Book Review: Lady In Waiting by Susan Meissner

After Jane’s husband unexpectedly leaves her after 20+ years of marriage, she is left stunned by the sudden change in her life circumstances. When a centuries old ring bearing her name finds its way to her antique shop, Jane feels an instant kinship with the ring’s original owner and sets out to trace the ring’s history. This book seamlessly moves back and forth between the story of the modern day Jane and the historical Jane. When I received the book, I wasn’t sure I would like the dual story aspect, but it really made the entire book more interesting. The transitions are well thought out and do not leave the reader confused. Both stories are intriguing and compelling. The characters are rich and engaging and really drew me in. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Both Janes seem to be victims of their circumstances and appear to have little say over the direction of their lives, but in the end each realizes that she does have control over her own decisions. The book promotes a message that each of us shapes our life by our decisions and our choices, which are ours alone to make. I thoroughly enjoyed Meissner’s style of writing and the way she developed her characters. You can order Lady in Waiting on Amazon for $11.19.

I will definitely be ordering some of Meissner's other books. My first to order will be The Shape of Mercy, which seems to have great reviews on Amazon. 

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Bee Friendly Friday

I'm participating in a blog hop hosted by Crazy About My Baybah and Family and Life of Las Vegas!

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35 Weeks Pregnant!

Today I went to the doctor. I had my Group B strep test done. The doctor also checked me. I wasn’t prepared for that! I thought he’d wait til 36 weeks to start the exams. I’m not doing anything- my cervix is still hard and closed.

After he checked me we had a long talk about options for labor. I had an induction with my first when she was 5 days late. I also ended up with 4^th degree tearing after her 9 lb 3 oz self tore me apart. So with my second, we induced a couple of days early. He was 8 lbs 13 oz and I walked away with 3^rd degree tearing. I had hopes for this pregnancy. Because it was my third, I thought that I might go into labor on my own.  I also thought that there might be a chance that if I went into labor on my own (versus having an induction) that I might be able to deliver the baby without tearing. I read some birth stories online about women who gave birth to babies bigger than mine and they didn’t tear at all. All of those labors seemed to have one thing in common: the women went into labor on their own. That being said…I’m a little too scared to wait til anytime after the 40 week mark for me to go into labor on my own. I’m scared that if I waited until after 40 weeks, I might end up with a c-section. Nothing about labor terrifies me as much as a c-section. For me, labor is so much about the baby at the end of it that being separated from the baby right after he is born is very upsetting for me to even think about.  

Ok, so back to our talk. My doctor mentioned I might like to go into labor on my own. I would like that. But he warned me that should that happen, I might miss my chance at an epidural because I might have progressed too far to get one by the time I get to the hospital. I am okay with that. I had epidurals with the first two because I have been told Pitocin is extremely painful and an epidural is a must when you have an induction. But if I was in labor on my own, I think I would be okay without pain meds. However, my doctor’s concern about me not getting an epidural is that I could have the 3^rd or 4^th degree tearing again and he said the local anesthetic will not take away the pain of him stitching me back up the way the epidural would. He said we would have the option to go to surgery and get a spinal block, but the baby wouldn’t be coming with us. I didn’t like that option. He doesn’t think I’ll walk away from the labor with anything less than 2^nd degree tearing…and I kind of got the feeling he was being generous by allowing me to think I had a chance at that. It made me really sad. I guess I was living in a fantasy world, but I really thought I had a chance at delivering a baby and walking out of the hospital two days later without any stitches of any kind.

My doctor said the earliest he is willing to induce without cause is 39 weeks. So I can be induced a week early, get an epidural, have a baby who (hopefully) falls around 8 lbs 7 oz and walk away with only second degree tearing.

Or, I can wait and try to go into labor on my own. If that happens at or after 40 weeks, we’re pretty much looking at 3^rd-4^th degree tearing.  But I take a chance at missing my window for an epidural that way, which could be painful during the stitching.

Clearly, the best case scenario is to go into labor on my own before 40 weeks…but I don’t know how to do that. Anyone have any “How to go into labor” tips that actually work?

Feeling Sentimental

I’m starting to feel very sentimental about this pregnancy. I’ve been attached to the baby for a while, obviously. With my other pregnancies, I didn’t really enjoy the act of being pregnant. I was happy to be pregnant because it meant I was going to have a baby. I enjoyed aspects of being pregnant: feeling the baby move and seeing ultrasound pictures and getting to bond with the baby that way. I enjoyed being able to eat whatever I wanted. I know pregnancy is not really an excuse to eat whatever you want, but I don’t think it’s a time to diet or count calories either.  So I eat what I want, which is mostly healthy, but may include Little Debbie cakes from time to time. Anyway, I’m off track. So I have had what I consider easy labors. They were short and fairly pain free. I didn’t hate labor…in fact, giving birth was exciting for me (again, it’s the baby I looked forward to, and the baby was finally coming out – what’s not to be happy about?). I remember telling someone after my first baby was born that I didn’t particularly enjoy being pregnant and didn’t understand why some people loved it so much.  

But with this baby, I have enjoyed the baby and I have enjoyed being pregnant. Even though I’m achy. Even though I’m way more tired than I have been during other pregnancies.  Even though it has been hard. It’s definitely been harder than the other pregnancies. It might be that I just know it’s the last pregnancy and I’m being sentimental. I like having the baby with me all the time, safe inside me. He moves more than both my other babies did combined and so he’s always letting me know he’s right there, and I like that. I’m still anxious to meet him, but I’m not anxious to stop being pregnant. And I kind of like having him to myself J

I was so ready to get my first baby out and had an induction when she was 5 days late. She was 9lbs 3 oz, and I had a fourth degree episiotomy that came with lots of stitches. So with my second, both my doctor and I wanted to avoid that so we induced a couple of days early. I still had an episiotomy but it wasn’t as bad. This time, while I’m scared of the baby getting too big and would still probably induce if it looked like he was getting too big, I’d really like to go into labor by myself. Not sure if that will happen or not. Based on my previous pregnancies, the chances are probably slim. So I guess maybe I’m also a little sad that I might not get to ever experience what it feels like to go into labor.  Is it silly to want to experience labor?

"The Pirate Queen" Book Review

I recently read the book The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman. Don’t be turned off by the title – the book has nothing to do with pirates, or queens, for that matter. The story is about a woman named Saphora, who seems to have it all but in reality leads a very empty life. Saphora is planning to leave her cheating husband and then he announces he has cancer.

There are a couple of things that I liked about this book. The first is that it’s not overly religious. I don’t care for novels that are so preachy that it is like reading a sermon. The book had a good plot, wove some spiritual aspects in at the right places and told a unique story. While it didn’t play out the way I expected it to, the story was still good. What I really liked were the subplots. I like books that have unexpected or unseen twists and this book had a few.

You can purchase The Pirate Queen on Amazon for $9.20.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.