An update

Jeremy here. Wow, a rare post by the hubby! Yeah, so we wanted to thank you all for your prayers and apologize if we haven't returned calls or emails. Right now we are spending much of our time either at the hospital or resting. I woke up today and wasn't quite sure what day it was... it's all been a blur this week.

So now for the update. We are at home this morning waiting for Jess's parents to arrive (they had Jeremiah with them to allow us to sleep in today). We called and spoke with the nurse last night at 1:45am for an update. They said she was improving and are weening her off meds, reducing the O2 ventilator and pressure, etc.

Then, this morning the latest update was they successfully removed the ventilator at 4am and she is breathing on her own now. We are hoping that we will be able to hold her today since we haven't been able to do that except for the two hours after she was born.

I think I make them a little nervous there (the staff) since I basically have been asking a lot of questions, and have read her entire medical chart and medical history. I found a few mistakes on the medical charts from Reston Hospital and statements made in the summary section stating facts that weren't true. I mentioned that to the nurse on duty yesterday and she said it wouldn't have impacted what they are doing now at Fairfax.

When I get to the hospital today I am going to ask to speak with the neonatalogist and the cardiologist for updates. We would like to get some ideas as to when we can bring her home... and pretty much the only answer we get from anyone there at the NICU is "it depends" or "we'll see"... so thank you again for your continued prayers and that Jess would be able to hold and nurse our baby very soon.

Blessings...

Jeremy

A few more.

At Reston Hospital

At INOVA Fairfax

We're a bunch of contagious freaks, apparently... They've got her "quarantined" since she's an outside transfer.  And we're only supposed to cup her head and bottom to touch her--even stroking her head lightly is too much "stimulation", apparently.

She should be off the ventilator soon.  I guess that's good news, but I doubt it means she'll be home any sooner.  There's really no good reason for her to still be in there, in my opinion.  I think they're just taking their time "weaning" her off of all the things they put her on (that she probably didn't need to be on in the first place.)

I'm so pissed right now.  I just want my baby to come home... I just want her home.

Not the pic we were hoping to post...

Well, things don't always work out as planned, that's for sure. Jess Jr [still working on a name] entered the world at 9:56 am this morning. She weighed in at 11 Lbs 10 Oz, 22 in long, 15.5 in head. She had some trouble breathing when she was born, so we transferred her to Reston Hospital Center. Now it looks like her heart needs a little help, too, but she's already showing improvement. We're transferring to Fairfax Hospital now, so she can have round the clock cardiologist care. Most likely, she won't be home for a few days, possibly a week. We're praying for a miracle and hope you will too. We'd love to have her back ASAP! Anyways, That's what's going on. More to come, hopefully good news.

Here we go!

Finally! My water broke at three a.m., and the midwife is here. Like my IV? :) contractions are already pretty close and strong, so we'll prob have a baby by the time you read this! We'll keep ya posted!

BABY PICS! (In utero....)

Well, one plus to making it to 41 weeks with no baby is that you get new pictures of your baby to keep ya going!

I liked this place a lot better. The US tech was really sweet, and kept telling me how "beautiful" Jess Jr was (and how those lips of hers are going to give Angelina Jolie a run for her money! lol)

She kept saying, "big baby" over and over, too... And she is going to be big! The estimate today, according to the ultrasound.... ya ready for this? 11 1/2 lbs. Woah. Well, we knew she was gonna be big! Of course, that's +/- 1-2lbs, but she's probably right... We'll find out soon!

So here ya go. Something to hold ya over until we can get some real live baby shots on here.

Maybe tomorrow............?? I hope so! (I can't believe my Mom won the baby poll... there's no one left but her! Crazy.)



Go here for more, including those from our 20 week ultrasound.

Grr...

It never fails... You're in a hurry, It's rainy, and there's traffic at 1230 on a Tuesday. What the heck.

lol

Lately, I've been discussing with several people who go to our church how my least favorite time of the service is the, "take a few minutes and greet someone around you" part. Now, I'm all for being friendly and welcoming, but I just don't see the point. It's not like you have enough time to really get to know anyone, usually you don't even get their first name... And it's unlikely you'd remember that name even if you did get it, by the end of the service. And as a "visitor" at one time or another, I never found this to make me feel more "welcomed" than if it had been omitted.

Obviously, I'm not alone in this thinking. In yesterday's Dear Abby, someone wrote in with that exact same issue. I don't think I'd ever write Dear Abby about it (so, to answer your question, no it wasn't me. :) but I found it amusing that someone else did. We're one of those families who will show up late to avoid having to do it (usually this isn't intentional, as it's tough to get there, put Jeremiah in his class and be seated by 9 am on a Sunday morning.)

Ah well, what're ya gonna do... I suppose if it makes one person feel welcomed, maybe someone who hadn't stepped in a church ever, or at least a while, then it's worth whatever annoyance it may cause on our end. I just hope it never has the opposite affect (someone who thought about coming to church and then changed their mind after having to shake hands with a bunch of strangers who won't remember their name... I know there's no way I'd know if someone next to me was new or not... nothing personal, it's just a big church, and not so easy to keep track of everyone.)

Forgot to add to the last post...

Jeremiah's also afraid of the trashcan... The same trashcan he used to stand next to and play with over and over again, until we found him something else to do.

See, it's one of those automatic ones--you wave your hand over it, it opens, toss your trash, it automatically closes after a few seconds. Well, one day, Jeremy threw something out, and stayed over the sensor a little longer than normal, so it stayed open, and wouldn't shut without being reactivated. Jeremy walked away, and it was still open. Jeremiah was in his high chair (a few feet away, maybe 5-6?) and he started freaking out! At first it was just whining, but by the time I figured out why he was so upset, he was screaming and could not be calmed down until it was shut and someone was holding him....

Again, same trashcan he used to play with when we first got it... Don't know what's changed since then... It's not like it snaps shut where it would hurt or something, if it closed on your hand. I dunno... Now, he watches it like it's going to try something when we're not looking. Pretty funny. We'll enjoy teasing him about that one when he gets older. Good one to share at the wedding someday ("I remember when Jeremiah was just a toddler, and was terrified of our kitchen trashcan... and getting covered in spaghetti..." lol)

Boo!

We always knew Jeremiah had a "gentle spirit". He's been a "sympathy crier" since he was a baby, turning on the waterworks whenever another crying baby was in range. But nowadays, far more than just other babies and boo-boos are making him cry...

It started a few weeks ago. We were at my parents' house, and they wanted to watch a movie, since they canceled their cable and had nothing else to watch. Someone suggested "Ghost Ship", which I've never seen before, nor did I have any desire to. But we were about to leave anyways, so whatever. Jeremy puts it in, and we proceed to watch it (well, this was still the "let's check out the first few minutes and see if it's something we want to keep watching.) Again, I'd never seen it, didn't know anything about it... Someone else, though, had seen it, and didn't warn me...

Anyways, Jeremiah had been playing around the kitchen, but got curious when the movie was put in. Grandma picked him up and sat him on her lap, just as this steel cable (in the movie) was released and sliced through everyone dancing in the ballroom on the ship. I immediately looked at Jeremiah and hoped he didn't get what was going on. He seemed to not be bothered by it, despite starring straight at the screen.

Well, the next part proved to be just a bit too much for him. To make it hit home that something awful had just happened, they showed the captain (I'm assuming it was him, since he was in uniform) dancing with a young girl, and his head slowly slide off his body. Yeah, Jeremiah didn't miss that! He started SCREAMING and freaking out! My poor baby. I had no idea that was going to happen.... nobody, who had seen the movie before, told me or told Grandma, "He may not want to see that part..." Yeah... Mommy's not a happy camper with anyone in this group. But he got over it and I informed everyone that I would not be the one getting up with him if he woke up upset in the middle of the night... Hopefully, it didn't traumatize him too much. Sigh.

Ever since, though, the weirdest things have sent him into a fit of tears and screams... Here are some examples:

~At the end of The Soup, they cover Joel McHale in spaghetti and bring in the "spaghetti cat" from a couple of weeks ago. That's all Jeremiah saw. And it made him freak. Ooooookay....

~Thomas the Tank Engine: an engine is stuck on a wooden bridge that's about to collapse. Another train saves the engine, and we see them puff away, after which the bridge does collapse. No one is on the bridge, or even on screen at this point. Jeremiah freaks and starts crying/screaming.

