So I am 41 weeks today and still no baby. I had an ultra sound this morning that showed he is still safely and happily cooking away in there. At my prenatal appointment my midwife stripped my membranes (for the third time) and said that I am still dilated at 2 cm but this time my cervix is soft, so I have had some improvement. She said she would like to give nature a few more days but that we could schedule an induction for this weekend if we wanted, so I am scheduled to be induced Saturday night (I will be 11 days over due by then). I will have my last acupuncture appointment on Thursday and go in to have my membranes stripped again on Friday. In the meantime I am still holding onto a tiny shred of hope that my body will somehow start labor on it's own. However, I am glad that there is an end in sight if it doesn't.
Statistically it doesn't look good for me, between my two sisters and I there are eight children, five of which were induced, one needed labor augmentation with pitocin, one was delivered by c-section and only one was natural (Mary went into labor on her own with her second and delivered without needing pitocin - go Mary!). If when my youngest sister has children and she also needs to be induced we will know there is something going on with our genetics that keeps us from going into labor (at least that is my theory).
I have done everything besides castor oil (which doesn't work often enough and usually does more harm than good) to help my body get ready for labor and start on it's own. If, despite all my efforts, I still end up being induced I am going feel let down. If I were living 100 years ago I would have been on the weak side of "survival of the fittest"... I wouldn't have made it! My can't-go-into-labor self would simply die. How depressing is that! Maybe I should end now and go to bed.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Today is my due date...
and still no baby. ::sigh:: 
I had my 40 week appointment today and I have not changed at all from my last appointment. The good thing that happened was that she gave me a much needed pep talk about respecting and loving my body for what it is doing and how well it is doing it and to let it do its job and do whatever is necessary to help make the waiting easier (ie: bon bons, ice cream, naps, whatever). Every day to me feels like 10 at this stage and I'm not a patient person, so this is hard for me but I am going to try and do what she said. It doesn't help that I get 5 calls a day and 5 emails a day asking if I've had the baby yet. I know people care and people love me, but it just makes it harder.
In non pregnancy news, Jacob has been such a fun little boy recently. He is immitating all the time and will copy what we say. We play together and he smiles and laughs all the time - I am just so in love with him. He is a wonderful little boy and, compared to the kids I see on those nanny shows, he is an angel as well. He likes to watch America's Funniest Home Video's and laugh at the animals or the mishaps the people get into... so hilarious. He also loves Sesame Street and is starting to copy the counting that they do. He says goodbye to the characters on the screen and dances to the music. I just love watching him and spending our days together.
That's all folks.
I had my 40 week appointment today and I have not changed at all from my last appointment. The good thing that happened was that she gave me a much needed pep talk about respecting and loving my body for what it is doing and how well it is doing it and to let it do its job and do whatever is necessary to help make the waiting easier (ie: bon bons, ice cream, naps, whatever). Every day to me feels like 10 at this stage and I'm not a patient person, so this is hard for me but I am going to try and do what she said. It doesn't help that I get 5 calls a day and 5 emails a day asking if I've had the baby yet. I know people care and people love me, but it just makes it harder.In non pregnancy news, Jacob has been such a fun little boy recently. He is immitating all the time and will copy what we say. We play together and he smiles and laughs all the time - I am just so in love with him. He is a wonderful little boy and, compared to the kids I see on those nanny shows, he is an angel as well. He likes to watch America's Funniest Home Video's and laugh at the animals or the mishaps the people get into... so hilarious. He also loves Sesame Street and is starting to copy the counting that they do. He says goodbye to the characters on the screen and dances to the music. I just love watching him and spending our days together.
That's all folks.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Still no baby. I am still 2 cm dilated, which is ok I guess... it's better than nothing. I am due one week from today! And like every other pregnant woman at my stage, I am SO READY to have the baby out. I'm looking forward to not having my liver and other insides kicked on a regular basis. I'm also looking forward to being able to roll over at night with it waking me up and hurting... plus it feels really weird to feel the baby shift from one side of me to the other due to gravity.
