Welcome, Water Baby!

On September 5th we welcomed our fourth child and third daughter: Jordynn Evangeline Marie…. This is her story:

Born @ 7:42PM
8lbs 6oz
19inches

For you GUYS who might be reading, here’s an abbreviated version:
 
True labor started around 9am Wednesday morning Sept 5th and 10.5 hours later we had a live baby at home. Yes, my husband missed the very first NFL game. No, he didn’t complain about it, albeit he glanced mournfully at the TV every 5 minutes. Just kidding. 



And for the LADIES:

1. Why a homebirth?

2. Jordynn's Story


Let me first answer a pressing question… why a homebirth? 

My previous two births were attended by terrific CNMs (certified nurse-midwives) who had hospital privileges. I had good experiences with them, however, Jadyn and MJ were both diagnosed with shoulder dystocia during labor. This uncommon issue can be an obstetrical emergency resulting in damage or even death to the infant in severe cases. Thankfully our issues were never so serious. That said, my CNM with MJ was a bit shaken by our birth experience and she encouraged us to induce or grow a smaller baby the next time around. Ha!

When I returned pregnant with Jordynn, I found I had a bit of a reputation in the CNM’s office for my shoulder dystocia experience. As the months went on I grew tired of their continued mention of it and their reluctance to let me have the hospital birth I wanted simply because I was a bit of a liability. Concurrently I read “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth,” a wonderful, albeit very crunchy, book written by one of the US’s most experienced midwives. Ina seemed unshaken by the urgency of shoulder dystocia which inspired me to do my own research about the issue.  I came away feeling strongly that my past births weren’t truly shoulder dystocia cases; the baby was simply not given time to rotate properly. Furthermore, all the safety the hospital afforded me in that situation was the possibility of a C-Section, in which event the baby is usually so stuck that the time required to prep for surgery can be too long. 

Armed with this info Matt and I confidently switched to a small home-birth midwifery practice in my eighth month.  Though so late in my pregnancy the midwives agreed with my evaluation that I most likely didn’t have dystocia issues and simply needed better support, direction and patience in labor... and they agreed to give it to me. Thus we fast-forward to September… 

Jordynn initiated her arrival in mid-August when my enemy/”friend” prodromal labor arrived. I fully anticipated a baby during week 39 and experienced contractions every day from 4pm-10pm starting around week 38. I was less than thrilled when no baby appeared days later. Ditto the following week.  Aaaaand ditto the following week. Seriously?! Me, past my due date?! Three weeks of prodromal crap?! Inconceivable!  

Me at 41 weeks

September 4th I started having stronger contractions in the morning – rather unusual from the prodromal pattern – and they continued all day at 3-5 minutes apart. I asked one of my midwives to come check the baby and she did a cervical check as well… no change. I was still 3cm and 60% as I had been for weeks. So after a Tylenol, a glass of wine and a good cry Matt and I went to bed. They stopped sometime in the night.

*Drumroll, please….*

Wednesday September 5th found me 41 weeks, 4 days preggo. And tired. And cranky. Thankfully I had a mother’s helper lined up for the morning and when she arrived I escaped upstairs to call one of my best friends. Then a *real* contraction hit. Finally! 

(Prodromal labor often leaves a laboring woman feeling so stupid when real labor starts. It’s rather retrospective in that sense… only in hindsight can you look back and say… “oh, yes, I WAS in labor”. However, there was no doubt in my mind that we finally reached a birth day. Yay!)

I didn’t time my contractions (I never do when they are the real thing since they are ALWAYS irregular. Whoever met a textbook laboring woman, anyway?) but they were intensifying so I called my midwives to cancel my office appointment and let them know I’d be needing them later. Once the kiddos were down for their naps my mom came over and we watched “Sense and Sensibility”. Contractions were now at the small land-mammal noise-making level. :-) Progress!

At 4pm… it was time to rid the house of small children. My parents graciously obliged and I finished the movie alone while waiting for the midwives to arrive. Matt busied himself by preparing our last minute items and tending to me when my primal noises approached the more mid-sized land-mammal level.

