Tomorrow!

7:30 am tomorrow I'm scheduled to be induced and I am scared out of my mind.

I'm getting more and more nervous about the state of the baby as we go past the due date, so I want to be able to hold her in my arms and know that she's alright.

But, I'm scared and a little unsure since my midwife wasn't 100% set on the idea of having me induced. The alternative is if I was still pregnant friday, I would have to go in for a stress test to check my fluids and other things that could be changing for the worse at this point.

one of the reasons that I want to be induced is because Jeff had to start his vacation time for the baby on Monday, so he's been home for the last two days just getting some honey-do list items done.

But I'm still going to try to get things going myself with stairs and walking, but since that hasn't worked yet . . . .

She said I probably won't have the baby until late afternoon with being induced, so don't expect to hear anything too early tomorrow.

And is it bad that we aren't telling anyone other than my immediate family that we are going in? We don't want family calling all day Thursday to see what's up while we're still at the hospital.

How do I love/loathe thee, let me count the ways!

Pregnancy is an experience. I can't say whether it is a good or bad one . . .but here are a few highlights before I have this baby and forget everything about the pre baby stage.

Pros
- I get to eat whatever I want, and I usually know exactly what I want. I have single-handedly consumed enough oranges to fill a grove, the same amount of avacados that Chipotle says they prep daily for guacamole, and enough slices of cucumbers to . . .well I have no comparison for that one.

- I get away with more things. I park in the visitor parking for the last few weeks under the pretense that if I need to go to the hospital or if someone has to drive me, its easier to find my van.

- I get to take naps.

- Someone is always there to help me.

- Strangers let me go first . . . sometimes.

- Six weeks off from work!

Cons

- I may know what I want to eat, but 90% of it gives me heartburn.

- Maternity clothes are not made with A-B cup, tall women in mind.

- People randomly stop you to ask questions, or just shout at you from across the mall. (Yesterday someone shouted at me from across the food court "GIRL or BOY?")

- The lack of energy to do much of anything in the first and last trimesters.

- Pains in places that shouldn't feel pains . . .

All in all, this pregnancy hasn't been the wonderful thing that I had last time because, well, the lack of new discovery isn't there. I know what's waiting at the finish line and I'm anxious to get to hold my new little girl!

I'm also anxious to get Alaina aquainted with being a big sister. We need to have this baby so that I can quite buying her "big sister" things. Yesterday I bought a digital camera with a gift card that a friend gave us with the full intention of letting her have it in the hospital as a big sis gift.

But like all the other big sis gifts, I give it to her right away because I can't wait to see her play with it. she took 105 pictures in about 20 minutes. It is pretty neat to look and see the world through her eyes.

What I've been waiting for???

So Jeff gave me permission to go into labor this morning. . .

Seriously.

He mentioned how perfect it would be if I went into labor about noon today or tomorrow so that we could be home by Saturday and be able to call both of our parents in time to pick Alaina up from daycare.

Seriously!

The midwife said last night that I was the only one of her patients that was close to being done that DIDN'T go into labor while she was on vacation last weekend.

SERIOUSLY!

Add all of these to the list of things I didn't want to hear today . . . . if I don't have the baby by next Tuesday, she said we could talk about inducing. Hopefully that day doesn't come.

But to help try to keep the smile on my face, here is a pic of Alaina and I making our princess hats this last weekend.

Do you see the button jar Aunt Stacey? This morning we woke up really early and Alaina spent 30 minutes looking at all the different shapes and sizes of buttons. It was like going back in time and watching us at Grams' house.

No baby, but plenty of pity.

Nothing like getting looks of pity from your co-workers everyday as you come in and sit at your desk.

That and the occasional nervous/helpless man comments.

"Just let me know if I need to go boil some water!"

"I used to have an EMT license . . so let me know if you need some assistance!"

"How far away is your hospital?"

The ladies just want to be helpful.

"Let me know if you need anything!"

"Can I grad you something from the cafeteria?"

"Do you have a sitter for Alaina?"

"Call me any time!"

Now the only words that I want to hear are from the Midwife at today's appointment

"Would you like to be induced?"

YES PLEASE!!!!!

