Schaeffer Turns One (We SURVIVED)

It feels like such a gigantic milestone to say we've reached a year old.  I know he has not been chronically ill (and I am soooo thankful for that) but it has been One. Long. Year.

He was unusually animated on the morning of his birthday.  

I thought about writing a post for his birthday called, "How to Loose 50 Pounds."  It's simple: nurse an eleven pound baby around the clock for 365 days.  I think it is safe to say he is heavier than Caroline now.

I think he liked the hats.

Other happenings this week: the "big kids" had a tea party.  John Isaac made the tea and I provided peanut butter crackers with carrots and apples. A neighbor brought over the dipped pretzels.  They used china plates but I guess they hadn't realized the need for plates before this picture.

Caroline will be a domestic goddess one day.  On her own accord she likes to fold the (clean, washable) diaper wipes

It rained one day while John Isaac was at a co-op.  So Caroline and I walked in the rain.  What's more fun than that when you're three-years-old?

Schaeffer graced us with a super long afternoon nap.  We made soft pretzels.  Yummo.

The birthday boy got a new (from Craigslist) jogging stroller.  Hubby wants to run more (crazy man) and is willing to take the lil' stinker along.  And yes, he sucks those two fingers when he is tired.  Adorable.

Advice for Mommas with Colicky Babies

I started writing this post in the height of Schaeffer's colic.  Because I took my own advice (see #5 below) of "only do that which is necessary" I put this post on hold.  He will be one year old on Saturday and I feel like I'm just now coming out of a fog.  It has been a VERY long year.

+++++++++

Having a baby with colic has made me much more sympathetic to parents of fussy babies. A crying baby is very stressful.  Baby #3 has rocked my world in many ways.  My pregnancy with him was exhausting but nothing like his first three months of life.

If he was awake, he was crying.  Hard.  Loud.  Crying like he was in pain.  The first three months of Schaeffer's life was a very difficult time.  A time that I do not want to ever re-live. I would not wish colic on my worst enemy.

I'm writing this post to myself, with hopes of remembering what worked for us.  The first chapter of second Corinthians says that we are comforted by God in our afflictions so that we may comfort others in theirs.  If you know someone with a colicky (or very fussy) baby - please send them this post.


Dear Momma of a Colicky Baby,

Don't let guilt overwhelm you or think that you did something wrong in your pregnancy. I ate better with the third pregnancy and rested more than the other two combined!  No one really knows what causes colic nor is there a proven cure, other than endurance.  Below is my list of advice to you, though in no particular order.

1. Accept help when your friends ask.  Pride is a brutal thing.  It took several weeks of the crying for me to realize I needed to accept help.

2. Eat out as much as your budget will allow.  Rather, buy take-out because, who wants to take a crying baby to a restaurant?!  When you've reached the limits of the budget, borrow money from your friends who want to help.

3. Ask for meals from anyone.

4. Let the house work go.  Do the minimum - or less.  I didn't vacuum the upstairs of my house for 4 months (and it probably would have been longer had not my mother done it for me when she was here just after Baby was born.)

5. Survival is eating, breathing and sleeping.  Everything else is extraneous.  Let someone else cook for you (see #1-3).

6. Don't  try to "schedule" this baby.  If you get him to sleep, let him sleep.  There will be plenty of time later to work on a routine.

7. Stay home. Crying is stressful enough when there's not an audience or random people giving you  unsolicited advice - advice that is probably wrong.

8. Listen to advice with a grain of salt from well meaning people who haven't had a colicky baby.

9. Get a babysitter. Pay them well.  Or, ask a friend (who's not afraid of the crying) to come over to stay with baby for a few hours just so you can get out of the house.  I had a few friends do this for me and it was so life giving!

10.  Do what's easy. It's about survival. (See #5 - eat, breathe, sleep is survival.)

11. Try everything or not.  Lots of people told me to cut out dairy (because I was nursing).  And chocolate.  And coffee.  I tried all those but it didn't minimize the crying.  I tried so many new things with this baby that I didn't try with my other two children.