We watched Superman Returns last night. I thought it was a well done movie, however I didn't care for the part at the end where he gets his trash kicked and then stabbed in the back twice by Lex with kryptonite - too graphic and mean for me. One part of the movie was so "Titanic" that I found it funny. Brent really liked the part where he got shot close range by a gun aimed directly at his eye and it simply bounced off like nothing. Superman is a rad comic hero in my opinion. I think I like the orignial series better and it made me want to see them again.
Today just before putting Jacob down for his nap the phone rang, it said it was from a pay phone so I expected it to be a wrong number. I answered anyway and was completely shocked to hear my sister Teresa on the line. She was in the airport waiting to board the plane for Tokyo Japan. She has been in the MTC for a full 12 weeks learning Japanese and today was the big day for her to go and serve. I didn't think I would get to hear her voice until she came back and so of course I cried like three times. Even Jacob said "hello" and "bye" to her, which was so cute. We talked for about 8 minutes and it was so awesome! I have missed her so much already and it was great to be able to tell her I love her one more time before she left. I am so proud of her and how well she is doing so far, she is going to have a wonderful time in Japan I just know it.
Another bit of good news, my brother John who is serving in Iraq for the third time has his date set for coming home - August 23rd. He left last September and I am so glad that the year has gone by quickly for him. I am really excited to see him and for him to home and safe on American soil.
We watched Superman Returns last night. I thought it was a well done movie, however I didn't care for the part at the end where he gets his trash kicked and then stabbed in the back twice by Lex with kryptonite - too graphic and mean for me. One part of the movie was so "Titanic" that I found it funny. Brent really liked the part where he got shot close range by a gun aimed directly at his eye and it simply bounced off like nothing. Superman is a rad comic hero in my opinion. I think I like the orignial series better and it made me want to see them again.
Today just before putting Jacob down for his nap the phone rang, it said it was from a pay phone so I expected it to be a wrong number. I answered anyway and was completely shocked to hear my sister Teresa on the line. She was in the airport waiting to board the plane for Tokyo Japan. She has been in the MTC for a full 12 weeks learning Japanese and today was the big day for her to go and serve. I didn't think I would get to hear her voice until she came back and so of course I cried like three times. Even Jacob said "hello" and "bye" to her, which was so cute. We talked for about 8 minutes and it was so awesome! I have missed her so much already and it was great to be able to tell her I love her one more time before she left. I am so proud of her and how well she is doing so far, she is going to have a wonderful time in Japan I just know it.
Another bit of good news, my brother John who is serving in Iraq for the third time has his date set for coming home - August 23rd. He left last September and I am so glad that the year has gone by quickly for him. I am really excited to see him and for him to home and safe on American soil.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Doing well
No baby yet... but things are at least starting to happen. I've been having lots of braxton hicks contractions and at my 38 week appointment I was examined and told I am already 2 cm dilated! Miracle of Miracles... I had nothing even close to that with Jacob (even at 41 weeks) so I'm excited to be showing some progress. I've started taking a bunch of herbs to help get my body ready for labor and I think they must be working. I had my last session of acupuncture on Tuesday - this time it was actually quite nice and relaxing. For those interested, these are the herbs I'm taking (per my midwife's instructions):
- 2 cups of red raspberry leaf tea per day (tastes yummy with honey), I up that by 1 cup each week until I reach 4 cups per day. I'm hoping I don't make it that long - 4 cups of herbal tea a day is a lot in my opinion.
- Black and Blue cohosh that I switch off taking every other day
- 2 capsules of Evening Primrose Oil every night before bed
It has been hot and muggy up here for a week now and the result is that I have swelling in my hands and feet and some in my face along with a few other symptoms and was told me I am dehydrated. I always get told that even though I drink a lot of fluid throughout the day, so I'm not sure what more to do.
We finally have the help lined up for Jacob that we need for the few days we spend in the hospital. This has been a big stress for me as the two girls I had lined up ended up not working out. I have a teen from my ward that will spend the night here and take care of his night and morning routine and then he will spend the day with my friend Mettina and her two daughters that live two buildings down from us (he loves it over there). He will most likely not get a nap during the day (he does not sleep in other places) and I can forsee that being a problem, but it is only for a few days and so I'm not going to worry about it. I am simply relieved to have a situation set up for him that I feel good about.
