Waiting for Mr. Lawrence

I could begin with when the contractions started to get heavy but that wouldn't make for a very fun story. Let me back up a bit...
 
With two kids under out belt we thought it would be a good idea to start trying for baby #3  last year. We'd begun tracking my BBT (I love my TempDrop!) and finally in December 2020 we were excited to discover we'd be expecting a baby in April!

Who could it be? Baby #3!

Overall I had a very healthy and easy pregnancy. I didn't gain as much weight as my last two pregnancy's and I felt like I had a lot of energy even into the 3rd trimester. I still needed a nap most days (and thankfully both toddlers took a noon nap so I could too). It was nice not feeling as worn out and I could take my kids for walks and still maintain the house fairly well. Beginning at 36 weeks I even went through a few weeks of "nesting". Actually, it was more like gutting the entire house. I had help from my mom and sister-in-law so I can't take all the credit, but I was able to reorganize all my boxes of children's clothes and there was a LOT that needed organizing!

My  husband was in disbelief when it was finally finished... at 11pm on a Saturday night. He was so impressed (or should I say, relieved?) that he helped me put the boxes back up on the shelves right then and there, instead of waiting till morning.

One of the few things I didn't tackle myself was watering my house plants. Partially because there were a number that needed to be moved to water, some that were up high on cabinets and so on, and mainly because I had taken in my sister-in-law's house plants and 50.... yes, FIFTY plants, that needed caring for. So my friend Jae came a number of times to help me out with that and other house chores I was falling behind on! Praise the Lord for friends like Jae!

Even with the house back in order I wasn't ready to have the baby yet. My husband kept saying the baby would come early. Everyone else was ready for me to have the baby. My grandma especially thought it would be good for the baby to come early since my relatives from VA were in town for my cousin's wedding and they really wanted to meet the baby. BUT.... I was not about to miss that wedding. OR miss getting to visit with my relatives! I knew that after baby arrived I'd be stuck at home for some time.
The wedding was August 21st. My due date was the 24th.

The wedding day arrived with perfect weather. Not piping hot like the day prior, nor as humid. The wedding didn't start till 3pm so I worked on freezing tomatoes from my garden and Jeff worked on changing the oil in his 4-wheeler. The kids went down for their naps, as did I. I set an alarm so I wouldn't over-sleep but Jeff turned my phone off without me knowing it. Once I woke up it was a race to get everyone ready and out the door! Although EmmyLou was quite happy to get dressed in a pretty little outfit, Wright refused to wear a dress shirt (halfway through the Summer he decided he hates shirts with collars!). I wouldn't have it so there was a mini battle and with Jeff's support I finally won. All that to say we ended up a few minutes late to my cousins VERY punctual, and fairly short, wedding. I was mostly embarrassed about not having been there on time or even early (which was my original plan). It never crossed my mind that everyone would assume I went into labor when we hadn't shown up!!!!  I'd put my phone on silent when we got in the car so I never noticed all the missed calls from people wondering if everything was okay. That was quite amusing! 

Don't mind my frizzy hair.
This was at 7pm after a long evening of celebrating!

People kept putting in bets on when I'd have the baby and since it was my 3rd go around with being pregnant I was not offended by all the pestering. I'd joke and say, "well, tomorrow IS the full moon... I'll probably go into labor then!" However, I also reassured everyone at the same time that my babies come late and I was planning on an overdue baby. Wright, my 1st born, was 2 weeks and 2 days overdue. EmmyLou came 4 days past her due date. Anything was possible. Early baby, late baby.... the sky was the limit.

My brother-in-law sent me this hilarious meme!

After the wedding was over and the out-of-town relatives had departed (all except my Aunt Justine) I had nothing left on the calendar to look forward to except giving birth.  I still hoped baby would come on or after it's due date so my husband wouldn't be right about me giving birth early. But either way I was okay with baby coming. On the night of the 23rd my friend Courtney sent me a text that she was getting induced due to medical complications.... and she wasn't due for another 3 weeks!

Courtney & Kyle with their beautiful baby girl!

