Due date, still no baby

We had a little excitement this morning -- the mild contractions started up again FINALLY overnight. But not much else has happened since.
We had our weekly midwife appointment this morning (the one they told us last week we probably wouldn't need) and we're still 2-3 cm dilated, no change. The midwife told me to walk today to try to get the contractions picking up, so we went to the mall after the appointment to move around, then came home and walked some more.
Meanwhile, Molly is still battling this terrible stomach bug. This is the third day in a row that she's spent most of the day in bed sleeping and staring blankly at us. I've never seen anything like this. She's still occasionally throwing up. She hasn't eaten more than a few crackers and some Cheerios since Monday. I don't know what we would do if my mom wasn't here to help. Fortunately Molly seems a little perkier today -- she even cracked a joke or two this morning -- so we're not worried. It's just unbelievable timing.
Speaking of which, we're watching the forecast for a Nor'easter storm rolling in tonight that's supposed to bring 7-10 inches of snow by the end of the day tomorrow. That's right. Snow. Heavy, wet snow. In April. Possible white-out conditions. Right on our due date.
Oh, and when I called our doula in the middle of the night to let her know labor might be starting, her husband answered the phone and asked if I could wait a minute because she was on the other line. Turns out another client had called just moments earlier because her water broke. This other mom's not due until Sunday and we knew there was a slim chance our doula would have a conflict so there are back-up plans in place. It's not a big deal. Still, what are the chances? And now it sounds like her labor is progressing just as slowly as ours. I think both babies are waiting for the middle of the night, in a snow storm, to be born.
On that note, I'm going to go walk some more. It's time to get this process moving!

Still no baby

Well, labor appeared to be starting two nights ago. Then Molly woke up at 3 a.m. throwing up and everything stopped. She's still groggy this morning but she's much better than yesterday. Meanwhile, baby sister is just hanging out. No signs of labor. My mom is here. Everything's ready. Just more waiting. Come on little baby, we're ready!!!!

Drawing desk

Molly thinks the baby is coming on her due date. I think she might be right. I'm just glad it's Monday so we have some activities to distract us.

Here's what Molly did this weekend -- she produced stacks and stacks of drawings at a "drawing desk" she set up in the living room (basically just a little wooden chair to use for a hard surface).
Most of the drawings are scribbles or coloring in my line drawings, but these two are keepers.

Molly says this one is the circus. The thing in the middle is a trapeze. See all their arms hanging on? The red guy in the top left is a baby, she says. The guy underneath has a belly button. The guy on the right had a triangle in his hand but he dropped (you can see the triangle in both states).

And here is a family portrait. I'm pretty sure this is the first time she's written "Daddy."

No news...

So I'll post some belly shots instead!

Waiting

No signs of baby yet.

In the meantime, I feel I should warn everybody that Molly has a new favorite word and you're likely to hear it when you see us next. She really likes to say, "stupid."

She doesn't fully understand what it means. She uses it more like a curse word, spitting out the consonants when she gets frustrated or angry about something (blocks that won't stay stacked, a drawing that doesn't come out the way she wants, when Mommy's wrist won't spin 360 degrees to grip a toy cup just right, etc). Occasionally she says, "I'm so stupid" or "Mommy's stupid," but usually she just spits out "stupid" and collapses on the floor. Also, she occasionally says things like, "this paper hates me." And she has a real negative streak lately. After any activity where she's clearly having a great time, she reports that it was not fun. It was BAD. What did she like best about it? NOTHING. Did she sleep well? No, BAD. What was the best part about story time? NOTHING. (sigh).

We try not to laugh or get upset. In fact, we try not to react at all (except when she calls me stupid -- then Mommy's feelings get hurt and I have to leave the room).

Fortunately her crankiness never lasts long. And in some ways this is more interesting than when she just collapsed on the floor screaming or the foot stomping phase. Still, I'm just dreading the day she calls some kid in a play group "stupid." So be warned!

Getting close?

We just had our routine weekly midwife appointment this morning and she did an exam -- we're 2-3 cm dilated and 70% effaced (for anybody who's into details like that). Basically it still could be a while before the baby is born -- I've got no other indicators yet -- but probably within the week. AHHHH!!!! I'm not sure whether to panic or giggle.
OK, off to the library with Molly.

Party of 3

We had banana splits last night to celebrate the transition from being a family of three for three years (hence, three types of ice cream) to being a family of four.

No news on the baby front yet. Our busy week is over, the to-do lists are getting short and now we're just waiting. Ahhhhhh.....