Today's the DAY...I hope

Tricky little Adalei...she has been tempting us with the thought of her presence for what seems like DAYS. I had a doctor's appointment last Friday and the nurse when ahead and stripped my membranes. From what I read, in about 90% of pregnant women--stripping their membranes sends them into labor within 72 hours. I am part of that 10% who get NOTHING but some slight discomfort.

Sunday proved to be pretty interesting. I had some mild contractions that started 30 minutes apart and quickly moved to 6-7 minutes apart along with bleeding. So Monday morning found us at the doctor's office just to check and see what was going on. I was dilated 4.5 cm....YAY! So they recommended I either stay at home and walk or that I check into the hospital. Neil and I opted to go home and walk. So I did--and contractions picked up a little. On Monday evening, we went to the hospital but I was still just at 5 cm. The doctor on call wanted me to stay and said he'd break my water, see how I progressed and then give me some pitocin. Uh, no thanks. SO, Neil and I decided to come home and wait it out. I did find out this interesting bit of knowledge. I have A+ blood--apparently women with A+ blood tend to have pretty slow "early" labor but really REALLY quick labor once they reach the 6-7cm dilated part. NICE! I'll take that.

But here I sit. Wednesday morning--still waiting it out. I think I have this crazy fear of going to the hospital too quick and giving into getting the meds that I really want to avoid. But the good news...contractions are much closer and much stronger. I believe that today is going to be the day--hopefully even this morning! But we'll see. I'm slowly learning that my sweet little Adalei is going to be stubborn like her mommy and want to do things HER way. Agh, genetics...I LOVE IT!

update

So I was told by my friend Natasha on our walk today that I needed to update my blog :-) And she's probably right.

For all those of you who are curious--NO BABY YET! I thought she was coming this morning, but contractions are still holding steady at 10 minutes apart. I remember going through this with Layla...seemed like 24 hours straight of contractions that wouldn't get any closer than 10 minutes apart! Sheesh!

Which, I guess we are very fortunate that today--or at least this morning/afternoon is not the time. Layla has been out of sorts today--bless her little heart. She's been so weepy--Neil accused her of crying like a 13 year old girl--100% dramatic with no clue as to what starts the seemingly endless flow of tears. Poor thing...she's been quite needy for her mommy and I've been so happy to carry her around the house because I know that her time of being my one and only baby is almost up...okay, now I'm going to start crying! Neil has his hands FULL today :-)

SO, if any of you guys feel led, please say a little prayer for Layla...I'm hoping that her little sister waits until tomorrow so that we can have a fresh start and hopefully a better day!

I'll keep ya'll posted :-) I hope.

Still hanging in there

So, no baby yet :-) I seriously believe that those peeps at the doctor's office were WAY wrong in moving my due date from Dec 2nd to November 20th. I just don't feel anything...but we'll see.

Just a quick little top three that I'd like to share with all my pregnant and non-pregnant buddies out there...top three things mommies to be DO NOT want to hear once we reach the 35 week mark...ready? Okay.

(1) You're still here?

(2) When are you going to have that baby?

(3) My gosh, you look like you're ready to pop (thankfully--haven't ever had this said to me, but it just sounds harsh)

I think the most common thing I hear is the first..."you're still here???" UGH...isn't there an obvious answer to that question? The lady at my local grocery store asks me that EVERY TIME I go in--so I've started going when she's not working and I've even avoided that store because its so annoying. I mean, how many times can I gracefully say, "yep, still here--guess the little one isn't ready to meet us just yet".

Whew. Okay. I feel better now :-) Feel free to add to my list, should you feel like venting just a little. I think there is just something about being pregnant that makes us targets for TONS of unsolicited advice and random tummy rubs from people.

You guys have a great rainy Monday...I'm off to do everything they say do to bring on labor. Clearly running does not help. Hot chili sauce and eggs for breakfast?? Yummy :-)

Preggo Pictures--Doctor's Appointment and Hot Pics

WELL, dad and I finally made a point of doing a maternity session :-) Bless his heart, he had his work cut out for him--I didn't want to do the cheesy smiling at my belly pictures so most of them were kind of pensive--but my pensive face doesn't lend itself to photography. Dad wore himself OUT telling me to stop scowling...combine that with my not-so-huge belly and it was an interesting afternoon. Dad did great...I'm always so proud and blown away every time I have the opportunity to watch him behind the camera.

SO...this is one that dad shot in film with his new lens...would you believe this had NO photoshop done to it...he's pretty incredible, that dad of mine :-) Its not on his blog/website so I thought I'd add it here because

wow...FILM is so beautiful.

SO stop by their blog to see the pictures and his sweet little write up--it just makes my heart swell when I think of how blessed I am to be loved by my daddy SO much--and he just makes me so darn proud to be his little girl! Okay...enough of that or I'm going to become a teary eyed pregnant woman which isn't pretty :-) Here's the url...check it out when you can and enjoy...

www.autumnsongphotography.com

SO..

I had my 38 week appointment today...WOW its going by so so so fast! I thought I would go early, but now I'm wondering. I've read a lot of new medical studies that have come out over the past several months regarding pregnant women who exercise strenuously during each trimester. Oddly enough, because a body is so good at adapting to demands, pregnant women who exercise, in particular run, are far less likely to deliver a pre-term baby...who'd a thunk? Not me.