 -- Might I interject here how AWESOME it was not to have to prepare to head to the hospital! It was SO much more relaxed and comfortable at home. Using my own bathroom :-). No pressing thoughts of who else had been laboring on the toilet... --

My 3 midwives, Jill, Tanya and Alison arrived at 5pm. Two focused solely on me and my comfort while the other joined Matt in filling the birth tub in our living room. I still had no trouble working through these contractions; my biggest hurdle was the knowledge of what was coming and dreading… dreading… dreading. There is bliss in first-time birth. Not so much in subsequent ones.

Around 6pm I climbed in the tub and fell in love. I thought for sure I wouldn’t like it or would feel out of control working through contractions. Not so. Though the "pain" wasn't lessened for me, the weightlessness afforded more opportunities for movement without feeling like a beached whale. 

For the next half hour or so I floated through the “squeezes” and chatted about random topics. Matt was a huge comfort in the tub as he rubbed my back and the midwives helped me keep my voice low. I was encouraged to gauge my own labor progress (a very empowering thing) and finally close to 7pm I was starting to struggle with the intensity. 

--Enter aquatic-mammal noises and lots of whining.—

By this time my mind was chanting “no, no, no” while the rest said “oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.” I told the midwives I was feeling “pushy” and lo and behold the next contraction had a double peak… the first peak broke my water (a lovely and non-messy thing being in the tub!) and the second peak brought Jordynn completely down to crowning. It was so fast that she was very bruised afterward, poor thing.

The midwives helped me control my pushing more than I had with the previous three, which I both loved and loathed them for. During this time it was great to be floating in the water, leaning into Matt’s arms. Pushing in the water didn’t annoy me at all like I thought it would. I still felt very in control and as my contractions eased off I found I could relax much more than being in a hospital bed. And who couldn't with Enya playing in the background and my favorite candle burning nearby?

 After those few intense minutes of waiting, I delivered her head and breathed a sigh of relief. Jordynn had her cord wrapped firmly around her neck but it was still pulsing so the midwives decided to just let her be and summersault her out when the time came.

And now the moment of truth was here… would she be “stuck” like the other two had been? The midwives waited quietly and patiently, watching Jordynn’s color and asking me if I felt any further contractions. I didn’t. So we waited… and waited. For two entire minutes the midwives sat back and just let my body do its thing. It was wonderful. I was in no discomfort and thoroughly enjoyed the rest, floating in the warm water. Sloooowly Jordynn rotated as she was supposed to, but I had no further contractions. My senior midwife suggested I flip to my hands and knees to see if that would trigger a contraction. It was so easy to manipulate myself in the water and the very process of moving definitely kicked things back into gear. One push and out she came… with no shoulder issues whatsoever.

They left Jordynn floating in the water while I turned back around and sat down. I was able to pick her up out the water on my own and lay her on my chest. (‘Tis a very strange thing to see your new baby grayish-blue and floating face down in the water. I’m so glad I had watched numerous water birth videos to prepare me for that!) I rubbed her back and the midwives gave her a few pumps of air. Her first little cry was a pathetic one but within minutes she perked up and let us have it!
 

I climbed out of the tub minutes later and walked to the couch carrying our new child. I delivered the afterbirth there quite easily. Then the midwives excused themselves and Matt and I had a good hour just staring at her by ourselves. It was wonderful! Afterward I had a snack, went upstairs, took a shower, put on my own pajamas and cuddled up in bed while they did the newborn assessment. I felt terrific! I could never have hoped for a more peaceful and beautiful home birth experience.

 

 

Home birth is certainly not for everyone, but to those who are interested I would heartily encourage them to give it a try. My midwives were intuitive and confident in their work (much more than even the CNMs I’ve had in the past) and amazed me with their support and good humor. Moreover, they chose to encourage me in being confident in my body’s ability to do its thing, especially as we moved further past my due date, and in my own intuition. Jordynn showed no signs of being post-term and my placenta had no calcification either. Clearly, my worrying was for not.

Overall the homebirth and waterbirth experience was empowering and peaceful and I would do it again in the future. I loved avoiding the medical stresses of being "watched" in the hospital with the chaos that surrounds most moments at birth and finding comfort and deep peace in remaining at home. It truly reduced the birth experience to the natural, God-ordained physiological event that it is.That's not to say there isn't a place to medical intervention, but I'm a firm believer it should be the exception and not the norm. I hope this story encourages others to believe likewise.

Our new family of six!