12. Baby wearing was one of the things I tried with #3.  I didn't "wear" my first two kids.  Baby wearing seemed to soothe him. However it came at a cost: it was physically exhausting for me.  Shall I remind you he weighed almost 11 pounds at birth?!  At first we used a Bjorn (but it's not very comfortable for the adult), then I used a Moby wrap (but it is hot and time consuming to put on).  I eventually bought a Boba carrier at a consignment shop (similar to Ergo) and I love it, wish I'd purchased sooner.

13.  Take it one hour at a time, one day at a time.  Remember it should only last 3 months.  Not forever.  Don't let yourself think, "I can't do this for 2 more months!!!"  Instead, say to yourself, "I can do this for 5 more minutes."  Or, "I can do this until nap time."

Other things that worked for me:

- Reading The Happiest Baby on the Block and using the 5 S's.  Actually, I watched it on DVD while nursing and borrowed the copy from my library.

- Swaddling and shushing
- Chiropractics seemed to help in the beginning.  He was adjusted by Dr. Traci Bishop Kiernan at Natural State Health.  She is a chiropractor who is familiar and comfortable with adjusting babies.

- Bought this sound machine to make continuous shushing noise.  'Cuz once that baby is asleep, I don't want NOBODY waking him up.

- When not being held, he was in the swing almost continuously for 3 months.  No lie.

- Watch TV (or movies on computer) with earbuds while holding crying baby.  It helped the time to pass quicker.  I watched seven SEASONS of one show among several other things.  The nights were the worst.  He would cry unconsolable from about 7pm-1am.

This week we celebrate his first birthday.  It has taken a whole year to write this post because I've been following my own advice: survival is eat, breathe, and sleep.

I'm sure this list is only the beginning of things that Mr. Schaeffer will teach me in his lifetime.

Sleep {or the lack thereof}

My sixth grade English teacher, who is still friends with my mom, sent this book to me when Mom told her we were still having sleep problems.  It was a very sweet gesture, especially because Ms. Howell doesn't have children.

Little did she know that I borrowed that book from the library and read it when Caroline was a baby.  Very helpful book, indeed.  In my sleep deprived state, I have not had the extra brain capacity to think of borrowing it again.  (A friend of mine with 5 kids said she read it with all 5 children.  It is a great resource.)

However, it is almost as discouraging as it is encouraging because most of his "hints" and suggestions end with something like...this might not work so well with post-colic babies.

Yesterday I was especially discouraged when I read this paragraph (because Schaeffer is waking sometimes 3 times at night... like a newborn!):

Thankfully the Lord renewed my heart mid-day concerning waking in the night. Though it is hard and all I can think of at times is sleep I know He is using Shay for His Glory in my life.   This exhaustion causes me to lean on the Cross in ways I would not if I were at "full capacity."

I am being refined. I am giving myself up as a living sacrifice. I am trying to view the night times as worship. Reading the sleep book yesterday caused me to come to the realization that I might not sleep for another 6 months (or more!).  Only the Holy Spirit could bring me to this place of peace 'cuz I really love me some sleep!  I am thankful that I am not begrudging my lil guy.

On an encouraging note: two days ago, I started the sleep journal like the author suggests and it has been enlightening and helpful.  We are making strides at become more predictable (unpredictability is another symptom with post-colic babies.)

The Weekend

1.  My parents sent a gift card to Target for the kids.  Caroline got a multi-pack of Princess shoes = totally adorable.  She calls the heels "wheels."  John Isaac got a flashlight and Pokemon cards.

2.  Governor Beebe signed the "raw milk bill." The sale of raw milk is now legal in the state of Arkansas.  This is totally awesome. 

