Induction tricks that don't work

Just in case you were wondering, the following are some things that DON'T work to induce labor...(or at least they haven't for me!)

• talking to your baby and telling them to come out
• having your 2-year old tell the baby to come out
• bouncing on the birth ball with your 2 year old
• eating whole pineapples and mangoes
• walking up and down the stairs until you are out of breath
• pizza and root beer
• sitting in a dark and quiet closet telling the baby "we are in a safe place" (that was totally Jason's weirdo idea)
• acupressure
• driving on roads full of potholes
• yard work

So maybe this baby just wants to come on his own timetable! Which is hopefully soon...

Baby Update...39+ weeks

There is our little guy last week in an unexpected 3D ultrasound. Our new OB practice wanted to check that everything was fine since I was measuring a little small, but everything looked great. No cord, fluid or placenta issues, and the baby is the right size (about 7lbs) and in the right position! All good news, so we are still set for the VBAC. Now it is just a matter of waiting until he decides to come. The current due date is April 25, but babies come when they want....so we will see when he decides to join us!
We are praying that all would continue to go well and he would come on his own, relatively soon if possible. :)

Jason and I have been taking lots of walks around our new neighborhood to encourage this baby to meet us. (We really enjoy all of the trails and paths around this gigantic neighborhood, too! Beautiful ponds and lots of friendly people.)

Noah is very eager to meet his little brother, and will say, "Baby, come out!" to my belly. He says, "I want to see you and play!" So far, this is not a very effective method to induce labor!

Noah giving the baby a hug.

36 weeks...the home stretch!

Well everything seems to be going great with this pregnancy, and we are so thankful for that! We are down to the last 4 weeks until this baby is due. (Or if he decides to be late, the last 6 weeks until he comes!) I am starting the weekly appointments this week to start monitoring any progress or changes. We are still set on track for the VBAC, and the baby seems to be cooperating by being head-down and not causing me any problems.

I can't say I love this stage of pregnancy, as it's harder to move around and chase after Noah now. Plus it's harder to sleep at night and I'm just generally more tired. But on the plus side, the end is near and we will soon be holding Baby ________ in our arms. (Though still not sleeping well...)

We are in the process of unpacking and readying our new house, so there is still plenty to do to keep me busy until this baby comes. I will post some pictures later this week after our Internet gets set up at our new house.

30 weeks

Well, here is an update on the belly at 30 weeks. I had a checkup today and all is well. Perfect blood pressure, no swelling or major complaints (yet?). Heartburn is mildly annoying, but manageable. Baby is head down so far, and we are wonderfully glucose tolerant and not anemic!! I expected mild anemia since I had it with Noah, so it was a nice surprise not to have to take any extra iron supplements. I am pleased that I have gained 20 lbs in this pregnancy. I'd love to keep the weight gain right at 25 lbs, but I am okay with 30 for the total gain. With 10 weeks left, that looks very do-able. I gained 29 with Noah and was able to get rid of it fairly easily. We'll see how it goes with this one!

We switched doctors to a new practice in the same hospital. With a low-risk normal pregnancy, all signs are "go" for the VBAC. The new doctor is very flexible and willing to work with what we'd like to do. Jason and I would love for this baby to come on his own when he is ready. But knowing that Noah would have easily been overdue since there were 0 signs of labor and no cervical dilation at 40 weeks, we aren't comfortable with an c-section deadline of 41 weeks as the old doctor liked. The new doctor is happy to let us wait until 42 weeks and then is comfortable inducing with a low dose of pitocin at 42 weeks if the cervix is favorable. So we will see what happens. Hopefully this baby will be more or less "on time" so we won't have to worry about going overdue too much.

Before Baby List

So Jason and I have started thinking about what things we'd like to accomplish before the baby makes his arrival in late April, which is only three months from now. The thought of having less than three months to prepare makes me feel a little crazy, so I'm posting it in hopes of motivating myself to get started on it!!

Here is our list so far. I am sure it will grow too!

