Ok, so at this point, gestationally speaking, with Miss N, she had already been born for a week! I'm growing weary of the constant prodromal/early labor, the constant discomfort, the constant up and down of emotions (more down than up), the total lack of patience (NOT a good thing when you're trying to be a good mother to an almost-3-year-old!!!), the constant barrage of questions from strangers, family members, and friends alike...all well-meaning but still annoying...seriously, does my MIL NEED to send my husband text messages on a daily basis asking if there's been any baby news? Does she really think we won't call her and tell her that her newest grandson has arrived not long after he's born? It's comical, really. My chiropractor's wife/office manager said on Monday when I walked into the office for my appointment, "No baby yet?" I said, "I don't know what you're talking about, he's in the car!"
Obviously I'm not serious, but sometimes I feel like I'm going to be pregnant FOREVER. My doula reassures me that the book she's reading says no one is ever pregnant forever, but right this minute, MAN! There's no end in sight. I mean, there is, we'll start eviction procedures come November 14 via castor oil (yippie), though my m/w swears that it won't come to that. I hope she's right.
She returns from her trip Monday evening. I really hope she misses this baby's birth, I WANT HIM OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT!!! :-)
But God has chosen his birth day and I don't really have a say-so in the matter. So I sit, and wait, and get mad when I wake up at 3 am to go to the bathroom and am not in labor and don't have any signs that I'll be in labor any time soon!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
37 weeks + 1 day
So I'm full term now!
On Wednesday (10/7), I'd had more mild and inconsistent pressure waves this morning, but nothing in a regular pattern, and no other signs to speak of (no show or anything). It's kind of like how it was with Miss N the week before she was born.
I'm trying really hard to convince myself that I'll end up with a November baby just because I don't want to hit 39 weeks, or 40 weeks, or whatever, and still be pregnant, and be frustrated. But when my body's acting like it is, it's maddening!
My mild, inconsistent contractions like to start about the time I'm ready to go to bed. They woke me up through the night again, but not enough to get me up out of bed. And by morning they're pretty much gone.
I'm not really expecting him to come before Sunday. Brad's step-mom is supposed to be the one caring for Miss N once I go into labor, but she's leaving town this afternoon for Brad's grandfather's funeral on Saturday and won't be back until Saturday night. Just knowing that she's not available to call, even though I have several friends who would take Miss N if I needed them to, is probably enough of a mental stressor to keep Baby Boy baking for another several days at least!
But then when I look back at my blog with Miss N, I wrote this just nine hours before I went into active labor:
Quote:
I don't expect to give birth any time soon - I haven't had any signs of impending labor. Just constant Braxton-Hicks and menstrual-type cramps and some lower back achiness - but that seems to be my norm these days. I just hope that doesn't go on for four more weeks or I may go crazy. I'm tired of crying from frustration and extreme discomfort!!!
SO WHO KNOWS?!?!?!?!?
And today...
I thought I might be holding this baby boy this morning after waking up at 3 am with a pressure wave that increased in intensity (calling it a pressure wave is like someone calling the Atlantic Ocean a mere body of water, btw!) and lasted for a couple of minutes. It reminded me a lot of how my labor with Miss N was - fast & furious, with pressure waves lasting 2-3 minutes and with there being 30 second breaks between them...not at ALL like all of the books said!!!
But the following waves came in weakened intensity, much further apart (8-10 minutes) and not lasting nearly as long, and I went back to sleep in between them. I was actually quite relieved that it wasn't full-blown active labor yet.
I have had a few irregular ones this morning, but I'm not calling them mild any more. They're short, but intense! I really want this kiddo to stay put until Saturday night when Brad's step-mom is back in town to take care of Miss N. But he'll come when he's ready, and if it's between now and tomorrow night, we'll figure something out.
I've had more random pressure waves all morning - nothing in any kind of noticeable pattern and they're not very long, but they're definitely more than just BH ctx. I hope I'm not in for five weeks of prodromal labor!
6:55 pm: Still having random pressure waves, but nothing organized enough to evict the baby! I haven't even messed with the Contraction Master app on my new phone, that's how inconsistent they are right now. I haven't called my doula or midwife, it just doesn't feel like it's time yet.
Brad emptied the birth tub and refilled it, so now the heater is running to get the cold water up to a comfortable temperature.
On Wednesday (10/7), I'd had more mild and inconsistent pressure waves this morning, but nothing in a regular pattern, and no other signs to speak of (no show or anything). It's kind of like how it was with Miss N the week before she was born.
I'm trying really hard to convince myself that I'll end up with a November baby just because I don't want to hit 39 weeks, or 40 weeks, or whatever, and still be pregnant, and be frustrated. But when my body's acting like it is, it's maddening!
