Confessional Friday + 38 Week Bumpdate

Hey, friends! Welcome to Friday. Aren't we glad to see her?

So, my post today isn't a confession at all, but I did want to get this bumpdate up, just in case someone decides to grace us with her presence before next week! (And I'd be A-Okay with that at this point!)

You can leave links to your Confessional Posts per usual, of course!

.........................................

Weeks: 38 as of yesterday

Gender: GIRL! Stephen doesn't stand a chance against all of this estrogen : )

Name: Ainsley Catherine

Cravings: More space in my stomach so that I can eat food again without heartburn. Amen.

And nachos.

(No amount of heartburn can keep me away from nachos.)

Most looking forward to: Being not pregnant. I'm going to level with you here: the fun of this has run its course and I'm ready to feel like my body is mine again. After two years of being "with child", I honestly cannot remember what it feels like to not be pregnant. (I don't know how Michelle Duggar does it. And I do not wish to find out.)

I'm so very, very grateful that we've been given the gift of these two precious girls, and I have enjoyed both pregnancy journeys so much, each for their own reasons. Ainsley completes our family and I'm ready to have her on the outside!

Most nervous about: The C-section. Caroline's birth was a little bit scary with my epidural failing and all, so I'm praying that this time it takes. Because I can tell you first hand, a C-section without a complete epidural does not a fun experience make.

I've prayed about it a lot and now, I'm just giving it up to God.

Cheers to great drugs and a freaking fantastic anesthesiologist (!!)

I can't wait to: Start nursing a baby again. I was shocked out how much I enjoyed breastfeeding Caroline. It was such a cool bonding experience and I'm excited to share that with Ainsley, too.

Updates: We really and truly thought we were having her on my birthday. I joked with Stephen on Tuesday night that all I wanted for my birthday was to get this baby OUT. He kept saying, "Maybe Santa will give you a baby for your b-day!"

The next morning, after a night of contracting and contracting and contracting, I was eating my words. I was in pain and they were so much more intense than any of the contractions I had felt so far. These contractions started in my back and radiated all the way around to my tummy, then down into my thighs. They were the real-freaking-deal and they. sucked. big. time.

I had an appointment for a final ultrasound with our high-risk OB at 8:30 a.m. sharp, so I called ahead, told them how I was feeling and they met me there at 7:50 and got me right back before anyone else. (Thank you, Dr. C and staff!!)

They immediately began the ultrasound and I started contracting...hard. So intensely that our high-risk doc was convinced I was in labor and told me we should probably go home and get ready for the C-section! (Ainsley's head was so low that they couldn't get a measurement on it with the ultrasound...and trust me, I could/can feel it!) Even though they were intense, the contractions were all happening at really irregular intervals, (regularity = true labor), so we decided to go on home until my later appointment at 1:00 p.m.

I was feeling evvvvvvvery contraction, so I went home, packed a bag, put Ainsley's things in a bag and got my game face on.

(For concerned parties about Stephen and who packed his bag: our house is a literal two-minute drive from the hospital we're using, so Stephen will go back and forth when he needs things. And, should he require a bag, he is quite capable and willing to pack it himself ; ) I had SO many people ask me last year before Caroline's birth if I had "packed Stephen's bag yet" and we would both look at each other and laugh. {Y'all, I am serious. Granted, most of them were older/elderly women, but these folks honest-to-goodness wanted to know if and when I planned on packing his things for him.} He's a 30-year-old man who travels across the country for work on a weekly basis. I asked him if he felt cheated in some way if I let him pack his own bag for our hospital stay and he said, verbatim, "I haven't had a lady pack my bag since I went to camp when I was eight." So, there you have it.)

But back to my story...

I remember thinking, as we loaded our things into the car and headed to the appointment, that this could be it. The day the family of three became the family of four. And then The Little Drummer Boy came on the radio. And I thought about Christmas and Hallmark commercials. And puppies. And, of course, I started to get teary-eyed and happy and sappy. And then I was bawling, Bing Crosby blaring in the background and all.

Oh, hormones...

Anywhoodle, by the time we got to our 1:00 appointment with our regular O.B., the contractions were still happening, but the intensity had died down a lot. (This was a welcomed feeling because...OUCH.) After a while on the NST machine, a (super-duper fun) exam and a lot of discussion, we decided that we'd reconvene later this morning (as in today) at 8:00 a.m. and go from there.

So, who knows if we'll have a baby this afternoon, tonight, this weekend or next week...it'll be a surprise for all of us - Stephen and me, included!

   

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