Hello all! This is Dawn, Danielle's sister.....this is the first time I have blogged so I hope I am doing this right!
We welcome a LITTLE BOY to the Tavares Family. Zachary Joshua Tavares was born tonight (April 28th) at around 8:30pm. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 15.8 ounces and is 21 inches long. He is of course ADORABLE (no bias here :) hehe) and looks like a bigger version of Samuel when he was born. Danielle did beautifully and is tired but overjoyed! Josh was a great coach as per Nana (was also in the delivery room with them). Zachary took to nursing immediately.
I will update as Danielle updates me. Congratulations Tavares Family!!!! Yay!!!!!

This is the last post until I have my baby :-) Hooray! I will update as soon as possible! I'll give my sister my info for here and have her post when the baby is here!! Pray for me!

This is it!!!
Wow I am big...weird...

Hellloooo...Still pregnant...

So today I have a doctors appointment to discuss with me the induction. AHhhh...I keep praying (begging) God to put me into labor BEFORE the induction. I am ok with whatever happens, but I'd really love a shot at going on my own. So we shall see!! I did "drop". I didn't with Samuel, so that is promising! I have lots of questions to ask my OB today. One thing I didn't like about being induced was that I was not allowed out of my bed. I had to sit in bed for hours and hours. I want to be able to walk. I'd also like to sleep through my labor like I did with Samuel! haha! The goal here is to try not to have an epidural. I'm not stupid enough to say I won't get one definitely, but I didn't like the way it made me feel after. They also gave me the option of using the tub. Maybe I'll try that! We shall see :-)

Samuel is doing really well. He's so cute. He loves his room, but misses his nana and uncles & aunts & his cousin :-) He asks me almost every Sunday if we are going to nana's today. It breaks my heart! But he gets over it quickly.

Josh is doing well at his job! He likes the people a lot and his hours are marvelous! Never in our whole marriage has he had such beautiful hours. Monday-Friday 8:00-4:15. Home by 4:30 and weekends off! Ahhhh.... Those hours will change eventually, but for now, we are really enjoying them! His boss is really great and is working with him with days off and such (maybe because he is retiring next year?). So all is well there!!

As for me, I'm doing the same thing every day..Cleaning, cooking, cleaning up cooking, laundry (how do people LIVE without washers and dryers in their apartments???), and sleeping. I have been actually sleeping really well through the night! I think God knows what is coming and is allowing me to rest! Thank you LORD! Every night I am having dreams about going into labor and every morning I wake up praying that it was for real...but no suck luck. It is ok. God gave me the scripture verse to be content in ALL situations. So I need to be content right now! Kinda hard, but I'm working on it! Anyway, hopefully next time I blog, I will either have had the baby, or will be on my way to have the baby!!! See ya!

So, here it is. I went to the doctor today, and had my final sonogram to check on my fluid levels and wouldn't you know, they have dropped again. Then to top all of that off, the baby is measuring at 8lb 4oz RIGHT NOW. AHH! I am praying to God that they are wrong and the baby isn't that big. However, because of the size and because of the fluid levels, the doctor Strongly suggests that I stick to the induction date for safety reasons. So, after some prayer, I have decided to listen to the doctor. They had me sign a form that there is a possibility that they might have to dislocate the shoulder if it gets stuck. I'm sure that will NOT happen, but they still had me sign.

Now the story behind the struggle of decided to cancel my induction originally. When I first was told that I had the option to cancel the induction, I originally thought YA OK I'm going to do that, what am I nuts? NO WAY am I canceling the date. I got home, talked to my mom and sister and then God got my attention for a bit. I started really asking myself why I wanted to cancel the date and why I wanted to keep it. I realized that something God has been speaking to me about for the past few weeks is how I jump the gun a lot of times on things and I tend not to complete what I start. Some examples of what I mean is college, giving birth to Samuel, continuing school..etc. I was always disappointed in myself for not finishing that last year of Elim. I couldn't because I was pregnant, but I was always hard on myself for it. Then when it came to having Samuel, I practically threatened the doctor to take the baby, and sure enough, I had him a week earlier. And lastly, I have been putting off going back to college because I believe that maybe I am not smart enough to do it again, and also I'm afraid I won't finish then be mad at myself. So I really cried out to God (literally) and asked him to please give me peace and that I was going to lay this induction at the alter even though I wanted it, I wanted more to make the right decision. I didn't want to rush this baby if he/she wasn't ready to come.

