Am I There, Yet?

Tonight is 35 cent cone night at Baskin Robbins.  My west coast winter wonderland friends would probably prefer 35 cent coffee night, but I thought I’d send out a “heads-up” anyways.

Quick update:  More “maybe…but not really” news.  My preeclampsia tests came back normal.  So the “Maybe you have preeclampsia” has now become “not really.”

So…the waiting game continues.  The baby will come when she’s ready.

Today is free cone day at Ben and Jerry’s.  Of course, I can’t take advantage of that because my doctor asked me to cut out all sugar from my diet.  But, I can dream, can’t I?

Don’t they have sugar-free flavors???

 

I’m still here.  No baby, yet.  However, she’s already consuming our life.  Three weeks left until my due date and I’m ready now.  It’s hard to believe that a month from now I’ll be holding my baby girl…hopefully much sooner than that.

When I say I’m ready for our upcoming arrival now, I only mean I’m ready to be done with pregnancy.  I’m really not ready.  I don’t have my baby furniture, yet.  A friend is giving us some hand-me-down furniture and I still need to go pick that up.  We just got the car seat today.  My bags aren’t packed for the hospital.  We don’t even have a name picked out for the baby.  I do have a diaper bag ready to go with a cute little girlie take-home outfit. 

This has been an interesting pregnancy.  I call it my “maybe…but not really” pregnancy.  I’ve had a lot of tests done and not all of them have been favorable.  It started with my quad-screen in December.  I was told I failed the test…only to hear later there was a calculation error at the lab and I needed to re-take the test.  I passed.  I was then told my placenta was low and there was a chance of me having placenta previa.  I recently had another ultra-sound and all is well.  I then failed my one hour glucose tolerance test, took my three hour glucose tolerance test and passed.  (Actually, the test did come out with one abnormality.  They asked me to just limit my sugar intake, but it wasn’t enough to continue to test my blood sugar and consult with a nutritionist.)  My doctor then decided she didn’t like the size of my uterus and was concerned the baby was too big.  I had an ultrasound that determined the baby was growing right on schedule.

Lots of concerns that ended up being nothing.  That’s why it’s been “maybe…but not really.”

The recent drama is that I’m now being tested for preeclampsia.  I actually had this when I was pregnant with Lilly.  I had to have a bunch of tests done yesterday and we’ll see how they turn out early next week.  I’ve had some really bad headaches (almost constant) for the past few weeks and my vision has been blurry.  My blood pressure is normal, but they’re testing anyways.

So…that’s where I’ve been.  Nowhere exciting…just sitting around and waiting.  Just thought I’d pop by and say, “hi!”

 

Throughout this pregnancy, I was determined not to waddle like a pregnant woman.  I’ve caught myself many, many times and slowed down in order to walk “normal” (whatever normal is.)  This is getting more difficult as time goes on.  Lately, I’ve been waking up every morning with a lot of pain in my hips and legs and when I first get up I have to support myself by leaning against furniture.  I should just get a walker or a cane.

Anyways, this morning I was feeling particularly motivated to get some things done.  I woke up and made a mental checklist of the things I needed to do.  I gave myself a pep talk and then got out of bed.  My body didn’t like that idea and before I knew it I was crumpled on the floor.  I got back up and slowed myself down.  After making myself some breakfast I sat down to check my email.  I get a daily email from What To Expect.  Here’s what today’s email said:

Week 36: Walk the Walk of a Penguin — or a Pregnant Woman

Welcome to your last month of pregnancy! By now, you’re definitely looking the part of a nearly full-term pregnant women (wide load, coming through), but are you walking the part? Do you have that telltale stride, the penguin waddle that many third-trimester moms-to-be seem to affect? The pregnant waddle is not in your imagination, it’s in your connective tissue. Those persistent pregnancy hormones (when will they leave you alone?) cause the connective tissue in your body to soften and loosen. And that’s particularly important now that you’re nearing D-day (delivery day). Your baby - who’s grown quite large by this point - needs to squeeze through your pelvic bones, so it’s a good thing that they’re more flexible now.

The downside to all this joint flexibility (besides the resemblance you now bear to your feathered friends up north) is discomfort in your pelvis and hip. Add the pressure from your baby’s head (burrowing deeper and deeper into your pelvis now) and your heavier uterus weighing you down, and it’s no wonder it’s a pain to walk around these days. To relieve the pain, relax with your hips elevated, do some pelvic exercises, take warm baths, apply warm compresses, get a massage, or try some complementary and alternative therapies. A belly sling may be helpful, too.

No more denial for me.  I’ve decided I’m just going to give in and waddle.  I’m going to hold my head up high and do the best penguin impersonation I can think of.

Speaking of pregnancy, we were thrown a baby shower yesterday afternoon.  It was very nice.  I may have mentioned it earlier.  Anyways, it was an open house style couples shower.  It was fun to receive baby stuff.  After all these months of talking and thinking about having a baby, it seems a little more real now that there are baby clothes hanging in the closet and diapers waiting to be used in the corner.  I really appreciate the generosity of those who gave…especially by those whom I barely know. 