My mild, inconsistent contractions like to start about the time I'm ready to go to bed. They woke me up through the night again, but not enough to get me up out of bed. And by morning they're pretty much gone.
I'm not really expecting him to come before Sunday. Brad's step-mom is supposed to be the one caring for Miss N once I go into labor, but she's leaving town this afternoon for Brad's grandfather's funeral on Saturday and won't be back until Saturday night. Just knowing that she's not available to call, even though I have several friends who would take Miss N if I needed them to, is probably enough of a mental stressor to keep Baby Boy baking for another several days at least!
But then when I look back at my blog with Miss N, I wrote this just nine hours before I went into active labor:
Quote:
I don't expect to give birth any time soon - I haven't had any signs of impending labor. Just constant Braxton-Hicks and menstrual-type cramps and some lower back achiness - but that seems to be my norm these days. I just hope that doesn't go on for four more weeks or I may go crazy. I'm tired of crying from frustration and extreme discomfort!!!
SO WHO KNOWS?!?!?!?!?
And today...
I thought I might be holding this baby boy this morning after waking up at 3 am with a pressure wave that increased in intensity (calling it a pressure wave is like someone calling the Atlantic Ocean a mere body of water, btw!) and lasted for a couple of minutes. It reminded me a lot of how my labor with Miss N was - fast & furious, with pressure waves lasting 2-3 minutes and with there being 30 second breaks between them...not at ALL like all of the books said!!!
But the following waves came in weakened intensity, much further apart (8-10 minutes) and not lasting nearly as long, and I went back to sleep in between them. I was actually quite relieved that it wasn't full-blown active labor yet.
I have had a few irregular ones this morning, but I'm not calling them mild any more. They're short, but intense! I really want this kiddo to stay put until Saturday night when Brad's step-mom is back in town to take care of Miss N. But he'll come when he's ready, and if it's between now and tomorrow night, we'll figure something out.
I've had more random pressure waves all morning - nothing in any kind of noticeable pattern and they're not very long, but they're definitely more than just BH ctx. I hope I'm not in for five weeks of prodromal labor!
6:55 pm: Still having random pressure waves, but nothing organized enough to evict the baby! I haven't even messed with the Contraction Master app on my new phone, that's how inconsistent they are right now. I haven't called my doula or midwife, it just doesn't feel like it's time yet.
Brad emptied the birth tub and refilled it, so now the heater is running to get the cold water up to a comfortable temperature.
Friday, October 2, 2009
36 weeks
So I intended to do an entry a week like I did with Miss N and am already falling behind on that, too!
My doula is out of town this weekend. She gave me the information for her backup, but I fully expect not to need it. If I go into labor between now and Tuesday, I will have to go to the hospital. There's no reason for me to think I'll be going into labor in the next few days. I did wake up with some lower uterine crampiness last night and pondered getting up to bounce on the exercise ball, but the fact that I would have had to walk upstairs to get it kept me in bed. They went away and I went back to sleep - no big thing.
Miss N and I spent the morning walking - we went to Walgreens for pull-ups (and had to make a potty stop for her), then to the bank (drive thru ATM), then to Michaels, then to the mall to ride the horsies, have a snack of Chick Fil A fries (a rare treat for her), then to the playground, then to Children's Place to buy jeans...but while standing in line to pay for said jeans, Miss N says, "I need to go potty." UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH. All childrens' stores should be equipped with a restroom. I abandoned the jeans and we trucked over to Sears, went up the escalator, and then made it to the bathroom. I'm glad she tells me when she needs to go (especially because she was in big girl panties and her change of clothing was in the bag in the car), but sometimes it's so dang inconvenient to drop everything and rush to the nearest bathroom. Oh, well!
Anyway, we came home and ate lunch and then took a nap...well, she did, but she coughed in her sleep the whole time, which kept me from going to sleep and staying asleep. And when we got up, Keiki was so low in my pelvis that it was excruciating to walk or even stand up. I called Brad and asked him if he could come home early. He was able to get home around 5, and a little bit later I took a nap.
We have a bunch of stuff to get done this weekend, since I'd like to be prepared as possible should Keiki make his appearance next week. Sunday's the full moon, but I don't want to go into labor until Tuesday at the earliest! We have thunderstorms predicted all week, and apparently there's something about stormy weather that sends women into labor. Anyway, our top priority is to fill the birth tub and get the heater running so it's a good temperature. We'll have to change the water out every 4 days, but that's not a big deal. I want the Amby bed assembled, I need to finish the baby's laundry and put it away and lay out the first-day outfit, I need to figure out which blanket fits the Moses basket (or go buy some nice fleece fabric for it, if we don't have a blanket big enough! I need to get some blankets out of the attic. I need to go pick up a blue Miracle Blanket from a local baby store just a few miles down the road. We have a pink one, but I'd rather use a blue one! And of course there are lots of other house maintenance type things that need to be done...vacuuming, mopping, clearing off the kitchen counters for the umpteenth time, etc.
