She's FINALLY Here!

Eleven days later than her due date, Kaelyn Marie joined our family today, Oct. 30th!  She weighed 8lbs 15oz and is 20.5" long.  We are home now and doing well :)

Pregnancy Journal: 41 weeks and Counting

Today I had my last prenatal appointment at my birthing center.  There's been almost no change since my last appointment.  My cervix is high and thick.  The baby has moved back up, so the midwife could no longer touch her head.  I have tried every "trick" I know to get the process started, but nothing is helping.  I am feeling stressed. 

On Monday, (if the baby has not arrived on her own) we'll take the hour and 15 minute drive to meet with an OB.  She'll be conducting a few tests: non-stress and ultrasound.  Then, she'll make the decision if I need to be induced right away or if I can go x amount of days longer.  If she allows me to go longer and I don't go on my own during that time period, I'll have to go back for a second non-stress test.  Since my body is not progressing, I am preparing myself for yet another hospital induction type birth.  This is not the route I wanted to take this time.  I do not like the thought of being delivered by a doctor that I have no relationship with.  Still praying baby will appear on her own in the next couple of days.

Almost Three!

Ella will be three years old in just a couple of days.  Tonight, we celebrated by taking her to Toys-R-Us, where she was given a crown and a balloon (they were out of their normal birthday club balloons).  Toys-R-Us's birthday club is something that we learned about last year and both of the girls look forward to going there on/near their birthdays.

Next, we headed to the mall for Chick-Fil-A's monthly birthday celebration.  The girls both had their faces painted and both were given a cupcake and a cookie. Ella was given a stuffed cow and a balloon and she was able to pick a birthday surprise - she chose a Tinkerbell Notebook :)

Because they didn't have quite enough sugar at Chick-Fil-A (*sigh*), we took them home to roast marshmallows, which I was lazy (*ahem*) and didn't take any pictures of this event.

On an unrelated sidenote, baby number three is being super stubborn.  I am 41 weeks pregnant now and having a hard time being patient for her arrival.  I am wondering if she is waiting to show up on her sister's birthday??

Ella's Haircut

So it's not super easy to see in pictures, but this is the reason I do not like my little kids to use scissors.  They always seem to think it's a great idea to cut their hair!  This time, Ella thinned out the top of her hair and chopped up her bangs here and there.  Eek! 

Beach

We spent 10 days at the beach with our families, both mine and Andrew's.  All together, there were about 35 of us there throughout two weeks.  We had a great time together.  Arin loved being with her cousins and she cried the night that they left.  Here are a few of the beach pics from our trip.

Pregnancy Journal: 40 weeks

I am officially OVERDUE!  My due date was originally the 19th, but the birthing center said the 18th, and then this week, I met with the owner of the birthing center and she put me back at the 19th.  Either way, this baby is late!  That is not surprising at all, since I was overdue and induced with both Arin and Ella. 

We did just get home from spending 10 days with our families and I am so happy that I did not go into labor while we were gone, but now that we are back home, I am more than ready to have my baby!  At my forty week prenatal appointment, we saw a bit of progression over my 37 week appointment, which was the only other time I have been checked.  Now I am 2cm dialated and about 30% effaced.  Baby is at 0 station, meaning the midwife could feel her head.  This morning I started showing slight signs of baby coming soon, but that seems to have all fizzled out and so the waiting game continues.  Even though I know that babies rarely come on their due date, it is so hard to be patient!

My back has been hurting a lot over the past couple of weeks and I have been pretty emotional, but otherwise, all is well :)