3. Worked on our community garden.  I served a GIANT pot of beans and rice for lunch.   Kids had a blast in the dirt.

 4. Roasted marshmallows in the driveway with friends.  Super fun.

5. The best article I read all weekend: Sugar, not fat, exposed as deadly villain in obesity epidemic.

6. (saving the best for last) SCHAEFFER HAS STOPPED CRYING!!!!  ThankyouJesus!!!!  True to the definition of colic, he stopped crying around his 3 month birthday.  He was 3 months old on Thursday.

Schaeffer

The boy is cross eyed most of the time.  The intronets assures me that it will not always be this way.  Sometime before the fourth month his eyes should normalize.  Also before the fourth month he should stop crying.  Until then, I am wearing him a lot.  A friend let me borrow her "sleepy wrap" which is more comfortable than the Bjorn.  I was not a baby "wearer" before this baby but his crying will make a sane person do crazy things.  Note to self: wearing a 15 pound baby multiple hours a day after the age of 36 will make one tired and sore.

 He doesn't always cry.  Sometimes before 10am we see a smile.  Like last Saturday.

 I dressed him up for a "sip and see" that my BFF hosted at her house, 3 doors down.

Complete with china, linens and goblets.  HB is first class, y'all.

 Our babies are the same size, although hers is 7 months old.  Mine is 8 weeks old.  I can't post his picture until their adoption is complete.

I've had lots of people suggest things to help stop the crying but the only suggestion that's brought us relief is the book "Happiest Baby on the Block."  Actually my dear friend Erin went to the library and checked out the DVD for me and I watched it while nursing.  Changed my life.  If you know a mom with a colicky baby - get them the book or DVD.  The author, a pediatrician, shows you methods to calm a fussy baby.  His premise is that the first 3 months of a baby's life is an extension of the womb, making it the 4th trimester.  So we've gone back to swaddling, shushing and swinging this baby.  I had to go for back up for a blanket large enough to swaddle him.  But it works.  Especially the shushing.  I have a white noise app on my phone that gets amazing results.

The Princess and Her Brothers

Caroline is very aware of princesses these days.  She is one.  She loves to dress up like one, and if you're lucky enough to be a girl, she will call you Princess.

 And ballerinas.  She loves a good dance party.

This princess potty trained herself last week (or was it the week before?).  Hubby put princess panties on her one morning and that's all it took.  She still wears a diaper at night but hasn't had one accident in the day.

Big Brother, for the most part, still ignores the fact that there's another little person in the house.  Below is a picture of a rare moment of acknowledgment. 

 

Little Brother is not so little.  I think he's weighing about 15 pounds - his 6 week birthday was Friday.  I know 7 month old babies who weigh 15 pounds.  Suffice it to say that nursing is going better.  But the poor boy is just not happy.  If he is awake, he is crying.  All. Day. Long.  People ask if it is colic.  I don't know.  All I know is ... nothing I do seems to help him.  I took him to a chiropractor last week and it seemed to help for a few hours but nothing lasts forever.  Last night we were up from 2-6am trying to pacify him.  Misery.  

At this point with the other two kids, we were almost sleeping through the night.

I am tired.

He's Gaining Weight

Good news: Schaeffer has gained 11 ounces since Thursday.

Bad news: after nursing him in the lactation consultant's office today he hadn't gained anything.  This means he's not drinking anything from me.

Overall the consultation was very encouraging.  The plan is still to nurse then pump then feed him what I pump.  The lactation specialist gave me a Calma to help simulate drinking from the breast.  She said that she has seen other babies turn around using the Calma.  I am hopeful.

Two Weeks Old

Schaeffer is two weeks old.  Last week was rather, ahem, stressful 'round here.  He went almost a week without pooping.  At first I just thought it was a fluke thing.  (Hello reality...newborns poop 2-3 times a day!)

I kept reading on the internet conflicting things about what was within an acceptable range for no poo, or what would cause this, or whether or not I should be concerned. By day 5, I was really concerned.

I called a lactation consultant who said I needed to have him weighed right away.  But before I came in, I should nurse him then pump.  Following her instructions, I pumped almost 3 ounces.