I was elated to hear that her daughter was born on August 24th. Yet, at the same time I had a miserable day and finally realized that I was disappointed and wanted to have had my baby too! Always being a procrastinator by nature it's normal for me put off painful or difficult tasks (like getting a tooth pulled, washing a mountain of dishes or giving birth). This feeling surprised me, as I've never before cared about when baby came. I was exhausted this last little leg of my pregnancy, grumpy, emotional and just not keeping up with life anymore.

On Friday the 27th my husband came home from work and it seemed to me that he needed some time to unwind without the kids climbing all over him. I was so worn out and didn't know how I'd survive till their bed time, so I packed them into the car and took them to a store 15 minutes away. I figured it would be a good diversion, plus I really wanted to get suet for my bird feeders and tortilla chips for the fresh salsa I'd just made. My stomach felt funny on the drive and I kept thinking maybe I should just turn around and go home. But I didn't. Well..... we made it into the store, put a multi-pack of bird suet into the cart. Then Jeff called. He hadn't realized we'd left and I hadn't announced to him we were going. I just figured he knew from the million times I told the kids to put their shoes on and the car doors shutting, etc. I wasn't able to take his call because my phone was being weird. And then out of the blue... I felt the need to poop. Not just a "hey, lets stop by the bathroom after we checkout" kind of poop. A magnesium poop. For those of you who've never taken magnesium in excess.... like constipated pregnant ladies sometimes have to do.... there's no stopping a magnesium bowel movement.

If the phrase, "I don't give a crap" meant anything to anybody
...it would be the pregnant community.

As fast as a 40wk and 3 days, overdue, tired, waddling, pregnant woman can race with two toddlers in tow, I made a b-line for the restrooms. Which were conveniently located by the front of the store.... unlike the suet. As you've probably already guessed I lost my $*!# when I was 20 feet from the restroom entrance. I abandoned my shopping cart with suet and made it into a restroom stall with my two kids before it actually fell out of my underwear onto the floor. My poor 3 year old son was astonished, "MOM! Why is there poo on the floor?!" I had to explain that momma had an accident. After what felt like  a million years I finally got cleaned up enough to get out of there. Praise the Lord, the exit was located conveniently close to the restrooms!!! And so I hurried back to my home and a hot shower!

Thankfully, if there's a good crowd to poop your pants in front of, it's toddlers. They understand. No judgement there. However, for the next few days, I did hear about the incident from them. My 1 year old kept repeating, "Momma poo poo! Shaw-da (shower). Assedent (accident)." It was horrifying at the time and I did a good deal of crying that night. It's humorous enough now. After I recovered from the event I was mostly disappointed that I'd thrown away a perfectly good pair of maternity underwear!

40 weeks pregnant!

The Saturday before Laurie was born I felt like I had a sore throat and felt like I was getting a cold. I started taking massive doses of vitamins, Super Tonic and other remedies. Jeff even made dinner while I took an evening nap. He had to leave at 6:30pm to go pick up some farm supplies 1 1/2 hours away. I knew better than to ask to go with him... not to mention I was afraid to go anywhere for fear of scary BM's. In spite of being exhausted and feeling under-the-weather, I got the kids in bed, straightened up the house and froze three cookie sheets of peaches! The evening drug on and I started getting worried because Jeff still wasn't home. It turned out the owner of the farm store he'd gone to was chatty! Go figure. He made it home by 10:30pm, shortly after I had gone to bed. I thought for sure he'd be in bed soon and I zonked out.

When I woke up at 12am to use the restroom I was a little surprised that Jeff was still up on his phone. He's can be a night owl so I didn't think much of it. Then I woke up 1:30 and again at 2:30 and the lights were still on each time! I was getting pretty upset. Knowing the baby could come any day I thought it was irresponsible of him to stay up so late when I could be going into labor at any time. If he didn't get sleep I figured he'd be too tired to be helpful or present. I woke up at 3am and he was just going to bed. I was livid but too tired to even express myself. I had no thought whatsoever of really going into labor. I was still convinced it could be another week or two before baby came. ...even though I was having some period-like back pain throughout the night.

And so that was the start of to the 29th of August!