Week Thirty-Six

Last of the classes this week with a long one on breastfeeding. I think the most useful part of all of the classes was that L got a lot of info he wouldn't otherwise, and it wasn't just me telling him stuff. The breastfeeding info was pretty much all things I'd read, but L hearing it and learning specifics on what he can do to help me (and why it's such a beneficial thing to do that it's worth the effort) was fantastic.

We met with our doula as well for almost an hour and a half, and she asked me a slew of questions about my goals for having this baby (me: #1 healthy baby & healthy mama. #2 breastfeeding not hindered by anything that could be prevented). I really liked her and am glad I decided to go with a doula & hope that it helps make for a better birth experience.

The big event this week was that the shower with L's family was Saturday (hence the delayed posting). I was about 99% certain that his sister from Las Vegas was going to be there because of some things she'd posted on FaceBook, but what I had NOT known was that she was going to show up at our house with her two kids on Wednesday evening. Shortly afterward I found out that someone else was going to be arriving at midnight & L would be making a run to the airport to pick her up (I was guessing it would be the other sister from Phoenix, but wasn't certain).

I may have never blogged this, but I HATE HATE HATE surprises. I am a planner. I like knowing what's going on.

The above + pregnancy hormones + generally feeling lousy = me in a horrifically bad mood. I knew I was overreacting. I knew they all meant well & all that but I was beyond ticked that L hadn't told me (I know I've told him that I hate surprises). I felt like he was favoring his family over me (ridiculous, I know, but I think the whacked out hormones were not helping me be rational). I was so upset I couldn't even talk to him about it that evening since I was afraid I'd start shrieking or crying and that was not something I wanted to do with 3 visitors in the house. Even him telling me that they were staying at a hotel wasn't appeasing me; I had had my routines disrupted, the house was a wreck & I was embarrassed for it to be seen, and d*mmit, I HATE SURPRISES.

Deep breath.

Lots of prayers that evening/night and next morning, for God to help me get a handle on my out-of-control emotional reaction to something that really wasn't anything as big as I was feeling it to be. And they'd all meant well, just most of them were thinking about what they'd like.

The next day, despite still feeling pretty awful, I was almost delighted to head out for work. I just wished I could have been home alone and rested. That evening I eventually managed to talk to L & explain my feelings & admitted that I knew I was overreacting, but that I was really hurt by having the visitors sprung on me. He quickly apologized and then admitted that two more were arriving the next day - my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were also coming in from Arizona.

I think my prayers worked, along with talking it out with L (that and finally feeling better too) because by Friday afternoon when the final two arrived I was able to enjoy the visitors and not try to fake pleasure at seeing them like I had been doing.

The shower itself was a blast.

And I think L knows, for future reference, that it really doesn't matter if everyone else thinks that a surprise for me would be So! Much! Fun! because it really won't be for me. And if the point of the event is to do something nice for me, a surprise is the last way to go about it.

In other news, the nursery is progressing. And at my 36-week appointment I learned that the baby is definitely head down (yay!), and I'm not dilated at all, but my cervix is "nice and soft." We are getting close!

May Books

Tracy Klehn - Prayer Starters for Busy Moms: How to Pray All Day and Still Put the Laundry Away

Chip Ingram - The Invisible War: What Every Believer Needs to Know about Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare

Kerry Madden - Louisiana's Song

Nick Kelsh - How to Photograph Your Baby: Getting Closer with Your Camera and Your Heart

Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Lies Women Believe: And the Truth That Sets Them Free

Kerry Madden - Gentle's Holler

The 100 Most Important Bible Verses for Mothers

Don Piper with Cecil Murphey - 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life

Richard Stearns - The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World

Jan Burke - Bloodlines

Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice - For Parents Only: Getting Inside the Head of Your Kid

Sheila Walsh - Get Off Your Knees & Pray: A Woman’s Guide to Life-Changing Prayer

Laura A. Jana and Jennifer Shu - Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality

Ann Kroeker - The Contemplative Mom: Restoring Rich Relationship with God in the Midst of Motherhood

Mark Littleton - The Ten-Second Prayer Principle: Praying Powerfully As You Go

Diana M. Raab - Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal

Don Everts and Doug Schaupp - I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus

Mark Bittman - Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating

Ginger Plowman - “Don’t Make Me Count to Three!” A Mom’s Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline

Victoria McKernan - The Devil’s Paintbox

Penny Shore - How Your Baby & Child Learns: Give Your Baby & Child the Best Start

