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Introducing our newest member of the family, Josie Evelen Miller. Her middle name is a combination of my grandmothers' names, Evelyn and Helen.

Josie came as expected on Friday, December 9th by c-section, at 10:36. She weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs, 15.7 ounces. They joked that if she hadn't peed right after coming out but before getting weighed, the 3 tenths of an ounce probably would have been there still and she would have come in at an even 11 lbs. She was 22 1/4 inches long. Everything went great and we are all very infatuated around here with her.

God is so good!

Getting closer!

I had another doctor appointment this morning. Now the prediction is that baby girl is weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 14 ounces. Can I hear a collective "ouch"? The ultrasound tech actually said her machine maxes out at a certain level so many of my measurements were "off the charts" so it would say a number with an asterisk meaning probably more than this. However, the doctor maintains that often the ultrasounds are on the overstated side so she thinks probably closer to about 10 1/2 lbs. That did happen with Jack, they had estimated about 9 lbs 3 weeks before I had him, and he came in 1/2 oz shy of 9 lbs so it is quite possible that baby isn't AS large as predicted.

However, based on this information, the doctor is recommending a C section now for Friday. While this scares me since I have never had one, the thought of delivering a baby this large otherwise scares me too, so at least the doctor feels this is the safer alternative than trying to have the baby and it getting stuck. However, if I go into labor on my own between now and then, we'll see what happens. Yikes!!

After seeing these amazing 3D photos, the boys even said, "Wow, there really is a baby in there!" I could relate to that feeling. Despite having 9 months to wrap my brain around this, it is still hard for me to believe sometimes that there is a real live baby in there that is coming out in just a few short days.

Look at those cheeks! Oh my goodness. She's rubbing her eye. I think she looks like me as a baby here.

So I'm not taking all the responsibility for the size now. It's justified, right?

Labor Inducing

It seems my environment is doing all it can to try to put me into labor this week.

On Tuesday, I hit a dog while taking the boys to school. If you have never hit anything, it is absolutely the worst feeling to feel that thud under your car. The thing was, I saw this dog frolicking like a madman in his yard so I should have thought that he might be a threat to run out in front of me, but I didn't slow down like I should have, even though I was probably only going about 30. Anyway, reports are that he is ok, he's just lost a tooth and has a broken toenail or two. I still feel really bad, but it really wasn't my fault.

Today, on the way to school, a high schooler stopped at stop sign pulled out in front of me while I was on the main road with no stop signs. I stopped literally inches from hitting him. I even saw his facial expression as he realized he'd pulled out right in front of me and we were probably going to collide. The old van's brakes came through, though,  because brother, I had them to the floor. Dear readers, this poor uterus can't take much more. I clenched up like a fist and started crying from the closeness of a near accident. I was probably equally upset that I'd almost gotten into an accident (again, not my fault) 9 months pregnant, combined with the fact that I was wearing my pj's with just a sweatshirt and pants pulled on with my pj's, no bra, fuzzy colorful socks, and tennis shoes that are so tight I can only slip them on but not tie them. I really wasn't planning on having to get out of my car this morning yet. Luckily, I didn't have to. But then, Jack keeps asking, "What happened?" (were they not in the car?), I am crying so I'm not answering him, and Luke keeps gently reminding me that I haven't answered Jack's question and that's not polite. When I tell Jack I'm crying because we almost got into an accident, he can only wonder why I'd be crying, because it wasn't my fault. (You should know he is neck deep into some sort of self taught seminar right now on assigning blame whenever possible, as long as it doesn't fall onto yourself, so this 'who's to blame' portion is incredibly relevant to him right now). Which now that I reread this post, maybe comes naturally, because I've claimed twice already that it wasn't my fault. Hmmm.

So, I somewhat collected myself to at least smile and wave (Just smile and wave, boys...) to the teachers standing outside while I dropped the boys off, and came home to promptly medicate myself with 1 or 3 brownies and a cappucinno. What? You've never heard of morning brownies? Well, that's like never doing a desk pop. What? You don't know what doing a desk pop is? Then you need to get into your car, like right now, and drive straight to your local video store to rent The Other Guys. I've seen it something around 873 times and it still makes me laugh the whole time. I realize the relevancy of these movie quotes right now might be escaping you, because it is escaping me, but, whatever.

Because, speaking of labor inducing, it is set to happen one week from now. T minus 7 and counting. Which coincidentally, happens to also be my birthday. I usually don't choose to have an incredible painful day where I'm known to yell profanities for my birthday, but I also have never gotten such a great gift, so it's a good balance.

Sooo, unless the stress of two scary on the way to school incidents push me over the edge sooner, that is our plan! The Christmas gifts are bought, the decorations are up, and I even started to wrap presents yesterday. The crib is waiting, the clothes are clean and folded in the drawers, the diaper drawer is stocked, and the car seat is in. Now all we need is a big fat healthy bouncing baby. Oh, and a name.

Stay tuned!