Really, I am pregnant. We really are going to have a baby. Soon. Really.
I suspect that Calla's going to start thinking I've just made up all this baby nonsense. We started saying "soon" about two weeks ago, which to a two-year-old is the equivalent of the olden days. So, so long ago.
And so while I suspect you all have much bigger and more exciting things to think about these days (like - remembering to start thawing that frozen turkey or why you didn't get your Christmas lights up last weekend when the weather was so nice), I did want to post this quick update.
Status: Still here. Still pregnant.
Baby has until Friday evening to get her act in gear, or we'll start the process of gently evicting her from her nest.
Now you can go back to thinking about your turkey. To brine or not to brine....
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Nope, not yet.
"No, no baby yet" has become my standard greeting on the phone to friends and family.
We're here, still waiting, and while growing in impatience each day, I'm still mostly OK with Baby taking her time. After all, my due date is just Monday, so she's not even late yet. I'm feeling fine, and may even be experiencing a little bit of an energy surge that I've read about (wait, is that a sign of pre-labor, or pre-pre-labor?).
I've decided that my labor-by-design plan would be to start contractions at home in the wee hours of the morning next Wednesday. At a reasonable hour, we calmly call Joe's sister Jeri in Kentucky to let her know that we may not be at home when she and Josh arrive in the afternoon as planned. Then, we take Calla to her regularly scheduled day care, and on the way back, stop by the hospital. Baby is born sometime that afternoon, leaving Joe enough time to make it home for Calla's bedtime before rejoining me in the hospital to stare adoringly at our new baby.
Sounds good, right? Just not sure how to get that plan across to the little girl who's actually in charge of the plan's implementation.
And speaking of little bossy girls... a follow-up to my last post. This morning, Joe suggested to Calla that Mama start up the CD with her favorite song on it. Calla looks seriously at him and then at me, and back to Joe again. "You do it, Daddy. Mama will cry. And then she'll break it."
She can't remember that 13 follows 12, but she clearly recalls my legacy of crying over a jammed CD player. Good times.
Here's to more family memories in the making...
We're here, still waiting, and while growing in impatience each day, I'm still mostly OK with Baby taking her time. After all, my due date is just Monday, so she's not even late yet. I'm feeling fine, and may even be experiencing a little bit of an energy surge that I've read about (wait, is that a sign of pre-labor, or pre-pre-labor?).
I've decided that my labor-by-design plan would be to start contractions at home in the wee hours of the morning next Wednesday. At a reasonable hour, we calmly call Joe's sister Jeri in Kentucky to let her know that we may not be at home when she and Josh arrive in the afternoon as planned. Then, we take Calla to her regularly scheduled day care, and on the way back, stop by the hospital. Baby is born sometime that afternoon, leaving Joe enough time to make it home for Calla's bedtime before rejoining me in the hospital to stare adoringly at our new baby.
Sounds good, right? Just not sure how to get that plan across to the little girl who's actually in charge of the plan's implementation.
And speaking of little bossy girls... a follow-up to my last post. This morning, Joe suggested to Calla that Mama start up the CD with her favorite song on it. Calla looks seriously at him and then at me, and back to Joe again. "You do it, Daddy. Mama will cry. And then she'll break it."
She can't remember that 13 follows 12, but she clearly recalls my legacy of crying over a jammed CD player. Good times.
Here's to more family memories in the making...
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Crazy Pregnant Lady
Still pregnant here, just in case you got excited about a new post.
It's probably worth mentioning, for posterity's sake if nothing else, that this has really been a relatively easy pregnancy for me. OK, the first 15 weeks were fairly miserable, but this time I knew I'd survive. And while pre-eclampsia the first time around put me at a higher risk for it again, there's been so sign so far. Which is not to say that I haven't worried a lot about everything, particularly since the ripe old age of 37 puts me firmly in the "advanced maternal age" category.
In fact, the only thing to materialize that's at all out of the ordinary is really relatively mild. Unless you're me. In the last three weeks, I've developed a "pregnancy tumor" on my lower lip. Completely harmless to baby and to me, except for wounding my vanity. I had one with Calla, although it was relatively subtle and demure, and it went away after she was born. Lucky me, it then came back a while later, slightly less demure and more angry, but a visit to a dermatologist neatly took care of it for good.
