October 8??

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday where we learned that my body is still working on getting into the ripe labor shape it needs to be in. With this, my doctor looked at us and suggested we set an induction date just in case. She's a very sweet doctor, very kind, doesn't seem to think of you as just another patient, but a human being and recognizes that having a baby is a life changing event. And, she always gets two thumbs up from both Kevin and I when she acknowledges Brooklyn the first thing she comes in the room. It makes us feel good that she is including our little girl in the process. Normally you have to wait a week before they schedule your induction date, meaning that October 10 would be mine since I am due on October 3. She said she'd cheat a little and would try for Monday, October 6. That day was full and she doesn't work on Tuesdays, and she wanted to set it up with her and not another doctor, so she scheduled me on October 8. So, if I don't go into labor on my own, October 8 is the day. I would, of course, love to go into labor on my own. I've been having some pretty painful contractions, but they don't stick around long enough to constitute actual labor. I'm uncomfortable, sore and tired, all the normal end of pregnancy symptoms.

While I'm very anxious to meet my new baby girl, I am soaking in all the time I have left just Brooklyn and I, because our world is about to change very soon and there's no going back. Getting this close to our baby girl's birth just makes Kevin and I reminisce about the time right before Brooklyn was born. We couldn't imagine how much our lives would change and how rich they could truly become. It's amazing how much a baby changes your life. It's something I wouldn't change for the world though. I absolutely love being a mom, nothing in life is more satisfying and rewarding. Just gazing at Brooklyn from across the room, watching her deep in play and realizing that she's all mine and something that Kevin and I created is just the most incredible feeling. Before I got pregnant this time and even for the first few months, I wondered how I could possibly love this new life inside me the same way I love my first born, but I really believe that your heart grows bigger with each child and I am already head-over-heels in love with my baby girl. I just am extremely eager to meet her, to hold her in my arms, to see what her precious face looks like, to kiss and cuddle her, to look into her eyes, to comfort her, to protect her and to introduce her to the world.

So, October 8 may be the day. The Lord only knows the answer to that question. But, I'd like to throw a question out there to all the moms that are reading this. What did you do to induce labor? I've heard lots of suggestions from eat lots of baked beans to run up and down your stairs in your house 10 times take a break and then repeat for seven times. What worked for you? I'm ready to give a few things a try to see if my baby girl will decide to arrive on her own without an induction.

Maybe, Sometime...

Maybe, sometime soon I'll have this baby. For a person who was not gifted with an incredible amount of patience, the wait is killing me. I know I have a week and two days left until my due date, but I am so ready to go into labor at any moment. My body is telling me something could potentially be happening, but that doesn't mean it will happen right away. I remember being like two centimeters dilated with Brooklyn for a long time and she wasn't born until after her due date. This time around, I have gotten myself so ready that I am already acting like I am passed my actual due date. I am just that ready to welcome my new bundle of girlie joy into my world. Will she come tomorrow? Saturday? Or two weeks from now? I have no clue. It will all be according to God's plan and while that should keep my mind and heart at peace, it's not. I'm trying to be patient, but it's not working so well. I just really want to hold my little baby girl and introduce her to her big sister and begin the next stage of my life as a mommy of two precious little girls. I'm just so ready...please, oh, please, let labor begin soon!

If I only had a brain...

Pregnancy brain has recently hit HARD!!

I can't seem to complete simple tasks like coming up with a list of things for the junior youth kids to draw for a pictionary-like game. This morning I thought I lost my keys so I took a back-up one and within five minutes of being gone from home, discovered the key IN my purse. It was there the whole time. Imagine that! I can't count how many times I walk to the front of my office with an intent to do something, and by the time I have walked the 50 yards, I can't remember what I was going to do. My boss has given me some awkward looks and questions like "are you coming to see me?" I say no and head back to my desk. And, the list goes on.

So, let's bring on my 37th week... where will my brain be this time next week?

