June 6-12....who's next????

I made it through my Blessing yesterday!

It was the most perfect, wonderful, amazing afternoon....beyond anything that anyone could have planned. We all just kind of made it up as we went along and the energy in my living room was AMAZING.

After the bead ceremony was all over my mom presented me with a "good wishes quilt." Her friend's daughter recently adopted a child from China and it's tradition for the family to make a quilt and write out their wishes for the baby. My mom - who is an amazing quilter - loved the idea and decided to do it for our baby.

I haven't counted the squares but I think there are probably 50 or more. People from all parts of our life sent my mom a square of fabric with a letter to the baby and she pieced it all together.

(I will photograph and post later today - it's SO beautiful.)

Then my mom made a scrapbook with all the letters and a small square of each peice of fabric so we'll know which squares are from which person.

The letters are amazing....everyone we know wrote one...my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. Even some of my DH's buddies did (well they had some help from DH's mom with getting the fabric). It's overwhelming to think about how much our baby is loved already.

I was so hard last night reading them all.

Ahhhhhh.....

I feel SOOOOOO READY to have this baby now!

~Erin

Wow Erin that quilt sounds amazing!!! It's so nice to have something that special.

Holy cow I'm am 38 weeks tomorrow!! I feel like the end of this pregnancy is quickly creeping up on me. It seems bizarre to me that any day now I could be holding this little one in my arms. It doesn't seem real yet.

Oh I have a funny belly story! Yesterday we were at my dd's soccer game and we were standing in line at the consession stand to get a bottle of water and I couldn't find my youngest. I turn to dh w/ mild panic asking him where Maddie was and he looks at me laughs and says under your BELLY! The whole line behind us was laughing! :LOL

This afternoon my neighborhood friends are taking me to lunch for a little shower. It's kinda a protest thing since my mom told me that she wouldn't do anything unless I was having a boy!

I need to go shower! HAve a great day everyone!!

39 weeks today! I have to say -- as much as I want this baby to be born NOW -- DH and I have been just astounded at going this long. This whole pregnancy has been astounding. You see, we entered our marriage hoping to adopt some of our children. After marriage, we decided we would try to conceive our first and then adopt one and then decide from there (conceive first because 1. it was cheaper and easier -- we thought -- and 2. while I was younger). Well, a few months into ttc, I was diagnosed with PCOS -- severe PCOS -- and told it would take intervention to get me pg and, even with intervention, my chances would be 50/50. So we scrapped the ttc plan and moved straight to adoption. For 4 years, we used infertility as our birth control. Just before our kids came home from Haiti, I decided I could not be on medication for the rest of my life for PCOS if I were to be a happy, good mom (it made me cranky and ill). So I tried to ease the symptoms through herbs, diet and exercise -- quite successfully. I went off all meds. The kids came home and 2 months later -- pregnant!

When DH and I looked at the little stick, we were amazed, but also just both felt that this would not take. We just thought it was too good to be true -- that here we were with these 2 little loves of our lives FINALLY home after a 3 year process and NOW -- another! We both secretly believed that I would miscarry or wouldn't go anywhere near full-term. I know that sounds awful -- we just admitted it to each other recently -- that it took a long time to believe it would be a viable pregnancy. Now -- here I am at 39 weeks today with this little girl kicking up a storm and still cooking! And my 2 other babies kissing my belly everyday and so excited to see their sister.

So, while I really want to have my baby born and not be pregnant anymore, I feel so fortunate to be at 39 weeks with this child we never thought would come!

Okay okay -- I am 39 weeks and also very emotional!

Peace,

Paula~What a wonderful story, thank you for sharing such an intimate part of your life. I know what you mean about not thinking that the pregnancy would last, etc...and here we are, about ready to pop! It is such a wonderful miracle.

Sandi~Dh and I both got a good laugh from your belly story! Love it!!!

