Yay!

I saved the title for the birth, Dana. =)

This morning I got the gel at 5:30. I just let Harp and the kids sleep. On my way home at 6:30, I started having contractions. At 9, I called Harp and told him they were good ones and we might want to think about getting ready to go. He was at work and I figured by the time he came home and we dropped the girls off somewhere and then got to the Birth Inn, it would be pretty serious. We didn't want him to leave work again for nothing, so I timed the contractions for a while. Not super-regular still but I thought they were getting harder, so I called Brenda and told her what was going on. I called Harp back at 9:20, he came home, we got the kids to the Wisners'. Contractions in the car were not fun. It wasn't comfortable accelerating. Anyway once we got there they weren't too bad. We got there at 10:15. I don't remember what time Kathy got there because Brenda didn't call her to come until we were there, but I was at 7-8 cm when she got there and 9 during a contraction. My cervix was still far back, so she held it forward so I would progress faster. Broke my water not too long after that... And baby came at 12:12. Whew! It was a great birth and I am so happy to have my baby!!

btw... =P It's a girl. =) Rebekah Jane. She was 9 pounds and she did look late by about a week or a week and a half. 20.5" long. Harp went out and grabbed us some Mexican food and we ate and then we left the Birth Inn at 4. It is so awesome to get to go home the same day!! Yay! The Wisners are bringing the girls over here right now. We decided to just go home because I'd rather just hang out in one spot. =P I feel great, but I'm walking all hunched over, lol. So I'm just not walking. =) Bekah is doing great. She is so fat that she has a roll on her nose. =P And her pudgy cheeks are the most kissable things ever! She is a squish ball. I love it!

No, Never...

Tonight we were putting the girls to bed and I said "Well, Emmy, the baby didn't come out tonight! Maybe it will come out tomorrow." She said "No, never!" lol

Nothing

History didn't repeat itself. =P I may have had a couple of contractions, but I only felt them with my hands. I did end up taking a nap today and it turned out to be a pretty long one. So I'm going to have to stay up a little while tonight so I actually sleep...

Harper feels pukey. =( Em and I are still good. Gonna watch the end of Daddy-O's Car Movie (Cars). Later!

Hello...

So I took Em to Sunday School this morning and she asked if I wanted to stay in her class with her. I never have and since I've missed my last two Sunday School classes anyway, I said sure. =P I've always wondered what it was like. =) It was just Em and Hannah today (which is usual) and they had a good time learning about Nehemiah and doing a craft. They will be learning about Nehemiah for 4 weeks.

So many comments at church... And someone telling me they went 21 days late. Why? I don't know why someone would even say that! That would be discouraging, except that I know Kathy wouldn't let the baby go longer than 2 weeks late, so I'm not worried about it. I'm glad I wasn't there to see everybody this morning and get more comments. Anyway...

Lainey and Daddy played with cars and Legos. =) They made a garage and a cool top (which Lainey played with for half an hour).

I am sleepy. I was awake sometime before 2:40 until sometime after 3:40 and I woke up before 6, too. I haven't started having contractions yet so I don't know if I should sleep, expecting them, or if I should stay awake so I get a good night's sleep tonight before we try the gel tomorrow. I kind of want to get out of the house and do something...

Someday Soon I'll Have A Baby =)

I went to see Kathy this morning. First she wanted to listen to the baby. There were 3 good long accelerations in less than three minutes, which she said is a really good thing. My cervix is still far back and it was not fun having her try to get to it. But as soon as I said "well, we have three more days, right?" she got it. Ahh. It wasn't bad actually having my membranes stripped, just getting there was quite uncool. She said I'm at almost 4cm now, I have a bulging bag of waters, and everything looks good. If I don't have a baby today I'll meet Brenda at the Birth Inn at 5:30am and we'll do the gel again. But she really stripped my membranes, so if history repeats itself, I'm having a baby today. Laine was born 8 hours after she stripped my membranes. It would be cool if that happened again because it wouldn't be late at night. =P

I'm thinking about taking Em to Sunday School in a little bit. She has missed it for two weeks in a row now and she is always brokenhearted to miss it. Two weeks ago, Harp just didn't feel good and the kids had been wiggly and noisy in church, so we didn't stick around (it's after the message for us). And last week my parents were here so we didn't stay. I think she will be excited to go. I'm sure I'll get comments, but whatever. Now I don't feel like I'm waiting because I'm pretty sure it will be today or tomorrow. =P (Watch it be Wednesday!)