All About Roo - Part Four

Well, here it is. Part four... and hopefully the last of the pregnancy pics. :-) I'm halfway through my 38th week and Morenna made her debut at 38 weeks and 6 days.

For those keeping tabs, that means she came early.

I like early.

Early is good.

For this score-keeping momma, that means Baby Roo should come soon... like, yesterday - right?

I am definitely ready to see and hold my little baby girl. Perhaps because I'm not facing the distraction of wrapping up my last week of work, like I was with Morenna at this time, the days seem to drag by. I'm antsy to see some forward progress. The signs are definitely there. I just want a date and a time.

Is that too much to ask? ;-)

My mom is finally here with us, my bags are packed, the baby clothes are washed and I'm about as rested as I'll ever be. Oh yeah, and my maternity clothes don't fit.

Momma at 38 weeks

The last of my baby preparations included making curtains for the changing table, which we moved out of the nursery and int our master bedroom. It was a great evening project that helped me pass the time, while feeling I was accomplishing something special for the baby.


We're ready, Baby Roo. Come on out to play!

All About Roo - Part Three

Time both crawls and flies, doesn't it? The month of October has just flown by for me, yet at the same time I'm really starting to wrestle with patience while awaiting Baby Roo's arrival.

I'm now 35 weeks along and should things progress as predicted (which they never do), we just might see this little one in about three weeks. I'm not really sure whether to expect her before, on, or after Thanksgiving. Should she arrive on the same timeline as her big sister we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in the Birthing Inn. :-) Good times.

Of course, she could be late. Something in my gut laughs at that possibility, but nevertheless I guess I shouldn't dismiss it. :-) To make sure it doesn't happen, though, I've taken the liberty of inviting a houseful of people over for the holiday. We had planning a huge feast for Easter when Morenna decided to come, so I figured a fully-planned feast (including a pre-ordered Turkey) and lots of guests would all but guarantee Baby Roo doesn't come late... but, um, right when predicted.

Anyway, my little sweetie certainly did well surviving through all the traveling and flights we just completed. Oddly enough my BH contractions all but ceased throughout the entire three-week trip... only to return within days of getting back. I'm not complaining, though.

I did have quite a bit of heartburn develop throughout the month, but that all changed last week when she suddenly dropped on me. I thought subsequent pregnancies meant no lightening until labor starts, but apparently I'm an exception (we all know there are no hard and fast rules in pregnancy anyway, right?).

I have been SO much more comfortable this past week, despite my many trips to the restroom. :-) No more heartburn - hurray! - and my breathing has returned to normal human levels. I'm thankful. Very thankful.

Momma at 33 weeks

All About Roo - Part Two

Ignorance is bliss, or so they say. Frankly, I'm inclined to believe there's a whole heck of a lot of truth in the statement. When I was pregnant with Morenna it seemed that my OB implied first-time mommas were the biggest worrywarts. Oh, contrare.

Perhaps it's the been-there-done-that factor that makes second pregnancies much more worrisome, at least for me. I compare every twitch, every movement, every ache and pain to what I experienced with Morenna. And when they aren't the same, I wonder what might be wrong. Sheesh.

On a non-hormonal note, everything in Baby Roo's world is in tip-top shape. :-) I'm cherishing these last two weeks of my second trimester (already nearly to my third! where did the time go?) and am attempting to harness my energy wisely. Sadly, I'm already noticing my stamina patterning that of our booming economy. (Yeah, about that...)

Thus far, Baby Roo has been MUCH more active than I ever remember Morenna being. Matt and I are quite entertained most nights watching her acrobatic skills shift my belly this way and that. In that regard, I'll be glad when her growth starts limiting movement a bit. Many. Sleepless. Nights.

Thankfully, I returned to the pregnancy chiropractor I used with Morenna and it's made a huge difference with the aches and pains of physical changes. The special table my doctor uses is designed for pregnant tummies, so it's definitely an added benefit to lay around on my stomach for at least five minutes each week. If the office isn't too busy, I shamelessly ask to lay around "for just five more minutes?".

On another note, Big Sister Morenna most likely doesn't understand why my lap has disappeared, but she has picked up on the fact that I rub my belly a lot. She'll prance around with hers stuck out like a little Budda, rubbing it and jabbering on about Baby GiGi, as she calls her.

