The Waiting Game

Well...now the official waiting game begins. 25 days left until my "due date" of May 23rd. Each pain is more of a hm...could it be...rather than "ahh that's normal pregnancy". I have yet to pack my hospital bag, and then I think of my friend Jenn who had her third kid 3 weeks early and I realize it's possible. Personally I would be SHOCKED if this kid came any earlier than 1 week. My first kid was 9 days late and we had to really push her out. No dilation or water breakage with her. My second kid was 2 days early, with 1 cm dilation showing up only 2 days before. Both times I went to bed late, and woke up in the wee hours of a Sunday morning with cramps. My daughter waited until that afternoon to be born, and my son arrived 4 hours after we arrived at the hospital. Josh is nervous this kid will pop out faster than we'll have time to get to the hospital.

If it's during the week day- the kids will be in day care until grandparents can pick them up. No problem. Josh gets last minute sub and comes home to pick me up.

If it's during the night- the kids will be sleeping and we'll wait to leave for the hospital until one of our amazing friends can step over here and watch them until the grandparents arrive.

If it's during the weekend/evening- we'll have to wait until friends can come over and watch the kids until the grandparents show up.

We can make it to the hospital in 20-30 minutes depending on traffic, and as we've just done this, we know where to go:)

I feel like this one will come close to his due date, but when he decides to come- watch out- as there are no more muscles to help keep him in since my body just went through this 14 months ago.

Weird dreams

So I had several weird dreams last night. I can't say that any of them were disturbing or horrible, just really random, weird and felt like it actually happened. I totally had to set myself straight this morning and realize they were just dreams. I'm only sharing b/c so many of my friends/family know these people and how weird these will sound...

1. Was talking to my parents about 4th of July and how we weren't planning on camping with 3 little ones, especially one that is 1 month old and nursing at night which is hard in a tent- trust me I did it with nehemiah. They started talking how they got everyone in our family individual cabins, and ours had 2 rooms so we could have one for us and one for the kids. Only they reserved them for 5 nights, in omaha nebraska. I was very shocked they did this without talking to us, although camping in a cabin sounded fine- in omaha? Then they dropped a bomb shell. Nate Jenkins, your old friend, contacted us and asked if we'd all come out to his wedding. We planned our 4th of july around his wedding and everyone is going..we were going to keep it a surprise from you. Plus we'll see our nebraska relatives on the 5th. Reality? This is totally weird and out of character for my parents. Plus-I haven't spoken to or heard from Nate in like 7 years! Bizzaro.

2. I was at "my house" in an enclosed front porch area talking very familiarly with Jim and Becky Sanchez. We were talking about babies (go figure) and they said something about small babies vs. large ones. I said how my sister in law, Christine has to deal with that all the time- and yet her daughter is developmentally on track or ahead of her age, just petite. They looked shocked that I knew Christine, and were even more shocked when I said, "in fact...she's sleeping inside b/c she is so tired from being pregnant and I'm watching Ellie for her". Then they wanted to see her and I wouldn't let them in b/c I didn't want to wake her up. I peeked inside and she was awake so she came outside and squealed when she saw them, as if it had been years. Only it wasn't Christine, it was Alli, her sister in looks- but in my heart/head it was Christine. Reality? It wasn't my house. I haven't seen Christine's parents in a long time. I would never keep her from seeing them. Way weird.

3. I had a dr. apt (which I did today and everything was normal) and my doctor looked really run down. She had been delivery babies at the hospital for like 2 days straight. She said I had placenta privia (sp?) and that the baby had actually shifted out of position and now was really high- and moved my due date out by like 2 months! Reality? my dr. apt today was fine. I'm fine. The baby is fine. My doctor looked normal.

Happy Birthday to my 1yr old Son!

Nehemiah is 1 yr old today- WOW. (notice his first shoes? Black converse...yeah baby)

His little personality is just shining through. Quiet, rarely fussy, constantly moving, and determined. So far discipline and the word NO mean nothing to him. If you give him a spanking he just sits and looks at you afterwards like "are you done? can I go back to what I was doing now?". I think we'll have our hands full.

He has his doctor appointment tomorrow- but at 9 months he was already 21 lbs and 31" long. He is a big boy that is getting harder and harder for me to carry now that Isaac seems to be just as active in the womb as Nehemiah was!

Goodbye bottles. Goodbye formula. Hello sleeping in the same room with Abby. They will share a room for about a year or so until Isaac is ~1. From there on out Nehemiah and Isaac will share a room.

This weekend is a family birthday to celebrate this little guy.

He is walking, sometimes very fast, now. Has 9 teeth. Drools constantly. Eats constantly. Does not nap (like his father at the same age) but sleeps 11.5-12 hours straight at night. Loves to bop to music and laugh with his sister. He adores Abby and she is such a wonderful big sister. I pray it will always be so. No one can make him laugh as much as she can.

Happy Birthday little guy....I love you.

5 weeks and counting

5 weeks until I'm off work- yeah:) Josh is worried I'll be bored and missing that "human interaction" and I'm not so sure. It's true the last 2 times I almost went stir crazy, but I work from home so much these days I think I'm used to it. I really enjoy the time by myself at home to get things done at my pace. I'm glad the next 5 weekends are busy too- it's exhausting but helps the time go by faster. Friends visiting, Nehemiah's 1st bday party (oh my), Easter, our 6th anniversary, the volunteer event I'm leading at work, and my replacement from China coming to stay for a week to get face to face hand off training. Whew!