Big news! (For me at least). I finished the scrapbook I made of my courtship, engagement and marriage with Brent. I think I have worked on it only twice since having Jacob and knew I would never get it done at the rate I was going. The problem I had was getting my stuff out and setting it all up. So I set up my table in our spare room and left everything out. Then a few nights each week I worked on it while Brent was gaming on the computer after Jacob was in bed. That way we could still talk to each other and each do something we each wanted to do. I completed 36 pages in about a month and finished the album the other night. I am so excited that I actually finished something! Hurray for accomplishments.
We are excited to celebrate the forth of July tomorrow with my sister and her family. We will be barbequeing and making homemade ice cream and root beer.. it doesn't get much better than that. I hope that all of you out there have a wonderful and safe weekend.
- 2 cups of red raspberry leaf tea per day (tastes yummy with honey), I up that by 1 cup each week until I reach 4 cups per day. I'm hoping I don't make it that long - 4 cups of herbal tea a day is a lot in my opinion.
- Black and Blue cohosh that I switch off taking every other day
- 2 capsules of Evening Primrose Oil every night before bed
It has been hot and muggy up here for a week now and the result is that I have swelling in my hands and feet and some in my face along with a few other symptoms and was told me I am dehydrated. I always get told that even though I drink a lot of fluid throughout the day, so I'm not sure what more to do.
We finally have the help lined up for Jacob that we need for the few days we spend in the hospital. This has been a big stress for me as the two girls I had lined up ended up not working out. I have a teen from my ward that will spend the night here and take care of his night and morning routine and then he will spend the day with my friend Mettina and her two daughters that live two buildings down from us (he loves it over there). He will most likely not get a nap during the day (he does not sleep in other places) and I can forsee that being a problem, but it is only for a few days and so I'm not going to worry about it. I am simply relieved to have a situation set up for him that I feel good about.
Big news! (For me at least). I finished the scrapbook I made of my courtship, engagement and marriage with Brent. I think I have worked on it only twice since having Jacob and knew I would never get it done at the rate I was going. The problem I had was getting my stuff out and setting it all up. So I set up my table in our spare room and left everything out. Then a few nights each week I worked on it while Brent was gaming on the computer after Jacob was in bed. That way we could still talk to each other and each do something we each wanted to do. I completed 36 pages in about a month and finished the album the other night. I am so excited that I actually finished something! Hurray for accomplishments.
We are excited to celebrate the forth of July tomorrow with my sister and her family. We will be barbequeing and making homemade ice cream and root beer.. it doesn't get much better than that. I hope that all of you out there have a wonderful and safe weekend.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
YAY!!!!
IT WORKED! He isn't breech anymore. I don't know if it was the prayers, acupuncture, moxibustion, exercises, mopping my floors several times on my hands and knees or what.. and I don't really care but I'm am SO HAPPY it worked. 
I am so over the moon with excitement that I can hardly contain myself from bubbling over.
Many thanks to everybody that has kept us in your thoughts and prayers! Now we can enjoy a nice count down to my due date (3 weeks from today) and hope for a smooth and uncomplicated delivery.
That's all for now.. Jacob and I are off to go swimming.
I am so over the moon with excitement that I can hardly contain myself from bubbling over.Many thanks to everybody that has kept us in your thoughts and prayers! Now we can enjoy a nice count down to my due date (3 weeks from today) and hope for a smooth and uncomplicated delivery.
That's all for now.. Jacob and I are off to go swimming.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Baby update and... needles?!
I only have a few minutes, so I'll be brief. My baby is breech which means that his head is up in my rib cage and not down my pelvis like it should be. I'm 36 weeks pregnant today so I don't have a lot of time to get him to move. My midwife suggested I use moxibustion, specific exercises and acupuncture to help him turn. She also referred me to the surgeon they work with because if he doesn't turn with these other measures then I have the option of the surgeon doing and external cephalic version where she manually turns him (if tests show he is a good "candidate" for it, ie: there is enough amniotic fluid, location of the placenta, and his cord isn't wrapped around him which they will check through ultrasound). If all this fails I will most likely be schedule to deliver via c-section.
