Embracing Our New Arrival

Full disclosure: This post was pre-written. That's because I'm a little busy today, having a baby. I am one full week late and went in this morning at 6:00 a.m. for my scheduled induction.

Three cheers for that!

So, today I Embrace the Camera with photos of me embracing my boys who will today gain a sister.

First, a woodsy snuggle with Eli a few years ago. Look at that little first born. What a gem.


And a lovely little smooch from yesterday with sweet baby A who is becoming a Big Brother today. He is a wonder.
Check back soon for the big news! And, while you're at it throw some good birthing juju out into the universe for me if you don't mind. It's much appreciated!!

Update - Baby Progress and Blogging Malaise

Hi friends. We're still here. And by we, I mean me, and the baby girl child who will not get the heck out of my uterus.

I'm 3 days overdue. That's 3 of my 3 children who were late-comers. This is one posh uterus I tell ya. Nobody wants to check out of it a moment too soon.

So, here's the status of things:

1) Baby progress:
I've been to my 40 week check and not much is going on there. I will quote my OB to give you a sense of how close I am. She said I have "a kinda abysmal cervix." So there it is.

We went ahead and scheduled induction for the 18th. Now, my last two in-utero babies were very motivated by just putting an induction of the calendar. Both of them decided to vacate one day before I was to be induced. So, I've shown her a copy of the induction orders and given her notice of eviction come Thursday, if not before.

I have gone through every possible set of feelings about it all. Three or four weeks ago I was certain I wouldn't make it to my due date. I was less comfortable somehow then than I am now and everyday I didn't have her I was genuinely surprised. Then about two weeks ago I began my efforts to get her out. I tried all the tricks. I exhausted myself (and others), to no avail.

In the past few days I've settled on the fact that I have no control of it. In fact, and I don't mean this in a negative way, but I've actually given up hope that she'll come on her own. She's going to have to be induced. I feel this way because a) we've done everything but cartwheels to try to get things going and b) she does do cartwheels in there all the time and nothing changes (I think my amniotic sac may be literally made of steel) and c) I think my height and shape is preventing her from getting in the just right position to get her head down far enough to get things going (how's that for a very specific medical opinion from someone who's not medically trained?).

And I'm actually ok with it. I'm sleeping better because I'm not up all night trying to notice if I'm in labor. And I am allowing myself to relax about it and just rest for now.

2) The Blogging Malaise:
Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I blame this on a number of things:
a) since all my nesting is done and I'm not embarking on unnecessary projects because I'm waiting to give birth, I have no fun projects to reveal to you.

b) my birthing suitcase has been in the back of the Jeep since we had our false alarm last Saturday and my camera cord is in there. So the few photos I have taken of our last week can't get onto my computer. I realize this is easily solved, but who are we kidding.

c) I'm eager to announce that she's here, so anything else I might blog about before then seems like a bit of a let down.

d) I also think it might be the full moon because like a third of my favorite bloggers are also having a blogging malaise. Maybe they're also waiting for my baby to be born to get back to blogging.

So hang in there folks. And I will too. If I'm right and she has to be induced, then by this time next week I should be holding my 2 or 3 day old baby girl.

Holding my baby girl. That's worth saying twice.

Embracing My Due Date

A little quote from last Thursday's post entitled "Embracing the Belly, Perhaps for the Last Time?":

I'm really really hoping this is the last embrace the camera post that involves belly shots. Next week, a shot of me snuggling Lil' Sis would be MUCH PREFERRED (by all I'm certain).

Well. No such luck. Even after the false alarm on Saturday, I'm still pregnant. And today is officially my due date. So that means, if nothing happens today, I'll be 3 for 3 for late babies. Man, my uterus must be one nice place.

So for today's Embrace the Camera,

I'm doing a little retrospective.

First, I give my first preggo belly. Here I am harboring sweet Eli:
On the left I'm about 36 weeks pregnant and I'm doing the plank position to try to get that breech baby to flip. It didn't work, but version did.

One the right I'm making pots. I'm probably 35 weeks along there. And crazy.


Here I am a day or two past my due date with Amazing Amos:
It was Eli's first day of school. What a week for that guy. Look how little!!!



And here we are now:
Officially due with Lil' Sis. And Amos holding on for dear life trying to get some snuggles. What a sweet boy.

So, let me encourage you baby girl to come on out! It's nice out here and we're all really ready to get our snuggles on with you. See you soon!!!

Patience, patience, and more patience.

The boys are having much better luck than I am finding ways to entertain themselves while we wait for Lil' Sis' arrival. Now that I've nested all their is to nest and am in the thumb-twiddling phase, I'm going 'round the bend. I'm not so good at the twiddling.

The boys on the other hand, twiddle with the best of 'em.

We have had a bit of action around here. Saturday evening I had a bout of contractions that were consistently 4 minutes apart and over a minute long. So we went in to see if it was go-time.

