I wanted to get some pictures of the kids with Josiah in utero…however, I’m not so confident in my stretch marked plagued belly to show it off…so, we got some cute pictures of them touching my “clothed” belly. Zoe was more than cooperative. Ace was a little hesitant. Liam, we had to ask where my belly was and take the picture before he pulled my shirt up.

We are all getting excited about Josiah coming. I’m anxious to get through vacation before he comes. I have enjoyed this pregnancy. However, this past month has found me more physically limited and frustrated than I remember being with the others. I’m hurting a great deal more due to vericose veins and of course, my contractions are getting stronger. The back pain is minimal (with that minor episode a few weeks ago) but the big bulge in my front keeps me from doing a lot of things. I have all of Josiah’s things ready and we’re ready to pack our bags (which I’ll do after vacation). I haven’t registered for the hospital yet but plan on getting the form to do that this week when I go see my doctor.

I would like to have a minimal intervention labor and delivery which means no induction…a first for me. The epidural was not very pleasant last time and scared me because I felt a weird pain on my right side from the epidural going in. I had very little pain block on the right side with both of Liam and Ace’s births and my left side was so numb with Liam that I couldn’t put weight on that leg for several hours after birth. So, with God’s help and my trusty mp3 player…oh, and my wonderful birth coach, Mark, I should be able to get through labor…provided I can start without pitocin. We are praying for a safe and healthy delivery no matter how he gets here!