38 Weeks Today….

Monday April 30th, and 38 weeks along….I went to the Dr today for another checkup, and the problem that was stopping us from induction yesterday had corrected itself (thank heavens!) and I’m also dilated to 4cm again. But, last night my feet began to swell really badly, and even when I laid down and elevated my feet the swelling only went down a little, and only after 3 hours (but no headaches or seeing spots).  I was still swelling pretty badly today when I went in for my checkup, and when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 144 over 86, the highest I have ever been while pregnant (they become concerned at anything 140 and over, so I am just over the mark, everything is still OK). She took it again since I have always been low (never over the 120’s), and again, it was the same. She tried again and it was still in the 140’s, so the Dr. came in and HE took my blood pressure, and it was still in the 140’s. So he said no matter what we are inducing tomorrow, that it was high enough to be worrisome, but that it’s not too high to warrant inducing tonight. I am fine with waiting until tomorrow since I still have a few things left on my to-do list.
   The Dr said that it was unusual to have low blood pressure in all of my previous 6 pregnancies, and then suddenly have it get fairly high at the end with baby #7. Not impossible, just highly unlikely. So while I do not have pre-elclampsia, I’m not in a good place blood pressure wise. But having the baby tomorrow will fix all of that, so we report to the hospital to be induced tomorrow May 1st, at 6 am. The Dr instructed me to go home and lay down, put my feet up and take it easy, and turn on the AC. So of course, I went home and cleaned my basement, sorted laundry and did some washing, laid out a weeks worth of outfits for each of my 4 smaller children, and made sure to write down all of their school schedules for Mammy so that the next few days go as smoothly as possible for her and the kids. I even got 4 bags of toys bagged for the DI and all of my clean laundry folded, so my house is as clean and ready as it’s ever going to be, and I feel like I am good to go. Tomorrow cannot get here soon enough!

A Small Hiccup

We almost had a baby today. The Dr. felt that since I had dilated to 4 cm already and I was contracting too often and too regularly, and given my history of fast deliveries and the need to get the antibiotics in me in a certain time frame before the baby arrives, that is was safer to try and induce me today. So Craig and I went in this morning with the plan of having a baby, Dr. Lish was going to see if he could get my labor started. But due to some complications, it’s been postponed. In fact, we are now not sure if I will even be induced on Tuesday, so I will have to see what’s going on. The baby is fine and doing well, and so am I, the complications are not severe and will be able to be worked out, quickly I hope. Without going into any squirm inducing details, let me just say that most of it is because of the baby’s current position (no, not breech, still head down). The baby had previously been completely engaged, and suddenly the baby moved back up and I had gone from 4cm dilated to 3cm, and the Dr. was worried there might be some other issues at work so we decided to play it safe and wait and so there is going to be some “wait and see” action until we know what the new plan will be. I go back in tomorrow (Monday) for another assessment, and I should hopefully know more then.
I finished the new car seat cover on Friday, and it turned out better than I expected, I am very pleased. I also managed to sew some burp cloths, and two little outfits for Gracen, four for Haven, and three for the baby. They are perfect for the warm weather ahead and went together with very little fuss. I think the only sewing I have to finish now is a quilt I promised to Mathes, and an unfinished baby quilt I stumbled across from two years ago that needs to be tied and bound. I will have to see what I can do. I am hopeful that I can have the baby this week, but if not then it’s OK, then I know the baby must not be ready. I have made it this far, a few more days, while they can seem long at times, are really nothing in the larger scheme of things. Besides, I am still sewing, so I just might get even more done than I originally thought!

