Induction Set

Unless Emily comes on her own, we will be induced on Tuesday morning at 7 am. Please pray for a smooth delivery and a healthy baby. We can't wait to meet her.

Prayer Request

Yesterday morning, one of my girlfriends here in Austin gave birth to her daughter, Natalie at 26 weeks due to an almost complete placental abruption. So far, Natalie is doing ok. Her lungs are very underdeveloped, and she will be in the NICU for the next 14 weeks at least. Jenn is doing well despite the emergency c-section. Please pray for little Natalie. She weighed in at 1.3 pounds.

As far as things with the Grafius family go, I am still pregnant. I am 38 weeks this week and very eager for Emily to make her arrival. I will be induced at 39 weeks if she does not arrive sooner. I am currently 3 cm and 60 % effaced which is what I was when I delivered Caroline. Please pray that I will go into labor on my own. I would like to know what it is like to go into labor on my own since I was induced with Caroline. Don't get me wrong, I am all about my epidural, but I would just like to know how to tell that I am in labor. Also, seeing as how little Emily is an out of pocket expense, not having to be induced would be good. I can't wait to share about her when she arrives.

Double Stroller

Ok friends, I need thoughts on double strollers. Caroline will be 2 when Emily is born.

Quick Update

Well I am still on bed rest. At this point, I will probably be on bed rest until at least week 35. I am currently 32 weeks and 4 days. I have another doctor's appointment this Wednesday. A huge praise that I have is that Emily is now head down. We are just hoping she stays that way. My mom has been here helping with Caroline and that has been a huge blessing. My sister is in town from New Orleans to help out this week which is really awesome. Currently, she is painting one of my bathrooms for me, a project that I intended to finish before miss Emily's arrival but alas it would be frowned upon for me to do it. I am super grateful for her willingness to help me.

I had a baby shower this last weekend so I will be posting some pics from that soon.

Lots of Rest for the Not So Weary

Well, I have officially been put on bed rest. Last Monday, I went to Labor and Delivery at the prompting of my doctor's office because I had been experiencing a lot of pressure, contractions, and trouble breathing over the weekend. When we arrived at the hospital, we were put in a room and I was hooked up to fetal monitors. Emily is doing great. Her heart rate sounded perfect for her gestational age. The monitor showed that I was having contractions, but the nurse referred to them more as uterine irritability. The nurse did a pelvic exam and found that I was dilated to 2cm which is not a good thing at 30 weeks. The biggest concern the doctor had while I was being checked out is that I was having trouble breathing and I had an elevated heart rate which signaled to her that I may have a pulmonary embolism. This is obviously a very scary thing since blood clots can be fatal, so they had a CT Scan done immediately. Praise the Lord: it was negative. I spent Monday night in the hospital for more monitoring and was sent home Tuesday morning with instructions that I was to be on bed rest until further notice.

Most people might think bed rest sounds really great, but let me tell you it isn't. Just as I was being put on bed rest, I feel like my nesting instinct kicked in. My mom has been here helping me with Caroline which is a huge blessing. I am not allowed to pick her up, so having someone here all the time is great.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning which I am really excited to go to. I am hoping she might give me a better idea of how long I will be on bed rest. Frank and I covet all of your prayers. We obviously want Emily to stay cooking for quite a while longer. You can also pray that I don't have to go into the hospital for any more monitoring. We don't have maternity insurance, so everything has to be paid for out of pocket. We obviously put Emily's health first, but it would be nice not to have any more hospitals stay than absolutely necessary.

I should be updating the blog more since I have so much time on my hands. Love to you all.

Snowy Days

Well as strange as it may seem, we had about 3 inches of snow this last week here in Austin. It was crazy! I haven't seen that much snow in central Texas since the big snow of '85. Some of you may remember it. Anyhow, I thought I would post some pictures of Caroline and her daddy playing in the snow.

Recent Pictures of Caroline

I can't believe that Caroline is 20 months old. Time flies. She is a bundle of energy which can be trying at times since I am seven months pregnant. We love her more and more each day, and it is hard to imagine sharing that love when Emily arrives. Here is some recent info about Caroline:

At her 18 month check-up she weighed 26 pounds and was 31 1/2 inches long

She has all of her teeth except her back molars which I understand she will get around age 2

Her hair is finally starting to grow a little--we can now give her a Pebbles style pony-tail on top

She is always increasing her vocabulary, but we haven't made the jump to 2 word sentences yet

As of yesterday, she has attempted to use the potty three times
(I don't know if I am ready for this)

Overall, she is a huge blessing.