Psalm 46:10

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth"

Psalm 46:10

Yesterday I woke up with easy contractions 10-15 minutes apart.
I went to bed last night with strong contractions <7 minutes apart.
I woke up this morning with no baby, and not in labor.

I wanted so badly not to be that mom that alerted her midwives and friends too early. I wanted desperately not to have days of practice before my actual labor like I did with Lily. But this is the way God created me. This is how my body prepares for birth. It can be overwhelming...ok, it is overwhelming sometimes, but I am taking this as a blessing. The days of warm up labor with Lily led to a fantastic birth, so I will trust my body, I will trust the Lord, and know that I will meet my baby soon.
I am so grateful that we are having a homebirth. Had I gone into the hospital last night- with a day of early labor and 7 minute growing contractions [I actually broke a sweat through a few], and then suddenly stopped at 3:30, they'd have given me pitocin and started trying to get my baby out when s/he is clearly not ready. My birth team is very excited for me and have been such a huge support the past 24 hours, I know they will be joyful to celebrate with me when it actually is time.

For now, I will continue to wait, continue to grow my baby, and start trusting that the Lord is on my side. He will bring this baby into the world on the date that He set before I was even born.

Hope you're having a great start to your week,
Mae

Luck O' the Irish

Last year Eamon told me I didn't need to wear green on St. Patrick's Day because "you've had a little bit of Irish in you." Isn't he sweet? [insert HUGE eyeroll...who is he, Matt Damien?]

For all his talk about his Irish heritage -dad is first generation, grew up on the docks of Boston, Eamon and his brother have "done enough Catechism to be priests"- I have never benefited from the Luck of the Irish that is supposed to come with hailing from the most beautiful, superior, and awe-inspiring place in the world.

When we were dating, I always noticed that nothing worked out for Eamon. He had the worst luck in the world. Bank accounts went haywire on a regular basis, cars went kaput, injuries were acquired...it was never ending. Then we got married.
My identity got stolen, bank accounts were overdrawn by about $2000, my car bit the bullet...all of a sudden I was no longer the good luck charm in our relationship, I too fell under the spell of bad luck.

So as I sit here, wondering how the heck I have done nothing but clean for two weeks and my house is still a wreck, 39 weeks pregnant with a mini watermelon [according to Babycenter.com], I wonder if Eamon's Irish luck will finally kick in. Will I get my St. Patty's Day baby? Or will this baby just hang around and be an April Fool's baby? [Oh Lord...I could still be pregnant in April...ooooy...] 

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!
Mae

So much for trying

When I got pregnant I promised myself I wouldn't fall into the "You can have a baby any minute now since you're 37 weeks." mindset...

Welp, so much for trying.
EVERY. NIGHT. I dream about labor, holding the baby, calling the midwives...SOMETHING. Last night I dreamed that I had just woken up [don't you hate that?!?] and went to the bathroom to find "the big show" When I woke up for real I thought that I had just gone back to sleep and should call Eamon to let him know.
Then I realized it was a dreamed I was slightly ticked off...Ok, I was really ticked off, but I'd probably lose half my readers if I wrote down the actual thoughts I had...

Last time was so different, I had distractions.
I had our one year anniversary to keep me busy, then moving, then my birthday. There were little things every week that even if I didn't have the baby, I would still have something to do.
This time I'm just sitting. Waiting. Looking at the storage bin that the birth tub is in. Making double triple sure I have the essentials like Depends, olive oil, hydrogen peroxide, and extra sheets [homebirth can be weird, y'all]. I've organized and reorganized each room multiple times. I keep cleaning up the house so that when my birth team comes home they don't see what kind of pigs we really are.

And I'm still two and a half weeks away from my due date. THREE and a half weeks from when Lily was born...

I was kinda encouraged though when I looked in the mirror this morning and noticed Baby is sitting practically between my knees, see?

So it can't be that much longer...right?

I'm actually praying it happens Friday. Next week is Spring Break at the TCC campus and Eamon will be off, so we'll have a whole week AND an extra weekend of just the four of us if the baby comes this weekend. But it's really just not likely.

How on Earth am I going to distract myself without putting myself in labor? Ugh.

Lastly, if you haven't already, go enter the big Hip Green Baby giveaway by telling me what your predictions for this baby are! So far you guys are thinkin boy ;]

Mae