introducing...

Cate Taylor McGaughey

born January 16th, 2009

at 3:32 p.m.

8 lbs. 8.6 oz

22 inches long

sister to Corban Gabriel

...such a blessing, such a gift...

We love you, Baby Cate, and are so glad you are here!

tomorrow

Tomorrow is a lot of things...
January 16th.
A Friday.
My Dad's Birthday.
My actual, doctor-given due date.
and.. the day that we'll probably meet our Baby Girl.

After much deliberation, we've decided to get my water broken in the morning. I had a long talk with my doctor about the way I wanted things to go, and he was totally okay with it. The only thing he had to say was 'Just warning you- if I'm delivering a baby at 3 a.m. because you won't let me use pitocin, I may be cranky. I've had late deliveries every night this week.' And then he laughed. I told him I was okay with grumpy. :) Our plan is to arrive at 7:15, and they will break my water. They want to monitor the baby for a period after my water is broken, and then I'm free to walk, jump, run. Of course, there will be limitations and I am taking a chance with that whole 24 hours after broken water hubbub, but I think this is what is best for us.
I cannot begin to describe the relief I've felt since making the decision. I went in to get my membranes stripped, and I was more than 3, but not quite 4 cm dilated, same effacement. In the 20 minutes I was on the NST, I had 6 contractions. The nurse practitioner was like 'are you feeling these?' I replied, 'everyone of them... have been for weeks.' And then she asked if I wanted to come in tonight instead. Haha.
We were able to make arrangements for Corban, our families are off for the weekend, and my big brother and his wife will even be able to make it home to meet her. Otherwise, it would've been months before they would see her. So, those things make me very glad. And if we end up having to use pitocin to speed things along... well, there's worse things.

We grabbed dinner at a local chinese place. It was delicious, as always, and I couldn't help but crack up when my fortune cookie read, "Tomorrow will be a productive day. Don't oversleep." haha. But on our way home, we started having a discussion about Baby Girls name... and well, it turns out that we're not on the same page AT ALL. I think he assumed I would cave, and I assumed that he would cave. So now I have to begin a mad name search, see if I find any better options, and then beg Jordan to let me choose. :) Just kidding about that last part. He did say that I could choose, but he is really talking like he doesn't like it. We'll see tomorrow, I guess!!!
Anyway, prayers would be much appreciated. I sure wouldn't mind a speedy, non-medicated, pitocin free delivery, but if things go differently, we'll deal. Next time I post I'll be introducing our daughter! HURRAY!!

Well. After way too many bouts of tears, and contractions at least every 10 minutes for about 15 hours yesterday, I've decided to be somewhat proactive. I'm going to the doctor at 1:30 to get checked again and to have them strip my membranes. And then I'm going to walk, walk, walk.

I am just so drained... mentally, physically, emotionally.

Please pray that this has some effect, other than hours upon hours of contractions that don't mean a darn thing.

Off to get ready! Stay warm!

Moments not missed..

I had a big, long complaint written out about how things didn't go my way, didn't work out as I had planned, and how I was upset about it. But after writing the remainder of my post, I realized that I needed to just get over myself, stop being such a baby. So you don't get to here my rant. Instead, you get to hear about the awesome day I had with my son....

Other than that, I had a really nice afternoon. Corban and I just played all day long. We emptied both toy baskets we have, and played with just about every toy he owns. We slid on our legs on the slick ceramic tile and cracked up. We colored some. We spilt and picked up and counted, and spilt and picked up and counted, and... you get the idea.. cheerios onto the tile floor. He found it so amusing. :) We played upstairs and downstairs. We learned names of new animals (giraffe and elephant!). We looked out the window at the snow, and then watched in anticipation of Daddy coming home. I showed him how he could stand on his big boy bed and see our back yard out his window. He liked that alot. We played with his new nursery rhyme cd player, and danced to the songs. We arranged animal magnets on the dry erase board. We pretended the old toilet paper roll was a megaphone, and then a telescope. And of course, we drummed on every hard surface in the house. And now it's 6p.m., and my sweet pea is sleeping. He didn't get a nap this afternoon, as Daddy was home and that makes life far too exciting to sleep. So I'm letting him sleep for an hour (he was being a bear), and then I'll get him up, eat dinner, and put him back to bed by 8, hopefully.
I guess there's lessons learned today. Had I had my baby yesterday (or even today), I wouldn't have had this day with Corban. We wouldn't have spent hours playing and laughing together. I wouldn't have taught him what a zebra was. I wouldn't have the sweet memory of him hysterically laughing as the cheerio flew into the air because he pushed too hard with the spoon. I would've missed the hugs he had to give, him saying 'Mommy' so sweetly as I went to get him out of his crib. So, as ready as I am to have this baby, I'm really thankful that she stayed put for today. And man, am I thankful for my son. He is such a joy. I do, so very much, love being his mama. And I'm thankful that I was able to enjoy today, to set aside my anxiousness (for most of the day, anyway), and not miss these moments that I'll never get back. I'm thankful that I was here, really here, today for my sweet boy. He deserves a present Mama... Yes, I'm thankful for these moments that were not missed.

a few things I love... about my baby boy.