~Terminator, the Sarah Conner Chronicles: Okay, we weren't even watching this show. I had asked him to give me the remote so I could turn the TV off, and he changed it to the local channel showing it. I think it's a new episode, so I hit the "record" button so Jeremy could watch it later. Just as I'm about to turn off the tv, a car goes spinning out of control, and does a couple of flips before crashing. This freaks Jeremiah out. More crying ensues (this was just minutes after the Thomas episode...)

~Something happened while watching Fox news that made him freak... I don't remember what it was, but I remember being confused because they hadn't shown anything graphic or anything... I think they might have been showing Hurricane Hanna coverage or something... But he freaked nonetheless.

There are other bizarre examples that just don't make sense to us, but seem to really bother him... So we never know if what we're watching will be okay. Not that we watch a lot of tv that isn't kid-friendly when he's around. But yeah, safe to say at this point that anything NOT kid-friendly is off limits when he's around (though that Thomas episode... I mean, sheesh, it's just a model of a wooden bridge falling! What gives?!) No more CNN or Fox News (ahem...) in the evenings while he's awake, no random movies (after the Ghost Ship thing, my brother put in Monster's Inc. to cheer him up... uhh... yeah, don't think that would help...), nothin'. May have to just start with the Baby Einstein videos we were given for Christmas before Jeremiah's arrival. Surely they're safe!

Then again, who knows... Why can't he just be like that baby who laughs at the Wii for no reason, instead of balling at the sight of the silliest thing! Ah well... he's very sensitive, that's for sure. My poor baby.

Astroland closes for good.

This is pretty sad...

The Astroland amusement park at Coney Island turned off it's lights for the last time over the weekend.  The rides are for sale, and the land will probably be developed into something else.  

:(

I remember going at least once (may have been twice) when I was a kid.  It was so much fun, despite the fact it was no Six Flags or Kings Dominion park.  I guess it's just hard to accept that a piece of "childhood" will no longer be there. 

The Cyclone roller coaster and ferris wheel will probably remain, as they're owned by the city, but everything else will be gone.  

Oh well.  These things happen, right?  I'm sure it won't be the last childhood landmark to be torn down in my lifetime.  

Hopefully Disney World doesn't get wiped out by Ike next!  Though I'd rather still have Astroland around, personally...  All I remember about Disney was waiting in way-to-long lines, overpriced food/souveniers, and an embarrassing episode involving a box of ice cream snacks and a 45 minute wait at Space Mountain....  yeah.... anyways. 

Hmm....

So we were pretty anxious to turn Jeremiah's car seat around once he hit the one year mark.  Now, I'm not so sure that was the best idea.

New recommendations have said that a child is safest in a rear facing position until the age of 2!  Twelve months and 20 lbs is just the minimum.  Some people will even say leave 'em in there until 4!  

I don't know about that, but was surfing the message boards and found this video... It's a pretty convincing argument to leave him rear facing, at least until he's two (by then, Jess Jr will probably be ready to make the transition to a convertible seat, vs the infant seat she'll be in at birth [if she's ever born, of course.... ;) ])

Also, I think we should probably bring the van in to have the seats inspected/installed properly, since we never bothered before... What's the point of paying for a top of the line car seat, that's supposed to be one of the best out there, if it isn't installed properly?  Now, we followed the directions, and it certainly doesn't seem like it's going to go anywhere to me... but why wait 'til we're in an accident to find that out for sure?  

Anyways, just thinkin'.  :)

Well, I just did some quick extra research, and his car seat is only safe rear facing to 33 lbs... So at this point (he was 31 lbs, I think?) he's probably already at that limit, since it was over 2 months ago now...  Yay, I'm off the hook!  

Jess Jr, though... not so lucky.  :)

Oh yeah, and...

Happy 20th Month, Jeremiah! You're growing so fast! I was hoping him and Jess Jr would only be 19 months apart, but that didn't happen. Oh well!

Jeremy gave him a little trim yesterday... I think we had to give him, like, 20 animal crackers in order to distract him long enough to get a snip in here and there. But he did a decent job, considering he'd never cut hair before. At least it's out of his eyes! That was driving me crazy! I'll get a pic later today when he's up from his nap.

For now, enjoy this one! :)

Thanks, everyone! :)

Well, it's obvious a lot of you out there have been praying for me. Last week was terrible. At least earlier in the week, right around our due date. It's not easy to see your due date come and then go, especially when you're NOT a first time Mom--first one was 38 weeks, Jeremiah was right on his due date... Needless to say, it was pretty disheartening to see this side of our due date.

But things are going better now. By our appointment on Thursday, I was beginning to accept things. Of course, that whole thing with the measuring discrepency drained my spirit a bit, but I recovered. I've got my "head back in the game," so to speak. It did help to do some research over this weekend, and reading about other midwifery practices who have half their Moms deliver early and half late. Also read a nice post on a doula's blog about natural induction, and how the best method is "Dinner & A Date!" A relaxed Mom is more likely to go into labor than a stressed Mom, so why not take a time out, enjoy a bubble bath, let Dad make dinner, and relax. If "other things" sound fun and you're up to it, try it, but don't stress about trying a bunch of different things to get labor going--it's just not worth it.

Now, my views on all that will probably change at this point next week, should we still be waiting... After all, I'd much rather "induce" with the help of evening primrose oil and other various "stimulations" rather than in a hospital getting pumped full of pitocin (which I also learned is usually dispensed in doses waaaaaaaay higher than the package insert's recommendation... we'll have our birth assistant there to make sure things are done 'by the book', since I don't know how to find that stuff out. Helps that she's going through nursing school, too.)

Anyways, I just thought I would post that I'm feeling much better about everything. I still want her here ASAP, though... I'd be nice to be able to roll over/stand up/sit up without having my pelvis "crack" everytime--yes, it cracks when I move... it's a pretty weird feeling, too. I guess "12 lb" babies'll do that to ya... Didn't have that with Jeremiah... didn't have a lot of what I've got this time with him. What a strange pregnancy.

So thank you, to all of you who've been praying for me! God has given me peace and has calmed my nerves, and I can honestly say I'm doing well, for the first time in a while. Hopefully, it stays with me--I can see it waning as the week goes on, but for now, I'm okay. So yeah, Jess Jr, Mommy's relaxed, feel free to come anytime.... tonight would be nice (gotta stick with the Sunday thing--both others were born on Sundays... gotta at least get things started on a Sunday, right? And wouldn't it be cute if both Jeremiah and Jess Jr had the same birth "day"?? 9/7/08... not bad. :) If not, it's all good.)

I think I'll need to start shopping for a "prize" for my Mom... yeah, there're still two others in the running for tomorrow, but if tomorrow comes and goes, then it'll definitely be my Mom who wins--there's no one left! Crazy... What'll be really interesting is when #3 is due--I have no idea what my guess'll be for that one!

Okay, back to the game--it's football season again! Need to find my jersey, though... I wonder if it'll fit right now... Go Hines Ward! Steelers are crushing the Texans... but seriously, did they think they'd have a chance, in Heines Field, for the season opener??? I feel bad for the road teams today... I doubt many of 'em'll win...

"Announcing..." [not really, Layton... :) ]

....Jared Aidan Schwarzenegger!
16 lbs, 15 oz. Only 21 inches long, though... That's a fat baby!
Don't believe me? Here's a copy of his birth certificate!

Yeah, I'm not too sure about this "online pregnancy tester"... I mean, at first it didn't even detect I was pregnant! Then it said boy, which is always possible... The fact that he came up as a 16 lb baby isn't that far of a stretch. But uh, yeah, don't know how I got Jeremy and Arnold mixed up... I guess it could happen to anyone... or something. :)

Oh, and I had to go back in time to have him, too. Maybe there was a mix up with Jeremiah or something....

Amusing, nonetheless.

Okay, wait, wait... I thought I'd do it again, just for fun, and it's getting better...

"Jess, you're going to be the proud parent of a baby girl, and just look- isn't she just so damn cute! Based on our remote test results, your beautiful baby girl will weigh about 13 lbs, 15 oz and have red hair and blue eyes. Truly a Wonder To Behold!"

And the father.....?

"Girl, you got no class. Plus we hear that Bill is going to sue you for stealing his 'patriotic bodily fluids' as well as demanding 65% of the kid's future earnings."

lol

I'd better stop this now... :)

The Sad Truth

If I were an Iraqi, bound to a bed, clothes taken, denied food or water and lied to...the American Media would care. But I'm just a woman giving birth in America, bound to a bed, clothes taken, denied food or water and lied to.

