Last Ditch Effort

We left Katya with her grandparents and came home a night early from the weekend with them, to try one last time to induce labor ourselves.

We were staying with my vacationing in-laws about 2500 feet above where we live. Coming down from that elevation is rumored to induce labor. It’s been 12 hours since we descended. So far – nothing.

Jason and I had chinese food for dinner (Thanks for the Christmas cash, Nannie!).  No effect.

We spent a wonderful evening together just relaxing, reflecting and enjoying each other’s company. It was so needed as we expect our lives to change a lot very soon. If being stressed out was a barrier to labor onset, it was removed too.

We really have tried almost everything recommended to us. I am not sad that we had an excuse to try so many fun things! It was a grand adventure.

We have an appointment with the midwife at 2:30pm today.

-Merrielle

Uneventful Weekend

We had a lovely and relaxing weekend with no major events.

My in-laws are visiting. They are staying in a beautiful home in a very scenic town about an hour from here. We ate, opened gifts, played games and went sledding with them. It was so relaxing!

Saturday night Jason and I thought for sure we would be making the drive back home. I had a ton a contractions, some very strong ones at times. But the intensity never built long enough for us to head home.

I’m so thankful for another restful weekend, although I am so excited to meet our cute little guy

-Merrielle

Midwife Appointment

I checked in with Sheila at the midwife clinic today. A non-stress-test was performed. It is where they stick 2 sensors on the outside of my (very large) belly. One to track the baby’s heart beat and the other to measure contractions.

Everything went really well. I had several contractions while being monitored. I couldn’t feel them though. The midwife said they were a very good sign.

My next appointment is Monday (12/29). If he hasn’t come by then we will get to explore labor induction.

Please pray that he is born this weekend. We’d really love to meet him!

-Merrielle

Stressful Afternoon

I had an ultrasound at noon today. The purpose of the test was to make sure the baby was moving around fine and that my body was still providing him with the oxygen, nutrition, etc that he needs to be healthy.  All of these little factors are added together to make up a 10-point scale. 10 = healthiest in the world, 1 = big trouble going on in there.

During the ultrasound we couldn’t get our little guy to move at all. Not unusual because babies have a mind of their own, but still, he just wouldn’t wiggle for the technician. I wasn’t worried, and the technician didn’t let us know this, but she got really worried. She gave our little guy a score of 2 – and next thing we know Jason & I were told to RUSH to the hospital.

Needless to say, we were a little bit confused about what was happening – and a little worried. Were we  going to have the baby right then!?  Should we get our hospital bag?! Should we call our families?! What in the world was going on?

We got to the hospital and they were waiting for us. They showed us to a birthing room and gave me a sexy gown to put on. They strapped on a bunch of testing machines and there we sat – being monitored by several things.  No one who interacted with us seemed to be able to give us the complete picture of what was going on and why we were there.

Finally, Sheila, our midwife showed up. I can’t tell you how relieving it was to see her familiar face. She told us what was going on.

• Our little guy appeared to not be moving and they needed to look into that
• An OB from the hospital was coming to do another ultrasound and really check in on the health of the baby
• After the ultrasound we could go over a list of options about what to do

The OB did another ultrasound and our little guy got a 10! He showed all the signs of a healthy baby. She determined that he was pretty squished in there, but not so squished that he needed to come out.

I have another non-stress-test scheduled for Friday (12/26). The non-stress-test is basically where they listen to the baby’s heart beat for about 1/2 hour with a monitor.  It’s a pretty comfortable chair so I don’t mind getting them done at all.

Right now I am pretty flustered. It was a little scary being rushed off to the hospital like that. It was hard not knowing what was going on for so long. It was traumatic to not know whether we were at an imminent delivery stage or whether we were just visiting and would soon head home.

I am so glad to be home! Please pray that our little guy continues to be healthy and that he will be born soon.

-Merrielle

Just noticing….

Just for the record….

• Liz was due 11/28 and had her baby that day.
• Brenna was due 12/6 and had her baby 12/4.
• Amanda was due 12/20 and had her baby 12/24.
• Heather was due 12/25 and had her baby 12/18.
• Evangeline was due 12/25 and had her baby 12/20.
• Jessica was due 1/11 and had her baby 12/11.
• I don’t know when Elizabeth was due – but her baby came on 12/17.

I was due 12/14 and….well, our little guy is still tucked in there safe and sound.

I thought it would be sorta funny to look back on when he is older. It’s just the tiniest bit discouraging now. But,  I AM sure that he will come at just the right time and I AM glad that he is safe and well taken care of in there.

-Merrielle

40.5

I visited with Pat at the midwife clinic today.
Here’s the scoop:

My Health

• I am healthy!
• Blood pressure is normal.
• I am doing just fine for this late (late) stage of pregnancy.
• There is a big snowstorm coming (again) this weekend. The midwife is hopeful (again) that this will encourage our little guy to be born.

Baby’s Health

• He has been growing for over 40 weeks
• They made sure he wasn’t under undue stress today – and he did great!
• He is in a great position for his journey down the birth canal. Everything is lined up!

Now…if we could just get that birth part started…

• I am scheduled for an ultrasound on Monday (12/22) where they will make sure our little guy is getting plenty of nutrients and really does have enough room in there.
• At that point we’ll look at some options inducing labor.
• If you are into prayer – can you please pray that he comes on his own? We would rather not use synthetic induction methods.

-Merrielle

Raspberry Leaf Tea

Well, I started drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea yesterday. I’m brewing my second cup in the kitchen right now.
It’s pretty tasty stuff. I mix it with 1 teaspoon of honey. I hope it’s doing its work

I’m really not impatient at this point…just excited to meet the new member of our family.

-Merrielle

Due Date

Well, today is the due date. It is the day that was projected to be about 40 weeks since the conception of our little guy.

We took some pictures to document exactly how things appear on this highly-anticipated day. Despite a snowstorm, bitterly cold weather, a full moon and several labor inducing techniques, it wasn’t the right time for him to come.

It’s hard to wait for him at this point, but we are really thankful that he is safe and warm and healthy.

-Merrielle

Midwife Appointment

I visited with Pat at the midwife clinic today. Tracie is out sick until January so a new midwife, Pat, is taking her place.

Here’s the scoop:

My Health

• I am healthy!
• Blood pressure is normal.
• I only gained 4/10th of a pound since last week, which considering what I ate just today – is totally shocking to me.
• There is a big snowstorm coming this weekend as well as a full moon. The midwife is hopeful that those will encourage our little guy to be born.

Baby’s Health

• He has been growing for almost 40 weeks
• The ‘normal’ heart rate for our little guy is 120 – 150. His was 128 beats per minute today.
• He weighs around 7.5 pounds and the midwife does not think he will go over 8 pounds before he is born.
• He has turned a little bit and is on course to be born crooked (with head a shoulder out instead of just his head), but the midwife is hopeful that some strong contractions will straighten him out again.

-Merrielle

Baby Room

My mother-in-law, Pat, who lives on the other side of the country from us was curious about what our little guy’s room would look like.

Here it is!

-Merrielle