He's here!

Forgive the delay in posting, but the happy news is that Owen has arrived! He was born Saturday, February 13, at 7:25 a.m. We've been home a few days and are doing really well. Things are busy, as you can imagine, just settling into life with all four kids at home now, but we are so thankful and very happy to have this little one outside Mama where we can see him and love on him! I'm working on posting the story of his birth, and all the great things God did through that experience. It was more wonderful than I could've imagined, and we have precious memories of bringing Owen into the world very differently than our other children. Hopefully, I'll have it written and posted before the weekend is over. Thank you for your prayers throughout this pregnancy and your encouragement when it seemed to be never-ending. :-) He was certainly worth the wait!

39 weeks

We have made it another week, with another milestone. The past 24 hours have involved steady contractions, usually varying from 7 minutes apart, to 10 at their least frequent. They are still coming, and I'm having a good bit of backache and cramps, so am hopeful that this is the early stage of labor and today may be Owen's birthday. My appointment was with Dr. Mc this morning, and I'm dilated to 3 cm, so those contractions may have helped us progress a little! He is very positive that from the exam, it looks like my body is getting ready, and he advised us to go home and stay busy to make the time pass, but that he hoped we'd be at the hospital tonight or tomorrow. We are praying that Owen comes today if it is God's will, since it is James' mom's birthday and would be a wonderful gift for her. If he doesn't though, we think it will be soon, and are so very excited! Our families are just waiting on the word that more is happening, and so we are trying to be calm and prepared, for whenever that moment is. It's so encouraging to know that God has Owen's birthday already planned and knows each moment that will lead up to that time.

38 weeks, and holding!

Today I met with Dr. C., who was encouraging and actually gave me some exciting news. After no progress the last few visits, today there was some! Hooray!! I measured at 2 cm dilated, and 80% effaced, and Owen has dropped some more to -1. I'm very excited, and told her though I don't mind if he needs to wait a little longer, I was hoping something was progressing so that they wouldn't feel pressured to schedule a c-section. She was thankful too, and said that there wasn't a rush to do that at all. I know that it may still be a while till he comes, but am hopeful we're moving in the right direction. I was also 2 cm, and 80% at the last appointment I had with Abigail, and I had her in the middle of the night afterward, so we can be hopeful.... :-)

Other than some weird, awful reflux that woke me up the past two nights, I am still feeling o.k. overall. I'm just ready emotionally, because we want to see him!

We have Owen's corner decorated with his crib up, James is back at work, and my parents are back in town after being in Florida for a few days for my Grandpa's funeral, so we are as ready as we can be for him to come at anytime. Please do continue to pray that God's timing is perfect, and that James will be able to be here when things start. Thank you!!

Our Little Record Setter

Well, our little Owen has set a new record for our family! With Isaac born at 29 weeks, and Abigail and Elijah both coming at 36 weeks and a few days, Owen has now become my longest pregnancy, since I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow. My check-up today went fine, with no further changes. Dr. R commented on my swelling being severe, but was also relieved that my blood pressure was still fine. I did mention the irregular heartbeat I've had off and on for a while. These last few episodes have been shorter, but are still really uncomfortable. He said that really, they are not totally unusual though I've never had it happen before and unless other symptoms occur with them, I don't need to be concerned. I assumed so, but James was relieved to hear that.

I won't go back until next Friday, so it'll be another week and a half till I see Dr. C. It looks like our little buddy may hang out for a while still, and since that is best for him, I sure can't complain. We have now almost made it through another of James' work weeks, so that's great too. Thursday night we have circus tickets that I won on the radio last month, and I'd thought I probably wouldn't get to go with the family, but now we're planning on my joining everyone, so I'm very excited about that. There is still plenty to look forward to, and do, with our family of 5 until Owen arrives, so we are going to enjoy these final days and weeks before things change. We're trusting in God's timing, and are content He knows what is best.

In church Sunday, as we are studying through the Ten Commandments and focused on the third one, it was so neat to hear our Pastor Ken talk about the significance of names, and explaining more about what it means to take the name of the Lord in vain. There was a lot to the sermon, but a part that was extra meaningful to me was how important the meaning of names are. For example, God's using the name "I Am" was one thing covered, and how that shows his eternality and constant state of existence. Anyway, James and I have always put a lot of thought into our children's names, and there was even more discussion and prayer about Owen's name because of several factors. When we mutually decided that his middle name should be Thomas, we knew that was right, but it was a long road getting there. There are several men named Thomas in our families, and while James' dad, and my Mom's stepfather/my Grandpa, are two good examples of the name, all do not necessarily have positive connotations. We struggled over whether we were putting too much weight into the meaning, or if it was really just not that big of a deal. Finally, James wisely said he felt that perhaps we should focus on the men with that name in our lives, who were good examples of fatherhood, integrity, and faithfulness, and pray that Owen Thomas would follow in their footsteps. It just made sense then, and we peacefully decided that was right.