(Oh my word, did I just drop a hint as to what baby's name might be? But definitely don't be thinking in the French Poodle department...).

Sonogram says...

"It's a girl!" :-)

Ok, so we actually discovered this fact a week ago, but I'm just now finding a few moments of computer time to post the pictures. Sorry for the delay! We are very much looking forward to meeting our new daughter... and perhaps a few days earlier than expected as my due date has been moved back two days. Enjoy the photos... I'm in love with the little hand shot at the top:

~

All About Roo

"Roo" is our nickname for the newest addition to our family. With that introduction, I figured it was time for a little pregnancy update. :-)

I'll be 18 weeks on Thursday. Roo has been a very active little one for the past couple of weeks, kicking around much earlier (or at least so I've noticed) than Morenna. Matt and I are anxiously counting down the days until our ultrasound when we hopefully discover the gender. He's hoping for a boy. I'm not quite sure what I'm hoping for... other than a healthy baby. Perhaps another girl?

My reasoning for a girl is really twofold: 1) to prove that my morning sickness severity with Morenna was simply that of a first-timer; 2) Morenna will have a close-in-age sister... something I always wished I had.

At any rate, this pregnancy has been so different from my first, with all the quirky pains and growth coming in a much earlier time-frame. I heard you "pop" sooner with subsequent children... but I was in maternity clothes by week 9. A bit of a surprise to me.

Food and I aren't the best of friends, though I'm definitely past the queasy stage. My cravings (if you could call them that) have mainly consisted of fruit (peaches, especially), water, Greek salad (strange!) and the occasional pickle. My aversions have been quite the opposite of my pregnancy with Morenna and include beef and sugar... especially ice cream. :-( So sad. On a positive note, though, I'm back up to my pre-pregnancy weight as of last week.

I'm using a local midwifery practice this time around, and so far I love them. I do not love the insurance headache caused by my choice... or that we decided on an HMO policy when Matt switched jobs. That was a dumb idea.

Last visit, Roo chimed in with a strong little heart rate of 150. Ah, I could never grow tired of listening to that chugga-chugga-chugga sound.

Momma at 17 weeks

Being Mommy

Have you wondered where I've been? I've missed posting the happenings around here... but time at my computer has been largely limited lately.

My friend Kelly opened a blogging door for me today, hence my reason for breaking the silence. While it isn't a lack of items to blog about that's been prohibiting my writing, it has been a lack of creativity - a difficulty in eloquent wording - that's also to blame. Her timing in tagging me for this "mommy" post couldn't be better... I needed it.

What I Love About Being Mommy:

1. Fresh views - I love watching Morenna develop in a new way each and every day. She reminds me of a flower, a slow opening bud, that discovers something new about the world each day and is absolutely elated about what she learns. I feel like a kid again myself... and she's only a year old! There is just so much to discover!

2. Innocence, trust, desire. I love witnessing true innocence in Morenna. She fears little and trusts her daddy and I wholeheartedly. What a great example of how we should feel as children of God! It warms my heart to observe her following me so absolutely; scary - yes, but beautiful at the same time. There is also nothing like the feeling that comes when you find how desirable you are to your little one. When Morenna reaches for me, snuggles with me, clings to me... it's me she wants. No one else treats me quite that way. I tear up when I think about that.

3. Family. It amazes me at times the new depth that motherhood has brought to my marriage. Not only am I mom, but the love-of-my-life is dad! Weird! Together we have been blessed with one huge responsibility... and we have to be a team. I also see my husband in a whole new light as the leader of not just our marriage, but our family. My respect for him has definitely grown. He is now more selfless than ever, more gentle than ever, more humble than ever.

4. Similarity. How fascinating to witness various aspects of your character or personality in your little one. I love watching Morenna to see traits of her dad or I pop through. It can be a bit scary at times, but I love it. She is so much like us... but yet so distinctly different, too.

5. Dependability. Perhaps the most sobering aspect of motherhood to me is how much my children depend on me. I love this and fear it at the same time. It matters not if you have days of not wanting to be "mommy". You are mommy... day in and day out. Human lives grow and (by God's grace to us mothers!) thrive because of us. I'm seeing this all too clearly right now as I care for my two children. Yes. Two. Surprised? As I eluted to above, I haven't been in front of my computer much these days... mostly because I've spent it before the porcelain goddess most of us mothers are familiar with. As I've struggled lately with how to care for Morenna, care for my household, and manage sickness at the same time (scraping by with the first, failing at the second, succeeding at the third :-)) I'm very much aware of why I love the dependability in motherhood so much: it draws me to the Lord.