[Also on this day, the poor boy was circumcised.  The doctor was 1.5 hours late!  Since I opted out of the vitamin K shot at the hospital to avoid mercury in his bloodstream, we waited until after the 8th day to have him circumcised.  On the 8th day, the body naturally produces vitamin K for blood clotting.  Dr. Mercola has an interesting article on avoiding the vitamin K shot.]

Once in the lactation consultant's office, Schaeffer weighed 2 ounces less than what he weighed when we left the hospital.  This was not terribly bad, but it certainly wasn't good.  He should have gained almost a pound back - not lost weight.

The next step was for me to nurse him in the office then weigh him again.  After doing so, he'd only gained one ounce.  One measly ounce after 30 minutes of nursing.  From what I can gather, big babies are often lazy nursers.  Schaeffer was one big baby and nursing him has had its challenges from the beginning.

My assignment for the next few days was to nurse him then pump and bottle feed him what I pumped (every 3 hours).  By the next morning my milk supply had diminished to less than a half an ounce.  First thing, I called the lactation consultant and told her -through tears- what the night had been like.  She was very encouraging (love those ladies at Baptist!  I feel like some of them are my BFF; I've known them since I took a breast feeding class when pregnant with John Isaac - almost 9 years ago.)

Happily I can report that my milk supply has increased.  Along with pumping, I am taking fenugreek to help reestablish my supply.  However my supply is not yet meeting the demand, though I am hopeful.  Thanks to engorgement, there was surplus milk stored in my freezer.  I have also supplemented with a raw milk formula.

Tomorrow (Monday) I will meet again with the lactation consultant.  Schaeffer continues to be reluctant to latch and still a lazy nurser.  I would appreciate your prayers for our perseverance.  Pumping every three hours is exhausting.

Schaeffer's Natural Child Birth Story

Admittedly, not everyone wants to know details about labor and delivery of an almost 11 pound baby in three hours.  But if you are one of the people would would like to know more...keep reading.  Part of the reason I write is for my own remembrance.

Also I write to encourage other women to experience natural childbirth.  With my first son, I wouldn't even consider going without an epidural.  However, looking back on his birth (labor, delivery, and recovery) I think recovery would have been much faster and easier had I not used an epidural.  My second two recovery times have been significantly easier and I attribute this to abstaining from drugs during labor.  When talking with a nurse in the hospital, she agreed with me that "pay me now or pay me later."  I would rather experience hours of pain during labor than for days and weeks after.  This is just my experience and I realize that everyone has a different story.  I am not judging those who choose to use medication or look down on those that want an epidural.

Schaeffer's Birth Story
Thursday night, January 10, when I went to bed, I was having pains in my lower abdomen.  I described them to Hubby as "baby dancing on the wrong nerve down low."  This pain was rather constant and stronger than a contraction.  After laying in bed for a while I was so uncomfortable I got up and tried to do some exercises (yoga stretches - cat/cow) to get baby to move.  Eventually the pain subsided enough for me to go to sleep.

In the last stages of pregnancy, I was getting up for the bathroom about every 1.5 hours.  At 2:30 I awoke just before feeling my "water break."  It wasn't a gushing; it was just enough to let me know that something was finally happening!  My water broke and jump started labor with the other two children as well.

Almost immediately I started having regular, hard contractions.  They lasted for about a minute and about 2-3 minutes apart (I used an app on my phone called Contraction Master to track them).  After thirty minutes of these contractions, I texted the friend we were using as a birthing assistant (doula) and she arrived in our home about 3:30.  Because it was night, immediately I started gulping coconut water to hydrate myself to prepare for the marathon ahead.  Coconut water has naturally occurring electrolytes (think Gatorade) and is naturally low in sugar.