(And yes sister, just for you I have waited to have this baby so that I will be on maternity leave for your entire visit in July. I expect lavish gifts, aka flipflops, and a babysitter for at least one nap while you are here.)

A week and counting!

How unfair is it to dream that you have went into labor?

Very unfair.

Almost as unfair as your sister calling you and saying that you can't go into labor yet because she will be coming back for a visit exactly six weeks from yesterday, so hold off on the labor thing so that she can see the baby.

I hope she is volunteering to babysit during that time.

I'm ready to have this baby so that I can get some sleep.

hey now . . . STOP LAUGHING!

Seriously,
I want to be able to sleep instead of toss and turn all night long and get up every hour for a bathroom break or snack.

At least with a baby I'll get a few hours of good solid rest in between feedings.

Not to mention it will be a lot easier to get things done around the house. I have no energy to cook and have been living out of a laundry basket of clean clothes for a week and a half.


If I go late, I'll pity those around me. I'm getting less pleasant by the day.

TIme off for bad behavior, please?

Its time.

or at least I really want it to be time.

The midwife says that the baby is as low as the baby can possibly go, but that doesn't mean things are going to happen any time soon.

So I'm taking matters into my own hands.

Ever heard that energy drinks could start labor? Well I'm having Juice Stop put energy supplements in my morning smoothie (please hold your gasps of astonishment and criticisms)

And how about taking the stairs? Yep, I did my first set of hustling (not to be confused with running) up and down four flights of stairs at work. I'll probably do this 3-4 times a day.

And lots and lots of bouncing, plies, jumping anything that I can think of.

And it doesn't help that I have this insane craving to go running.

Seriously, all I want to do is strap on some running shoes and just move!!!

Its not that I'm sick of being pregnant, although I'm ready to feel a lot cooler during the day, but work has just taken a big dive and I don't want to be here anymore.

Heaven help me go into labor today!

Food, Glorious Food!

The cravings are killing me!

At least this time they are cheaper than the last pregnancy.

I MUST have two McD's plain biscuits with honey in the morning.

After that I start to crave any of the following. . .

- Oranges, but not just any orange. A cara cara pink orange. They are in season in winter so I have no idea what I will do when they dissappear from the produce section.

- Cheetos puffs. This craving is mild, I don't need many, but between Jeff and I we can plow through a bag very quickly.

- Chocolate milk. But it has to be the stuff that is premixed and sold as Chocolate milk. For some reason (I'm sure I don't want to know) it tastes better.

- And always ready to sneak up on me is the rare craving for a steak. It is rare, but when it hits. I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!

Of course to go along with this are the foods I feel queasy about eating.

- Eggs. I'm not sure what it is, but I can only stand the thought of hard boiled eggs at this point. None of this scrambled stuff, thank you very much. For some reason even the thought of smelling eggs cooking is enough to make me feel a little green.

- Fish - I thought fish sounded good the other day. Wrong! I'm thinking this is now to be avoided because it did NOT sit well.

I'm thinking the two avoidances are leftover morning sickness things. I once read that some scientists think that morning sickness is an evolutionary thing that is designed to keep mothers from eating foods that could compromise the development of the fetus early on.

And yes, Mimi, you told me this once too. ; )

Maybe I should just give in and drive home quickly to get a travel cup of Chocolate and bring back that Cara cara sitting on the table. . . .

The Good, the bad, and the Ugly. . .

The Good:

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

The Bad:

DAYCARE RATES WENT UP!!!

The Ugly:

Jeff and I spent an hour after Alaina went to bed sitting on the couch reading the books we picked up at the library. Jeff was reading Stephen Colbert's "I am America, and So Can You!" and I was reading Nina Garcia's "The 100: A guide to the pieces every stylish women should own." We took turns reading outloud things that we thought were interesting and funny and I can to one conclusion . . .

I have no fashion sense.

I cringed at half of the things mentioned in Nina's book. I have no desire to own a designer purse, a hobo bag, espadrilles or a kaftan. Yep, I am doomed. I think I had about 5 things on the list.

My fashion sense is ugly!

