Stripped!

Well, I had my membranes stripped yesterday at my 37 week appt. A lot of people have asked me about it so I thought I would talk about my experience. The doctor uses her fingers to separate the membrane that connects the amniotic sac to the wall of the uterus. Apparently, when this happens a hormone is released that ripens your cervix and may start contractions if your body is teetering on the edge of labor. It took about 5 seconds, she did it while she was checking me. I'm at 2 1/2 cm now. Yay! It didn't hurt, it was just a lot of pressure and a little uncomfortable. Afterwards, I was pretty sore down there but it wasn't anything unbearable. I just walked a little funny. Nothing has happened so far. Last night I woke up with terrible hip pain. It went from one hip all the way around my lower back to my other hip. I'm assuming it's my bones moving around in preparation. If the procedure doesn't work then I have to wait until the 23rd...it seems so far away because I'm measuring 2 weeks further along than actually am and I am so uncomfortable. Also, waiting longer means he is getting bigger and I'm afraid if he gets much bigger I won't be able to deliver him the way I want. I barely go Finley out and she wasn't big! I felt less movement the last few days so they monitored Sam for a few minutes and said he was doing great, just running out of room I guess. I was a little disappointed that I didn't immediately go into labor (that rarely happens) but I'm still hopeful something happens today or tomorrow. Come on, buddy!!! We are so ready for you!!!

Big ole' baby

Today I went to the doctor for my regular appointment. I had an ultrasound before I saw my doctor. The ultrasound technician estimated Sam's weight to be 7 lbs. 12 oz, 98th percentile for head, shoulders, etc. So basically, he's huge and I'm not due until March 29th. Babies gain half a pound a week at this stage. Awesome. So, next Tuesday at my appointment my doctor is going to strip my membranes in hopes that I will go into labor before Sam gets any bigger. Before we knew how big he was, I was scheduled to be induced on March 23rd. Finley was 7 lbs. 4 oz and in the 50th percentile and I had trouble delivering her so I can't imagine what this one will be like. I can tell my doc wants me to ask for a c-section, but I just can't do it. Not without trying for a vaginal birth first. I'm too scared. I know there are good and bad things about both, but the fear of the unknown scares me a lot worse than what I experienced with Finley. Here's hoping my epidural works this time. Actually, I can handle the aftermath of whatever happens if only my epidural would work. Anyway, best case, I go into labor within 24 hours of the "procedure" (why do they pick names like stripping the membrane, it sounds awful) and he slides right out...somehow. I' also 1 1/2 cm dilated. I was really excited about that part. I was induced with Finley 1 day after my due date and wasn't dilated at all! All the news today really got my butt in gear. I went to Target and got everything I needed for the hospital. I got a nightgown and robe for the hospital the other day, I got Sam's coming home outfit and Finley's Big Sister shirt today right after my appointment. Hopefully, I'll get some things at my shower this weekend that I'll need. Speaking of, I hope I make it to my shower. It's in Birmingham on Saturday. Lord, please don't let me have my baby on the interstate.

For those of you who have 2 or more children, did you have that panicky feeling the second time around when you realized what you were about to go through again? I'm having a little bit of that feeling now. I'll gladly take the sleepless nights, the breastfeeding and the dumpy way my body looks after childbirth. What I'm NOT looking forward to is labor and delivery. Surely, it can't be any worse than the last time, right? Luckily, I have no choice. It has to be done :) I've also been wondering how it will be possible to love another child as much as I love Finley. I'm sure it's possible, but I can't imagine what it will be like. I guess I'll know soon enough :)

