Oh the Pain

Rudely awakened this morning at 4:20 with PAINFUL contrax. They hurt. For 3 hours they hurt, bad. We planned the day around a baby coming. Then they stopped. Completely.

I'm not sure which is worse: the pain, or the annoyance and frustration I feel now.

The suspense is killing me.

More. Of the Same.

Last night Abby had a terrible night with an earache--she was kind enough to share her misery with the entire household, for the entire night. So, it was an extremely short night for all. We hauled the kids out of bed at 8:30 and went to church, as Bj and I both had Sunday School commitments, but we didn't stay for the whole service. Instead, we came home, had lunch and spent the afternoon napping, watching movies, napping, and ignoring a barrage of phone calls.

Another contracty day, with contrax on and off for much of the afternoon, several painful, and a general "crampiness". But by this point of the evening, Bj's lost hope for his 3rd to be born with a 26th birthday to match the other 2...

Well...

Walked the mall today hoping for action...only came up with a few random contractions. Got a new cookbook and a fun day with the fam out of the deal anyway.

Nothing.

Not much to report today. One second physically I feel like I'm well on the way to labor, and the next minute I feel like the time is no where near. Emotions are on just as crazy a ride-one second I'm ready and can't WAIT to be done, the next second I'm frantically hoping the baby doesn't come yet so I can finish up just a few more little projects and items on my list. It's exhausting, haha. When I'm so ready to be done and am disappointed that there's not more action, I have to keep reminding myself that technically there IS still a week and a half left to go to due date...

Contractions are still happening occasionally today, but they're not very business-like.

Still Waiting...

I thought since I feel like we're getting really close, I'd start filling everyone in on what's going on...so here begins your blow-by-blow of prelabor signs and symptoms! Yesterday I had lots of contractions, but they weren't painful...and my stomach was upset. Upset stomach/diarrhea was a huge part of my labor with Abby, so I'm expecting that to be a sign this time around too. I was SO disappointed to wake this morning and realize I'd slept well, with no contractions.

Went to see Dr. Olson today--we're dilated 3 cm (need to make it to 10), and baby is LOW. He keeps mentioning induction, but I'm leaning away from that route. Alex was induced and I've regretted it a little since then--I think he could have handled a little more fattening up. But, I won't go past my due date, so if things start looking like they're headed that way, we'll induce.

Energy levels are up too--good sign!!!

Ready and Waiting...

It seems fall has nearly passed by us unnoticed...our thoughts have been taken over by waiting and baby prep...well, mine have been anyway. It ocurred to me the other day that we're almost out of decent outside weather, so we packed up and took school outdoors! It was convenient that science is taking us through a nature unit right now...so I made the kids some "gathering bags" so I don't have to be the pack mule for all their sticks, rocks, acorns, leaves and other findings, we tossed in nature journals and crayons, and off we went.



They enjoyed drawing things they saw and making crayon rubbings of the different leaves and textures we found. Tossing rocks in the "Mrs. Ippi" river is always a hit, and the crunchy fallen leaves provided a fun soundtrack for our "hike". It has amazed me how quickly they take the lead on learning when given the opportunity...nothing is more gratifying than seeing their enthusiasm for a subject lead to discovery and learning.

It sounds cheesy, but most days my heart is full to overflowing of gratitude and a little disbelief at the amazing amount of blessing in our lives. It's astounding that our home gets to be the container for so much joy...as physically uncomfortable this time is for me, and as loooong as the waiting gets, it's so important to me that every moment is savored and lived in. I know a day is coming that we will struggle to remember what the early years of our family were like.

That being said, we're also overwhelmed with anticipation and excitement! Baby will be here soon (right??) and soon after that the holidays will be here, followed by endless days of cozy-ing, cuddling, reading, and being together, tucked away from the wintery blasts. I love this time of year a little more every year!

In the meantime, we're ready...

ready...

ready...

ready and waiting.

(This is a 35 week picture, so imagine it 3 weeks bigger.)

Diapers, check. Teensy, tiny sleepers, check. Teensy, tiny socks, check. Crib set up, check. Burp cloths, check. Minivan, check. (!!!Hooray!!! The Saturn was ok and met our needs, but it is SO nice to be able to travel outside of a 20 mile radius without fear of breaking down...and to have A/C...and a blower fan that blows--but in a good way...and to have a bumper that is attached to the front rather than jerry-rigged with wire and a hope and a prayer. And a muffler that...well, muffles!) So, there'll one more visit with Dr. Olson this week, then hopefully, hopefully...!!!!

Good intentions...

don't get a blog post written. But here is a glimpse of our last days of summer...

Bj's birthday...I left much of the planning up to the kids, does it show? Storebought cupcakes (artfully arranged and sprinkled with jelly beans by chef Abby), gummy worms, gifts of Legos and a fuzzy blanket, lots of hand drawn pictures and cards. Happy 31, Bj!

In the absence of a "Birthday Tree", it was decided by the Birthday Executives that gifts should be stored under the kitchen table. (photography also by Abby)

A spur-of-the-moment trip to Mall of America...

A rediscovered (for Dad) and newly discovered (for Son) passion for Legos...I imagine I'll be stepping on these things for quite a while now...

One last beach picnic with a cousin before the weather turned...

Summer days always fly by so quickly! We're ready though, to sink into the coziness of home that cooler weather brings. Our fall schedule has begun--Sunday School, Wednesday evening Home Group, the kids' Mommy and Me type classes on Wednesday and Friday mornings...we're finding a rhythm and routine.

Abby is still an enthusiastic student and is flying through her schoolwork. Her maturity is increasing by leaps and bounds--she's a wonderful, chatty, obedient little friend to take wherever I go--we've been enjoying each other more and more all the time.

Alex has decided he simply doesn't have the time to use the toilet anymore. I've given up the fight for now and will try again later. He's keeping us laughing and proudly tells all who will listen that his "Baby brother is in my mommy's tummy!"

Baby Brother is coming along nicely. We had another ultrasound this week to (as Dr. Olson put it) make sure baby is "locked and loaded" for the homestretch. Head down and heading towards a bigger birthweight than either of the other two, baby is indeed "locked and loaded"!

I'm uncomfortable and tired. And uncomfortable. And tired. And still nesting, nesting, nesting...IGS is still humming along, although not at quite so alarming a rate. Next month marks the 2 year anniversary of the company...the time has gone quickly, but at the same time, I can barely remember a time Bj didn't work for himself. It has been more of a blessing than we could have imagined at the very start.

Little people clammoring for food...this is where I'd normally make promises of next post not being so long in coming, but I'm not even going to bother. Because I really don't know when the next post will be. Because I'm uncomfortable. And tired.