When she arrived, I was in the shower.  With Caroline 2.5 years ago, I'd found that laboring in the shower was comforting and in the beginning, an easy way to take my mind off the pain.  For those who know my busy-body mom will find it funny that I couldn't just stand in the shower and enjoy the warm water.  In the rest times between contractions, I was using a scrub brush to tackle some mold in the cracks of the tile!  Of course eventually the scrub brush was forgotten as I had to focus on the task at hand: labor.  Also I will mention briefly that I threw up in the shower and was very sad to see my hydration go down the drain.  My gag reflux is super sensitive when pregnant.

Shortly after arriving, Hubby asked our birthing assistant when she thought we should go to the hospital.  She said, "Now."

You see, when she came, I was cheerfully able to speak in spurts to give her the update of what had happened to this point.  Quickly everything began to annoy me (a sign of transition) and my senses were on hyper-overdrive (another sign).  The water in the shower went off (I was too hot); during the contraction I tersely asked them to stop taking and I could smell the lotion and gum of the birthing assistant.

They handed me towels and helped me out of the shower.  The contractions were right on top of one another so there was no way I could put on clothes.  My husband helped to drape my robe over me and put Crocs on my feet to get me out the door.  This journey to the van took much longer than usual because I had to stop every few steps while laboring.  It was a warm night and I was sweating like a pregnant nun in church by the time the side door opened to the van.

As when laboring with Caroline, I rode to the hospital backwards on my knees with my face in the back seat.  At this point I was feeling serious pain.  Before getting into the van, I heard the birthing assistant tell Hubby, "If she says she feels the urge to push, pull over and call 911.  She could have this baby in the van."  We live less than 10 minutes from the hospital - especially at 4AM.

It was a LONG 10 minutes to the hospital.  I may or may not have been guilty of saying, "Slow down! STOP!  Keep going!!"  Any woman who has labored in the car will attest to the extreme pain of bumps and curves along the way.  Thankfully my husband totally ignored me and just drove (safely) like a bat out of hell to get us to the hospital.

In the parking garage, he ran to get a wheel chair.  We'd been there the day before and remembered the drill from two years ago when Caroline came into the world.  Amazingly the contractions slowed enough for me to get myself out of the van (during Caroline's labor, Hubby practically had to pull/force me to get out.)  I was sweating like I had come from the rain forrest. I'm not sure I have ever sweat so much in all my life.

Once at the nurses' station, they start asking me a bajillion questions which really annoyed me because we'd already registered and had filled out the proper paperwork.  Later I found out this is to keep people from insurance fraud - someone coming in and saying they were me and letting me pay for their delivery.

Hubby had a pinch of panic in his voice when he insisted, "She is going to have this baby, soon."  I was looking squarely at a nurse and was able to smile at her.  BUSTED.  From reading about natural childbirth I knew that because I was able to smile I had not transitioned.  I was disappointed because this meant I had more laboring to do = more pain to endure.

Wheeling me into the proper room, all I wanted to do was to get on a bed and lay down.  The nurse checked me and declared I was dilated to 4.5.  My heart sank.  Wisely she quickly reassured me that the numbers mean nothing and that the baby could come quickly.  I tried to settle into my zone - closing my eyes and relaxing the muscles in my arms and shoulders as much as possible in between contractions.  John said at one point he thought I was asleep because I looked so relaxed (he's crazy!)

Here's where my food snobishness comes into play.  I was parched and asked for some water.  When I took a sip I almost spit it out.  It tasted terrible!  At home we filter our water through a reverse osmosis system under the sink.  This was city water and it almost gagged me.  Thankfully our birthing assistant had the forethought to bring along a bottle of filtered water.  I was kicking myself that I'd not thought of that.

The nurses put a heartbeat monitor for the baby around my waist.  After laboring on my left side with pillows between my knees (not sure how long) they were seeing the baby's heartbeat decelerate.  During one of the really strong contractions I felt the urge to push, and so I did, though I didn't tell anyone what I was doing.  I was in the zone and doing minimum talking.