It was not. The frequency and length of the contractions are good, but they need to get more intense. I should've know that it wasn't it considering how much fun the fella and I were having in the hospital. That's too much laughing for real labor. I do appreciate his dramatic parking job however:

When your wife's in labor, you gotta do whachya gotta do.

But, it seems progress had been made and that I'm on my way and may even pop out my first ever on-time or (gasp) slightly early baby.

We shall see.

Embracing the Belly, Perhaps for the Last Time?

I'm really really hoping this is the last embrace the camera post that involves belly shots. Next week, a shot of me snuggling Lil' Sis would be MUCH PREFERRED (by all I'm certain).
But I really think the boys are going to miss it. The bigger it gets, the more they love to love on it.

Together we take up EVERY INCH of this recliner.

Yesterday I wrote down childcare instructions for our labor time baby sitter. Amos helped.


This is 39 weeks people. Jammies all day and spending the afternoon in a lawn chair in the kiddie pool. It's not pretty, but it's true. If I was admitting this on Oprah, she would call me brave.

Oprah called it quits before I could be brave on her show, so instead I'll send this over to the Anderson Crew and be brave for Embrace the Camera.

Big Day

Today is big for a number of reasons:

1) It's my sweet niece's 13th birthday. She's the coolest. Happy birthday Fiffin Face!

2) It's the fella's and my 134th month-aversary. Happy day hubby!

3) It's my 38 week appointment! Down to the weekly check-ins. Can't be long, right?

4)

IKEA opens today. And I'ma goin'. I've arranged to have the whole day to attend to #s 3 and 4. Thanks Yaya.

Eric thinks I'm a fool. He's right for sure.

People have been camping out for two days. Highways are rerouted for the next 4 days. Thousands of people will be there.

But I've got my catalog, my list, and my day freed up...and I'm doin' it.

Wish me luck.

Peek of the Week - July 22, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!

Ok, me first - and you better get the salts, because this is a good one.

A few days ago I completed for my growing brood Little Sister/Big Brother T-Shirts:
Pretty sweet right? Rarely do my projects work out the way I'm envisioning in my head. But I started dreaming these up a few weeks back and they are perfection.

One for Lil' Sis (can't wait to see her in it! Mostly because if she's wearing this it means she's no longer inside my body).

One for Amos, the magical middle bro.

And one for Eli, big bro extraordinaire.

Now, this might get a bit tedious for anyone who did not birth these children, but here are some select shots from our little shirt photo shoot. They are a plenty.



And...Amos is over it.



But Eli was feelin' the photo shoot vibe.


Man, I must be hilarious.


Such. A. Stud.


Next time you see these little gems it will be on the bodies of ALL my children as the two big'uns are meeting the little'un. I'm super excited about that day.


Now it's time for a peek into YOUR week!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Lounging

Dizzy's got things figured out.

Does anyone else feel like July has come to an abrupt halt? It's hot. I'm uh...eager...to meet this little babe perched precariously on my bladder, and July has slowed to a crawl.

I've been looking ahead to July 27th for sometime now - it's my niece's birthday, my 38 week appointment, and the grand opening of our IKEA. A big day, you understand. And I feel like it should have come and gone already but no, it's still a full. week. away. And lil' sis' arrival is expected a full two weeks after that. Zoiks.

Most people would be glad to have a little more time to prepare for impending transitions, but I've nearly nested all there is to nest, and it's still not time yet.

I know...Hang in there. Power through. Keep on keeping on. I'm in the home stretch. Keep calm and carry on. Yada yada.
I know. I shall.

Speaking of some of that good old nesting - I finished a project last night that is so cute I might need the salts. I really want to give you a teaser, but I will wait until the peek of the week on Friday. I need to practice my patience. Do come back. You won't be disappointed!

Embrace Busting Out

In the immortal words of Monica: "4 weeks baby. 4 WEEKS!"

Here, for this week's embrace the camera I give you, the 36 week belly. At her check in this week she was:

• still a girl!
• head down with her little hands in front of her sweet face.
• "baby breathing," which apparently is practice and is a very healthy and good thing for her to be doing.
• showing no sign of going anywhere any time soon.

So we sit tight and the hysterical non-stop nesting continues. So far this has included:

• organizing her clothes and her whatnot
  
• adorning her walls with decals of trees, critters, stars and a little gal atop the moon
• cooking up ideas for Big Brother t-shirts
• moving furniture to accommodate her gear
• purchased and packed the boys' required school supplies (1.5 months in advance)
• ordering fabric for her bedding
• packing things for hospital

I'm unstoppable!

While you're here, look back and come back:

• Look back to yesterday's post to enter the 2nd Annual My Birthday Giveaway!
• Come back to tomorrow's post to see this week's Peek of the Week. Fellow bloggers can participate too by sharing a posts about what wowed you this week. Click here for deets.
  

Peek of the Week - July 8, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!

