Just got back from the doctor and the good news is I've made good progress since last week. For those of you that like the details: I'm now dilated to a full 2, 70% effaced, "soft", and anterior, which gives me 9 points and means I'm "ripe" enough to deliver any time. The doctor seemed to think there's a good chance I won't make it until the 30th - especially considering this is baby #5.
During our visit he was telling me about another patient at the hospital today who had been pushing for two hours and the baby's head was just barely starting to show. Miserable. I'm lucky my deliveries have always gone quick - three or four pushes and that's it. Hopefully this little guy cooperates too. Now I'm getting nervous to think it could be any time now and also pretty excited! Sometimes I've been so focused on the pregnancy part I forget that when it ends I'm going to have a baby! I know that doesn't really make sense but who can make sense of a pregnant woman's brain anyway!
I got his little bassinet set up yesterday in our room, and got my bag packed for the hospital. I've been doing laundry today and will hopefully do a grocery trip tonight - the only thing left to do is put the carseat in the car so I guess we are pretty much ready! Hopefully the next post will be about our newest family member...sooner than later!
Jun 22, 2010
Jun 17, 2010
Baby Update
I had my latest doctor appointment Tuesday. Some mix up in the office paperwork led to a two hour visit, mostly waiting time (half dressed), totally ridiculous! I was starving and had to "go" so bad by the end I was miserable! Anyway, there's been some progress since last week, so that's always good to hear. I’m dilated to 1.5 cm , 60% effaced, with my cervix having moved anterior (which is where we want it to be), and the baby’s position is -3 (needs to drop down to a +2 to start pushing). All these things have a point value, and my total was 6. He said 6 is probably enough to start induction if necessary, but he would like to see me get to a total of 8 or 9, which shouldn’t be a problem at all since I still have ~2 weeks. We won’t know until that day (June 30) what time I’m supposed to go into the hospital unless I’m first on the list for 7 a.m., for which they’ll call me the night before. Otherwise I’ll have one hour's notice. I would love it if I just happened to go into labor on my own, say, the night of the 29th! Sorry, no tummy pics, I'm way too insecure at this point to step in front of the camera! Although at the park the other day some lady goes, "Wow, your belly is really low!" Yeah, thanks, I had no idea...
btw I've posted several things today so don't forget to scroll down!
btw I've posted several things today so don't forget to scroll down!
But she just turned 5!
Ella lost her first tooth last night! I am not happy to see my baby girl grow up so fast, but she was sure brave and soooo excited! Here's a picture this afternoon - about 16 hours later - and you can already see how much the adult tooth has moved into place!
Here's a few other cute pics of my big girl
Love these big blue eyes! Think they look related??
Peter Pan
Holly finished up her dance season and had a fun time being an "indian" in their production of Peter Pan. I think she's one of the cutest indians around, but I am a little biased :)
Is it just me or does she look a little too grown up here? Let's keep that makeup put away for a few more years!
Is it just me or does she look a little too grown up here? Let's keep that makeup put away for a few more years!#1 team
Congratulations to Josh's little league baseball team the "Diamondbacks" - undefeated in the city league! They ended the season in 1st place and are now preparing for the state tournament which is in the middle of July. Way to go Josh! He was a fairly strong hitter and played left field. He was lucky to get excellent coaches, who he will get to play with again next year - this time as a 4th grader (he was one of two or three third graders on his team this year so it has been a great learning opportunity).
We have had a fun time watching his games - although with the crazy weather this year 90% of them were cold, windy, stormy, or all three! It was worth it though - there's something special about watching your own kid that makes it so much more exciting!
Jun 14, 2010
First Cabin Trip of the Year
Unfortunately...two thumbs down for our first cabin trip of the year! I guess it wasn't that bad, but it definitely could have been better.
We arrived around 8 pm Friday night after an uneventful drive, and had a pretty good time that night letting the kids mess around, eating s'mores, etc. Bryant & Summer were there too with their kids so their was a lot of kid chaos. It must have been around 11 pm by the time we got most kids settled down. Then the adults played Manila (one of our favorite games) until almost 1:00 a.m. Bad idea - although the game was really fun I had no intentions of staying up that late and I am still trying to recover! I slept horribly - maybe got four hours tops - and can I just say how grateful I am for my nice big, comfy bed at home! Being 9 months pregnant is not the right time to be on an old, hard mattress! We were all up by 6:00 a.m. (way too early). I started a fire, started breakfast, and started contractions! Still not the real thing thank goodness, but definitely painful.
