He's Here!

Noah Eli  arrived safely

October 23, 2013

At 11:04 am

He weighed 7 lb 9 oz

He is 20 inches long

More info to come.

Overdue

No baby yet.......

Apparently he has no desire to leave his cozy warm home.

Yes, I'm relaxed.....I'm ready.......all the baby clothes are washed.........the bassinet is set up..........the car

seat is clean.

Oh, and no, I'm not on purpose trying to frustrate all the dear people who call me almost daily to see if the

baby was born, and I forgot to tell them.

I'm pretty sure he will come when he is ready.

In the meantime I'm being entertained by all the advice I've been getting on how to "jumpstart" labor

 naturally.

Some of it coming from strangers on the street.

Eat spicy food.

Drink castor oil.

Go for a loooong walk.

Relax.....if you just would relax I'm sure he would come tonight. 

Jump rope.

Wash your kitchen floor on your hands and knees.

The list goes on and on, some of these ideas I've tried, {I'm not going to divulge which ones} but so far none

 of them have worked.

Don't worry though.........I won't forget to tell you when he comes.

Updates

I keep thinking I need to update you on foster parenting, and pregnancy, but I'm too lazy to do two separate posts.

Sugar Pea's case is finally moving again.  Birth dad has a termination of parental rights trial coming up in about four weeks!!!!  The miracle that we had been praying for.  In the meantime he hasn't been showing up for his visits which means less trauma for Sugar Pea, and less trauma for me. :)

I'm still pregnant.  Someone told me early on in this pregnancy that you don't really get much bigger the last month or two.....well......they were WRONG.  Suffice it to say that I now walk a little like an overweight goose.

I feel good though--a little tired--but really fairly good.

I have about three more weeks to my official due date.

I looked at the mountain range of ripening tomatoes on my porch last night, and I cried.  Hubby caught me at it, and said I should just give them away.  I stubbornly set my jaw, and shook my head.  Sometimes I think I'm addicted to canning.........

So, there you have it--all the pertinent news around our house.  And probably one or two things that weren't all that pertinent.

Talking To My Tomato Plants

I've been talking to my tomato plants lately.  

They are LOADED with lovely green tomatoes.

But, none of them are turning red.

Unlike my "ever-ripening" middle they seem content to stay little and green.

I've told them I have a baby coming in about two months.

And that I want to start canning tomatoes soon.

I feel this urgency in the very center of my being that the clock is ticking.

I have this list that I'm trying to check off "before baby."

But my tomato plants apparently aren't listening. 

The Home Stretch

I've officially entered the third trimester of this pregnancy, and so far it has been pretty uneventful.

I'm getting larger, and more off-balance--I feel a little like Humpty Dumpty.

My emotions have been a little more out of control lately--so if you see me sniffling don't be worried.

The weird thing is I laugh at stuff almost as much as I cry--something will strike me funny, and my family sits and stares at me like I'm slipping over the edge of sanity.

Heartburn is almost a daily occurrence for me, and my bottle of Tums is my constant companion.

I have a fairly good supply of energy, and feel pretty good most of the time.

So, I'm curious, if you have ever been pregnant, or currently are pregnant, what do you remember about your third trimester?  (Besides labor and delivery.)

Feeling Bulky

Note; if you prayed Wednesday thank you!  There was some positive progress--no real action was taken, but the judge is making a ruling in ten days.  


Pregnancy is starting to feel a little more normal to me.


Sleeping with four pillows, and bumping into things with my belly is an every day experience.


I'm sleeping better at night, and feeling more energetic during the day.


I feel like I have my own personal built-in heater.  We've had a few rather cool nights lately, but I'm warm as toast--probably not something I'll appreciate in July, but for now I'm enjoying it.


I'm drinking coffee again--limiting myself to one cup a day, and also enjoying most foods--what am I saying--I'm enjoying all foods.  My hubby jokes that he has to hurry and clean his plate, or I start eyeing it hungrily.


The baby's movements have changed from feeling like flutters to some slightly alarming flopping, and flipping.
I never get tired of feeling him move though.


I have two friends who are pregnant--one is six weeks ahead of me, and the other is six weeks behind me.  We didn't plan this obviously, but it is a lot of fun to compare notes, and encourage each other.

I left you a hint in this post--did you catch it?

Halfway There

I'm currently at the 20 week mark which makes this pregnancy officially half over.

My brain is in a rather frightful state.  I've never been so absentminded and forgetful in my life.  If I say something rude or thoughtless to you please forgive me---I didn't mean it.  I'm hoping things will get back to normal sometime in the early fall.  :)

We planted part of our garden on Saturday, and it made me feel so good to work outside.  Sometimes I think I'll work outside when my inside work is done, and unfortunately it's rarely completely done.

I'm feeling a lot of activity going on inside me right now.  This little person is busy!

When all the other children are being noisy and active the baby gets really active too.  Apparently it doesn't want to miss out on all the fun. :)

We had an ultrasound on Friday of last week, and decided we wanted to find out the gender of the baby.

What I'm wondering is..........

would all of you like to know, or should I just keep it to myself?  :)

My Point of View...and Hers

Lately I've been reflecting on how different pregnancy is for me--a very blessed, well cared for, mamma  and what it's like for many birth mothers whose children end up in foster care.


When I found out I was pregnant I immediately scheduled my first prenatal visit with a doctor--she often has no prenatal care at all.


When pregnancy hormones overwhelm me I turn to my friends and family for support--she turns to drugs, or alcohol.


I have a large variety of fresh healthy food options in my refrigerator to ease my food cravings--she is doing good to have something....anything to eat.


My husband supports me, and helps me through every high and low of being pregnant--her significant other berates her, and beats her depending on how the mood hits him.


I have new clothes that are comfortable, and expand with my belly--she is forced to borrow her boyfriends clothes, or wear pajamas because she can't afford anything new.


Maybe these things seem minor to you, but they make me realize why many mothers make poor choices in their pregnancies and in their parenting.

 Think about it.  

If you know a single pregnant mother help her, support her, pray for her.  You may be the only person in her life who cares!

Dr. Who?

I don't particularly enjoy going to the doctor.

What I like even less is going to a doctor that I've never met before.

I've had the same family doctor for about 7 years.

He has a good sense of humor.

He acts like you are the only patient he has to see all day.

And I'm comfortable with him.

However........

he doesn't deliver babies anymore.

Apparently he doesn't like crawling out of his comfy bed in the middle of the night, or whenever a baby decides to appear.

I can't really blame him. :)

This means that I have to go to a new doctor for this pregnancy.

I'll call her Dr. M.

She is very nice, and reminds me a little of one of my favorite aunts.

But, she is still not my doctor.

I guess this sounds a little petty........

I'm curious, do any of you mind going to a new doctor, or midwife?

Announcement

Ok, so I promised that I would tell you about the one small thing that has been keeping me from my blog.

I've been so tired--I mean fall asleep in my chair with my children playing around me tired.

I started feeling nauseous a couple weeks ago, and thought I had the stomach flu.

Then I thought maybe I was going through early menopause. ( sorry, I really did )

But the truth is that I'm pregnant!

You can stop laughing now. :)

After fifteen plus years of marriage, and several doctors telling us that it was "extremely unlikely" that I would ever conceive.

I'll try to keep all of you updated--for now the news is this.

I can't drink coffee--it makes me feel ill.

I feel tired--did I mention that already?

Reading things on the computer makes my nausea worse--hence my absence on my blog.

I got to see it's little heart beating yesterday via ultrasound--made me feel so happy!!!!