Amethyst Birthstone

Was back to the hospital for the majority of the day today with painful contractions every few minutes.  According to the doctor, there are strict guidelines that they can't do c-sections until 39 weeks no matter how frequent and/or painful the contractions if I don't dilate more. I have remained the same.  I am still booked for first thing next Monday morning, February 7th.

Being an eternal optimist, I figure there has to to be a top ten list I can come up with here for waiting another week so here goes...

10. One week of waiting is nothing after 6 weeks of bed rest.
9.  Who wants to have a baby when it is below zero outside?
8. A nice, long, morphine induced nap was well worth my time at the hospital today.
7. I'm looking to set a record for biggest baby in the family.
6. Carina doesn't want to share a birthday with anyone else in the family.
5. I don't like the doctor who was on call today, next Monday's doc is much better.
4.  I always like being hooked up to the monitors to get validation of my contractions.
3.  I think I can squeeze in getting one more prenatal massage this week. 
2.  We want this baby to bake and be as healthy as possible.

and the number one reason it is better to wait one more week - 
1.  Amethyst is a far better birthstone than garnet. 

Ready Already?

For the past ten days or so Dave keeps asking me if I am ready now and every time I say "not quite". 

I've explained that it has been some time that I have been nesting, preparing and purchasing things to get ready for Carina's arrival.  However, I chose two outfits for options to bring Carina home from the hospital - I ordered them online on January 5th after looking all over for something I liked at stores in the area.  I know it is entirely insignificant in the big picture but I have fixated on these little outfits. 

Of course, two weeks passed with no sign of the oufits.  I wrote a message inquiring about where they were and received an email saying they would ship after 14 business days.  Last week I sent another email and this week my pathetic email begged them to rush the order or my poor baby would have nothing at all to wear home. 

Alas today the outfits arrived! I quickly washed them and packed them away in the hospital bag.  Now it's official, I'm ready already.  By the way, which outfit do you like best?

Sooner Rather Than Later

These kids of mine like to keep me on my toes!

Yesterday I went to my doctor's appointment and they told me I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  This morning I began having some very painful contractions and went in to the doctor expecting to meet Carina before the day was through.  But, they have sent me home to labor longer because I am still early and not anymore dilated than yesterday.

As the doctor said, it could be this afternoon or it could be longer.  I'm not sure why I have to be in total and complete pain before they do the c-section but Dave says all the damn lawyers are to blame! 

We will keep you posted!

Should I Be Concerned?

Take a look at this latest video of Samantha:

Seems perfectly normal that she would imitate what is going on with me with a growing belly.  However, should I be concerned that she views giant knees as part of pregnancy?  As you can see, not only did she put balls inside of her shirt for the belly, but every time she does this, it is accompanied by a ball in each pant leg at the knee....very interesting. 

Playing Favorites

As most of you know, I was an only child until I was 15 years old.  As a kid, when my friends wrestled or fought with their siblings I would get uncomfortable, nervously laugh or just vacate the scene.  Because my sister and I are this far apart in age, it makes sense to me that I am the obvious oldest favorite and Madeline is the favorite of the next generation.  Our upbringing and experiences are literally so different that it is too difficult to compare.  I have never really experienced sibling rivalry, I have never had to share and I still get nervous when people argue with their siblings.

So, this two kid thing is going to be something brand new for me.  My mom put it well the other day when she said that she goes back and forth feeling sad that Samantha will never have anything that is only her's anymore and upset that Carina only gets hand me downs that belonged to Samantha.

My wrestling with this feeling has clearly manifested itself in spending money.  One day I am feeling bad that Carina's room has nothing unique for her.  That resulted in my latest purchase from Zulily:

Then the following week I felt horrible that Samantha doesn't have much left in her room anymore because it has all been moved to Carina's room.  That resulted in yet another purchase from Etsy which still needs to be framed:


We have packages showing up every day, my husband is concerned.  These two girls have got it made before Carina is even born, Mom is a big sucker!