It's a GIRL!

Introducing....

Ella Joy

7lbs 11oz, 21 inches

4:17pm

The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with JOY.

~ Psalm 126:3

42 weeks and 1 day

That's how long this baby will have been inside me when he/she finally makes his/her debut. At my 42 week OB appointment this morning, Doctor D took a look at Baby #6 via ultrasound. The fluid around the baby looked good but the Doctor did say that there was a little bit of calcium beginning to form on the placenta. He assured us that there was nothing to worry about but that we also shouldn't wait too much longer for this baby to come out.

So, tomorrow morning, bright and early, Luke and I will report to the hospital for a scheduled induction.

Why have I tried to avoid an induction so far?

I was induced with Elizabeth AND with the twins. And while both of those labor and deliveries had great outcomes (healthy babies and a healthy mommy), I did have some seriously difficult contractions during the twins' delivery and I feel that Pictocin was responsible for tetanic contractions (contractions that have extended durations, last for several minutes at a time, and have little or no break between them). Ashlee's heart rate dropped dramatically and there was talk of an emergency c-section (after I'd already delivered Lucas vaginally). Thankfully, Ashlee was also delivered vaginally with no problems...a mere 2 hours and 24 minutes AFTER her brother. (She began her life of drama early people.)

The plan tomorrow is for the Doctor to break my water then give me 2-3 hours to start labor on my own. If after 2-3 hours my body is not having regular contractions, then they will begin Pitocin in small increments.

I am excited. And nervous. It's so hard for me to believe that within 24 hours I will most likely have a baby in my arms and not in my belly.

I plan on updating (or having Luke update) via my Twitter account tomorrow. You can see the last 4 updates on my right sidebar or you can click here to see all of my updates.

Next time you see something here on the blog it will probably be a photo of our NEW BABY! Yay! I'm so excited (and nervous)! Thanks in advance for the many prayers I know you will all be praying. Y'all are the greatest friends and readers ever.

Q & A: Past your due date style

Oh how I love loathe the questions that I hear being a woman at/past her due date. Some of them are laughable, others are....how shall I say...annoying.

In a world where God has not taught me the value of holding my tongue, these might be my responses. In a world where one-too-many people ask me the same question for the bazillionth time, these might be my responses.

I'm still working on acquiring a gracious spirit people. Cut me some stinkin' slack.

1) Are you EVER gonna have that baby?!?

"Why no. I thought I'd just stay pregnant forever. Babies easier to take care of this way."

2) WHEN are you going to have that baby?!?

"I'm not. Actually, I'm not really pregnant at all. APRIL FOOLS!!"

3) WHY are you here and not at the hospital having that baby!?!

"Because I thought it would be a much better day if I postponed meeting my child and instead spent some quality time with you, answering questions about my cervix and the enormity of my stomach."

4) Are you still pregnant?

"No. I thought it would be fun to have the baby then wear a fat, pregnant belly suit and fool everyone. The baby was sleeping when we left so we decided not to wake her and left her at home."

5) Man! You are huge! Isn't your doctor concerned?

"Yes. In fact my doctor told me that I was a gigantic blimp and he couldn't believe that I hadn't spontaneously exploded yet. I'm a medical marvel, really."

-------

Regardless of whether or not you are 41+ weeks pregnant, I find that people tend to ask questions that are generally baffling/crazy/funny/annoying.

So, what crazy, stupid or otherwise annoying questions have people asked you lately?

The perfect stormy cocktail

Well, I went back to the Doctor this morning for my 41 week check up.
What's that? You didn't know that a 41 week check up was part of a routine OB package?

For the general population it's not. They reserve the extra long gestation periods for special people. Or maybe just for me. The latest update is that my cervix has not changed since last week and I am still 2 - 3 cm dilated. He did say that he thought the baby was in a "good birthing position."

Good to know.

Also, and possibly the thing I have the most anxiety about, is that my OB is leaving to go out of town on Wednesday and won't be back until sometime on Saturday (I think). Normally, in an OB/GYN practice this isn't a big deal. Another doctor you've previously visited within the practice just delivers your baby and all is hunky-dory.

