Samantha: 35 Months, Week 2 {Waiting for Aedan, Last Memories as a Family of Three, Indianapolis Indians Baseball}

This past week seemed to be all about waiting on baby.  In fact, as I write this post on Sunday night, April 27, I am experiencing some contractions, timing them on Ben's phone, with them being about 17-19 minutes apart, according to the app.  More about that will come later; however, we had no idea what was in store for us for this week, no idea when/if Aedan would decide to arrive, and were generally just playing the waiting game.

So, let me first just recap my week with Samantha.  Every day was going to progress like normal unless I was experiencing some labor type symptoms.  After having a busy weekend with Easter and feeling so tired on Sunday, Samantha and I decided to take it easy on Monday morning, just playing at home, only going out to make our weekly grocery trip to Kroger.  However, even getting Samantha to want to leave the house for shopping took some convincing.  It's fun to have a day to just play at home every once in awhile.  We played in her room, read books, played dress up, whatever suited her fancy.

Monday afternoon Ben got home from campus early so that I could go to my doctor's appointment.  Samantha was sleeping, as my appointment was during her nap time, which worked out well anyways because I wanted my doctor to do an exam, just to see if I had made any progress.  Unfortunately, there was nothing exciting to report.  He said I was about 60% effaced, but didn't seem to be dilated at all.  That kind of took me off guard because at my exam just after I was 36 weeks, he said I was at 1 cm, but I guess that a change in your cervix can happen like that.  It was a good appointment, but I felt a bit discouraged afterwards.  I have to admit that I was hoping to have made some progress, or at least be consistent with where I was last time.  It was a good reminder to me that we have no idea when Aedan will arrive, nor is there anything we can do to control it or affect it.  He will come when he is ready to come.

Another thing we enjoyed doing this week, since the weather is getting progressively nicer as spring continues, is playing outside as much as we can.  Samantha has enjoyed walking Roscoe lately, and of course, likes to play outside on our patio and draw with her sidewalk chalk.  We are so glad that our apartment complex provides us with our patio area and this lovely grassy area to play in with jungle gyms and swings.

On Tuesday we took our weekly trip to the library, and Samantha had a wonderful time.  I was pretty uncomfortable, as it was the day before my due date, but it was fun to spend this one on one time with Samantha.  She had a good time playing at the train table all by herself, once many other kids already left for the morning.

Then, at BSF on Wednesday, we had a really special morning because it was an intergenerational opening, which means the kids got to spend time singing with the women before going to their class.  This day was extra special because the kids got up in the front of the church and sang two songs that they had learned throughout the year.  They sang "Good Morning God" and "Joy to the World."  Samantha was so excited about getting up in front of the church to sing for me, and she wasn't the least bit nervous about being up on stage.  She was standing next to another girl who sang pretty loud, but I could still hear her voice singing all the words to the songs.  I got the best picture that I could with my camera phone.  She is the one on the left with polka dotted sweater.  I was so proud of her; I think I was just beaming.  I am so proud of all that she has learned this year in BSF, all the Bible stories she heard, and the wonderful hymns about God that she knows by memory.  I am so glad that we made this commitment to BSF this year.  There is only one more week left for regular class, and the next year doesn't start until September, so I know that Samantha will miss her little friends and her wonderful teachers.

It was a bit strange going to BSF on Aedan's due date because to be honest, I didn't think I would actually make it to his due date if you asked me at the beginning of April.  I was kind of like the star of the morning, people kept asking me how I was feeling, when I was due, and wishing me luck.  I wasn't too discouraged yet, especially since Samantha was four days late, and now Ben and I were assuming that the same thing may be true for Aedan as well.

Well, Aedan's due date came and went, so Samantha and I continued following our normal routine.  On Thursday we went to our Mom's REST Stop group in the morning.  I had quite a few sympathetic comments from fellow moms, and even got to see the baby of a mom who was due right around me but had her baby a couple weeks early.  As she was sharing a little about her birth story, one mom even said, "No bitterness or anything, Jenny!"  I certainly wasn't feeling bitter towards her or even towards my situation, but I was definitely starting to feel anxious and ready.  Here is a picture I had Ben take of me on the day after my due date, April 24, for memory's sake.

