We brought Audrey home Tuesday night. It was not the coming home that you plan. We had wanted the girls to be with us and drive home as a family, but they said we could go after 24 hours and that ended up being about 8:45pm. Ethan and I both dislike the comforts of the hospital and with so much help waiting for us at home, we decided to just go. Big sisters were in bed when we got there, no one else got to see her cute outfit and since it was dark and cold, we didn’t even get pictures. Oh…poor 3rd child.

She did very good last night sleeping 4 hours at a time and was able to wake up to eating breakfast with Alyssa. Alyssa was so excited to see her this morning.

After Alyssa was on the bus, Megan came down the stairs and was so excited to see me waiting for her. She also got to eat breakfast with her baby sister.

And lastly, those who know us well, know that our children do not have hair. Well, Audrey wanted to make a statement as the third girl. Here is a pict of her hair and her neck roll 🙂 I hope it doesn’t all fall out!

More in the Photos

Ethan and I just enjoyed our last meal for awhile.. well, mine anyway. As I recall, he doesn’t have a problem eating while I am in labor. Our nurse tonight has been great. She has a daughter a few days older than Megan and is due with her second daughter next week. She has been taking good care of us including bringing us cheeseburgers, fries and coke. Hey, when it is your last meal, you can have whatever you want!

As of 11 pm, I am having a few contractions. The plan is to do cervadil tonight and then start pitocin at 7 am. Maybe we will get a decent night sleep and then meet Audrey tomorrow. She has been very active and the nurse says she looks great!  Ethan can post an update tomorrow.

I am there. I am at that breaking point where everything is getting to me. Is it the hormones, the timing, the anxiety? I think I was there for about 2 weeks waiting on Alyssa and with Megan we induced so early, I missed it. But here I am: excited, worried, anxious, hopeful, doubtful, joyful and scared. How can you have all of that at once? I had my last appointment today and I am scheduled to check in the hospital Sunday evening and they will begin the induction Monday morning. And trying to convey my fears and what will make me feel better to 5 different doctors has been annoying and frustrating. I have been on rotation at the doctor’s office since week 20 and I felt I had to re-tell my story each time. After some serious convincing, I got my “original” doctor to agree to the induction even though there are no real signs of labor in my future. I thought we were on the same page all along and her comments on not wanting to induce if I am not “ready” were enough to send me over the edge today. As I said, she gave in, but made it clear that I was accepting the risk of c-section if the pitocin didn’t work. I guess she doesn’t understand that a healthy baby via c-section is a big step up from no baby at all.

So we are 4 days and 4 nights away from Audrey (as Alyssa puts it). I have everything in the house ready and while that feels great and makes me smile just to walk past her little bed imagining her there, it also brings out emotions that apparently I have been pushing down. The more joy I try to let myself feel, the more pain I feel. The more “what ifs” creep in. Should I just put this all in God’s hands? Or can I make one more ultrasound and just check on her again? Whatever is done or will be done, is done, so what role can I play in this? I guess with Megan’s pregnancy I was so well cared for, that I believed without a doubt that she was perfect, she was healthy. This time, I feel I have gotten the shaft a bit from all these doctors that don’t really understand. I guess I felt you all deserved one more heart-felt post from me. One more spill your guts to all interested parties post. So there it is. I am hopeful for the beautiful baby that I dream of, but am truly scared of the reality that this world can hand down.

We will post news and/or photos as soon as we can. See you again on the other side.

Look at that adorable little girl, she has got her thumb almost in her mouth. It is the cutest thing I have seen. Of course, I will break her of the habit if she still thinks she wants to suck on it when she is born. Nobody needs another 5 year old sucking on extremities. (Note: Alyssa did finally stop sucking her fingers at night right before her 5th birthday.) I went back today for an ultrasound to measure the growth of baby sister. Everything is still looking good and healthy. She was so active that the tech was having a hard time. Which made me feel good, because I have felt her very little in the last few weeks. It seemed with the others, I felt movement sooner. But the tech told me the placenta is near the top and is acting as a cushion between me and her right now. As she gets bigger, she will probably drive me crazy with all that movement.

So according to the last ultrasound, she has grown just fine. But measured against the due date, she is 1-2 weeks behind in size. My doc changed the due date early on from 11-19 to 11-14, but we probably should have stuck with the first which was given from 2 early measurements. Either way, she is fine, but it complicates things when you try to induce at 39 weeks. We can worry about that later. For now our baby sister is healthy and kickin’.

Here is the post you have all been waiting for. You are saying to yourself, “What’s the deal? She tells us she is pregnant and we don’t hear a word about this new baby.” Without further ado, meet Jojo. (I decided we needed to give the baby a name, and Alyssa picked it out)

8 weeks

11 weeks

Okay, so I have done this four times now, but I was truly amazed at how much the baby grew in three weeks. At 11 weeks, we are still only talking about 1.5″ long, but the picture seemed to show a true jump in size. I just don’t think you ever get comfortable with the idea of pregnancy. The whole miracle of it all. I am still amazed when I see that form on the screen.

I visited with my doctor last fall. I scheduled a consultation with her and we just talked about Noah and what I may want out of another pregnancy. I really liked her from the first visit. She had the right balance of compassion, professionalism and knowledge. I am able to treat this pregnancy however I want, really. I am not considered hi-risk, I wasn’t with Megan either. But I told her that I may need the extra monitoring toward the end for my peace of mind…then again I may not. Either way, so far I am very satisfied with my care and the office.

As of today, I am 14 weeks along. If I stop to think about it, I guess I have felt better in the last 2 weeks. For the last 10 or so, I have felt worse than with any of the others. Which doesn’t say a lot, because I was not a bit nauseated with the others. This one hit me different though… manageable, just annoying really.

Alyssa is calling the baby a boy and is really wanting a brother “on Earth”. We have had the conversation that God may decide we need another girl, but we can drive that home if we find out it is a girl. Until then, I may just let her hope it is a boy — her and her Papa. So for now, everything is good on the baby front. I will continue with the 4 week checkups and will keep you all posted.