Update...

Well..... today has been very uneventful.  Brielle is just loving her cozy home and does not want to come out!!  The Cervadil didn't do much for my cervix last night.  It softened it more and moved me to 80% effaced, but my cervix was still not dilated any more than a fingertip as of this morning.  So, we then started Pitocin at a very low dose.  Their intention is just to nudge me into natural labor - not bring on the big guns or force labor.  The most Pitocin we used today was a level of 6.  To put this into context for you, most hospitals when they induce labor, start at like 6-10 and go up to 30+.  The contractions have all been very bearable and I haven't gotten into a regular pattern of labor yet.  So, we wait.  They will take me off the Pitocin in about an hour.  We will do another Cervadil tonight and then be a little more aggressive with the Pitocin tomorrow.  If nothing happens tomorrow and Brielle is still looking really good as she has been today, I will go home for a day and pray, pray, pray that labor starts on its own.  If not, then we will try again probably Monday with the same thing.  If nothing, then a cesarean. What a lesson in patience and letting go!!  The midwife is telling me that she isn't concerned at all about the size of the baby, but is more concerned about my age and letting me go too long.  However, Brielle looks fabulous and she feels totally comfortable with this game plan.  Did I mention this midwife is almost 70 years old?  She has 40+ years experience.  Talk about being in good hands!  She sat with me for about an hour today and told me her whole midwifery story.  She has been such a change agent in the midwifery field.

Prayers appreciated!!!  Hoping Brielle decides to come tomorrow!  October 12th would be a good day for her birthday : )

At the hospital!

We went in for another ultrasound on Wednesday morning and Brielle was measuring 10.5 lbs.  Oh my!  We really don't think she gained 2 lbs in a week and a half, but not sure exactly how big she really is!  So, it was determined that the best shot for a VBAC would be to try to induce me slowly.  My cervix was still posterior and closed on Wednesday.  Fortunately, my practice is so big on natural birthing that when they do have to induce, they do so incredibly slowly with a lot of patience and with a very low dose of pitocin.  They hope that they can wean me off the pitocin once my body kicks into labor.

I was admitted last night and given cervadil to ripen my cervix overnight.  The midwife on call last night was the one who started the midwifery practice we are with.  She has such an amazing reputation here in Atlanta with over 35 years of experience.  She is very "old school" and I really trust her explicitly.  She felt my abdomen and said that she didn't think she was a 10lb baby and then also checked out my pelvis and said that even if she was 10lbs, she didn't think I would have any issues pushing her out.  What encouragement!  They should be in soon to check what kind of progress was made last night.  I can say that I am having very regular contractions this morning, so I am hoping this is a good sign!  Brielle is slightly posterior, so we need to get her to move to a better birthing position and will be doing lunges and other positional exercises to encourage her to move today.

This morning I just enjoyed spending an extended time with the Lord reading His Word, listening to Watermark (love them!), and praying.  What a luxury when you have small kids up early in the morning.  I am loving my morning so far!  Getting my mind renewed and ready for the events of the day! : )

Still Waiting!

We had another u/s on Monday to make sure that baby Brielle was still doing well in my womb and that everything was going ok.  Afterwards, I met with a couple of midwives who gave me a bunch of options for Brielle's grand entrance.  They offered me another repeat c-section due to me being 44, overdue, and having a large baby.  They also said I could wait to see if I would go into labor naturally with some help with homeopathics and other labor inducing tricks.  We decided to go that route for this week while also going into get another u/s tomorrow to check on size and to (again) make sure she is doing well in my womb.

They checked me while I was there and while Brielle is SUPER low, my cervix was still posterior and only a fingertip dilated.  I was 50% effaced.  I was SO surprised to hear this when I have been having so many intense contractions.  I was 2cm and 100 effaced at 38 weeks with Keller without even feeling any contractions!  Crazy.  My practice doesn't really want to induce me since I am a VBAC, but we will be discussing all of that tomorrow once we get more information with the u/s.