Rennie Airth - The Blood-Dimmed Tide

Kelli B. Trujillo - The Busy Mom’s Guide to Spiritual Survival

Cheri Fuller - When Mothers Pray: The Greatest Influence in a Child’s Life (I think it's now out in a newer edition with a different subtitle)

Penny Simkin - The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and all Other Labor Companions

Ellen Banks Elwell - The Christian Mom’s Idea Book: Hundreds of Ideas, Tips, and Activities to Help You Be a Great Mom

Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw - Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and Not Be Overwhelmed

Natalie Bovis Nelson - Preggatinis: Mixology for the Mom-to-Be

Dr. Deborah Newman - Loving Your Body: Embracing Your True Beauty in Christ

Michael Ruhlman - The Reach of a Chef: Beyond the Kitchen

Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn - For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women

Bill Dallas - Lessons from San Quentin: Everything I Needed to Know about Life I Learned in Prison

Shaunti Feldhahn - For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men

Shannon Ethridge - Completely His: Loving Jesus Without Limits

Stephen Booth - Blind to the Bones

Memory Verse

1 John 4:4, English Standard Version

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Week Thirty-Five

We wrapped up our childbirth prep class series this week. The final session was on postpartum and newborn care. I continued to be impressed at how interesting the instructor made some topics that could have been pretty unpleasant.

We also had a class on natural labor at the beginning of the week, and it also ended up being a terrific class. This one was taught by a woman who is usually a labor & delivery nurse at the hospital, but she LOVES natural labor and teaches a class on it once a month. Her enthusiasm and support for it was fantastic and really made us (i.e., me) think I can do it. Or at least give it a very good shot. :)

I've spoken on the phone with the woman who will most likely be my doula. The way our hospital works is they have doulas, and after I answered questions on my personality & what I wanted & the type of person I thought I'd most be comfortable with, the coordinator matched me with one of the available doulas. We'll meet next week in person to get to know one another & make sure we both think the match will work. She seemed very nice on the phone, so I've got good hopes for it. :)

My belly button is slowly but surely turning into an outie. I'll be honest, it kind of disturbs me. I have no idea why this aspect of pregnancy gets to me so much, but it does. I try to pretend it's not happening.

We hope to get a lot of work done around the house this week so that we feel more prepared for the baby's arrival. I've had a contraction every 3 - 4 hours today so I realize that the end is definitely approaching. And if you're wondering, by "we" I really mean that L will be doing a lot while I do what I can and take lots of breaks on the couch. I don't want to encourage this baby to arrive early!

Memory Verse

Romans 11:33, English Standard Version

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Week Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three & Thirty-Four

I'm feeling huge. Which scares me a bit because I am so not huge and still have a ways to go.

Physical therapy has made a huge difference for my back, and the doctor has even prescribed massage therapy for me to help my back even more. I am definitely not complaining about that!

The baby is still nicely head-down, and I hope he stays that way. His bottom is pushing against my belly kind of below my sternum if that makes sense. He moves enough now that my whole belly sometimes shifts & bulges, which is just weird.

I can tell he's getting bigger because he's crowding out my lungs - I'm having a terrible time breathing and the doctor says it may get worse before it improves. I definitely understand now why women are so relieved when the baby drops, and it's not just because it's a sign that there isn't much longer until the baby arrives.

My energy level is basically nonexistant (hence the very very sporadic blogging). If I go to work, I am just about worthless once I get home. Weekends when I'm not at work I've been trying to use my limited energy to get work done around the house.

Speaking of work around the house, my desk has finally been moved out of what will be the nursery, so this coming weekend we hope to get the crib set up. There's a love seat in there that will have to go downstairs, but L has to find some help with that since I can't. Then there's a rocker/recliner downstairs that needs to come upstairs to go into the baby's room that would also probably be easier if he has help too.

I signed up for doula services at the hospital. The way their program works is they will match me with an available doula, we'll have a meeting with her to make sure we get along, and assuming we do, that's who we'll stay in touch with until we call her to say I'm in labor. The program coordinator asked me a slew of questions to get an idea of what I'm like and which doula will probably be the best fit. I'm waiting for a call back from the coordinator with the meeting date & time.

