37+ Weeks

I had an appointment yesterday, and now I'm dilated to a 1 with no noticeable difference in effacement, but she said that the baby's head is right there...down low where it's supposed to be.  So that's a good sign.  I never dilated at all with Canon until after hours of pitocin, so this makes me feel pretty good about my chances of being able to have a successful VBAC.  My due date is the 23rd, less than 3 weeks now, but we set up a c-section date for the 29th.  If she's not arrived by that time, and I'm not progressing enough to be induced safely, then we'll just go ahead with a c-section.  My doctor told me that the risk of a still born baby goes up quite a bit after 41 weeks of gestation, especially after 42 weeks.  So I figured that 6 days late is giving the baby enough time to mature.  So, at least now I have an official latest date that the baby can be born.  She will arrive in at MOST 24 days from now!

Also, there have been many people asking what we're planning on naming the baby girl.  Of course there is always a chance that we will find a name that we like more, or that we will feel that her name ought to be something different when she's born, but for now we're planning on naming her:

Cadence Loretta Dahl. 

We're still intending on going on with the music theme for the names, and Cadence is my favorite.  (Canon was Mark's favorite boy name, so now it's my turn to have the favorite name! ;-P )  Loretta was the name of my aunt, my father's youngest sister.  She had Downs Syndrome and passed away at the age of 50.  Most of my memories of her were of her singing songs, mostly made-up on the spot.  I could see how much she loved music, and how she loved her family.  We felt it would be a nice tribute to my dear late aunt.

Some belly shots as of late:

35 1/2 Weeks
I'd been delaying taking this shot because I never felt pretty enough to want my picture taken,
but I just gave in and had Mark take a picture. 

37 Weeks
This was the night after my baby shower.