~Source Unknown~

HA HA HA HA!!

Oh, it just gets better and better....

Yesterday, we had our 40 week visit with the midwives. They've got a student midwife working with them right now, so we saw her along with Lisa, one of the subs. Everything went fine, of course--my blood pressure was not "higher" than normal (last week, while still in the normal limits, was on the higher end of normal, plus I'd gained a little more weight than I have been. They were a bit concerned, but luckily, this week balanced all that out.) Aside from the fact that I'm not happy still being pregnant, things are good.

Then they did their "listen to the baby/measure the belly" routine. She's sitting right up, straight, not on one side or another (probably because that's the only way she has any room...) Then they tried to find her heartbeat--found the swishy-wishy one from the cord, found mine, but had a harder time finding the "click click" baby heartbeat. They did finally find it, just a little lower than where they were originally looking. And of course, that was all good.

Then they did their little measuring thing. This is where the visit got interesting. Now I've been measuring ahead for weeks, usually by 3-4 cm (for those who don't know, starting around 20 weeks, they measure your uterus from the top of the pubic bone to the top of the uterus... the cm's should coincide with how far along you are--25 weeks, 25 cm, 40 weeks, 40 cm, etc. But for those of us with, ahem, "extra fluff", it's not always accurate. Of course, baby's position, and baby's size can play a roll, too.) Well today, I was measuring 10 ahead! 50 cm! So yeah, they freaked a little (I think if the midwife had been one of the normal midwives to begin with, and not a sub, it wouldn't have been a cause for alarm, but they gotta give the student midwife something to learn from. :)

So they went and got Alice (she and our midwife from last time, Marsha, started Birthcare many many years ago...) and she came up to measure herself. After explaining where the "extra" was coming from, she measured and got a more reasonable 45 cm. Still ahead, but consistent. Feeling around some more, she said, "Yep, we've got a big baby here... I'm guessing 12 lbs." 12 lbs!! Yup, that's what she said. Yikes...

I laugh, though, because it's just one of those things where you're like, "12 lbs? Why not make it 13! And what's it going to be next week?? 15?! Bring it on!" Do I think she'll be 12?? Well, I definitely don't think she'll be smaller than Jeremiah at this point, especially since we've passed our due date. But 12 lbs... I wonder how much different that would be from delivering a 10 lbs 11 oz baby... I mean, Jeremiah was a piece of cake. Will the same hold true for Jess Jr???

Only time will tell..... :)

I wonder if they'll measure her at our sonogram on Tuesday (for the AFI). It'd be interesting to see what the "guestimate" is based on that, since they can be +/- 1-2lbs. It'd be awesome if she did measure 12 lbs, and the technician was like, "That can't be right... must have measured incorrectly..." We'll see.... I'm still hoping we get to cancel that appointment, but that way things have been going, not too sure that's going to happen.

I really think my Mom is going to win this whole thing... I can't believe that... Pretty crazy. At least she's easy to shop for. :) Some other people, I'd have no idea what to get 'em for a prize. But yeah... pretty crazy we're still here. This is really going to mess up Jeremy's work schedule, though... It's the end of the quarter, and he's gonna to miss most of that being out on paternity leave.... Then, he was supposed to take a week off at the beginning of October, but if he's on paternity the last two weeks of the month, that's going to be a little tougher for him to do... So basically, if he's not on paternity leave starting Monday, it's really going to mess things up. But, as Jeremiah proved last time, and she's proving again this time, babies don't come when it's convenient for us! Yeah, it would have been nice if she'd been an August birth, but it ain't happening. So September it is! Hopefully while we've still got single digits... at least before the "teens" start!

Keep yer fingers crossed...

Maybe she'll be born on 9/11 and be 9lbs, 11 oz... Wouldn't that be freaky... Unlikely, though. That's too small. :)

Oh yeah, and I just thought I'd add that it'd be awesome if she were 11 or 12 lbs, and we were able to deliver at home, as planned. Simply for the bragging rights. :) I mean, how many doctors would even let you attempt a vaginal delivery in a hospital, if they knew that baby was 12 lbs?? I'm sure most hear "double digit" L-B's, and think, "complications" or "long delivery" or "I'm going to miss dinner/tee-time/etc" So yeah, how much fun would it be to say, "Oh yeah, she was born at home... it was easy, she was only 12 lbs, 2 oz... yup, no problem." lol Yeah, I would think like that. Well, freaking out about it certainly won't help her come any faster! :)

Kinda scary...

Parents, do your children wear "tagless" clothing?? Ever had a rash or other "outbreak" near the tag area??? Check out this post on ZRecs....

Switching gears...

Well, today's been a tough day, emotionally/psychologically, for me... I'm really bad at this "waiting" thing. So I thought I would try to force myself to focus on the positives around me instead of the negatives, and see if that helps. So here we go.

~Jeremiah's favorite books are "Daddy Loves Me," "Mommy Loves Me," and "Thank You, God." Usually the Mommy & Daddy books are just for naptimes/bedtimes, and we read "Thank You God" down here in the family room. These are the books that he wants read to him over and over again--I've got 'em memorized! It's just so sweet when he brings it up to you, with a little whine (since he doesn't know how to say "please" yet) and settles into your lap to hear it read to him...

~He still takes his daily nap! This enables Mommy to nap/shower/whatever (though it's usually the first two.) It's a nice break in the middle of the day. I'll be disappointed when he's too big to nap anymore! (Although, our former small group leader, who has three kids between 20 mos and 5 years, still has that afternoon "quiet time" where everyone just stays in their room for two hours in the afternoon. They don't have to nap, but they do have to play quietly if they don't. That'll definitely be something we'll be keeping up with over the years.)

~Since it's summertime, I can get away with wearing gauchos and tank tops everyday, instead of having layers upon layers of maternity clothes. Yeah, I wouldn't mind not sweating so much sometimes, but I'm glad that flip flops will suffice for shoes, and the most dressed I usually ever am is when I'm wearing my PJ's! Makes life more comfy.

~The thrill of the deal. Okay, this one is kinda weird, but as a shopaholic (on a budget...) there's nothing more gratifying than finding something you want/need for 75% off. I found really nice sandals for Jeremiah for next year--only $2.50! These same sandals I couldn't bring myself to spending money on a few months ago, because they were "too expensive" for sandals, IMHO.... I love Target. :)

~I've got a supportive husband, who I know will be so glad when baby's here, so he can stop hearing me whine about it. :) He takes it all in stride, though... And he's been to every one of my appointments thus far (which usually means leaving work early, sitting in traffic, getting home to pick us up, sitting in traffic again, and then entertaining Jeremiah before/during the visit, etc, etc...) When we get to Birthcare, and he's still at the van with Jeremiah, the ladies always ask, "Where's everybody else???" because they're so used to seeing us all together. :) I'd say he knows as much about our pregnancy as I do (well, minus what only Moms can know...) I don't know many hubby's who can honestly say that (I could be wrong, though!)

~We were able to finish our bedroom, and amazingly, it's still fairly clean! Okay, neither Jeremy or I are very neat people. I mean, I can't stand a mess, but I'm also not very likely to do something about it until it really drives me up the wall. Since we recently painted our room and finished the headboard (and new furniture), I've been pretty adament about keeping it neat, and it still is! We're a little behind on laundry, and boy does black furniture reveal the dust, but I could easily take two minutes, make the bed, wipe down the tops, and I would be okay with someone outside our family going in there. Hey, I can't usually say stuff like that... this is pretty huge for us. The bigger surprise??? Our bathroom is in the same condition! Of course, I've been trying to keep it that way for the birth--who wants to deal with a messy bathroom when you've got a newborn??? The little things that make me happy.

~I finished re-tabbing all the diapers! It took several nights, a few hours here and there, but I was able to re-tab all 42 of our cloth diapers! [They use velcro tabs to hold them closed, instead of pins or snaps--they'd gotten a little old from all the use, and were coming undone sometimes.] I certainly don't want to do that again anytime soon. I shouldn't have to either--these should last at least through Jess Jr. By then, we may have to replace a chunk of our collection with new ones, but ya never know...

~Wow, the prince of Nigeria has been exiled and wants me to hold onto his fortune temporarily--he'll let me keep 10% as payment! Sweet....