Until three weeks ago, when it came back with a vengeance. It started off nice enough, so I didn't feel like a freak of nature in Jess and Ben's wedding pictures. But once the wedding pictures were done, the gloves came off, apparently. It's gone from pea-sized to chick-pea-sized now... and showing no signs of letting up until the baby arrives. My dermatology appointment is already scheduled for post-baby, but if I could figure out a way to get the dermatologist to meet me in the labor and delivery recover room, you can believe I would.
Of course, on top of that all, I'm now approximately 13 months pregnant, getting more uncomfortable by the day. So let's just say, I'm a little on the sensitive side, emotionally speaking. Joe might have different words to describe my moods, but he's smart enough not to express them out loud in my presence.
Anyway. Last night after dinner, Calla started singing a song from our music class. I don't know it well enough, so I wanted to play the CD so we could all sing along. Simple enough plan, except I apparently loaded that CD into the same slot with another CD. Seems to me you shouldn't be able to do that so easily. So, while Joe's grumbling about the CD player being jammed, Calla's jumping and singing and being a rambunctious two-year-old, and Chloe's running around whining and barking. And I'm getting angry and angrier at whomever designed a CD player that so easily allowed one to load two CDs into one slot.
And, by the way, did I mention I'm 13 months pregnant with a fleshy garbanzo bean hanging off my lip?
So, I broke. "I've had it," I yelled. And then promptly broke into tears. Because that's what you do when you're 13 months pregnant.
Joe hugged me (because that's what you do when you have a crazy pregnant wife) and I sat down and breathed. And then the CD player started working again and Chloe got fed and Calla got to sing her song and we all sang and jumped along with her. And all was fine.
Later, as I was putting Calla to sleep, she remembered the incident.
"Mama, you upset?" Yes, I was upset, but I'm happy now.
"You have a rough day?" Well, I guess so.
"I think you have a rough day."
And that was that. Until this morning in the car, rushing as usual to library story time.
"Mama, you cry last night?" Yes, yes, I did. But I'm fine now.
She cocks her head and looks seriously at me. "You cry last night. I think you miss your daddy."
It's no secret that I can get a little anxious about how we'll manage the crazy rhythms of newborn life with the demands and energies of our spunky two-year-old. But then there are those precious moment of grace when I think, OK, maybe it won't be so bad.
And maybe, just maybe, it might even be a little fun.
It's probably worth mentioning, for posterity's sake if nothing else, that this has really been a relatively easy pregnancy for me. OK, the first 15 weeks were fairly miserable, but this time I knew I'd survive. And while pre-eclampsia the first time around put me at a higher risk for it again, there's been so sign so far. Which is not to say that I haven't worried a lot about everything, particularly since the ripe old age of 37 puts me firmly in the "advanced maternal age" category.
In fact, the only thing to materialize that's at all out of the ordinary is really relatively mild. Unless you're me. In the last three weeks, I've developed a "pregnancy tumor" on my lower lip. Completely harmless to baby and to me, except for wounding my vanity. I had one with Calla, although it was relatively subtle and demure, and it went away after she was born. Lucky me, it then came back a while later, slightly less demure and more angry, but a visit to a dermatologist neatly took care of it for good.
Until three weeks ago, when it came back with a vengeance. It started off nice enough, so I didn't feel like a freak of nature in Jess and Ben's wedding pictures. But once the wedding pictures were done, the gloves came off, apparently. It's gone from pea-sized to chick-pea-sized now... and showing no signs of letting up until the baby arrives. My dermatology appointment is already scheduled for post-baby, but if I could figure out a way to get the dermatologist to meet me in the labor and delivery recover room, you can believe I would.
Of course, on top of that all, I'm now approximately 13 months pregnant, getting more uncomfortable by the day. So let's just say, I'm a little on the sensitive side, emotionally speaking. Joe might have different words to describe my moods, but he's smart enough not to express them out loud in my presence.
Anyway. Last night after dinner, Calla started singing a song from our music class. I don't know it well enough, so I wanted to play the CD so we could all sing along. Simple enough plan, except I apparently loaded that CD into the same slot with another CD. Seems to me you shouldn't be able to do that so easily. So, while Joe's grumbling about the CD player being jammed, Calla's jumping and singing and being a rambunctious two-year-old, and Chloe's running around whining and barking. And I'm getting angry and angrier at whomever designed a CD player that so easily allowed one to load two CDs into one slot.
