I have been waiting a long time to be able to relax and just say "Okay baby, you can come anytime!" For so long it has been because of Eric's school that we've hoped baby would stay put. No sooner had Eric completed his schooling, though, than Hannah got very sick. High fever, stomach ache, ear aches...and it did not get any better by the second day as we'd hoped, only worse! And in the midst of her illness I started having contractions. Very hard to feel "nesty" and anticipate the birth of baby when your firstborn is so ill. Thankfully the contractions subsided, and one trip to the clinic later, 2 doses of antibiotics, a good night's sleep, and we have a Hannah that is somewhat back to normal. An ear infection and possibly strep (which we won't find out about until later today), but whatever it is, she's feeling better and that's a relief to this mother's heart.
Not only did I hate the thought of leaving Hannah behind (in the event I should go into labor), but I hated the thought that if baby came while she was so sick Hannah would be unable to visit or snuggle with her new sibling. No fun! So we're very happy she's better and baby is still baking away!
In the meantime I've progressed quite a bit. As of my doctor appointment yesterday I was 4cm. The doctor exclaimed so much about my progress that we did not get exact numbers on effacement or station, just that the baby's head was lower than it had been (so in a positive station--yikes!) and a warning that it could be at any moment. She was wary of checking me any further for fear of setting labor off, which we didn't want yesterday since Hannah was still so sick! We go back in tomorrow to be rechecked and then she'll strip my membranes to see if she can't get labor going on its own. We'd love to have my own doctor on call so that is the reason we're willing to try. And nothing will happen if my body isn't ready yet and it certainly seems to be. The idea is just to stir things up a bit...sometimes baby just needs a nudge :-) I would rather have baby before this weekend than to go into labor on Easter when my doctor isn't on call...blah.
In the meantime I am literally waddling about feeling like baby is about to fall out anyway (as if it would be so easy!). And I'm tentatively allowing myself to feel excited about the prospect of our baby joining us so soon, although I will be fine if he/she chooses to wait a bit, too.
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
37 Weeks
Not much to report on the baby front and I guess that's a good thing. Had a good doctor appointment today and while there hasn't been much more progress, my blood pressure is great. That is really encouraging since I've never made it past 37 weeks without some issue arising. With Elaina they had just begun to express concern when I went into labor...which prevented it from becoming a problem! I monitor it daily and have been pleased to see the low trend.
I've been sick on an off all last week so even my weight gain was minimal! That's a first!!
Eric is hoping to have most of his schoolwork wrapped up tonight and once that's all submitted we'll be free to concentrate on last minute preparation. Almost everything is done at this point but we do have a few little things left. Particularly practice our breathing...something that has fallen by the wayside with Eric's last big push to get done!
This pregnancy has been a delight as far as the girls' go. When I was pregnant with Grace, Hannah was just too young to really understand what was going on. She seemed to get it a bit more with Elaina, but was still fairly disinterested. She participated by having babies in her own belly :-) At that time Grace was really too young. This time around, however, Hannah has been excited from the beginning. Grace is just naturally more into babies and that sort of thing, so she's also been very interested. Elaina is absolutely oblivious and has, after all these months, finally started pointing to my belly and saying "baby". Does she get it? I'm guessing not.
Hannah won't leave for school without her good-bye kiss to the baby, and they both love to kiss the baby goodnight. I told them a few months ago that the baby could hear them so they should talk to the baby, read books, etc. It was only a few days after that, while I was painting the baby's room, Grace came running in with a pile of books to read to the baby, sure that the baby was bored! I hope their enthusiasm continues once the baby is actually here!
I've been sick on an off all last week so even my weight gain was minimal! That's a first!!
Eric is hoping to have most of his schoolwork wrapped up tonight and once that's all submitted we'll be free to concentrate on last minute preparation. Almost everything is done at this point but we do have a few little things left. Particularly practice our breathing...something that has fallen by the wayside with Eric's last big push to get done!
This pregnancy has been a delight as far as the girls' go. When I was pregnant with Grace, Hannah was just too young to really understand what was going on. She seemed to get it a bit more with Elaina, but was still fairly disinterested. She participated by having babies in her own belly :-) At that time Grace was really too young. This time around, however, Hannah has been excited from the beginning. Grace is just naturally more into babies and that sort of thing, so she's also been very interested. Elaina is absolutely oblivious and has, after all these months, finally started pointing to my belly and saying "baby". Does she get it? I'm guessing not.
