cramping my style

so i think tuesday (three days ago) marks the beginning of what may wind up being a very long labor. for the last few days i've been having really bad cramping, alternating with contractions, alternating with major cervical pressure (and by pressure i mean pain). mr. baby is definately adjusting his position. rosanna checked me at my appointment and said i'm a little dialated and that she could feel the little rascals head. all of this of course means absolutely nothing in terms of when he'll make his appearance. please refrain from calling/emailing/texting me every five minutes and asking for updates! ;o) i'm just trying to rest as much as i can and keep busy when i'm not resting!

parker and i went with my dad and maria to a reggae concert in the park last night. parker rocked out with some other little kids. the highlight of my evening was when some thugs opened the door to the port-a-potty where i was hovering my big butt (with parker in the sling, no less). no, i don't have pictures of that.

water babies: turn on your sound.

babies

awww.

blah

yeah, today is one of those blah days. r and i went out last night and had a lovely fonduey date (thanks emily!) and then the three of us crashed really early. but then, we were all awake several times during the night. i got up about 60 times to pee and adjust the thermostat (read: turn the air conditioning on). i had a strange stomach ache too and still have it today. so, the weather is weird, hot and muggy. i'm tired, parker is on again, off again cranky and r is leaving early for work today and tomorrow. blah.

37 weeks & do your part!

another reminder to see the al gore film and visit the climate crisis website! r is doing his part by riding his bike to and from work!

now that that's outta the way: i am 37 weeks pregnant. mr. baby is welcome to come anytime now (but he may not be here for another 5 weeks). according to my book (which we all know predicts nothing) the average baby is about 6.5lbs. and 21 inches at this stage. parker was born about a week early (39 weeks) and weighed 6lbs. 10oz. and was about 19 inches long. so, who really knows? i'm starting to feel more intense braxton hicks contractions but nothing regular yet. i'm doing my best to stay cool, hydrated, and not swollen!




here is miss p showing off one of her manymanymany preschool art projects!

signs?

about three weeks ago a bird built a nest in the awning of our carport. we've watched her tend to her eggs and listened to the "daddy" bird serenade the "mama" every morning at breakfast. this morning i noticed about 5 tiny babies poking their heads out of the nest begging to be fed. parker said, "mama bird nurse them?" try explaining the difference between mammals and birds to a two-year-old!

speaking of two-year-olds...i saw a funny quote from jerry seinfeld in reader's digest:

having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don't have a top for.

attention friends and family:

please go see al gore's movie, an inconvenient truth.

how to scare preschool moms:

tell them you are home-birthing your baby! i figured "what the hell! it's the last day of summer school!" here are some of the responses i got:

*well, all first time moms need episiotomies. the body doesn't really know what to do the first time. the second time they just slide right out anyway.

*i'm having an elective c-section; i don't want to mess up my plumbing.

*c-sections are actually safer than vaginal births anyway.

*so are you like, gonna have the baby in your bed?

*you're going to take the baby to the hospital right afterwards right?

*my baby would have died if he had been born at home.

*what about the epidural?

*sigh* i was one of two moms who have breastfed too. the other one made it to two WEEKS. imagine what they would've thought had i mentioned that parker still nurses!



once again it is 900 degrees today; too hot to go to the pool. we set up the little one in the shade on the deck. see?

5 things:

FIVE ITEMS IN MY FRIDGE
1. tofu
2. chocolate covered raisins from see's candy
3. 4 giant artichokes
4. rice milk
5. kim chee

FIVE ITEMS IN MY CLOSET
1. maternity clothes
2. over-sized t-shirts
3. about 500 of r's ties
4. cowboy boots
5. stilettos

FIVE ITEMS IN MY CAR
1. carseat
2. striped mexican blanket
3. play doh
4. cliff bar
5. canvas trader joe's bags

FIVE ITEMS IN MY PURSE
1. target receipt
2. checkbook
3. fold up brush
4. change
5. random parker clips/scrunchies

poke me with a fork...

i'm done! 100 degrees is way to hot to gestate at! i mean really. it's the first day of summer and *bam* it's nearly record breaking heat? it was even too hot to swim today!

all's well

the appointment and dinner went smashingly. it was really fun to be able to socialize with rosanna and treesa; they got on really well with my parents too. we talked about where we'd set up the birth tub, where they'd put the supplies, showed them around the kitchen and how to use the washer/dryer. this is really happening. soon.

