaking.

At around 10:00am, our nurse examined us and announced that Missy was 6 centimeters dialated. At the same time, Missy started having an extremely difficult time with labor; she threw up a few times, and felt really sick and in a lot of pain. Since we thought we might have a few hours of this ahead of us (thinking 6/10 cm dialed = 60% finished with labor), we weren't sure we'd be able to realize our goal of a labor with no pain medication.

However, we had learned about "transition", a 30 minute or so period of labor where things get very difficult for the laboring woman, immediately prior to the pushing stage (which is usually comparatively easier). Missy's suddenly having a much harder time when she was doing so great before was consistent with being in transition, so I encouraged Missy to stick it out, just in case our "60% done" estimate was not accurate.

And that did turn out to be the case! After 20-30 minutes of having a really difficult time, Missy announced she was ready to push! I ran out to the lobby to grab my mom, who had gone out a while earlier to greet some family members who had arrived at the hospital to await the new baby's arrival. When I got back, Missy really wanted to push, but the nurse told us to wait, our doctor was in the O.R. with another patient and not available yet!

Fortunately, between the two of us we convinced the nurse that Missy really needed to push *now* -- because she did, she couldn't hold back! -- and a resident doctor and the on-staff hospital doctor arrived. Missy pushed the baby out amazingly quickly, especially for a first-time mom, getting him out within about 20 minutes on the strength of just a few hard pushes.



I'm so proud of the effort that Missy made in getting our new son into the world! Despite things not quite going as planned, Missy brought little Elijah into the world very strongly and bravely. My gentle wife has some serious nerves of steel!

Baby Elijah has Arrived!!

After 9 months of pregnancy and 7 months of blogging... baby Elijah has arrived!



Mom and baby are doing great!

Vital statistics:

Full name: Elijah Scott Schneider
Weight: 6 pounds, 8 ounces
Height: 20.25 inches

More details to come in a subsequent post!

Full-term! I could pop at any minute!

The baby is now considered full-term, which scares the ba-jeebies out of me. :) That means that he could be born AT ANY TIME. As Jon said to me, “You’re a ticking time bomb!” Hmph. It is comforting to know though that if Elijah would be born now that he is considered perfectly okay and fully developed. Pregnancies are full-term from 38-42 weeks, and I’m holding out (or in?) for a little closer to the 42 weeks part. :)

We’ve been seeing the doctor every week now the last couple times. We haven’t had an internal exam yet though (I held them off last time, I didn’t want one so I just didn't get undressed and the doctor didn't say anything). We have another appointment today, and I haven’t decided whether to be examined or not. If they tell me I’m not dilated or effaced yet it doesn’t really mean anything – I could still pop this kid out tomorrow. And if I am dilated it still doesn’t mean anything – people often sit at 2 and 3 centimeters dilated for weeks before having the baby. But every time you get examined it’s another chance for infection and for premature rupture of the amniotic sac, so I’m leaning towards waiting another week until getting an exam. Who knows though, curiosity could get the better of me and I could want to find out if I’m dilated at all. Even though I intellectually know that it doesn’t really mean much it would be cool to scare people by telling them I’m dilated to X centimeters. :) They’ll be afraid I’ll have the baby right in front of them! Stand back, people, she's gonna blow! :)

Another weekend o' baby fun!

The weekends left until the baby get here are winding down. So Jon and I made good use of this past weekend. We went shopping for nursery stuff (curtain rods, ledges, diapers, new pajamas for the hospital), packed our hospital bag (well, mostly), installed our new curtain rod and curtains, and even had time to go out for dinner and see the new Star Wars movie! All this with only a minimum of fighting, mostly because little Ms. Hormonal gets worked up over every little thing. :) We even installed the baby seat in the car – the last thing that HAD to be done before they will let us actually take our baby home with us. So now all we really need is the baby. But I’m hoping he hangs in there a little longer so our chair can show up and I can finish decorating the nursery. Even without decorations the nursery is really cute though. I’m such a dork – I go in there all the time and just sit and look around. It’s my favorite room in the house now. :)

This next weekend promises to be just as busy, but I’m hoping to get a few more things done. We’re seeing friends on Friday night and Monday, and hopefully seeing Jon’s dad on Saturday. And it’s our 6-year anniversary on Sunday! So we’re planning to celebrate (Elijah cooperating, of course) by going out for one last swanky dinner as just the two of us, before our lives are altered forever (everyone keeps saying for the better and I’m sure that will be true, but I still think it’s okay for us to feel a little sad about our time as being just Jon and Missy coming to an end).

