28 weeks

I am so amazed at all that's happened in the weeks since my last post. Sweet Owen is still growing and doing well, and life is moving quickly by. We have been through a hard month, as James' sweet dad, Pop, died on November 3rd, very suddenly. It's been an encouraging blessing to be able to focus on new life to come, while mourning a loss. We miss Pop every day, and one of the saddest things about his death is knowing how much he loved his family and wanted to see this newest grandson. We feel it's only proper and honorable to give our little boy his Pop's name, so he is officially going to be Owen Thomas Vines.

My last appointments with the doctors in my practice have gone well. Today was the glucose tolerance test, which I passed with a 123. My feet have started swelling more, just this past week, and feel achey, but my blood pressure was 106/62, so there is no problem there. Each doctor in the practice has quickly agreed to support me in a VBAC, and the last two have also encouraged me to not be surprised if Owen comes early, since Abigail and Elijah came about a month sooner than we expected. We are planning to be ready in case he follows their examples, and don't want to be surprised again! He may hang around till his due date in February, but we know after Christmas, that will still be here very soon! It makes these last weeks go by even quicker, with all the festivities and Elijah's birthday on December 15th as well. I can hardly believe we are in the last trimester of pregnancy.

Owen is probably around 2.5 pounds now, and he is very active. He flops and kicks a ton, and sometimes prefers my right side like his big brother did. Recently he's started curving around on that side and my belly looks deformed and funny when he does! He sure noticed when I took the glucose this morning, and was kicking and wiggling up a storm. Isaac and Abigail hug my belly and talk to him multiple times a day, and are still so excited to have another baby on the way. Elijah seems happy about it too, kissing my belly often, even pulling my shirt up enough so that he can lay with his face right on my belly button when he loves on "baby O." It is so precious to see how they each connect to this new little brother. I'm so thankful.

We met with our doula last week, and are anticipating her wonderful help and experience to be a great asset as I pursue a natural childbirth with Owen. We desired to have a natural birth with Elijah, but had no control over the placental abruption, and c-section that resulted and was the safest and only option at that time. I was telling a friend that the surprise of this pregnancy in many ways feels so surreal, and also like an opportunity to redeem that hope I felt I had to give up on when Elijah's birth was so uncontrolled and actually scary. I'm really looking forward to being able to experience this baby's entry to the world in a very different way than my two previous deliveries. Rachel has already been a blessing to us, and I think God will really use her at such a special time for our family. We'd appreciate your prayers for things to go smoothly, for the hospital staff to be cooperative and helpful, and for God to be honored in our actions. We treasure each moment of the pregnancy, and want to do the same throughout this little one's life, especially as he journeys to breathe his first moments outside his Mama!