Hannah won't leave for school without her good-bye kiss to the baby, and they both love to kiss the baby goodnight. I told them a few months ago that the baby could hear them so they should talk to the baby, read books, etc. It was only a few days after that, while I was painting the baby's room, Grace came running in with a pile of books to read to the baby, sure that the baby was bored! I hope their enthusiasm continues once the baby is actually here!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Miraculous Timing
As we were doing our taxes this year Eric and I were paging through paperwork looking for documentation regarding the purchase of our home. It brought back memories of just how amazing our home selling process was. And how faithful God was to us.
We had our house listed for awhile when they extended the "first time home buyers" tax credit to "long time" homeowners--people who had owned their home for at least 5 years. We knew getting that was a total longshot since the tax credit expired on April 30 and we wouldn't reach 5 years of owning our home until April 28. So we'd literally have to sell our house and find the new one and close within those two days. Highly unlikely, right? Yes, we had pretty much figured that would never happen.
And then along came March. By this point we'd had the house on the market for 9 months and were growing weary of the entire process. But then, finally, we received and accepted our first offer. And with a leap of faith we put the closing on April 29th...which would give us about a month to find a house to move into and get the tax credit. And on March 29th we finalized our offer on the house we now live in...giving us a month to move out and into our new house. Neatly clinching our tax credit but a mere one day margin.
I remember we were in total awe at the time because it just seemed so unreal. That was absolutely no way we could have orchestrated that, it was a God thing. Going through our taxes and seeing the corresponding dates...April 28, 2005 we purchased our first home and April 29, 2010 we sold it. The home we purchased was actually listed on the same day as our first home...just 5 years later.
The entire journey of selling our home taught me a huge lesson. God's timing is perfect. Throughout those long months of trying to sell our home I certainly envisioned what would be the "right" timing. I saw the house I wanted come and go and couldn't imagine finding another home I would love. But we did. And we would not change the way things happened.
Our home how we first saw it. It looks a little bit different now...but not a lot! We hope to "beautify" the front a bit more this summer. Hopefully with Eric being done with school we'll have a bit more time!
I've surprised myself a bit with this pregnancy. As much as I want to "control" when baby makes an appearance I know that I can't. And I don't need to. God's timing is so much better than mine. He's proven that to me time and time again. I get it :-) And every time I feel myself wanting to snatch back the "control" (as if I really have any!) I just remind myself that I don't need it. Every time I think I know how to do something the best way, God shows me that His way is much, much better.
We had our house listed for awhile when they extended the "first time home buyers" tax credit to "long time" homeowners--people who had owned their home for at least 5 years. We knew getting that was a total longshot since the tax credit expired on April 30 and we wouldn't reach 5 years of owning our home until April 28. So we'd literally have to sell our house and find the new one and close within those two days. Highly unlikely, right? Yes, we had pretty much figured that would never happen.
And then along came March. By this point we'd had the house on the market for 9 months and were growing weary of the entire process. But then, finally, we received and accepted our first offer. And with a leap of faith we put the closing on April 29th...which would give us about a month to find a house to move into and get the tax credit. And on March 29th we finalized our offer on the house we now live in...giving us a month to move out and into our new house. Neatly clinching our tax credit but a mere one day margin.
I remember we were in total awe at the time because it just seemed so unreal. That was absolutely no way we could have orchestrated that, it was a God thing. Going through our taxes and seeing the corresponding dates...April 28, 2005 we purchased our first home and April 29, 2010 we sold it. The home we purchased was actually listed on the same day as our first home...just 5 years later.
The entire journey of selling our home taught me a huge lesson. God's timing is perfect. Throughout those long months of trying to sell our home I certainly envisioned what would be the "right" timing. I saw the house I wanted come and go and couldn't imagine finding another home I would love. But we did. And we would not change the way things happened.
