Oh, brother... A False Alarm!

Here I am in the hospital, Sunday night and early morning Monday, with what we thought was REAL labor. Things started out well, contractions were happening, I was progressing...Then...things started to slow down. The contractions were coming farther apart and were not painful at all. Really kinda cheesy I'd say. Then everything just stopped. No more contractions, no more progress. So, at 3'ish am, they sent us home.

Oh, boy...talk about disappointment! We were fully prepared for the baby to "come out". Padraic was sent to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, and he knew that when he saw Mommy next, we would have a new baby. I felt bad for the little guy. Grandma brought him home in the morning and he took one look at me and started to tug me into either bedroom. He was in search of the baby in either the crib or the playpen. So I had to explain that the baby was not ready to come out and the nurses sent us home. "See my tummy," I said to him, "the baby is still in there." We still have to wait. Padraic took it well, really. Better than Terry and I, of course. It was such a let down for us. If I was the type, I'd would have screamed and pulled out my hair in frustration. As it was, I just grumbled about it and vowed to talk it all over with my doctor on Wednesday at my next appointment, since it was a different doctor on-call that night at the hospital.

Now, I had that appointment today. The first thing my doctor said to me was "We should talk about how you feel about labor induction." Just what I wanted to hear, let me tell you. If she had not brought it up, I certainly would have. I do NOT wish to wait until a week, or two, after my due date for this little guy/gal to decide to come out! I am all for laboring naturally, as I did last time, but when it comes to labor that takes forever to actually start, well that's a whole different story where I am concerned. I am full term, baby is healthy, so I have no wish to wait around.

Here's my current theory about this: This baby just wants everyone, especially me, know that he/she is MY child. If you know me at all, you should know how willful and, yes, stubborn I am. I have been known to dictate to the weather and have it obey my will. Don't believe me, just ask my dad--he'll tell you. It's one of his favorite stories about me! Well, this child is already trying to enforce his own will on me, and I've about had it. Listen up, little one... I am MOM! You WILL come out, and it better be soon, OR ELSE! Haha! Anyone think this baby will listen?! I guess we'll see.

8 months

Are we not just too cute!?



Yep, you read that right. I am 8 months along now. And, of course, I still get all those comments about not looking it. Mostly, I just reply with, "Yes, I know... I am lucky that way." But inside I am really thinking this: "Will you just stop commenting about the size of my belly already?" I mean, really. I may not show as most normal women do, but you do not hear me going around to all those ladies and saying, "Wow! You are just so HUGE! I never looked like that when I was pregnant!" How rude that would be. But do not worry about me... I'll get over it. It is just a fact of my life. Just as all the comments I get about looking like I am a teenager still, is a fact of my life.

I am not complaining... I think it a great blessing that I can look so good pregnant and that I am young looking. When I get into my 40's and beyond, I am sure that I will still look young--then all the comments I get will be flattering instead of annoying!

So...how am I feeling? I was reading my post about being 6 months pregnant, and I mentioned that I felt 9 months at the time, that I felt like I was carrying around a basketball. Well, now I feel like I am carrying a BOWLING ball! I was walking around the other day and the weight of my belly was just horrendous! I had difficulty getting through my shopping. It felt like the weight of the world was trying to press me down into the ground! Made me wish I was in space, floating around weightlessly.

This pregnancy has been so different from my first one. That first one, with Padraic, was just a breeze compared to this one. This time, everything that is or can be a pregnancy symptom, I have experienced. Extreme sickness, extreme tiredness, backaches, feet swelling, shortness of breath, waddling for goodness sakes!, ligament pain and all that! No wonder I am so impatient to get the the baby part!

But I can rest in the knowledge that my time is coming very soon. I do not have too long to wait now. Thank goodness!

tulip farm outing

What a beautiful day this was! The weather was great--in the high 70's, and as you can see, lot's of sunshine! I was pretty tired after walking around the acres and acres of flowers. Not exactly the best thing to do when you are 8 months pregnant, but I've wanted to visit this place for years now. So I made plans with my mother and we enjoyed ourselves! I will go again next year and spend more time walking around the fields. As it was, my son was too excited about the Children's Acre (aka playground) to let me do too much walking around with the flowers.

Padraic had fun playing on the huge 'roller' slide. It was an at least 10 foot tall slide made out of PVC pipes that the kid's just 'bumped' their way down on. I would have tried it, but I don't think that it is quite the thing to do when pregnant! Too much bouncing and jostling. But Padraic loved it once he got over his fear of climbing up the ladder by himself.

They also had 'rubber ducky races.' The kids would pump water from those old fashioned water faucets into plastic rain gutters to move their ducky until it reached the 'waterfall' into the water trough at the end. Padraic thought that great fun too!

All in all, a great day. Even if I ended up with a slight sunburn and aching feet and shins!