So while I'm HOPING he'll come next week, I am not holding my breath and fully expect to be painting my big preggo belly in bright orange and black, a la jack-o-lantern, come October 31. I guess if he's born in November it'll at least give us a family pattern for our birthdays - November, December, January!
My doula is out of town this weekend. She gave me the information for her backup, but I fully expect not to need it. If I go into labor between now and Tuesday, I will have to go to the hospital. There's no reason for me to think I'll be going into labor in the next few days. I did wake up with some lower uterine crampiness last night and pondered getting up to bounce on the exercise ball, but the fact that I would have had to walk upstairs to get it kept me in bed. They went away and I went back to sleep - no big thing.
Miss N and I spent the morning walking - we went to Walgreens for pull-ups (and had to make a potty stop for her), then to the bank (drive thru ATM), then to Michaels, then to the mall to ride the horsies, have a snack of Chick Fil A fries (a rare treat for her), then to the playground, then to Children's Place to buy jeans...but while standing in line to pay for said jeans, Miss N says, "I need to go potty." UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH. All childrens' stores should be equipped with a restroom. I abandoned the jeans and we trucked over to Sears, went up the escalator, and then made it to the bathroom. I'm glad she tells me when she needs to go (especially because she was in big girl panties and her change of clothing was in the bag in the car), but sometimes it's so dang inconvenient to drop everything and rush to the nearest bathroom. Oh, well!
Anyway, we came home and ate lunch and then took a nap...well, she did, but she coughed in her sleep the whole time, which kept me from going to sleep and staying asleep. And when we got up, Keiki was so low in my pelvis that it was excruciating to walk or even stand up. I called Brad and asked him if he could come home early. He was able to get home around 5, and a little bit later I took a nap.
We have a bunch of stuff to get done this weekend, since I'd like to be prepared as possible should Keiki make his appearance next week. Sunday's the full moon, but I don't want to go into labor until Tuesday at the earliest! We have thunderstorms predicted all week, and apparently there's something about stormy weather that sends women into labor. Anyway, our top priority is to fill the birth tub and get the heater running so it's a good temperature. We'll have to change the water out every 4 days, but that's not a big deal. I want the Amby bed assembled, I need to finish the baby's laundry and put it away and lay out the first-day outfit, I need to figure out which blanket fits the Moses basket (or go buy some nice fleece fabric for it, if we don't have a blanket big enough! I need to get some blankets out of the attic. I need to go pick up a blue Miracle Blanket from a local baby store just a few miles down the road. We have a pink one, but I'd rather use a blue one! And of course there are lots of other house maintenance type things that need to be done...vacuuming, mopping, clearing off the kitchen counters for the umpteenth time, etc.
So while I'm HOPING he'll come next week, I am not holding my breath and fully expect to be painting my big preggo belly in bright orange and black, a la jack-o-lantern, come October 31. I guess if he's born in November it'll at least give us a family pattern for our birthdays - November, December, January!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
34 weeks tomorrow!
This poor baby boy is already the victim of second-child-syndrome! You know, the one where the first baby has thousands upon thousands of photos and Mama kept a very detailed journal of every little thing, both the funny and the mundane...and the second child is lucky to get a photo a month and his first word written in the baby book! Oh, well...he's a boy so maybe he won't care as much as if he were a girl? He's just as loved and wanted as his big sister, of course!
Today I had some serious nesting energy built up, apparently. I dropped Miss N off at her mother's day out/preschool program, headed to the chiropractor, went to Target to see if I could find a pair of maternity jeans that fit (I didn't, and didn't want to drop $33+ on a pair of jeans I'd only wear for 6-8 weeks), then came home and lay down for a half-hour trying to take an early nap, but never did fall asleep. So I got up and started puttering. I put a load of laundry in the dryer and put a wrap in the washer. I loaded and ran the dishwasher and once that was done and ALL of the dishes in the whole house were actually clean for a brief moment in time, I finally cleared out all of our plastic ware...if it was supposed to be a sealable container and didn't have a corresponding lid, or vice versa, I pitched it. I actually ended up with way more lids than containers, who knows where the open containers.
There's something about having all of my dishes clean that makes me want to bake. I would cook and bake all day long if I didn't feel guilty about the mess I leave behind. I was going to say, "if I had someone to clean up after me," but Brad almost always does all of the dishes every day, so I DO have someone cleaning up after me, but I feel guilty for making such a mess at times.