I better figure something out for lunch and dinner. Later!

Puking and Having Babies

Well, Lainey Joy woke up feeling just fine this morning! She slept all night - no more puking... And so far the rest of us feel good. I talked to Kathy last night and we decided as long as I feel good this morning, we're going to go for it. Since it will take a little while for things to get started, I'm just going to go in myself this morning so Harp can stay here with the kids. Nellie or Nancy was going to come over to watch them, but I realized in the middle of the night that that would be silly. They'd have to miss some of church and we would just be coming home anyway. They'll watch the kids when it's the real deal. =P I told Em this morning that I think our baby may actually come out tonight. lol She doesn't have her hopes up, either. =P

Last night, we finally decided on names. I think. =P Of course, there's always the possibility that the baby comes out and we decide that name doesn't fit... =P But maybe it was just waiting for a name. ;)

I turned TobyMac on this morning and Lainey asked what it was. I told her TobyMac and she started laughing and said "TobyMac cheese!!!" Silly girl.

When my kids carry a bundled up diaper to the trash, they hold it by the thin part that goes around the top of the legs. We call it gripping it by the husk. Harp said the guys at work were talking about African swallows the other day (the scene in Monty Python) and he told them about how the kids grip it by the husk. =P

Yesterday I was thinking about the birth announcements and I was like wait, why haven't I done any of this? I have all the stuff except for the picture. Then I remembered I don't know if it's a boy or a girl. LOL!

Regular Old Day

Hey! So I haven't really been having contractions today. I have had a few that I noticed only when I touched my belly. So maybe I've had more that I haven't noticed (it's not like I'm sitting around feeling my belly). =P

We had Scott and Alyssa over for lunch and some Carcassonne. Em and Lainey and Hannah played well together upstairs while we played the game. It was fun! The girls were very happy to see Hannah again. They haven't played since Alyssa's family got here before Joshua was born and that was 3 weeks ago! I can't believe he'll be 3 weeks old tomorrow. It's too funny that Alyssa was worried I'd have the baby before she did. =P

I keep forgetting to blog Lainey's concern for Lucy, our tarantula. Since we cleaned her cage, she's spent most of her time clinging to the wall. Lainey goes in and looks and her and yells (like the spider is deaf) "Yucy!!! Dat's dangerous! Dat's dangerous, Yucy!!" lol I think it's hilarious. =P

Well I was just going to poke around for some ideas for birth annoucements and I think I'm already done. Cindy Vernon had a link on her blog to this stamping company (something about sweetness because they have a bunch of cupcake stamps) and there was a cute sketch on there that I might use. It's square, though. I like it and I have a ton of 5x5 envelopes. They cost an extra 20 cents to mail, though, so I haven't decided if I'm doing it or not. I don't think it will add up to all that much extra. And the sketch is really cute...

Not Going In =)

lol, So I called her and we decided to just wait until tomorrow. She said she would do it today if I wanted or we could just see what today is like and probably get a little farther on my own. She said she would definitely strip my membranes tomorrow morning (of course, that's assuming she can reach). That sounds good to me. Especially because if my cervix is still far back, it would not be fun. Maybe it will come forward more today.

Going In

Well last night I called Kathy just to let her know I'd actually been having good contractions all day and I lost my plug. So she said if I didn't have the baby in the night, to give her a call this morning and we'll see if we can do something now... I'm supposed to call her now but I'm figuring I'll be out the door pretty much as soon as I do and I'm not quite ready. Anyway, that's all. I'll blog if I don't go.

