Monday, February 25, 2013

Cerclage Removal

The day is here--the day the stitches come out and labor could happen any time. In an hour and I half I will be able to bear a baby girl. The question is. . . when will she come?

The stories on the internet are endless in detail and what might be. Some women go straight into labor, but not many. Some women go into labor within 72 hours. Some women have so much scar tissue from the stitches that they end up having to be induced or have a c-section.

What will our lot be? I'm clueless, at least for the moment. I'm hoping to glean some bets from my perinatologist this afternoon, or at least a 3-D ultra sound :).

Tyler will be in attendance this afternoon. He has been planning how we will get downtown to the hospital in time from his dermatology lab for over a month know. My mom has her plane ticket booked and will keep moving the plans around until Claira arrives. I hear concern in the voices of those I love when I talk about this procedure, and Tyler asks me if I am nervous.

What I am is excited! I doubt I will go into labor this afternoon, but the fact is, labor is a very real, like 100% possibility with the stitches out. How incredibly mind-boggling. I posted a comparison picture on facebook of my 37 week belly verses 30 week belly. As one commentor expressed, "that baby did some serious growing!" Agreed. Neither my nurse midwife nor my OB think she'll be hanging on until her due date, March 15th. I'm curious if the peri will have any thoughts.

The nursery is so close to being finished I can hardly wait to post pictures, but I will, because it is darling. We've worked hard. We are so excited. We are so blessed and happy and grateful.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Claira Jane

We're heading into the home stretch, folks. As the title suggests, Tyler and I have settled on a name for Baby Girl Anderson. This will be her name, provided we don't receive some other inspiration at the hospital. We've been calling her Claira for months now--it would have to be some mighty strong inspiration for this to change.

Claira: I have always loved this name. I learned early that it means "light." Why not Clara, you might ask? Well, two reasons. I have always preferred this spelling, and... we are naming her after Tyler's Grandpa Anderson, Clair, who passed away in December 2011. I know this will be a trying spelling, and that our daughter will go through life with people spelling her name incorrectly, but people spell my name wrong all the time and I am the stronger for it ;).

Jane: Jane in honor of so many reasons. First, my love of the book (and the musical and movies) Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.  Second, it is a family name on my mom's side of the family. I found it on our pedigree chart and was happy that I could use the name and call it a family one. Then I did a little research on Jane Jewkes Crowther, who was born in England, lost two children, moved to the States and married again, lived in Utah and then settled in Colorado. She was apparently very kind, patient, and loved to sing. Thirdly, I had a wonderful mentor in my late teens named Jane, who to this day influences my life for the good. Jane is the female version of the name John, which means "God is gracious," and indeed He is.

We went on a tour of the hospital where Claira is to be delivered. It felt very natural to be walking around the Labor and Delivery unit, the mother and baby unit. We've been to Labor and Delivery before. What doesn't feel real is that in several weeks, we will be walking out of the hospital with a live baby, clipping her into a new carseat, and driving her to the nursery we've been preparing for the last 2 months. I often just go sit in the rocking chair and think about life with Claira. What a dizzying, dreamy idea.

Tyler talks to Claira often and lets her know that she should come on the afternoon of March 8th so he can have a whole week of Spring Break with her. I hope she's listening :)