I was bummed the water (plumbing) wasn't working - it's never quite the same there when you have to trek out to the outhouse (again...9 months pregnant = lots of potty trips). And with lots of kids to clean up after running water would have been nice. I sound spoiled, I know. I can rough it - I've done tent camping my whole life - but that's one bonus about the cabin is it's not supposed to be roughing it! I was hoping for this to be a nice little get-away before the baby is born. Anyway, it was cold outside so the kids crafted with popsicle sticks all morning, then around 11:00 we headed over to Potter's Ponds to go fishing. The weather looked threatening but we were hoping it would hold out for a few hours. Wrong again! It started sprinkling as we were setting up poles, started really raining for the first cast or two, and then it started hailing! Needless to say we didn't stick it out, and got back to the van with pants and shoes all wet and caked with mud. Yuck. Poor Ammon was so sad - he really wanted to fish and didn't want to give up that fishing pole!
We made it back to the cabin and started lunch, and snow started lightly falling. I've never seen a snow storm at the cabin and it was beautiful - but it also made us nervous. Mark said, "I have a feeling we need to get out of here, now!" So we threw together all our stuff, took our lunch to the car, did a rush clean-up job, and headed out as quick as we could. The snowfall was getting heavier. We made it down the dirt road fine (thank goodness) but the main road was starting to accumulate snow. We drove white-knuckled all along skyline drive with about four inches of snow on the roads and almost a white-out storm. It was so scary. We saw a truck that had rolled & the cab was all smashed in. Luckily the kids seemed to sense what was going on and they were all super quiet and most fell asleep. It seemed like an eternity before we made it low enough that the snow turned to rain and we could breathe easy. It is really scary to travel like that feeling so helpless and with such precious cargo - praying is about all you can do.
Then while continuing home between Fairview and Thistle we noticed they had resurfaced the road. They must have sprayed tar and laid gravel - a crazy idea for a freeway - and thanks to that we got three major rock chips in our windshield. So frustrating. Every time we would pass a car going the opposite direction rocks were flying at us and there was nothing we could do! AND a van covered in tar splatters.
So, the overall feeling after this trip was frustration and exhaustion. We had to come home about six hours earlier than we wanted to, the bad weather spoiled any outdoor fun we might have had (and kept all the kids trapped in the cabin...boo) and left us with a lot of muddy mess & chipped windshield to worry about. Way more work than play. Not a vacation at all. Of course for the kids, being with their cousins was fun, being at the cabin was fun, being in the mud was fun, staying up late was fun, and washing the car when we got home was fun. So I guess from their perspective the trip was a success. I guess that's what's important in the big picture...but Mommy is sure tired!
We arrived around 8 pm Friday night after an uneventful drive, and had a pretty good time that night letting the kids mess around, eating s'mores, etc. Bryant & Summer were there too with their kids so their was a lot of kid chaos. It must have been around 11 pm by the time we got most kids settled down. Then the adults played Manila (one of our favorite games) until almost 1:00 a.m. Bad idea - although the game was really fun I had no intentions of staying up that late and I am still trying to recover! I slept horribly - maybe got four hours tops - and can I just say how grateful I am for my nice big, comfy bed at home! Being 9 months pregnant is not the right time to be on an old, hard mattress! We were all up by 6:00 a.m. (way too early). I started a fire, started breakfast, and started contractions! Still not the real thing thank goodness, but definitely painful.
I was bummed the water (plumbing) wasn't working - it's never quite the same there when you have to trek out to the outhouse (again...9 months pregnant = lots of potty trips). And with lots of kids to clean up after running water would have been nice. I sound spoiled, I know. I can rough it - I've done tent camping my whole life - but that's one bonus about the cabin is it's not supposed to be roughing it! I was hoping for this to be a nice little get-away before the baby is born. Anyway, it was cold outside so the kids crafted with popsicle sticks all morning, then around 11:00 we headed over to Potter's Ponds to go fishing. The weather looked threatening but we were hoping it would hold out for a few hours. Wrong again! It started sprinkling as we were setting up poles, started really raining for the first cast or two, and then it started hailing! Needless to say we didn't stick it out, and got back to the van with pants and shoes all wet and caked with mud. Yuck. Poor Ammon was so sad - he really wanted to fish and didn't want to give up that fishing pole!
