38.5 weeks

So i had my 38 week checkup this afternoon. i've spent all week doing all the stuff they say to do to go into labor, and i kept not going into labor. i was really afraid i'd go in and my dr. would say "You're 1 1/2 cm dilated, 50% effaced" like he had the last three weeks.

i'm 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced! Isn't that exciting? So i guess, even though i didn't go into labor, all the methods i was using were at least doing something. And i was thinking about it: sometimes it takes hours of hard labor to get to 3 cm, and i got there without feeling it really at all!

So anyway, i don't want to get my hopes up too high, but it's looking good for my going into labor, and soon. Cross your fingers!

Here's a picture of me taken last week. Have a great night everyone!

A New Hope

This post is written with an extreme amount of careful excitement.
i have been having a lot of contractions lately. Yesterday, they were regular and painful. They went away after i laid down for a bit, but they must have been doing something, because at my 35 1/2 week checkup today, i was 1 1/2 cm. dilated and 50% effaced! Little Miss' head is down, and her bottom is up, exactly where it should be. i am in good shape. The Dr. likes how my pelvic bones are widening out. This means two very good things:

1. There is a good chance i will actually go into labor this time, and not have to get induced at 41 weeks.
2. There is a good chance i will go into labor soon, and most likely we both will be fine. 

***************The squeamish should not read the following sentence*************************
i also lost my mucus plug the other day.
***************Resume reading, you squeamish ones*************************************

The Dr. wants Kris and i to refrain from marital activities for a while. He wants the baby to stay in at least another week.

In other good news, Dr. said that i should take Zantac for my heartburn, God bless him. i have been having it really badly lately. He said i should take one at 8 AM and another at 8 PM and my heartburn will get 100% better. So that's yay, because my trusty Tums hadn't been working that well lately. In fact, i drank a glass of water last night and got heartburn. So hopefully this will help, and i'll be able to resume normal activities.

Want to know some irony, though? Kris and i had been abstaining from marital activities, because my heartburn always flared up at opportune moments. Now the heartburn is gone, and we're not supposed to celebrate:) i'm ok with it though. Really. i feel bad for Kris, but i'm doing alright.

You know, my mom reads this blog. Sorry, mom. i should have made a separate "Mom don't read this" paragraph for the previous information.

i've got Cadence's little tiny clothes in the dryer right now. i wasn't going to pack anything for another couple weeks, because once i pack, then it seems like forever. But i realized that she really could come at any time now. And now this is becoming like a normal pregnancy, with actual contractions and everything! In fact, i'm having one right now. Honestly, it just feels so good to know that they're doing something that i don't mind them one bit! (Yet.)  i will pack a suitcase tomorrow for me, and one for David, for wherever he stays while i'm in the hospital and the few days after the birth.

i'm really excited. i'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. i know there is a chance she won't come at all, and i'll have to be induced in 5 1/2 long weeks. But i think since i'm so much more active this pregnancy, and with having contractions and everything, i think i won't have to worry about that 41st week.

Have a wonderful night, everyone. i am so glad to know you and that i'm able to share my life with people who care. i really appreciate you all, and i pray for you all.

Pregnancy update

i felt like i should tell you all something, so you'll be prepared when the time comes.

i am gestating an octopus. When i had my 20 week ultrasound, she looked like just a normal baby, but it is becoming increasingly clear that she is morphing into an octopus, as i am feeling jabs from at least 6 different directions simultaneously.

How will i prepare for this? Well, i'm considering donating her to the zoo, to get free memberships for life. Or otherwise i will have a lot of altering to do on her clothes. Still trying to figure out how to fit 8 limbs in the car seat.

5 1/2 weeks left, folks. And i'm becoming less and less confident, but more and more impatient to become a mom of two.

My bones are very stiff and sore from sleeping in one position all night. i have also started to take Tums at 10 PM, and that seems to ward off the heartburn i normally get at about 10:30. i've been waking up with headaches, which doesn't make much sense as i'm extremely well hydrated, but it's nothing too bad.

