Today was my 39 (and a 1/2) week OB appointment. Everything is still great and silently (and fairly painlessly) progressing towards what will hopefully be a good, safe, normal labor and delivery.
Today I was thinking back to my first pregnancy and remembering how anxious (and eager and excited) I was for the baby to come. I had my own idea of when the baby would come, how it would happen, and I certainly didn't think that I would go past my due date. It was very much an emotional struggle for me the last few weeks of my first pregnancy because ... well, because I wasn't being content. I'm sure that it being my first made a difference, too.
This time, yes, I am very eager and excited, but not nearly as anxious. I think the most anxious I have been yet was Tuesday, when my chiropractor - for the 2nd week in a row - predicted that Wednesday would be the day I would have the baby. My mistake on Tuesday was trusting more what the chiropractor was predicting and letting myself brush off the fact that ONLY God knows this baby's birthday. I might have inwardly freaked out a little as Tuesday went on and I was thinking what all "needed" to be done by the time I went to bed that night because the baby is supposed to come tomorrow!! (Nope, the chiropractor was wrong, as much as he was hoping he would be right!)
Knowing that this baby could come at any moment does make life a little interesting and sometimes I stress over the silliest things like "should I start supper?" ... "should I give the kitchen a thorough cleaning or can I let it go a bit and work on something less pressing?" ... "if I start making bread, will I be able to finish it?" Overall, on the whole though, I have noticed that I am much more at peace this time. Since Susannah was born late, my whole thought process throughout this pregnancy has been that this baby will probably be late, too. Only in the past few weeks has the "any day" reality started to kick in.
Yes, I would love to be holding our baby in my arms already :) Yes, I am very ready to be done being pregnant for this time. I would love to know if we get to use our boy name or our girl name (I think Daniel just changed the girl middle name this evening! To one we both like and had talked about. :) ). I would love to be able to roll over in bed without doing an extensive exercise workout :) And to be able to put on my bottom-half clothes normally. And all of those other things... but it's just not time yet. And I'm fine with that. Those things are certainly inconveniences, but I can't (and don't want to) make this baby be born just for convenience's sake :)
In the meantime, as I wait, I remind myself that each day that passes is one day closer to having our baby even though I don't KNOW when that day is going to be. I remind myself that God is in control, and He must not be quite finished knitting this child in my womb yet (Psalm 139.13) :) I think it also helps that I have Susannah as a distraction to keep me busy, a lot of cleaning, purging and organizing projects that I've been working on and still have to work on when I get the urge, and a husband who goes about every day like it's just another day :) And when the baby wiggles around - or gets the hiccups like today! - I remember to pay attention to them and enjoy the sweetness of them, because very soon I won't be feeling them on the inside anymore.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Tiny Talk Tuesday {Snow Edition}
Yesterday morning I knew the snow was going to be quickly melting, so as soon as Susannah woke up, I gave her a muffin for a quick breakfast and then bundled her up to go outside for a while.
She had fun! This was her first snow experience. It has snowed in her lifetime, but it has never been enough or at the right time for her to be able to go out and enjoy it. It was just deep enough in some places that she kept tripping and falling over. She did not like that, so most of the time we were just walking around and she was holding my hand.
Needless to say, this pregnant mama was kaput and completely spent after about 30 - 40 minutes! She did not want to come inside, she wanted to stay "'side!" and keep walking in the "(s)'now!" ("Snow" without the "s".) But after some putting forth some more oomph and gumph on my part and staying out a bit longer, we did come back inside so she could eat a proper breakfast and I could sit down for a minute!
She had fun! This was her first snow experience. It has snowed in her lifetime, but it has never been enough or at the right time for her to be able to go out and enjoy it. It was just deep enough in some places that she kept tripping and falling over. She did not like that, so most of the time we were just walking around and she was holding my hand.
Needless to say, this pregnant mama was kaput and completely spent after about 30 - 40 minutes! She did not want to come inside, she wanted to stay "'side!" and keep walking in the "(s)'now!" ("Snow" without the "s".) But after some putting forth some more oomph and gumph on my part and staying out a bit longer, we did come back inside so she could eat a proper breakfast and I could sit down for a minute!
