Now that might seem wierd as I am just days away from my due date, but I have been measuring small. So I went in to make sure everything was fine with the baby. The baby is measuring small, as far as the ultrasound is concerned the baby's weight estimate is 5 pounds 4 ounces! That's how "big" I was when I was born, but I was a few weeks early, and this one is just about full term. So the baby looks skinny and I have low amniotic fluid, which are all contributing to my small measurements. The doctor said the baby looks fine, just small. He feels it would be better for the baby to be born now. He will be calling my midwife and talk to her about it. So we'll see what happens from here. He knows we are planning a homebirth, and he didn't say that I shouldn't go through with it or anything like that. As a matter of fact he told me good luck and that he hoped the birth would go smoothly. He was a nice doctor, my age AND he's from Rochester! He went to med school in Buffalo, what a small world we live in. So that was neat. It was good to know that the baby is fine, now we just have to convice the baby it's time for it to come out. He did say that there is a phenomena right before the baby is born that it "throws off" water. He said that babies are smarter than we are and they know when they need to be born. So it may be this baby is gearing up to be born very soon. Both my sister and I have picked July 2nd as the baby's arrival. We shall see. I'll fill you all in as to what my midwives say we should do from here. I may just start increasing my herbal formula as it has uterine stimulants in it, but not before I talk to my midwife about it first.
Ok, I'm rambling now. I better make sure the house is in order (I've been keeping it in order, but I did do some sewing last night and that made a bit of a mess), and spend some time with the kiddos. We may go to the lake tomorrow. We've only been there once so far this season and they loved it. It would be a good way to pass some time and have fun with the family.
"Talk" to you all later!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Apron making
Well I saw this apron that someone made on another board and I loved the way it looked. I've wanted an apron that wasn't the bib kind, and was full length. This was it! I made it in two days, with lots of "help". Ha, ha. My nesting has winded down now and I feel like I am living normal life again. I got a ton of meals cooked for the freezer for after the baby is born. I have about two dishes each of the following: lazagna, chicken stuffing casserole, individual pizzas, cresent chicken, breakfast burritos, soft tacos, tuna calzones, beef stoganoff, twice baked potatoes and about 4 breakfasts worth of waffles. Plus about 3 snacks worth of yummy blueberry muffins. I would have had more, but we ate a bunch before I could get them in the freezer! I think we are well stocked. All that will need to be done is pre-heat the oven and pop in a frozen meal and voila, dinner! I wish I had this apron made before all that cooking as there is something about a pregnant tummy being a magnet for food spills.
We just got in Isabella's grammar book the other day. I ordered two school related items for the summer to work on a few things. We didn't do much grammar this year (although her year end test results came back and she tested very high for grammar), so I got a book that is pretty much self teaching. I will read over the information at the top of the page to make sure she understands the concept and then she'll work on the samples. The other item was called Math-it. It is a bunch of tricks and games to help them learn their math facts quickly and easily. I read over it the other day and even I learned some neat short cuts! If she can get a handle on knowing her math facts it will make next years math go sooooo much easier. The funny thing is she is able to pick up on the concepts really easily, but the drudgery of memorizing the math facts makes her work go sooooo slowly! On the other hand, Moira knows her math facts better than Isabella, but she has a harder time learning some of the concepts. Oh well. With Moira I plan on just playing some math war games and work on her reading. She is not as confident in her ability to read. She *can* read, she just thinks she can't. So going over some past lessons and having her read out loud this summer will help her out.
We've been having a lot of rain lately. I mean alot! Over 8 inches just in the past two weeks! Plus there is more on the way. I had been praying for rain as we were actually in drought conditions. But I think the drought is over! So we've been spending a lot of time inside. I am hoping to modify the apron pattern and make one for the girls. Isabella really wants to learn to sew and she would really like to help out making her own apron. She made the beginnings of some pin coushins out of the scraps of fabric I had. She used my sewing machine and is learning how to use it. She did very well.
Well I need to get the kiddos to nap. then I get to relax a bit. Something I will be trying to do more of before this baby comes! Here are the pictures of the apron, plus one of my belly. That baby is growing and is low! It's getting ready to make it's apperance.