So, Pop and Granny's 56th anniversary was Sunday, and we invited Granny and James' brother to join us for church and spend some time with us, knowing it was going to be a sad day for Granny, missing Pop this year. It was really meaningful for many reasons, and pondering how God has given us a legacy to carry on in our son, through his late grandfather's (and my grandfather's) name was really special. I'm just so grateful for how He works in the details and encourages us. I know no detail is beyond Him or His plan, but just love it when "little" things like this affirm and remind us of that fact!

36 weeks

So, we've reached the magic number! :-) Abigail and Elijah were born at 36 weeks, and since that is where the doctor is measuring my pregnancy, we wonder if Owen will hold to this pattern and come within a week. Based on my appointment today though, there is no sign he's in a hurry. There was no more progression, which doesn't necessarily mean I won't have him tomorrow, but it seems right now like God is giving him some extra time to grow, which really is best for him. We are somewhat impatient, because I am ready to see his sweet face and have more and more discomfort from carpal tunnel and horrible swelling, but have to remember how temporary all this is. Our goal is to have a healthy baby boy as much as we can contribute to that, so I'm praying for patience and strength to get through these last days or weeks. The average 36 week baby is around 6 pounds, and since Abigail was 6#, 13 oz., and Elijah was 8#, 11 oz., I feel sure Owen would be a decent size at least if he came soon, and that is encouraging.

We are back into the school routine and keeping busy is helping the time go by, as long as I try to give my sore feet a rest every now and then. The nice weather this week has certainly helped too, and we are so grateful for it after temperatures in the teens and 20s for so long this month. James has been off this past week and has been a great help around our home, and we've gotten some projects done outdoors and my Mom came to stay for a day and a half last week, which was also great to help with kids and some cleaning stuff too. The kids' bags are packed, and my clothes are too. I got my iTunes organized into playlists for labor this week, also, so am as ready as I can be. We are just in waiting mode now, and with great anticipation!

Edit: This afternoon James went under our crawlspace to work on wiring for an exterior antenna, and found a water leak. We are glad he can hopefully fix it, and are praying it's not too difficult or time-consuming. We are also glad we're home, not in the hospital, so this didn't go unnoticed for days and days, which would have been costly and much more trouble later on. Another reason perhaps, that this baby hasn't come yet!!

35 weeks

Another simple appointment, with no big changes. I'm now at 70% effaced, still just 1 cm dilated, and O. has dropped a tiny bit, to -3. (Because someone asked - Definition: How far the baby is "down" in the pelvis, measured by the relationship of the fetal head to the ischial spines (sit bones). Measured in negative and positive numbers. -5 is a floating baby, 0 station is said to be engaged in the pelvis, and +5 is crowning).

Dr. McKenzie thinks things are going well, and that we are just waiting. He doesn't expect us to be still waiting in 3 more weeks, which is nice to hear. I feel all right overall, just still struggling with sinus congestion, and sore hands and feet. I can't complain too much about that though! I did ask him about the weird feeling that Owen had dropped the other day, for a couple of hours, then scooted back up into position under my ribcage, on the right side, where he's hung out for a while. He said that is totally possible, and that they can "visit" for a little bit before really dropping for good. I'm glad to hear I wasn't imagining things or crazy. :-)

34 weeks

My appointment was simple, with no big changes this week. No progression, random Braxton-Hicks, and nothing of concern. My blood pressure is still great, even though I have some considerable swelling in my hands and feet. Dr. Mc felt that all signs are pointing to my body gradually getting ready, which is exactly what he said they'd want with a VBAC candidate. If I was already having to take medication to stop the contractions, or absolutely nothing was happening, he would be less hopeful. But, with my history of going into labor on my own, and with these recent events, he feels like God is working things out well to get us to the point of having Owen naturally and vaginally. We are very encouraged and hopeful that things will keep going this way, and appreciate your prayers too.

His guess is that Owen is going to be an average-sized baby, not as large as Elijah was. He asked my opinion, and I told him I'd said all along he doesn't feel as big as Elijah. We could be surprised, but he is still moving a good bit, and doesn't feel as huge as E did at this point. He is still head-down, so hopefully is in position to stay that way till he comes out. We both feel like I have a bit more time left, since things have settled down so much and he even released me to resume normal activities, unless the ctx kick back in, or I have more pressure that makes me uncomfortable. That was great news with James returning to work tomorrow!

I'm going weekly now for check-ups, so will see him again on Wednesday. I'll update after that!