good news and bad news.

so, the good news is that Lexi will be here TOMORROW!!!! yes, ladies and gentlemen- i will officially NOT be pregnant as of tomorrow. praise the Lord!
now for the bad news. little miss difficult (i think she has definitely earned that title after the placenta previa scare, the being much too little scare, and the latest fun fiasco...) is now BREECH. yes, it's true. last week she was head down. heck- 2 days ago she was head down! i had noticed that within the past 2 days, i have felt most of her movements really low, like down in my hips- and not up high (right under my ribs) like usual... i told scott yesterday that i really thought she was breech, and he reassured me that i was just being paranoid and we decided that since it's so rare for a baby to switch positions this late that she was just fine. today at the dr, i was LESS effaced than i have been. i told my dr. that i thought Lexi was breech, so he decided to do an ultrasound on the spot. sure enough, head up, in my ribs (which, btw, i NEVER want to hear anyone complain about having feet in their ribs- try having a HEAD in your ribs. it's 10 times worse!). she is completely folded in half. her toes are touching her nose. apparently she's going to be a cheerleader or a diver. but thankfully, she's not completely straight up-and-down and is pretty much diagonal in my belly.
my dr. thinks there's a decent chance of being able to turn her by doing what is called an External Cephalic Version (from here on, we'll just call it a "version"). a version is where my dr. will try to turn her by putting pressure on the outside of my belly. there is about a 50-60% chance that it will be successful in turning her head down. the procedure has to be done in the OR at the hospital because of the possible risks. it could cause distress to the baby, it could tangle her umbilical cord around her neck, and worse, it could result in a platena abruption... in those cases, i would have to have an emergency c-section. if the version (which begins at 7am tomorrow) is successful, i will be immediately induced and could deliver naturally. if it is NOT successful, well, i am scheduled for a c-section at 8am. either way, there will be a baby tomorrow! (if somehow i go into labor before then, i will be given a c-section on the spot.)
i am so mad that this has not turned out the way i planned. as you should know, i planned on waiting as long as possible (NO induction) and going without pain meds (except possibly some demerol) like i did with Lincoln... i am so upset that things are happening in a much more difficult manner than we would like. but, the most important thing is that Lexi and i are both healthy and a c-section might very well be the way to do that.
i am praying that we will get to the hopital in the morning (at 5:30am- yuk!) and that she will have turned on her own... then i would just be induced and could have her naturally. i am also praying that if i have to have the version, that it will be successful. we all know that with God, all things are possible- so He ultimately has control over whether the version works out or not. i also know that things are going to work out either way, and that we often can't see His plan in the grand scheme of things... it sure would be nice if His way was also the way i'm hoping it will be :)
Please add Lexi and me to your prayers today and tomorrow and know that the next time i blog, i will have TWO children!
Love to you all!

still pregnant

YES, i'm STILL pregnant! 6 days to go! i have been having lots of contractions, but none that will get any stronger or any closer together. i wish they would just go away since they're causing me pain but not seeming to be doing much good. either go away or be painful enough for me to have to go to the hospital!
apparently people think Lexi's going to be born on the 15th. i'm just praying that she's not late like her brother!!!
more soon, hopefully it will be news that something has actually happened...

8 days to go!

it's CRAZY to think that there are only 8 days to go until Lexi's due date. on one hand, i feel like this pregnancy has absolutely flown by... on the other hand, i feel like i've been pregnant for-ev-er! i am definitely ready to NOT be pregnant anymore! i have lost several hours of sleep over the past couple of nights because of miserable indigestion. i slept about 3 hours in our bed last night, was awake (in pain) for over an hour, then slept almost 3 hours in the LA-Z-BOY. seriously- earlier today i had part of a cherry coke and got indigestion. ridiculous!!! i think pregnancy is as tired of me as i am of it. i had to go get a pedicure yesterday because i can't bend down and reach my toes. hahaha, pathetic, but true. (i was, however, hopeful that the pedicure would help induce labor- my sister-in-law has a theory that pedicures will do that... it worked for her!)
i went to the dr. today and was glad to find out that there was SOME change, but disappointed that it wasn't much. he said we would "call me a 2" as in dilated to 2... i asked if we were going to call me a 2 or if i was actually a 2... he said i'm indeed a 2. so i was glad to hear that i'm no longer stuck at 1 like i have been for a month. i'm only 30-40% effaced, so Lexi seems to be in no hurry whatsoever. my dr. did offer to induce me this week since i did a nice amount of complaining about still being pregnant, but i said "no thanks" since i'm planning on going through labor sans-epidural like i did with Lincoln. i am very ANTI- being induced! i am praying that Lexi will come on her own, but not as late as her brother did. i REALLY don't want to be pregnant till July 27!!!
so, my prayers have offically started that God will help my cervix get moving. it would be really convenient for her to be born within the next 8 days because my sister and her fiance will be passing through town twice before the 20th... and it would be nice for this dang indigestion to go away. it is making me miserable.
if you all feel like joining in on prayers to hurry Lexi along, please feel free. i'm hoping this will be the last entry i have to post until she is born, but i'm doubting that will happen.
hopefully i will have more good news soon!

17 days to go!