*********
Most of the time when Susannah gets a diaper change, I apply some "hiney-grease". Either Vaseline or Desitin, depending on the situation. She calls it either "hi-ey geeze" or just "hi-ey". The funny part about this is that I also have a tub of Crisco shortening in the kitchen cupboard that I use for greasing the bread pans, etc. When I pull that out, she ALSO calls it "hi-ey geeze"!! I tell her that no, it's not hiney-grease, it is baking grease :) I guess it's all white and creamy and slimy to her!
Most of the time when Susannah gets a diaper change, I apply some "hiney-grease". Either Vaseline or Desitin, depending on the situation. She calls it either "hi-ey geeze" or just "hi-ey". The funny part about this is that I also have a tub of Crisco shortening in the kitchen cupboard that I use for greasing the bread pans, etc. When I pull that out, she ALSO calls it "hi-ey geeze"!! I tell her that no, it's not hiney-grease, it is baking grease :) I guess it's all white and creamy and slimy to her!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Snow!! It Finally Snowed!!
Yay!! Aside from about 10 minutes of snow "clumps" that fell in January (and did not do anything but melt right away), this is the first snow we've had at our place since October of last year!
It started late yesterday morning and snowed through about 11:30 or midnight. Today it is all supposed to melt, and be around 70° on Thursday. The Lord sure is giving us an interesting winter :)
But for now, here are some pictures of the beautiful snow.
It started late yesterday morning and snowed through about 11:30 or midnight. Today it is all supposed to melt, and be around 70° on Thursday. The Lord sure is giving us an interesting winter :)
But for now, here are some pictures of the beautiful snow.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Baking, Building and Making Memories
Last week I had a huge [what I suspect was a] nesting spurt and spent the better part of 2 days in the kitchen. I had been planning to get some baking done before the baby comes, and those days it just seemed like I wanted, almost NEEDED, to do it and get it out of my system :) For some reason these last few weeks of the pregnancy I have been very un-motivated and un-inspired in the kitchen (or much of anywhere else, really!), so I had great fun doing something that I actually WANTED to do (besides sleep, that is :) ).
The first day I felt almost giddy with everything I got made and frozen:
My brothers gave me those stacking cooling racks a couple years ago for Christmas and I put them to good use a few times a year and REALLY like having them!!!
I did not get a picture from the second day. That day my top priority was 3 angel food cakes (from scratch) for a family birthday party we were going to. Aside from the 3 cakes, I also made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies and a big batch of mini crustless quiche (I think it was 3 1/2 doz? Baked in regular cupcake pans.). For the chocolate chip cookies, I baked 4 dozen cookies, then the rest of the dough I scooped out onto waxed paper covered plates and froze, getting enough for another 2 dozen cookies, I think. Of course after the dough was frozen I bagged up the dough balls :)
Susannah had great fun helping me over the two days. I was shaping the first round of bagels while she was awake, and I gave her one of the little dough balls to play with. After I made her stop taste-testing it (she'd eating probably 1/3 of it, ha!), she had fun mashing and kneading and stretching and attempting to imitate my bagel shaping. When I finished with the rest of the bagels, I did help her make her little dough wad into a bagel and she was pretty thrilled :)
Her favorite place in the kitchen - if I'm in there working on ANYthing - is on her "ng" (like "ing" without the "i"), which is what she calls the kitchen stool*, RIGHT at my elbow watching and ready to help with whatever I'll let her help with. If I am making something in the mixer, I've started dragging it out to the middle of the counter where she can see into the bowl and watch it mixing. She loves to help dump ingredients in and help stir if I'm mixing something by hand. She can't wait to be able to crack eggs and measure oil :) And she is always ready and eager for a "gaze" (taste) and lets me know it! I actually almost always enjoy having her company while I'm cooking or baking. I want her to have great, fun memories of helping me in the kitchen - not only because I want her to grow up knowing and enjoying how to cook and bake, but because I just think it will be a fun thing to look back on many years from now.
*We have no idea where or how she came up with "ng" to be her word for the stool. We call it the stool and try to get her to say stool, and she just keeps calling it "ng" :) I know one day she'll say it and it will no longer be the "ng".