Next they asked me to do the impossible: roll on my right side.  In between contractions, the team of nurses helped me roll over and baby liked the right side much better!  About this time I heard someone say that Dr. Singleton was in the room.  He has been my doctor for all three children but this was the first of my babies that he helped deliver.

As the Lord would be so gracious to will, one of the nurses was a birthing assistant who specialized in natural childbirth.  I was so thankful that she was there.  She added a warm, almost hot, compress to my perineum and it felt amazingly good.  Almost spa like, if I could say that during labor.

Then I felt that urge to push again.  So I did.  I could literally feel either his head slipping down the birth canal or my pelvis opening.  Crazy feeling.

When I pushed the third time I heard someone say, "His head is out."  It was at that moment I heard Dr. Singleton's voice for the first time.  He said with a bit of authority and urgency, "Julie you need to push again and get his shoulders out."  I need to ask him if it was urgent or if I was reading into his inflection.  Nonetheless I obeyed.

10 pounds & 10 ounces of love

And we met Schaeffer Allen face to face.

If you'd asked me to guess how much the baby weighed, I would have told you about eight pounds.  Caroline was 8.5, and Schaeffer felt much easier to push out.  I was very surprised to learn he was 10 pounds, 10 ounces!  One nurse said it could be because the way he was positioned.

Delivering the placenta is a whole 'nother story.  It took 1.5 hours more.  I'm not sure why it took so long to detach but it did.  And I am so thankful that Dr. Singleton was so patient.  While we were waiting he sewed my 2nd degree tears (which haven't hurt at all - though the tears with my other two kids were quite painful for a long time.)  A few contractions came my way (that really hurt!) but they did nothing in the way of getting the placenta out.

During this 1.5 hours, I could not stop shaking.  It was like I was frozen in my core and shivering uncontrollably.  The nurses put warm blankets on me which helped but I think the main reason for the shakes was from a surge of adrenaline.

Dr. Singleton recommended that I walk to the bathroom and try to void, maybe this would help the placenta.  He said another of his patients delivered a placenta into the toilet.  After a few contractions and trying to void it didn't appear that any progress had been made.  Once back into bed he "massaged" my stomach to encourage detachment.  It was a very painful massage but I was willing to endure it because the longer the placenta stayed attached the more likely for (unwanted) further medical intervention.  I prayed out loud for the Lord to detach this placenta.

Eventually it broke free and I was so happy!  And very thankful for Dr. Singleton's patience.  Since then, I've heard horror stories from friends who didn't have patient doctors (when delivering the placenta) and the results were almost life threatening.

Schaeffer is now 5 days old.  I feel so much better now that I am no longer pregnant.  In two days 25 pounds were shed from my body (10 pounds, 10 ounces of that was baby!).  I am not one of these women that say, "I love being pregnant."  I think I was miserable every.single.day.

Schaeffer Allen Majors, I'm thrilled to see you face to face!  (Click here to read why we chose his name.)

Related Resource
A friend let me borrow her copy of Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way.  It helped me mentally prepare for laboring without drugs.  Be warned, there are several nude pictures in this book.

What's in a Name?

Our latest addition to the family is a son, named Schaeffer Allen Majors.  He is named after people we highly esteem: Francis (and Edith) Schaeffer and John Allen Majors.

Francis and Edith Schaeffer 

Edith wrote three books that have impacted my life and the way I love people.  Foremost is her book, L'Abri, which is about their ministry in Switzerland (but also the name of their ministry).  She writes candidly about their family's involvement (small children included), trusting in God to provide financially, juggling and directing a busy household with many visitors and the amazing things God does in the midst of it all.  From Amazon's book description:

The Schaeffers believed that truth must be demonstrated as well as debated. They wanted to show the world through the transformed lifestyle of a believing community that the personal-infinite God is really here in our generation. In a society losing the ability to distinguish between Christian and non-Christian values, truth and untruth, good and evil, L'Abri equipped people to make that distinction.

The second book she wrote that influenced me is What is a Family?  Thirdly, she wrote The Hidden Art of Homemaking.

