A pregnancy progression

I have been terrible at blogging while we didn't have a home and I was working a job and a half. I'm trying to catch up, but it looks like pretty much the entire pregnancy is going to have to be recapped right here! (You know, seeing as I'm already past 37 weeks...)

I told Jeff we were pregnant with number 4 by having his buddy drop this little package on his desk at work.



Here is how we announced:

(Vanilla Ice, Ice Baby... get it?!)

Here are the (few) belly pics I have amassed.

16 weeks 

 25.5 weeks

32 weeks

35 weeks

At my 36 week appointment, I went ahead and got an exam because I had been contracting randomly but strongly for a few weeks.  Lo and behold (just like all my other pregnancies) I was already dilating! Head was down, and I was at 3 centimeters, though she said the cervix was still fairly thick and posterior.  That night I went to the hospital with a bloody scare but it turned out to be nothing. Also, my doc gave me a letter to give to the nurses when I go in, saying to call her even if she's not on call.  I'm so pumped about this! I hate going a whole 8 months with a doc, and then someone else shows up for your delivery. (She always says we're one of her favorites and tried to get us to buy a house in her neighborhood.)

I had more firm (but still very random) contractions so I was curious to see if there was any progress the next week.  At 37 weeks, she said still three, but cervix was definitely anterior and head is firmly engaged. Yay! I might have cried if we hadn't moved at all. She also said she wished she could strip my membranes that day but couldn't.  I think she will next week, though! Woop!

As you may know, I delivered without pain medication with Carson and it was ROUGH.  Jeff and Dr. G tell me that I told them not to let me do it again, but here I am at the end of another pregnancy... My plan for this one is to again go without the epidural IF I can actually just go into labor on my own.  If I need pitocin - no way, Jose, that stuff stinks!  It makes it hard, because it would be much more convenient to schedule and now when the baby is coming (with all our schedules, the kiddos, and not to mention Alisa's birthday 2 days before!) but I'd reeeeeaallly like to skip pitocin and the epidural if possible.  My recovery that time was not even in the same galaxy.  I have yet to just start on my own, however, so I'm not holding my breath.  What will stink is if I end up having to be induced late anyway and I could have just scheduled a more convenient induction!  Oh well, we shall see... 

Stay tuned for all the gross graphic updates soon to come!