Due

Our second baby was due on April 14th and throughout the beginning of that week, I was feeling the Braxton-Hicks contractions more frequently than I had up to that point and I was becoming very hopeful that the baby would be born sometime that week. My mom, anxious to not miss the birth, decided to come down a day earlier than she had planned and was here on the 12th. And thus began the walking. I was walked all over the place every day in hopes of getting those contractions going. All it seemed to do was wear me out, although I really did enjoy the evening walks with my family. Joseph absolutely loved all the time he got to spend outside.

This was taken on Monday night, before my due date. We had a little family home evening talking about the new little baby that would soon be coming into our family.

At my prenatal appointment on the 12th, I was a little more effaced than the week prior, but hadn't dilated any more. My midwife expected me to go at least another week, but said she would strip my membranes if I came in later in the week. So the day I was due I went in. She said it took me to about a small 3 and that I was about 70% effaced. I asked her about taking castor oil because I was getting a lot of pressure from my mom to take some. She had taken two doses with her last baby and after taking a nap, it brought on her labor so quickly that the baby was born in 20 minutes! I didn't want the baby to come that fast! My midwife didn't really think the castor oil would work for me if I took it then but said to let her know if I did decide to take it. On the way home, John and I stopped at the pharmacy and I was holding it in my hands debating on whether or not to buy some. I finally decided not to and put it back on the shelf. Back to more walking.

These were taken the day before my due date.

The next day we went for a hike up at Red Cliffs and I was having such an enjoyable time and feeling so great that it was a little hard to believe I was actually past my due date!

My mom's idea... the rock in the background looks like my pregnant belly.

Seriously. Can he get any cuter?

Yeah, he can.

Joseph really enjoyed the hike and playing in all the sand, rocks and water.

It was really nice having my mom with us for that time before the baby came. She got to spend a lot of time playing with Joseph. In fact, Joseph spent so much of his days with his grandma helping him out that when he talked to me he kept accidentally calling me Grandma instead of Mom! She would make a blanket tent for him in the mornings, blow bubbles with him, draw outside with sidewalk chalk and go for walks to the park with him. I know Joseph really enjoyed being able to spend all that time with her.

I love this picture... shows so much of his personality and things he likes right now. My mom took it underneath the blanket tent she had made for him. He's sitting in the bumbo, which although it's for babies, he absolutely LOVES to sit in. He's got his bear next to him and he's really been loving stuffed animals lately and always brings them to us and says, "Hi Joseph!" wanting us to take the animal and pretend like it is talking to him. And he's also got a little musical toy that I found at the DI recently that he loves. He is really into anything musical.

Another week went by since my last prenatal and so on the 19th we went in again to see how things were progressing. We found that they weren't really. However, this time, my midwife said that if I did decide to take the castor oil now that it would probably shave at least 4 or 5 days off of our waiting time. That cinched it for us and we purchased some on the way home with the intent of me taking a dose the next morning. John made me a smoothie mixed with 1/4 cup of castor oil that I drank around 11:45am on Wednesday. We were hoping to notice some sort of effect after around 4 hours, but alas, there was nothing. I wasn't having any contractions and was feeling just fine. I had been meaning to take some pregnant belly pictures with all our hands on my tummy, but hadn't done so yet. Even though I was feeling fine, there was a little something inside me that said I'd better take those pictures now or forever lose the chance. So we did and it's a good thing because by the next morning my belly was no longer pregnant!

I did a quick heart around my belly and went in the house...

my mom later told me to look at the camera and this is what I found. :) Another cute little heart around a cute little belly.