Well girly! You have finally arrived!! On the 6th day of my 42nd week of being pregnant with you. Of course, I am writing this after the fact because we have just been soaking you up as much as we possibly can. You are asleep on my chest even now as I type this out one handed! I am learning new mama skills all throughout each day that passes. And they are already passing so quickly.
I am going to attempt to keep up with my weekly letters to you, so even though we are technically 5 days into your first week of life on the outside, this letter will be about the last week you were still inside me, and let me tell you, you sure must have been nice and comfortable in there, staying until almost the last possible day until we would have had to try forcing you out in the hospital!
I am going to tell you what we did for the 5 days prior to your arrival...
Starting on Monday of Week 42, my midwife attempted to strip my membranes and was able to make a little progress, she told me that my cervix was getting ready, but also taking it's time. Since she was going to be leaving for Haiti on Wednesday and we really wanted to be able to stick with her, I decided on Tuesday I would try Castor Oil to see if that would get some contractions going....well, I'll spare you the details of how that day went and just say: it DIDN'T work! Wednesday, we went in for another appt. with who would now take over and become the midwife who would attend our birth, Deseree. She helped calm my emotions and reassure us of God's timing through sharing some scripture with us. Something I was so thankful for. She stripped my membranes again and then she suggested a chiropractor adjustment to align me, as well as homeopathic drops, and that your dad and I have sex. Now I know as you read this, you will be so grossed out by me telling you about that, but hey girly, that's what got us you in the first place :) Thursday morning showed up and still no signs of labor! The plan for Thursday was to continue the drops and also use the breast pump for 2o minutes every hour for awhile. Friday morning showed up and still no you! We had a ultrasound first thing in the morning, which showed us that you were still doing great but also that my fluid could have been a little low. We went straight to another midwife appt. from there and they listened to you more, telling us things were still looking good. She suggested using a Foley Bulb catheter to manually dialate my cervix to 4 cm, which was supposed to release the hormone that starts contractions after that's done. So I went ahead and had her place that and we hung out at the Birth Center for a while to be monitored through that. I did start to have contractions but just the beginning kinds here and there. We went home, had a great lunch and just waited for the Bulb to fall out. It came out around 7:00 and soon after I went to bed, listening to my Hypnobabies tracks and thinking positive thoughts! From about 10:00-12:30 midnight, I was having contractions, but they then died out which really bummed me out. I may have cried a little! ok, maybe a little more then just a little :) But your wonderful daddy calmed me down and reassured me that it was going to be soon!! That helped and I was able to fall asleep, only to wake around 4 am with contractions again, but then they died out again around 7 am. We called the midwife and she wanted us to come in around 9:00, to check on you and talk about the next step. 9:00 came and things were still looking good with you so we decided the plan for the day was to continue the breast pump and the drops. I was feeling kinda nauseuos which may have also been a sign that it was all working. So we went home and started the regime at 12:00, by about 3:00 I was noticing contractions again consistently and by about 4:30 they were lasting for about a minute, which meant it was time to call the midwife again......
I will leave it at that and continue the rest of the story when I write your birth story! But talk about a slow start and doing all sorts of stuff to get you to come out!! Natural induction is quite the different process then a medical one....
All that to say that last week of my pregnancy sure taught me a lot about patience and reminded me to lay all things at the Lord's feet. To trust in Him and His perfect timing. You and I both were in His hands. I am so thankful that we each stayed healthy and safe up until the very end. It was also a great week for your dad and I to really pull together as at team. I think it prepared us even for your birthing time to be a team in it as well.
Girly, you have been sooooo worth the wait!! I love you with all my heart!
love,
mama
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