And, by the way, did I mention I'm 13 months pregnant with a fleshy garbanzo bean hanging off my lip?
So, I broke. "I've had it," I yelled. And then promptly broke into tears. Because that's what you do when you're 13 months pregnant.
Joe hugged me (because that's what you do when you have a crazy pregnant wife) and I sat down and breathed. And then the CD player started working again and Chloe got fed and Calla got to sing her song and we all sang and jumped along with her. And all was fine.
Later, as I was putting Calla to sleep, she remembered the incident.
"Mama, you upset?" Yes, I was upset, but I'm happy now.
"You have a rough day?" Well, I guess so.
"I think you have a rough day."
And that was that. Until this morning in the car, rushing as usual to library story time.
"Mama, you cry last night?" Yes, yes, I did. But I'm fine now.
She cocks her head and looks seriously at me. "You cry last night. I think you miss your daddy."
It's no secret that I can get a little anxious about how we'll manage the crazy rhythms of newborn life with the demands and energies of our spunky two-year-old. But then there are those precious moment of grace when I think, OK, maybe it won't be so bad.
And maybe, just maybe, it might even be a little fun.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Oh dear...
...And we were doing so well at this blog thing. Now we've gone and neglected it, dear readers, and it's likely you, like our hummingbirds, have already migrated to some other family blog. Well OK, the hummingbirds may have migrated to another feeder since we neglected that too, but you get my point.
I'll admit I was suffering from the "there's just too much to write so I'll do it tomorrow" procrastination. Joe's trip to Chicago, our trip to Wisconsin, then back to Chicago for Jess and Ben's wedding (so lovely!), then my parents' visit to our home for 5 days. Then Halloween, and then just daily fun and mayhem mixed in between all that. To compensate, I'll throw a few pictures your way...
Calla's party dress for the wedding. It's still hanging in her closet, and she occasionally asks to wear it. I don't know what other occasion we'll have to wear it before she gets too big, so on some random Thursday, I may just have to acquiesce.
Calla at the wedding rehearsal, but it's really emblematic of a pose she struck several times during the week-and-a-half of family fun. She'd run and run and run.... and then collapse. Once, falling asleep during her pre-bedtime diaper change, and then another time, literally falling asleep at the dinner table. Family - gotta love 'em, but sometimes, they can be exhausting, you know?
It was a simply lovely wedding, and fabulous to spend time with so many different parts of our family. Calla and cousin Julia hit it off immediately, once again. It will be fun to watch these two become better cousin-friends as they get older.
Since all the excitement, however, we've gone back to daily life, made all the more exciting by an increasingly independent and spirited two-year-old. So now for a few random anecdotes...
Dinner one night last week was pork tenderloin, made by Joe and the slow cooker. Upon seeing the shredded pork ready for her eating, Calla exclaimed "Hello, chicken! What you doing on my plate?" And then proceeded to eat it up. Perhaps you have to be her parents to find that as funny as we did.
"I need to do it!" is an oft-repeated phrase. While I value her independence and know this is a crucial developmental stage, in practice, it can be tiring and time-consuming. Getting dressed, brushing teeth, pouring cereal, getting into the car seat all take three times as long now and I never quite budget my morning schedule well enough to allow for all the "I can do it!" moments.
On the other hand, I am so pleased to report that she is no longer deathly afraid of her little potty. On the contrary, this now figures prominently into an extensive"I need to do it" routine. Typical hygiene process: Announces she needs to use the potty and heads upstairs, regardless if anyone actually heard the announcement. Pulls herself on to the upstairs toilet to turn on the bathroom light. Gets down, pulls down her pants and takes off her own diaper. Hands wet diaper off to mom, or leaves sitting out in some prominent place if mom is not around. Sits on the potty for about 1.5 seconds, producing no output. Stands up, uses way too much toilet paper to wipe down the potty she didn't just use. Flushes paper in toilet, then rechecks to make sure it worked. At this point, pants are around her ankles, no diaper. Uses potty as step stool to begin tooth brushing process, for some reason. Then washes hands.
If no parent was around by this point, we're usually alerted to her routine by the loud, flood-stage water coming from upstairs. Cue fight with Mom about need to put on a new diaper. Cue fight with Mom about need to turn off water in sink. Then Mom thoughtlessly turns off bathroom light on her own, triggering a third tantrum. Repeat an hour later when diaper is wet again.
