The Short Version

Just wanted to let you all know that we are all home safe and sound. The short version is that Dr. Perry turned Ellie head down at about 10 am Thursday morning, started me on Pitocin at 1pm, broke my water at 9:30 pm and I had her at 6:40 the next morning. It was very long and hard and in hindsight if I had to do it over again I probably would have taken the epidural because I was so tired for the hardest part of the delivery (transition and pushing) but she made it here safe and sound. She is absolutely beautiful and weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and is 20 inches long with a headful of dark hair. We begged them to let us go home yesterday so that we wouldn't have to spend another night at the hospital. We were so tired and wanted to sleep in our own bed! They let us go at 5:30 Friday evening and we came home, ate, and went to bed by 9. We slept fairly well and Ellie is nursing great but is hungry so hopefully my milk comes in ASAP. Bennett and Rachel were so excited to meet their new sister and kissed and pet and poked her endlessly. I promise to post a full birth story at some point later, but thank you for all your prayers during this really stressful last couple of days.

slow progress

Samantha has been on pitocin since 1pm. They have decided to break her water to try to move things along. Will update when we can.

News

We have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow morning at 7:30 am to have a manual version done. Dr. Perry was great this evening and reassured us that he will try to move the baby, but also isn't opposed to delivering a frank breech. He has done it many times. He does want to induce me right away if he can get Ellie turned to not give her time to turn back. I am scared of Pitocin and all the other can of worms it opens, but pray that I can still have this baby naturally even at the hospital. It looks like one way or another we are having this baby tomorrow.

Bad News

I had my ultrasound this morning and found out why I haven't gone into labor yet. Ellie is in a frank breech position, which means butt down. There is no way to have a regular delivery with her in this position, so they are going to try to move her head down. I have heard that this is horribly painful, doesn't work a majority of the time, and poses risks to the baby. They will monitor the baby via ultrasound during the moving to make sure everything is okay, but there is a good chance I will end up with a C-Section. Please pray that I can find a Dr. to do the procedure, that is our first obstacle. I will keep you posted. Please Pray!

Update

I went to the midwife this morning for my non-stress test. The baby reacted to movement and contractions well, nothing out of the ordinary. I have gained 36 pounds to date, and I am sure that will continue to climb the longer I am pregnant! My blood pressure was fine which I was glad about with the weird migraine episode on Sunday. She wished I had called her and let her know about the vision changes, but I am bad about wanting to worry people for nothing. She asked if she could check to see if I was dialated, and I told her that I would rather not in case I wasn't dialted at all because I would be depressed. She won out and I let her check. She said I was only at about a cm and the cervix still felt pretty thick, but I know that a couple of contractions can change that real quickly. She said the head felt right there, but when she started feeling around to feel the other baby parts on my abdomen, she started questioning whether or not it was head or butt she felt. She said I have such a long torso that there is alot of room in there, and she could really move the baby around wherever she wanted. Needless to say, I am now scheduled for an ultrasound in the morning to make sure the baby is head down, a chiropractor appointment to make sure my pelvis is in alignment, and another midwife visit to give me some herbs to try to jump start things if the baby is in fact head down. This is what I wanted to avoid by being "late." All the extra stuff that starts going on to "help" things along. I just want to have this baby, so please pray I just go into labor before tomorrow and a head comes out before a butt or foot.

Pictures

I haven't been into taking any pictures lately. I think I am saving up for the baby and all the pictures that you take in the beginning. I did get a few today.


This was me the day before my due date when I thought I would be having the baby sometime soon!


Rachel is really into saying, "Cheese," right now when you take her picture, so I have been able to get some cute ones lately. Bennett is another story!


This is the only picture where Bennett isn't making a REALLY silly face.