36 weeks!

today is our homebirth visit. rosanna and treesa are coming down at 4.30 for my prenatal appointment and they're staying for dinner! i'm so excited. the book says mr. baby is about 6 pounds and 20.7 inches long. we'll see about that. i'll be posting my picture and news about how our evening went later tonight.

seen on mdc:

My MIL gave me a wooden plaque with the following etched onto it:

"Even though you're a Jew,
Jesus still loves you."

I'm not Jewish but she's convinced that I am because I don't eat ham.

too hot to blog

ugh. it's 80 degrees in the house (89 outside) but for some reason i'm having a personal standoff with the air conditioner. as in, i'm cheap and i'd rather complain about the heat.

the last few days have been busy-ish. tuesday was will's high school graduation and party. we had a nice time over at my dad's house and parker got to play with a few kids close to her age. we also got to meet the baby (3 mos) of one of will's friends (a single 18 year old girl with no family and very little help). r spent a lot of time holding the baby and parker got to practice her big sister skills! we were both very proud of her, she wasn't jealous at all. we'll see how she does with a baby doesn't go home!

yesterday emily and my mom and i decorated (iron on's and tie-dye) shirts for parker and mr. baby. they turned out awesome. we're doing more this evening and i'll post some pics later. em, mom, meme, parker and i also had a nice dinner out at mongolian bbq where parker ate the hugest bowl ever of noodles, broccoli and rice.

35 weeks & a shower!

thank you to my wonderful friends and family who threw me a fantastic baby shower yesterday. it was so nice to have a chance to visit. everyone contributed a bead (or several) for my birthing/nursing necklace and just as i had hoped, there's an amazing spectrum of colors, shapes, textures, etc. i'll post a picture of the necklace when i've got it all strung up! i also got lots of adorible baby clothes & blankets which you'll all get to see on mr. baby sometime soon!!!

speaking of mr. baby: my book says he's about 5.5 pounds and 20.25 inches long but i'm guessing he's a little smaller. i had an appointment today with my backup practitioner (that fantastic ob). everything looks/sounds good and he had me schedule an appointment for four weeks from now. by my calculations that's july 11th. i may not even be pregnant anymore! according to rosanna she can deliver me anytime after 36.5 weeks. if i go into labor earlier (like this week) i'll have to go to the hospital. i'm keeping my legs crossed!


notice my outie bellybutton.

it's official...

i waddle now. and my thermostat is set 10 degrees above everyone else's. and i get huge swollen ankles if i walk for too long. and mr. baby baby seems to have something sharp that's he's jabbing into my cervix. but, the heartburn seems to have mellowed out.

yesterday i ventured to my first la leche league meeting. ("The LLLI mission is: To help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.") why why why did i wait so long!? as it turns out the meeting is in the library. the library. the one that is about a mile away. it was so wonderful to be with a group of people who don't think breastfeeding (or cosleeping or homebirthing or baby wearing) is weird! there were actually several nurslings older than parker. yay! i am definately going back next month. the meeting is on the 14th of july. i may be bringing BOTH of my nurslings!

my big school girl

miss p started her three week course of summer school at the co-op that she'll be attending in the fall. she's been SO excited about it. tuesday was our first day and we both had a nice time. she was way more shy than i was expecting but that might've been because she had a cold. she did some artwork, played on the outside equipment and gravitated immediately for two nakey baby dolls and a shopping cart! by the end of the two hours she'd made friends with the most adorible little boy and neither one of them wanted to go home. i unfortunately didn't get any pictures at school but i'll bring my camera next week. r took her this morning so i can go to a la leche league meeting at the library!


first day with mama


see my nametag?

34 weeks!

sooo. 34 weeks. that means sometime in the next 4 to 8 weeks we'll have a baby. it's starting to sink in for r. it comes and goes for me!

yesterday we had a homebirth class with one other pregnant couple (first timers) at rosanna's. we honestly got more out of the 4 hours there than we did in the eight week class we took to prepare for parker's arrival. i feel much more prepared and therefore more confident this time around. our next appointment with rosanna is our home visit. rosanna and treesa (the doula) will be coming down here for my prenatals and staying for dinner. can you imagine having your ob/doc over for dinner? *awkward* that's how different this experience has been!



mr. baby took a big growth spurt; i'm now measuring one week ahead (which is no biggie). he's around 5 pounds and 19.8 inches, heartrate in the 130's still a skinny guy and very pokey. i'm starting to get pretty darn excited to meet our next rascal.

too busy, too tired

today r and i had our class and appointment with rosanna but i'm too tired to update etc. i'll post tomorrow morning!

i'd rather be in sicily

and really, who wouldn't?

we're planning to go back next september (2007) and i'm already getting impatient.