So all in all, typical two-year-old stuff. Calla's getting increasingly interested in this new baby we keep talking about, still occasionally referencing the baby in her tummy and the baby in daddy's tummy in addition to the one occupying a prominent place in my belly. She's agreed that the baby can sleep in her old crib, we've covered what little babies eat when they're hungry ("special milk") and have now moved on to what we can sing to the baby when we hold her.
Even with all that discussion, I'm sure Calla has no idea what's in store. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure I do either. Regardless, Baby Girl is on her way in about two weeks, more or less. I'd like to commit to another blog post before then, but let's be honest- our recent track record on updates isn't exactly promising. So, we'll post the news here, but likely not much before then.
Stay tuned... more excitement to come!
I'll admit I was suffering from the "there's just too much to write so I'll do it tomorrow" procrastination. Joe's trip to Chicago, our trip to Wisconsin, then back to Chicago for Jess and Ben's wedding (so lovely!), then my parents' visit to our home for 5 days. Then Halloween, and then just daily fun and mayhem mixed in between all that. To compensate, I'll throw a few pictures your way...
Calla's party dress for the wedding. It's still hanging in her closet, and she occasionally asks to wear it. I don't know what other occasion we'll have to wear it before she gets too big, so on some random Thursday, I may just have to acquiesce.Calla at the wedding rehearsal, but it's really emblematic of a pose she struck several times during the week-and-a-half of family fun. She'd run and run and run.... and then collapse. Once, falling asleep during her pre-bedtime diaper change, and then another time, literally falling asleep at the dinner table. Family - gotta love 'em, but sometimes, they can be exhausting, you know?It was a simply lovely wedding, and fabulous to spend time with so many different parts of our family. Calla and cousin Julia hit it off immediately, once again. It will be fun to watch these two become better cousin-friends as they get older.
Since all the excitement, however, we've gone back to daily life, made all the more exciting by an increasingly independent and spirited two-year-old. So now for a few random anecdotes...
Dinner one night last week was pork tenderloin, made by Joe and the slow cooker. Upon seeing the shredded pork ready for her eating, Calla exclaimed "Hello, chicken! What you doing on my plate?" And then proceeded to eat it up. Perhaps you have to be her parents to find that as funny as we did.
"I need to do it!" is an oft-repeated phrase. While I value her independence and know this is a crucial developmental stage, in practice, it can be tiring and time-consuming. Getting dressed, brushing teeth, pouring cereal, getting into the car seat all take three times as long now and I never quite budget my morning schedule well enough to allow for all the "I can do it!" moments.
On the other hand, I am so pleased to report that she is no longer deathly afraid of her little potty. On the contrary, this now figures prominently into an extensive"I need to do it" routine. Typical hygiene process: Announces she needs to use the potty and heads upstairs, regardless if anyone actually heard the announcement. Pulls herself on to the upstairs toilet to turn on the bathroom light. Gets down, pulls down her pants and takes off her own diaper. Hands wet diaper off to mom, or leaves sitting out in some prominent place if mom is not around. Sits on the potty for about 1.5 seconds, producing no output. Stands up, uses way too much toilet paper to wipe down the potty she didn't just use. Flushes paper in toilet, then rechecks to make sure it worked. At this point, pants are around her ankles, no diaper. Uses potty as step stool to begin tooth brushing process, for some reason. Then washes hands.
If no parent was around by this point, we're usually alerted to her routine by the loud, flood-stage water coming from upstairs. Cue fight with Mom about need to put on a new diaper. Cue fight with Mom about need to turn off water in sink. Then Mom thoughtlessly turns off bathroom light on her own, triggering a third tantrum. Repeat an hour later when diaper is wet again.
So all in all, typical two-year-old stuff. Calla's getting increasingly interested in this new baby we keep talking about, still occasionally referencing the baby in her tummy and the baby in daddy's tummy in addition to the one occupying a prominent place in my belly. She's agreed that the baby can sleep in her old crib, we've covered what little babies eat when they're hungry ("special milk") and have now moved on to what we can sing to the baby when we hold her.
Even with all that discussion, I'm sure Calla has no idea what's in store. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure I do either. Regardless, Baby Girl is on her way in about two weeks, more or less. I'd like to commit to another blog post before then, but let's be honest- our recent track record on updates isn't exactly promising. So, we'll post the news here, but likely not much before then.
Stay tuned... more excitement to come!
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