Strange

I guess I know now that I have had two babies that went over 41 weeks not to expect any early or on time deliveries. I have felt like I am probaby dialated for the last couple of days, I don't know how much though. We went over my parents house yesterday afternoon, and on the car ride there, my right eye started acting really strange. I couldn't see out of it very well and it was like my brain wasn't computing what it was seeing. I started to get a little worried as it was starting to pulsate and get worse. I thought I was going blind or had a blood clot or something. When we got to my parents, my mom asked me if I had a headache, and at that moment I didn't. 15 minutes later, my vision cleared up and I got what I can only assume was a migraine headache. Can I say how sorry I am to those of you that experience these on a regular basis. It was awful! It lasted until about 10 pm and then started to go away. I have a little twinge of a headache today, but nothing like last night. I don't know if it was pregnancy related or due to the allergies my whole house has been suffering from this past week. Sage brush is in bloom here and even the kids are runny nosed because of it. I am sure glad the headache went away before I went into labor. I can't imagine trying to deal with both. I have to go in for a stress test tomorrow if Ellie doesn't show up. I was hoping to skip out on all the extra monitoring, but we'll see what happens in the next 24 hours. I started going through the kids clothes today and putting away the ones that are too small and washing the fall/winter ones. I think I am going to take a trip to Target too to get Bennett a couple of pairs of sweats and some pajamas. I try to shop at thrift/children's stores throughout the year to have their next size of clothing and I did pretty well this year. Rachel's foot has grown so fast though that I have had a hard time keeping up with what size she should be wearing. Poor thing always seems to be wearing shoes that are too tight. I usually take out the next size too late and it is already getting too small. That's all for today unless I have any news later :o) (don't get your hopes up though!)

Tired and Hanging in There

I am tired of posting these non-posts, but for all of you that keep checking my blog to see if I have "popped" yet I will indulge you! No contractions and no sign of Ellie today.

Nope

A week overdue and nothing yet!

Midwife Visit

My midwife came today to check me and the baby. Everything checked out great. She is delivering twins today, so she begged me to not go into labor until tomorrow. I wish I could control such things, but Ellie will come when she comes. Stay tuned, hopefully this will be a productive weekend.

Clarification

Maybe I should have specified to Ellie which Friday I thought would be a good one to have her on. It was LAST Friday, not the one 7 or 14 days later. She might have gotten confused, so I thought a little clarification was in order.

Diaper Conclusions

No, I haven't had this darn baby yet, so I decided to post on something else for a change. I posted a while back that I was looking to try out some different brand diapers as the other brands out there are cheaper than the Pampers that I currently am devoted to. A friend happened to have a smorgasbord of different brands to try and was nice enough to give me several in each brand, so the trial began. She gave me the Kirkland brand (Costco), Huggies, Target brand, and I had bought Parent's Choice, a cheapie Walmart brand. The biggest difference I found in the diapers was the amount they would absorb without leaking. The White Cloud diapers were so cheap and leaked pretty bad, and I ended up having to change Rachel's diaper twice as often as I would have normally, so no savings there. The Kirkland diapers are just a little cheaper, 19 cents per diaper, than Pampers, 21 cents per diaper, and they were the only diaper I liked equally, maybe a little less well, than Pampers. The Target and Huggies were okay, but I didn't feel they were quite as absorbent as Pampers. The biggest difference between the Pampers and Kirkland brand is that the Kirkland diaper has a cloth-like exterior and the Pampers have a more plastic-like smooth exterior. I don't think that really affected the diaper at all, maybe just a personal preference to some people. There is a bigger savings 13 cents vs. 16 cents per diaper in size 1-2 in the Kirkland diapers, so I will probably use those for Ellie when it is convenient. I can't say I will make a special trip to Costco just for diapers, but will buy them there if I am already shopping there. I buy my Pampers at Walmart where I shop every week anyway, so the convenience factor is a lot higher. Bottom line is that I really like Pampers the best, but if price became a more important consideration, I am glad there are other alternatives out there that are pretty good.

Nada

I at least have started having some minor contractions again. I had alot on Friday night and then nothing all weekend, not even very many Braxton-Hicks. Last night I started having some again, so that is good news. Even better news is that I slept really well for the first time in about a week or so. I woke up feeling good and so happy to have slept! My house is clean and we are all ready to go!

Waiting

Having a baby is definitely a lesson in patience. 40 weeks is a long time to wait for anything, especially a new child and anything past 40 weeks adds to the agony. My fatal mistake this time was thinking I was going to deliver before my due date. I had it in my mind that I was going to go a day or two early. When that came and went I started feeling a little depressed. It doesn't help that I am not sleeping very much at all at night which makes for a long, tired, cranky day. I think my family is more ready than even me to have this baby, so they can have their mommy/wife back. Bennett was 10 days late and 8 pounds/ 20 inches and Rachel was 1 day late and 9 pounds 4oz/ 22 inches. I was assuming my body was streamlining this baby operation and not taking as long, but I was wrong. My theory with the different sized babies was that I was a vegetarian when I was pregnant with Bennett, and I started eating chicken during Rachel's. I called her my "chicken baby." Gotta love that protein. I also was crazy with the amount of sugar I ate with her pregnancy, but didn't test positive for gestational diabetes. I still wondered if blood sugar had anything to do with her being so big. My weight gain was the same with both of their pregnancies, 40+ pounds, way more than necessary and not fun to lose! This time around, I have watched my sugar and have gained alot less weight, so I have been curious whether I would have a bigger or smaller baby with my lower weight gain even though I have eaten more protein with this pregnancy than with the first two. Babies usually get bigger the more you have and boys are generally larger than girls, except not in our case already.