L & I are halfway through our classes - we're taking a series of 4 childbirth prep and basic baby care courses, then a course on natural labor & one on breastfeeding. All we've done so far are the first three of the series, but we'll have the final three in 7 days - Tuesday the 26th (natural labor), Thursday the 28th (#4 of the series - on basic baby care), and Monday the 1st (breastfeeding). So far the classes have been great - the instructor has been fantastic. We'll have different instructors for the Tuesday & Monday classes, and I hope we get as good of an instructor in those two. So far we've covered labor, relaxation & comfort measures, and the medical side of childbirth (drugs & c-sections basically). And a tour of the maternity ward & a view of the rooms which are AMAZING. I'll have the same room for my entire stay - labor, delivery & recovery. They're very very nice & I've heard the setup at the other hospital we almost went to are nowhere near as good so I'm glad we went where we did.

We had another shower this past weekend - L's coworkers & friends. It was a couples shower & it ended up being a lot of fun. The hosts had a baseball them for it and I was very impressed with how they carried the theme through the entire event. The invitations were super cute and so was the "concession" stand with all the food. Now I'm just trying to get up the energy to write the thank you notes. Maybe I can convince L that he should write some too (or instead) since they're from his friends & coworkers...

Happy Birthday to Me

Is it tacky to say that on my own blog? Despite the risk, I'm going to do it.

Because yeah, it is. And it's been a nice one. It included this, so how could it not be? And that was after a steak dinner and receiving some beautiful flowers, so it's definitely been nice. And there were cupcakes at work!

Real blog entries coming again soon. I have been sooooooo tired lately that I come home & just collapse. Twittering even has been beyond me. I should start drafting entries during lunch because then I might actually get something posted.

(And Jennifer, hope this counts as enough of a post to knock the cake picture off the top of your screen. Sorry for tormenting you with it for so long!)

Cake From My Baby Shower!

Why yes, that is a smoking baby cake topper. And yes, it really smokes. Which is just so inappropriate it is wonderfully hilarious. Thanks Jennifer for coordinating the great party & for contributing your smoking baby to temporarily top the cake! And if anyone is insanely jealous and needs a smoking baby of their own - they're still available.

Sadly my beautiful necklace of red hot chili peppers is mostly hidden by the cake. I was going with the Tex-Mex fiesta theme. If they'd found a fiesta tiara at the party store I'm sure they would have had me in that instead of just the necklace.

Most importantly, the cake was delicious. Rich and chocolately and all together decadent.

Thankful Tuesday

• I won a giveaway from Carrie! I'm quite excited about receiving the book. I do have a thing about books.
  
  
• L is finally feeling better after the terrible cold he caught while we were on vacation. At first we joked that he had the flu that's making headlines, but after every other person who found out he was sick asked us if he had it, the joke got stale. No, just a cold.
  
  
• Dinner last night was delicious, and since the last couple of new recipes I've tried have been busts of varying degree, I was glad to find one we both liked. That it's cheap, easy, and healthy make it even better!
  
  
• I think a family situation that was looking like it could become an issue (sorry to be so vague, but just in case family were to stumble across the blog) is resolving itself nicely without me having to upset anyone when I put my foot down. Which I was going to have to do. Although prayers that work scheduling difficulties would completely remove this from even being a possibility would still be appreciated. Then work becomes the bad guy and not me. :)

Week Thirty-One

LOTS of comments this week from people finally realizing I'm pregnant. I think I've popped quite a bit over the past week or two. I do have a couple of picture that I may post if/when I get them cropped/blurred so I'm comfortable posting them.

No dizzy spells this week (unlike last), so either my emphasis on protein is helping or it was something else entirely that is no longer happening.

I'd say that maybe the nosebleeds have gotten better but I don't want to jinx myself again. The heartburn is definitely not better at all. Anything and everything seems to bring it on.

The physical therapy appointments do seem to be helping my back so that's a good thing. I've got two more appointments for each of the next two weeks and then he reevaluates me and sees if I need to continue seeing him, and if so, how frequently.

The baby either loves or hates me rocking. The chair that I sit in downstairs when I watch TV is a rocker/recliner, and I've noticed that if I rock in it, he starts kicking up a storm. It's kind of fun to get him going. :)

Friday was my shower at work. It was AWESOME. Great food and just a lot of fun. And some super-cute gifts! If I get really motivated I might post some pictures of some of the items we received. It just makes me that much more excited about him arriving so I can dress him in some of the adorable outfits.

I do seem to be slowing down again as far as my stamina - I thought perhaps I'd get some more energy back after resting up from our vacation, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I get super tired at night and when I need to go to bed, I need to go immediately. I'm also hitting a wall in the afternoon where I'm wondering if I should be trying for a brief nap or at least a lie-down.