Something Extra for my Easter Basket

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."

Psalm 116:7

I think mostly I have girl blog readers, but just in case you're a guy and you don't want to hear a labor and delivery story-stop reading. Although, my most graphic word in here is contraction, but still...

My family and friends were all quite busy this time last week sending up prayers that I would go into labor before my scheduled induction on Monday. My husband and I agreed that it would be really special if our baby girl happened to come on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, and that's how we prayed.

On Saturday, we were on our way to celebrate Easter with Bradley's family. I noticed some contractions, but tried not to get my hopes up. As we were sitting around the table, we decided to just keep an eye on the clock. These contractions were consistent, but having taken the trip once before to the hospital only to be sent home, I was going to be DARN sure it was time before I got too excited. We went for a walk, and I had to stop a few times during contractions, so things were looking promising.

We decided to take the girls to my parents house, and I stayed there while Brad ran up to the house to get our hospital bag. Now, that bag had been in my trunk for three weeks, but since I felt like I was going in on a schedule I pulled the bag back in to recheck, rethink and repack accordingly earlier that day. Of course, why hadn't I thought of that before? When you're good and unprepared, of course that's when I'd go into labor!

While I was waiting, I walked the entire time with my Dad, trying to move progress along. I was down to four minutes apart when we finally left their house at 10 something. By the time we got to the hospital, we were taking bets on what time we'd be holding our baby, because things seemed to be moving right along. I'd been having these progressively closer contractions over the last five hours, so we had no reason to doubt.

I went in to the hospital confidently prepared to hear that I was at least half way along. Oh, but no! I about screamed when the nurse said, "yeah, you're still at two." WHAT!?! I almost cried!

I stayed hooked up to monitors for an hour, and no change. They had me walk for an hour and nothing. I felt so defeated!

My doctor wasn't on call, and it was about 2 a.m. at this point. It was becoming clear that I wasn't moving along quickly enough to get admitted. Brad asked the head charge nurse if there was any way that the doctor on call would just let us stay since we were getting induced in less than 24 hours. "No, you're not his patient, so he won't," she said.

"Well, I'm going to ask our nurse to ask the doctor anyway," he whispered to me. Our nurse agreed, that he'd likely say no, but she promised to ask. Brad was praying, and falling asleep, I was praying, and inwardly hating my lazy uterus. The nurse came back in after about 10 minutes and said, "ok, let's go get you a room."

"WHAT? REALLY?" I went from being so defeated, to feeling like we just conquered the world. Thank you! Thank you!

Of course, the condition to staying was getting the dreaded pit-drip. The funny thing was that at this point my contractions had started coming farther and farther apart. I was so used to the strong, hard contractions I'd been having, that by the time I was actually getting pitocin, those contractions were like nothing. I slept through several hours of them!

At 12:52, on a beautiful, sunny, warm Easter Sunday, D'arcy was here. She won't always have an Easter birthday, but she will never have a Friday the 13th birthday either. On the one day we all ponder the miracle of Jesus rising from the tomb, we had the privilege of considering how God brought this seemingly perfect little baby from ME, and my oh so sluggish womb!

Good News, Bad News

The full moon was last night. Ah, that was the ticket... or so we thought. No baby here, though. So the good news is that we can relax. Our baby won't be a werewolf. What a relief that is! I'd hate for her to suffer Jacob's fate (I'm only part way through Eclipse, so no spoilers!).

So, it's Good Friday. There's a lot of pressure to make it a really good Good Friday from my family. I'm drinking pineapple juice for Aunt Ruth. I've been eating crazy spicy foods for my hubby, and I'm going to go clean some more for my sanity and baby's good health. I'll go for a walk this afternoon for my mom. That's what got stubborn me to come. OH, NO! I just had a thought... What if this baby's unwillingness to cooperate is a sign that she'll be as stubborn as me?!

The more I've been thinking about it, the less I want to go in at 1:15 A.M. on Monday for an induction. I'd hate for her to have a 13th birthday. I'm not really superstitious, but you know... it's just one of those things. She'll have Friday the 13th b-days every so often and that's just not desirable. Of course there's the entire idea about induction and what that means for my body, level of pain, etc... and it's supposed to be an ugly day on Monday. See, this is what happens when you know what's coming. I think I'd rather go back to the wondering how long I have...

I guess any day she comes, will be a happy day. 13th, rain, whatever.

Happy Easter

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain: It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet,
though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

-Horatio Spafford

Good job, Horatio. Sweet comfort in truth.

HE IS RISEN! He sits on his throne. He is in control.