We just got in Isabella's grammar book the other day. I ordered two school related items for the summer to work on a few things. We didn't do much grammar this year (although her year end test results came back and she tested very high for grammar), so I got a book that is pretty much self teaching. I will read over the information at the top of the page to make sure she understands the concept and then she'll work on the samples. The other item was called Math-it. It is a bunch of tricks and games to help them learn their math facts quickly and easily. I read over it the other day and even I learned some neat short cuts! If she can get a handle on knowing her math facts it will make next years math go sooooo much easier. The funny thing is she is able to pick up on the concepts really easily, but the drudgery of memorizing the math facts makes her work go sooooo slowly! On the other hand, Moira knows her math facts better than Isabella, but she has a harder time learning some of the concepts. Oh well. With Moira I plan on just playing some math war games and work on her reading. She is not as confident in her ability to read. She *can* read, she just thinks she can't. So going over some past lessons and having her read out loud this summer will help her out.
We've been having a lot of rain lately. I mean alot! Over 8 inches just in the past two weeks! Plus there is more on the way. I had been praying for rain as we were actually in drought conditions. But I think the drought is over! So we've been spending a lot of time inside. I am hoping to modify the apron pattern and make one for the girls. Isabella really wants to learn to sew and she would really like to help out making her own apron. She made the beginnings of some pin coushins out of the scraps of fabric I had. She used my sewing machine and is learning how to use it. She did very well.
Well I need to get the kiddos to nap. then I get to relax a bit. Something I will be trying to do more of before this baby comes! Here are the pictures of the apron, plus one of my belly. That baby is growing and is low! It's getting ready to make it's apperance.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Our Birthingroom
No, no sign of a baby coming yet. I just thought I'd show you all our birth room. Having a home birth means having more responsibility for the whole birth in general. I've had two hospital births and two homebirths so far. Our first homebirth we were a bit nervous of course. Seeing all the things we needed to gather and do for the birth. Which once you've gotten it all done doesn't seem so bad after that. And each one has gotten easier (to put together).
*As a side note to those in the family who have the belief that Jerry is making me have a homebirth against my will......NOTHING could be farther from the truth!!! He was the one that needed convincing. I wanted a homebirth with Moira but he was totally freaked out about the idea and wouldn't even consider it. But I persisted in educationg him on the safety of a homebirth and finally in the lst few weeks of Flannery's pregnancy he agreed. Now he's a total homebirth advocate :-) Much to my delight! I don't have the time right now to pull up all the incredible info on the safety of a homebirth, so for those concerned you can do a google search or wait until I find the time to post such information.*
I have just about two weeks and two days till the due date, so we are getting closer to the big day. I snapped a few pictures of our room to show you what we have set up for the birth. I can never seem to get captions worked out for the pictures. Someday I'll figure it out, but not today. So below you will find pics of the birth pool. Last time around we bought just a regular kiddie pool that worked great except for a few small details. Those details being that Jerry and the assistant midwife couldn't reach me to help me keep my legs back while pushing (I've been wanting a waterbirth ever since I was pregnant with Isa, and haven't had one for one reason or the other.) The other being that the sides were not meant to support a very pregnant woman in labor and we had a minor flood in our bedroom! Soooo this time around we went with a pool that was more designed for a water birth. Much more expensive than a kiddie pool, but I am hoping that this is the ticket to having a water birth. The other pics are of the paper bags filled with the towels, washclothes and receiving blankets. One of the exercise ball that I will use as a birthing ball. Then the last are of the top of my dresser that has the rest of the birthing supplies. I have it covered now and will uncover it on the day of the birth, to keep dust and little hands off the stuff.