The Waiting Game

We've officially entered the stage of pregnancy that I call "The Waiting Game." This is the period when my baby could be born, and she would be okay healthwise, but at the same time, I want her to stay put until she's just a bit more baked. (I know, the comparing the womb to an oven seems odd at times, but I guess it makes sense.) So, we wait. We don't know when she'll decide it's time to join our family. It could be tomorrow, it could be on my actual due date, or it could be after it. I was two days late with Brooklyn and I remember those last four weeks just droning on forever and ever. I never thought that the days would pass, let alone weeks. But, they finally did and what did we have to show for all our waiting? Our precious Brooklyn.

To be honest, I am not the most patient person in the world. It's something that definitely doesn't come naturally to me, but it's something I work on every day. Having patience as a mother is pretty important especially when you're trying to set a good example for your kids and help them gain this trait. I will admit that I am not always perfect in this department, actually often times I fail. So, when it comes to having to be patient for the arrival of my baby girl, it's a definite struggle, especially when I keep having contractions on and off all day long and some of them are way more painful than others.

We have her room complete. The walls are painted. The new bumper pads and curtains that my mom made are in their places. The new carpet is installed. All of the baby clothes size newborn to three months are washed, and put in their spot either in the closet or in the dresser. The carseat, swing and bouncer cover are washed and all items are ready to be used. The letters are strung across her wall, announcing that yes, it is her own room. (We're not releasing her name until her birth). Our family room has been rearranged to make room for baby items, such as a baby swing, a Graco bed, etc. The outfit Brooklyn purchased for her is washed and tucked neatly away in our new diaper bag. The only major thing left to do is moving Brooklyn's car seat over and installing the car seat base in the back of the Mommy-Mobile. That and packing hospital bags, but really I don't like to do that too soon because I'm afraid I will have to wait even longer. We even have solid arrangements made for where Brooklyn will go when Mommy and Daddy are at the hospital having her sister. We have preregistered at the hospital and have taken a hospital tour to know what to expect on the big day. And, my weekly doctor's visits begin next week.

But, there's still one thing that is missing from all this baby preparedness and that's our baby. Brooklyn asks me from time to time when her baby sister is coming. I tell her I don't know. One time she responded to her my not knowing with "maybe November." Hmm, baby girl, I don't think so. That would drive this pregnant mama a little insane, and besides my doctor wouldn't let me be that overdue. But, when she said it, it did bring a smile to my face.

We cannot wait to meet our little girl. The one that we found out in January we were going to have. The one that we struggled (I mean really struggled) to come up with a name for. The one who will reside in the purple room in the southwest corner of our home. The one who will make our first-born princess a big sister. The one who will depend on us for everything that she needs. The one that will grow our hearts even more. The one that will change the dynamic of our family. I am reminded of the saying that the best things come to those that wait? So, I guess, let the waiting game begin...

Our Surprise

We had a bit of a surprise on Thursday morning when after a second elective ultrasound to learn that we are in fact having a GIRL!

At our first ultrasound, the technician guessed that it was a boy because he didn't see any girl parts and thought he saw some boy parts. So, we began preparing for what a baby boy would be like in our family. We had a name already picked out and we began designing (in our minds) what the nursery would look like. My mom made Brooklyn's bedding and curtains and has offered to do the same for this baby. So, this past week, we made a trip to look at fabric swatches and found a pattern that we just loved and thought would fit the room just perfectly. We took along our camera and shot a few photos of each of the fabrics. We then designed a theme and idea for painting the room. We, of course (and thank goodness) didn't make any purchases.

So, there we were getting ready to walk into the ultrasound office to get a chance to see our little man again. Brooklyn had been talking about how excited she was to see her brother again. As the ultrasound began, the technician told us he would try and determine the sex of the baby for us first, or just confirm that we were having a boy. After watching our baby's bum for about five minutes, I asked the technician if he knew yet. He responded with, yes, he knew right away but was trying to get a clearer image for us to be able to see. After moving around a bit more, he focused on these three little lines between the baby's legs, indicating that this baby was actually a girl NOT a boy. In fact, the technician didn't know how anyone could have thought this was a boy, but said he has seen this type of thing happen a lot. I looked over at Kevin and he looked at me. We were both in shock and truly surprised. The technician carried on with the ultrasound showing us the baby's face, hands, feets, back (a very straight spine), rib cage, etc. He went back a few times to the baby's bum and each time we saw those three lines confirming a girl would join our family around the beginning of October.