I'll start:
Here is the completed project I sneak peeked yesterday. It's project 472 of the baby preparation nest-travaganza in which I am currently engaged.

Disclaimer: Lil's Sis's room is actually a closet - very small, and no window - so the photos aren't great. But you'll get the idea.


I present...Lil' Sis's Wall of Whimsy!:
Eli put on the little leaves at the bottom. I love that he added his own special touches to her space.


I tried to give you the full 360 experience. In fact, I attempted to make a panoramic shot of the whole thing - couldn't be done in such a small space. Alas.

When you enter the room on your left it is morning with trees and birds and dragonflies. Continue around the room and the clouds lead you to a trail of stars onto the next wall where Lil' Sis is perched on the moon fishing for a star. Pretty sweet.

I love decals. I took on a similar project for Eli's nursery in paint. It took forever, wasn't as crisp looking, and I worried what the fumes were doing to him in my belly. Decals are so forgiving. If you don't like a feature of something you've cut out, just try again. I got a lot of good inspiration from etsy (especially the girl on the moon - if you like it you could snag one here), but I made them all myself out of solid colored sheets of vinyl wall decal. Mama loves.

So, what have you been up to? Let's see your peek!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Embrace the Nest

It's Thursday...time to embrace the camera.

The fella and I were enjoying a kid-free lunch on the patio at Mellow Mushroom the other day and I kept catching a glimpse of how freakishly large my belly looked in his aviators. So he snapped that shot for posterity of the rotundity I'm currently toting around. Remarkable, no? In other news...I wear that shirt a lot - it's been featured in nearly all my embrace the camera posts for weeks.

I've been struck very recently with the intense need to make preparations for this baby's arrival. Like, now. I'm 5 weeks from my due date, and if history is any guide, 6 weeks from delivering this little gem - but preparing for her seems situation critical. Checklists are my friend, as the placenta brain prevents me from hanging onto any one idea for very long. And things are getting checked off.

Much of this nesting takes place in the night. Our room and hers are upstairs where it is blisteringly hot in the day. So when the boys are sleeping and the air begins to cool, I go up and take on a project. I've folded and hung and organized all her little clothes and accessories. Blankets are neatly nestled. Fabric has been ordered for the "bedding" I'm making for her. Her room is so small (literally a closet) that a crib won't fit. So I'm fashioning some cuteness for the pack'n'play and that will just have to do.

I've scoured etsy for some sweet vintage baby gowns, perfect for a summer baby. I've begun putting things aside to take to hospital when the time comes.

I've even gone so far as to get my eyebrows freshly waxed and my pedis cured. Can't go into labor without proper eyebrows. Heavens no.

The fella points out that many of these preparations (like the eyebrows and the toes) will likely have to be repeated before she arrives. And I'm aware with every preparation I make, I'm nearly guaranteeing a late-comer. I know. I know.

But preparations must be made.

I finished off a very exciting project last night. Here's a sneak peek:

Come back tomorrow to see the full project reveal for this week's Peek of the Week. You can participate too by showing us the cool stuff you've been up to this week. Here's the skinny.

Fingers Crossed

Wish me luck. Thanks Boogie.
I'm not sure why little A stands at the front door with crossed fingers on a regular basis, but maybe today he's wishing me luck. After failing the one-hour glucose test (a pregnancy thing for testing for gestational diabetes), I'm going in this morning for the three-hour. Good times.

I know the multiple blood draws will be a pain, but honestly, I'm a little giddy that I will have three hours of forced alone time at the doctor's office. I'm not sure that's happened in the past three years. I'm hoping to finish my book from March. Two and a half months later but whatever.

So, wish me luck!

Embrace the Belly

Lil' Sis is making her way into more and more photos these days. She's getting hard to miss. Know what's scaring me a little bit? I have 4 more months of belly growing time. How is that going to work exactly? I think I remember having this same fear when I was about this pregnant with Amos, and it all worked out. Man, I'm starting to sound like an old pro at this.

This week is flying by and I can't believe it's Thursday already. For weeks I've been lamenting the absence of junk food around here, but I went to costco and I lament no more. Big belly problem solved.

I'm linking this post up to the Anderson Crew Blog for their Embrace the Camera feature. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Well, you can do the same right here tomorrow, as you link up your Peek of the Week post telling us what made you happy, proud, laugh, or smile this week. Please come back tomorrow and share! To learn more about the Peek of the Week, click here! It's fun!

Above Average

Yesterday at the park I overheard some women talking. One asked the other, "So, when is your due date?" The other replied, "September 14." A mere month after mine.

She had nary a bump.

And I have this:
It could be that it's my third pregnancy and these abdominal muscles have long since given up the ghost. It could be that me my short stature gives her few other places to go. But whatever the cause, my 4.5 month baby bump is more like a baby basketball.

But no complaints here. I want her little house to feel spacious and homey. I hope all these little kicks and wiggles are her way of saying she digs her crib.