Anyway--like most of my pregnant buddies, my belly measured small today--34 cm instead of 38. So the doctor wanted me to have another ultrasound--SWEET! I knew (and he did too) that everything was fine--it was just a precautionary measure. He said he thought it was because Adalei has dropped and because I just carry small babies (thank you Lord for that blessing)...but its standard procedure to recommend an ultrasound and most mommies don't mind. SO I scheduled it for later in the afternoon so that my hubby could come too...and boy were we given a treat...

The sonographer was so sweet--she spent lots of time showing us everything from her brain to her kidneys and even her little lungs practicing for the big day--and her feet, lodged up in my rib cage. Best of all, she treated us to a 4D or 3D--not really sure--ultrasound. It was INCREDIBLE!

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound. They make me CRAZY wanting to hurry up and hold her and kiss that sweet little mouth. I almost melted when I saw it...GAH baby mouths are so flipping sweet! ANYWAY...here she is in all her smushed up beauty. Poor thing is so low that it was very hard to get a good picture without something being in the way--namely my bladder and her hand.

Look at her sweet little mouth..her eyes are covered by a shadow, but the lower right side is her little nose and her mouth...yeah, I'm definitely going to drive her CRAZY kissing that little mouth!

Dancing Queen

This was too good to pass up :-) Layla's newest dance moves are quite comical--they almost resemble the moves of the 50+ year old women (who've enjoyed a little TOO much wine) on the dance floor at a wedding...HA!

Somehow my little red head manages to brighten up EVERY day...she makes me look forward to having (God willing) a house full of special little personalities one day! And moments like this (among the million other little moments) make my job satisfaction level skyrocket...ahh the joys of being a mommy at home with her little ones!

PS-You are getting a sneak preview of her Fancy Nancy Halloween costume...this was take after a trip to Walmart for more "fancy ribbons"...you can tell she REALLY needed more fancy ribbon :-)

33 Weeks...

Well...doctor's appointment went well yesterday. Adalei was moving like crazy (which isn't odd for her)--even managing to cause some surprise with the doctor at how well he could feel her shoulders through my belly.

I found out the the little internal "pinch" that I feel only when I'm running or cleaning house is really just a frustrated little baby girl pushing down on my bladder. The doc said it may cause some incontinence (such a nice way to put "pee your pants")....I laughed and told him it was something I'm not really a stranger to (see post on doing speedwork pre-pregnancy). He didn't see the humor so much. UNCOMFORTABLE. Layla was with me and asked me a million questions about--"inconstanance" (ha) to which I just responded that sometimes mommies need diapers too. At least I got a laugh out of her. As a side note, I can no longer bring Layla with me to appointments. Two weeks ago, the OB that I go to had FOUR moms show up with sick toddlers...sick like flu sick! Incredible. In an OB of all places!

ANYWAY...

Weight gain is good....looking very similar to how I did with Layla--probably will gain the same amount of weight as I did with her. The doctor I saw yesterday seems to think that there is no reason why Adalei will not be around the same birth weight as Layla was (6 lb 8oz), which he said would make for a rather easy and speedy delivery--SWEET! My belly is actually measuring the same at this point as it did with Layla--30 cm--so that was the best indication of Adalei's size.

He read my charts with Layla and was really surprised that I only pushed 4 times and didn't tear. I told him God made me especially for having babies and that I intended to fulfill my purpose and have LOTS (again--although I kind of thought I was being cute...no sign of humor in the ol' doc). All that being said, he seems to think I'll have no problems with labor this time around and will be fine to do it without any medication--unless Adalei is coming out in some weird position or if something happens to cause them to have to do a c-section.

SO...all was good. Layla enjoyed the visit--and got a cupcake from Whole Foods out of it. DUDE, the looks I got strolling through Whole Foods at 10am while my little redhead ate a mini cupcake (chocolate of all things) was PRICELESS! No, it wasn't granola or fruit, but she's well worth a mini cupcake for morning snack every now and then....and yes, we were both wearing leather shoes and YES...I threw my trash in the landfill trash bin by accident. Obviously, I do NOT belong in the aisles of Whole Foods :-)

updates...

SO...guys...WOW has the past few days been amazing or what?!

Yesterday we went live with the website for Run 4 Revolution--and the response was incredible! Within hours, we had EIGHT new runners on the team, two nice BIG donations and countless requests to be added to the mailing list! I guess for me, the incredible part was seeing God work in such a GIANT way. I can honestly say that I have never felt such a unique sense of joy in all my life...in fact, for a while today I was wondering what exactly it was that I was feeling. I think it must be a very nice combination of being humbled, blessed and overjoyed by what God has already done in just 24 hours with Run 4 Revolution.

If you haven't done so yet...stop by the website and sign up for the mailing list...I probably will not be posting anymore about R4R here as the website sort of serves as a blog as well.

In other news...

I am just now getting into my 32 week of pregnancy! WOW it has gone by so fast. I'm blessed by being able to get out and run, but I am opting to run in the early AM before it gets light out so as to avoid the crazy looks I get from fellow Lexingtonians :-) So I'm still doing between 5-7 miles each day and my long run is around 8.5 on Fridays.

Dad is going to be doing my "maternity session" next week and I am so excited about the fun pictures we are going to be taking....I can't wait to post them. I went ahead and had him take a picture the other day for my baby shower on Sunday and here's what he came up with...I think its perfect! I wanted to have something that everyone could sign to go in Adalei's little room. I think she'll like this :-)

I think that's it, for now....I need to post some video of Layla...she's getting funnier by the day and has become quite the chatter box. Looks like mommy needs to get the Flip camera out :-)