Well, you see, I switched from my previous OB/GYN's office (which had a 5 doctor rotation) to this new office because this Doctor had a Midwife. And, truthfully, she was the big draw for me. But, about 2 months ago the Midwife left the practice and moved to another city. So that just left the 1 doctor. He is supremely nice and very laid back. But, for the last few months he's be doctoring it up solo. Which means if Baby comes Wednesday through Friday (or possibly Saturday or Sunday) a doctor from a "partner practice" will deliver me.

A stranger.

Someone that I've never met (which is the definition of a stranger, isn't it?).

I mean, it's not like the doctor is in the delivery room for that long anyway but still, it's not my doctor. Oh well.

Add to all of that that we are tentatively set to close on our house sometime Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and I believe that is the perfect cocktail for a baby coming. I mean, if walking and sex and pineapple and pumping and bouncing on the birthing ball can't make this baby come out, then surely my Doctor being out of town and a major financial transaction should be the perfect storm, don't you think?

Not yet

No. I have not had a baby yet. Despite trying EVERY thing I know to do to make my body think it's time to be in labor.

I have had a terrible cough for about a week and, honestly, it's driving me crazy. I am wearing one of those post-delivery pads 24/7 because each and every time I cough I pee all over myself. And I cough a lot.

So far I've not found anything that will cause me to A) Stop Coughing or B) Have a baby. I'm tired from lack of sleep (from being up all night coughing) and I'm trying VERY hard not to be cranky and bitter that I'm up all night without a baby to cuddle.

My (step)Dad leaves for an extended business trip out of the country tomorrow and I was really hoping that the Baby would come before he leaves. Guess not.

I keep reminding myself that so, so, so many women desire to be pregnant and simply cannot be and that I should not complain about my current condition. But honestly, I just want to meet my child and hold him/her and it's less about not being pregnant and more about wanting to know if this baby is a boy or a girl and seeing who he/she looks like.

And that's where I am at today. Waiting for Baby, praying for Baby to come soon and wishing that my body would cooperate with my mind.

This isn't what I wanted to post today and it's probably not the post you wanted to read. But it's all I got.

Did you miss me?

Well, I'm still here. Pregnant and alive somewhere amid the piles of boxes and junk that we call our stuff. We just got our cable and internet hooked up today. It was a nice break from "real" TV and the internet. But I'm glad to be back to 2010.

No baby yet. As of this morning at my Doctor's appointment, I was dilated 2-3 cm and effaced NONE. Yes, NONE. I love my cervix.

We are officially moved out of the "old" house and into the "new" house, which we are renting. However, we have NOT closed on the old house and hope that it happens sometime this week.

Otherwise, we are just doing life as normal. Well, as normal as life gets with 5 children aged 5.5 years and younger, with #6 due any moment now.

You know, normal, simple life. How are all of YOU? Chances are I won't have the time to read and catch up on your blogs. But I've missed you all and reading about your lives.

Hopefully, I'll be posting soon about the new baby. Don't hold your breath though. I know I'm not. I'd love to blog more but people are waking up from naps and requiring my attention. I hope to post quite a few things about the ways that God has blessed us in the last few weeks.

Some of them, actually most of them, are mind boggling. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

God and moving and my cervix. Not be confused with "God moving my cervix."

Today was a pretty big day for us. First up, Luke and I drove over the attorney's office this morning and signed all our paperwork for our closing that is STILL SCHEDULED for next Wednesday, March 3rd. We gave our relator limited power of attorney so that he could sign everything needed the day of closing.

Then, I went on a search for an infant carrier for Baby. You see, we had the car seat we bought when Elizabeth was a baby, but it expired in December.

(Yes, carseats expire. I know, who'dathunk? Right? If you have a carseat and you didn't know they could expire, flip it over and look somewhere on the bottom. The expiration date is stamped into the plastic somewhere. That was SO helpful, I know. "Flip it over and look somewhere." I'm a wealth of information.)

So, we felt extremely blessed when someone from Luke's work gave us a "new" infant carrier. However, when I went to take the cover off and wash the "new" carrier, I realized that it too expired in December. Not so "new."

So, today was carseat day. So, I went to Babies R Them and looked but they all seemed so expensive. So I went to Target but nothing there really tripped my trigger (mostly because they were all gender specific). After my Doctor's visit, I went to Walmart, which really had nothing in the way of an infant carrier that is compatible with the stroller I have my eye on.