...had another dr. appt. today. found out that i'm not dilated any more than i was last week, which is a REALLY good thing since we're right in the middle of fireworks season. we will be through with fireworks by probably about 2am on the 5th, so any time after that is good for Lexi to decide to join us. hopefully she will let me get some rest before she shows up, though!
i found out that she's only between the 25th and 20th percentile for weight. i suppose she'll be petite like my mom (who is only 5'2").
no new news about anything else, really...
i'd better get off the computer, i have some fireworks stuff i really should be doing.

the latest on Lexi

as of today, we have 21 days left till Lexi's due...
we went in for my sonogram today and everything looks PERFECT. apparently i'm carrying Lexi low in my hips and she is a bit small, so that is why i'm measuring so small. there is no problem with Lexi or with the placenta so everything looks just dandy. now hopefully she'll hang on until at least july 5 so we can get finished with fireworks!
the dr. estimated that Lexi weighs about 5.75 lbs... still small, but not as small as the last estimate i had gotten (which was approx. 4 lbs, 15 oz- yikes!). and she has lots of hair, which is funny because Lincoln only had a tiny bit of peach fuzz and spend the first 18 months of his life as a baldy.
the dr. told me he thought she would come at 39 weeks (i guess he had a crystal ball beside all his computers?) and he would be surprised if she came late.
we are glad to know that our baby girl is healthy and that she doesn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to get here.
thank you all for prayers. God is good!

24 more days!

well, i had a dr. appt today and expected to be more dilated than i was last week... i have been having contractions (painful but not yet regular) for a few days, so i was surprised to find out that there had been no change in that category. there also has been no change in the "Lexi's growth category", which is of slight concern. my dr. said that Lexi's probably just fine and that she'll just be a little baby, but he's sending me to have a sonogram on thursday just to make sure that she's growing like she should be. if there IS something wrong and she's not growing like she should be, it would most likely be the fault of the placenta and not something wrong with the baby, which is slightly reassuring. still, if there WAS a problem (my placenta not getting Lexi enough nourishment), then i would have to be induced within a day or two so that she could start getting nourishment outside the womb. it could also be an issue with amniotic fluid, which would also require me being induced... scarier options are that there could be a partial placenta abruption which could be keeping her from getting oxygen and nurtients and, well, the list of scary things really goes on and on and thinking about them and talking about them just plain freaks me out. i wish my sonogram was sooner than thursday! i'm praying that there's nothing wrong... hopefully the situation is actually nothing and she can continue to cook in there for at LEAST another 12 days.
Lexi has actually been measuring small consistently from the beginning, so we've always known she was going to be a bit on the little side... the only concern this week is that there had been no change in her size since LAST week and that she is now measuring 3-4 weeks smaller than she should be. when i asked just how big my dr. thought Lexi was, he said that the average baby is about 6.25-6.5 lbs at this stage and that she's not even 6 lbs. itsy bitsy girl! heck- maybe i'll just have an itsy bitsy baby. anyway, your continued prayers are appreciated! i'm sure she's just fine and that God will help her to grow a lot before our appt on thursday and continually until she's ready to be born. Lincoln and i sure are ready for her to get here, but daddy isn't! he wasn't "ready" for Lincoln, either, but sure didn't take long to adjust :) ...seriously, if you've never seen him have any good quality time with Lincoln, let me just tell you that he is an unbelievable father. he makes my job as a mom a LOT easier!
a bit about Lincoln now. he is spending most of the week with his Nana because her church is having Vacation Bible School and she is actually teaching the 3-yr-olds class. so i have a lot of time this week to get house cleaning and organizing done before the insanity of fireworks begins on friday. i have gotten the house "presentable" at least 4 times already for the guests i know we'll be having when Lexi's born, but having an almost-4-yr-old certainly doesn't make the job of keeping the house clean very easy!
Lincoln has decided that it's "too hard" to clean up his messes. my solution to that problem was that we get rid of all his toys so he didn't have anything to clean up anymore... he didn't like that idea and said that he could try harder, even though he still thinks it's "pretty hard" to clean up. ...what a tragedy!
love to all of you and i will blog on thursday after my sonogram!

4 weeks to go...

as of Monday, i'm dilated to 1 and 10% effaced... so i'm 10% of the way there! i'm now going in to the dr. once a week (every monday until Lexi's born) to see how things are progressing and when it looks like she's going to decide to make her debut.
Lincoln has been REALLY helpful in putting together all of the baby stuff. he's helped me put together Lexi's pack'n'play/bassinet, bouncer, etc. he's just as excited as anyone about the arrival of his sister. he kisses my belly every day and asks me how many weeks are left until she gets here. i also (quite often) get the question, "mommy, what is Lexi doing? is she sleeping or is she kicking you?". whenever i tell him that she's sleeping, he says she sleeps too much. i think he will be disappointed when he sees that that's just about all she'll do when she gets here!
we've started a new reward program at home for Lincoln that has already greatly improved his daily behavior. we have recently encountered major issues with obedience and talking back. this fun little trend really got bad when Scott started working such long hours (about a month ago). most days, Scott leaves home before Lincoln wakes up and doesn't get home until after he's already asleep. needless to say, Link's had issues adjusting to it (we all have!).
So anyway, the new system is simple- it's actually something i got an idea for after being forced to watch Super Nanny with Scott (he loves that dang show). Lincoln has a bowl full of marbles. any time he's really good, he gets another marble added to the bowl. when he doesn't mind or is otherwise "naughty", he gets a marble taken OUT of the bowl. the goal is to have ALL the marbles in the bowl. when such feat is accomplished, he will be rewarded with a trip to Mr. Gatti's. we've only been doing it a few days, but any time he's misbehaving and i mention losing a marble, he immediately fixes the problem... i have heard, "i'm minding you, mommy!" more in the past 3 days than i had throughout his entire life. ..."i'm minding you! i promise!" :) so far, so good.
will definitely have more to post by monday, when we find out the latest info about Lexi.