Baby Carr #3 the Grand Finale update

40.5 weeks belly shot above, and below the only ultrasound picture from our appointment today. It is the baby's leg, the face was too low to see. I guess something is better than nothing though!

James took these last four pictures on my due date this past Sunday. Jake and Mari had just come in from playing outside and Mari was about to take a nap. They are in various states of undress as that is how they like to be when left to their own devices.

James went with me to our first overdue appointment this afternoon. We had an ultrasound to check the baby's size and biophysical functions and then met with our doctor. The baby is estimated to be 8lbs 14 oz and my amniotic fluid level was 8 which is the lower level of normal, but apart from that the baby seems really healthy. My doctor is so surprised that I made it to my appointment today. She said she has been checking the hospital every day to see if I had shown up in labor yet. She is going to let me go until next week and we went ahead and scheduled a date in case baby does not come by then. I am really hoping that s/he will make his/her appearance before then, but I am comfortable with my doctor's reasoning and our plan. Since I had a successful VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) with Mari, they are willing to let me VBAC a possible 9lb baby this time (Mari was 9lb 3.2 oz even though she was projected to only be 8.5lbs) and even attempt a light induction before performing a repeat c-section. What will happen is that if I don't have the baby by Monday, May 1st at 6 p.m., James and I report to the hospital where Dr. Chaney (who delivered Mari) will come by and attempt a Foley induction (details of a Foley induction can be found here). It sounds incredible painful, but better than a c-section. If that does not work then Dr. Lacey (my doctor) will come by and break my water in the morning and then if that doesn't work, after a few hours, she will give me a little bit of pitocin (she said a .5 dose, which is an extremely light dose) and if that doesn't work then I will have a repeat c-section. Either way, we should have a baby by the end of March 2nd. There is a full moon on Sunday night, Feb 28th and I went into labor with Mari on a full moon, but either way I have made my peace with it. This baby has been an shocker from literally the moment we found out and has defied many odds to get this far. I am just relieved on some level that an end is in sight, but I still would obviously rather to go into labor on my own.

Ready and Waiting

The baby, being a smart baby in the tradition of smart babies, has had the foresight to prepare presents for Jake and Mari to receive when they come meet him/her at the hospital. I ordered these "Big Brother"/"Big Sister" shirts, but had to make the one for the baby to wear when they come to see him/her for the first time. Okay, so I didn't HAVE to make anything, but I am bored and running out of things to do! The kids are also getting a book on being a big brother/big sister and I made them each a photo book with pictures from when they were newborns to try and ease them into the whole idea of what a baby is and to show them that they were once a baby as well. I gave them the photo books early as (a) they LOVE looking at pictures of themselves and (b) I figured it coulnd't help to prepare them as early as possible.

A close up of Jake's above, and a close up of the baby's below.

A close up of Mari's shirt above.

Went to my DR appointment today and everyone (and I do mean everyone from receptionists to nurses to my DR, to another DR I know and saw in the hall) were shocked and surprised to see me. I heard "I never thought I would see you today" too many times. My DR even chuckled a congrats and said told me I was in uncharted waters as I have never been this pregnant before. Still no idea why the baby hasn't come yet. My DR offered to induce me as EVERYTHING on my end is ready (dilated, effaced,etc) but I am a romantic and want the baby to choose its day. I am in perfect health so DR is okay with letting me go until March before we do any interventions. I have limited options with a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), but she can break my water and give me a light dose of pitocin to try and get labor started since I have had a successful VBAC with Mari the risk of rupture with pitocin is diminished. We have all been sick for the last week and so I am actually glad the baby has not come as it would have been miserable to be in labor with the upper respiratory crap. James is still lingering with his, and I want him 100% better before exposure to the new baby. We are keeping the kids in isolation which is very hard, but I can't risk them getting sick at the moment. So my DR thinks I reach 40 weeks this Sunday, my due date (not based on the ultrasound, but other factors as James and I both traveled a lot the end of May, first of June and there are limited windows of conception for us if that makes sense) puts me at only 38 weeks and 2 days as of today, but still that is the longest I have ever been pregnant! My DR still doesn't think I will make it to March, and I have contractions every day for periods of time, but then they go away. Jake did that to me for 5 weeks though, so I know it means nothing much in the grand scheme of things. I am back to saying I will have a baby before our anniversary (March 8th). James keeps teasing me and telling me I should give up pregnancy for Lent.

