Miss Caroline Kane Sanders

She entered the world sunny side up and screaming at 11:39am on Monday October 27th weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces with a full head of hair. Her APGARs were 9 and 9. The extra two weeks in utero really made a difference in terms of how alert she is. The first few hours of her life were spent staring at Mommy and Daddy. She is an absolute angel who is doing so well at home. The boys are absolutely in love and I think I may have been replaced as the favorite female in their life. More to come later, but here are some pictures from her first couple of days.

"How's your footwork? It is all zone all of the time" --Nate Sanders

So I went ahead and scheduled my induction for November 3rd. Hopefully the little bean will cooperate and hold out until that date and not come anywhere close to Halloween. I sent Nate a text tonight while he was a football practice saying that I could not believe we get to meet this baby within the next 11 days. His response is the quote I used as the title of this post. We are so excited and can't wait to meet this baby!

Decisions, Decisions

I had my 38 week appointment this morning and we discussed induction dates. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would ever have to schedule an induction! I am torn between what to do. I am 38 weeks today, 3 cm dialated and thinned out. I have been having labor signs for the past two weeks that have not really amounted to anything. So my midwife wants to schedule my induction for November 3rd when I will be 39 weeks 3 days. Normally that would be great except for the fact that Halloween is October 31st. I really don't want to miss Halloween. The boys are so excited, this is their favorite holiday next to Christmas. If I had a choice I would like to be induced this Tuesday or Wednesday. I would be 38 weeks 4/5 days and that way I can come home in time for trick or treating on Friday. The problem is that my midwife is not on call those days. So do I schedule it for Tuesday or Wednesday with a doctor that I have never met? Or do I just wait until Monday so that my midwife can induce me and just hope and pray this baby doesn't come on Halloween? I left my appointment with nothing scheduled, so I have to call back later today.

37 Week Appointment--never been to one of those before!

We had a great appointment today! Friends of ours were talking about getting a 4D ultrasound done and Nate was curious what the fourth dimenson was so he asked Sandra the ultrasound tech today. She said it was movement. Well she started my sizing ultrasound and said that the baby was in perfect position. So she switched over to 4D for us. She is awesome. I have never met anyone who truly loves their job as much as she does. The 4D was so amazing. The baby looks just like Ben and Jack did when they were born, chubby cheeks and the sweetest face. We got a couple of pictures and it will be neat to compare them to pictures after the baby is born. The baby measured 6 pounds 2 ounces. I am not sure I believe that since the boys were so much bigger, but we will see.
I met with my midwife and it was pretty uneventful. I opted not to get checked since it doesn't really matter at this point. Even if I had dialated more since Tuesday, there is nothing they can do if I am not in active labor. So we are still playing the waiting game. It is very exciting to know that this baby will be full term! I am really worried about the size, but am choosing to have faith in the ultrasound measurements. I think I am going to meet with the doctor in the practice for my next appointment just for a second opinion on things. Other than that we have a fun weekend planned of football and pumpkin patch visits.

Things I will miss about being pregnant

* Having strangers smile at me. Anytime I go anywhere I always encounter at least one person who makes a point to make eye contact and smile. I feel like the number increases when I have one of the boys with me. When someone smiles at you, you can't help but smile back which puts me in a good mood.
* "You look great" When else in your life do people come up and tell you that you look great when you are in jeans and a t-shirt. I have made a mental note to myself to make sure to tell the pregnant people I see how wonderful they look and hopefully it will make their day as much as it made mine.
* Seeing the boys talk to my tummy. Every night when they go to bed, they will come and say goodnight to me and then good night to the baby. They give my "big ole belly" (Ben's words, not mine) a hug and a kiss. Ben will also tell the baby what he did when he gets home from school and if we go somewhere fun. "Baby, we are going to the park today!"
* The anticipation! There is nothing more exciting then waking up thinking that by the end of the day I may be a mom of THREE!
* I know this is the most cliched answer, but feeling the baby move is the most amazing feeling in the world. Hands down this is what I will miss the most.

Today has been much better than yesterday. Nate and I went to bed at 9 last night and I think a good night sleep is what I needed the most. I got up, showered, put one of my favorite maternity tops on and have been in a much better mood then yesterday. The really painful contractions have stopped which has been awesome. I go to the midwife tomorrow and get to have my last ultrasound. If I can't meet the baby in person, this is the next best thing. Hopefully things are not too squished and we can get some good pictures. The absolute best part is that I will be considered full term tomorrow. Yeah for me!