• If you ask him to say 'bye bye', he says, and quite adorably might I add, 'See ya!'. If you imply we're leaving anywhere, he starts telling everyone 'see ya!'
• He adores his Daddy. The wind was blowing hard against the front door yesterday, and he thought it was Daddy coming home. He just sat at the stair and cried when I told him it wasn't Jordan. This morning, he crawled up into our dark bedroom while I made breakfast, just hunting for his Daddy-o. What am I- chopped liver?! haha :)
• He is absolutely, positively OBSESSED with football. I'm not kidding when I say that he even sleeps with one. It's a soft foam Colts football that showed up out of nowhere, but he'll ask for it and will not lay down until he has his football. He associates the tv with football, because the only time it's ever on is to watch games or when Jordan's playing xbox. So if I turn the tv on, he starts yelling 'football, football!'. If we see anything with the Colts logo on it, he knows that it's football too, and lets everyone know.
• He still loves musical instruments. His Grandma and Grandaddy (my parents) got him this drum that has several other instruments inside of it and a toy guitar for Christmas and he plays witht them all day long. The whole world is a drum to him. The tv, the stairs, the trashcan. He walks around with the drumsticks often. And of course, bangs his head to rhythm.
• He is starting to repeat words randomly. Like yesterday, I said 'Oh Geez', and he mimicked me perfectly. Oops. New words already today: turtle, boat, bath. I always sing Jesus Loves Me to him while I snuggle him before putting him down for a nap, and today he was singing along with me. He 'sang' Bible, Yes, and Jesus. It was precious. He also says 'amen' when we pray with him before bed.
• He loves to laugh. And has the most wonderful laugh you've ever heard. I can't get enough of it. And he totally tries to make you laugh. Just like his Daddy. I love it.

I don't love that he woke up at 5:30a.m. this morning, or that he has been just laying in his crib, talking, for over an hour. He was being very grumpy and defiant, and crying about everything, so I laid him down. I hate that he's not sleeping, but I know he needs to. I can't decide if I should get him up or just let him stay in there. He's not crying and not upset at all, which is a far cry from how he was being when I laid him down. I'll give it a few more minutes, and if he's still awake, I'll get him up.

Anyway, as I was snuggling him before I laid him down, I was just thinking about how wonderful he is, and how much I loved being his Mama, and how I loved these things about him. I'm terrible at writing in his baby book, but do I good job documenting here. So there you have it. A few things about my son. :)

And I'm still pregnant. Contractions started at 10 min. apart this morning, went down to 8, then to 7, but I stopped timing them. I'm still having them, and they are seemingly more uncomfortable, but seem sporadic. I'm going to be pregnant until I'm 82, it's been decided. And, I'm never going to know when I'm in labor, so I'll probably deliver in my front yard. There's worse things though, right? Haha. Off to wash the dishes..

That waiting thing? Being patient? Enjoying the here and now?
It's hard.
And I'm really bad at it.

Off to get my baby boy out of his crib, and leave my house... so I don't just sit and be mad that I'm still pregnant. I am undecided on what today will hold for us, but probably includes hitting another Target, possibly Babies R Us, the YMCA, and a visit to Daddy at church. That is, if the weather allows. Otherwise, it's going to be a looooong day around here.

Happy Tuesday! Anyone else looking forward to American Idol starting tonight?? I sure am, and my husband sure isn't. But, he can play Oblivion while I indulge in 2 hours on my rear in front of the tv. Oh, the simple pleasures of life. Haha.

Well, my appointment today didn't bring the glorious news I was hoping for. Instead, I was told that I'm 5 lbs heavier than last week, but only 25% more effaced, and not at all more dilated. Such is life, I suppose. :) The ball is in my court- they aren't pushing me to induce like last time, probably because I've said every week for the last 3 months that I didn't want to, but they simply said that any day this week worked for any of them, if I wanted to come have the baby. I said I'd call and let them know.
Right now, I'm just planning on waiting. I'm 3cm, 75% effaced, and having contractions all day, every day, though not regular. She's gonna come out sometime, right? After Corban's nap, we'll go to the YMCA and I'll walk, bounce on the exercise ball, maybe even do the eliptical trainer. I'll finish the rest of my fresh pineapple I bought, and probably eat something spicy for dinner. I'll probably have contractions all night, and probably still be pregnant tomorrow. But- she'll be here someday soon.
And when she is, I can put her in her really cute new shoes I bought for her today. And wrap her in the sweet pink blanket I bought. Or let her wear that warm, fleece outfit I picked up. Or look at her while her brother in his new hoody or puffy vest holds her. Target was good to me this morning. :) I bought baby girl 3 pairs of shoes, a 2 piece fleece outfit, a blanket, and Corban a hoody and a fleece-lined vest, some gum and crackers, all for UNDER $30. And the shoes were Chuck Taylors, btw. Oh, how I love clearance prices! I'm tempted to go back tomorrow to shop for Corban's next year wardrobe... maybe even Baby Girl too. SO many things were $2-3 dollars (for the Genuine Kids stuff too- which is my most favorite!). Retail therapy, perhaps? haha, It really wasn't... I went BEFORE my depressing appointment. I have more self-control (somedays) than that.
Anyway, Corban's in bed, and I need to take a shower, so off I go. Maybe NEXT post will be introducing my daughter.
But probably not. :)