On a brighter note.... I have been sleeping in later in the morning since I have been sleeping so poorly at night and usually the kids play downstairs quietly until I come down to get them. This morning they were upstairs and being noisy, so I called them into my room and reminded them that they should still be downstairs waiting for me. I got up because it was after 8 and I was awake and we started our morning routine. Much to my shock, Bennett informed me they didn't need any breakfast because Dad had already fed them and gotten them dressed. Yay Dad!

That's all for now. My midwife is back in town, so I guess the Lord wants her to deliver the baby which I am okay with. He knows more than I do about the future, so that makes it easy to rest in His decisions.

Nope, nothing yet!

Ticking Time Bomb

That's what I feel like right now! I am at the point that people keep calling me to check to see if I have "popped" yet. No baby yet. I talked to my back-up midwife and she will be in Yakima, and hour and a half away, tomorrow for the afternoon which I was not too excited about. I would have to call her and she would run back here. I am really hoping to have this baby today. I have had both of my babies on Fridays, and I think that it would be cool to keep that going. She told me to work on a project to pass the time, but I have pretty much finished everything I wanted to get done, so I spent the morning baking. I made almond butter balls, a favorite of the kids. You just throw some dates, shredded coconut, and almond butter into the food processor until it forms a ball. I then add some whole almonds and dried cherries in and mix again. Form into balls or logs and keep in the fridge. I also made some peach/blueberry muffins, and some brownie muffins that stuck to the pan....bummer! I had to pry them out and put them in a ziploc. They still taste good, but I think they will need some vanilla ice cream to be crumbled on top of. I did all the dishes I dirtied and now I feel like my back is broken! Nap time for me.

Everyone's Okay

I thought I should post an update lest anyone think we are all here suffering with the stomach flu. Rachel was fine the next day after her overnight bout with it, and no one else seems to feel like they are coming down with it, so the prayers are working.

My midwife came by yesterday to listen to the baby and leave my file here because she is officially out of town until Sunday night. Jeromy, the kids, and I all took a long walk last night (it was only a few blocks but I am pretty slow these days, so it just took a long time) hoping to move things along, but nothing yet except alot of pressure.

I rearranged our downstairs this morning, and if that doesn't bring on labor, I don't know what else will! I'll keep you posted.

You Will Never Guess

I think that we can pretty much claim the Guiness Book of World Records for the most cases of stomach flu in one one year. I was still awake at about 11:30 last night due to some killer indigestion and the baby not wanting to be still, and I heard Rachel coughing and choking on the baby moniter. I ran downstairs to find my worst nightmare right now....... Rachel was throwing up! Man, how many times does one family need to experience such joy? I brought her upstairs to sleep near me which was a total mistake. The girl would not go back to sleep. She talked nonstop for the next hour and a half before she finally went back to sleep. "Mama, I throw up in bowl." "Mama, I watch Dora super babies." "Two super babies." "I have pajamas, huh?" "I have water, please?" She didn't sleep in like I had hoped either. I finally let her get up and watch a video with Bennett at 8 while I slept for another hour. She is eating today and playing, but does look a little pale. I am PRAYING that this ends with her and doesn't go through all of us like usual. I thought I was done with laundry for the week, but I am off to do another load.

Blogging Casualty

Who knew that blogging could be hazardous to your health, well at least if you are a two year old. Admittedly, I am addicted to reading blogs, even ones belonging to people that I don't know or hardly know. It is like reality TV on the computer. This afternoon I was reading a blog by someone that is in the "I hardly know" category, but it was obviously so interesting that when Rachel asked me to help her put the top on one of her toys, I didn't look up long enough to grab it fully and smacked her in the mouth with it giving her a bloody lip. Pathetic!

Just In Case You're Wondering

No baby yet. I am having contractions here and there, but nothing that is serious enough or consistent enough to bring on labor. My guess is that I won't have Elizabeth until the end of the week. Rachel was a day late, so I will probably go sometime close to my due date on Saturday. I will let the blog reading world know when I go into labor, so stay tuned. My midwife is coming over on Wednesday to see me before she leaves for her trip, so I will let you know if there is any news at that point. I am getting out my labor Bible verses today. I have started to feel a little fear creep in for the whole labor/pain involved with delivering a baby, but God's Word definitely is a comfort, so I am going to choose to dwell on what He says instead of what Satan wants me to feel. That's all for now, I am in cleaning mode and just finished the downstairs. Now I am off to do laundry.

