The Cottage on the Hill

I have to say that this has been the BEST post partum week I've ever had!  What an amazing testimony of God's grace! First of all, hubby took the week off of work and it has been a tremendous blessing to have him here loving on his family and treating me like a queen.  He worked hard with small children by his side and got my garden prepared for planting!  I thought for sure I'd have to skip out on a garden this year, yet as I type, little plants are dancing in the breeze.  As an added blessing, in perfect timing, our neighbor had to lime the field next door.  He saw our garden tilled and sent over a dump load of manure! Personally, I feel great!  I feel AMAZING!  I have so much energy and focus!  I cannot believe the night and day difference from how I felt during, and even before the pregnancy!  I'm healing very well and very quickly.  There are a few "kinks" in my system, such as my left hip keeps acting up on me.  Thankfully...

A little after 6 am on Friday, May 18, 2012, I was dosing in bed when I felt the tell-tale gush.  I looked at the clock, and realized that hubby wasn't all the way to work yet and said, "You've got to be kidding me!"  All the same, I was excited.....and a little apprehensive. Would it all work out with hubby's long commute?  Would the baby be ok being my 2nd earliest baby? The excitement won out while I called my husband and told him to turn around the come home.  I called my parents to arrange for my father to take me to the Woman's Center where I was to give birth.  I called the Center and they said to come right in.  I texted friends and my sister, took a shower, got all my stuff together, and once my father arrived, we went on down to the Center. Contractions hadn't started yet, and deep down I knew I should have stayed home until they did, but with the baby being a bit early, and my having a very faster labor with my daughter, it was recommende...

Lots of pain and pressure, but hardly any contractions! I'm waiting for labor to kick in and in the meantime, I'm just sitting around doing nothing because I can't concentrate on anything BUT going into labor!  I was always able to just get on with life with my other pending labors, but this time I can't seem to think straight or doing much of anything productive.  Then again, I've been pretty much like this this entire pregnancy!  Very unfocused.

I was sitting on the exam table in my OB's office today when she walked in, hand me lay down and started measuring my belly.  She said that I looked like I had dropped and she wanted to do an internal exam to check my progress.  After I was prepped, she did the exam and I nearly started laughing out loud as her eyes got wider and wider.  "You are 4 cm dilated and your cervix is really, really soft.  How far do you live from here?"  I told her it was about 20 minutes.  She replied, "As soon as your contractions are regular and painful or your water breaks, come to the hospital.  I will see you in a week if you're still pregnant by then." So, here we go!  It's happening!.  I'm just sitting around the house waiting for labor to start!  So far today I've had a little cramping, some strange pressure/pushy-ness, and Braxton-Hicks belly tightening.  I pray my water breaks first as it always has with my babies.  That's an easy, sure ...

Mama Chocolate is hosting a giveaway of a $200 Amazon.com gift card generously offered by OverHead Doors!  

I think I will actually make it to term this pregnancy, though I am hoping to go into labor Saturday evening.

I am selling my collection of vintage Holly Hobbie items.  If you are interested, please e-mail me at seamstresslady at yahoo dot com.

The baby is still in me! Good for baby, not so good for a mommy who's so ready to see her new little man and resume function as a normal human being. At this point, I think I will make it to 37 weeks. I have been having feet, ankles and hand swelling. I can feel my hips loosening. I feel like my very low abdomen is stretching. Baby has dropped more and sometimes I have that "sitting on his head" feeling. I am sleeping a bit better. I have more overall energy and I am nesting.

Strong but irregular contractions last night. Today, I feel very weak and very tired. I wonder how much longer I can go on like this. The days are dragging. But, I remember that I made it through weeks upon weeks of horrible morning sickness and that is well in my past. Time keeps marching on. I do look forward to next Monday. I won't be so restricted and can start doing things to promote a positive labor and delivery.

It's funny how one day I can feel really well and get a lot done.  And then there are days like today where I've already spent most of it in bed trying to nap and it is only 1 pm.  I'm cold today, too, craving cookies and cake, and feeling like a cold bug is coming on. In less than a week, I will be at our original projected goal of 35 weeks!  I think I'll go longer (*sigh*) since things don't seem to be progressing at all at this point.