The waiting game . . .

I have NO reason to be impatient for this baby, since Cora was 10 days late, but I have been.  Ever since I hit 37 weeks, there has been this sneaky little voice in the back of my brain that says, "You're considered full term now!  Any day!"  Yeah, right.  I'm about as dilated as I was when I went to the hospital with Cora (1cm)--and I was induced.  There is no reason that I should think I'm going to be early.  The doctor did do an early ultrasound, so this due date should be more accurate than Cora's, but that doesn't mean early.  I alternate between thinking this baby is just about to come, and worrying what I'm going to do if she's late.  My doctor doesn't want to go much past my due date, but I'd rather not be induced again.  I just need to stop trying to be in control of this process, because it is completely beyond my control.  One positive sign, though:  I had contractions for about 4 hours last Tuesday night.  We kept thinking maybe this was it, but they varied in spacing from 5-20 minutes apart and didn't get any stronger.  (Real labor contractions will become stronger and more regular over time.)  But at least my body is doing something.  That's comforting.  I don't remember many contractions from when I was pregnant with Cora, but Josh said I did have some.  It's funny what details he remembers that I don't, and vice versa.  I was kinda glad I wasn't actually in labor, because I had three events this past weekend that I didn't want to miss, one of which being my own baby shower.

I think we are ready for her to come, as far as logistics go.  The hospital bags are packed.  I ordered a double stroller and a new car seat today.  I kept the car seat that we used for Cora, which a friend had given us; however, when I took the cover off to wash it, Cora had a blast picking apart the styrofoam padding, so now we don't trust it.  We had debated getting a new one anyways, since one of the straps tended to loosen.  As luck would have it, Target.com is having a baby gear sale this very week, so we were able to get both the seat and the stroller for 15% off, plus we had gift cards.  The car seat can latch into the stroller, which I think will be very nice.

We have a babysitter for Cora, and plans for what to do if I go into labor while Josh is at school (He has his phone on all the time now, and if I can't get ahold of him on that, I have the phone numbers of his principal and all the other fourth grade teachers so I can get someone to have him call me).  I realized last week when I dropped Josh off so I could have the car to go to my doctor's appointment that we hadn't even thought about what we would do if I happened to go into labor on a day when I had the car.  In all my planning ahead, it had never occurred to me.  But we do have a plan now.  The friend who is watching Cora said she could pick Josh up if that happened.  The odds are low, but I know it would have happened if I hadn't planned for it.  Josh thinks I'm probably going to have the baby at night, since that's when I most often have contractions.  But we can also make an argument for it happening while he's at school, because then it would be least convenient.  :D

Cora is taking a nap today (hallelujah!), which is why I can spend so much time writing.  She's becoming clingier than she used to, and can be very demanding--"Mom, come play with me.  Come play with me now!" At least she knows how to express her needs.  And I'm glad she asks me to play with her, because when she doesn't, I tend to play with her less than I should.

And now, I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and get some more scrapbooking done.  I had hopes of catching up on Cora's before this baby came, but I opted to finish our wedding scrapbook instead (after 3 1/2 years . . .).  I'm at April 2010, so just a tiny bit behind . . .

Christmas and ultrasound

Here are some pictures from our Christmas with Josh's family, and Tuesday's ultrasound!

Cora and Isabelle making music together

Dog Pile!

Cora LOOOOOOVED the snow.  Even now, she'll ask to go play in the snow whenever she sees a picture or video of it.  I have to try to explain that Houston doesn't get snow.

Cora, Thomas, and Benjamin making a gingerbread train (with some help).  They had a blast!

Opening presents Christmas morning!  We got her some play food, a play kitchen, and I made her an apron.  She loves playing kitchen now.  My mom got her a bunch of plastic animals that she also loves.  She likes to line them up or take a couple with her to the potty and play for a long time.

By the way, she's potty trained!  We started January 2nd because she was really excited about the underwear we gave her for Christmas.  I just put in her in a shirt and underwear for a couple of days (using a Pull-Up when we went anywhere) and sat her on the potty every hour or so.  She went through 5 pairs of underwear the first day, but only 2 or 3 for the next few days, and now she rarely has an accident!  Yay!  I'm enjoying a few diaper-free weeks until Baby Sister comes!

After the 26th, it was just us, Anna, and Rachel's family at Josh's parents.  We went to the City of Rocks, which is a bunch of huge boulders in the middle of a valley.  I never did find out how exactly they formed.  Here's Grandpa "saving" Cora from a rock.

Josh liked seeing how high he could climb.

Family picture!  You can't see Baby Sister, but she's there too!

Cora and Thomas had SO much fun together.  I got a great video of them chasing Josh around the living room that I'll have to post later.  I love Cora's face in this picture.

Cora didn't want to leave!  We all had a great time.

Here's a picture from last night. 37 weeks and 41 inches around at the belly button.  That's what the smaller writing says.  I should have just used a full sheet of paper.  The baby's due February 7th!  Here are some ultrasounds from yesterday.

I think this is a profile picture of the baby's head and shoulder.  I'm not positive.

This is her face!  You can pretty clearly see an eye and her nose.  Her mouth is open.  The image on the ultrasound machine screen was much clearer.  I am getting soooo excited to see her!

This is looking down on her head.  The doctor said she weighs about 6 1/2 pounds and is in the perfect position for birth, though still very high in my abdomen.  My cervix has softened some, but I haven't dilated at all.  I was only dilated about 1 cm when I went to the hospital to be induced with Cora.  I'm excited for this baby to come, but I hope she waits until after my baby shower on the 28th. :)  Because my doctor dated this pregnancy so early (at 7 weeks), she is pretty confident in the due date and doesn't want me to go over. I really don't want to be induced this time, but I decided (with my doctor's encouragement) that the risks of going too late are more important than my desire to avoid being induced, especially since I had such a (relatively) good experience last time.  So I probably won't have this baby much later than February 7th.  I'm still holding out hope for earlier, though.  We'll keep you all posted!