An update, some snow pics, and a few labor questions...

I am now 37.5 weeks and totally in the clear.  Our baby girl is looking healthy and can come at anytime.  I am currently at a 3 and 80% and ready to go says midwife.  It could be tonight or 3 weeks from now but either way, everyone is predicting a fast labor which I will take.  Our life has been a little crazy lately and I am sure one we are more "settled" we will give an official life update but for now I will say every major change that could happen is happening or going to happen.  It's crazy how everything seems to collide around the same time.  Rick has to travel tonight and will be gone for less than 24 hours and the big hope is that this little girl doesn't surprise us tonight while he is gone.  My midwife said I should try hard not to be up and walk too much just to be on the safe side because she doesn't think he would make it back in time.  Thanks again to everyone who has supported us lately and through this bed rest ordeal; we are thankful to be on the other side and officially be in the "waiting" game.

Yesterday morning it snowed here in Portland and Ariy loved playing in it.  Here are a few pics:

For those mommy's out there.  I have a couple questions.  I am hoping for a VBAC and was induced 5 days after Ariy's due day via breaking my water.  He needed to come out because my blood pressure was creeping up.  This time around, my biggest hope is simply to go into labor on my own.  I would love a successful VBAC but more than that I really don't want to end up being induced.  Did any of you do anything to get labor going?  What did you try?  Did you feel like anything actually worked?

"Cheese"

Ariy loves to hide these days.  You may be able to make out the words "hide," "cheese," and "bye bye."  This is our little linen closet next to the bathroom.

36 Week Update

I always am a bit nervous when I write these.  I do know that people actually read them but I also just write so I have things documented somewhere.  I have often looked back at my pregnancy of Ariy via the blog.  I never know if I am writing too much info but I know that when I look back, I want to know as much as possible.  Anyway, that is my disclaimer for these updates.  They may be interesting to you or not at all.

First things first - we made it!  I hit 36 weeks yesterday and I am feeling very confident this baby has packed on some pounds recently and would do just fine if she entered the world.  Next Sunday, she will even be considered full term.  There is no stopping labor now if it were to happen.

Weight gain:  yes!  I didn't gain weight for a long time while on bed rest.  I sat at a stand still for close to 2 months which started to really worry me but no one else seemed to be concerned.  Well, the last month I have fully caught up.  I am pretty sure I have hit the 25 pound mark this week.

Blood pressure:  So far so good with this one.  I am pretty paranoid about this happening again and with Ariy it started going up sometime in the next week or so.  If this happens, there is a slight chance we will have to be induced and if I am far enough along we will try breaking my water like we did with Ariy.  Hopefully this does not happen though!

Overall feelings:  I feel pretty good.  Getting back on my feet has been slow.  I wanted to try and take it easy until 36 weeks and for the most part I did.  My body kind of forced me to slow down a few times.  I just get so sore from not being used to being up on my feet.

Dilation/Effacement:  As of a week ago I was 2cm, 50% effaced and -2 station if you know what any of that means.  Things are moving right along.  I am a lot further ahead then where I was with Ariy but that can also be normal for a second baby.

Meds:  I am done!!  woo hoo.  I'm so curious to see how this effects things this week.  When I started on the progesterone around 22 weeks I was having a lot of contractions - what I assumed were braxton hicks but since my cervix was shortening they could of actually been doing something.  The progesterone helps to relax your uterus so it doesn't contract so much.  It made a very big difference within days.  I have had more contractions the last couple weeks being up more but now that I am off it I wonder what will happen.

Am I ready?  The last day or so I have started to get excited to meet her and have her out.  I have also had a fair amount of anxiety about having two kiddos.  We are in tight quarters here and I am nervous to go through this adjustment in the midst of a lot of transition going on for us.  I know it will all work out just fine but I would say this time around I have a lot more nerves than I did with Ariy.

Name?  None yet.  We have some ideas and general ideas about naming her but no name specifically.  We will wait until she's born.

Christmas Tree Expedition

The whole house headed over to a lot that supports the local high school's booster club.  The very first tree we found fit to our measurements and looked great so it ended up being a very quick trip.  Ariy was pretty overwhelmed by all the tree's but especially the chainsaw...we watched from a distance.