*As a side note to those in the family who have the belief that Jerry is making me have a homebirth against my will......NOTHING could be farther from the truth!!! He was the one that needed convincing. I wanted a homebirth with Moira but he was totally freaked out about the idea and wouldn't even consider it. But I persisted in educationg him on the safety of a homebirth and finally in the lst few weeks of Flannery's pregnancy he agreed. Now he's a total homebirth advocate :-) Much to my delight! I don't have the time right now to pull up all the incredible info on the safety of a homebirth, so for those concerned you can do a google search or wait until I find the time to post such information.*
I have just about two weeks and two days till the due date, so we are getting closer to the big day. I snapped a few pictures of our room to show you what we have set up for the birth. I can never seem to get captions worked out for the pictures. Someday I'll figure it out, but not today. So below you will find pics of the birth pool. Last time around we bought just a regular kiddie pool that worked great except for a few small details. Those details being that Jerry and the assistant midwife couldn't reach me to help me keep my legs back while pushing (I've been wanting a waterbirth ever since I was pregnant with Isa, and haven't had one for one reason or the other.) The other being that the sides were not meant to support a very pregnant woman in labor and we had a minor flood in our bedroom! Soooo this time around we went with a pool that was more designed for a water birth. Much more expensive than a kiddie pool, but I am hoping that this is the ticket to having a water birth. The other pics are of the paper bags filled with the towels, washclothes and receiving blankets. One of the exercise ball that I will use as a birthing ball. Then the last are of the top of my dresser that has the rest of the birthing supplies. I have it covered now and will uncover it on the day of the birth, to keep dust and little hands off the stuff.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
We have housage Huston!
Finallly, it is here! The house that is! They had it sitting on our lot over the weekend and then set it on the foundation yesterday and today. We went over there this evening to check it out. The back door is only a few feet off the ground so we hoisted the girls up and took a look around. The funny thing is that it feels smaller than it looks on the inside. The outside looks monstrous, but inside it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, it;s still a whole lot of room inside, it just doesn't feel like it as there is not a lot of open space, except for the dining/ family room area. The girls were sooooo excited to see their rooms. The front of the house looks out to a bueatiful scene. Unfortunately the pictures do it no justice. So our room, the living room, and the girls' rooms face the front. So we will all have a lovely view to wake up to each day. There is a cabinet in the laundry room that we had no idea would be there, but I love it. It will be soooo nice to have somewhere to put my cleaning things and they will be out of the way. Right now my mop is in the front hall (in our current house, out in the open) and the mop bucket resides in the bathroom, again out in the open. This house was not built with practical living needs in mind.
Things seem to be getting ready for the baby to come. I can tell my hormones are having a hay day! UGH! The baby has dropped as well, although it will be interesting to see if it stays down. But I actually "shrunk". They measure your tummy each visit to see how the baby is growing and as it was I was measuring 4 weeks behind. This week I am measuring a whole centimeter behind what I was last week, putting me 6 weeks behind! Yikes! We feel it is due to the baby dropping and it's position. I am really praying for a small baby, hoping that a small baby will have a small head, making labor a bit more tolerable. I got all my birth supplies now. The girls have been banned from our room as we blew up the birth pool to let it air out and loose that plastic smell. But the girls think it is a bounce toy! I have to say it does look like a lot of fun, but I really don't want to have to make a repair before I even get to use it. Not to mention that this pool will be classified as a "birth pool only". It was a wee bit expensive. The last pool we got for Saoirse's birth was just a kiddie pool and after her birth and a good cleaning the kids used it for the summer, at which time it saw it's full use and was put out with the trash come the fall. But this pool will be packed away for future births. So I thought it would be fun to put up my "predictions" of the outcome of this birth. You can all join in as well. Here is how I think it will go: Birth date: July 2. Gender: boy. Weight: 6lb, 5 oz and length 20 in.
The girls and I made a chain link for the countdown to the baby's due date. They kept asking me multiple times a day when the baby was coming. I told them only God knows that. But they kept asking. So we made a paper chain to count down the days till the due date (which is July 10th). I am praying I do go early or I know I will go crazy with hearing little girls asking me about why the chain is gone, but on baby. I suppose then we will add a link for every day late the baby is.
Ok, it's getting late and I want to add the pics of the house. I think I most will be self explainatory. Some of the kitchen, some bedrooms, the unfinished upstairs.... It's too late for me to make any captions for them. But at least you can get a peek.
Things seem to be getting ready for the baby to come. I can tell my hormones are having a hay day! UGH! The baby has dropped as well, although it will be interesting to see if it stays down. But I actually "shrunk". They measure your tummy each visit to see how the baby is growing and as it was I was measuring 4 weeks behind. This week I am measuring a whole centimeter behind what I was last week, putting me 6 weeks behind! Yikes! We feel it is due to the baby dropping and it's position. I am really praying for a small baby, hoping that a small baby will have a small head, making labor a bit more tolerable. I got all my birth supplies now. The girls have been banned from our room as we blew up the birth pool to let it air out and loose that plastic smell. But the girls think it is a bounce toy! I have to say it does look like a lot of fun, but I really don't want to have to make a repair before I even get to use it. Not to mention that this pool will be classified as a "birth pool only". It was a wee bit expensive. The last pool we got for Saoirse's birth was just a kiddie pool and after her birth and a good cleaning the kids used it for the summer, at which time it saw it's full use and was put out with the trash come the fall. But this pool will be packed away for future births. So I thought it would be fun to put up my "predictions" of the outcome of this birth. You can all join in as well. Here is how I think it will go: Birth date: July 2. Gender: boy. Weight: 6lb, 5 oz and length 20 in.
