Baby Update #2

11:00am I just got a call from Robin. Carly is at a 3 and 90% effaced. Her water has been broken, she's getting Pitocin and is happy on her epidural. They are letting her rest for an hour and then will check in on her again.

Any last minute predictions? Will the nursery stay blue or will someone be frantically painting it pink before Carly and baby arrive home?

Lindsay

Baby Update #1

7:30am Carly is on her way to the hospital! She called this morning at 5:30and they told her no beds yet, so she went back to bed and got a little sleep. She woke up to a phone call from the charge nurse telling her to come on in! Baby O'Quinn will be here some time today! I'll update when I hear something new.

Lindsay

Maybe Baby?

If you don't know me...I'm a planner.

This induction thing actually works well for me because I can make arrangements and not have to have the sporadic dash to the hospital. For this delivery, though, I fall somewhere in the middle. I'm on a "Stand-by List" for a bed tomorrow morning. That means that I have to wake up and start calling to see if a bed is available at 5:30 am. Potentially, I can go right in and have no problems getting this baby ball rolling. Or it could be later in the afternoon. Or it could be Wednesday before they can get me in.

This doesn't work well for me!!!

On top of the not knowing when...I've gone 9 months not knowing WHO? "It...the Baby...he/she". I'm ready to meet this mystery bundle, give it a name and let the snuggling begin.

I know that God has Casey and I and this baby in the palm of His hands and knows exactly how this should play out so I'm praying mostly for the peace and patience to deal with whatever the outcome may be tomorrow.

I will have a substitute blogger filling-in while I'm in the hospital to give you all the play-by-play of what's going on. Check back often and make my dear, sweet friend, Lindsay feel welcome over here :o) and hopefully the next post you read will have something to do with the arrival of a new, precious O'Quinn.

37 Weeks

I had my final ultrasound today at my 37 week appointment. Here is our little mystery baby all squished up tight! The ultrasonographer was very cautious about using pronouns and steered clear of the baby's goods so as not to divulge any unwanted info.

There was a time where I would have loved to sneak a peek, but I've made it this far...it would be horrible to find out now. Like discovering your Christmas present on Christmas Eve.

My doctor has been monitoring the baby's weight and said that she would like to induce me one week early to avoid a possible C-section. My pelvis size/baby size ratio is delicate and she would rather avoid the possibility if we can. I was induced with Maggie and Rory so it's business as usual as far as I'm concerned and the idea of shaving a week off of what is getting to be a very uncomfortable pregnancy sounds fantastic to me.

The baby already weighs 6 pounds and 15 ounces (with 3 weeks to go)! She will also allow me to pick the birthday. I've decided on February 19th to coordinate with Maggie's (Dec 19th) and Rory's (April 29th) birthdays. All 9's makes things easier to remember.

Rory came with us to the ultrasound and after an intense fascination with the goop and wand rubbing all over my belly, he looked at the tv screen and said,

"Oh...there's our baby! It looks like a horsey."

Great. I'm having a horse-baby. :o) What do you think?

Baby Blessing

I feel so blessed to be a part of a church small group that really rallies around each other in the good times and bad. I also love getting to go through life phases with these other couples. I am pregnant with my friend, Lacey who (I'm jealous to say) is due 2 weeks before me. It has been so wonderful to share this time with her and the other night, our small group had a "Baby Blessing" for the both of us.

We do this whenever a baby is just weeks from making it's appearance (which is quite often in our fertile little group). We gather, we eat, and we pray for everything from the delivery to our little one's salvation and future mate. It is so special and I'm so grateful to have my sweet little angel prayed over.

On a side note...ever heard that John Mellencamp song called, "Pink Houses"....yeah...that's me in these pictures :o) !!!

Third Trimester....Hooray!!!

I have entered in to the "home stretch" of this pregnancy. I get looks of pity and strangers asking me, "When are you due" almost every time I venture out. I have been in such a funk the past couple of weeks because I'm getting uncomfortable and I truly don't want to spend the next 3 months being miserable.

Christmas is coming and I want to be celebratory not fussy!

I have determined to change my state of mind. I was reading one of my regular blogs not too long ago and she is also pregnant. She said something that is hitting home right now. The fact of the matter is...my being pregnant is so obvious to anyone who looks at me but it's MY physicality that they are seeing. This baby has been and for the next 3 months, will be, my little secret.

I know my baby's sleep patterns.

I know when my baby has the hiccups and no one else does.

I am constantly reminded that he or she is getting stronger everyday! And will most likely be a soccer player :o)

I know that when Maggie or Rory are in close proximity to my belly, I get flutters.

How could I let a little physical discomfort steal the joy of this very precious bonding time God has granted only me with right now? This may or may not be our last child, but if it is, I want to experience it...not suffer through it!

***help me remember this in February when I'm desperate for my due date to arrive.***



On a side note...I love being pregnant with other people. You know what they say,

Misery loves company

My sister is usually my preggo buddy and she decided not to go this round with me but her sister in law is pregnant for the first time and we spent Thanksgiving hanging out and commiserating about our bellies together. She is having a little boy 5 weeks after me and she looks great! Here we are celebrating our bellies...

Still a surprise...

Casey and I went to the doctor today for our 20 week ultrasound. We got to see our little angel for a good while and saw all of its precious fingers and toes. We saw its full belly and beating heart. Isn't God good! What a miracle to get to see your baby sucking on its hand inside your belly.

Casey made sure to tell the technician that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby so she avoided that area all together.

"If you don't want to know...we don't need to know," she said.

I was secretly hoping that the baby would flip and give me an inadvertent look at its goodies but I never got the opportunity to sneak a peek.

We truly will be surprised when this baby arrives.

Take a look at my belly, though. I have never looked this pointy with my other babies! Any theories on what this indicates? Boy/girl?

Are you in there?

I felt the baby move for the first time today. For anyone who's been through miscarriages or is just plain prone to worry, this is the first exhale moment since our previous ultrasound. I'm someone who needs to be constantly reminded that "everything's okay" and I know that early flutters are God's way of telling me that with this pregnancy. It is going to be so strange to spend the next six months calling my belly "It" or "The Baby". I'm so used to calling my kids by name in utero. Whoever you are in there...I feel you and it makes me so happy!

Our Latest Addition...

Casey and I are expecting our third child in February of 2008. We couldn't be more excited about it and got to see our little one on Friday. He or She was wiggling all around and had a pretty massive case of the hiccups! It was such a relief after two previous miscarriages to get to see our little peanut growing right on schedule. I'm due Feb 20 which I'm glad for becuase we previously thought that our due date was really close to the end of February and this being a leap year would have made for some interesting non-birthdays. Maggie is so excited and has gone back and forth between wanting a brother versus a sister. On one hand, she thinks she needs a sister because she already has Rory, but on the other hand...she likes the idea of it being just us girls! Casey has never really wanted to know what we were having and I've always won that battle. Now that we have one of each, I'm letting him do things his way and we're not going to find out the gender. It's going to kill me!