~And I just won a free XBOX/Laptop/big screen TV--just gotta complete XX offers! Wow, lotta generous people out there today... :)

~My parents still have a "floating" week, and will take Jeremiah once Jess Jr makes her arrival. That'll give us time to "get in a groove" and not have to worry about neglecting Jeremiah while figuring out Jess Jr. Such a blessing! [I just hope that week ends up being next week and not the week after....]

Well, that's all I've got for right now. Oh wait, one more...

~Cupcakes. Oh, and soft serve ice cream with sprinkles/jimmies (whichever you prefer...) Mmmm.... :)

There, I'm done. It helped a little. I'll have to come back here and re-read it when I'm feeling weepy and sorry for myself. That's not my normal existence. I know I'm not the most optimistic person on earth, but I can usually look at things and see the pluses over the minuses. I've used all that up early on, though... Oh well, there's always Ben & Jerry's...

Just for fun...

So last week at our appointment, the midwife mentioned that she would not be surprised if Jess Jr arrived as big as Jeremiah--maybe a little smaller, but we weren't at 40 weeks yet.

Now, there are only 5 guesses left out of 16 on the baby poll... And most of those will expire in a couple of days. Since we were all WAYYYY off (with the exception of the one or two likely winners at this point...) does anyone wanna take a stab at how much she'll clock in, weight and height wise???

No prize to win, just bragging rights. I'm just curious. :)

I'll start... at this point, I'm gonna guess she comes out a little bigger than Jeremiah.

10 lbs. 15 oz. 22 inches long. She's gonna be a big girl....

"N to the Izzo!"

Ah, yes... Dan Smith... For those of you who don't know, he was one of the pastors at New Life Christian Church when I went there. He also moonlights as a DJ/white-boy rapper. Some of you may have seen one of his hits floating 'round the 'net, "Baby Got Book" (I was in the original... my .35 seconds of fame!)

Anyways, he's got kids now, and went the kiddie album route for a few songs... A couple, he put up for free on his website (since he doesn't have the "rights" to sell them...) You can find them/download them here!

The first tune, "NOVA" is a parody of Jay-Z's "Izzo" (HOVA) tune--won't be as funny if you're not in the NoVA area, but still creative and funny.

The second is Dan Smith's version of "Green Eggs and Ham". Yeah... Definitely for the kiddies. Fun stuff. :)

Anyways, give it a listen, and share it with your friends! Maybe you'll feel so inclined to pick up one of his other albums--help support his ministry!

Enjoy!

I hope I have to cancel...

Well, part of being "post due" includes extra-special appointments, to make sure baby's okay. Next Tuesday afternoon will be that "fun" day for us... well, for me. I don't think Jeremiah will want to sit quietly for any of it, so most likely, Jeremy will "work from home" that afternoon, while I drive around Alexandria to have all that stuff done.

First off is an AFI (amniotic fluid index), just to make sure the placenta is still working properly and baby is well protected. After that, get to head to Birthcare for an NST (non stress test) which monitors who well the baby responds (heartbeat wise) when active and resting--they want to see three "peaks" to know that baby is still doing well. I'm sure everything will be fine--if so, they'll let us go to 42 weeks (which by their calculations is September 16th.) If no baby by then, we get to do things "the old fashioned way" and get induced at the hospital. Woot.

Obviously, I'm hoping we don't make it to that point... I'm hoping I even get to cancel my next appointment on Thursday. But if not, well, at least we'll [I'll] get to see her again (and make sure she's really a she... I'd hate to find out after being induced and miserable in a hospital that Jess Jr was really Jeremy Jr... Not that I don't want anymore boys, but I've got my heart set on pink dresses and bows... not more greens and blues and circumcisions.... yeah, I'd probably have leave the hospital with a Zoloft or Prozac prescription if that were the case...

Wow, what an uplifting post, huh??? :) Okay, okay... that was all worst case scenario. Best case scenario--labor starts tonight! More likely scenario (hopefully), labor starts in the next couple of days, and I get to cancel all those fun appointments for Tuesday. Everything goes smoothly, baby girl shows no signs of fever or other illness in the few days following birth, and maybe, just maybe, breastfeeding takes off, problem free! Okay, now I'm getting into the wishful thinking area... But ya never know. I've got some samples from the formula companies, though... just in case. Gonna hit up our ped for more when we bring her in for her checkup. I'm sure they've got cases of the stuff, just sitting there.

And that's that. Hopefully, Jeremy will be home soon, so I can have another distraction... In the mean time, I should probably go see what Jeremiah's banging on the table... can't be good.

Yeah, what the heck????

As our ticker says,

Okay, okay, I'll admit it, I really like it in my Mommy, but I'm finally ready to go. I should be here by now!

I concur...

Babycenter won't even acknowledge the fact that women can be pregnant past 40 weeks--they've moved us to the "newborn" bubble! How sweet of them... except she's not a newborn yet--she's still a has-yet-to-be-born.

I tell ya, though, I'm not too crazy about this trend that my body seems to be going with, with subsequent babies coming later, and later than the prior! I'm officially the most pregnant I've ever been today--never actually made it to the 40 week mark before. 38 weeks, yup. 40 weeks, yup (but barely... it was 3:58 a.m. when Jeremiah made his grand entrance, after all!) And neither time prior did I have so much "practice" before the big event.

Anyways... she'll come when she wants to... when she's ready. And in the meantime, I have to figure out how to keep my sanity....... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em! At least Jeremy's off today. Maybe she'll come tonight, so Jeremy doesn't have to go back to work this week.

Lord... please!!! Give me patience, give me comfort, keep me sane!! I know You're in control, so give me the strength to stay positive, and enjoy the time I have left with my little family of three. I ask [beg] these things in Jesus' name, Amen! :)

Baby pics!

Well, "pic" I should say. Here is the fruit of Jeremy's labor (literally). The first harvest!

Did you know that tomatoes, while botanically are the "fruit" of the plant, are legally vegetables?? All these years, I've allowed teachers and other folks "trick" me into believing they were "fruit". I always thought it was a weird classification.

Anyways, yup, that's the first harvest from our garden. Although, these aren't really from our garden--they've been growing in a pot on the deck all summer, and have been doing much better than those in the garden itself (fancier soil.) But Jeremy did grow the plant from a seed, and that plant is well over 4 feet tall now! It's pretty impressive, if you ask me. So while the garden has been lagging behind a bit, at least we've got something outta it (and if you're wondering, yes, we meant to pick 'em green--they'll ripen and taste just as yummy on the counter, safe from birds and bugs, rather than leave them on the plant. I didn't know you could do that until recently, so I'm sure there's someone else out there who didn't either. Unless I dumb. Possible... :)

Jeremy took Jeremiah to the grocery store. He wouldn't let me go with 'em. Said I needed some "alone" time. That's sweet, isn't it? Only problem is... I don't know what to do now that there's no one home! There are things I could do, like fold clothes, or put Jeremiah's diapers in the wash. But I can do that stuff when people are home, too. [Oo... I could kill the cat, who's making a huge racket right now, meowing at the top of the steps... no one would be around to see it... hmm... must.... resist.... temptation.... Do they make muzzles for cats???? I'll have to look into that...] So what do I do? I sit online and chat with people.... and post pics of tomatoes on our blog. :) Good times, good times.

Last night, Jeremy and I went to see The Dark Knight again. It was cool a 2nd time, but soooooooo loooooooooong.... I just can't sit anywhere comfortably anymore for 2+ hours... By the end of the movie, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, practically squatting, trying to find some kind of comfy position. But it was good... just long. And it's not like there was anything else to see. All the other movies playing (at least at the theater we went to) were STUPID... Seriously, where'd all the good movies go? Thank God for TDK, otherwise we wouldn't have had much of a "date".

Looks like the nice weather is finally back in VA. This past week was mostly "fall" weather, with highs only in the 70's, and cool nights. It was weird. But the next three days should be nice--sunny and high 80's, for the most part. Sweet. If that humidity stays down like it has been, it'll be a beautiful weekend. Sounds like a nice time to have a baby! Hint hint, Jess Jr! No? Didn't work? Sigh...

Well, I should go bake my cake now. We're going to my parents for a party tomorrow (if Jess Jr doesn't feel like making her grand entrance before then...) so I figured I'd bring a "Jello Cake". It's good--very refreshing for a bar-b-que. Nice, cool alternative to ice cream. So I'd better go make that now. Woot.

