My Wonderful Midwife

It's hard to build a relationship over the course of 7 months or so and then have it end so abruptly! She became a friend, listening to me talk about life for a half hour every visit. She cared about me outside of just my pregnancy. I feel so blessed to have found her and so thankful for all she did for me!!!

40 Weeks/Due Date/"Labor Day"

36 Weeks (9 months)

This was almost two weeks ago now (I'm always a little slow about this blogging thing...). Anyway, this coming Tuesday I'll be 38 weeks. It's hard to believe I'm nearing the end...and the beginning!:)
Caedmon's been obsessed with babies lately. One day he carried his doll out the door, into his carseat and into the store with him! Hopefully this is a good indication! I think it will be tough for him to have a sibling taking away some of the attention he's used to getting, but we can only hope for the best!:)

32 Weeks

So I'm more like 33 1/2 weeks now, but here's a pic from last week. Can't believe how time is flying! Less than 7 weeks to go!

I think Caedmon knows his life is about to drastically change...his behavior lately makes me look forward to sweet baby days!:) Guess there are pros and cons to every stage.

Having said that, look at that sweet smile!:)

28 Weeks!

I can't believe I'm in the third trimester already! Baby will be here before we know it, and hopefully Caedmon will be ready! We talk about baby in mommy's tummy and he's obsessed with lifting my shirt - at first, because he was obsessed with belly buttons. He likes to kiss my belly, which is just too sweet and he started signing baby on his own - his version is rubbing his tummy. I'm afraid he's going to think baby equals tummy, but I'm not sure how to get around that right now... hopefully it'll all make sense soon!:)

24 Weeks

I'm feeling good these days. I enjoy my naps in the afternoon! Baby is quite active; more than I remember Caedmon being in the early stages. Caedmon is becoming more difficult to tote around, but he still loves to be held and I'd hate to miss out on that - it won't last forever!
I'm mentioning baby more and more to Caedmon - not sure if he really gets it yet, but he loves to find my belly button, which continues to become flatter!:)

Another Special Gift...

Corey and I are expecting our second child! Caedmon has a brother or sister on the way!

I will be 14 weeks Tuesday - basically 3 1/2 months.

We thank God for his blessings and provisions! I found out I was pregnant just after Caedmon's first birthday. They will be 21 months apart. We didn't have any insurance, and that was scary! After much searching for individual insurance and finding out that the one insurance company that couldn't ask if I was pregnant still wouldn't allow the maternity services to be used till 6 months into the plan (not to mention the deductible!), I got online just to see if Caedmon would at least qualify for insurance through the state and found out that not only did he qualify, but I qualified for medicaid as well!!! Thank the Lord! What a huge stress off my shoulders!

I have also found a midwife up here and have had one appointment. She is wonderful and I look forward to working with her!!!

I struggled in the beginning with fear that I would not have enough love in my heart for two. Caedmon is so precious and I love him with all that I am, and I just wasn't sure where I'd find more love! But I was able to hear the heartbeat during my first appointment a couple weeks ago and I think that did it for me! What a beautiful sound! What a miracle!

This pregnancy has been different. I was sick in the beginning. Not as bad as some have it - I only threw up once. But I often didn't feel good, all throughout the day, and was so very picky about what I wanted to eat! Often, nothing sounded good! So unlike my pregnancy with Caedmon where I ate everything in sight! I am thankfully past that stage now and feeling good! But this being pregnant with a walking one year old is draining! But I'm starting to get some energy back - hopefully I'll be able to keep up with him!

We look forward to the birth of this new little one! Due around the very beginning of June.

Still Here

You know, Braxton Hicks contractions I can handle because they don't mean a whole lot. But when the contractions are the real thing, you spend an entire evening timing them, you think this is the real thing...and then they stop. I don't know how much more of this I can handle! They were pretty strong yesterday too! I'm going crazy!

I had to convince Corey to go about his schedule today (internship in G.R. a half hour away)- there's no use in two of us sitting around waiting for things to happen!

