I couldn't have wished for anything more

February 14th, 2013 was shaping up to be rather dismal. I had to work that day, of course, which wasn't so bad. The problem was, I was alone, and had been for 10 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I have wonderful family and friends around me that support me and are always taking good care of me. But I didn't have Brad, and not having my husband (especially such a rad one) around on Valentine's day, after he had missed Christmas, New Years, and his birthday, was lamesauce indeed. The good news was, however, that I would get to see him on Saturday night. So that cheered me up a bit!

Also, this sweet surprise on my porch from Nedra and Todd helped. :)

As the day went on, and as I was texting Brad, I remember telling him how much I wish he could be here. I told him that I missed him, and was so, SO excited to see him in two days. I had some surprises up my sleeve with fun stuff to do, and was anticipating him coming home so we could hang out FINALLY.

Toward the end of the day, I decided that I would leave work a teensy bit early because I had some overtime I had to try to get rid of. I told my nurse friends that I wanted to take off a little early because I had dinner planned with my mother-in-law, and thought it would be fun to get her a little something for Valentine's day. They all acted like that was crazy, and wanted to know how early I wanted to leave, and told me they didn't want me to leave too early because often it will get really busy right at the end of the day. I was a little surprised they cared so much, because we do that fairly often, but they seemed ok with the fact that I just wanted to leave 15 minutes early.

So, 4:10 rolls around, and all of the sudden one of our schedulers came into the room and told me she needed to talk to me, and turned around and left. I thought, "Uh-oh. What did I do?" I got away from my desk and followed her to the hallway, and there, right outside my door, was Brad.

Brad!

Brad, who had just gotten off work like 8 hours ago. Brad, who was texting me as he went to bed that morning (He had worked that night). Brad, who was in Florida 8 hours ago, and for all I knew, still was. Brad, who wasn't supposed to be home until Saturday night! What the???

I was in shock.

I almost didn't recognize him. Not that he looked different (just cuter and tanner), but it was so far beyond comprehension, it took me a few seconds to realize this was reality.

This was my face when it finally hit me that Brad was home!

I could not believe it. I just stood there staring at him, saying over and over, "Are you kidding me?!?" Finally he told me to give him a hug, which of course I did! But he had a huge thing of flowers, and I had a huge belly we had to work around.

I may have been crying a little bit in this picture. And I look awkward cuz of the parasite in my stomach making me a little larger than usual.

Brad had called my supervisor to ask if he could come surprise me and take me home a little early that evening. He also had spent hours looking online for an earlier flight. He had traded some shifts with another student out there so he could leave a little early. He had exhausted his resources to find a ride home from the airport, and had been awake over 36 hours. But he did it all for me, to surprise me on Valentine's day. My cup overfloweth.

Ashlee, Brad's sister also gave us some fun Valentine's Day goodies... They were delicious!

Little Update

I figured I should post some pictures of baby Claire's growth. Note I did not say "my growth" because really, lets not draw attention to that...
I will officially be 31 weeks tomorrow, Which means I am starting my eighth month of pregnancy. I'm super impressed I made it this far.
I left off at the 21 week mark, and Baby progresses as follows...

22 weeks.

Claire is the size of a papaya. Very clear bump, which makes for a silly face in the mirror. Sorry about the fuzziness, the phone...you know.

23 weeks

 Claire is the size of a grapefruit. This was taken at work. I can't tell you how difficult it was to take my own pregnancy pictures while Brad was away. But he insisted I do it! So, I got my friend Sue to take this picture for me. You can see my desk in the background!

24 weeks

Claire is the size of a canteloupe. I must have been feeling good that day since I got dressed, did my hair, and did my make-up.

25 weeks

Claire is the size of a cauliflower. And BRAD GOT TO TAKE THIS PICTURE. This is how big Claire was the first time he really got to see me pregnant. He was finally home! More on that later.

26 weeks, obviously

 Claire is the size of a head of iceberg lettuce. There was no way I was gonna get outta those comfy sweats that day. Nuh uh.

27 weeks/22 weeks: touching tummies!

 Claire is a rutabaga. You know, I don't think I've ever had a rutabaga. I don't know what those taste like.

27 weeks/22 weeks

 Here I am in Utah at 27 weeks with my baby sister who is 22 weeks along with a baby boy!! How fun that I get to be pregnant my first time while my sister is pregnant her first time, right? I'm totally carrying higher than she is I think. I hear girls tend to carry higher than boys, but who knows. Isn't she adorbs? (adorable-sometimes I abrev)iate.

28 weeks

 Claire is an eggplant. I'm wearing maternity pants in this one!!! (Why did no one tell me how comfortable elastic pants are? Seriously will be getting these out every Thanksgiving).

29 weeks (3rd trimester)

 Claire is an acorn squash.

30 weeks

I'm pretty good at wearing the same tops in my pictures. I feel like, while done accidentally, it actually helps visualize the growth. So I'm not apologizing. :)
THIRTY WEEKS!!!