Hope to have some real "Baby Pics" up soon! Sorry if I fooled you. :) Not really. Well, okay, yes I am.... no I'm not. :)

A bit frustrated...

Well... what can I say. Not a happy camper. Had our 39 week visit today. Went well enough. Nothing new to report, unfortunately. Birthcare doesn't do "exams" on a weekly basis, just at the 36 and 40 week visits. I did opt for one today, since contractions have been no stranger in our household, just never develop into anything further. The result of said exam: nothing new. Absolutely no change from 36 weeks. Our midwife tried to be encouraging, though... :) She said, "Things are definitely in motion, and with how things went last time, it's all going to happen at once, so don't worry about it," etc, etc...

Anyways, I shouldn't have asked for anything extra. The fact that nothing has happened in three weeks does more to frustrate me than encourage me, that's for sure. Monday will be here soon, and if Jess Jr. hasn't come by then, well, I doubt I'll be the happiest camper on the block.

And that's all I've got. Just wanted to get the the video post off the top. :)

Oh, and Jeremiah's cold is gone. YAY!

Yup, now that's all I've got.

Jeremiah's Favorite Vids

In case you were curious, and to save me some trouble when he wants to sit on my lap and watch Youtube videos. So here we go!

A classic--Dramatic Prairie Dog. Makes Jeremiah laugh everytime!

Laughing Baby--Yet another vid that makes Jeremiah crack up. Always good for those "grumpy" moments.

Numa Numa--This is a recent hit with Jeremiah. Before the Weezer video, he could care less about it. But now, he's even got his own little "Numa Numa Dance" that he does when it comes on. I'll have to try to get it on camera sometime... it's so funny!

Sneezing Panda--Yup, another laugh-inducing video. I love how they're so simple, and he just loves them! Of course, we have to say, "God Bless you!" everytime! :)

Talking Cats--This one and the next one... I don't get it, but Jeremiah thinks they're hilarious. :)

'Twas the night before 39 weeks...

...and all through the house,
Jess was constantly stirring.... since it's impossible to get comfortable nowadays.

Well, so much for rhyming. :) I tried.

And life goes on. In case you were wondering, nope, no baby yet (I know there's at least one or two peoples out there who say to themselves, "I wonder if she had the baby yet, and just hasn't had a chance to post?????" I assure you, you'll know when she arrives. Last time, I was blogging during contractions, so yeah, you'll have the heads up. :)

Yup, tomorrow we're 39 weeks. I don't know what I was expecting, really. I mean, Jeremiah didn't come until his due date, and the average subsequent child comes only 4 days earlier. That would put us on Thursday.... which would mean either Jeremy or Liz would probably win the baby poll (unless they're wayyyyy off on weight and height.... haha, they're almost exactly the same guesses, just a few hours apart. Well, guess it'll be a tight race!) If she wants to be like her big brother and show up on her due date, we'd have a three way tie going, with, I'm guessing, Audrey, our birth assistant winning it all (very close times, but varying weights... I think I may have been off with my lower estimate, but we'll see!) And that's as far ahead as I'm going with the baby poll! Personally, I'm pulling for Sunny to win.... because she guessed tomorrow. :) Although, I'd rather wait 'til Tues or Wed, since the midwives on call for tomorrow are not my first choices. I mean, I'll be glad to have any of 'em catch her, if it means she comes sooner, but if I could choose, I'd rather not have a certain midwife, just because she's been the least friendly to me (though I would still take her over my old OB, anyday!) Hey, when you've got 5 to choose from, you can hope for things like that. Worked out well last time!

THANKFULLY, I think the little girl is finally "stuck". I don't remember if I blogged about it before, but late last week and earlier this week, she started flipping sideways every now and then, only to flip back, head down (though sometimes "sunny side up") a few hours later. This freaked me out, obviously, as you can't push a baby out sideways... It caused quite a bit of stress in my life (added to the stress caused by the whole "IV" thing) and made me pretty miserable. But as of our last appointment, she was definitely head down (though not engaged, which is fine... Jeremiah wasn't either until my water broke,) and she hasn't moved since then. So I think she's finally stuck. Or her head is finally too big to move (maybe it'll be as big as Jeremiah's--15 inches... see, it's not the 10 lbs, 11 oz that makes things difficult--it's the fat head. :) Of course, if 12 minutes of pushing is difficult, then bring it on!)

Other than that, life is good. Well, sorta. Jeremiah's got a cold, still (I'm guessing it's a cold...) and has been running a low-grade fever for the past few days. Tried Tylenol, that didn't help, so we're on to Motrin. While that doesn't seem to really bring down the fever, it does seem to improve his mood, so it's helping at least in that regard. My poor baby. Aside from that, though, life is okay. I'm tired of being pregnant, but at least we know, at most, there's only 3 more weeks! Umm... let's change that to 21 days... doesn't sound so bad. :) I'm trying to keep my plate full, so to speak, to help move things along. Next week (first of Sept.) will be the toughest, probably... I don't have anything going on--our small group will be on hiatus (a.k.a. dissolved....) and our chiropractor is on vacation (not that I live my week to go to the chiropractor, but it's something to do...) so all I'll have is my Birthcare appointment (that takes an hour to drive to, in rush hour traffic,) and.... well, that's it. Kids are back in school, so it'll be pretty quiet. Guess I'll have to take Jeremiah to the mall, get a frappuccino, and let him run around the play area or something. There are three malls within 15-20 minutes, so I guess we'll just make the rounds each day. Or something. Maybe we'll have a baby by then and it won't really matter..... (Oh, Lord, please... help a sister out! :)

We're done with all of our projects, now. I'm glad, and also a little disappointed... Disappointed because now after Jeremiah goes to bed for the night, Jeremy and I just sit around and do nothing... there's just nothing to do. Well, we could be cleaning something, sure, but there's only so much cleaning I can stand in one day. So usually I'm bored. Bored bored bored. I can only read the news, check Slickdeals, and Craigslist for so long, and then it's boring. So then I want to go to bed at 10 (early for us, since we're used to Jeremiah not even falling asleep 'til 9:30, despite us putting him down by 8:30.) When we do go to bed early, I wake up early, which makes for a really tiring morning. All in all, it's a lose-lose situation for me either way. C'mon Jess Jr! Time to be born already!

Life's not all bad, though! I hate posting just one negative thing after another, so here's the chipper side of things: our garden is finally growing! lol, It only took 'til the end of August, but we should have some ripening tomatoes soon, and there's at least one decent size cucumber on the vine! Woo hoo! There are a few other "mystery" plants starting to produce stuff, but we're not sure what it'll be... Only time will tell. But that's been exciting.

Got to see my uncle and his fiance over the weekend. They're getting married in October (awww... Jess Jr will be so tiny! Probably only a month old, at the most!) here in VA, so they came to finalize some wedding details. Surprisingly, Jeremiah went right to both of them! We walked in the house, and my uncle went up to him to say hi, and he put his arms up to be picked up! Weird. Cute, but weird. He's usually more apprehensive around "strangers", but hey, progress made. Then, we went down to the pool where my Dad and Fabienne were hanging out. Jeremiah was pretty anxious to get in the water (only so he could climb out and climb back in... it's his favorite thing to do, hang out on the steps...) so Grandpa and Grandma took him in for a few minutes. At one point, though, he slipped and fell right in front of Fabienne, and raised his arms to her to be picked up (despite the fact that Mommy was just a few feet away.) Awww....

Okay, that was pretty gross... We've started letting Big Fella outside again, since he's thoroughly vaccinated now, and well recovered from his little injury a few months back. So he went outside this evening, and showed up a few minutes ago, wanting to come inside. Jeremy opened the door, and we heard this really loud buzzing sound... "What the heck...." Turns out, he'd caught a cicada, and the thing was chirping and buzzing away in his mouth! Ewww! He then proceeded to spit it out a few times, trying to get downstairs (so he could play with it? wash it down with a drink afterwards? I dunno...) Jeremy finally got him, and his "pet/dinner" back outside where Big Fella proceeded to chomp down mercilessly on the helpless bug. Buzz no more, it did!

So gross.