I plan to go for a walk and then see if I can find something to do to distract me. This baby truly is stubborn!

Doctor's Appointment

Latest update - 100% effaced, a roomy 3cm dilated, and I'm told my baby is just stubborn. My husband thinks that he/she takes after me.:/ Friday I have to go in for an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid and have a non stress test to make sure baby is happy. I'm really hoping I don't make it to those appointments! I've been having more intense contractions since my appt. Maybe she stirred things up a bit in there!:) I don't want to hope too much, but I can't help it. I'll try to keep you posted! Corey will probably be the first to blog once baby's born - so check his site - it's a link on mine.

It Came and Went

My due date that is...uneventful!:( You know, I've always assumed first babies are late. And that's what I had in my head. But there were a couple babies around me born early and they were firsts. Then there's my midwife - I think I'm silently cursing her. She kept throwing hope out there -"I don't think you'll make it to your due date." ,"3cm, 80% effaced - looking good! This weekend would be good!" AGGHH!!

I was doing o.k. until last night. Last night I felt real emotional and completely hopeless. What good are all the contractions I've been having - they don't materialize into the real thing! I feel right now like this baby is never going to come out. And last night when he/she decided to wake up at 11:30p.m. and stay up until after 1a.m., I wasn't too happy with him either. I felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin!

Have a doctor's appt. today. I'm sure she'll want to check things out and see how it's going down there. At this point, I'm not sure if I want to know or not! I'm convinced this baby ain't coming out till October!:( And no matter how many new moms tell me to enjoy this time while I have it...I just can't seem to do so. Waiting is difficult!

Walking

Saturday, Sept.22, Corey and I took the mile trail through the woods at Hoffmaster State Park. We stopped halfway and sat on a log to eat our lunch. It was a lovely day! The walk was a little exhausting for me, but I think I did o.k. I keep thinking if I walk and walk and do some more walking, maybe baby will take a hint!:) (And for those of you who plan to respond with other suggestions, I've heard 'em all!:))

The trail comes out on the beach, but Corey decided to take the trail back the way we came and see how fast he could do it...without me to slow him down.:) I, on the other hand, enjoyed a leisurely walk on the beach and about 10 min. of just sitting and staring out at the lake, as well as trying to get some pictures of my profile.:)
But, as you know, since you're reading this post, baby has yet to take the hint...:/ We are still waiting on our little one to make an appearance, hopefully this week!

Oh yeah, and even though our dog drives me crazy most of the time, I thought this was a pretty cute picture of him.

Crabby!

Goodness, I've been crabby lately! I think I need this pregnancy thing to be done! It doesn't help when you keep finding out at doctor's appointments that your body seems to be very much ready for the big day, but that big day does not come!

One cause of my crabbiness has been my camera. Yeah, I know, weird. But my battery went dead the other day and when I went to get my charger, I couldn't find if anywhere! Still can't! How do you lose something like that?! So I'm freaking out, because I could go into labor at any moment and I don't even have a camera to take pictures of my newborn baby! AGGHH!

Perhaps another cause of the frustration I'm feeling is false hope. Last night, I was awake for about 3 hours, experiencing my first real contractions. Oh boy, I thought, I may be having this baby today! But I finally was able to go back to sleep, and when I woke up, nothing was happening!:( Bummer. I did have a few plans today that I didn't want to miss...careful what you wish for I guess!

And it's HOT! The heat has not been too bothersome this summer, but it might be getting to me today.

So my poor husband takes off not long after I come home, saying, "call if you go into labor." Guess I don't want to be around me right now either.

So anyway... hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Getting Ready

My midwife told me last week that she didn't think I'd make it to my due date. Aggghh!! Exciting...scary... 'Course, she can't predict these things 100%, but my cervix is doing all it's supposed to to get ready for the labor and birth process.

I kind of felt frantic after being told this, and made a list of all the things I still need to do.

Saturday, Corey and I finally made it to the hospital for a tour. I always feel more comfortable going into a situation with some familiarity. Walking down those hallways kind of freaked me out - 1) I'm not real fond of hospitals (who is?!), 2) I can't believe that I've come to this point in my life...I'M about to have a baby!