Oh Sweet Relief

Well, I am happy to say that I am closer to being done than I thought. My due date is in 20 days (May 14th), but happily, I am going to be induced in 7. My favorite part about all of this is that my Dr. is the one who doesn’t want to wait, he is getting worried that this baby will deliver so quickly that there won;t be enough time to get in all of the pennicillin for the GBS. Although he and I both agree that it’s best to get to week 38 before we do anything, we don’t want to take any chances of having complications, and being that far along is the best possible scenario for me. I am grateful to have an end date now since I am just at the point that my hips are killing me, I can’t sleep, the acid reflux is a nightmare, and I keep having tons of contractions, most recently, back labor. I’m sorry to complain, I am just so done, and feeling so huge and tired. The good news is that I cleaned and readied the car seat, my hospital bag is packed, I have everything at the ready and the baby has been fairly consistent about being active (it’s so reassuring to feel those little kicks and stuff). At my appointment today I am a good 3, almost a 4, and the Dr. and I agree that Tuesday sounds like the perfect day to have the baby. There is no way I am going to last until my actual due date, and for that I am so grateful. So until then I am busily finishing up all of my nesting, and maybe I’ll even cram in a little bit of sewing if I can. I just can’t believe that in one weeks time we will have a new little baby! I can hardly wait. So here’s to never going over my due date. I’m so happy, excited and relieved, I think I’ll cry.

Still Not Ready, But We Have A Date Set

My due date is May 14th, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make it that far, and I was right (sorry Melly, I won’t be making it to your birthday on the 13th). At my last appointment we set a date to have the baby (I am 36 1/2 weeks along), but I am still hoping to go before that day arrives. I am feeling so off balance these days and have fallen quite a few times, and look forward to not feeling like the next step I take that I’m going down. I even fell out of my car the other day (my suburban is kind of high up, thus making it easier to fall out of I guess), and I am still not sure how it happened, suddenly I wasn't in my seat in the car anymore, and I ended up smashing my knee in the process. I have also fallen out of bed more times than I care to recount, but I think I am just not used to the weight of my belly, especially since it’s all in front. Hey, there’s a lot of momentum behind this belly once I get it moving, let me tell you!
This baby is quite strong and will punch and move very hard to one side or the other, and my whole stomach moves too, looking a little bit freaky. It’s just weird to see my whole belly shift suddently to one side, and an elbow or foot pushing outward at the same time. My kids love it, and Mathes asks me all of the time to “kick the baby” meaning he wants me to make the baby kick and move. I ordered the co-sleeper today (I know, nothing like leaving it to the last minute), my hospital bag is ready to be packed, and Craig has already arranged for some time off at work. I just hope I am ready, if there really is a point at which you feel really ready. I need to get a few more things organized and haven’t found a Boppy I like yet, but overall I am good to go. I finally washed and sorted all of the baby clothes (lots of ooohing and ahhhing over all of the tiny outfits), bedding and such and I even washed all of my clothing that will come into contact with the baby in Dreft as well, just for good measure. Now if I can just get Haven and Gracen’s room organized and sorted through, I think I would feel a lot better, but if I don’t I can always get to it later I guess.

Closer Than I Thought

I went to the Dr. again today since I am down to weekly visits, and I was a little surprised to find out that I am dilated 2 cm already. My Dr. was not happy about it, and while he did say I’m close enough that it would be OK to have the baby, he really wants to get me one week further along before anything happens. He kept telling me that the baby is “right there” and that I will be having a very fast delivery. When I told him I know, I always have fast deliveries, he said “No, I mean REALLY fast”. Ok, duly noted. I think it’s funny when your Dr is more anxious about the whole thing than you are. I kept telling him I won’t be going into labor this next week, I promise. I don’t know if he believed me or not, but I will be seeing him again next Tuesday, and he said then we will make a final decision about when this baby will be arriving. I have been contracting like crazy, but I just don’t feel like it’s time yet, and the baby sounded great, and everything else was fine, so I don’t feel like I have to worry about it, that isn’t going to help. Well ok, I am a little stressed about the fact that this baby may be arriving even sooner than I thought, and I want to sew a bit more if I can, but I really am ready to be done with all of the hip and joint pain, the contractions, and acid reflux. Those I can do without. So onward we go, and I am getting more and more excited each day, as we draw closer to the end. I can’t believe this pregnancy will be over so soon, it just doesn’t seem real sometimes that we are going to have a new little family member. I just can’t wait to hold this baby!