While I worked in the kitchen on Saturday, Daniel was working on the addition. Susannah loves it when her Daddy is home and she can be with him. If he is out there and she is not, it doesn't take long for her to ask to go out there, too. She loves to "hammie" (hammer) and "bang-bang" (what you do with a hammer, of course!) just like he does. I always make sure it suits him for her to be out there (for her safety), and when it does she has so much fun! Saturday evening was one of those times so I bundled her up and out she went. I finally remembered to grab my camera and get a couple pictures. It was dark outside and the lighting isn't the greatest out there (yet!), so this was the best one I got.
I still love being a mama, seeing things through Susannah's eyes, watching and helping her make memories (even though she doesn't realize it yet) of helping her mama and daddy with the things they do. The things we simply enjoy, or do just because they are something we do, and yet they are big and exciting and so much fun for her! It is a thrill to my heart :)
The first day I felt almost giddy with everything I got made and frozen:
Double batch Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (yield 20)
Double batch Onion-Parmesan Bagels (yield 20)
Double batch Strawberry-Blueberry Muffins (yield 24)
1 batch bread (yield 3 loaves)
Double batch Onion-Parmesan Bagels (yield 20)
Double batch Strawberry-Blueberry Muffins (yield 24)
1 batch bread (yield 3 loaves)
My brothers gave me those stacking cooling racks a couple years ago for Christmas and I put them to good use a few times a year and REALLY like having them!!!
I did not get a picture from the second day. That day my top priority was 3 angel food cakes (from scratch) for a family birthday party we were going to. Aside from the 3 cakes, I also made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies and a big batch of mini crustless quiche (I think it was 3 1/2 doz? Baked in regular cupcake pans.). For the chocolate chip cookies, I baked 4 dozen cookies, then the rest of the dough I scooped out onto waxed paper covered plates and froze, getting enough for another 2 dozen cookies, I think. Of course after the dough was frozen I bagged up the dough balls :)
Susannah had great fun helping me over the two days. I was shaping the first round of bagels while she was awake, and I gave her one of the little dough balls to play with. After I made her stop taste-testing it (she'd eating probably 1/3 of it, ha!), she had fun mashing and kneading and stretching and attempting to imitate my bagel shaping. When I finished with the rest of the bagels, I did help her make her little dough wad into a bagel and she was pretty thrilled :)
Her favorite place in the kitchen - if I'm in there working on ANYthing - is on her "ng" (like "ing" without the "i"), which is what she calls the kitchen stool*, RIGHT at my elbow watching and ready to help with whatever I'll let her help with. If I am making something in the mixer, I've started dragging it out to the middle of the counter where she can see into the bowl and watch it mixing. She loves to help dump ingredients in and help stir if I'm mixing something by hand. She can't wait to be able to crack eggs and measure oil :) And she is always ready and eager for a "gaze" (taste) and lets me know it! I actually almost always enjoy having her company while I'm cooking or baking. I want her to have great, fun memories of helping me in the kitchen - not only because I want her to grow up knowing and enjoying how to cook and bake, but because I just think it will be a fun thing to look back on many years from now.
*We have no idea where or how she came up with "ng" to be her word for the stool. We call it the stool and try to get her to say stool, and she just keeps calling it "ng" :) I know one day she'll say it and it will no longer be the "ng".
While I worked in the kitchen on Saturday, Daniel was working on the addition. Susannah loves it when her Daddy is home and she can be with him. If he is out there and she is not, it doesn't take long for her to ask to go out there, too. She loves to "hammie" (hammer) and "bang-bang" (what you do with a hammer, of course!) just like he does. I always make sure it suits him for her to be out there (for her safety), and when it does she has so much fun! Saturday evening was one of those times so I bundled her up and out she went. I finally remembered to grab my camera and get a couple pictures. It was dark outside and the lighting isn't the greatest out there (yet!), so this was the best one I got.
I still love being a mama, seeing things through Susannah's eyes, watching and helping her make memories (even though she doesn't realize it yet) of helping her mama and daddy with the things they do. The things we simply enjoy, or do just because they are something we do, and yet they are big and exciting and so much fun for her! It is a thrill to my heart :)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
37 Weeks
And all is well :)
In some ways I feel badly for not recording and journal-ing as much with this pregnancy as with the last (Susannah), but most of the time there really hasn't been anything exciting to write!