I'm like a tiger? Hmm . . .

Jon said the cutest thing last night . . .

We were talking last night after he got home from work and at some point Elijah started kicking so I moved my shirt up so we could see it “in the flesh”, so to speak. We watched for a bit and I made some comment about my beautiful stretch marks (*sarcasm*). In response, Jon said, “I think they’re cool. I like them! They’re stripes. You’re like a tiger!” I couldn’t stop laughing for about five minutes. What a cutie! Being “like a tiger” is the most positive spin I’ve ever heard put on having stretch marks! The sweetest thing is that I know he meant what he said and wasn’t just saying it to make me feel better. :) I’m glad he’s around to be silly and goofy with me and keep me from getting depressed about things like stretch marks!

Calgon, take me away!

Monday night I got the chance to take a bath – I swear it was a little piece of heaven on earth, and it felt SOOOOO good for my back and hips.

Taking a relaxing bath was something that I used to do with regularity – back when Jon and I lived in our apartment with a regular sized bathtub. But then we bought our house a few years ago and failed to notice that the bathtub was not regular sized, but instead the appropriate size for a small child (and last time I checked not even my right thigh qualified as being the size of a small child). The first time after we moved in that I went to take a bath I put the music on, had a glass of wine with me and a good book. Then I stepped in the tub and sat down -- and the water didn’t cover my knees! Poor Jon heard a wail and came running, to find me crying in the bathtub, sitting in about 6 inches of water. Not a pretty sight. :) Since then I haven’t been able to take a bath to de-stress and relax, and I’ve missed it!

On Monday night though I was able to take a bath in a whirlpool tub at Jon’s mom’s house! Both Jon’s mom and I go to Bible study together near her house and my work, which is not close to our house, so for the last few years I’ve been staying there overnight on Monday’s following Bible study. But Mom was out-of-town on Monday night and offered the use of her nice big wonderful whirlpool tub while she was gone. I was so excited that I was telling everyone how I was going to go take a bath, and then I raced back to her house after Bible study – what a goof-a-loo! :)

Anyway, I relaxed in the tub for over 2 hours (a little excessive, I know, but I had to take advantage of my opportunity!) and was able to finish my book and my frappacino from Starbucks (my one stop on the way back to her house, hehe). My muscles felt so relaxed after my bath, it was wonderful. I didn’t use the whirlpool jets though – I tried, but when I turned them on I don’t think Elijah liked it. He started squirming and kicking a lot and didn’t seem too pleased. I wondered if the noise and vibration of the jets were too intense for him in there so I decided to play it safe and not use the jets. Just the warm water and my book and my beverage were enough for me! I know one thing for sure – when we look for our next house I’m checking the size of the tub before we buy! :)

Putting away baby clothes!

The dresser did indeed arrive on Friday night, and Jon and I are so pleased with it. It matched the crib beautifully and is really a gorgeous piece of furniture. And, of course, now that the dresser was delivered it meant that it was time for the little clothes to be put away! Fun, fun, fun!! My Mom and Dad came to visit for the weekend and while Jon and Dad did projects around the house, Mom and I washed the baby clothes and sheets, and put all of Elijah’s tiny little things into the dresser! :)

During the process we discovered though that we have a gazillion 0-3 month outfits, and a ton of 3-6 month onsies. But only two 3-6 months sleepers, and one pair of 3-6 month pants. Hmm, that might be a problem. I have a feeling that Elijah is going to be in his 3-6 month clothes pretty quickly, if he’s anything like what both and Jon were as babies. He’ll have plenty of onsies at least! No pants or sleepers really, but lots of shirts. He’ll have to make do, I’ve got enough things to get done before he arrives and have decided not to worry about it. If anyone out there is taking notes though, 3-6 month sleepers would be very considerate presents. :) His 3-6 month drawer is a little more bare than the other ones.