After Target, I ran (Not literally, I'm 10 months pregnant people. I run no where.) over to my OB's office for a check up. I asked the nurse to ask the Doctor if he would please check my cervix since we are, afterall, still closing on our house next week. He obliged and after a quick check said that my cevix was shut up nice and tight.

I told him that we didn't say "shut up" in our house.

In other news, he is estimating that this baby is already 7 lbs. Which means it would be my largest baby ever. Elizabeth was 6lbs 13oz at birth and a WEEK LATE. Lucas was 5lbs 2oz and Ashlee was 5lbs 13oz and they were considered "on time" as far as twins go (and still I was induced with them at 38 weeks).

We threw around the possibility of an induction next week and ultimately agreed that we could decide further when I come back in on Monday for him to check me again.

So, this weekend will be full of packing and moving stuff to our rental house and more waiting. I will blog more later about how God is making this all incredibly easy. Just when I think that it couldn't be more stressful, something happens and I think, "Seriously? It's THAT simple?"

And you know what? It really is. And there's no other reason other than God's grace and His mercy over our family and this situation. No.other.reason.

In fact, as Luke and I spoke on the phone just moments ago about our situation with moving and paying deposits and such and how incredibly gracious our new landlord is being to us, Luke commented,

"Seriously. Who does that for people?"

And just now, I realized that my response to him should have been, "Our God does, honey. He always does."

Twitter

Well, I packed my hospital bag this weekend in the hopes that Baby Beaver #6 was waiting on me to be "ready." Turns out, Baby could care less that I'm ready.

So, I thought I'd go a step further and go ahead and add twitter to my blog so that when I (finally) do go into labor I can tweet and you all can see updates right here on my blog, if you care. If you do care, you can find those updates right over there on my right sidebar.

Or you can click here and see all my updates on twitter. Most likely after the baby comes I will remove twitter from my blog again. When it's up, I feel pressure to update it. And, I like to set goals that I can actually reach. And, quite frankly, my life just isn't that interesting to need to update twitter several times a day. Well, okay, some days are that interesting but I forget (repeatedly) to refill Lucas' juice cup so chances are I won't remember to tweet about something interesting.

Although today I may need to communicate with EVERYONE via twitter because apparently I've caught a cold that has caused me to lose the majority of my voice. That should go well today with 5 kids who don't really listen when I have my whole voice in tact.

I wonder if using Twitter to help Elizabeth learn to read would be a good idea? Probably not.

Anyway, y'all have a good Monday.

He knew our life would be this chaotic. I just wish He'd told me sooner.

Our life is never boring. EVER. Even when it seems as though things are "normal" around here, it's chaotic and crazy and full of energy.

I'm pretty sure that our life is the antonym of boring. And, I'm pretty sure that we are the synonym of chaotic.

But over the next month our lives will prove to be more chaotic than ever.

And, through it all I continue to remind myself that NONE of this comes as a surprise to God. He knew how incredibly chaotic our lives would be at this time and He remains in control.

(And lately, I'm chanting the previous sentence to myself on an hourly - sometimes minute by minute - basis.)

Why is our life more chaotic than normal these days? Let me start with the basics that you probably already know.

I'm about 36 weeks pregnant with our 6th child. Our oldest child is a mere 5.5 years old. That in-and-of-itself is chaotic.

But wait, there's more.

My grandma, Maw, just had major heart surgery. Major, major heart surgery. God is proving, once more, to be merciful and is healing her body unlike anything we expected. Her recovery will last for the next 3 - 4 months and my Mom will be her primary care giver. How does this directly impact our family, aside from the fact that we love my Maw more than words? Well, my Mom usually helps us out several times a week with childcare and dinners and such. With her giving all her effort to care for my Maw, our life will become a little more chaotic.

But wait, there's more.

We found out that Luke's paternal grandfather passed away and arrangements will be made for his memorial/burial in the next week. Luke is planning on attending the funeral, which will be in another state. We are still working out details, but he will certainly be traveling over the course of 2 - 3 days, while his wife is on the verge of going into labor. That makes life chaotic.