Purchases (so glad this list is short since we are having another boy in the same season!):

• Stroller: Sit and Stand Plus or Double. Many friends have recommended this stroller and it fits perfectly with our infant carseat (also by Baby Trend). I am stalking Craigslist to watch for this!
• Diapers: newborn and size 1 disposable diapers... if we get these little by little they will not seem like such a financial drain once baby boy arrives and poops through them 8 times a day!
• Diapers: Cloth size smalls and more one-size diapers

Planning/Review:

• Reread Babywise just to brush up on eat/wake/sleep cycles
• Review and make a plan for labor strategies
• Review CPR for babies
• Make at least 5-10 meals (more?) for the freezer. I'm currently finding recipes that freeze well and testing them out.
• Have a well stocked pantry so we do not need much other than milk and produce once baby comes.

Other/House:

• Pack and MOVE into our new house!!!
• Repaint the downstairs living room and kitchen
• Recarpet the living room and clean all other carpets
• Nursery?? (Do we have time to do this??) At least find all of the baby gear, set up the pack and play and wash newborn clothes. (Hopefully we can paint the room a different color than bright pink!!)

That's it for now!! =) I think my list will grow before it shrinks!

25 weeks....3 1/2 months left

Here I am at 25 weeks pregnant. Just 15+ weeks left!

20 week ultrasound pics of our little BOY!

19 week picture taken in Nicaragua.

All is going well with this pregnancy so far. At 25 weeks, I am about 5 1/2 months or so along. Although this baby is due toward the end of April, I am fully expecting a MAY baby. If he comes before or on his due date, I will be pleasantly surprised.

Jason likes watching the baby move my entire belly. And Noah is still very interested in patting my belly ("mama's baby"). He is very interested in finding babies in pictures, and he seems to find them in the stores anywhere we go.

I go in for the glucose screening in a few more weeks, and for now the heartburn seems to be manageable. Sleeping is still relatively comfortable, and for the most part I am not too winded at the end of a day. But I know the time is coming in another month or so where I will not feel as great as I feel now. I will probably be too distracted to notice, since we will be packing, painting, and moving to our new house about that time. Since we are only going to get busier between now and the baby's birth, Jason and I are taking a childbirth refresher course at the hospital later this week. We are excited about the prospect of a VBAC to avoid all the complications and recovery that comes with a repeat c-section.

16 Weeks

Here I am for a 16 week picture. I think this makes me about 3 1/2 - 4 months. When I was pregnant with Noah, a picture like this would have put me about 24 weeks. It definitely happens faster the second time around.

Everything looks good; the heartbeat was 158. I had some bloodwork done today and got the H1N1 shot a few days ago since I am in the high risk group. We will find out the baby's sex in our next visit on December 3.

A couple of ultrasound photos

13 week picture (I didn't look like this with Noah until I was about 5 months pregnant.)

8 week ultrasound

9 week ultrasound - that baby looks bigger in just one week!

Hopefully I won't have any more ultrasound pictures to share until 18-20 weeks when we find out the sex!

12 week appointment

I am showing so much faster this time. This picture was taken THREE WEEKS ago at 9 weeks! I can't believe how quickly I starting moving into my maternity clothes again....

Well this baby is already 12 weeks along! The time is passing much faster this pregnancy; I think because I am busy chasing around a toddler all day.

All was well at the 12 week checkup. Baby's heartbeat is 165 bpm, though it took the nurse a good few minutes to find the heartbeat! I finally got to meet my new OB doctor, who was very nice. She has a son named Noah too. :) We discussed VBACs and how long they would allow a baby to go overdue before intervening with a repeat cesarean. She says 41 weeks. They can't/don't induce because the use of pitocin increases the risk of uterine rupture in a VBAC labor. However, a VBAC is very possible for me since my cesarean was a low transverse incision and the reasons for the surgical delivery were circumstancial and not likely to repeat themselves. I just hope this baby comes on his/her own this time! I am glad to hear this news and will be stopping in to pick up my surgical paperwork in Managua next month.