Our Thanksgiving Blessing!!

Clara Elizabeth was born on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. She weighed 5 lbs, 8 oz and measured 17 1/2 inches long.

We all came home Friday and are doing great. Clara is a very cuddly child and loves to be near her family. She is eating about every 3 hours and sleeps pretty good in between. Each day she is awake a little more.

Here are some pictures just minutes after her birth. She was very alert because we had an nonmedicated birth. The difference is amazing.

Hailey loves her little sister. She likes to give her kisses and hold her hand. We are having a few little issues with adjusting but that is normal and to be expected with new siblings.

All in all we are very happy and very blessed.

Christmas with a Capital C

Finally, someone makes sense!

One Way Or The Other the End is in Sight

The baby did well on the NST once she woke up. I've lost another lb. LOL! Blood pressure was 138/71.. not bad at this point. Fundal height shows the baby dropped some more in the last week. It was 33cm today and was 35 cm last week. They sSkipped the fluid check so I didn't find out her weight either but the Dr is guessing 6 and 1/2 lbs!!

She checked my cervix and said it is "very close to favorable and should definitely be favorable by next week." Encouraged me to keep walking, etc. Then we scheduled my induction.

So, I have until next Tuesday to go into labor on my own or they will start induction Wednesday November 21st (day before Thanksgiving.) Please pray that this happens on it's own. I know if it comes down to it a healthy baby is what matters most but with back labor and an induction I am almost guaranteed another epidural and frankly I am scared crapless about it because of my previous experience and the 2 inches of dead nerves in my back. Thanks!

The Last Few Days

I started having contractions at 2am Tuesday. They were about 6-8 minutes apart, not very strong but pretty regular. By 4am they were about 4-5 minutes apart and stil not very strong. But I put a call into my Dr at 5:30 am and woke hubby up anyway. She said to stay at home and just do whatever until I had to stop and breathe through the contractions and they were 3 minutes apart. They never got this close together or that strong.

So we went about our day most of Tuesday but I was still contracting at 4:30 and they were 2-3 minutes apart so I called the office just to make sure I was doing everything right. She said that I sounded way too calm for my contractions to be that close and that I should continue at home.

They were 2-3 minutes apart most of last night. Some did get stronger but still not enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. I didn't get hardly any sleep. So this morning I woke up and still was contracting. We went to get a bite to eat and I called the office to see what to do.

I talked to the same nurse this morning that I spoke to yesterday afternoon. She says it sounds like I'm having "programmable labor" and that it can go on until my due date with no or little progress. She also said that I may have irritable cervix but we just didn't know it because of all the bedrest. She wants me to call back at 1:30 and see if I can get in to see a midwife just for a cervix check. They won't do anything at this point to help me along so ba just wish ically I'm resigned to being miserable for the next two to three weeks.

To make matters worse Evan was a total butthole this morning and after we talked othe nurse (Julie) because he says I'm just too emotional over all this. I wish for one day he could walk this journey I'm walking and then maybe he wouldn't be so callous over all of it.

Sorry, I'm crying like a baby... so spent. So tired. So frustrated. Someone please give me hope that I don't have to do this for 2-3 more weeks!

37 Weeks!

Baby Clara looks BEAUTIFUL. Good heartrate, great accelerations and decelerations. We're a happy group today.

No word on the GBS test results. They will call when they get them. 24 hour urine came back just fine!

I'm having contractions.. you know.. the real kind. Started this morning. The NST picked up 3-4 of them in 30 minutes, but I counted six in that time (some were in my back and not picked up by the machine.)

The Dr checked me and I have made some more progress since Thursday. But my cervix is still long so we are calling this "possibly early labor."

I got the GREEN LIGHT today. Meaning I am officially off bedrest and can go walking and cleaning to my hearts content.

I have another appointment scheduled next Tuesday but the Dr said she hopes that she gets a call saying I had my baby by then!! Wooo!!

So... what do I do first? LOL! Send me some labor and cervix shortening vibes please! All tips for helping these contractions pick up are very welcome. I'm going to go walking soon. Hehe!