Lisa's Trip to Labor and Delivery as told by Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers of Weekend Update

Amy: So Lisa had to go to Labor and Delivery last night...again.
Seth: Really?
Amy: You think by her third child she could figure out real labor vs. false labor. Really.
Seth: Seriously. Why did she go in this time?
Amy: Contractions.
Seth: Seriously? Hey um Lisa, you have been contracting since 15 weeks. Wow, really?
Amy: Really, I mean they are obviously not doing anything.
Seth: Seriously. Well at least they sent her home quickly.
Amy: Really? Have you been to Northside? Even though they determined she was not in active labor and due to the fact she is still considered preterm (full term is in 48 hours) they wouldn't allow her to eat or be off the monitors, nor would they give her anything to make her contractions more effective. Seriously.

Laughter is the only way I am going to make it through today and tomorrow. (If you have never seen the "Really" segment on Saturday Night Live I encourage you to visit this link http://video.aol.com/partner/hulu/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-michael-vick-really/JzH90-FkjpfQasz3uAF2-ZAC6RTvCwmV. It makes my above skit a lot more funny) I was having contractions every 4 minutes lasting a minute and I had to breathe through them. I tried everything besides medicine to get them to stop to be sure they were the real thing. After several hours, I called my midwife who told me to go to Northside. However after 5 hours there I had only dialated a centimeter from when I came in. Since they can not give me anything to make the contractions more effective they gave me the option of staying until I went into full blown labor or going home. Hmmm, staying in bed hooked up to machines where they won't let me eat or going home to my bed and eating Chic-fil-a? I am still having bouts of painful contractions, but it is nowhere near as bad as last night. I just got off the phone with Erin and I didn't have any super painful ones when I was talking to her which was super nice. Hopefully the painful contractions will either go away or break my water. I want to enjoy this last part of pregnancy but having tons of painful contractions makes it difficult.
I go to the doctor on Thursday (37 weeks! Full term!. I will keep you posted.

Ben the Bike Rider

I have been meaning to post these pictures for awhile. Ben is now a bike rider...as long as the surface is flat and he doesn't have to steer much. On the weekends or after dinner Nate has been taking him at Jack to the bank at the front of the neighborhood to ride bikes. I think Ben likes the male comraderie and getting a new helmet more than actually riding the bike. I have also included a picture of my biggest child on Jack's bike. Apparently Daddy gets bored watching for too long.

36 weeks and still pregnant!

How wonderful is it that I can sit here and type that title! I have been feeling fantastic since they took me off the medicine last week. We had a close call on Saturday so I ended up taking the terbutaline but other than that it has been smooth sailing. My midwife said if I went into labor anytime past today they would not try to stop it. I have told the little bean that as soon as its lungs are developed we would really like to meet him/her. I have several people who have requested this weekend, so we shall see what happens. Right now I am just enjoying my freedom and the last couple of weeks (days?) of pregnancy.

"Model Patient"

The bean and I had a fantastic appointment today! Reason #9992092 I love my midwife: She came in to the room today and told me that I kept up my end of the deal by making it to 35 weeks and asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I felt like after 6 weeks my body had adjusted to the medicine and I was contracting through it all of the time. She said that it was definitely a possibility so I am now off bedrest and medicine! She said I could still take some at night or in the morning if the contractions were painful. I gained another 2 pounds in the last two weeks. And for the absolute best part...the bean flipped!!! Yeah Little Bean! I was measuring really far behind as of my last appointment, but after the bean flipped I am measuring right on target. She checked me and said I had thined out and was slightly dialated which is where most people are at 35 weeks. So as of right now they would not do anything to stop labor. I have an appointment in two weeks if I don't go into labor before then. At the end of my appointment she told me that I was a model patient!
The boys are getting really excited for the baby to get here. We got all of the baby gear out of the basement this weekend, which I think made it very really for Ben. He has been a little more clingy than normal. We are playing up the big brother thing which is working. Jack has been awesome about telling him how much fun it is to be a big kid and not the baby of the family anymore.