My new OB is pretty cool. He can hear me, and cares about how things are going. He even read my chart before he came in and seemed to retain the information as long as the visit lasted,which is already better than my last two OBs. My only beef with him is that he doesn't think having a giant baby is a big enough deal to induce early. i talked to him about how long it took to heal, and how things still aren't completely right from having a baby with a 15" head the last time, and he just said "We'll see where you're at at about 39 weeks with an ultrasound, and we'll do some 'vigourous' exams to try to bring on labor. When you're at 40 weeks, we'll weigh your options." So it sounds like i'll be going to at least 41 weeks this time. Oh well. It happens. Maybe he'll stitch me up better than my last doctor. Or maybe my body will be used to having watermelon babies.

i'm just really certain that i won't go into labor. i just don't go into labor. My body evidently is quite good enough for babies to hang out in for....ever.

However, i'd like to extend a hearty cheer for Baby Caylee, my pal Jes' daughter. She came at a very healthy 37 weeks. Yay!!

i will be 35 weeks on Sunday. i'm hoping Cadence will take her lead from Caylee and actually want to come out. i mean, how great would it be to go into labor? i'd save money on pitocin and other labor-inducing costs, and i could turn to Kris (as per my dreams) and say something like "Kris, it's time." And he'd get up (because we would be in bed in the middle of the night) and fumble around and forget to put on pants and would put his wallet in the cupboard and a granola bar in his pocket. Can you tell i watch too much tv?

It's time to go take a nap. i'll start adding more sleeves to the baby girl outfits later this afternoon.

Makin' the Switch

Hey! My pal Jes asked for the story of a facebook status i had a week or so ago, mentioning i'm switching OB/GYNs. i completely forgot to blog about it!

So remember how my doctor is really old? Man, he's old. And he can't always hear me, i think, because sometimes he doesn't respond when i say things to him. This is also the doctor who, when i was having bleeding during the 7th week of pregnancy, said something like "Next week, if the baby is still alive, we'll give you an ultrasound." He hasn't improved much since then. He tends to forget when i'm due, and asks me the same questions every visit.

i'm no dummy. i know for me, being a low-risk pregnancy, the nurses are quite a bit more important that the doctor. But my last doctor was not super great, either. Remember, the one who said "If I'd known your baby was going to be 9 lbs. 9 oz., I'd have given you a C-Section?" (Incidentally, that doctor has been on a rather suspicious "medical leave" since right after David was born. He's not coming back to the clinic anytime soon.)

i just decided a couple weeks ago that i wanted a really good doctor, that i liked a lot. One who would remember stuff about me, like that i already have one kid, and one who is friendly and would really talk to me about how i want a late ultrasound so i don't have a huge baby, and would discuss the pros and cons of episiotomies, etc., instead of saying something like "We'll talk about it when it gets to be time."

So i talked to my nurse at my last appointment, and she said she totally understands my wanting to switch, and she said this one guy, Dr. Noonan, was a great doctor, and she'd recommend him to her daughter if she were pregnant. That's very promising.

Plus, Dr. Noonan is there on Thursdays, and i go to Bloomington on Thursdays anyway. It will be much better than making the 20 minute trip more often than necessary, especially with every trip in the van becoming more and more of an event with both David and i getting bigger. :) Also, his nurse is my nurse from my David pregnancy, and i LOVE her.

So, i'm switching. i've got my first appt. with this fellow on Thursday afternoon. i can't wait!

Wow!!!

Call me hormonal, but i'm all of a sudden having this burst of can't-wait-holy-crap-i'm-excited-wow-yay for having a baby soon! i will get no sleep and will soon be remembering all those things you forget about how much childbirth sucks, but in around 11 weeks, i'll be holding my sweet little angel girl in my arms.