Well, I am 38 weeks tomorrow...I didn't make it this far with Emma. Today is the only day of the month I don't want to have the baby...it's my Mom's birthday. She would say FOREVER, "Oh, my little birthday buddy" or "We are so much alike because we have the same birthday!" She is so annoying as it is, I don't want to add any fuel to the fire...so I am telling baby to stay put today! I've been having pretty good contractions, but they stop when I go to bed. That's ok with me...I think baby will come this week anyway. Last night my contractions were lasting for 1 minute and 6 minutes apart for an hour or so, then I went to bed and they stopped. I guess it's just my body getting ready! My midwife is taking the week off...that is only doing births, no prenatals. I'm kind of sad because I want to know if I am dilated any more. I wanted to find out if this EPO is actually working or not. Oh well, my next appt. is scheduled for the 17th....I really don't see myself being pregnant still on the 17th though. I guess we'll see!!!!

Can't wait to see who is next on our list....come on babies, some of your Mommas are REALLY ready to meet you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lots of labor vibes to those who want them and patience vibes for the rest of us!

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OMG, that happens to me all the time! What's really funny is that the first time it happened, I was in the shower with Eli. I started to have a panic attack before he turned and touched my leg, trying to figure out if I'd blacked out or something while he escaped. :LOL It was totally nuts. Now I step more carefully.

I'm sure there will be lots more babies soon! Several are due this week. Even though I was laboring with Eli this time last pregnancy, I can't think of this baby as being due "any day now". I just don't feel remotely close to labor. Part of it is definately the fact that I'm not homocidal or in pain (I strongly associate those feelings with imminent labor ) but the rest.. I don't know, I feel like I've got plenty of time left. At this very moment, I can easily imagine being pregnant for another full month or so.

Paula, thank you for sharing your story with us. It is really beautiful. May your labor and birth be everything you hope it to be!

Well, I'm one day past my due date, and still no sign of the baby coming! I am really getting anxious to have this little one. Dh keeps telling me that the baby will come when he/she is ready. I know this, but still..... Jared was born 10 days late. Or as dh puts it...Jared was on time, we were off with the date. Anyway, I really to want to meet my baby soon! I feel like I've been pregnant forever!

I really need to straighten the house to prepare for the birth, but I have been feeling really tired lately. I have almost all the laundry done, thank goodness! But there's still dishes to do, vaccuuming, dusting, and decluttering of paperwork! (That's the part I dislike the most!) Oh! And we still haven't started the baby's room yet. It's still our cluttered home office. Dh wonders why I want to do it, since the baby will be sleeping with us anyway. He's got a point, but I still want a place for the baby's clothes and stuff, not just in a Rubbermaid tub. KWM :

Oh! Jared has been kissing and stroking my belly a LOT more often lately. He also loves to rest his head on it. He's going to be such a great big brother!

I better get going and get some more cleaning done!

Wow! Congrats on your big boy! That is so awesome. I'm hoping for a water birth too this time. Didn't make it to the hospital in time for one last time. I can't wait to hear the details and see pics!

I'm still hanging in there. I'm ready to go any time though. I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow and was measuring 41 weeks and had actually lost 1 1/2lbs. at my last mw appt. I'm still obsessive about cleaning the house and it's starting to drive me nuts. Friday, I had the whole place nice and clean and I still wanted to clean more! I was so bored just sitting down.

Dd is really saying some funny things about the baby. If she's wearing a dress, she always says she wants to show Julian her pretty dress. I tell her she can show him when he comes out and she says "when he comes out your yoni?". She also likes to lift up my shirt and put something against my belly and pretend she's listening to the "heartbeep". :LOL

Kim- It probably is a girl, then. With us, we could never decide on a girl's name and both our babies are boys. Same thing with my bf-couldn't decide on a girl's name and she had a boy.

YAY Donna! Congrats!

Paula-I have been wondering since a few of us have it, what is PCOS? I love your story, what an amazing journey your family has been on!

Erin-It is wonderful that you have so many people that love and support you. I am glad your party was amazing and not stressful for you.