Mom and I also went and looked at curtains. We were trying to find a green and a blue fabric that matched the bedding close enough to make a valance, but really didn’t have much luck. We thought we had found a match that was just a little bit brighter but still went well, but when we brought it into the baby’s room it looked MUCH brighter than what I thought it would. I started to get concerned that the first thing you would notice as you walked in the room was the curtains. And since the crib and the dresser are so beautiful I’d rather have people notice them first rather than the bright valance. We found very pretty white sheers that I think we’ll put up instead. They look nice and airy against the blue walls and frame the window nicely without taking away from the dresser or crib and bedding. I could always change my mind tomorrow though – we’ll see! :) It feels good to at least have all the bedding and clothes washed. If Elijah decided to show up sooner rather than later at least he’d have clothes and a place to sleep!

The dresser's on its way, hooray!

Our dresser is coming! Our dresser is coming!

I’m so relieved and excited!! We ordered our dresser almost 10 weeks ago and they told us the order would take 8-14 weeks (which, of course, I heard as 8 weeks, hehe). Last weekend I was complaining to Jon that I was just now comprehending that the “14 weeks” part of the 8-14 weeks could mean that our dresser would arrive AFTER the baby! And then I wouldn’t be able to put all the tiny little clothes into the dresser until after Elijah was here. Nuts. Mommy not happy. So I prayed about it (and asked my mom if it was silly to pray about a dresser – she thought it was fine by the way).

Well, lo and behold we get a call on Monday that our dresser is here and we just have to call to arrange pick-up! Happy, happy, happy! Jon and his brother Jeremy are going to pick up the dresser tonight! And my parents are coming to visit for the weekend which means that tomorrow my Mom and I get to put the clothes in the drawers! I can’t wait!!

Birth Plan!

We finally finished our birth plan – it took FOREVER. We knew what we wanted pretty quickly, but actually writing it up to sound nice and look good (and fit on one page) took a long time!

Our doctor’s office was getting impatient too, which was annoying. They almost sent this soon-to-be-mommy into a tail spin last week when they called and left the following message on the answer machine (keep in mind that I had had a doctor’s appointment that morning) – “Hi, this message is for Melissa. This is *** Obstetrics and Gynecology. Please call us as soon as you get this message and ask to speak with a nurse.” Naturally, when I got the message after I got home after work (and couldn’t call them because the office was closed!), my mind immediately went into panic mode. My test results from the morning must show something is wrong! Our baby is in danger! PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! Plus, I was feeling sick (starting to get my cold thing) and I thought maybe that was affecting Elijah too somehow. Jon managed to get me calmed down (he’s good at that!) and I managed to not freak out too much as I waited to call them on Thursday morning.

When I finally did call and get a hold of a nurse all they wanted to tell me was they would like a copy of our birth plan for the doctors to review. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU CALLED AND LEFT A PANIC-INDUCING CRYPTIC MESSAGE TO GET ME TO SEND YOU A BIRTH PLAN?! Missy not happy. And of course, this was as I was getting more sick by the minute, so we ended up missing our birth class that night – the one where we were doing our birth plan. Doh! So, no birth plan for the doctor’s office.

With being sick and our other commitments, Jon and I didn’t get a chance to actually sit down and compare the lists of preferences we had each made up separately until Wednesday night. We agreed on everything and our lists overlapped a lot, but writing up the actual phrases was a real pain. We had copies of birth plans that I had found on-line and it still took most of the night. We showed it to our teacher on Thursday night and got her input and then came home and revised the plan again so it would be ready to give to the doctor Friday morning. When we actually gave it to him this morning he seemed cool with everything and said it didn’t look like anything was going to be a problem. Yay! Anyway, I know you’re all wondering what is in this crazy plan now, so I cut and pasted it below (the formatting will probably be wonky, sorry!).