Our home how we first saw it. It looks a little bit different now...but not a lot! We hope to "beautify" the front a bit more this summer. Hopefully with Eric being done with school we'll have a bit more time!I've surprised myself a bit with this pregnancy. As much as I want to "control" when baby makes an appearance I know that I can't. And I don't need to. God's timing is so much better than mine. He's proven that to me time and time again. I get it :-) And every time I feel myself wanting to snatch back the "control" (as if I really have any!) I just remind myself that I don't need it. Every time I think I know how to do something the best way, God shows me that His way is much, much better.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Baby's On The Way
While this hasn't really been a "secret", it is still unknown by a lot of people. Our fourth (and likely last biological) child is on the way. We had the privilege to sneek a peek last Tuesday and it was an amazing experience. I love the ultrasound for the simple reason that it is our one chance to "meet" this little person before we actually get to meet them. To catch a glimpse of little fingers and toes, and if we're lucky, a face.
We did get to see the face this time, too. Probably better than we have with any of the others. Unfortunately there was no picture to show for it, but we got to see the most precious nose, mouth, and chin. Can't wait to kiss them!!
Baby is due May 2nd and we'll see if he/she actually holds out this long. I'm hoping to actually make it beyond 37 weeks this time. I would love, love to not have a baby on my birthday (April 15) so I'm concentrating on holding this one in!! My birthday falls right about at 37 weeks, too, so I can't let this one have an early exit pass!!
Meet Baby #4
We are patiently awaiting his/her arrival!!
We did get to see the face this time, too. Probably better than we have with any of the others. Unfortunately there was no picture to show for it, but we got to see the most precious nose, mouth, and chin. Can't wait to kiss them!!
Baby is due May 2nd and we'll see if he/she actually holds out this long. I'm hoping to actually make it beyond 37 weeks this time. I would love, love to not have a baby on my birthday (April 15) so I'm concentrating on holding this one in!! My birthday falls right about at 37 weeks, too, so I can't let this one have an early exit pass!!
Meet Baby #4
We are patiently awaiting his/her arrival!!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Introducing...???
A baby!! We don't really know who we are introducing yet. We don't know if it is a he or a she. We don't even have a cute nickname that has really caught on. What we DO know is that the baby is due March 17 (but if the previous two hint at anything, we'll see him/her before then), is seemingly healthy, and if the amount of wiggling is any indicator of happiness, our baby is ecstatic to be on the way!
From here on out we shall refer to the baby as a he. This is not in anyway to suggest that the baby IS a boy. We don't know. We asked to not find out, the ultrasound tech didn't utter a word about it, and we didn't see anything to give us any clues. We referred to both Hannah and Grace as "hes" in the womb and they are both secure in their femininity (at least so far!) so we'll keep the trend going and just call the baby a he!
My favorite. Baby's whole body profile. He literally has his legs up by his face!
This was the first profile we saw. The "growth" by the baby's mouth is his hand. He had his hand up by his mouth for most of it. I suspect this is why I feel near constant "tickles" in that area of my belly.
And the classic picture of the foot. I can't wait to tickle them!
So this is our newest pride and joy. Since this baby wasn't necessarily "planned", I've found that I've taken to thinking about the baby as the blessing that God wanted us to have. We were planning a baby in "our" time, and God said "Hey, wait, I have this special little one for you NOW." It took a little bit of time, but I'm very exited to meet him (or her!) I view him as a surprise from God! And I'm always one for surprises!
From here on out we shall refer to the baby as a he. This is not in anyway to suggest that the baby IS a boy. We don't know. We asked to not find out, the ultrasound tech didn't utter a word about it, and we didn't see anything to give us any clues. We referred to both Hannah and Grace as "hes" in the womb and they are both secure in their femininity (at least so far!) so we'll keep the trend going and just call the baby a he!
Baby's face profile. We got to see lots of this and I can't complain. We never find out the gender, so the face is the thing I always look forward to seeing the most!
My favorite. Baby's whole body profile. He literally has his legs up by his face!
This was the first profile we saw. The "growth" by the baby's mouth is his hand. He had his hand up by his mouth for most of it. I suspect this is why I feel near constant "tickles" in that area of my belly.
And the classic picture of the foot. I can't wait to tickle them!
So this is our newest pride and joy. Since this baby wasn't necessarily "planned", I've found that I've taken to thinking about the baby as the blessing that God wanted us to have. We were planning a baby in "our" time, and God said "Hey, wait, I have this special little one for you NOW." It took a little bit of time, but I'm very exited to meet him (or her!) I view him as a surprise from God! And I'm always one for surprises!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)