But wait, there's more.

Perhaps the most chaotic thing is that we finally sold our house.

Oh, had you forgotten that it was still on the market? Well, it was. Let me catch you up to speed.

We've had a contingent offer on it since sometime around October. However, the folks who are buying our house had to sell their house first. It wasn't looking good and we had agreed that if they hadn't sold their house by December sometime (I don't remember the date) the contract would become voided.

Well, that day in December came and went and we re-negotiated so that our contract would expire if we didn't close by February 28th.

We didn't think it was looking promising. Actually, Luke and I hadn't even spoken about selling our house in several months. We were sorta on auto-pilot with the whole house thing, or so we thought.

Then, randomly (you know if you believe in coincidences) last Thursday, Luke and I laid in the bed and talked about how wonderful it would be if God would allow our house to sell before the baby came.

We talked about the debt we owe on our house and how much of burden we felt over it.

THE NEXT MORNING I got an email from our realtor. The buyers had an offer on their house. At 5:00pm I was on the phone with our Realtor hearing myself say that a closing date of March 3rd would be acceptable.

That's 5 days before this baby is due.

With my Maw still being in the thick of recovery and rehab.

And now we have to find a place to live.

And pack up all our crap treasures.

And all the things that come with moving.

Our life is getting incredibly chaotic. More chaotic than I ever thought possible.

But God knew. He knew the before the creation of the Earth that we'd be expecting a baby and moving and dealing with recovery of my Maw and the death of Luke's grandfather.

He knew. Even though we had no clue.

So we press forward, trusting that the Lord is completely in control. Trusting that even though it feels like the ground beneath our feet is spinning out of control. Truly, it isn't.

Truly God is in control. Truly, He knew that when we placed our house on the market back in August, with a new baby growing in my womb, that it would all accumulate around the same time that the baby would come.

He knows what will happen in the next 30 days and I do not. He knows whether or not I will go into labor while my husband is several states away (please Lord, NO!).

He knows how on His own green Earth we will pack, move, settle, have a baby, help as much as possible with my Maw, support Luke's Dad and family and still Homeschool, disciple and raise our children.

He knows. Even though we have no clue. And I am trying my best to rest in that knowledge.

Official Eviction Notice: 2 week warning

As I write this, it's late Monday night. 11:39pm to be exact. I'm exhausted. However, I cannot sleep.

It's begun.

That time in my pregnancy when I feel the most exhausted, yet I get the least amount of sleep. Not by choice, mind you.

Oh no. This sweet, darling, (and I'm sure) adorable child in my womb refuses to allow me sleep. It's not the hormones or heartburn or even the inability to get comfortable.

It's movement. Tons of it.

Last night Baby spent about 2 hours turning my belly into various geometrical shapes.

I can tell Baby is going to be genius already. Baby has mastered creating shapes such as triangle, rectangle, oval, hexagon and square.

It's almost artistic really. I'm sure the society of Mensa will be beating down our door as soon as Baby is home from the hospital. I mean, how could they NOT want such a young intellect to join them ASAP?

Baby could teach other fetuses all about prenatal geometry, I'm sure.

At least, Baby could have last night.

Tonight, Baby seems to be into shoving his butt all the way over to the right side of my stomach and then S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G the rest of herself as far up and down as her limbs will go.

I would appreciate the gesture immensely if it didn't make me gasp in pain.

Then, Baby gets hiccups. Which, I mean, are purely a joy. The rhythmic jolting of my body every 3.5 seconds for 30-45 minutes helps me not to forget that Baby is still there, happy as a agitated lark.

Earlier today Ashlee was standing beside me as I sat on the couch. I took in a deep breath as Baby shoved a body part into the wall of my abdomen in an obvious effort to reach through my uterus and touch my elbow.

"Was wong Mommy? Why you breafin' like dat?" Ashlee asked, clearly concerned.

"Oh nothing honey. The baby is just moving inside Mommy and it surprised me." I replied.

Then, Ashlee laid her hands upon me and prayed.

Or at least that's what it looked like as her face became somber and her 3.5 year old hand rested on my tummy.

Then, she skipped into the other room.