Please pray for us!  I would so love to avoid another c-section.  I hate thinking of the recovery period.  Ugh.  But, overall, we want a healthy baby for sure!!

On another note... We got to meet Jennifer and Brielle's genetic siblings yesterday too!!  It was so great to meet them face to face.  It was only for a very short time because my appointment at the midwives took 3 1/2 hours (don't even ask!!!) and I was running super super late, but I was so glad that Jennifer persevered and came by anyway.  They gave Brielle the BEST gift too!  Seriously, a God thing for me.  They bought her an Angel Dear lovey with her name on it.  Keller has an Angel Dear lovey with her name on it and I just hadn't gotten around to buying one for Brielle yet.  It was literally the last thing on my list!  Check!!  I slept with it last night - I needed a lovey after hearing all of the bad news over at Intown Midwifery.  : )  The sad news is that we totally forgot to take a picture with the kids and Jenn!  Where is my head??!  I also had a really small shower with friends for Brielle several weeks ago and we forgot to take pictures there too!!  I am starting to worry about myself.  Ha.  Here is a picture of Keller's VERY worn out lovey along with the new bunny lovey from Jenn and the kids.  Thanks again, Jennifer!!  We love it.

Thanks for the prayers!

Past Our Due Date...

Well, here we are at 40 + 1 day with no baby in sight yet : (  This fact really wouldn't discourage me so much if I wasn't so uncomfortable and if I hadn't just found out on Monday that our sweet baby girl is measuring around 8 1/2 lbs!!  No wonder I am so huge in comparison to Keller!!!  My goodness!!

At 39 weeks our practice wants us to get an u/s and NST (non-stress test) done every week until the baby comes.  We hadn't had an u/s done since around week 24, hence the reason for my surprise.  I had no idea she was so big!  I think I assumed that she was in the 30th percentile because her genetic siblings with Jennifer and Aaron are in the 30th percentile.  Clearly, not so!!  Brielle did fabulously on the NST and I had a TON of amniotic fluid, so they were happy with how she was doing so far.

I did try to get checked on Monday to see if there was any progress at all, but my cervix has been pushed posterior and the midwife couldn't get to it around the head.  I am told that when labor starts, the cervix will move into an anterior position, but I can't help thinking that maybe this is why we haven't gone into labor yet.  Her head isn't directly on the cervix right now.  She did say it was ripe, but couldn't measure any dilation or effacement.

I am still having contractions left and right and thought I was going into labor again last Sunday night only to have the contractions slowly taper off Monday mid-morning.

So... we wait.  It is definitely testing my trust and faith in God with any outcome.  I have to continually remind myself and renew my mind to the truth that God is in control and will allow His plan to unfold in the way He desires.  Our practice doesn't typically induce women, unless the baby or mom isn't doing well, until right at 42 weeks.  They really don't like to induce VBAC patients because the risk for a cesarean goes up and the very small risk for uterine rupture goes up (but it is still only around 1%).  So, I guess I am just a bit nervous that Brielle is so big already and I am trying to birth this baby unmedicated.  She keeps gaining more the longer she is in there!  Being that this would be my first delivery, I am feeling a bit afraid.  However, I am trying to place my trust in God that He clearly knows what He is doing : ).  I'm just along for the ride!

Please pray for us that we will meet our sweet Brielle soon!!!  We are appreciative!

A Little Comparison...

So, I decided to look up my belly shot from right before I delivered Keller and oh my goodness!!!  What a difference!  This shot was taken 3 days before Keller was born... (at 39 weeks)

Tiny, right?  No wonder I was feeling pretty good throughout my pregnancy with her!  Just so you know that I didn't quite luck out the second go around like I did with the first ....

Ummmm. Yyyeah.  A. Little. Bit. Bigger.  HA!  You'd think by the comparison that I had triplets in there or something!  : )

No more major contractions for today.  All has been fairly quiet.  Ready, ready, ready for baby Brielle to come though!!