Bath Baby

Here's the backstory on this post. When Finley was about 1 1/2, she got an anal fissure. Don't know what that is? Consider yourself lucky. Anyway, the fissure is painful and it caused Finley to refuse to sit down in the bathtub. So about that time we started just running water with the drain open and letting her stand up. It wasn't a big deal except that it was nice when she would sit down and play and I could use bathtime as a time to be productive. I could sit by the tub and read or fold clothes or whatever for about 15 or 20 minutes. It was nice :) Plus, I can remember how much fun it was to play in the tub and I felt bad that Finley thought it would hurt her if she sat down to play in the water. I didn't want to scar her for life by forcing her to sit down, so we just went with it. Even though the fissure healed and it hasn't happened since, she just couldn't get past it. For Finley's birthday this past weekend, my step-mom got a Baby Alive that you put in the bathtub. Voila! Problem solved and for the first time in a year and a half, Finley is sitting in the tub again and playing. We are all very happy!

DIY Pinwheel Mobile

I really wanted a mobile over the crib in Sam's room. Of course, my first stop was Etsy. I found a mobile I loved! It was $100...seriously?? Next, I googled DIY crib mobile and I found a ton of bloggers making pinwheel mobiles so I thought I would give it a try. I'm pretty proud of the finished product. It came out better than I thought it would! It took some time, but was really easy. If I had it to do over, I would put the ribbon I glued to the outside of the hoop on the inside also and I would have alternated the pinwheels so all the stars weren't on top and all the swirly ones weren't on the bottom. I may still change it, but I've had enough DIY for today. The mobile cost less that $20 and only took a couple hours to make (with lots of breaks in between).

She's filled with the Holy Spirit!

My niece was selected to be a part of the Children's Honor Choir this year! It is a really big deal. She had to audition along with children from Baptist churches all over the state of Alabama (you can imagine how many there are)and only 150 kids were chosen. We are so proud of her! Way to go, AG!!! I was so excited to find out that they were coming to Huntsville for 3 days to do concerts at churches in the area. We went to the concert on Saturday night at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Finley had the best time! She sang and danced and clapped and really enjoyed it. At one point she got so excited we joked that she was filled with the Holy Spirit and was going to start speaking in tongues any minute. Joey's brother had the video camera so I hope he caught her little episode on camera. It was so good to see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and the kids even if it was only for an hour. We don't get to see them enough :(

Chuck e freakin' Cheese

We decided to celebrate Finley's birthday early this year just in case Sam decided to come early or late or somewhere in between. We'll do a little something on her actual birthday. If you'll remember from an earlier post, I had a really cute fancy tea party birthday all planned for Finley's 3rd birthday until she informed me she wanted an animal party at Chuck e Cheese. I felt I had no choice but to arrange a party at Chuck e Cheese instead. I got some animal invitations, an animal cake, a monkey outfit for her to wear and we headed over to Chuck e Cheese. If she could express herself that well I'm sure she would say it was the best day of her life. She had a BLAST!!! She was red-faced and exhausted when it was over. That's the sign of a great party right? I was really impressed with the staff at Chuck e Cheese. The one in Huntsville was recently renovated so it was really nice and clean. She has been obsessing over her party ever since. The Chuck e Cheese balloon is buckled into my backseat. She wears her birthday medal everywhere we go and instead of singing the "Gummy Bear" song, she now sings Chuck e Cheese to the gummy bear tune. It was a great day!

Time's a wastin'

Well, since I'm due in 3 weeks (eek!) I figured I better get started on some of the projects I planned to do for Sam's room. This chicken wire frame was something I saw on a blog and luckily the blogger had a tutorial. I will use it to hang pictures, cards, his birth announcement etc. I really like the way it turned out.



The glider we had in Finley's room is being picked up to be re-covered later this week and my changing table is on its way.

It's funny how different things are this time around. Here is a picture I took of Finley's nursery on December 31, 2008 (she was due April 2, 2009)



Clothes, blankets, towels, bibs, burp cloths were all washed in Dreft and put up, pack and play was set up in our room complete with diaper changing station. We were ready!

Here is a picture of Sam's nursery taken on February 10, 2012 (I'm due on March 23, 2012).



Oh well, we'll get it done :)