Today's message brought to you by The Byrd's....

All together...

"To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven"

You know, Facebook really steals the blog's thunder some days.  However, I want to make sure and document the event itself.

Rhys turned!

We were sitting in worship on Sunday morning and I felt him making a run for it.  He was slow and steady and heading downward.  I wanted to sit there for another service just to see if he could make it...

But my sore back and growling stomach won out.  So home we went.

I sat at home hoping he would give it another whirl but he never did.  His feet were all over my bladder and we were playing our normal game of You push your head into my ribs and I'll push it right back in.  

Honestly, not that fun of a game.

We went to small group that night and talked about it.  Talked a lot about how much easier the second c-section is but the recovery time is still the pits.

By Monday morning, I woke up feeling as if I had been used as a punching bag.  My back hurt, my stomach hurt, even my hips hurt.  I was exhausted.  Chris came home from work and I took a nap before my afternoon doctor's appointment and ultrasound.

During the ultrasound, the tech kept talking about how big he was but the wand was down instead of at the top of my belly like normal.  So I just asked, Is he still breach?

Oh no!  He's head down.  

Then she used the wand to jab at his head.  That felt just so lovely, by the way.

I think my response to her was something along the lines of "Nah-uh!" or "For real?"  Regardless, it was eloquent and classy.  

Two traits I seem to lack most days.

The doctor came in for our appointment and confirmed Rhys is big by telling me, and I quote, "You were never this big with your first."  

Awesome.

No one ever said how big exactly but based on AK's 40 week birth weight of just under 6 lbs, I'm guessing he's over that.

Totally explains why I felt like a human punching bag.  A 6+ pound baby managed to maneuver himself 180 degrees.  Completely fascinating.  And I imagine not that easy a task since I have reached what I can only say is my max stretchiness.  The stomach gets any larger and it will simply split wide open.  

Or so it feels.

Then we went through the VBAC scenario again.  She's pretty realistic.  A woman after my own heart.  The possibility of a c-section is still relatively high.  Especially if I go into labor in the middle of the night or on a weekend.  The on call doctor simply might not want to sit in the building while my body attempts to do something it's never done before.  Induction while she's on call would be good but she's only going to give me about 12 hours to show some real progress.  If there's nothing, she's pulling the trigger on the c-section.  

And listen, all that's fine.  Really.  

Other hospitals and other practices have more lax VBAC policies.  I know that.  But I like my doctor and I'm really at peace with whatever happens.  

All I can do is pray for the perfect situation.  And in case you'd like to join along, here it is:

Contractions start sometime Sunday night, July 15th.  Mom and Dad should be here by then so we won't have to worry about finding someone to watch Pumpkin.  I feel I need to give myself time to realize that's what's happening.  With the amount of braxton hicks I've had and my increasing back pain, I'm not trusting I'll just KNOW it's labor.

Water breaks at home sometime in the early morning hours of Monday, July 16th.  Say around 4 or 5 am.  We head to the hospital.  

My doctor comes on at 7:00 am giving me the next 24 hours to labor successfully.  Hopefully, with my water already broken, I'll have a better shot of avoiding the c-section.

And there you have it.

I'm praying these details but totally trusting God to handle it.  Again, I can't say it enough, I have a real peace about either delivery.  God's given me options now and I'm excited just to be able to see his little feet kicking.  And that my bladder is no longer taking any direct hits from those precious feet.