So now I sit here and wait for Baby to slip off to sleep. Truth is, I actually love this stage being pregnant. I know that so many women desperately want to be pregnant and feel the things I'm feeling. So, each time I try not to take it for granted or complain.

So, for the record, I'm not complaining.

Still, whatever Baby is doing on the INSIDE of me makes me really think that he wants to be on the OUTSIDE of me. Which I'd totally be fine with in another 2ish weeks.

So Baby, if you can hear me, consider this your 2 week eviction notice. Keep these wild parties up and I will do everything in my power to ensure that your time in "Momma's house-o-fun" is coming to an end.

And that's a promise, not a threat. Consider this your 2 week warning.

Toddlers and my randomness, a recipe for a mediocre post

Hey y'all. Hope you had a nice, relaxing, long weekend. We sure did. This week will prove to be full of stuff, once more, and we are now only 7 weeks away from Baby!

Holy moly. I should probably begin nesting. But, as I told the girls in my Bible Study group last night, I'm not a natural-born housekeeper. I wish I was, but I'm not. So, I'll probably wait until 2 weeks before this Baby is due and dig out 1 boy outfit, 1 girl outfit, the bassinet parts that go on our portable crib and all the things necessary for a new baby.

I should probably also look into getting some new tubes and bottles for my breast pump. Aren't you glad I'm making this post into a checklist of things I need to do? Glad we are in this together.

Today I take Aaron and Elizabeth to the dentist. Elizabeth LOVES the dentist and Aaron, well, I'm sure he'll continue his current attitude of "touchmeandIwillscreamlikeabanshee" for the duration of the visit.

I think his terrible 2's have officially begun. He is the PICKIEST eater and by picky I mean he eats all of 1 thing at dinner then refuses the rest and screams until you acknowledge his disapproval of the other foods.

So, most nights dinner time is a battle. Which I loathe. Because this ain't the Waffle House and Momma ain't a short order cook so you eat what is cooked already or you go hungry.

Call me mean. That's the way we roll.

(And by "this ain't the Waffle House" I intend to imply that I don't cook what you want on demand. The floors of my house may or may not be exactly like the Waffle House. I'm not sayin'.)

The crazy part is that he usually likes EVERYTHING on his plate, yet eats only one thing and rejects the rest. Starches are his favorite. If there is bread withing a 6 mile radius of our table he will scream and abandon all other foods demanding ONLY BREAD FOR DINNER.

Which does not fly with me. At all.

Ahhhh, I love todderhood.

Yes, my 2nd son is proving to be more stubborn that my 1st son. Even though I was sure that Lucas was the most stubborn child on the planet at 2 years old. Guess I was wrong. I've determined that since Aaron has little-to-no control over anything in his life, he chooses to exercise his "perceived" authority at meal times and when I change his diaper. I use the term "perceived" loosely here because truly he has no authority over either of those situations either.

Good thing he's super cute and has big, blue eyes that melt my heart or he'd be in BIG, BIG trouble.

Mmmkay, I think I'm done rambling for today. Except I still need to mention that I plan on responding to your name suggestions soon, so be on the look out. If you care. And if not, then don't look out and I'll post my opinions anyway.

Good day.

Brown Hairy Bucky Eager Beaver

I thought that title might get your attention. ;) I need your help. But first of all, a little background info.

In the past, when Luke and I were choosing names for our children it sort of came easily. With Elizabeth I had just finished reading the book of Luke and I was struck with the faithfulness of Elizabeth (John the Baptist's mother). Thus, Elizabeth.

Her middle name is Grace because 1) I had just experienced the life changing Grace of God in the form of a new relationship with Christ. And 2) We really liked it.

With the twins it was easy because once we found out they were boy/girl twins, we had the boy name solidified. Lucas has Luke's name. Easy peasy.

And, I think the name Ashlee is just beautiful. My former middle name (before I took my maiden name as my middle name) was Lee so that is why we went with Ashlee rather than Ashley. Ashlee's middle name is Faith.

We chose Aaron's name because we liked the name Aaron (plus it was a family name on my side) and his middle name, Thomas, has special significance to us with our journey to and through fostering.

