another doc. appt.

I wish I could say she was here but not yet... stubborn little girl is very comfortable in her little cocoon. We had another appointment today and they hooked me up to be monitored. I was very happy for this as Harlie hasn't been moving quite as much as she had been, which is somewhat to be expected. But they monitored her for about 20 minutes and she had a good heart rate, moved at least 3 times, and I even showed some "contractions". Well, that would apparently be Braxton Hick Contractions because after my doctor checked my cervix, he reported no change since the last appointment... meaning, I'm still not dilating/effacing (I've been at 1 cm for 3 weeks now). On the good side, I'm happy to report that after all the debating thoughts of inducing vs. c-section vs. VBAC that we have officially scheduled a C-section for Tuesday. Because I'm already contracting (and have been for almost a week now) and they are doing nothing for my cervix then that implies that inducing would not be useful (all it really does is cause more contractions). So, unless something happens in the next few days, I don't have to think about the group strep B infection, whether to get an epidural, whether to try inducing, what to do if I go in labor at midnight and Wendell is sleeping peacefully in bed, and all the other things that I've been worrying about. On a good note, my doctor says they'll do a spinal block (not epidural) for the surgery which means it should wear off a lot faster than an epidural. I'm hoping that by not having an epidural or pitocin then it will be less medications than when I had Wendell, which means less swelling and time needed to recover. I feel like Tuesday is a long ways from now but at least it's an end day to look forward too. Then a new chapter in life will begin!

40 weeks

Well, I'm actually 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant... making me officially 2 days overdue my "estimated" due date. Since Sunday (my due date), I've already felt calm, giddy, relaxed, etc. because I feel like I've made it to the end of my race. I had been kind of bummed about not being able to go running this summer so I told myself that instead of training for a "running" race, I'm training for a "baby" race. And the race is almost done. So that's what I tell myself. In reality, I realize that I still have a lot to do - like the actual labor/delivery and then managing life with 2 kids. But for now, I'll enjoy my calm sense of peace. I'm also officially on leave from work and have completed most of our "to do list" tasks that I wanted to have done. I plan to relax and enjoy my last few days of the simple life. Watch a few movies, go for walks, and read some books are the main things that I hope to do.

So here are some pictures of me. If you'd like to come up with some funny quotes for them, feel free as I was just having some fun on my photo shoot and wanted some fun pictures of me being pregnant.

question of the day

I'm reading a book about a woman who just had a baby. In process of pushing during labor, she got these giant hemorrhoids that she referred to as the size of grapes. I've had hemorrhoids before and remember how "unfun" they can be. Can anyone remind me why I'm pushing so much for this VBAC?

baby hog

Just a quick funny that I have to share. Phil and I were talking last night about how we're getting a bit tired of waiting for Harlie mostly because we're excited to have her here. Anyways, he makes the comment that it's not fair because right now I'm kind of a "baby hog" because I "get to hold her all the time". He of course understands that that is just how it goes but it was still cute and funny to hear him say it. So proud Daddy will be holding his little princess soon!

desperate for a nap

What would you do for a nap?

Wendell stayed with my parents over the weekend (which was a huge blessing!) and today we met for lunch so I could pick him up. On the way home, he fell asleep about 20 minutes from home (an hour long drive and he waits until we're almost home to fall asleep). As most of us know at Wendell's age, he won't go back to sleep once I wake him to take him inside and 20 minutes is not really a nap for a 2 year old, so being sleepy myself I parked in the driveway when we got home and we both took naps in the vehicle. He ended up sleeping about an hour and I slept about 20 minutes. So although, this wasn't the most comfortable place to take a nap, I was quite pleased with my decision.

quick update

Well, I'm pretty much feeling the same here only a few pounds heavier. I had a doc appt today and nothing has changed since last week. Most likely I will end up with another c-section or induction if I choose (which was useless last time). I see a different doctor next week (mine's on vacation) so I'd like to hear their opinion on the matter.

The weird thing is, that if I wanted a c-section then we could be doing that on Monday, like in 3 days Monday, but that's not the plan so it won't be happening (assuming there are no issues that occur over the weekend). I will at least wait 2 weeks for my doc. to return from vacation, assuming I don't go into labor before then.

Not sure what to think of all this. The questions I need to answer are: how long do I want to continue being pregnant (42 weeks being the longest I can go) and is it worth trying pitosin again even though it didn't do much last time? For now, I'm glad that my doc. is on vacation next week so then I don't really need to decide right away as I'd rather wait for him to return.

That's all for now..

so close.. yet so far away

It looks like it's time for an update on my blog but I really don't have anything exciting to post yet so I guess I'll just post some random thoughts.

First of all, I thought that July would be my hardest month to get through as far dealing with the pregnancy. And I must say I was so busy that July flew by. It's August already.. next thing I know August will be half over! Although I'm due in less than two weeks, I am "planning" on going about 1-2 weeks overdue. I guess you could say I'm going to push for the VBAC as long as there is no major reasons to do a C-section. The doc says he'll let me go two weeks overdue and then we'll have to schedule a C-section which puts us at the end of August. I don't think that I'll be terribly heart broken if I end up with a C-section as long as I know that I at least tried a VBAC. Anyways, I have been feeling pretty darn good physically since I've slowed down and sit around most of the time. According to the scales, I have gained way too much weight but I get a lot of comments from people saying I look great so either they're just being nice or I still look like a healthy pregnant chick. Who knows, but for now I'll take the nice comments.

We have a few things that need to be done before Harlie comes, like get the cradle up to our room, the car seat in the car, and bags packed but really there isn't anything major. There are a few house cleaning things that I'd really like to have done like cleaning the carpet, thoroughly clean the bathroom and clean out a few cupboards but these are things that Phil plans to help with.

The last exciting thing is that Phil has the next 4 days off and we are going to be home! I don't work this weekend so we should have at least one final relaxing weekend before Harlie comes. Phil has a lot on his to do list but I'm also hoping to do some fun things as well.

My parting gift is a video of Wendell playing with his "choo choo's". As you can see, he loves to say "chuga chuga choo choo". Hopefully it works okay.