The girls and I made a chain link for the countdown to the baby's due date. They kept asking me multiple times a day when the baby was coming. I told them only God knows that. But they kept asking. So we made a paper chain to count down the days till the due date (which is July 10th). I am praying I do go early or I know I will go crazy with hearing little girls asking me about why the chain is gone, but on baby. I suppose then we will add a link for every day late the baby is.
Ok, it's getting late and I want to add the pics of the house. I think I most will be self explainatory. Some of the kitchen, some bedrooms, the unfinished upstairs.... It's too late for me to make any captions for them. But at least you can get a peek.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Our 4 divas!
Dresses and winter clothing do not stay put for long in this house. The girls are always trying to dress themselves up. So here are our divas.
We are STILL waiting for our house to be delivered. There has been one delay after another. Each day there is a reason they can not deliver it. Now yesterday was understandable as we got 7 inches of rain!!! So they are supposed to deliver it tomorrow and set it up on monday. I am not holding my breath. They have to get it in sometime I'm sure. But it is starting to feel like we will never move. That's ok as I have enough stuff to get done around here as it is. I have been packing a bit here and there. I am now gearing up to make and freeze a bunch of meals for us after the baby is born. I made up some waffles, bread, and tuna calzones yesterday. Today I plan on making about three or four beef recipes. Thankfully I made up a bunch of potato soup the other day so we can have left overs tonight.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
First Pigtails
Saoirse was born with little hair. At the age of two, she still doesn't have much hair! All her sissies wanted to wear pigtails, and she came up to me with two hair ties to do her hair. Now for the past few days she asks for me to do her hair. The funny thing is that she is my only one who wants her hair done (comparing her to the others at the age of 2), but she doesn't have enough hair! Isabella had an abundance of hair at age 2, but would run at the sight of a brush. Oh well, we just have to work with what we got.
We are almost at the 4 week countdown to baby birthday. So we start the hunt for baby clothes. Washing them. Getting our bedroom ready for the birth. I can't believe it is getting so close. I am really enjoying feeling the baby move around and it always makes me a bit sad to think that soon this child will not be inside of me. But at the same time I am excited to meet this baby and see "who" it is. We are still working on a girls name. We will be testing our theory on our own "gender predictator". My theory is that we only can seem to find a name we really like in one gender. So far that has been a girls name. Except for this baby. The only name I am really loving is a boy's name. So I am predicting that this baby is a boy. But only time will tell if my theory is correct. If it is a girl, I am really hoping a name will pop out to me! I do like one, but it doesn't have that "pull" to me like my other girl's names did. That is how all the boy's names felt to me in the last 4 pregnancies. They just didn't sit right with me. It will be so exciting to see if this baby is a boy or girl.
Well things need to get done and children are asking for me to play with them. So I must be off.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
New pregger pics
Well I thought I would show you all how much I've "blossomed"! Ha! Let's just say that by comparing my last pictures (in the March post) with these will show that I have gained!!! I truely don't think gaining some 35 pounds is very becoming. I look it and FEEL it! I walk a lot more slowly now. But I am also near the end. I will be 35 weeks on monday! I really can't believe it. I'm not sure if I'm ready or not. So many changes happening here that I can't comprehend another big change. Don't get me wrong, I am totally excited to meet this child and see who God has given us! But I seem so scattered brained. I realized that I will need to have everything ready in another two weeks! I bought most of the birth supplies yesterday. I still have to get the birth kit and the pool. Since I will be cutting it close to the 36 week mark I may have to order my 2nd choice of pools. But it will be cheaper. I liked my 1st choice because it was oval which may give me leverage during the pushing stage. We'll see, it depends on how quick they can ship it to me.
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