On the Verge...

 There is a really cute photo that I found on pinterest months ago and I decided that I wanted to try and recreate it with Selah. It took some foresight, but I made it happen.   I'm a total copy cat... but that's what pinterest is for, right?  Pinspiration. Now for an update on our first first days back at home and some photos! Here is a comparison of Selah and Abram's newborn photos.  I think they look a lot alike.  So does Quinn.   Except for loads more hair on the girl.   Quinn's mom got into town on Tuesday and has been a huge help, taking care of Abram, holding Selah, and making sure we are all fed.  This is when she met her only granddaughter for the first time :) Abram giving kisses. He really likes giving Selah kisses.  So far we've kept the kisses off of her face because of the constant snot stream flowing from Brother's nose.  We focus on the top of the hea...

 Well, friends, you have traveled this journey of pregnancy with me, probably almost as annoyed as I was by all the false labor stuff lately.  So I wanted to make sure you got to hear the story of the actual and final arrival of Selah Christine Smith! I'll preface all of this by saying that in my over one week of false labor shenanigans I read a LOT of stuff online - including quite a few birth stories.  I love me a good birth story, but I think there's a limit to the detail necessary for a birth story.  Not an appropriateness limit (although there is a bit of a need for that as well), but a volume limit.  So I'll try to be thorough and detailed, but avoid reaching short story or novella length and make up for any tediousness in the writing with lots of pictures! My two separate days of false labor had made me feel like I couldn't trust my body to let me know when the real thing was actually here.  I had come to conclude that the difference would have...

So we've already had two false alarms with this little girl.  Full days of regular, uncomfortable contractions ending in nothing.  Now I feel back to normal, with nothing but the "plug" to show for progress.  I'm not going to go into detail on that one.  If you know, you get it - and care.  If you don't know, you probably wouldn't care.  Still having a good amount of Braxton Hicks all day long, but nothing regular or painful. Since the beginning, I'd had this feeling about April 20th or 21st.  Honestly, though, I think that's because this is the equivalent of when we had Abram. I delivered him 3.5 hours from "right now".  So pretty soon, I will be more pregnant than I've ever been.  Between two pregnancies, I realize that's not that big of a deal, and I'm actually feeling pretty ok carrying her.  I guess that's the benefit of having a peanut. I do not, however, feel very good in other ways.  Abram and I officially have a v...

Don't worry, friends. I think we are nearing the end! Then we will be on to too many newborn posts. But those will have more cute pictures and will, therefore, have more redemptive value. These pregnancy update posts are mainly for our three sets of parents to keep up to date when it's hard for us to call all of them and give them every little detail of every doctor appointment. So here are the little details from this morning's appointment: -She is "still" head down after the version last week. Who knows if she has actually stayed that way or she just got that way recently, but what matters is that she's there now and she doesn't look like she'll be moving out, because... -She's at almost -1 station. That's close to being fully engaged! Just a little further to go. -The fake labor this weekend was not for naught :) I am 1.5 cm dilated and 60% effaced! Yay! -She is still measuring really small. The last three weeks we've had sonogr...

Well, It's 2pm on the 17th and I don't think there will be a baby arriving today. My plans were foiled. God obviously wanted them foiled though, so I have to trust that it's all for the best. Some of you may have seen it on Facebook, but I was convinced that my 38 week appointment was this morning. I was super excited to find out if there had been any progress and to talk to my doctor about the weird "labor day" this weekend and see if they would check her growth and my fluid levels (since she was small and there was a lot of fluid last time). But I got almost to the hospital this morning at 7:30 when my calendar alarm went off on my phone reminding me of my appointment TOMORROW. It was one of those moments that I felt so dumb that I couldn't even be upset about it. I just shook my head, reprimanded myself using my middle name, and turned around. I double checked the text message my doctor's office sent me yesterday as a reminder and confirmed that...

I made my first movie. On my phone. I mean, I made movies in college (that was part of my major)... this is the first movie I've made on my phone. And in a long time. I finally bought iMovie for my iPhone and iMade a movie iTitled: "From Abram to Selah" Get the double meaning? I was trying to pick the right song to go with it and ended up seeing that one of my favorite songs "Out Loud" by one of my favorite (no longer) bands "Dispatch" was the perfect length and had the perfect lyrics. I thought about "Baby Driver", by Simon and Garfunkel, but when they said the words "sex appeal" at one point, I decided it probably wasn't entirely appropriate. So still waiting on Miss Selah and counting down the hours until my appointment tomorrow morning at 7:30. Abram just woke up from his nap and we've got to do lunch for this hungry hippo kiddo. Oh! I wanted to ask you all... do you think that it's uncouth to set up a care ca...

An update: It seems that the 16 hours of 3-7 minute apart contractions I experienced were a sign of... nothing. We are back to sporadic Braxton Hicks for the last day. And while I have felt some pressure down there when she moves, she hasn't dropped yet. All a build up to nothing :( Sadness. But God knows why it happened that way. There was a reason and I may never know it, but I am trusting Him and trying to limit my research into false labor and helping a baby drop etc. The only things I'm doing now are belly binding when I go out (more for comfort sake) and trying to get some rest. I did take Benedryl last night and I was able to sleep through the night, but am still tired today. So I'm hoping I can get some natural sleep tonight. Sorry for crying wolf! Thank you for your prayers and for reading my back and forth ramblings about labor. My next appointment is Tuesday morning and I will hopefully things have progressed a little bit, maybe even a lot a bit. I ...

So many question marks in these recent post titles! I attribute it to the usual uncertainty of having a baby. I hesitate to write this post, because I could, essentially, be crying wolf. But because this blog is meant to: 1) help me remember major events in my life and my family's lives, 2) keep distant family members in the loop about major events in my life and my family's lives, and 3) give me something to do when I am bored, it seems like something that should be written about at this time. So, I believe that I am in the early stage of labor and have been for about 16 hours now. I've been getting Braxton Hicks contractions for forever and I get them pretty frequently, but last night I started having more painful and stronger contractions about every 4 minutes for about an hour and a half right when we got home from our night out. Picture - as promised. They weren't "floor me" painful, but they were "stop me in my tracks" painful. Quinn pack...

Quinn and I used to do dates at least once a week. Before kids. Actually, before kids every night was like date night. Don't forget that, married people with no kids! Children are a blessing, but date nights every night with no need for a baby sitter is also a blessing. Tomorrow, Chelsea is coming over in the afternoon. I've had a really hard time keeping up with Abram and giving him all of the attention that he needs and deserves recently. So he gets two special days this week: a Daddy day (yesterday) and a Chelsea day (tomorrow)! I have big plans to switch Abram's room and the work room in the next few days before Selah gets here and I'm hoping between Chelsea and I, we will be able to make significant headway tomorrow. You see, Abram's room is right next to ours. This was great when he was two months old and since he's been an only child. We can hear him when he cries through the wall, even if we've forgotten to bring the monitor in from the livi...