Nowhere in my life do I feel more inadequate that I do in motherhood. As consequence, nowhere in my life do I turn to God more as I do in motherhood. And that's a good thing.

So thanks, Kelly, for allowing me the opportunity to share the good news of our blossoming family. You unknowingly helped me with the words (and helped me find the joy in the current season I'm in). :-)

Our new little one, who we're temporarily naming "Roo", will hopefully arrive the end of November, beginning of December. A new adventure awaits! I'd particularly appreciate your prayers as I attempt to make it through this first-trimester morning sickness. It wasn't so pleasant with Morenna... and it appears no different this time around. But God has lessons for me in it all, I just need to listen.

Two weeks

Our sweet baby girl was two weeks old yesterday. As I was reflecting at an early AM feeding just how much Morenna has changed, it occurred to me that I had yet to post the story of her arrival. I'm still adjusting to the lack of sleep and overall physical recovery, hence the delay... but without further ado (and I apologize for the length):

Thursday March 17th marked my last official day in the office. I had cleaned out my desk, said my goodbyes, trained my replacement and turned in my security badge. Needless to say, Friday morning I was more than anxious to begin the transition to motherhood. I was still battling my third sinus infection of the season, but my Mom was home with me and so we decided to try our luck at inducing labor with a really... really... long walk. I promptly took a nap when we got home and to my surprise, contractions started about an hour and a half later. They were regular... a bit too regular in fact, coming every five minutes right from the get-go. But despite the frequency they were very manageable, so we waited all evening with baited breath for them to increase in intensity. Unfortunately the night passed by and Saturday morning found me wondering whether this was really it or not. As the morning progressed contractions became irregular, some at 5 minutes, some at 8 or more - all completely manageable. So, M and I decided to take another walk followed by a nap. (See a pattern here? :-) ).

Saturday evening one of M's friends came over and we all played a game. Still irregular, my contractions suddenly started getting a bit more intense around 8:30pm. They continued to get stronger, but failed to become consistent. 5 min... 7 min... 3 min...

By 1am I was starting to get thoroughly discouraged. Anyone who knows me knows I hate being up all night, and although my contractions were very strong, they were still all over the map. My OB's words echoed through my head all night long... "call me only when your contractions are 5 minutes apart for one hour and you can't talk through them." I certainly couldn't talk through them, but they certainly weren't consistently 5 minutes apart. We kept waiting anxiously for them to become more regular. Boy, were we in for a surprise.

Around 6:30am the contractions made a drastic change. They started coming every 2-3 minutes apart and were so severe that I was getting sick with each one. At my wits end, I told my mom to call the doctor. Unfortunately my OB was at Disney World for the Easter weekend so I spoke with her replacement who told me I was welcome to come to the Birthing Inn to get checked, but they would likely send me back home. What a great thing to say to a weary laboring woman.

M and my Mom packed up the car and ate a quick breakfast. An hour later, we were on our way. I don't remember much about the trip other than my constant worry about how I was going to walk from the backseat of the car into the hospital. My contractions were so intense I didn't even realize I was pushing through them... until my Mom started hollering at me to stop pushing and start breathing. I think that was the first time in years I ever blatantly disobeyed her. ;-)

Somehow I made it into the Birthing Inn where a nurse ushered us into an observation room. While changing into a gown, my water broke... and I was thrilled. I knew now they wouldn't send me home. :-) The doctor came in shortly thereafter to discover me on all fours on the bed. Moments later, she announced that I was actually at 10 cm and the baby was already +2! I was so relieved. Nurses immediately came from all directions, shooing M and my mom aside so that they could wheel me down the hall into a labor room. It all happened so fast. In retrospect, it reminded me of something out of an ER episode. Drama, drama, drama. Thirty-five minutes of pushing later, our little girl was born.

While it certainly was no easy task, its amazing to all of us that labor, including transition, ended up being completely at home. I'm just glad I didn't have the baby in the car. :-) M and my Mom were fantastic coaches and I couldn't have pursued a natural, unmedicated birth without them. However, if there ever is a future baby expected I think we'll be a little wiser in our timing in heading to the hospital. But for this experience, ignorance was bliss. I guess. :-)

The Long and Short of It...