Then hopefully a month of peace, sleep and relaxation before Isaac makes an appearance. I know he'll probably come early being my third and so close to my second that everything is stretched out- but I pray he comes on time or late. I really really am looking forward to that month off before he comes to "rest" up and get everything ready. But babies come when they will and I just pray he arrives safely. I also hope there is enough time for the grandparents to get here:)

Josh is worried we won't make it to the hospital on time. Nehemiah came 6 hours after the pains started, and only 4 hours after we were at the hospital, thankfully. I really have no worries about it at all- maybe I should- maybe I will the closer it gets- but I feel pretty relaxed about this one.

I have a doctor apt tomorrow. My glucose screening came out fine- stupid test. Then the last week of march/first week of April I'll have another ultrasound to look at the position of the baby, etc. yeah:) i'm still dreaming I'm having twins, although there has been no signs to comfirm this at the doctor office. So I'm looking forward to confirming, once again, it's just one little one in there;)

I'm looking forward to my 6 months off, but realize the first 3ish months will not be a "break". The closer this birth gets the further away that seems. I'm really excitted to hold this little one though and see his personality develop. Abby is our drama queen who lights up our house with songs and "let's play". Nehemiah is our quiet, easy going, stubborn little man who is quick to smile and slow to fuss. he adores abby and no one can make him laugh more than she can. Abby has curly blonde/brown hair, blue eyes and dimples...Nehemiah has brown hair with hazel/green eyes and no dimples. What will Isaac look like?

Wishful thinking? Nightmare? Or mommy intuition?

Ok so here I sit at the computer with a really achy back and crampy abdomen.

The thoughts on this range in my head....

1. OH MY it's the baby (yeah I'm done with work and can be off)
2. oh CRAP it's the baby (holy crap! It's too early for him to come. I'd be leaving work in a mess!!!)
3. Hm...I need exercise (I guess I could get up and walk around more)
4. I really should get off my butt and move around (I should start work earlier tomorrow and take time to go to the prego water aerobic class at the YMCA tomorrow)
5. Is there anyway I can weasel a massage out of Josh? He's tired because he's in the middle of CSAP testing- ICK!
6. Maybe I should take a nice long hot bath Augh. Walking all the way upstairs, filling the tub is so much work. And what if it's just uncomfortable now that I'm bigger? All that wasted water and effort for nothing.
7. Maybe I have to go to the bathroom? Seems like I always have to go these days....
8. I should try a hot pack or ice pack- which one on what part will feel the best? And can I use heat on my belly or do I need to stay away from that?
9. Maybe I just need more water- Augh then I'll be doing #7 all night long.....
10. I think I have more things to do than just sit here and think about how much my lower back and abdomen hurt. Off to play scrabble on facebook (any takers?) and put my feet up.

The Olympics, by Shamree

On our nice weekend away to San Diego (so nice we didn't want to come back) we got to watch a little of the Olympics which was a treat as we don't have TV. However, in the midst of all the accomplishments, sorrows, struggles, and victories I realized that these athletes train for years...and it's not so unlike parenthood. You devote yourself to the training, weird schedules, body sacrifices, and frustration for years. So...after careful consideration I'd like to submit the Olympics, as I'd like to see them.


Events for Babies-
1. Pacifier throwing (judged on distance and creativity)
2. Undressing (judged purely on how fast they can get everything off)
3. Kitchen disassembling (how many cabinets and drawers they can empty in 2 minutes)
4. Crib hurdling (how long it takes them to climb out of a crib)
5. Dog chasing (how long it takes to catch a dogs tail, by crawling)
6. Stair climbing (how fast they can climb up, and back down 15 stairs)

Events for Parents-
1. Changing diapers in the dark (judged on speed, thoroughness, and amount of baby crying)
2. Driving marathon- you will need to find a pacifier thrown, give a bottle, and rub a babies forehead until they fall asleep- while driving, without causing an accident.
3. kitchen clean up- how fast you can reassemble your kitchen after baby event #3 above.
4. Mule event- how many bags you can carry with your child for 1/2 mile. Judged on the total weight you can carry, and speed.
5. Bottle making- how well you can get out of bed, down the stairs, across the kitchen floor full of toys, make a bottle and get to your crying kid- in the dark. Timed trial.
6. Car clean up. How fast you can make your car presentable. Vacuuming up crumbs, cleaning sticky stuff off the windows, and removing toys and car seats so 4 adults can go out to dinner.

Combined Events-
1. Stroller pushing- how fast you can push your stroller with your child in it in a 1/2 mile race.
2. How fast you can prepare, feed, and clean up after- your child at dinner. Child must be eating finger foods.
3. bath time- how long it takes to completely bathe your child. judged on how little water is outside the tub, how little crying there is, and how little water resides on you.


So folks...if you are interested in competing please just let me know for which events. I plan to have this start, as soon as I have time to make it happen- haa haa.

I'm an egg

I have concluded that I'm an egg. I'm 3 things in one, a mother, a worker, and wife- I'm also jelly and unstable on the inside and my exterior is liable to crack easily and spill out all the goopy stuff on the inside without warning.

It's been so long since I've felt like me that I'm not sure if I even remember me, or if I'm just grabbing onto a fragment of my imagination and romanticizing it even as we have a tendency to do when we reminisce.

Will I ever be rational again? Will I ever go more than 2 days without crying? Will I ever sleep more than 2 hours at a time, or more than 6 hours at night? I know that I'm a mom, and soon to be a mom of 3 but are any of these requests unreasonable?

If one more person tells me to treasure these days I think I'll vomit. And that is easy to do in this third pregnancy still- trust me. There are precious moments yes....agreed. But most days I'm too tired to even take notice....