Birth Preferences for Melissa and Jonathan Schneider

Dear Doctors and ***Hospital Staff,

We have chosen you to attend the very special event of our son’s birth! We trust in your expertise and in your sensitivity to our needs and wishes. To prepare for our birth we have practiced the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth, and are looking forward to as natural a birth as possible, free of unnecessary medications and interventions. We consider the following to be our “ideal” birth, but understand that circumstances can change quickly, and that not all of our preferences may be possible. Thank you in advance for your support and encouragement!

General Preferences

• We wish to remain together at all times during labor and delivery.
• Melissa would like to wear her contact lenses. If necessary, they can be removed quickly.
• We would like Melissa to be able to have light food and drink during labor.
  

First Stage Labor Preferences

• We would like our birth to proceed on its natural course, without time constraints.
• Should labor augmentation be necessary, we would like to try natural interventions first. If Pitocin must be used, we prefer the minimum possible dose.
• We would like to keep vaginal exams to a minimum.
• We would prefer to avoid manual rupturing of the amniotic sac, unless medically necessary.
• We prefer fetal monitoring to be limited to external monitoring on an intermittent basis, if possible.
• We are looking forward to having a natural childbirth. Please don’t offer us pain medication; we’ll let you know if we need it!

Second Stage Labor Preferences

• We understand that different positions and movements for birth are allowed. Suggestions will be gratefully accepted!
• We would prefer to be free of time limits on pushing, and be allowed to push instinctively, rather than being told when to push.
• We wish to avoid an episiotomy; Melissa would prefer to tear naturally rather than receive an episiotomy.
  

Third Stage / Post-Delivery Preferences

• Jon would like to cut the umbilical cord.
• It is very important to us that the cord not be clamped or cut until after it has stopped pulsating.
• We are hoping to deliver the placenta naturally, using breastfeeding if possible, without the use of cord traction, medication, or manual manipulation.
• We would like our son to be placed skin-to-skin on Melissa’s abdomen immediately following birth.
• We are looking forward to bonding with our new son, and ask that any non-urgent procedures be delayed to give us time to get to know one another.

Thank you for taking the time to read our birth plan. We appreciate your help in getting our new family off to a great start!

Did I mention . . .

. . . that being sick is stinky? I want to take a nap . . .

Being Sick is Stinky

I’m sick. It’s not fun.

I started not feeling very well Wednesday morning – sore throat, head stuffy, kind of achy. But not that big a deal (didn’t even mention it at our doctor’s appointment in the morning!). Wednesday night I was feeling worse and had a horrible time sleeping. I ended up going to work at 6 am on Thursday morning since I figured if I wasn’t sleeping and felt bad I might as well be at work and feeling bad. I went through about half a box of Kleenex by noon though, and couldn’t go 10 minutes without wanting to put my head down and rest. I finally packed it in early in the afternoon and went home. We skipped our childbirth class on Thursday night I was feeling so bad! Friday I ended up calling in sick, sounding like a duck, feeling worse, and now coughing on top of everything else. I took three naps on Friday and that seemed to help a little. I had so much to do though that I felt guilty sleeping. I cleaned the bathrooms after my 11 am to 1 pm nap, but then I had to take another nap after that since it made me so tired. :)

Saturday when I woke up I thought I felt a lot better. Until I was actually vertical for about 5 minutes. Then my nose started running and I started hacking up my lungs like crazy. And my coughs hurt my chest really bad. Jon and I had breakfast and then he insisted that I take a nap (didn’t have to twist my arm too badly) while he did work around the house. I would get up every once in a while and putter around picking up the house or doing little things, but I got tired so quickly it was ridiculous. I ended up taking naps all Saturday too, and single-handedly supporting the Kleenex and tea industries.

I felt a lot better on Sunday and we had a good Mother’s Day, and I’m feeling even better today. I’m still blowing my nose and coughing, but not as much, and I have a lot more energy. I’m hoping to get over this quickly though so I can get back to being able to do things to get ready for the baby. It’s very frustrating to have a long list of things to do and not have the energy to do them. Being sick is stinky.