Not as gross as when he ran in the house back in Tysons with, at three different times, a bird, a mouse, and a baby rabbit all dead in his mouth. Don't let his "innocent" face fool ya.... that cat is a full blown carnivore... Maybe he'll take out the ground hog that's been eating our garden, next... One can hope, but I think that may be asking too much--that guy's pretty big, after all.

Alright. That's a good update, I think. So yeah, just keep checking in here for news! You'll be the first to know that way. :) Have a great week, everyone!

This is neat.

Ran across this while flipping through a baby magazine. It's called "Cozy Wedge" and it's an alternative to the crib bumper.

From their website:

Traditional crib bumpers look great, but they have drawbacks. Some safety organizations say padded bumpers pose a SIDs risk. They can also help babies climb out of a crib. Plus, they make changing the sheets a big hassle!

CozyWedge bumpers fit snugly around the crib, won't slip down and are easy to remove for sheet changing. They cushion the crib for your baby but they have a safer, firm surface that won't form a pocket around a baby's mouth and nose. The shock-absorbing foam is the same foam used in swimming noodles, and is totally nonabsorbent, CFC-free and odorless. The slipcovers are completely washable.

If I hadn't spent 4 hours a month ago sewing a new cover for a hand-me-down crib bumper, I would so pick one of these up! They are a little pricey ($60), but I think it's worth it. They have a bunch of cool patterns and colors, so there's something for everyone. I think it's only available for purchase via their website at the moment, though (well, and a few boutique baby stores, nowhere near us.) Ah, I'll give it some time--maybe by #3, there will be a few copycats at a more justifiable price (or someone will get it for us, since by #3, we really won't need ANYTHING, 'cept for a babysitter, every now and then.)

Cool indeed.

Ah well...

Today's been a busy day.

Jeremiah and I headed off to my Mothering Matters small group, first thing this morning. I wasn't quite "all there" though. Didn't sleep well, and one of the first things Jeremiah did was knock over my freshly poured glass of orange juice--all over a white carpet! Thanks, Jeremiah... Needless to say, I was a bit distracted the rest of the group. And tired. You know how your body just hurts when you've slept too long? Just aches and pains all over, when you should feel your best, bright and refreshed? Yeah, that was me this morning, after sleeping for 8.5 hours. And of course, I could have slept longer. So I've given up trying to go to bed early anymore... There's no point. At least when I only sleep 6-7 hours, I feel okay when I wake up. There's always that afternoon nap to finish off what I missed during the night.

After group, we went to lunch with "Miss" Liz and Rachel, where Jeremiah proceeded to throw more things on the floor, including his shoes. The kid has no problem kicking them off when he's in a shopping cart, or high chair, but ask him to remove them upon entering the house, and he'll struggle all afternoon until you come to his rescue. I was definitely ready to go by the time our server brought our check back. In my haste to leave, though, I left his stacking cups on the table (it was a bit chaotic... our server didn't do a very good job clearing stuff away after it was empty... why I still tipped him well, I dunno... guess it's a habit.) They were only a buck, so I guess it's no biggie. Just kinda annoying that I have to get another set when this one was only a few days old. But I digress...

Tried to nap when Jeremiah napped, but didn't have a very successful time at that. Guess it was from all that sleep last night. :) At least Jeremiah got a decent nap in. Lately, he's been sleeping only an hour or so, when he normally sleeps 2-3. So today was nice... I just wish I had done more with that time he was asleep. And if I had found something else to do, I would have wished I'd napped instead. Quite the problem to have, eh? :)

Jeremy came home, we did stuff, blah blah blah. We'll just skip to the end--all this so I can get to the main topic of my post: the spa is only 85 degrees. Yup. That's it. Apparently, it turns off after a certain amount of time... I'm not sure exactly how much time, but this is a fact I was familiar with. I just wish I had remembered, so I could turn it back on before it started getting cold. It heats the water about a degree an hour, so by tomorrow it'll be back up to where it needs to be. But for tonight, no relaxing in the spa for me. BOO!! I was really looking forward to it. Sewed some diapers tonight, and after leaning over a sewing machine (while sitting on the "comfortable for 30 minutes, no more" dining room chair) I was ready to relax in the spa for a few minutes before bed. But alas, it was not meant to be.

The great irony in all of this would come with a surprise appearance tonight by Jess Jr. That would be "perfect", wouldn't it? Go through all this trouble of buying/setting up/maintaining a portable spa, only to have it be of little use for its main purpose--a midwife's "epidural". Actually, tomorrow night would be perfect timing for her to arrive. The spa will be warm again, and Marsha will be on call. Though the midwife on call right now, Regina, is working with the new midwife, Sheila, whom I like very much (based on my few conversations with her, at least.) So that wouldn't be bad. But the spa's not warm yet, and by the time it is, they may be at another birth, which would mean we'd get the backup, of whom I'm not that fond. In the end, though, it probably won't matter which midwife we get. After all, they're here to support me, and criticism doesn't help labor progress (not that they've been critical, really, it's just perceptions and tone from the past that I've been less than thrilled with.)

Anyways, I've kinda given up hope for a birth this week. I think next week is more likely. And that's okay. She's going to come when she's ready to come, even though I'd love for her to come earlier. And I just don't have the energy/drive to try the top two natural labor inducers (I'll let you look 'em up....) So we'll wait, and hope she at least comes by her due date. If she doesn't... well, ask me about it then. I'd rather not go there right now. :) Let's just hope and pray that Grandma's guess is WAYYY off! And while we're at it, Ali/Chris, and Harmony, too. What're you trying to do to me???? :)

Okay... I'm pretty tired now, so off I go! What's the forecast for tomorrow... High of 82?! That's it?! Well, I'm not driving out to Warrenton to go swimming in low 80's temps... Good day to walk to the farm, though! The Farmer's Market will be up and running. We'll see. Could be nice. Doesn't look like very much hot weather from here on out--most highs in the low-mid 80's, one or two days in the high 70's??!! Maybe I typed in "Calgary, AB" instead of "Herndon, VA".... Oh, nope, nevermind, their highs are in the more "seasonal" range the next 10 days (though 59 for a high in August just seems weird... But then again, weather is a strange thing...) I guess fall wants to come a little early this year, since spring decided to start back in March! Geez, I hope this doesn't mean a frigid winter ahead of us... I prefer the more mild types (and no snow after Christmas. Up til then, no problem. But that's it!)

What was I talking about?? Oh yeah, going to bed. G'night!

Yay!

All done!

Finally, after weeks of planning and and working, we have finished our bedroom!

Well, not quite entirely... I still need to put some curtains up, and maybe get some art up as well. But for now, it's done.

Many thanks to my awesome parents, who gave up their Saturday to come help us do the last bit! It partially my Moms fault, anyways, that it took so long. I had a mediocre plan of attack, she had a much for fancy solution. Of course, fancy always takes a little more work, but we were able to pull it off! YAY!

We've also finished the nursery. Not that it was waiting for a lot, but we had to wait for a mattress from my parents (which my Mom and I picked up today while my Dad and Jeremy went to Home Depot for bed stuff.) Once we had that, we could pick out a skirt for the crib, and set it all up! It looks so cute! But, no pics right now, because we also set up the spa in there, and it doesn't look good. Functional, yes, but I'll be glad when the birth is over and we can move it out.

It is nice for right now, though! Jeremy and I have been in it a couple of times, and it's so much nicer than the Aqua Doula we had last time. For one thing, because it's inflatable, it's way more comfortable than sitting on the floor. There's a bottom cushion, and the sides are cushioned, so I can actually hang on to the sides during contractions this time, instead of using a pool noodle. Also, it's heated (the Aqua Doula only maintained heat, it didn't heat it up,) which is very nice, indeed. But yeah, it's ugly. :)

Well, Michael Phelps is about to try for his 8th Gold right now, so I'm gonna go. But before I do, I just wanted to say we had a nice date last night. :) The "Friday Night Date Nights" are on, and last night, we had dinner at Ruth's Chris (thanks to some credit card points that I won't be accumulating anymore of...) We even PAID someone to watch Jeremiah (well, sit here and make sure he slept soundly, at least...) which is a first. But it was a nice time. And boy was it a good meal. YUMMY! We had the mixed grille, which had a 4 oz filet, crab cake and chicken breast (among other stuff, but that was the main stuff.) The filet and crab cake were AWESOME! The chicken breast... eh, meh. Coulda done without. But yes, it was all delicious, and we were both SUPER STUFFED when we left. It was just nice to get out and enjoy a nice meal without Jeremiah. We'll have to come up with something else yummy and fun for next week (if there's no baby...) but it'll be tough to top that!