Baby Girl's first name is one I've always liked (I'm hoping to be able to reveal it to you all SOON when she will be, hopefully, legally free for adoption. We are set to file her adoption on January 15th!! Then, there will be a 10 day waiting period - which usually stretches beyond 10 days - so hopefully by February 1st she'll be legal!) and her middle name will be Hope.

So for our girls their middle names are Grace, Faith and Hope. Sorta fruit-of-the-spirit-ish. That means if Baby #6 is a girl, then we would most likely stick with the fruit of the spirit-ish theme and her middle name will be Joy.

Geesh, can you imagine what we will do if we have another baby girl and continue with this theme? I can just picture myself yelling out the front door to my yard-frolicking children, "Self-Control Beaver! It's time to come in the house!" Er....or I can't imagine that.

Anyway, I feel like we pretty much have a couple solid girl names nailed down, with the middle name being Joy. If you're looking for me to spill the first-name beans here, you can keep looking. Luke and I like to torture surprise our friends and family and tell our birth childrens' names upon their arrival. My mom loathes this choice.

As for boy names, we keep coming up empty handed. I like the middle name Jesse because it is my grandfather's name (this granfather, my "Paw" if you're wondering and yes, that is whom I am named after) but for the life of us, we cannot come up with a first name that goes well with Jesse as a middle name and Beaver as a last name.

We have a few mediocre options but with the time a ticking (did you see that counter on the top-left sidebar...does that say 61ish days to go? Sweet cider that's soon!) I am feeling the pressure to have a couple solid name choices in my pocket.

SO here is where I need your input. What names can you think of that would be good for Baby #6 if he is a boy?

Here's the criteria:

1A) If you know me well enough IRL or even via this blog to choose a name it should have some sort of significance. It doesn't have to be deep, just significant. For example, I have blogged quite a bit about the book of Jeremiah. So that could be significant enough. Then, choose an alternate middle name.

or

1B) It can be a random name that goes well with Jesse, since that already has significance and we are struggling to find a first name.

2) It MUST go nicely with the last name Beaver (duh!). I realize there is a significant temptation to submit to me the name "Brown" or "Hairy" or "Bucky" but please refrain. I mean, come on people, it's not like I haven't heard them ALL before.

If you submit a name and we end up choosing it, I wish I could tell you that you would win some sort of a fancy prize but, truth be told, you'll just get the joy of boasting about your name entry sometime mid-March when Baby #6 makes his or her appearance.

SO, let the name game begin. I'm an Eager Beaver to see what you come up with!

Ultrasound Today & Some Updates

Little Beaver Baby #6 looked perfect during today's ultrasound. The doctor did a very quick and thorough ultrasound of the baby's head, spine, heart, abdomen and femur. Luke and I decided to NOT find out this baby's gender ahead of time, despite the protests from many, many friends and family. Guess you'll just have to keep reading until March!

We took the three big kids and they loved seeing their baby brother/sister on the big TV screen. Just for the record, all three big kids along with myself believe that this baby is a boy. Luke is BEYOND convinced that it is a girl. It's been the topic of daily debate in our house and I'm sure it will continue to be until he/she gets here.

Here's the only photo we got today. The doctor couldn't get a good profile picture because of the way the baby was laying. So, this was the best we got. The baby is laying face up, with his head on the left, booty on the right and her legs wrapped around the top of the picture by his face, with her knees right by his nose. Limber one, huh? You may have to click on the photo to enlarge it just a bit. That black area you see in her abdomen is the stomach. (Yes, I know I just interchanged his and her. I'd rather do that than say "it".)


In other news, we did receive an offer on our house and after some negotiating, we reached an agreed price. However, the offer is contingent upon the buyers selling their current home, which was just recently listed with our realtor. The offer expires on December 8th, which means if they do not have a contract on their home by that time, our contract is voided.

This is good for us, because we didn't want to be closing and moving around the time the baby will be born. Since it is taking 45-60 days for new mortgages to close, getting a contract after mid-December would put us closing and moving mid-February, early-March which would also be baby time. If the contract is voided as of December 8th, our house will be off of the market until after the baby comes.

Plus, even if they do sell their house, our house still has to appraise, they must secure a loan and our home must pass their standards for an inspection. So even still, we are not holding our breath.

That's about it. Hope y'all have a great Wednesday.