Today marks the two-week point in the countdown to my due date.

And the long and short of it is:

My bags are packed.
The nursery is ready.
My resignation paperwork is complete.
Matt's bag of snacks is waiting by the door. (Like a true man he insisted I buy beef jerky for his snack. I think he thinks a stay at the hospital is comparable to roughing it).
The carseat is clean and installed.
My mom is packed and ready for departure.
There is food in the house.
There are clear liquids in the house.
My big purple ball is fully inflated.

But on the flip side:

I'm soooo tired.
I'm fighting a cold.
I feel miserable.
I can't sleep.
I'm getting impatient.
I'm suddenly emotional! (A phenomenon that has been MIA for the past nine months.)
I'm a grouch.

In medical terms:

I'm ready to have a baby. Let's get this show on the road!

The pregnancy diet...

As my sweet husband said to me: "You have arrived, my dear wife". What he meant was that I have pulled up a kingly chair at the pregnancy table.

Since M was at law school tonight, I was pretty much on my own for dinner... and so I ate what sounded good, not what was healthy. In retrospect, I binged. This was the menu:

• Hostess chocolate mini-doughnuts
• Pickles
• Strawberries
• Eggo waffles... and
• two glasses of milk

Yes, I ate all of this at the same time. Yes, it was delicious. Yes, I'm pregnant. Yes, I'm a little embarrassed as I realize I'm confessing it to the world.

The One Month Countdown

My pregnancy road is rapidly nearing the end. Today marked the beginning of my last month... should Morenna come neither early nor late, but on her due date. Highly unlikely. :-)

But with this one month countdown comes the urgent reminder of all that I have left to do to get ready. Here's the list as it currently stands:

• Pick a pediatrician
  
• Wash all the new baby clothes
• Finish decorating the nursery - low priority (pictures in the post below, if you haven't seen them)
• Write thank-you notes for all the sweet baby items
• Pack the diaper bag
• Stock the changing table (diapers - check; soap - check; need: wipes, etc.)
  
• Pack my hospital bag
• Complete the childbirth education class
• Freeze up some meals
  
• Train my replacement at work and submit employment paperwork
• Sleep, sleep, sleep!!!

Will all these things get done? Probably not. But I sure am gonna try... especially with the last one. :-)

Forgetfulness

It's certainly not my intention to post only about pregnancy or baby-related items. But what's a girl to do when most of the obscure blogworthy things that take place in her day-to-day life seem to somehow be connected to one of those two topics?

It's only fair that I share about the forgetfulness that has become a common theme in life. (Read: Baby-Brain). It is most definitely a real problem. Take today, for example: as a co-host of a baby shower, I kindly pointed my guests in the direction of the coffee pot and encouraged them to have a cup with their dessert. Several minutes later, one concerned guest brought her cup of murky, but fairly clear, water to me for review. It certainly wasn't coffee. No, the coffee grinds were still sitting in the grinder, next to the coffee pot. What we had was one big pot of hot, light tan, water. Brilliant.

And if that wasn't bad enough, several weeks ago I calmly asked a friend if I knew any of his family members. After staring at me a good long while (I'm sure he thought I was joking), he politely replied, "Yes, you actually were my brother's debate partner for a semester." Oh. my. gosh.

Add to that the numerous times I forget to turn the lights out when I leave a room, or the frequent times I find myself in the basement and can't remember what I went down there for. If this keeps up I hope I don't start forgetting important things like, oh, where I put the baby.

On Hiccups and Slowness

The snow is slowly melting... and the nursery is slowly coming together. My wedding "thank-you" list is slowly nearing completion and every morning finds me sloooowly getting out of bed. I certainly welcome the slow pace these days, and find that I'm much less forgetful if I am slow to move from one task to the other.

Morenna, on the other hand, is anything but slow. Within the last month she has developed a habit of having the hiccups at least once a day. This has been a really unique experience for me. I knew to expect them at some point or another, but this every day stuff is getting a bit much. :-) If I sound like I'm complaining, I am... sort of.