This past week I had my first of the weekly doctor appointments that I'll be going to until the baby comes. As has been the normal for each appointment, everything is fine, measuring good and "on schedule", my blood pressure is good, the baby's heart rate is fine... and all that good stuff. The baby has been head-down for a while now, so while I wasn't worried about him or her being breech, it is nice to know everything's in the right place.
With a few short-lived (yet I wondered if surely they weren't going to last forever!) serious aches or pains that have cropped up from time to time, this has been a very easy pregnancy. Those aches and pains are just my muscles and bones stretching and shifting to accommodate the change my body is going through, and while they can be most painful at the time, they have all eased up and gone away in a week or two. Probably the worst was when an abdominal muscle stretched all.at.once. one evening, doubling me over in pain and tears. I moved at the pace of an inch-worm for several days after that, and things as simple as getting in and out of bed, rolling over in bed, or lifting my legs to go up stairs would bring tears to my eyes and sometimes I would flat-out cry. I was so very glad when it started getting better and I could move easier. I was also relieved when at my next Dr. visit she assured me that nothing had torn in two (that is what it felt like) and that what I experienced does happen sometimes, but everything was fine and would be o.k.
Right now I am just feeling huge, awkward, waddle-y, and like everything I reach for is 100 miles away :) In the mornings when I wake up it takes me several minutes to get up to full-speed as the kinks of being mostly still all night get worked out.
Almost everyone that has told me what they think we are going to have is guessing the baby is a boy. I think only one person so far as told me they think it's going to be a girl. Everyone asks, of course, "what do you think it is?" and "what do you want it to be?"
I don't remember how I carried Susannah to know if I am carrying this baby differently or not (some say that is a gender indicator). I don't remember Susannah's heart-rate, but I think it was on the low side, this baby's has been as well the few times I've asked what it is. I'm just excited (and amazed!) that there is a little baby growing inside me, and that the time to meet our little baby is growing closer and closer! I am already in love with this little person - the wiggles, the hiccups, the rolls and squirms. I am ready to see his or her face, kiss the tiny nose, marvel at how the fingers and toes are so miniscule and yet perfectly sized, drown my senses in the scent of his or her baby-freshness, and fall in love even more.
Do I care if it's a boy or girl? I do not. I am so excited to find out! I think it would be so wonderful if it is another girl! A little sister for Susannah, and wouldn't two little girls be so much fun?? And at the same time if it is a boy, it will also be so exciting! We would have a girl AND a boy! A brother and sister! We could have dump-trucks AND dollies :) It is not that I am blah and "ho-hum, I don't care" about the baby's gender, I just have no way of knowing (well, we COULD know if we wanted to) so why not just be so excited to see who God has been knitting together down there for the past several months?! Even when people ask me what do I think or "feel in my gut" the baby is, I am clueless.
My energy level has been decent. It could be better if I would be more disciplined about going to bed earlier :) Coffee has become my friend, most days I have a cup mid-morning for a nice boost to push me through the rest of the day. I don't know if I am nesting yet, but I have been on some serious missions around the house lately. Lots of purging and cleaning in the bedrooms and re-arranging to make room for the new baby.
About the coffee in the previous paragraph - I do want to note that before this pregnancy, I did not like coffee. I have never liked coffee. I love the smell of coffee and liked the coffee flavor in some things (chocolate mousse, ice cream, a little bit in some hot chocolate), but I did not like coffee. My bloggy friend, Alicia, wrote a post about coffee late last summer, and just looking at the pictures made me want to try it. I had some coffee on hand for guests, so I brewed up a batch and have been enjoying it ever since with some sugar, milk, and either a little cinnamon or chocolate syrup.
I also want to note that grapefruit is another thing that my taste-buds have changed their mind about. I can't say that it has exactly been this pregnancy, or maybe my tastebuds simply matured or changed since the last time I tried grapefruit (which would be long, long ago!). I now love grapefruit and could eat it frequently if I kept it around :)
In some ways I feel badly for not recording and journal-ing as much with this pregnancy as with the last (Susannah), but most of the time there really hasn't been anything exciting to write!