Okay, time to go. :) Thanks again to my parents for all their help (and all the baby stuff!!) My to-do list just got a lot shorter (just need to finish fixing all my diapers!)

Cat Eating Spaghetti

Oh my goodness, I laughed so hard when I saw this...

Unfortunately, the hysteria did not cause my water to break. But the clip is still funny!

Take it, Joel McHale!!

Whatcha doin', Jemiah??

I'm not sure if he's doing his "Daddy at Work" impression, or his "Daddy *ahem* 'at Work'" impression... if ya know what I mean. :) Either way, like how he learned to use his Sit n' Spin as a stool (thanks to Uncle Stephin....) Not the surest footing, but it sure is cute (until he tries get off and it spins out from underneath him...)

Can ya tell he wasn't thrill that I interrupted him? Guess he was "busy". Mommy's bad! :)

No baby yet.

I know, we've only been full term a couple of days. I wasn't expecting a baby by now--maybe hoping, but not expecting. But I have to preface our posts with that now, since I know there are people who will see a new post and automatically assume that it means baby time! I can't even call my Mom anymore without her asking, "What's happening?!" as soon as she answers. Oi... it's going to be a long three weeks. :)

And wouldn't ya know it, now that we're full term, no action, whatsoever! Aside from the "contractions" I kept waking up to Sunday night (we still weren't 'technically' full term at the time... well, I guess we kinda were, but not really... anyways,) nothing's been going on. Even the braxton hicks have backed off! What gives?! And before, I couldn't carry a load of laundry without cramping up, and today, we walked to the park, and nothing! I haven't been able to walk to the park in a month, because I would get so achy and crampy! I don't know if it's that my body is just "getting used to being pregnant" and that's why it's been so "quiet" or if it's the calm before the storm... Only time will tell! I just find it odd that I've been miserably uncomfortable the past couple of months, and now when it's expected, it's almost non-existent (comparitively speaking... maybe I'm the one getting used to it...)

I guess that's good. I've been blah long enough. Might as well enjoy the time I have left--I do feel much less stressed about it, now that she can come anytime. Before, there was always that worry that she would want to come early, which would mean going to the hospital. But now, she's safe whenever she's ready! So I can focus on other things rather than "why did that hurt? what did that mean?" etc, etc.

There has been a little hiccup that I'm really irritated about... One of my tests came back "positive" which now means I'll have to have an IV during labor and delivery, so I can have antibiotics. BOOOO!!!!! Part of the whole reason I wanted to have a homebirth (back when we decided to go that route with Jeremiah) was because I didn't want to have a needle stuck in my hand the whole time! So much for that. It's not like I'll be stuck to the whole thing, though. They'll put it in, and get the antibiotics going for the first 20 minutes, and then that's it until 4 hours later (never made it that long with Jeremiah.) But still... I've had an IV in before, and it's no fun! I know all the other Moms who had hospital births are probably thinkin', "Oh please, suck it up." :) Yeah, I know, I'm being a baby about it, but what can I say... You have this vision of what your birth is going to be like (in my case, I imagine it will be very similar to Jeremiah's) and then someone throws a wrench in your plans... Yeah, if I were in a hospital, it wouldn't be a big deal--that's just the way they do things. But because IV's aren't normally part of the homebirth procedure (since we get to eat and drink as we please, and there are no 'drugs' for them to administer [other than antibiotics, at least.... grrr...]) it's just a bummer for me. But I'll deal! I'll suck it up, and try to not let it bother me. Grrr.... still stinks.

And that's about it. I don't plan on talking about this stuff everytime I post. But I thought I'd throw that out there about feeling better, since I know my last few posts have been less than chipper". I'm looking forward to it, but am definitely more relaxed than I was last week.

Pray for a Thursday or Saturday delivery! :) The midwife we had with Jeremiah, Marsha, is on call those two days... We'd love to get her again (though the first two were both Sunday births, which would mean someone else, mostly the couple of midwives I care the least for, but what're ya gonna do...) so when I have to make the call, I'll be praying like last time, "Please let it be Marsha or Erin!" [Erin's now gone, unfortunately, and her replacement, whom I do like a lot, isn't doing any births yet while she gets acclimated to the BirthCare climate...] and lo and behold, it was Marsha! Woot! We'll see if we get that lucky again this time... I'm sure it'll be fine whomever we end up with.

And that's about it. I should get to my "Master To-Do List B.B. (before baby)." It's a bunch of little things that I'd like to get done before Jess Jr makes her grand entrance (a few "musts" like setting up the spa [ahhh... that sounds so nice right now...] and washing the last of her clothes [mostly because the sheets for our pack and play are in there, and that's where she'll be sleeping during her first few weeks/month or so.]) Some of it's fun stuff--I'm trying to get Jeremy to "reserve" our sitter for the next three Fridays, so we can have "date nights". Not planning on doing anything big and long. Just want to get outta the house, sans Jeremiah, a couple more times before it becomes far more difficult to do. And it'll give me something to look forward to all week... help get me through the daily grind of still being preggers. :) We may have to up it to twice a week if we make it to 40 weeks, though... I don't think we will, but I kept saying that about Jeremiah, too and look what happened there.... Yeah....

Okay, so let's see... laundry, diapers, naptime. Sounds like a good way to spend the rest of my "lunch break" (Jeremiah's naptime. :) Well, minus the first two. :) It's gotta get done, though! Off I go.

Here we go!

In a few hours, we'll be considered FULL-TERM!! Woot!

So anytime, in the next 5 (!) weeks, Jess Jr could appear... I can finally relax, and stop worrying about her coming too early (there were times when I really thought this would be the case... Braxton Hicks this time around aren't very friendly...) So now... we wait. Will it be this week??? No one in our baby poll seemed to think so. Next week??? Probably more likely, but again, might still be early. The week after??? Far more probable. On her due date????? Well, I hope not, but if she really wants to be like her favorite big brother, that's what she'll do!

Right now, I'm trying to gather the rest of our birth supplies into one place. Stuff like trash bags, sandwich bags (for ice packs--you figure out where they'd be needed, :) flashlight, a phone book, etc, etc, etc... Our room isn't quite ready yet--we still have all our furniture in there (put the new stuff together, and haven't moved the old stuff out...) Hopefully that'll get taken care of tonight. And my last big home project, our headboard, is almost done. Jeremy wired the "recessed lights" (really, they're just cabinet lights on a wood panel,) and just needs to attach it to the ceiling. I need to sew the curtains for it (just edging it all, so it looks a bit more polished,) and attach all the panels to the wall--done! Yeah, that'll be tomorrow's project, I'm sure.

Our birth assistant, Audrey, is stopping by tomorrow, to make sure we've got everything ready and in place. We met the rest of her team (she works with two other birth assistants, in case she's already at a birth, or has to go out of town, or whatever...) on Saturday in Arlington. They're all really nice, so we're comfortable with anyone, even if Audrey can't make it (she's wayyyy closer, though... the other two are in Maryland, so if this gal decides to come during rush hour and Audrey can't make it, we may have a baby by ourselves! Well, a midwife would be coming, too, but most of them are in Maryland as well... Let's hope for another night/weekend baby!) It'll be all good. :) The chances of that happening are slim--it would make for an exciting story, though! Good one to tell the grandkids, someday...

Hung out with the family yesterday. My Mom had a "High Tea" at her church, so I went to that while my "boyz" hung out with the other "boyz". It was a nice, casual time, and of course, Grandma got to see her favorite #1 grandson! Needless to say, they're very exciting about #2's arrival, though I think part of it may have to do with the fact that they would get to hang out with Jeremiah for a whole week when it happens (that's how long they've offered to take him, so we can get adjusted to life with #2--are we blessed, or what??!)

Today was a nice, but tiring day. We went to bed late last night, and had to get up early for church--I'm glad we did. Our lead pastor is still on summer break, so they had the director for The House ministry in SE DC, Steve Fitzhugh, come and speak, and he was really good. Like Ricky Bolden, he's another former NFL player and very entertaining. I think it's great that these men (and there are lots more of them) have used their positions in the NFL to minister to people today, now that they're out. This guy does not have an easy job--SE DC can be argued to be the WORST side of DC. The kids he works with have not had an easy life, that's for sure. I don't even want to have to drive though it, let alone stop to work in it. So kudos to him!