They’re a Bunch of Goofs

Haven, who turns 6 in June, loves to play with her little 2 year old sister Gracen. They are constantly running from one thing to the next, and Gracen pretty much copies any and everything Haven does, and it’s pretty funny to hear them talk to each other too. Yesterday, Haven was being particularly bossy with Gracen, who decided she was done and went off to see what the boys were doing. Haven wasn’t standing for her traitorous behavior for a second, and promptly tried to drag Gracen over to “time-out” where she felt Gracen needed to be for “disobeying orders”. Gracen resisted and managed to escape Haven grip, and ran down the hall to find me. I heard her yelling back to Haven “I tell Mom!” several times, which made me laugh so hard. Gracen has already learned the art of “tattling” and I’m sure this is just the beginning.
Gracen also has no problem telling her siblings to “share please”! But it’s not her favorite word to hear if she has to share one of her toys or treats herself, although she will share, just not always with a smile. She also loves to get ahold of ANY toy Mathes has, becasue it HAS to be a super fun toy if Mathes is playing with it. Thankfully Mathes (he turns 4 in June) is quite patient with her, and is pretty good about letting her have some turns too with his toys. And sometimes Gracen will convince him to play with her and her dollhouse, even though sometimes Mathes makes the dolls die a violent “death by dinosaur”. She still goes along him since she just loves to be in the middle of the sibling fun. I have to say, life as a Mom is never boring, and I am always laughing at the goofy stuff my kids do. What did I do for entertainment before I had my little monkeys?

Shaking, Crying, And Scared To Death...

This morning I sent Haven, Mathes and Gracen out into the backyard to play and made sure the gate was locked on both the top and bottom, then went inside to finish getting breakfast cleaned up and try and get myself dressed. I could see them from the window as they played, and I could also hear them, so I am able to keep an eye on them from most of the rooms in the house. Haven came back in shortly after because she wanted to draw, but Mathes and Gracen were happily riding their trikes in the courtyard so I went ahead and started to get dressed. Just as I was undressed and trying to find my jeans I hear a truck honking. After 5 or 6 honks I look out my window to see what he’s going on about and there is Gracen, standing in the middle of the road with a huge semi truck stopped right in front of her, doing all of the honking. I don’t know how I ran that fast, I have never been so scared in my life, but I managed to throw on whatever clothes were right there as I bolted out the back door in a total panic. Apparently Mathes had somehow managed to unlock both locks on the gate, which is only a Houdini like feat since I can barely manage to unlock them myself without a lot of pulling and lifting at the same time on the heavy wooden gate, so how he managed to unlock BOTH of the locks is beyond me.

When I got out there Mathes was sitting in the back of the Suburban playing with some toy he had found there, while Gracen played chicken in the street with the semi. I will tell you there were serious spanks for both of them and if ANYONE wants to pick a fight with me on the merits of spanking, go ahead, but know this, time-out was NOT going to make any kind of lasting impression on either child, and their safety is at stake here, so think/say what you want I really don’t care. And believe me, Craig and I have done everything we can to ensure the safety of our children, and I cannot even fathom how that child got those locks undone, I’m baffled. So after I got both of the little ones back inside, I hyperventilated, called my husband, and cried my eyes out to him on the phone because I’m completely terrified of my son and his ability to get into these scary situations (really, I’m still crying). Craig is picking up a new dead bolt lock/key combo on his way home from work today, and we think this will keep the gate locked no matter how hard Mathes tries to undo it. How do you get it across to an almost 4 year old the danger he had put himself and his little sister in? I am so scared for him, and somedays I wonder how am I ever going to get him to the age of 10 let alone adulthood? Please tell me I’m not alone in these awful situations. I feel like such a faliure as a mother right now and I can’t stop crying about it, all I can think about is what could have happened. I hate days like this, you have a knot in your stomach for what feels like forever.

We’re Week To Week Now, Yeehaw!

I had another appointment with my Dr. today, and it was all good news. I am 50% effaced and hinting at dilating, but but I haven’t fully started yet so he said that means I will probably be a 1 to a 2 at my next appointment next week. The baby is doing great, still head down, and while the head is not engaged (usually after your first, they don’t engage until your in labor) the baby has descended. And everything else looked great, so I am happy. So I’m on week to week appointments now, and I feel like I’m almost ready to get this baby here. I am still trying to finish stuff up, but I am just about done. I do need to wash all of the baby clothes to get them ready, but that won’t take too much, and that’s always so much fun anyways, going through all of the tiny outfits, ooohing and ahhhing. I swear, could the clothes be any sweeter? Were they ever really that tiny? It doesn’t seem possible, but of course they were, even if it was for such a short time.