baby time!

39 weeks today! i had been in labor a couple of hours at this point with lucy :) we're ready for this baby to make her grand entrance as soon as she's ready! my goal with all 3 pregnancies was to make it to 39 weeks & i am so grateful & feel so blessed to be able to deliver a full-term newborn this week. 

my last appointment with my doc is tomorrow morning- i'll get "checked" which will determine if we'll begin the induction process either thursday evening or friday morning. thankfully my gestational diabetes has remained in check towards the end of this pregnancy [it was much harder to control towards the end of my lucy pregnancy], but i'm, of course, still monitoring pretty closely to do my best & ensure we don't have a sugar-drop upon birth. tomorrow is my last sono, too, to check fluid levels, etc. it is wild to think that this may be my last ultrasound ever! 

i know we're young & we have many more childbearing years ahead of us, but i've been praying for some sort of feeling to know whether or not this baby will complete our little family & we're beginning to think that she is our baby! i've been pregnant &/or nursing everyday for 4 years now, with at least a couple of years of nursing still ahead for me. lucy's getting older & i'm thankful that she's still young enough that i don't have to miss much of her activities due to having a nursing baby at this point, but there is still a definite trade off in balancing everyone's best interest. we like having our babies close together for their sake [& ours... knocking this season of life out!] & lucy will be 4 this september, which would put another baby at least 5 years behind her- meaning she'll be in grade school. once she's [& subsequently eloise & betsy] are in kindergarten, i want to be able to be involved in her classroom, go on field trips, etc, which becomes ultra tricky with young babies at home. i've found that the best way for me to mother is to not really leave my babies for the first year or so [& beyond]- i know this isn't possible or even desirable for many women, but it's what's best for our family. this, however, makes it more of a challenge with older siblings who have dance recitals, birthday parties to attend, school programs. so as jon & i build our family, we're feeling good about the prospect of what this little life may look like a couple of years from now- 3 "independent" girls, all close in age, who we can be super involved in each of their lives without spreading anybody too thin [bonus that we're done having babies before we hit age 30, meaning we will actually be able to travel together, have regular dates, enjoy one another & sit back to enjoy & watch our family blossom in this next decade of life!] & because of this, i feel extra excited for the birth of this baby- for the entire experience of getting to welcome the cherry on top to our family into this world :) & it doesn't hurt that we have 3 daughters- my ultimate dream. i actually still pinch myself over this [& props to jon for being the sweetest girl dad i could ever imagine!]

in big girl news- lucy has always been a little mommy, and lately i hear her telling eloise the same things i say to her- verbatim. she's so excited to have another sister & she tells me all of the life lessons she's planning to teach betsy- for example, "mommy, when betsy comes, i'm going to take her to nordstrom & teach her to say 'may i have some raisins, please?'" :)

eloise's language is exploding [she's so fun!], but the best is her requesting, "hold you!" in the most sugary sweet voice you can imagine, multiple times each day. i plan to be wearing bea & holding eloise on my hip a large portion of each day for the next several months :)

harrison's 5th birthday party! what a blast with our beloved neighbors!

& how's this for irony? lucy is 40 months old today. she was born at exactly 39 weeks gestational age. i would have never guessed that 40 months to the day later, i would be exactly 39 weeks pregnant with her baby sister :)

my sweet valentines-

& in family news, jon's grandmother [the girls'  GG] has begun chemotherapy for her recently discovered lung cancer. she sent us this picture of her new 'doo! prayers for comfort & peace during this time for our dear oma.

my next update will introduce miss beatrice, i'm sure :) we have some fun stuff planned over the next few days to keep ourselves occupied [library storytime is starting back up for the spring!], but meanwhile, we are packed, the house is deep-cleaned, casseroles are frozen & i even got a manicure/pedicure over the weekend! let's do this!

baby time! xoxoxoxoxo, 

-ivy