This outburst could be due to my pal Rachel having her little girl Madeleine last week, (Congrats mama!) or the 3 other friends i have who gave birth last week, but i'm reallyreallyreallyreally glad that soon i will have a teeny baby again. i've been having serious baby jealousy at church lately. Lots of new babies. i whisper to Kris: "i want that little baby girl!" and he goes "You have one!" and i go "But i want one that i can hold!"

Pretty soon, i won't have to be asking to hold other babies: i'll have my own sweet teeny-tiny.

OK. Resume normal activity. i just needed to get it off my chest!

It's a....

GIRL!!!!

Cadence Rae Gensmer should be here on or around October 12.

She is a stubborn girl, who had us prodding at her for 10 minutes or so until she'd finally show us her lady parts: now that i think about it, i'm glad for that!

i couldn't believe it when my ultrasound tech told us it was a girl. By the time i was in the ultrasound chair, it seemed like an inevitability that it was a boy. i had lost all hope of a girl, and was actually getting kind of grim. Seems silly now, but i just kept losing hope while Tanya (who it turns out isn't even due for 7 weeks yet, so she's definitely not on maternity leave) was measuring heart beats, head size, arm sizes, and other assorted sizes. And then we almost had to give up trying to find out what kind of baby it was because someone from urgent care needed an ultrasound, but then Cadence shifted ever so slightly, and we got our answer.

A girl. Happy sigh. She is healthy, measures out to about the right timing according to due date, and is very active already. And now i get to dress someone in pink!!!!

i will scan in her U/S pictures tomorrow. i just wanted to let you all know. Have a wonderful night! i know i will!

Big day tomorrow!!!!

Tomorrow is The Ultrasound. i'm crazy excited!

Because i'm a planner, and also very impatient, we will be finding out the sex of our child. And yes, i will be announcing it ASAP on here.

Hopefully my beautiful ultrasound technician, Tanya, will be back from maternity leave so she can do ours. We've loved her since David's first ultrasound, and she did the two i had back in February. She's very sweet and i love her.

No matter what gender child it is, i love him/her already. But i have hopes, like most mommas secretly do. Let's just really hope that it is not shy. At all.

i keep having nightmares that the baby is shy and doesn't flip over, and i a. either end up having a girl and have to buy all her clothes retail because i will have skipped garage saling or b. have a boy and have bought all girl stuff. i also have the dream where the U/S is wrong, and it ends up being a boy, after months of expecting a girl. This actually happens in real life. It will not happen to me. If i say it enough, maybe i'll believe it.

i do plan on asking for a late ultrasound, like 36 weeks, so they can see how big the baby is. David ended up being way bigger than even the Dr. expected and that was a very slow healing process. So if i get a later ultrasound, the gender will be even more unmistakable.

Update on yesterday: David is fine. He's just cranky. Maybe he's in a growth spurt, even though he hasn't been very hungry. Apparently in the warmer weather, appetite drops off some. i'm glad he doesn't have an ear infection, but it was frustrating going to the Dr. and hearing "Not sure why he's changed so much-let us know if he has any other symptoms." Whatev.

Also, thank you all SO much for being so encouraging in my depressing post yesterday! It was really great hearing from all of you. It gave me some wonderful ideas, one of which i've already instated: i bought a dry-erase calendar, and Kris wrote down as much schedule as he's got available. i've already consulted the calendar 4 times since yesterday, so it's definitely very useful. Anyway, it's great knowing all of you and knowing you all care enough to help me out. It means a LOT to me.

It's crazy to think i'm halfway through this pregnancy. It seemed really slow until about 7 weeks, and then WHOA it got faster and faster. i think i'm not quite as focused on the pregnancy this time around and have a lot more going on, so it's going faster. We'll see how i feel in 16 weeks, though, right?

Have a happy night!

Announcement

It's official: i can confirm tiny, fluttery, yet constant kicks going on. Thank you, Jesus.