Still No Kiddo

Just in case you're wondering...

I didn't even have them check me tonight. I just went to the Birth Inn and got the game I left there and the rest of my stuff. I don't think I'll be back there for a while. Today was a lot like yesterday - irregular contractions. There is no point in trying the gel tomorrow or even the next day I don't think. I'm still having contractions, but I'm not timing them. I guess there would be a chance I could have a baby in the middle of the night or something but I'm thinking that's unlikely. My parents are heading home in the morning and since baby hasn't arrived yet, Harp's parents are going to wait to come.

I'm still comfortable and happy so whenever it happens is fine. =P There's not really any hurry now 'cause nobody will be here anyway. We'll try again at the beginning of next week if nothing happens over the weekend. Later!

Explaining...

In case the last post didn't make much sense... We spent the night at the Birth Inn last night. They said it was up to us if we stayed or went home, but that it could still happen in the middle of the night and it would be easier to just be there. So we stayed.

Now I'm at home after being gooped again and I'm having some contractions, but I'm going to go walk around to get them started. I'm supposed to walk to make them come, but get on my side to make them effective. Fun, huh? lol =) It's raining, so I think I'll head to Walmart or Target. Walmart is closer but Target is new and that just makes it more fun, lol. =P And it has a Starbucks. Maybe I'll order a cream-based mocha frapucchino with a double shot of decaf espresso for my own amusement. lol It's brand new, so they have no idea what they are doing yet. It took us about 10 minutes of answering her questions and explaining to her what that meant to get it in my hand the other day... =P (btw, It's really good and they don't make decaf fraps anymore, so that's how you have to order it if you want it decaf.)

Your 1-week Old

I got one of those babycenter emails today for my 1-week-old. Haha! Funny joke. =P

Anyway yesterday morning we did the gel... Played games and went to Hog Wild... Then my mom and I went to Kohl's and around 4:30 I dropped her off at home and went to the Birth Inn to be checked... Couldn't reach. Brenda wanted me to stay close, remembering what the woman the day before did - pretty much exactly what I did only then her water broke and she called an hour later for them to come back. And I was still having contractions, even though they weren't regular (2.5-5.5 min apart). So Harp and I went to Sakura for dinner. My parents were going to take the kids to dinner but they wanted to go to Caleb and Eden's so they dropped them off there and went to this yummy place at the mall. Then my parents met us at the Birth Inn and we played Carcasonne. Then Kathy and Brenda talked on the phone and Kathy said to spend an hour on my side because with my cervix how it is, my contractions weren't very effective standing or sitting. Did that. They kept coming, but I could sleep through them so they thought I should just get some sleep (it was 9 at that point). So I went to bed around 9:30.

Between 3 and 4, someone else came in labor, but she ended up going home after an hour. lol It's a crazy week!

This morning, Kathy came and checked me and could hardly reach. She had to moosh my belly all around. It was not comfortable... She said I'm at 2 cm (she had said 3 the other day, but when you can't reach very well...) and it's still thick. She said she didn't think I was ready. We talked about doing the gel again Sunday. She didn't think I'd be up for it today because she thought I'd be tired from yesterday, but really the contractions don't bother me (not like they aren't intense, but I don't mind them) and I said well what if I have the gel and I just spend the whole day on my side? Because yesterday I wasn't doing that... She said if I wanted to try that, we could. It wouldn't hurt.

But we also talked about my due date and why I had said the 15th. So now she is going with the 15th too. She said the baby is doing great and we don't really have any reason to put me through anything I don't want to do right now. But I don't mind the contractions from the gel, so we went for it. So I'm waiting for it to kick in a little more before I go assume my position for the rest of the day... =P I'm not expecting it to work. But since I don't really mind it, I figured it's worth a try because my parents leave in the morning.

I think if it doesn't work today, being on my side all day, there's not a whole lot of point in trying tomorrow. So maybe Saturday or Sunday we'd try again.