Anyways, it was very good, and of course, is available on Mclean's website, if you want to hear it. We had to rush out afterwards, though, because we were having folks over for lunch shortly after. I told ya it was a busy weekend!! :) We hadn't seen Jeremy's friend from the olden days, Andie, and her family in almost two years! So it was nice to finally see them again, and see how Jeremiah and her son, Mateu, interacted with each other (they got along really well! It was cute to watch!) I was beat afterwards, and took a little nap. And here we are! Ready to go!

Well, that's enough procrastination... Time to get these last few things gathered, maybe put a few diapers together, and MAYBE get the old furniture outta our room, so we have room to walk again... yeah, we'll see.

Hope everyone has a good week! Like last time, I plan on posting here when the "action" starts, so if you don't see anything new here, then nothing is happening. I have a far better camera phone this time around, so expect newborn shots soon after I catch my breath. :)

3 More Days!

Pretty crazy to think about, but in as few as three days, our little family could expand to include a little girl. Time flies, huh??!

Had our 36 week visit yesterday, and got all the "cool" stuff--oxygen tank, some sugical antiseptic, ointment for baby's eyes, etc. We now have all of our supplies in place! We'll see our birth assistant tomorrow, and hopefully schedule a visit for her to come and inspect everything (duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhhn!) Then, we just... wait. And wait and wait and wait!

Hopefully, though, Jess Jr does not want to be exactly like her big brother, and decides to come a couple of weeks early. She doesn't have to come Monday, but Thursday would be nice. Then Grandpa would be off for a long weekend, and could take Jeremiah without using up too much of his vacation time (though I think he wants to take it anyways...) But we'll see--she'll come when she's ready, that's for sure! I'd like to think that all the cramping I've been enduring lately was a sign that she's getting ready to show up soon, but I could just be in for a long, uncomfortable 3 more weeks. Ah well.

Lot more going on this time around, though, then with Jeremiah, baby wise. I was barely a fingertip dilated at 36 weeks with him, but am slightly moreso this time around. Also "softening" up, again, moreso than with Jeremiah. So could this mean an early appearance?? Hmmm... I don't know! Only God does!

What I do know is that I'm getting kinda sick of these substitute midwives at all of our visits. I've met all those who would be on call when Jess Jr shows up, but I always feel like the subs are trying to prove themselves to us, even though they don't have to. The gal we had yesterday kept bringing up the fact that Jess Jr is currently laying on my right side and not my left (she knew this because of where she heard the cord and then the heartbeat--when you hear the heartbeat through the cord, it has more of a "whooshing" sound. When you've found the chest, it's more "clicky". Hmm... had no idea. Good to know.) This knowledge of her position seemed to worry Jeremy more than me. She said, "you need to do pelvic rocks so she'll get on the correct side!" Well, I haven't been, and I know it's good, but I didn't really do it with Jeremiah either, and he came out just fine. I guess babies tend to deliver more easily if they're on the left vs. the right, but I think Jeremiah was ROA (right-occipital-anterior or something...) and he came out in 12 minutes. So if I get her to flip to the left side, would that mean she could possibly come out in 6??? Maybe it would be worth it after all! :)

I don't really appreciate it, though, when these sub midwives go on and on about things that really aren't important. The last one kept trying to tell me to start pumping immediately after breastfeeding, to help increase my supply (so we wouldn't have issues like last time.) Well, y'know, she's probably in that "there's no such thing as a supply issue" camp, but I can tell you with certainty, that there is! I tried EVERYTHING with Jeremiah to make it work, and it still didn't. And I had been in that other camp up until that point, and you know what??? It depressed me and made me feel like a bad Mom. Jeremy can tell you, those first 3-4 weeks before I went to the lactation consultant, I was absolutely miserable. What kind of Mom can't provide nutrition for their baby??? Thank GOD for formula, is all I can say. I have a much healthier outlook towards breastfeeding this time now, and I won't allow it to rob me of the joy that comes with being a new Mom. But yeah, don't tell me I didn't do enough, and try to give me "suggestions" that I know won't help. Don't make me feel like less of a woman because my body can't do what I think it should be able to do.

ANYWAYS! That was a bit of a rant. :) On to happier things.

Jeremy's home today--he surprised us last night by saying he was taking off today. Would be funny if he went to work on Monday, only to turn around and come home because baby decided to come really early. :) We're supposed to be getting some stuff done, but we've got a busy weekend ahead of us, so if we only get the essentials dealt with, that'd be fine with me. We do need to install the infant carseat (though Jeremiah has been enjoying using it as his own personal recliner...) and "make our bed" (clean sheets, water-proof liner, old sheets, ready for baby to come!) and I would LOVE to finish our bedroom (we're in the middle of making a headboard for our bed... it's mostly done, but there's a more complicated aspect to it that my parents offered to help with... but they're busy people, so who knows when they'll be able to come over and do it.) We'll see. I'd rather not have all these little projects still waiting in the wings. But what can ya do??

Well, posting here isn't going to help get anything done, so I shall end this now. More after the busy weekend! Have a good one! :)

The view from 3 a.m...

Okay, so, I wasn't going to say anything... I wasn't going to mention the pain in my hips that I constantly wake up with, or other ailments that seem to be trying to take the 'joy' out of pregnancy.

But then I get woken up by heartburn so bad, I have it my dreams, after triumphantly getting to bed before midnight. Jeremy's in Boston, so I had to drag myself outta bed to get some Tums. Few min later, I'm back to sleep, but not for long! An hour later, I was awake again, looking for more Tums and hoping the pain that had taken up residence in my hips was just a bad dream (it wasn't).

Now, I'm hoping that moving all of my pillows behind me will enable me to get more sleep than the eight Tums I've taken have allowed so far, but I'm not very optimistic.

I hope no one is actually reading this right now, because you're all asleep. But if you are, please say a little prayer for me (and know that I've done the same for you.) I just want to sleep...

:(

Congratulations, Kris & Glen!

They've got a new baby girl!

Cadence Louise entered the world on July 30th, 2008 at 2:19 a.m. in Hawaii! She weighed 6 lbs, 3oz. As far as I know, everyone is doing well!

Glen, Big Brother Cody & Cadence

Congrats, guys! Try to get some sleep! :)

No more free drinks on US Airways

Not that they're my first choice for airlines, but sometimes ya have no choice. Luckily, it sounds like many other full cost airlines will follow suit (as opposed to discount airlines, like Spirit, who apparently have been charging for years.)

Yet another reason to bring a box of chocolates on board with you, for the flight crew. If we regularly get free booze as a result, I'm sure a drink of water here or there would be no problem.

More Here

J*o*k*e*r's M*a*g*i*c T*r*i*c*k

Found this on Youtube... It's from THE DAARK K*NIGHT--just a short scene that doesn't make much sense out of context, but it's a great example of Heath Ledger as the J*o*k*e*r. I just hope I don't get in trouble with Warner Bros. for posting it... we'll see!

**Note: Tends to work best in Internet Explorer, but feel free to try other browsers! :)

Game is now LOCKED!

I know I said I would wait 'til 36 weeks, but since we technically only have a month left now (31 days...) and our ticker has moved to the 9 month window, I did it today. Besides, I think that everyone who had planned on guessing would have guessed by now anyways. If for some reason, though, you're one of the few who did not get to guess, and would still like to, email me and I'll make it happen (before Monday.)

Pretty crazy... 10 more days, we'll be full term! No one seems to be expecting this baby early, though--the first guess is August 25th, two full weeks after "full term". So, yeah, I might as well keep on working on my various projects around the house... no rush, it seems. :)

Jeremy and I put together a new chest for our bedroom last night. Don't ya just love Ikea furniture?? It's so great how they can explain exactly how to build one of their pieces with no words at all, just pictures and arrows. That doesn't mean it's not still incredibly frustrating, and takes FOREVER! I think we started around 10:30 last night, and went to bed at 2... Yeah, not fun. One more, though, and that's it! All the new furniture will be complete! Now I just need to make my headboard... Yet another never ending project...

And that's about it. I'm gonna eat some lunch and then go get ready for the day--getting a birthday pedi at 1:45! I don't really feel like going, though... I never do, but am always glad I did afterwards (and my feet will thank me, for sure...) The weekend is turning into a busy one, but it's all good. Helps move things along. :)