Babies babies everywhere!

My two cousins who were due with babies before me both had their babies last week! On the same day! And the same first name! Isn’t that adorable? I think that’s really cute. They don’t live in the same city (not even in the same state even) so it’s not like the babies will be around each other constantly and it would be strange. Instead they will have a special second cousin who they will share a birthday and name with. I think that’s neat. And both are adorable and look so little in the pictures their parents sent of them in their car seats. :)

Of course, now it’s hitting me that all the people “ahead” of me to have babies have now had them. That puts me and Jon next in line. Hmm. Not quite ready for that. I’m not sure we thought this whole “baby” thing through completely. We’re due in only 4 weeks! I’m hoping Elijah pushes that back to more like 6 and doesn’t decide to make it 2 instead. I still need to pack my bags for the hospital, wash his clothes, wash his sheets for the crib, finish decorating the nursery, etc. Keep cooking, little boy, your mom is a procrastinator and needs more time! :)

Girls’ weekend (and Elijah tagged along too of course!)

This past weekend was a girls' outing weekend for myself, my mom, my sister-in-laws, and my sister-in-law’s mothers (did that make sense?). We headed to Chicago to see the exhibit of Jacquelyn Kennedy’s dresses that was at the Field Museum. And we did a little (okay a lot!!) of shopping! :)

The exhibit was really excellent and well done. I’m younger and didn’t realize how colorful the clothes were that Jackie wore – all the TV clips I’ve seen of her from that time are in black and white so I never knew how beautiful her clothes really were. They were gorgeous and such beautiful fabrics and shades. It was very interesting to read some of her personal memos and notes as well -- to see her perspective on things, the fight she went through to restore the White House, and the little details she needed to be aware of and handle everyday being the President’s wife. It really gave me an insight in to how pressure-filled her life was. I don’t know how she did it – it certainly wouldn’t be a job that I would be up for. The only downside to the exhibit was that there was a ton of people inside at one time (even with timed tickets and limited entry) so we were always fighting to see and read the signs and were on our feet so long walking around the exhibit. My feet were killing me by the time we got done at the museum and we hadn’t even started shopping yet! It couldn’t believe how quickly I got tired and felt worn-out.

We had a hotel one block off the Magnificent Mile and I’m so glad we decided to stay in Chicago on Saturday night instead of heading back out into the ‘burbs. Thanks to that brilliant idea by my sister-in-law Jill, :) after the museum and lunch we were able to head to the hotel and check in and rest for about an hour. Then we headed out to shop and look around. I’d never really walked around much of the north end of the Magnificent Mile, so it was fun to check things out. Plus we found some clearance sales at Baby Gap and Gymboree and I got the cutest little outfits! We walked and walked and walked and had such a good time! Then we ate at The Cheesecake Factory (mmmm) and took cheesecake slices back to our room and played cards. :)

Sunday we headed to the outlet mall – sales, baby clothes, more walking! We got some great deals, but man I was tired by the end of the day. And we still had to drive home! I had such a wonderful weekend but I think I should have rested more. At the time I was caught up in all the excitement and fun and just kept going. I don’t want to make it seem like all the girls just kept pushing me to keep going or anything – I did rest and sit quite a bit – but looking back I should have rested more. When I got home and all the excitement wore off I couldn’t believe how much my hips and legs and back hurt. I had such a great weekend though -- I’ve just learned that I need to take it a bit easier from now on!

Nursery Painted!

At long last we finally have the nursery painted! For a while I was getting afraid that we would be painting the room as I went into labor, but we finally finished painting last week, so that’s a load off my mind!

I really like the color of the room – we painted it “Sea Sprite” blue, in an eggshell finish. It looks really nice with the bedding and the crib. It took almost two gallons to do the room though, which was surprising (it’s not really a very big room). I think because it was the first time the room had ever really been painted (other than when the builders painted it the first time) it really sucked up the paint!