Rynna-I feel the same way. I could easily be pregnant for another month. I am so excited to meet this baby, I would really like to give birth soon, but I don't think I am going to. Plus I REALLY need to wait until my labor support gets here. I know I say that a lot, I just have to remind myself that I want to wait. Every time I have practice ctx, I just tell myself "It'll happen when it is time, when he is ready" and that could be tonight or it could be a month from now. I can't change it and I don't want to so I may as well go about my business as usual.

Mamadosa may have her baby today. Her first was a REALLY long labor and she's been having ctx since 2:30 am but she says they are plateauing and she's pretty frustrated, so if we could send some progress vibes her way I am sure she would appreciate it.

I can't believe it is time for another thread already! June 6-12!

Donna!! Congrats!!! Maybe I should have posted my gender predictions, I've been right 3 times so far (I thought you, Smithie, and Queenie would all have boys) I can't wait to hear the story and "meet" little Crush!!

Oh Paula, that was so beautiful!! Even without the hormone induced weepiness, you had me crying!

Erin, that quilt sounds just gorgeous! I wanna see the pics!!

I have "lost" Ben many times under my belly, which is sort of amazing to me, cause he's about 42" tall!! I've only gotten worried once, usually I trip over him before I have a chance to notice he's "missing", lol!

I must be the only one who is not wanting to have this baby at all right now. As much as I was so desperate to go into labor last week, now I am terrified to go into labor and really dreading it until he flips back. I have decided to refuse surgery unless my MW's feel there is an emergency, as we have always planned, but now I'm dealing with what will happen if I do refuse, since I;m 99.999% sure our back-up Dr will not do breech births. One good thing that could be our saving grace is my Mom just called to tell me a friend of hers at church has a Dr who delivers at our hospital and he does breech births! He only takes PPO from our insurance, but we might be able to get partial reimbursement for his fee and the hospital part would be covered by our HMO. I'm very anxious to call him tomorrow and get more info.

Happy weekend everyone!!

Congratulations Donna! Wow! 4 and 4 -- 8 kids. And I have been wondering how I will do 3! How are you feeling? Looking forward to hearing the name!

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Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is an inherited disease (for most I believe) that causes the follicles from ovulation to become cystic. PCOS causes your hormones to go bizzerke, as well as your blood sugear levels (one affecting the other). It is a (if not THE) leading cause of infertility and can also lead to heart disease, diabetes, and a slew of other diseases. I should have been diagnosed at 12 years old, when I started my period and immediately found myself throwing up each period, gaining weight out of nowhere, and having far more cramping than normal, plus having horribly painful ovulation. I have NEVER visited a gyn without mentioning that I had horribly painful ovaries and menstrual symptoms, irregular periods, unwanted facial hair, and all the other symptoms of PCOS -- and yet is was not diagnosed until 4 years ago, when a Reproductive Endicrinologist said, "You have ALL but two symptoms (I neither lost my hair nor have diabetes). How could anyone miss this?" By that time, I had had it so long, and it had gone unmanaged (had I known earlier, I could have gone on BCP to control it) that my reproductive system was pretty destroyed.

Fortunately, with a lot of dedication, the symptoms can be reversed through herbs, diet, and exercise in many women (though not all). Pregnancy, if achieved, can also reverse the symptoms for a time (let's hope this is the case for us because we want one more).

Here's hoping all of us wanting it go into labor real soon!! I myself will be asking my husband to ...um...well...how shall I say this delicately... soften my cervix with semen...tonight.

Peace,

Congratulations Donna!! So exciting!!

Last night I woke up after a couple hours of sleep and was having contractions 30 seconds long and about 3 minutes apart. I just knew this was it and it went on for about 3 hours and suddenly stopped. I am so discouraged and frustrated. I didn't have and of this with DS, I simply woke up with a contraction and right on through labor. 'sigh' I marveled at how fast the last 9 months have gone by and yet it seems as if the last few days/weeks will last forever.

Erin- that quilt sounds awesome, what a beautiful idea!!

Paula- I have PCOS too, I found that my symptoms really subsided while I was breastfeeding DS but came back with a vengance when he started to wean. Luckily I didn't have any trouble conceiving this one, I wish the same for you!!

((hugs))
Tamara