Because I really like holistic medicine, and I'm willing to try just about anything, I decided to take advantage of acupuncture to help possibly turn him. Today was my first appointment and it was... uneventful. I had in my mind this vision of candles, music, weird smells and a Chinese guy sticking needles in me. Well, it turned out it was in a regular exam room like what I'm used to and it was an American guy. He asked me why I was there and what I was hoping to achieve, I told him and he had me lay on the exam table with a foam cushion under my knees and very unceremoniously proceeded to insert 8 needles into various parts of my extremities and one in the top of my head. Then he said he was going to let me rest for 30 minutes and turned off the lights and left the room. When he came back he took out the needles, asked if I felt some active fetal movement and then said I was done and he would see me again on Thursday. That was it! It didn't hurt at all and the baby did bounce off the walls more than he usually does.. so here's hoping.
Statistically there are more breech clubfoot babies than "normal" babies, so I'm not too surprised. But still keep us in your prayers... we will have so much to do after he is born to help him out that I really don't want to have to be recovering from a c-section on top of it all. Of course in the end the health and safety of my baby is paramount, but I will do everything in my power to help him on my own and have the peace of mind knowing I did all I can do and the rest is up to God.
Because I really like holistic medicine, and I'm willing to try just about anything, I decided to take advantage of acupuncture to help possibly turn him. Today was my first appointment and it was... uneventful. I had in my mind this vision of candles, music, weird smells and a Chinese guy sticking needles in me. Well, it turned out it was in a regular exam room like what I'm used to and it was an American guy. He asked me why I was there and what I was hoping to achieve, I told him and he had me lay on the exam table with a foam cushion under my knees and very unceremoniously proceeded to insert 8 needles into various parts of my extremities and one in the top of my head. Then he said he was going to let me rest for 30 minutes and turned off the lights and left the room. When he came back he took out the needles, asked if I felt some active fetal movement and then said I was done and he would see me again on Thursday. That was it! It didn't hurt at all and the baby did bounce off the walls more than he usually does.. so here's hoping.
Statistically there are more breech clubfoot babies than "normal" babies, so I'm not too surprised. But still keep us in your prayers... we will have so much to do after he is born to help him out that I really don't want to have to be recovering from a c-section on top of it all. Of course in the end the health and safety of my baby is paramount, but I will do everything in my power to help him on my own and have the peace of mind knowing I did all I can do and the rest is up to God.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Concert Time
Last night my friend Mettina and I went to see Leann Rimes and Kenny Chesney in concert. We went to dinner beforehand and enjoyed talking and not having kids to manage. I was worried it would rain since it had been off and on all day and it did rain on the drive there but stopped just as we got to our exit and it didn't rain again the rest of the night, so luckily we didn't get soaked.
Leann Rimes was ok, her vocals were great and she played a fun set list but she didn't put on much of a show. Kenny, as always, rocked the house. This was my third time seeing him in concert and he is a lot of fun. He had been playing for an hour when he mentioned that he was just getting started, surprised to hear him say that so far into the show I checked the time and it was 10:05 pm. Since we had a 30 min. drive home and Mettina's mom who was watching her kids also had a 30 min. drive home, we decided to leave by 10:20. By the time we got to the car (it was such a long walk) it was 10:40 and we could still hear him going strong - I wonder when he eventually ended. I was so wiped out! Being 34 weeks pregnant and sitting on a lawn for that long wasn't very comfortable, but I am glad I went and thank my brother John for giving me the tickets to go. Also, thanks to Brent for taking care of Jacob so I could enjoy an evening out. This will most likely be the last concert I will be able to go to for a very long time.
Leann Rimes was ok, her vocals were great and she played a fun set list but she didn't put on much of a show. Kenny, as always, rocked the house. This was my third time seeing him in concert and he is a lot of fun. He had been playing for an hour when he mentioned that he was just getting started, surprised to hear him say that so far into the show I checked the time and it was 10:05 pm. Since we had a 30 min. drive home and Mettina's mom who was watching her kids also had a 30 min. drive home, we decided to leave by 10:20. By the time we got to the car (it was such a long walk) it was 10:40 and we could still hear him going strong - I wonder when he eventually ended. I was so wiped out! Being 34 weeks pregnant and sitting on a lawn for that long wasn't very comfortable, but I am glad I went and thank my brother John for giving me the tickets to go. Also, thanks to Brent for taking care of Jacob so I could enjoy an evening out. This will most likely be the last concert I will be able to go to for a very long time.
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