42 weeks!

I cannot believe we've made it this long pregnant!  This pregnancy has been full of ups and downs and unexpected things.  

• At 8 weeks, I started bleeding heavily and we thought we'd lost our baby.  We were so thankful to see the little heartbeat pumping away on the ultrasound.  
• We really wanted to have a homebirth this time, but we found out baby is breech at about 34 weeks and it did NOT want to turn (despite many, many efforts).  Midwives aren't allowed to attend breech births at home, but thankfully we found a doctor in Oklahoma City who was willing and eager even to help us have a natural breech delivery (in the hospital).  Yay!
• I've had lots of contractions and even thought I was in labor around 40 weeks, but they've always gone away.  The doctor said he would let us go to 42 weeks, so we've been patiently waiting and hoping labor would start on its own!  I tried to do lots of walking activities at the zoo and places with the kids, bounced on my birth ball, jumped on the trampoline, rode a camel, etc.  I haven't been too uncomfortable, thankfully, except for this last week, when I've just been so tired and ready to have some energy back!  And we are sooo ready to meet this little baby!
• July 30th, James and I drove to Okla City for an appointment with the doctor.  They did a sonogram and the baby is measuring 39/40 weeks and fluid levels are good.  The doctor really advocated for me to wait as long as I could to go into labor on my own, since I can't have an epidural and pitocin is no fun without it (I did that with Lilah).  He doesn't want me to have an epidural so I can push most effectively since baby is breech.  So he scheduled our induction for Aug 1 at 6 am!
• We had prayed with the kids and with each other and James had given me a blessing the night before our appointment, and both of us felt that this was a good decision.  We are ready to meet our baby and I trust the doctor that he will help us do what he feels is best.  So tomorrow morning, we are headed to the hospital!  We feel so blessed to have this little one coming into our family and we are so excited to finally be able to meet it and hold it and have it with us!!!  The kids are acting like it's Christmas Eve :)

Some final pregnancy pictures...

We spent this last day without baby at the pool!

We are really thankful for all the thoughts and prayers that we have felt throughout this pregnancy.  We feel that we have been guided in our decisions and even though things haven't gone the way we hoped or planned, we feel peaceful about whatever we need to do to get this baby here safely.  I can't believe how much I already love this little person and I can't wait to meet it tomorrow!!!