I can’t wait to meet my baby girl!

 

O.K.  So, that’s not exactly an accurate math equation, but it is the truth.  Today is my 33^rd birthday.  I’m not ashamed of my age.  I’ll post it for the whole world to see.  The only person who has a problem with this is my mom.  She wishes I’d shave a decade off my age…but, only so people will think she’s younger.  ;)  (Love you, Mom!)

Today’s a pretty low key day.  We went out to dinner as a family last night because the kids have karate tonight and I didn’t want to interrupt that.  This morning I got breakfast in bed and Josh took Lilly to school so I could have a lazy morning.  I love lazy mornings.

I did a little April 8^th research and discovered a few things about this day.  First of all, I share a birthday with Robin Wright Penn, John Schneider, Sonja Henie, Patricia Arquette, Kofi Annan and Betty Ford.  On April 8^th, 1974, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record when he hit his 715^th homerun.  On April 8^th, 1969, the first artificial heart was implanted into a human.  On April 8^th, 1789, The U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting.  On April 8^th, 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

Bet you didn’t know all that.  :)

I found some cute birthday poems from a children’s book entitled, “Happy Birthday to Me!”  I thought these would be appropriate to share today:

 

I thought I’d update my knitting projects.  My new thing is blankets.  I love making blankets.  Here are a couple more that I’ve made in the past couple of months:

O.K.  This one is not my favorite.  I actually made this baby blanket for a friend and was unhappy with how it turned out…so I didn’t give it to her.  I won’t go into all the mistakes, but thought I’d share a picture anyways. 

This one has a story behind it.  This isn’t a baby blanket, but more of a nap quilt for a friend of mine.  Here’s the short version of her story.  She’s pregnant with her third baby and found out during her 20 week ultrasound that her baby has serious heart defects.  The baby will have to undergo at least three surgeries within the first year of his life with an 85% chance of survival.  They like the 85% odds…after all 85% is better than 80%…right?  Anyways…this has been a very difficult time for them and they could use a lot of prayer.  I originally set out to make her a prayer shawl, but then decided to make her a “prayer blanket” instead.  I prayed for her while making this and the idea is that when she rests with it she’ll understand that people love her, are praying for her and that God is wrapping His arms around her.

So, that’s what I’ve been doing with my time.  Well…other than being a mom and wife and all that comes with that.  In other news, Lilly got her yellow belt today.  She’s been working towards this since Thanksgiving and is thrilled.  We took her to Build-A-Bear Workshop for her birthday last October and she “built” a husky karate dog.  Whenever she gets promoted, her dog gets a promotion.  Here they are with their new yellow belts (and missing front teeth):

I just wanted to share a few family pictures.  I mentioned that Josh and Titus were going to the Phillies game yesterday.  They had a lot of fun and the Phillies won. 

Lilly lost another tooth.  She’s lost a total of eight teeth and only two and a half have grown back.  She’s missing all four of her top teeth.  I think it’s pretty cute and can’t help but laugh at her attempts to talk and eat.  Poor baby!

Lilly won the “Acceptance” award at school.  Her school focuses on a value each month and reward students who exhibit this value.  Last year she won the “Perseverance” award and at the end of the school year she won the “Citizenship” award.  The Citizenship award is the award for the students who exhibit all of the values.  She’s pretty excited about winning another award.  She’s also being promoted in karate to her yellow belt this weekend.  She’s doing really great in grappling and kick-boxing and has been asked to participate in a tournament in June. 

The baby is doing well.  We’re still having a hard time picking out a name.  Six weeks until the due date and there’s much to be done.  I woke up the other night with some anxiety about childbirth.  This was the first time that’s happened.  But, we’re all excited about meeting our new family member.

Titus thinks he can stick his belly out as far as I can:

I think that’s it for now!

Spring is here and I couldn’t be happier.  The weather is gorgeous.  It’s so great to drive around town with the windows rolled down.  I love not having to deal with a bulky coat anymore.  The daffodils and crocuses are popping up everywhere.  Bushes and trees are already starting to show off their white and yellow blooms.  Little buds are popping up on all the barren branches.  I hope this weather stays and this isn’t some nature practical joke.

Another thing that comes with spring is baseball.  Josh is taking Titus to a Phillies game tomorrow afternoon.  Interestingly enough, it’s Lilly that really wants to go to the game and Titus doesn’t seem to be too interested.  But, she has school so it’s just not going to happen.  It’ll be fun for the boys to get out and do something fun together.  She’s a Yankees fan anyway…so I don’t know why she’s complaining.

One of the reasons I fully embrace spring is because I change with the seasons.  I struggle with depression from November through whenever the weather starts to get warmer.  I’ve noticed this pattern in my life and it’s a difficult struggle for me.  Long winters can really get me down.  I noticed I’m feeling much more patient and happy lately and I’m sure it has a lot to do with the warmer weather and sunshine.

Maybe we do need to move further south…