I had four very over-ripe bananas that needed to be dealt with, so I cut 2/3 of one up into chunks and put it in the freezer along with some strawberries so I'd have ingredients for Miss N's smoothies I make for her. Then I decided I'd make banana bread. And then I realized that my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl was in the refrigerator with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day bread dough that was about 10 days old, so I took that out, added some flour, put it on a baking stone to rest, and then hand washed the mixer bowl so I could start on the banana bread.
After that was done, I started making tomatillo salsa by boiling about a pound of tomatillos, some onions, some garlic cloves, and some salt for 10 minutes. Then I chopped the tomatillos and garlic and put it all in a bowl with some lime juice and a little more salt. It wasn't all that fantastic and I need to keep experimenting. I mean, it was OK but wasn't FABULOUS like I wanted it to be. Maybe next time I'll roast the tomatillos instead.
After that was done, it was time to go pick up Miss N. On our way home I realized I hadn't eaten lunch so I drove through a couple of different places to satisfy a couple of different pregnancy cravings. Miss N and I sat at the table and ate a snack - she's always ravenous in the afternoons after preschool. Then she wanted to watch her new Veggie Tales movie so I let her while I put the artisan bread into the oven.
After that was done, I was beyond exhausted so I just sat on the couch the rest of the evening, fixed dinner for Miss N at 5:30 and then put her to bed at a little after 6 pm. It's an early bedtime because she didn't nap at school and really needed to just go to bed, even though it may mean she's wide awake and ready to go at 6 am, which means I do NOT need to stay up until midnight tonight!
I have many more things on my mental nesting list in my head, hopefully I'll get lots of energy bursts between now and Keiki's arrival so that I get it all done! My mom is supposed to come spend next weekend with us and promised to help me organize things like my baking cabinet and my kitchen pantry, so I'm looking forward to that.
Today I had some serious nesting energy built up, apparently. I dropped Miss N off at her mother's day out/preschool program, headed to the chiropractor, went to Target to see if I could find a pair of maternity jeans that fit (I didn't, and didn't want to drop $33+ on a pair of jeans I'd only wear for 6-8 weeks), then came home and lay down for a half-hour trying to take an early nap, but never did fall asleep. So I got up and started puttering. I put a load of laundry in the dryer and put a wrap in the washer. I loaded and ran the dishwasher and once that was done and ALL of the dishes in the whole house were actually clean for a brief moment in time, I finally cleared out all of our plastic ware...if it was supposed to be a sealable container and didn't have a corresponding lid, or vice versa, I pitched it. I actually ended up with way more lids than containers, who knows where the open containers.
There's something about having all of my dishes clean that makes me want to bake. I would cook and bake all day long if I didn't feel guilty about the mess I leave behind. I was going to say, "if I had someone to clean up after me," but Brad almost always does all of the dishes every day, so I DO have someone cleaning up after me, but I feel guilty for making such a mess at times.
I had four very over-ripe bananas that needed to be dealt with, so I cut 2/3 of one up into chunks and put it in the freezer along with some strawberries so I'd have ingredients for Miss N's smoothies I make for her. Then I decided I'd make banana bread. And then I realized that my Kitchen Aid mixer bowl was in the refrigerator with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day bread dough that was about 10 days old, so I took that out, added some flour, put it on a baking stone to rest, and then hand washed the mixer bowl so I could start on the banana bread.
After that was done, I started making tomatillo salsa by boiling about a pound of tomatillos, some onions, some garlic cloves, and some salt for 10 minutes. Then I chopped the tomatillos and garlic and put it all in a bowl with some lime juice and a little more salt. It wasn't all that fantastic and I need to keep experimenting. I mean, it was OK but wasn't FABULOUS like I wanted it to be. Maybe next time I'll roast the tomatillos instead.
After that was done, it was time to go pick up Miss N. On our way home I realized I hadn't eaten lunch so I drove through a couple of different places to satisfy a couple of different pregnancy cravings. Miss N and I sat at the table and ate a snack - she's always ravenous in the afternoons after preschool. Then she wanted to watch her new Veggie Tales movie so I let her while I put the artisan bread into the oven.
After that was done, I was beyond exhausted so I just sat on the couch the rest of the evening, fixed dinner for Miss N at 5:30 and then put her to bed at a little after 6 pm. It's an early bedtime because she didn't nap at school and really needed to just go to bed, even though it may mean she's wide awake and ready to go at 6 am, which means I do NOT need to stay up until midnight tonight!
I have many more things on my mental nesting list in my head, hopefully I'll get lots of energy bursts between now and Keiki's arrival so that I get it all done! My mom is supposed to come spend next weekend with us and promised to help me organize things like my baking cabinet and my kitchen pantry, so I'm looking forward to that.
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