Only 17 days!

That's right! If all goes according to plan we will be holding our baby girl by February 17th. Here's the story....sorry its a little long.

I've been having major anxiety about when #2 will make her appearance. There are a lot of factors involved...Jonathan works Monday-Friday all day, and is a new employee so he can't just up and leave if his wife goes into labor. They need advance notice if he is to take time off. I didn't want to be in the hospital alone. I had all these worries: "Who will drive me to the hospital?" "What will I do with Talmage?" "If I go into labor in the middle of the night, who would come over and be with our son?" I have friends in the area but asking someone to come stay at our apartment for 2 days and nights is a lot, and I wouldn't want to ask anyone to do that. The anxiety just kept building...my due date was smack dab in the middle of the week, not that I expected to have her THAT day but you just never know. And since I've never labored naturally, I very well could have a few "false alarms"- something that we just can NOT afford. I am not a calm and patient person, never have been. It's something I'm working on...but this stress was really getting the best of me! I have been losing sleep over it night after night.

So two nights ago Jonathan gave me a blessing to have a calm heart. (I've also been really sick, so that was the main reason for the blessing). When he finished, I knew I needed to consider an early induction. I REALLY didn't want to be induced again- but with everything else involved it sure would solve a lot of problems. The next morning I pulled out the calendar and we looked at days that would work. Since the weekend before is close to President's Day, it only seemed right that we do it then so Jonathan's mother and sister could come down and take care of Talmage while we had the baby, then be able to stay until Monday. They live 6 hours away, so giving them advance notice to come is the only way they could be here in time. Jonathan could take that Friday off (since they don't induce on Saturdays) and be with me the entire weekend. It seemed like the perfect plan!

I was nervous about asking the nurse midwives to induce me 5 days before my due date, since one of them told me at the beginning that they only induce two weeks post EDD. Well...the midwife I spoke to on the phone I had actually never met, her name is Rachel. I have heard that she is the most down-to-earth one there, and a little less "stingy". She seemed so cool about the whole thing and was like, "Since you've had a baby before, inductions usually go really smooth and fast the second time around. We would totally be happy to induce you at 39 weeks if you're at least 3 cm and 80% effaced." I told her I was already 80% and 1 cm since last week, so chances were I would be VERY ready :) She called the hospital and set the induction for 7:30 am on Friday, February 17th! I am soooo thrilled! It does make me a little sad that I couldn't go about this the way I originally planned but I know that this will work best for our family. I want Talmage to be looked after by family members that he is familiar with and loves being around, and I certainly want Jonathan there with me every step of the way :)

So now I am officially counting down the days. The positives about this situation are that I really didn't mind being induced with our son- it went so fast and it was fairly painless after the epidural. I loved checking into the hospital and knowing that it would be THE DAY. Having a plan is so comforting. I guess I am just one of those people... I envy those who can just lie back and say, "The baby will come when he/she decides to! C'est la vie!" I am way too paranoid, unfortunately :(


This will be the BEST Valentine's Day present ever. We can't wait to meet our little lovebug! It's surreal to think that our family of three is soon to be a family of FOUR. :D