As for Francis, he wrote twenty-two books and Hubby can tell you more about the theological reasons for admiring this man.  I think it is safe to say Francis' twenty-two books were an overflow of his ministry to seekers and believers at L'Abri.  Here's an article that gives a glimpse into his humanity and humility.  Hubby says if you are to read one Schaeffer book it should be True Spirituality.

John Allen Majors

Hubby's dad is John Allen who is a man after God's own heart.  Gentle, servant, humble, wise and trusted by many.  We are so thankful for John Allen's influence in the lives of his children and grandchildren as well as countless others at his church and workplace.

There you have it... the reasons for naming him Schaeffer Allen (we'll call him just Schaeffer).  There will be a pop quiz later.  :)  Although because of his birth weight of 10 pounds, 10 ounces, it is probably safe to assume that he will have a few nicknames: Pork Chop, Hulk, Hercules, Bubba...

{I wrote about his natural childbirth here.}

He's Here!

Schaeffer Allen Majors made his entrance into the world Friday at 5:45am...FIVE days late I might add.

My water broke at 2:30am which means that labor was only 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Crazy fast, huh?

Even crazier is his weight.  Did you see the chub rolls on this boy?  He weighed 10 pounds and 10 ounces.

Amazingly, I feel great.  Really I do.  Zero pain - except for that which comes with nursing in these early days.

Isn't my mom beautiful?  She has been an amazing helper the last 1.5 weeks.

Our sweet family of five.  When Caroline came into the hospital room she said, "Momma got new jammies?"  That girl is crazy about her PJs.

Caroline was so excited when we brought him home last night.

I wrote about why we chose his name here and all the gory details of his natural childbirth here.

Due Date +4

Yesterday I counted at least 19 people that called, emailed or texted me to ask about baby boy.  My mind was beginning to make me crazy anxious about his arrival so I made an appointment to see my OB.  And maybe I should mention that I always have low blood pressure except yesterday when I had it tested at Walgreens it was "in the higher range."

Today's visit was very reassuring.  Dr. Singleton is one of the most naturally minded baby docs in town (granted, I wouldn't label him as naturally minded as me! I gave him copies of the audio from last fall's WAPF conference in Dallas).  He said my blood pressure was fine for being 40+ weeks prego and would "let me go to 42 weeks without intervention."

I don't really want to go 1.5 more weeks but even more don't want to be induced.

Good news is that I'm dilated to 3; the higher blood pressure isn't a concern for my stage of pregnancy. The doctor just wants me to come in two times a week to check on baby's heartbeat and amniotic fluid, etc.

So I'm still at home - waiting for this laid back boy - having crazy amounts of contractions that are virtually meaningless.  Dr. Singleton is on call tonight and I'd love to go into labor any time.

Due Date +1

This picture was from a week ago.  I just thought for sure I would go into labor any minute.  It was supposed to be our last supper as a family of 4.  We heart Purple Cow.

My mom arrived the next day.  Of course it has been wonderful having her here.  I just wish baby brother would come!!

Every time we get Sister up from sleeping, she asks, "Baby Bruder here yet?"

John Isaac was a week early (and weighed 9.5 lbs!), Caroline was 3 days early (weighing 8.5 lbs) - so of course I thought for sure this baby would be early.  He's late by at least one day.  I really hope to go into labor tomorrow.  I've had countless false starts.

The upside: ironically I feel pretty good, except for the insomnia (and the cold that hit me and Hubby yesterday). I'm reading a lot between midnight and 6am and was able to finish Destiny of the Republic:  A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, which was one of Hubby's top books of 2012.  Before reading it, I knew nothing about President Garfield (was in office only 3 months before being shot.)

Tonight I will probably polish off Night Comes to the Cumberlands: A Biography of a Depressed Area.  It's about how the people and natural resources of eastern Kentucky were raped of timber and coal.

Signing off for now.  Hopefully the next post will be complete with baby stats and pictures.