40 Weeks, 4 days

We went to our final prenatal appointment today.  Below is the summary.

• BP:  112/64 high for me
• Fetal Heart Rate:  124
• Fundal Height:  No significant changes
• Progress:  No progress since last appointment
• Next Steps:  Midwife stripped my membranes, not painful for me--guess I am lucky.  That may or may not help move labor along, but we are hopeful it will.  I have felt only slightly different since then but that could be the placebo effect at work :)  The midwife also feels like it will not take a whole lot of help to get this baby going if we do get induced.
• INDUCTION DAY:  Induction is set for Thursday, October 27 at 6 AM.  This is the LAST day they would let us go :)

Whether Manna is induced Thursday or comes on his.own----we get to meet Manna THIS WEEK!!!  We cannot wait to meet Manna, name Manna, know Manna's gender see Addison as a big sister, swaddle up Manna and be a family of four!!!  I cannot believe the pregnancy is almost over...sniff, sniff.  I will miss being pregnant :)

We appreciate your prayers this week and particularly on Thursday.  We will post an update here and plan to send an announcement email, but I am CERTAIN we will inadvertently leave someone off.

It's D-Day!

Well today is D-day and I have a feeling Manna is in no hurry! Below are the comparison profile shots (40 weeks and 41 weeks); I think the tummy size is pretty similar but Manna looks lower to me!

I CANNOT WAIT TO MEET OUR LIL MANNA!!!!!

40 weeks with Manna

41 Weeks with our Blessing Addison

18 Month Routine, Pre Manna

Since about May or June we followed the same general routine for Addison and that was the first time I put it on paper. So the last routine was geared for about 12-18 months. I loved having it on paper because it helped me problem solve when things were chaos, helped me accomplish a lot more of our goals (blanket time, errands, etc.). I blogged about it (New Routine, The Wise Series Way) and gave ALLLL this disclaimers about still being flexible and such. What's interesting is I have actually felt MORE free since we put the routine on paper! So it made sense why I have felt so chaotic since we dropped the morning nap in late September---I had no revised routine!!!

Below is the new Addison norm beginning about 18 months. This will change soon based on how we integrate Manna into the routine. Most of the components of Addison's day will stay the same, the timing will just be altered to allow me time to nurse or nap the new baby. Sibling time will be added soon too, YAY!!!

39 Week Doctor Appointment

Quick update from the doctor visit today....

• Progress: 3 cm dilated; 50-60% effaced still. Head down and in pelvis but not applied at. My babies like to just sit in my pelvis.
• Reviewed results of ultrasound last week: Doctor agreed my due date was probably off a week but that does not change anything this late in the game. Just means this one probably wont be as big as Addison. I HATE that they did not explain the entire report to me...they only focus on the size!!!! My friend Tonya went over it with me and helped me see that there is some great news in there, which distracts me from the size GUESSES. Manna scored an 8 out of 8 on the Biophysical Profile, the fluid levels were great and Manna had fluid in his/her stomach and bladder! YAY!!
• BP: 110/60
• Fetal Heart Rate: 130's. Took forever to find it; Manna did not cooperate.
• Fundal Height: Little to no change. The last few doctors believe this is just how I carry my babies at the end. They just sit in my pelvis, but do not fully engage which makes it difficult to obtain accurate fundal height and u/s measurements.
• Next Steps: My final appointment is Monday October 24. Assuming we do not have Manna between now and then that is the day we will set an induction. They will still only allow me to go 7 days late so it will more than likely take place on 26th or 27th. We shall see. However we are still hoping to go into labor naturally!!

Manna Pictures

My sweet friend Sheila took maternity pictures of Manna with Addison recently. She is a wonderful photographer and was looking to expand her portfolio into maternity photos, so I was VERY happy to help her with that. Although I do not LOVE the look on my face in many of the pictures (I was too busy watching Addison be silly) they turned out great. We particularly LOVE the ones with Addison :)

Just random pictures of Addison at The National Mall

Just random pictures of Addison at The National Mall

Just random pictures of Addison at The National Mall

WARNING...now starts a few bare belly pictures......