Last night, the girls spent the night at Emily's house. Emily left my Emily in panties for the night because she didn't have a big enough diaper and she didn't pee!!! She has never had a dry night! She asked me a little while ago if she could sleep in panties and I said no because she hadn't had a dry night in a diaper. Maybe she just pees the diaper because it's there!! I think I'll put her in panties tonight too. She has broken out again from the diapers and has red spots on her bottom.

Lainey wants me to play doctor with her so I'm gonna go. I've missed my girlies!

Hey

So I went and got the gel at 9:30. Harp met me there and while I had to be in bed (for an hour), we played an awesome game of chess on his cell phone. lol It was awesome because I took all of his pieces except a few pawns and a knight. Hehe! I needed that. He beat me the last three games and I probably wouldn't have had much fun the next time if he stomped me again.

By the end of that, it was time for me to get up, so we played a game of Carcassonne. I beat him again, lol. =P Then we went to Hog Wild (BBQ) for lunch. He headed back to work after that and I came home. I'm having some contractions but they aren't regular yet. They are good ones, though. =)

This morning when I left, Emily told me "Be real brave, Momma!" =) She is such a sweetie.

Lainey likes to come up and move my belly around with her hand and say "baby's movin'!" =P Too cute.

Yesterday, I scrapbooked one page and my mom did a few pages for my mini album of Lainey's birth. I've had the stuff for over a year but just haven't gotten around to doing it. Filling in the gap in my big album was sort of a priority over that. Right now though I don't care about the gap because it's not getting done before this baby comes anyway. =P I am still making progress on it, though, and keeping up with current stuff pretty well. So eventually it will get filled in.

Okay I guess that's all for now...

Yay, Yay, Yay!

9:30 tomorrow morning I'm heading to the Birth Inn. =)

That woman had her baby in NO time once her water broke. Whoa! =P

Dad Pics From Park & Baby Info...

Hey! So pics are taking a while to upload, so I'll just blog something unrelated here. =)

Kathy just called and the woman who was trying to have a baby today just isn't having a baby today... They are putting her to bed for the night and trying in the morning. She is at 4cm and she lives way far away (and it's her 8th) so Kathy is afraid she'll have the baby on the road if she sends her home. So... That means that unless I happen to go into labor (so far, not happening) or the other person happens to have a baby during the night (sounds unlikely), I'm not going in until Thursday morning. My parents are going to leave Friday morning. =( At least they will be here for the birth. If it happens Thursday. =P

Woo hoo! Okay I ditched this post because the pics were taking long and Harp wanted help with dinner (yay for husbands that cook - I love you, Harp!). Just now, the phone rang and I was giddy when I saw the number on caller ID. Kathy called to say the woman's water broke and she's having good contractions. Yay! So Brenda is going to call me in the morning and tell me when I can go in. It won't be early this time - maybe like 9 or 10 she said. But yay!

Harp and I went to the hobby store today after our lunch date because we had some extra time and we got this game that was a German game of the year and he's heard it's really good. It begins with a C - can't think of the name of it now. Hmm I could Google it... Carcassonne. Gonna play it tonight. =) We almost got Stratego, but decided to ebay it instead. We want wood pieces and they only sell it with plastic pieces. He found wood ones online. Anyway... Gonna go help him clean up dinner and put some kids to bed and play some Carcassonne. Later!

Baby

Still no baby. I saw Kathy this morning and she stripped my membranes. There is someone at the Birth Inn today so if I end up going in, we'll be having babies together. =P She has 8 kids so I don't think she'll mind. She's gotta be used to not being alone. =) I'm supposed to call at 9 tonight and find out if she has had her baby and plan a time to go for prostaglandin gel tomorrow morning. So yeah that's all the news.

Went to lunch with Harp, got the kids some flip flops at Old Navy for next summer and some clearance jeans for Laina... Gonna scrapbook with my mom. Later!