Midwife Appointment

I had my second home visit with Fran, my midwife, this morning. We talked about when to call her to come over (early so that she can get here in time!) some different birthing issues I have had in the past (I'll spare the men readers those details!) and the fact that she will be out of town Thursday to Sunday of next week. I am due next Saturday, and I am hoping to go a day or two early which would put her in Seattle during that time. Ginger, another midwife and natuorpath doctor that the kids and I go to will be on call while she is gone. Ginger wasn't a preferred provider with my insurance, so that is the only reason I didn't go to see her from the start. Getting to have Ginger deliver the baby without having to pay any extra money (Fran will pay her directly) is the best of both worlds. Ginger is a Christian and I think it would be nice to have her here for the delivery. We'll see what God has in mind. I don't feel that desperation yet that I would do anything to get this baby out, so I am probably not going to deliver anytime too soon. I measured bigger this week, smaller than I should be, but the baby is still really low and we just need to know that she is still growing. Everything is good and it is just the waiting game now. This is definitely one of the hardest parts!

Ellie's Baby Shower

It is always a blessing to have a baby shower, to celebrate the imminent arrival of a new baby, to thank the Lord for the gift of children. I was encouraged in this way last night when a woman from church, Trudy, hosted a shower for me.


Julie gave a wonderful Bible study to start the evening. It was encouraging mothers to not look at the giving of all of our free time ( "me" time) as a bad thing but to look at it as service to the Lord. I struggle with this selfishness all the time, so it was a timely topic! Julie and her husband have 6 children, and we are so thankful to know them.


Having a laugh at one of the games we played. Everyone wrote a baby care question on one side of a card, then handed the card to their left and wrote the answer to their original question on the backside of the new card. There were some funny combinations!


That is Trudy in the purple shirt to my left. That is the only picture I captured of her all night! She is such sweet lady and made the evening very special with her hospitality.


That is my mom in the brown shirt talking to Julie's mom, Jeannie, and Terry. It is so special to have my mom so close to share all of these memories that we didn't get to when we lived so far away from each other.


This is a card addressed to Samantha and Rebekah. Julie had it stuck in her mind that Elizabeth is going to be named Rebekah and called her that all night! It is a great name, just not the name of this baby!


It just isn't a baby shower without other pregnant women there. Mystie, on the right, is 22 weeks pregnant with a little girl, and Liz in the white is due a month after me.


Gift time!

St. Louis

This week I am in St. Louis, MO for a Cisco Certified Network Associate BootCamp. This trip has only been planned for about two weeks so it has been a rather wild couple of weeks. For the last six months or so doing projects on the wireless network where I work (pnl). I made my intentions of becoming a network engineer known to my line manager who went and talked to the network team who in turn found that they had money to send me to training. The catch was that the money had to be spent and services received by October 1. In case you missed it, Samantha is due September 15th! so it was either now or never. Well long story short we decided this was too good of an opportunity to pass up and we scheduled the trip as quickly as possible.

I left Pasco at 6am Saturday 8/25 (Samantha's birthday!) on a flight to St. Louis with a one hour lay over in Denver, CO. When I arrived in Denver I was told my connecting flight had been cancelled due to mechanical problems. This may have been due to the FAA manditory inspection of Boeing 737s after one caught fire on a runway in Japan.

I was given stand-by tickets for two other flights but they were full so I had to wait until 7pm. I packed light and didn't check any bags so I could get out of the airport quickly, but as a result I had to drag my bags around with me for the 8hrs I was stuck there.

I finally got into St. Louis at 10pm and was picked up at the airport by my good friend Jon Grable who's family has been living in St. Louis for almost a year. We (Samantha and I) were friends with his family while we were in CA and have missed them dearly. After a quick drive around St. Louis, he took me to the house they have been staying in for the last 10 months. It is a beautiful brick 3 story home that has been recently remodeled. Georgeous!

Juanita made me a midnight snack (literally) and we hung out and caught up. It was so fun. I could hardly sleep as I was so excited to see them and thinking about questions I had forgot to ask them.

The next morning I was blessed to wake to the pitter patter of little feet. The Grables have 5 beautiful children including a new baby boy named Jeremiah. So fun to hold such a beautiful little one. Jon made pancakes for breakfast and we all enjoyed them!

I will post more in the next few days including pictures of the excellent food I have been enjoying here in St. Louis.