Smiling Through the Rain

Well, Graham Thomas decided to cause enough stir today to send me into labor! So I delivered a healthy 8 pound, 12 ounce baby boy by caesarean at 5:06 pm. It was a much easier delivery and we're both doing well!!!

I cannot believe we'll be meeting our baby tomorrow!!! I actually would have bet money that it would have already happened considering the contractions I've been having for about 3 days! But apparently they are just for fun. I keep trying to tell my body that we don't need practice contractions since it isn't going down like that... Today I see my OB for a last check up and then go to the hospital for bloodwork and to pre- admit!!! Crazy to think that in a little over 24 hours, we'll have a newborn and Paisley will be a big sister!!!!!

As the day has drawn nearer to my c-section and the birth of my 2nd child, I've started to  worry panic a bit.   I'm not so much worried about my surgery.  I've assisted on plenty of caesareans and honestly, I'm kinda eager to experience a delivery in which I don't have to labor or push.  That episiotomy was nasty business to heal from and working my tail-end off for 9 hours (I know it could have been a lot longer) to deliver something big out of your hoo-ha is just not all that enjoyable to me. But I am seriously panicked about having 2 kids.  I feel like life is finally manageable with Paisley.  She's in mother's day out now which gives me some free time.  She plays on her own some.  We all sleep through the night every single night.  This girl of mine is super funny and awesome to be around. Yet I'm about to re-enter the "all-I-do-is-breastfeed-and-listen-to-a-baby-cry" phase of my life.  And I didn't exactly love it the 1st...

Since my caesarean has been scheduled for August 1st, somehow I've made up my mind that it will for sure, 100%, definitely be that day that our baby is born.  No chance in this world that I can go into labor early or need to be taken in before that date.  Like our doctor has notified God, nature, my cervix and this baby who is no doubt as stubborn as his/her big sister that nothing shall happen until our scheduled date. And maybe part of it is that I made it to 39.5 weeks with Paisley, so I assume that the same would happen again.  Part may be that, mentally, I really need to know that I have 9 more days with just Paisley.  Yep, seems short but it's still 9 days.  And each and every day lately has been super precious to me. We've been going to the Science Museum, play gym, the park, story time, movies, swimming, etc pretty much every day.  And I've LOVED every second of it.  I just want to soak up the time with us before this new o...

We've made it to the biggest goal of pregnancy.  Full term today.  Even if the baby has been measuring full-term for about 3 weeks now... :) I still feel really good.  Only been sleeping about 7 hours at night with 1-2 bathroom breaks, but feeling rested and ready to play with Paisley.  I haven't even been getting any naps in!   Weight gain is at 29 pounds and I'm feeling pretty proud of it since this baby is bigger and my goal was to limit it to 30 pounds total.  With baby coming in no more than 2 weeks, it looks like it may happen! My mom and I took Paisley to a public pool to swim this week and I was surprised about how much children are fascinated by a big pregnant belly.  Within minutes of arriving, I was surrounded by a group of young kids asking questions.  We started with normal ones like "Can I touch it?"  My answer is always yes.  I've never been one to mind being fondled by strangers while pregnant.  I love my pr...

When I first found out that I was infertile, it seemed to open the door for unwanted comments.   How everyone felt morally about different fertility treatments, what I needed to do to get pregnant (relax, adopt, etc) and meaningless reassurance that this would all work out.  When I finally found out that we were having a baby, a new set of discussions began.  How large or small everyone thought I was, what books I should read, how important breastfeeding is, very honest opinions of the names I had chosen, which gender I was having (since both have been surprises).   And then when I first became a mother, it seemed to only worsen further.  Now I get tips on eating, sleeping, potty-training, discipline, education, etc.  And yeah, sometimes this is super helpful when it is solicited.  It is NEVER good to get hints from a stranger, and yet they most like to give their input. But the hottest topic of them all has got to be childbirth.  ...

I had my 36 week growth scan yesterday along with a visit to my OB who promptly decided that a c-section would be the safest mode of entry into this world for our large baby.  The ultrasound was difficult to say the least due to the size of our fetus.  Our tech actually can't remember ever having such a tough time finding a femur to measure, but our little person had both legs tucked up under the bootie.  The other measurements all came out to 39.5 weeks and the femur was 38 but he knew that was inaccurate.  It's always measured consistent with the others.  Even with the one short measurement, baby's weight was estimated at 8 pounds, 3 ounces.  And I know- I've been reminded a hundred times that ultrasound measurements can be off.  Here's the deal:  since 22 weeks, my baby has measured 2-3 weeks ahead on ultrasound.  And at that point- it's easy to get good measurements.  Plus, my belly is measuring 3 weeks ahead on fundal ...

My blog countdown officially freaked me out today.  How in the world can it say 35 days?!?  I mean, I get it.  I'm 35 weeks pregnant.  But how can I have SOOO few days left?  5 weeks seems a lot longer than 35 days.  And truth be told, this baby isn't going to get to cook until my due date.  My doc will decide next week after my next growth ultrasound if we need to just go ahead and schedule a c-section. Which means I could only have 4 weeks at most.  And that equals 28 short days!!!!  You might be wondering how we'll decide on the c-section vs. yucky, traumatic vaginal delivery.  Well, if the baby is over 8 pounds on this ultrasound, he thinks a scheduled c-section would be much less risky.  And I'm pretty sure we're going to meet that goal without a problem since he/she was already 6 pounds at 32 weeks.  This also means that this baby is probably Paisley's birth weight now.  If you want my opinion, this baby is b...