I'm in Contractionville

I have been having off and on contractions for the past 24 hours.  They are the worst when I am up and walking about.  I didn't have these pre-labor contractions with my pregnancy with Keller, so they are kinda throwing me for a loop!  I don't know how I will know when I am truly in labor.  I'm sure it will be when they keep getting stronger and more consistent, but still!!  It is hard to plan!  I'm afraid I will be like, "Oh, this is just my pre-labor contractions again." and then not take them too seriously so I don't alert my parents to come in time, etc...  It will take my parents 2 hours to get here, so it is hard to know when to call them.  Anyway, at least my body is gearing up!!  I am ready any time now.  Seriously!  Come now, little one! : )

I finished all of my "to dos" in relation to the baby coming, so am feeling really happy about that!  Here are a couple of pixs showing the girls room now that they have moved in together.  Soooo happy that we found the extra furniture from the same line as Sadie's.  Even if we did have to travel 2 1/2 hours to get it!  I think they really like it.

Aren't they just the cutest?  I love it when they are in a lovey mood with each other.
Sister love is the best!

37 Weeks... Full Term!

Baby Scholen became full term on Friday.  Woo hoo!  The crazy thing is that we started thinking I was going into labor on Thursday night.  I started having some serious contractions and then they became crampy and I couldn't get them to stop no matter what I did.  I tried to rest on my left side and they became worse!  I was in contact with my doula who told me to get into the tub to see if they would slow down then and, sure enough, they slowed down and then stopped.  I can see why everyone raves about getting into the birthing tub when delivering naturally.  It really does slow things down and relaxes you.  I haven't had any intense contractions like that since, but I am definitely having lighter ones here and there.  My body is getting geared up!

On a symptom note... I woke up a couple of weeks ago in the middle of a dream and shot out of bed so fast because I was choking and gagging and couldn't breathe!  I had no idea what it was, but scared my poor hubby out of his mind.  It really freaked me out since I was so dead asleep a second beforehand.  Anyway, I looked it up on Dr. Google and found out that I had just experienced reflux/heartburn to the point that it came up past my throat, giving me the gagging feeling.  I have never had heartburn or reflux before, so this is a new thing for me.  I haven't had anymore of those episodes, thankfully, but I have been experiencing some heartburn in the evenings occasionally.

I am also experiencing a lot of low pelvic pressure and pain in my lower back and rear end.  It cracks me up when I can literally feel baby girl squirming or kicking or something in my bottom!  So happy she is head down!  Dig in, little girl!!

I was so thrilled that we weren't going into labor yet last Thursday because I really wanted the weekend to get some of the last things on my list done.  Jeff drove up to Greenville, SC to pick up some furniture I wanted to add to the girls' room.  I had found Sadie's furniture on Craigslist last year and wanted to match it for Keller since she was now in the room with Sadie.  I have been scouring CL for months and could not find all the pieces I wanted here in Atlanta.  So, I finally found everything I wanted in South Carolina.  Hated that we had to drive 2 1/2 hours to get the stuff, but HEY!, you do what you gotta do!!    And I LOVE this furniture line!!  It is solid wood and is a cream colored, antiqued and distressed.  We had a trundle, long dresser, and nightstand for Sadie and just added a headboard, nightstand, and tall dresser for Keller.  So thrilled I got this done before the baby came!  Pictures to follow once I get Keller's letters painted for her name on the wall (almost there!).

I finally finished Baby girl's room last week!  And, since I promised pictures, I guess I will have to let you in on her name now.... Brielle!  Here are the pictures of her room.

Still need to add the changing pad, but will do that after she comes.  Keller is still using it some!

A friend of mine's sister painted this for us when Keller was born.  I added some pink to it to make it a little more girly!

I had a pillow made, but made the drapes myself.

I painted the letters and then added the wall decals.  I love how it turned out.

We can't wait to meet baby Brielle!!!