Worth the wait!

Andy Armstrong made his arrival on Tuesday, February 15, weighing 9 pounds, 9 ounces! I had gone in to the hospital the night before for some medicine to help my cervix efface. I was scheduled to be induced the morning of the 15th. The medicine, which was supposed to have "mild cramps" as a side effect, put me into labor Monday night. By the early morning hours all visions of trying to avoid an epidural had gone out the window! I took the epidural (amazing!) and we got a bit of rest.

Andy's heart rate had fluctuated somethrough the night, but would regulate with me taking extra oxygen and when the nurse had me roll to one side or the other. However, Tuesday morning his heart rate took a couple of nose dives and didn't come up very quickly. We had a brief, scary moment involving nurses running in and the doctor being called in quickly. I remember feeling relatively calm and having verses from Joshua 1 flitter through my mind (do not be terrified, be strong and courageous!). I also remember not really caring that all of the nurses and doctor were seeing my bare backside hanging out of the hospital gown (they had me on my hands and knees on the bed- no small feat considering I couldn't use my legs at this point!). The doctor made the call to do a C-section and within ten minutes I was in the operating room. Jimmy and my mom both got to be in surgery with me. Andy was out in no time and healthy!

We are adjusting well to life as a family of four. I'm sleep deprived, but I think that is unavoidable with a newborn. Samuel is a doting big brother who is anxious to play with Andy. He's been acting out some with me and Jimmy, but we're not sure if that is related to the baby or just being stuck inside a lot and being 3! We believe that both our adoption journey with Samuel and the pregnancy with Andy are miracles and huge blessings from the Lord. We are grateful for the meals, visits and gifts that keep showing up at our house! Much love to all for the support!

The Waiting Game

I'm officially five days overdue. The pregnancy has flown, but this week has not. I'm proud of myself for not being too crazy yet. I think I've tried everything on the old wives' tale list of ways to induce labor (except red tea and castor oil which my doctor warned against!).

I even went to a chiropractor for accupuncture. Needles and I are not friends. I have a lot of really embarrassing stories relating to passing out because of needles or pain- getting my ears pierced, a failed attempt at getting my belly button pierced in college and in my stint as a Kanakuk counselor (accompanied a camper to the ER- she got an IV, I hit the floor!). Since becoming a mom, I've toughened up some, but I'm still wimpy. So when I started feeling woozy from the accupuncture (and probably from her having me on my back for 20 minutes), I was ready to be done. Baby Boy was certainly more active after that, but still no labor!

In the meantime, I have enjoyed the week with Samuel. I had already planned for my subs to take over teaching this past Monday. It was a good transition point and I was anxious about having to call them last minute and risk canceling class, so I have been off this week. I feel guilty burning leave, but it has been nice to rest and enjoy the time with Samuel and Jimmy. Besides, I've done lots of important things like fix my blog background and shampoo the carpet!

Tomorrow I see the doctor again for a sonogram and non-stress test. I'm excited to at least "see" the baby on the sonogram! If all's well, the doctor plans to schedule induction for early next week. That's right, 10ish days after my due date. I'm still praying to go into labor on my own before then, but we shall see. I know that if God can get me through eight months in Guatemala, He can get me through ten days overdue and the delivery!

My other form of coping has been shopping. I am not typically a shopper. I don't enjoy it and neither does my husband (remember, he's in the Dave Ramsey fan club). I heard about Amazon Mom- you guys know about this? If you sign up (free) then you get three free months of Amazon Prime (free 2 day shipping on any order amount). Then, any "qualifying baby purchases" extend your Amazon Prime membership for up to a year. They also have a diaper deal where you get 30% off (mainly Pampers brand) if you sign up for a recurring order. I should be on their marketing team. Anyways- I've done some Amazon shopping. One purchase was this Moby wrap which I convinced myself I needed. We broke it out to practice wrapping and Samuel and Jimmy modeled it. Here's Samuel with his "baby bug" (a baby toy I got out a few weeks ago and he's been carrying around like a baby since then)....


Hopefully next post will be some exciting news about the 4th member of the Armstrong family...

February 5

Today is my due date. After months of February 5 seeming so far away, the day has come and gone uneventfully (so far at least!). It seems baby boy is pretty content to stay put for now. Thanks to the internet and suggestions from friends, I have a long list of natural ways to induce labor and I'm working on it!

This week was a bit long with all of the snow, but we stayed busy with 50 million games of Candy Land and Toy Story Memory and tried to enjoy the snow (snow ice cream shown here... and my messy kitchen in the background- this was in the 48 hour period where I hardly left the house!). I am posting this picture despite how tired I look in it, not to mention how I've taken over Jimmy's selection of XL tshirts!



Happy Weekend!