One week ago at my 39 week appointment, I was 3 cm dilated, 60% effaced and certain that the baby would be born at any moment. One week later, I am still 3 cm dilated, 60% effaced and certain the baby is never coming out. So, I did what many other extremely uncomfortable, impatient, anxious, frustrated and stressed out moms-to-be would do and scheduled an induction for Monday morning, June 22, at 7:30 am.  I would really love for the baby to come naturally, when he is ready, but at this point with two other wee ones to chase, I need this pregnancy to come to a close for my sanity and theirs.

I actually find the situation ironic. My doctor in Michigan wouldn’t consider an induction, unless it was medically necessary, until 42 weeks. Thus the reason Kaiya was born eight days after her due date. My midwife here in Atlanta has been presenting the idea of inducing labor since my first meeting with her back in February. That is partly due to the fact that this is my third pregnancy and being able to plan for the other two kids would be nice, and partly because she knew she would be on vacation during my due date. I declined because I really like the other midwife as well and don’t have a preference as to who delivers. Plus, I was banking on the fact that Tobi came five days early so logically this baby would come early as well. Ha!

I was complaining to Andrej the other day about how I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t had the baby yet since Tobi was born early. Andrej laughed and reminded me that Tobi is not the most patient person. It is true. Tobi runs everywhere he goes and has a hard time waiting for anything. It only makes sense that he arrived five days before his projected due date. Maybe it’s a sign that this babe will be a little calmer than his brother.

Anyway, I would appreciate any and all prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby whether he arrives naturally today or tomorrow or by inducing labor on Monday. I look forward to introducing you to the newest Ciho very soon. I know Andrej will be keeping everyone updated via Facebook throughout the birth and will update this blog with pictures as soon as he is able.

Other than that I uploaded some new pictures of the kids. Random family pictures start here, and pictures from Tobi’s second birthday party are found here. There is also a blog post about Tobi turning two under this post. I haven’t blogged as much as I did today during this entire year. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when the kids are at their grandparents!

If Tobi is awake he is moving full steam ahead. The boy never stops. He has so much energy that just watching him exhausts me. He runs everywhere he goes. He loves to play outside and as long as he has a ball, a car or something to climb he is very content. The only time he sits still is when he is playing with his trains, small cars or tractors. He will sit and focus on pushing, parking and driving them around all complete with choo choo, beep beep and vroom noises.

Tobi talks more and more everyday and is starting to put together two and three word sentences. He is very funny and loves making people laugh. He has Andrej’s love for music and I look forward to seeing what talents God has given him. He also loves terrorizing his sister and knows just what buttons to push. At the end of the day, I know I can attribute more of my exhaustion to Tobi than the pregnancy. He is my crazy wild child, but I love that little boy so deeply. So whether I’m chasing him around the house as he is yelling, “Get Me! Get Me!”, telling him to stop tackling Kaiya for the tenth time or laughing so hard I cry at his antics, I wouldn’t change a thing about my precious two year old.

As for his birthday, we were visiting my parents on Memorial Day, so we celebrated Tobi’s birth with a big breakfast complete with my grandmother’s famous blueberry muffins before we headed home for a Memorial Day picnic with friends in our neighborhood. The next weekend, we threw Tobi a Thomas the Train birthday party at our local YMCA playground. It was so fun to watch his eyes light up as we sang happy birthday. Much to my surprise, he successfully blew out his two candles all by himself and we learned that black cake icing is very messy. It was a fun way to celebrate our little man.

The rest of Tobi’s birthday party pictures are located here.

All of those things were really incredible to see and hear, but we were still waiting to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Finally, the technician announced that she knew the gender of the baby. We all took our final guesses. I was sure it was another boy because this pregnancy has been almost identical to my pregnancy with Tobi and completely opposite from Kaiya’s. However, I admitted that I had been wrong guessing the gender in two out of my three pregnancies so I wouldn’t exactly say my intuition is spot on. Kaiya guessed girl even though she has said just until recently that the baby is a boy. I can’t remember if Andrej ever said his guess as I was too anxious to hear the results. Finally she said, “You’re having a BOY!” She showed us the screen shot as proof, and it is definitely a boy.

I am truly excited, just as I would have been had she said girl. I absolutely had no preference one way or the other, but am thrilled that we will be having another son. I know this will be great for Tobi as he loves playing with Kaiya, but since he is a bit rough she prefers to, how can I say this nicely, not play with him. Tobi loves chasing and then tackling Kaiya many times throughout the day. She hates this game of his and screams at the top of her lungs. I sure hope Baby Brother will eventually share Tobi’s love of rough housing so Kaiya can have a break.

So, now the name game begins and I already know it won’t be an easy one. Here are a few pictures of Baby Boy that the technician printed off for us yesterday. The quality isn’t that great because I took a picture of the picture instead of scanning them. If you have a hard time deciphering ultrasound pics, then I’ll give you a little heads up. The first two pictures are profiles of the baby’s face and body, and you can see a little hand up by the baby’s mouth. In the second picture you can also see the baby’s legs. The last picture is a precious little foot. A larger version of the pictures can be found here.

I still can’t believe it, but in a few short months we’ll have another boy. Lastly, a huge thanks to those who played along yesterday in wishing Andrej a happy birthday and guessing Baby Ten-nak-oh-na-na’s gender. It was fun to read your responses. Andrej had a great day, and I also pulled off a super fun surprise birthday party for him. It was such a wonderful day!

1) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

2) Andrej’s 27th Birthday!

3) The day we hopefully find out if Baby Ciho #3 (lovingly nicknamed by big sister Kaiya, “Ten-nak-oh-na-na”) is a boy or a girl.

If you’re reading this on the 19th, I would love for you to leave a comment and wish Andrej a happy birthday and let us know whether you think little Ten-nak-oh-na-na is a boy or a girl. Thanks and enjoy your 19th of January!