Picture explosion!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog. I have tried several times and been told my files were corrupt. It seems blogger has issues with my laptop and so I have had to try and transfer all my photos over to my ancient desktop (a few months older than Jake) and it has issues with my laptop as well, so I was having to send them via e-mail. I do not know what is wrong with my laptop. In the end there were several photos from Christmas that I couldn't recover:( I had some of the posts saved since the last time I updated in December and November, just waiting on pictures to fill in the gaps.
Anyway, I am still pregnant, headed to the DR tomorrow. If I make it all the way through tomorrow without having this baby it will officially be the longest time I have ever been pregnant. It has also been my easiest pregnancy, so I am really not complaining. I just am really excited about meeting this new little boy or girl!

Snow!, Again.

It snowed again last night and later this afternoon. It has gotten to the point where I say, "Look it is snowing" and they ignore me. We did go out for a brief amount of time as Jake wanted to make tracks in it. With the little dusting we got, that is about all you can do with it.

Back inside, changed out of cold and wet clothes, snuggling after a bath.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It took lots of pain and endurance to get this one shot (and about 120 not so nice shots), but here is our Valentine's Day picture. The kids had fun making cards for their Daddy, grandparents and great grandparents and decorating the envelopes with stickers. I think they favor each other more in this picture than any other I have noticed. I am so curious to see what Baby 3 will be like!

9 months pregnant now!

I have never been big on belly/maternity pics, but since this is the last pregnancy I thought I better do some in case one day I regret not doing it (I am trying to make sure I can close this chapter of my life with no regrets). I think this one turned out well. I am calling it "Baby 3 feels the love".

Indoor Fun!

When the weather is not nice for getting outdoors (most of this winter so far) we occasionally go to the indoor play area at the mall. Here are some pictures taken in January that show Jake and Mari getting some energy out at the indoor play area.

She was dancing, in case you are wondering about the face she is making in the above picture.

All worn out. Mari fell asleep in the car on the way home and gave me (Isla) and the new baby (still in utero) lots of great cuddles during her nap. Jake watched a movie, but he hardly ever takes naps (unless he is sick).

More snow!

It snowed again. While we still haven't had a large accumulation at once, it has definitely snowed more times this year (in our area) than any other in the kids short lives. Unfortunately we haven't had enough to build a snowman, or make snowballs or snow angels. I am afraid the novelty of a little bit of snow only goes so far.

Christmas and Grandmother and Granddaddy's

Unwrapping presents.

Christmas at Nana and Papoo's

It snowed Christmas morning at Nana and Papoo's house!

Mari insisted on going outside (without shoes), but quickly came back in...

Unwrapping presents.

Christmas at our house!

With all the cookies we have been consuming in the name of the holidays, Jake kept asking if we could make cookies. So this year when we made cookies for Santa, we made them completely from scratch, even the colored icing sprinkles. Jake and Mari helped at each step and had lots of fun! Above, Mari is adding the dry ingredients and Jake is stirring the wet ingredients. Below, Mari is stirring all the ingredients together while Jake is shaking some sugar and food coloring in a plastic container to make colored sugar sprinkles.

Close ups of the colored sugar making process and the dough stirring process.

We refrigerated the dough for several hours and then when James came home (and after dinner) we began rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies into shapes.

Above, the first batch goes in the oven and below, once out and cooled, the decorating begins.

Above, a close up of a James and Mari collaboration and the three below are the ones we picked out to leave for Santa (along with a Sam Adams and a carrot for the reindeer/Christmas cows--according to Mari).

Presents under the tree, right after Santa left.

The kid tornado hits the living room!

Mari loves straws and they both got some crazy straws in their stocking, but Mari preferred to pretend they were glasses.