Sooner or Later....

That appears to be my motto with most things in life......

It comes across in much of my parenting. I don't believe my girls should do something or stop doing something because they reach this "magic age" where the experts tell you they should. I would rather just "go with the flow" as my children are individuals who set their own pace in life. This isn't always as easy thing to do. Mara started sleeping through the night around the age of two, much later then many thought she should. But, I knew, sooner or later, it would happen. And it did. She still has her moments of getting up in the middle of the night and wanting us to just be there, and she often comes into our bed around 5-6 in the morning and sleeps another hour or so. But again, I know that sooner or later this too will pass, and I know that I will miss it when it's gone.

Now, with potty training Mara, again I don't believe in actual "potty training". With Analese, I waited until she showed that she was ready, and it was one of the easiest process we went through. With Mara, I honestly was hoping to wait until after the baby was born. BUT...she decided sooner was better then later, and decided a few weeks ago that the time was now. She was ready. We still have our good and not-so-good days with it, as she seems to have trouble with anything on below the waist (like tonight, when she pulled her underwear down and threw it across the room...just as surprised as we were to see a large clump of poop fall out!) but overall, she is doing great and we are so proud!

Yet another example...Analese still sleeps with a paci at night. Yes, she is almost four years old. I often feel like this is our "dirty little secret", and yes, it's embarrassing to me at times. But, we have decided to let her take control of when to give it up, and I am determined to stick with it. Sooner or later, she will be ready and I have to trust this. I do not see her going off to college with this paci!

Anyway, now I find myself again using this motto when it comes to the baby. Sooner or later, he or she will be ready to come! This past week my body has been going through lots of changes, and the reality of meeting him or her soon is quickly hitting me. Last Thursday was an especially busy day, as I lost my mucous plug (I'll spare you the details, but this time was especially shocking to me) and I have had cramping on and off since. Saturday night the contractions started to become a bit regular-every 17 minutes or so and Sunday they were every 11 minutes. We decided to go to our niece's graduation party that afternoon, which is an hour away, and on the way down there the contractions became very uncomfortable and about 4 minutes apart (I guess there is something to a bumpy car ride!) But once there, they slowed down again. Everyone was shocked that I was there, but I kept saying that how I refused to just sit around and wait for it to happen. I would go insane! My mother-in-law was ready to come up Thursday, but I said absolutely not, it would only cause me stress (last time she came, she refused to leave and lived with us for a week) I don't think she is happy about it, but I explained how she has a houseful of people (Greg's sister from Italy is living there for 6 weeks) and I know how much she has looked forward to them coming home. She hasn't called since Friday so I don't think she's happy.

Anyway, things are moving along. My next appt is tomorrow so I'll update you on any changes. No contractions lately, just a lot of really low pressure. This baby is still pretty active, a little less active today, but we also had a playdate so I have been moving around a lot.
I'll keep you posted....sooner or later, he or she will come.........