Oh, this morning I tried to get Laine to take a nap with me because she was tired. She started whispering random things again (like "taco tico, guys!") and then started touching this mole I have on my face. She whispered "you have a boobie on your cheek, Mom!" LOL

Still No Baby

So I talked to Kathy. Apparently someone else is having a baby tomorrow (maybe the person that was going to go in today?) and she's not going to do the gel tomorrow. She said to call tomorrow night and find out if the baby's been delivered. If so, then I'll go Wed morning. If not, it will be Thursday. Which is the day my parents were leaving. =\ I guess in the future, we should just assume that my babies will come over a week late!

I still had contractions today, but not a whole lot. I can tell that they are harder even though I still don't notice them that much. If I do go into labor on my own (haha) then Deidre will be my backup midwife. I like her. We took our birth class from her last time.

Anyway... Maybe someday I will have a baby, lol. =)

No Baby

Hey. So I can now say that I highly doubt this baby will share Grandpa's birthday. Not much going on and it's 3:00 already. I haven't talked to Kathy, but Brenda told me last week we'd probably try the prostaglandin gel at the beginning of this week - probably Tuesday because there was another girl that would be getting it Monday if she hadn't had her baby yet. So I guess maybe I should call Kathy. I wouldn't be in a hurry to have this baby now, except that my parents were planning on leaving Thursday and can only stay one extra day because they have things going on in Colorado on Saturday and Sunday. I'm thinkin' it would be nice to have a baby tomorrow. Well, I guess I'm going to go call Kathy... Later!

Funny Kids

Hehe! Yesterday, my mom was wearing a black and white striped shirt. Lainey was sitting next to her on the couch and turned to her and said "Zebra!" LOL

Lainey always says "I need you, Mommy" or "I need you so much, Mommy." Now that Grandma is here, she's saying a lot of "I need you, Grandma" and "I need you so much, Grandma."

Emmy still randomly says "I love you so much, Mommy!" and Lainey did it the other night! =)

My mom was reading Em a book the other day and Emily interrupted her with "HEY!! I heard an adverb!" My mom said "What is it?" And Em said "happily!!" =P How cute is that? She likes to find adverbs, especially in Pooh stories (they are full of them). This one was in Amelia Bedelia. =P Harper thought it was funny because he had forgotten what an adverb was. =D

Well, I'm having more contractions this morning. And harder ones. I haven't told anyone here yet because I don't want to get everyone's hopes up (especially Harper's) and then still not have a baby. But I'm going to do some WiiFit step aerobics and see if it does anything to me. =P

Happy Birthday, Grandpa A! Maybe you will get a grandbaby for your birthday. =)

Well, Well, Well...

Hey! So, no baby yet. And nobody is blogging and I am trying to kill time, here! Life felt pretty normal until yesterday. We didn't do much yesterday. Or today, really. And after all the comments at church ("I didn't expect you to be here," "you're still pregnant?," "you need to get that baby out!") by well-meaning people... I just kinda feel like I'm doing nothing but waiting for the baby. This was kinda depressing for like the first half an hour after church. I got over it, but I still kinda feel like all I'm doing is waiting. Just not as bummed about it. I just want life to be normal. I did clean up the house a bunch and it made it feel more normal. I don't know what to do tonight...

My kids are sick. Em's been coughing a bunch and sniffly. Lainey's sniffly. Em said her ears hurt and Harp drugged her up so I don't really know how bad it is. It was right when she woke up from her nap that they hurt.

Anyway. We skipped out on Sunday School today because we didn't want our kids getting anyone sick (they just sit with us during church and we sat in the very back so I didn't worry about it) and then we skipped out on going to Katen's birthday party. It wasn't really going to be a party, but it still would have been nice for her to get to play with some friends on her birthday. =\ But I gave her presents to her grandma (who goes to our church) this morning and she took them to her. She is excited to have her own apron & hat & oven mitt that coordinate with Kenna's. =) Tatum said she wore them while she opened other presents. =P Emily wrote "happy birthday" in Katen's card. I love that she wants to write cards to people.

Well. Gonna find something to do.