We made it back to the cabin and started lunch, and snow started lightly falling. I've never seen a snow storm at the cabin and it was beautiful - but it also made us nervous. Mark said, "I have a feeling we need to get out of here, now!" So we threw together all our stuff, took our lunch to the car, did a rush clean-up job, and headed out as quick as we could. The snowfall was getting heavier. We made it down the dirt road fine (thank goodness) but the main road was starting to accumulate snow. We drove white-knuckled all along skyline drive with about four inches of snow on the roads and almost a white-out storm. It was so scary. We saw a truck that had rolled & the cab was all smashed in. Luckily the kids seemed to sense what was going on and they were all super quiet and most fell asleep. It seemed like an eternity before we made it low enough that the snow turned to rain and we could breathe easy. It is really scary to travel like that feeling so helpless and with such precious cargo - praying is about all you can do.
Then while continuing home between Fairview and Thistle we noticed they had resurfaced the road. They must have sprayed tar and laid gravel - a crazy idea for a freeway - and thanks to that we got three major rock chips in our windshield. So frustrating. Every time we would pass a car going the opposite direction rocks were flying at us and there was nothing we could do! AND a van covered in tar splatters.
So, the overall feeling after this trip was frustration and exhaustion. We had to come home about six hours earlier than we wanted to, the bad weather spoiled any outdoor fun we might have had (and kept all the kids trapped in the cabin...boo) and left us with a lot of muddy mess & chipped windshield to worry about. Way more work than play. Not a vacation at all. Of course for the kids, being with their cousins was fun, being at the cabin was fun, being in the mud was fun, staying up late was fun, and washing the car when we got home was fun. So I guess from their perspective the trip was a success. I guess that's what's important in the big picture...but Mommy is sure tired!
Jun 8, 2010
The end is in sight
So I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is looking good and on schedule. I’m 1 cm dilated (yes, there is such thing as zero!) but I wouldn't have expected much different for 36 weeks. For a multipara (woman who's had more than one child) the changes to the cervix usually come much later. But the exciting part is that I scheduled an induction date! We will be headed to the hospital on Wednesday, June 30, to have this baby! That is one week before my due date and only 22 days away!!
I thought a lot about whether or not to be induced. I had conversations with many people, and many had strong feelings about a "false" start to labor. I also heard a lot of great things about natural (drug-free) births. I won't pretend it was an easy choice, but when it comes right down to it I have to do what is right for me. I've had some real concerns that many ladies don't have to deal with:
I thought a lot about whether or not to be induced. I had conversations with many people, and many had strong feelings about a "false" start to labor. I also heard a lot of great things about natural (drug-free) births. I won't pretend it was an easy choice, but when it comes right down to it I have to do what is right for me. I've had some real concerns that many ladies don't have to deal with:
#1: Mark works in downtown SLC. He rides the bus and is therefore at the mercy of the bus schedule to get him home. Express busses do not run all day. We only have one vehicle, so if he drives to work that leaves me stranded.
#2: This one is my saddest issue: I don’t have a mother or mother-in-law here to help. My own mom has been gone over four years now (maybe she'll be allowed to be at the delivery in spirit), and Mark's mom is on a mission in Hong Kong (who I know really wishes she could be here).
#3: I have four other kids to make arrangements for while I'm in the hospital. This is a major concern for me...and with school being out this is a full-time job!
#4: I’m due so close to a holiday weekend...if I went into labor during the Freedom Festival celebrations it could be really hard to get help.
So scheduling the delivery and being able to address those issues really seems to make sense. I feel really good about it and no longer have [as much] anxiety about what’s going to happen. Being induced doesn't worry me - I was induced with Josh 11 days early (necessary because he stopped growing) so I know the routine. I'm hoping that since this is #5 baby my body will cooperate nicely and will be ready by that point anyway.
Although I like to feel like putting a birth date on the calendar has given me total control, I know there's still a chance he could come earlier than that on his own! With both Holly & Ammon I was one week early; 2 days early with Ella. So if that happens all my careful planning will be out the window!
Anyway, with 22 days left until we get to meet this little guy (I am so excited!), I've been asking myself if there's anything left to do to prepare or anything I myself want to do before he comes (and once again my life is not my own). I can't think of anything! I mean, sure, there's lots of stuff I'd love to do, but waterskiing and ballet aren't exactly possible right now. Let's face it...my body is not my own right now either! One thing I am excited for is a trip to the Stum family cabin this weekend - I'm really happy to have a chance to get up in the mountains for some R&R. And then next week is Strawberry Days in PG which will keep us busy and entertained, and then it's just a matter of time! Wish us luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)