This past week I had my first of the weekly doctor appointments that I'll be going to until the baby comes. As has been the normal for each appointment, everything is fine, measuring good and "on schedule", my blood pressure is good, the baby's heart rate is fine... and all that good stuff. The baby has been head-down for a while now, so while I wasn't worried about him or her being breech, it is nice to know everything's in the right place.
With a few short-lived (yet I wondered if surely they weren't going to last forever!) serious aches or pains that have cropped up from time to time, this has been a very easy pregnancy. Those aches and pains are just my muscles and bones stretching and shifting to accommodate the change my body is going through, and while they can be most painful at the time, they have all eased up and gone away in a week or two. Probably the worst was when an abdominal muscle stretched all.at.once. one evening, doubling me over in pain and tears. I moved at the pace of an inch-worm for several days after that, and things as simple as getting in and out of bed, rolling over in bed, or lifting my legs to go up stairs would bring tears to my eyes and sometimes I would flat-out cry. I was so very glad when it started getting better and I could move easier. I was also relieved when at my next Dr. visit she assured me that nothing had torn in two (that is what it felt like) and that what I experienced does happen sometimes, but everything was fine and would be o.k.
Right now I am just feeling huge, awkward, waddle-y, and like everything I reach for is 100 miles away :) In the mornings when I wake up it takes me several minutes to get up to full-speed as the kinks of being mostly still all night get worked out.
Almost everyone that has told me what they think we are going to have is guessing the baby is a boy. I think only one person so far as told me they think it's going to be a girl. Everyone asks, of course, "what do you think it is?" and "what do you want it to be?"
I don't remember how I carried Susannah to know if I am carrying this baby differently or not (some say that is a gender indicator). I don't remember Susannah's heart-rate, but I think it was on the low side, this baby's has been as well the few times I've asked what it is. I'm just excited (and amazed!) that there is a little baby growing inside me, and that the time to meet our little baby is growing closer and closer! I am already in love with this little person - the wiggles, the hiccups, the rolls and squirms. I am ready to see his or her face, kiss the tiny nose, marvel at how the fingers and toes are so miniscule and yet perfectly sized, drown my senses in the scent of his or her baby-freshness, and fall in love even more.
Do I care if it's a boy or girl? I do not. I am so excited to find out! I think it would be so wonderful if it is another girl! A little sister for Susannah, and wouldn't two little girls be so much fun?? And at the same time if it is a boy, it will also be so exciting! We would have a girl AND a boy! A brother and sister! We could have dump-trucks AND dollies :) It is not that I am blah and "ho-hum, I don't care" about the baby's gender, I just have no way of knowing (well, we COULD know if we wanted to) so why not just be so excited to see who God has been knitting together down there for the past several months?! Even when people ask me what do I think or "feel in my gut" the baby is, I am clueless.
My energy level has been decent. It could be better if I would be more disciplined about going to bed earlier :) Coffee has become my friend, most days I have a cup mid-morning for a nice boost to push me through the rest of the day. I don't know if I am nesting yet, but I have been on some serious missions around the house lately. Lots of purging and cleaning in the bedrooms and re-arranging to make room for the new baby.
About the coffee in the previous paragraph - I do want to note that before this pregnancy, I did not like coffee. I have never liked coffee. I love the smell of coffee and liked the coffee flavor in some things (chocolate mousse, ice cream, a little bit in some hot chocolate), but I did not like coffee. My bloggy friend, Alicia, wrote a post about coffee late last summer, and just looking at the pictures made me want to try it. I had some coffee on hand for guests, so I brewed up a batch and have been enjoying it ever since with some sugar, milk, and either a little cinnamon or chocolate syrup.
I also want to note that grapefruit is another thing that my taste-buds have changed their mind about. I can't say that it has exactly been this pregnancy, or maybe my tastebuds simply matured or changed since the last time I tried grapefruit (which would be long, long ago!). I now love grapefruit and could eat it frequently if I kept it around :)
Picture courtesy of the camera's self-timer
and late at night :)
and late at night :)
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