Another big thing of the week was a continuation of good nap times.  Monday through Thursday Samantha took really good afternoon naps for me, not putting up much of a fight at all, which was appreciated, giving me some good time for rest, and getting things done around the house.  Friday, however, was a different story.  I was having some contractions on Thursday night and was hoping something would come of it, giving Ben and me a pretty restless night's sleep.  Because of that, we were both pretty worn out and tired on Friday.  Samantha did not take a nap on Friday, but instead decided to play in her room, making a "blockade" for herself using the curtain straps and lining up all the furniture from her dollhouse.  She said that she did this so that she wouldn't play with her dollhouse; however, I'm not so sure it served it's purpose.  It was pretty cute and pretty funny to walk in and see this on her floor though.

On Friday I was having a hard time not feeling really discouraged about labor starting, feeling like there was something wrong with my body, feeling like I was going to have to end up being induced, and not be able to try the natural childbirth that I would like to do.  I don't know why, but it was just so hard to be patient that I was making myself upset and making it so that I was really tired but could not let myself fall asleep.

Along the lines of some encouragement from our doula, we decided to go out on Friday night and have a fun family night.  We went to a park to enjoy the beautiful weather, I walked around on the path around the park, we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and then after we put Samantha to bed, Ben and I had a movie night.  It was very nice, and it helped get my mind off the fact that I wasn't in labor yet.

Saturday was a bit better as far as my discouragement levels go.  I tried to have a better attitude.  I tried to pray a lot, trying to let go of my control, trying to stay calm and rest in the fact that God created Aedan exactly how he is.  God knows how many hairs are on his head, the exact moment he will be born, and the plans he already has laid out before him.  I tried to focus more on the positives than the negatives, working on my attitude about the situation, and that seemed to help a lot.

Saturday afternoon, while Samantha was taking a really good afternoon nap, I brought up the idea of going to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game that night.  The weather was going to be warm and beautiful, and again, I was hoping to have a family night and an activity that would take my mind off my labor starting.  We decided that even though it was an hour away, that would be a safe distance since I wasn't having any contractions or anything.  We had a wonderful evening together.  We had a picnic dinner on our blanket.

Samantha got to play in the grass, watch the players stretch, and have fun with some little girls that were sitting right in front of us.

Later in the evening, we let Samantha choose a snack that she would like to eat.  She chose cotton candy because a nice family sitting near us let her try some of theirs earlier in the evening.  Samantha had never tasted cotton candy before, and I think she was a fan, as you can see evidence of in these pictures of pure joy on her face.

Samantha had a great time and was very respectful about not stepping on other people's blankets.  She even stayed on our blanket most of the time, which was a change from when we took her to games last summer and all she wanted to do was walk around.  Once some people started to leave around us, she had fun rolling and doing somersaults down the hill.

As it was getting farther into the game, which by the way lasted a lot longer than it should have, we knew that Samantha was getting tired and that we'd have to head home soon.  So, we decided that we would sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," which Samantha was really looking forward to, that we would meet Rowdie and get his autograph, and then it would be time for us to head home.

Samantha was really excited to meet Rowdie and get his autograph, but she didn't want to have her picture taken with him.  This is the best that Daddy got, but it captures her excitement perfectly, standing there watching him very intently.  She even gave him a high five and a hug, just didn't want to pose for a picture. :)

Going places like this with Samantha is always so fun, and it also reminds me of how she is such a big girl.  Before we left the ballpark, we went to the bathroom and I changed her into her pajamas so that she could fall asleep in the car on the way home and then we could just put her right to bed once we got home.  She was very excited to be able to cuddle and sleep with blankie in the car, and it took her a little while to calm down, but after that she fell right asleep and we were soothed by the sleeping noises and calm breathing of our adorable, sweet little Samantha.