Finally the earth shakes...

After our visit yesterday it seemed we were headed for an induced labor but last night around midnight Maggie started having contractions. As of this moment (9 am, Saturday) the contractions are lasting about 30 seconds and are between 6-10 minutes apart.

We've called the midwives, they recommend going about our day as normal, letting the contractions strengthen and become more regular. We're not sure how long this phase will last but the midwives advised it could go on for a couple of days.

Week 41

Week 41 visit to the Stony Brook Midwives

We had our latest visit to the midwives today, had a non stress test where they check the baby's heart rate and movement for twenty minutes. Lola and Maggie are both doing well. The sonogram estimates the baby's weight at approximately 7 pounds, her head is down, but no signs of dilation or labor yet.

If nothing happens this weekend we are scheduled to go to the hospital on Tuesday (9/8) to be induced, so either way it's less than a week till we finally see our little girl! Hope you all have a great labor day weekend.

What?!?! We've passed the due date?!?!

Belly cast

Before Maggie got pregnant we saw a story on CNN about a store in Georgia that makes fiberglass belly casts for expectant mothers. They looked pretty cool and it seemed like a great keepsake of the pregnancy.

Maggie getting her baby bump immortalized

We got the home kit that consists of several rolls of gauze already impregnated with plaster, some gloves, and a tube of vaseline. They advise the mother to wear an old set of underwear because everything gets covered in the vaseline to insure the plaster cast will release from the skin properly.

Well it took a bit longer than we thought but it was lots of fun. Hopefully the final fiberglass cast will turn out great!

Thank you Joyce

Isn't this sweater just the most beautiful? My good friend Joyce from the wild north country [aka Maine ;-)] created this piece of wearable art for Lola. It came lovingly wrapped in pink tissue and surrounded by dried rose petals.

Thank you just doesn't do the gift justice, but thank you Joyce!

The final countdown - week 38

Maggie, Lola, and Mr Nay enjoying the great outdoors

Well we are getting down to the final couple of weeks! Getting the baby's room finished and just general preparation!

At this point we are having weekly appointments with the midwives, where they perform a biophysical profile (measuring the baby's size, health of the uterus and placenta via sonogram) each visit. As of last Friday, Lola weighed approximately 6 pounds 1 ounce - up from 4 pounds 9 ounces three weeks ago, so she's putting on about half a pound of weight per week. The baby is doing very well.

Maggie is also doing great. As usual she doesn't want to believe the pregnancy is impacting her ability to get around and do things, but the need for naps has gotten markedly greater. Lola is most certainly taxing mommy's resources already!

Finally, Maggie's been talking to Mindy about the smell of things to come: continued lack of sleep, feeding, good baby books, etc... She's been a huge help and an inspiration, we've been taking diligent notes!

Week 35

We're getting into the last few weeks now, Lola has started to drop down into the pelvis making it easier for Maggie to breathe. This process is called lightening, and we are both hoping as it progresses Maggie's heartburn will lighten up a bit too, as some days its been pretty rough.

We had a checkup last week, they did a sonogram to be sure that everything is going well. Baby's length measured, heartbeat listened to, etc... it was estimated Lola weighs 4 pounds nine ounces, so today she's probably around 5 pounds.

Maggie's been doing great, we're working to finish up the baby's room, reading up on the Bradley Method, and just getting ready for our bouncing baby girl to arrive. Here's a picture from today, I think Maggie is looking very beautiful!