When I went to the doctor today, initially after the sonogram I felt confused on what to do, but then when I got to the office with the doctor, I felt a total peace. I feel like it was a test from God for me to not be selfish and think of what is best for my baby rather than what is best for me. I feel released and at peace about this induction. As it turns out, the induction will be good for the baby. So I am excited. A week from tomorrow, I will be holding my new son or daughter. Life doesn't get much sweeter than this :-)

I am STILL pregnant..I know I have two weeks left, but I DON"T WANNA WAIT TWO WEEKS! Let the natural stuff begin....Going out today to buy some Herbal Tea... So this is the deal. I have an induction date of April 28th. The reason I had the induction date is because my fluid levels were low. However, they have come up to normal levels now and I have the option to cancel the induction date.

Reasons for Cancelling the Induction:

Because I"m crazy- and it's good for the baby
Because I'm crazy- oh and it's good to decrease my chances for c-section
Because I'm crazy- and it will hopefully be a tiny bit less painful
And lastly- Because I'm crazy

Reasons to NOT cancel the induction:

Because I feel crazy
Because I feel huge
Because I hate feeling like my ankles have led on them
Because I am selfish....haha!

So, as you can probably see, I am canceling the induction date.. Am I crazy? Either way I have decided to direct my anger for these last two weeks at Josh. He is now responsible for this baby coming out. If I want to take a 5 mile walk, he's coming. If I want to drink Tabasco sauce, he's doing it..If I want to take Castor oil (I'm not doing it), he's doing it too. He must feel my pain because I said so. He keeps telling me that it's ok, I'm temporarily insane and I will get better. That makes me more angry. Now I am thinking of pretending to take Castor oil, and making him take the real thing. Then when I don't get sick and he does, I'll tell him he's just temporarily insane... Do I sound horrible? I feel mean...but I also don't feel bad that I feel mean...hmm...

As for the apartment. IT IS WONDERFUL! My sister is AMAZING. Toria spent the weekend with us and unpacked the whole apartment. It is cleaned up, it looks great and I have the internet. My life is good! Besides this whole I CAN"T TAKE BEING PREGNANT nonsense.

Samuel LOVES his own room. He plays in it for hours at a time. He is the love of my life and I could bite his face on a regular basis!!! So that is it....

Jael's 1st Birthday cake! Isn't it cool?
So happy



No pictures of me. Sorry guys. Just picture a boat...or maybe a whale..It's pretty accurate. I always feel like when I walk into a room, I should beep or maybe blow a horn like a boat coming in to dock. But I will post pictures of my beautiful niece :-)

So here's an update on this pregnancy of mine :-)

So, I went to my new OB (I LOVE HER) and got a sonogram and it looks like my fluids are a bit low, so I have to be monitored every week and get sonograms every week. The fluid levels are supposed to be above 10, preferably in the 12 range, and mine are currently in the 8 range. So it is not enough to be completely worried, however if it gets anywhere near 5, I need to be induced. So my doctor suggested that I set up an induction date. So as of right now, April 28th is the date I have. Ahh...I am hoping that I go on my own which the doctor said is very possible. She said she'd be really surprised if I went to that date. I am already dilated 1 1/2 centimeters. I am TOTALLY ok with having this baby early, as long as I can get past next weekend which is our official move to PA weekend. So let's hope this baby stays put for at least a week and a half.

Funny story, I was complaining that my hip was hurting and that I would feel pain every so often. So they did a sonogram and as it turns out my sweet baby's fist is wedged in my hip and is flexing. PAINFUL. I can't imagine I have any room left for this baby to move.

So that's the update. Pray for me, it's getting increasingly hard to do ANYTHING and I am really not settled.