Now, we are back at square one for names and room decor. But, that's really okay. It will be fun coming up with both. As we told our families and friends about our new realization, some asked if Kevin was okay with the news. He, in fact, is very thrilled and excited to be having another little girl. He absolutely adores Brooklyn, and even though she's a girl, she loves to pick up a hammer or screwdriver and help him fix things around the house. And, she is fascinated when he is shaving his face in the morning to the extent of pretending to shave her face too. She is very sweet and affectionate sometimes too, and he just eats that up.

Who knows what our new little girl will like and be into, but we are very excited to meet her and welcome her into our family, and we know that the relationship between Brooklyn and her will be something worth watching! And, yeah, I'm excited about having another little girl in the family...girls are so precious!

Pregnancy Brain

There's very little hope for me.

Pregnancy Brain has struck me, and struck me bad. After Brooklyn was born, I gained what I like to call Mommy Brain. With Mommy Brain you forget where your car keys are, if you unplugged your hair straightener, if you turned the coffee machine off, etc. It's basically a malfunction in your brain that leaves you from fully functioning in daily life when it comes to remembering the simplest of details. Pregnancy Brain is much like this, only for me, it appears to be so much worse.

I'll the start the story here.

I was in line at a local drive-thru today waiting to get a drink I had ordered. I grabbed for my wallet, and reached for my debit card. No where to be found. In its place was my Sears MasterCard. Hmm.. My first thought, who moved my Sears card up a spot to where my debit card usually is? I didn't. I called Kevin right away thinking my cards had fallen out last night and he put them back and maybe my debit card was still left out, or maybe my purse tipped over spilling things out and he put them back. I had to leave a message. My second thought, or actually, my real first thought but something I pushed out of my mind was who in my office took my debit card. I know, I know, I can't assume that someone took my card. After frantically looking through my wallet over and over and over again, I called Sam's Club where I had been right before going through the drive-thru to see if perhaps my debit card had fallen out at the cashier's station when I pulled out my wallet to write a check. Nope. I started retracing my steps, looking in my car, dumping my purse and wallet over and over and over again. I checked my online banking to see if there was any suspicious activity. Nope. I called the bank to double check. Nothing. I tried to relax and get on with my work. That wasn't working. I called home and asked my grandma to look around in the bedroom near the dresser to see if my card was laying there. Nope. Nothing.

I got a nice distraction when I had a couple of incoming work calls to deal with. Then, Kevin called me back. He didn't touch my wallet or purse last night or this morning. His first thought was let's cancel our debit cards. I said I really didn't want to and that I was watching our account for any fraudulent activity. If we would cancel our cards, we wouldn't get one for another week or even longer, and we're gone all next weekend, so it would be more of an inconvenience than anything. I started trying to track down where I used the card last. I had used it yesterday at 7-11, so I called that store. Nope. Nothing. Not there.

I kept checking my online banking over and over and over again. Still nothing new. Okay, that's good news. But, then I noticed that a few purchases I made on Tuesday and then yesterday that were not appearing and that seemed odd to me. So, I called those places checking to see if perhaps I had left my card there. Nope. I went back into my wallet and grabbed my Sears card because I wondered if there were any weird charges on it. After a quick phone call to Sears customer service, I realized that oops, I had been using my Sears card as my debit card. Oops! I then tracked back to the last time I used my card (Saturday) and called those places, but they don't have my card either. I called home once again to have my grandma look in the backpack we used on Saturday and in a pair of pants. Nothing.

So, this leaves me to search my house up and down when I get home in search of my debit card. But, it leaves me to ponder why haven't I noticed my missing card until now. And, why in the world would it not have registered to me that I was using my Sears card until today? I don't know. I am blaming it on my Pregnancy Brain. But, hey, I really hope I find my card tonight when I go home. Good luck to me!

Update: I got home last night and looked under our bed on my side, and there lay my debit card. Hooray! Now I am getting teased endlessly by Kevin about him using the Sears card or our Pet Perks card to make purchases. Ha.