The only thing I’m a little disappointed in is the baseboards. I normally don’t tape the baseboards off and prefer to do my cutting in without tape, but I knew I would get tired much easier than before so was afraid of having to take so much time and be meticulous in painting near the baseboards. So I gave in and taped the baseboards off – and some of the paint got under the tape and made the boards messier than I would have liked. I’m still deciding whether to paint over them or just leave it. Jon says to leave it since I’m the only one who will ever notice (there are no major spills onto the baseboards, just minor ones that bug me).

We had contemplated painting stripes in the same color, just a glossy finish (so there would be matte and then glossy sections). I don’t think we’re going to do that now though. The room isn’t that big and doesn’t have that much open wall space to even show off the stripes. Plus, I’m tired. And our due date is only 5 weeks away and we have so much other stuff to do. I don’t think it would be worth it. We’ll have to see. I keep going back and forth on that too!

Next step is to figure out what to do about curtains and window coverings. We took down the horrible roller shade that was in the room and kept falling down and gouging the window sill. But now the room seems so bright! We need something to block some of the light out. Also we need curtains -- the ones that match our bedding set are way too expensive so I’m thinking about making some myself (and by “myself” I mean asking my mother-in-law to help sew them, hehe). :) There’s a lot to do in the next few weeks, I better stop taking naps and get working!

Hospital Tour

Well, Jon and I were, I think, officially freaked out and confronted with the reality of this whole baby thing we got ourselves into. It started when we went on a tour of the hospital birth center last week. It was a very nice center – brand new and really top notch. But it was very strange to think the next time we come here we will be HAVING A BABY. I’ll be in LABOR. And then they are going to let us TAKE HIM HOME?!? Hmm, maybe we should have thought this whole thing out more. Maybe Elijah could just stay in for an additional month past his due date? I need some more time to get adjusted to the idea of an actual baby! :)

Like I said, the center was very nice and new (with a three story waterfall in the lobby!). The labor and delivery rooms were really large and have hardwood floors, Jacuzzi tubs (2 of them at least) or showers, and are very swanky looking. The beds seemed really narrow though -- I don’t know what that was about. That’s the only part that concerns me, since my rear would not be categorized as “narrow” by any sense of the word. :) The mother-baby rooms that you transfer to a few hours after delivery are not brand new unfortunately. They are still nice and clean, but not as large or nice as the labor rooms. Since I don’t really want to stay in the hospital very long after delivery anyway I’m guessing it really doesn’t matter and I’m not going to care. At least there are chairs in the mother-baby rooms that fold out into beds so Jon can stay the night comfortably.

There were only a few women in labor the night we were there, so we didn’t see anyone walking the halls in labor or anything. There were a lot of pregnant ladies on tour that looked like they were about to pop though. I instantly hated how all of them looked pregnant and cute while I feel like a whale. I’m carrying Elijah so low too that I don’t have the high pregnant tummy look that most of them had going on. Oh well! I’m sure Elijah will be smarter than all their babies. Especially if I can talk him in to staying in a little longer and letting mom and dad get more ready for him to arrive. :)

Day at the spa . . . what a glamorous life!

I would highly recommend a day at the spa being pampered for any pregnant lady! Jon’s mom and I spent an afternoon a week or so ago (I’m posting late, I know) getting massages, a facial, and a pedicure. The experience in one word was “heavenly”. All my aches and pains in my back and hips were massaged away! And the best part was that they had a special table there were I could lay on my stomach again -- it had a section for my tummy to fall into so Elijah didn’t get squished. Since I’m usually a tummy sleeper it was so great to be able to lie on my stomach again. I miss the little things like that the most. :)

Another treat was the pedicure – something I can’t do since I can’t reach my feet anymore (and when I try I imagine it looks quite amusing to everyone else). It feels good to have pretty toes again – painted “cherry” like Jon requested! Maybe I’ll have to get another pedicure before the baby is born. :)

After the spa Mom and I went out for dinner and got dessert and the whole works (cappuccino crème brulee, nummy). We really did have a wonderful day together! Like I said, I’d recommend a relaxing day like that for any mommie-to-be!