I bought a few more baby supplies yesterday. I just don't want to have to go out and get anything immediately after baby is born or have to send Corey out...:)

Today, I spend all day in the kitchen preparing a couple meals to freeze. I now have 3 meals in the freezer...doesn't sound like much. Maybe I'll get a few more done before contractions start.

Last night at church, the guys started a "pool" (no real money involved - not sure what the "prize" will be) on what day they think baby will be born - cracked me up! I guess every date's been taken from 5 days before to 5 days after. My husband picked the 24th, unknowingly...that's the day exactly 40 weeks after the day we're guessing baby was conceived.:)

I'm feeling ready, as far as getting things done goes. Ready for labor to actually begin...I don't know about that - I'm pretty nervous! I need to do a better job of reading my affirmations on my bathroom mirror!

Spades - Keeping Me Up At Night

So, here I am 9 months pregnant. Don't pregnant ladies in the last trimester sleep a lot? I was expecting to feel like I did in the first trimester, but I don't. I'm more tired for sure, but I'm not very good at taking naps during the day, and I'm becoming even worse at getting to bed at a decent hour at night!

Corey and I have discovered a new 2-person game! I'm such a big gamer, but our repertoire has been Cribbage and Golf(cards). Corey learned how to play spades a couple weeks ago in the UP, and now I'm staying up till 1:30a.m. playing Spades! Aggghh!! I keep thinking that it'll be really bad if I go into labor after one of these late nights - I really need to work on getting more sleep! 'Cause even after a late night, I still don't sleep in. Although this morning I was in bed till 10a.m.! Whoa, this is LATE for me!

Anyway, I think I'm just eating up every moment of time I can share with Corey alone right now, because it's all about to change!:)

9 Months!

These were taken tonight. Corey is kind of impatient about taking these pictures...for whatever reason. So however they turn out is what I have to show.:)

I was 36 weeks (9months) last week Tuesday, Aug. 28th. I will be 37 weeks tomorrow.

I've always assumed first time pregnancies go late, but I've heard of a few recently that were early, so we shall see. My due date is Sept. 25.

I've been told to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy, which I will try to do, but it's not very easy to get comfortable these days.

8 Months and Counting

Here I am, 8 months (32 weeks) pregnant. I can't believe how time is flying! I only have 8 weeks or so to go! Whoa!!

Corey and I have started childbirth education classes. I'm loving them - they're so informative and I'm feeling like I'll be able to go into this process with a little bit of confidence. Confidence only in knowing at least what to expect...somewhat. I just don't want to be a mother who let's the doctors, nurses, hospital in general do whatever they want because I don't have a clue!

So, Tuesday night we had class and at the end, we (I mostly) had to do a visualization. Our instructor took us through the labor process step by step, with me breathing, relaxing and picturing what she said. I don't have the best of imaginations, so this was a little difficult for me, until...

Until it came time to visualize baby coming out and being placed on my chest. At this point, I had no problem visualizing and I got all teary-eyed! Wow! I'm about to have a BABY! This fact still awes me at times!

The process of labor is daunting - kind of scary. But I'm trying to get into a mindset that my body knows what to do, the pain is for a purpose, and I get to meet my son or daughter at the end of it! That last part is very exciting!

I went to the doctor today and got a good report. I was able to feel baby's head - he/she is in position!

What a miracle life is!

Here I Go!

Well, this is my first attempt at blogging. Thanks to a dear friend of mine (Mikaela):), I will now try to keep all who care updated on my current family and my little one on the way.

So, this is me at 7 months. Looking a little grumpy due to having already fallen asleep on the couch. Most people know it's not a good idea to awaken me at night!

The pregnancy has gone very well, albeit it is quite uncomfortable at times! But I can't complain too much.

Baby continues to grow and get stronger! I think he/she is doing gymnastics in there sometimes!:)

Hopefully I'll keep up with this! We shall see...:)