This is the Day... but is it?

This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. My question is this: is it THE day. I'm so funny right now. I'm one of those people that can see a sign in anything. Signs only relating to labor, I mean. "Oh, I felt a twinge. Could that MEAN something?!"

The ironic part is that I know how ridiculous this all is, but I can't stop! I'm like one of my girls waiting for Christmas, a birthday, or the end of a long car ride. Is it here yet? Is it time? Are we there yet? And I always say, trust me you'll know! But I can't say it to myself and believe it.

So, today IS the day that I get to go to the doctor. Yea! Not that I just love all that going to the doctor entails right now, but I'm having an ultra sound done to measure exactly how big this big baby has gotten. That means I get to at least see her. It's so encouraging to see what all this waiting is for. I'm not normally one of those visualize and it will actualize hocum-smokem (yeah, I just made up a word) people, but it's a pretty certain thing that I'm getting this baby I see!

And further... oh wait, I felt a pain. It may mean something, so I better go!

I think I can, I think I can

As I approach my time to deliver, I have started to see some of the signs that baby's arrival is emanate. For one, I was a cleaning fiend this weekend. I mean, seven loads of laundry, ironing, vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing. folding, mopping, digging in the flower bed, and all the other stuff I couldn't seem to do for the last few months. If I hadn't hurt my back doing all this, I'm sure I would have done more. I was ready to hang from the rafters to dust ceiling fans, and crawl on the floor to hunt dust bunnies. I think I saw a wabbit... a waskawy wabbit.

I accomplished all this with one serious distraction. My face is so swollen I can see my own lips. It's so annoying; I have no idea how Angelina Jolie functions! I mean maybe that's something you get used to, but I'm sure since she's been pregnant for the last three years straight, it only gets worse for her... poor thing.

And then there is the sleep issue. As I woke up at 7:30 yesterday and did all that big ol' bunch of stuff, you'd think I would be ready to pass out. Oh, but no. Finally at 3:45, I gave in and took a Tylenol PM. (Thanks sis, for also being awake to tell me to give up the ghost and just take it already). The heating pad, the stack of pillows to prop me up so I can breathe, the blankets that I can tear off... how does it feel to just go to sleep like a normal person? I forget.

Any who... as I'm annoyed by all these things, I think about Angie who lost her baby girl a year ago today, and I can do this. I think about how significant it will be to have a strong, healthy, fully "cooked" baby and how many mommies would just love to be able to carry a baby to term, and I can do this. I think about baby Stellan, and his mom who just wants fix his broken heart, and I can do this. I have NOTHING to complain about, God knows the little annoyances, like going to work on less than three hours sleep, and He can help me do this. I did the months and months of IV fluids as a substitue for food; I can do this. At least I can eat now. I carried that medicine pump everywhere I went, I can carry this baby a few more weeks if that's what she needs. I can do this.

Baby Names

My husband has complained that I'm propagating the association of our sweet baby and the name Sasquatch. But every time I tell someone that my doctor called our baby a Sasquatch they have their own funny name story to tell.

My aunt told of a lady who named her baby girl what was thought to be LEAH, but she spelled it Le-a. When someone complimented her on her choice of Leah, she explained, "Oh no, honey, that dash ain't silent. Her name's Ledasha.

A friend at work told me about a student he had that was named Absadee (this is how I would spell it). Her mother was a little more creative. She spelled Absadee- Abcde. This made me wonder about her middle name. How many letters of the alphabet for that one? I guess FGHI isn't as cute...

Have any good name stories? We're still not set in stone for her middle name. You never know, we may take your funny name!

Sasquatch

Officially I'm 38 weeks today. I feel like baby was due last week! I guess my trip Friday to the hospital with false labor only reinforced the feeling that the time is near.

My best friend from high school and I have both been pregnant with our third child. Both of us with our third girl. We go to the same doctor, we both had an appointment on Monday. She and I commiserated that induction may be in our future. She for being over due, me for carrying, as my doctor put it, a Sasquatch. We both had made relatively no progress, but what do you know, she had her baby in the middle of the night.

Not me, still growing the Sasquatch. Ah, yes, a big baby. How in this world is she so big? I lived on I.V. fluids for months. I have not really felt the need to eat. I have to remind myself to do so sometimes.

The bright side of having a big baby, the rest of me looks really small. My youngest asked today, "How does a belly get so big? The bigger your belly the skinnier your back gets, Mommy." Well, thanks, I'll take it. If any part of me looks small, right now is a good time to hear it!

So, the hope is that baby beautiful and healthy and not too big to budge!