At a recent Drs. visit Morenna was identified as being head down and ready to go. Every mother's dream, right? It's true I'm happy about that fact (although we still have 9 more weeks to go). But every time Morenna has the hiccups, she head-butts my bladder (more than you wanted to know, right?). The scene typically looks like this:

hiccup... bladder spasm... 3 seconds of peace...

hiccup... bladder spasm... Mom wonders if she should visit the restroom... Mom dismisses that thought... 3 seconds of peace...

hiccup... spasm... Mom stands up... Mom sits down... 3 seconds of peace...

hiccup... Mom dashes to the bathroom...

baby's hiccups stop.

Cute, Morenna. I guess that's one way to get me to do a little workout.

News in our House

Well, things here on the East Coast have been nothing less but hectic over the last month. As we moved past Thanksgiving and ushered in the Christmas season, our little household hit some rough times.

M's work contract at the Pentagon kicked into high gear the beginning of December, requiring him to work 15 hour days, including weekends. At the same time, my father-in-law came for a long-awaited visit. Needless to say, my father-in-law and I had a nice loooong visit together... absent my husband. Very interesting. Then Matt's old college roommate came to visit us with his 2 year old son. Again, Matt got to spent very little time with him. Major bummer.

For Christmas we were grateful to head to Ohio for a visit with my family and a chance to pull Matt away from work. The visit was nice, but very busy. Unfortunately I came down with a really bad cold on Christmas day and spent some of the day in bed. :-P

After a quick two-day time back in VA we were happy to fly out to California to spend New Years with M's family. This was a much needed visit, since we hadn't seen some of his family since the wedding in March, and others since last new year. We squeezed a lot of visiting in with the time we had, which unfortunately left us rather drained. New Years we spent in Fresno with my mother-in-law's family eating home-cooked crab, watching Ratattoui and playing Mexican Train. It was lovely.

In other news, here is my most recent "belly" pic:

Pregnancy has certainly not been a breeze, but it's fun to look back and see how far we've come. My second trimester has now come and gone and I must say it was certainly more enjoyable than the first. The aches and pains are there at times, but M has been so supportive and any bad times quickly pass.

Our baby girl is growing like a weed and we are getting so excited to welcome her into our little family. Last week I got to have a second ultrasound, since the technician apparently made some mistakes with the first. This second "viewing" of our little cherry blossom was so much more fun than the first. She was quite animated, yawning all over the place and smiling. I think my favorite part was getting a picture of the little foot that has been vainly attempting to push itself through my side. :-) You can see the picture of it, below.



Morenna weighed in at approx. 2 lbs and 9 oz and was about 14 inches long. Whew. I sure hope she finds the room she needs in there over the next 2-3 months, because I honestly don't know how she's going to fit. :-)

So anyway, that's the news from our little neck of the woods. I'm looking forward to posting more this new year and keeping everyone up-to-date on our lives.

It's a baby, stupid

Throughout the last few weeks, I've found my pregnant self oddly annoyed by the simple, kindhearted question anxiously posed by friends and strangers alike: "So, do you know what you're having?"

I have to wrestle back the urge to reply: "Ahhh...a baby, I hope."

But sarcasm aside, we finally have a real answer for all of you: "Yes...



... we're expecting a beautiful baby girl."


And in other news, my due date was moved up... so we'll get to see our little Spring cherry blossom a bit earlier than originally expected. :-)

Death by Molasses

So today I discovered a random bit of American history that I previously knew nothing about.

It all started with a personal phone call I received from my OB today, announcing my blood test results were anemic. Fantastic. So like the good patient I desire to be, I immediately hopped online to discover what high-iron foods I haven't been eating. To my surprise, blackstrap molasses was listed as one of the highest forms of natural iron available. Molasses?

After pilphering through my kitchen cabinets I was excited to unearth a whole jar of blackstrap molasses (random, I know. Who knows what else might be in my cabinets). Sure enough, one tablespoon = 70% iron! Whoo hoo... an iron source that's half sugar! Ha Ha. But anyway, I digress.

So as I'm surfing the web for bits of molasses info, I come across a mention of the Great Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919. Thinking it was probably some funny tidbit of history, I clicked through the story and was agast to find out what a devistating tragedy it really was!

More than 2 million gallons of fermented molasses spilled onto the streets of Boston in a wave over 10 feet tall, moving about 35 miles per hour. Mor than 20 were killed and more than 150 were injured, not to mention the economic repercussion and a harbor that was brown with goo for months. Yuck!

"Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage. Here and there struggled a form — whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was.... Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly-paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings — men and women — suffered likewise."

So tell me, did you know about this bit of history? I certainly found it very facinating and wondered why I had never heard about it before.

Of Cleaning and Clumsiness

For better or worse I've been in a cleaning and straightening mood. Absolutely everything I've laid my eyes on recently has need dusted or organized, vacuumed or polished. And that went for my blog, too. So my loving husband spent part of his weekend helping me redo the HTML coding on my blog to get it the way I wanted it. What a guy!

But it's probably a good thing that I'm in this cleaning mood because I'm afraid I've been making a lot of messes lately. Don't shoot me, but yes, I think it has to be pregnancy-relatd. I never was this clumsy before. Two weeks ago I spilled my berry frozen fruit drink (yes, as in BLUEberry, BLACKberry, RED rasberry) all over our beige suede couch. Thank God that Oxi-Clean came to the rescue. Then last week it was sugary ORANGE juice that I spilled (as in literally dumped the whole thing over with my hand) all over our new turkish rug, which a friend had brought back from Iraq for us. Brilliant. Oxi-Clean to the rescue again. So you can see why it's probably a good thing I'm in a "cleaning" mood. Who knows what I'll attempt to destroy next.

In other news, Fall decided to make a laughing-stock out of my previous emotion-filled post announcing his arrival. It's been 93F today and hot as the dickens. All that wonderful canned pumpkin that my husband bought to fulfill my autumn cooking drive is now just sitting in the cupboard waiting for a rainy (or colder) day. I'm not bitter.

I AM bitter at the nurse who took all my blood today at the doctor's office. How nice of her to assure me ahead of time that my body wouldn't need it anyway. I still think it's bogus that my body "didn't really need" the 6 LARGE viles that she extracted. I wanted so badly to ask if all the bloodwork was really necessary, but everytime I broached the subject I got that evil eye... you know, the one that says "this isn't about you, it's about your unborn child... and you wouldn't put it's health in jeopardy now would you?" I hate that look.

But Baby S. has certainly benefitted from the physical abuse I've survived the last couple of months. It's little heart measured in today at 160 beats - right on target. I must say I really enjoyed hearing it this time since previously I was too sick to care. So far we're on track to have a healthy happy little one! But for now, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet at home...

And for those of you who we've neglected for the past bazillion weeks, please know we hope to resume our regularly scheduled social calendar very soon. :-)

Taken Captive...

For whatever the crime (:cough: :cough:)... I'm doing the time. Yes, it's true. Joining millions of women everywhere, I'm stepping up and paying my dues. "What dues," you ask? Well, see if any of these give it away...

1. For 5 weeks now you've been unable to play the deadly game of Survivor... of commuter traffic, that is. In fact, you probably haven't been behind the wheel in over 6 weeks. You've been nominated for an award by the Environmental Defense Fund for the amount of gas you've saved by never leaving your house.

2. Your new dieting plan is so successful it's scary. Eat what you can... throw it up later. Simple. Concise. (Feel free to ask about the follow-up plan, "How to Gain Weight on an Empty Stomach". It's a best-seller.)

3. You're able to have emotional breakdowns at the drop of a dime and no one asks any questions. The more you do this, the more bouquets of flowers you receive.

4. You visit the doctor because you're pretty sure you're dying. Doctor says, "the heart rate is 174. You both seem to be in perfect shape, why are you here?" You shoot a nasty glare her direction and then proceed to crawl out of her office on your hands and knees. She smiles and wishes you well.

5. You're in fierce competition with your Grandfather over who is taking the most prescription medications to stay alive. So far you've lost count. Let's see, there's the one to keep you from throwing up, the one to calm your stomach once you have thrown up, the one that replenishes the lost nutrients from throwing up, the one to manage the migraine that arrives from continuously throwing up.... and others you care not to share. Total: 173

I think that's enough that you get the point.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but it is the Lord who determines his steps..." ~ Proverbs 16:9

It's a no-brainer that M and I's "course" will be much different than originally planned. Human calculations predict Baby S may appear around 3.31.08. But in the end, who really knows what the adventure will look like. So far, it's been absolutely loads of fun.