I liked all the little tips in the book about accesorizing. I think that I could make/buy a few of the essentials, but the few things that I really took to heart where the recommended coats. I still have to repair my peacoat from 1998 to wear again because they are THAT CLASSIC!

And starting next year, the search is on for the perfect trench coat.

Big Weekend leads to big weekday . . .

This was supposed to be my weekend to be the big event planner for Alumni . . .but I didn't get near as much completed as I wanted too . . . but I did get three more addresses.

I now only need 3 addresses, 2 of which are probably one call away . . .

I need to send out an announcement letter by Monday Jan 19th as a save the date.

I need to remember to bring home tylenol from work.

It was an aches and pains weekend. I can't seem to shake the nasty backache and headache that are plagueing me this pregnancy. It may just be rose colored glasses and all that, but I don't remember having this many aches and pains last time.

At least not this early, ANYWAY . . .

We have a great potty training weekend! Lots of trips to the toilet, not a single poopy pull-up. And we were rewarded with many treats and MPH pieces.

And to top it all off . . . we watched Snow White for the first time. It wasn't as scary as I remembered it for a 2-going-on-14-year-old I guess, but a few questions were brought up that I had to ponder before I answered.

Asked after the Queen transforms into the old hag-
Q: Where's the queen?
A: She's dressed up as the old lady to be sneaky.

Asked after the Queen falls off the cliff-
Q: Where did the queen go?
A: She went away. The dwarves made her go away because she wasn't being nice.

How did I do?

Oh and today is the big baby day. ULTRASOUND! Hopefully the little one cooperates and we get a good picture. If I can I'll update this post later today . . .

"If you weren't pregnant . . ."

is the most horrible phrase uttered by a physician.

"If you weren't pregnant, I could give you a strong antibiotic for that, but instead here are some horse pills . . . take 4 of them a day for ten days."

"There would be a one day pill you could take for that if you weren't pregnant. But instead, here's a prescription for two pills a day and a topical cream for that . . . which you should use for 7-10 days."

Maybe the next worse phrase is . . . and you might want to avoid having sex for a while.

Don't they realize I've got at least four weeks of that coming after I have the baby?!?

Shame on them . . .

Post Turkey tiredness

Turkey and pregnancy do not make for a very merry me.

I had a great time with family today . . .
at least the time that I was mentally accounted for. . .

At one point my aunt was sitting across the table and asked me a question (and it wasn't loud or anything in the room) and my brain didn't even register anything until I heard my mom say . . . "Sorry, she's check out."

Geez.

And then I just get word vomit. . . .

Did I really just say that? Nuts!!

Of course the highlight of my evening was the discussion on breastfeeding. I don't think I've ever heard my Grandma talk about something so personal . . but she just jumped headfirst in the conversation sharing her two bits.

Go Grandma!!

It was a tired lot that slowly departed our house. But a merry lot of adults, children and pets.

And share the news with whomever you meet over the next six months. I'm not the kind of person to care. My only desired it to tell the siblings, parents and grandparents myself.

Mission accomplished. Package due to arrive June 5, 2009.

Just two weeks after the ten year high school reunion, officially making me "the fat one."

Just Kidding

Happy U.S.A. Turkey Day!!!

Secret Crush?

So I had a dream last night. . .

A very messed up dream.

I was feeling a little achy after the part time job (the DM was coming for a visit so I had to stay and help tidy until almost 10 pm) so I took so Tylenol pm to help me sleep.

But I had forgotten about the latte I drank at 6 pm to charge me up and apparently lattes and Tylenol pm do not mix.

I had one of those strange sci-fi "where did everyone go" / Armageddon / monster / deadly machine / blazing hero dreams.

Which always leave me a little confused the next morning, because to me its like watching the middle of a sci-fi movie and getting really into it, but since you didn't see the beginning you really want to know what happens in the end . . but the satellite goes down!

However the most confusing part was actually the hero

Aaron Eckhart

Okay so he's a good looking actor, but he's never been at the top of my list dreaming of you actors. Sorry but Gerard Butler take the cake for that list followed closely by Christian Bale.

(Which reminds me, I've been meaning to write that fan letter to Gerard thanking him for being so good looking that dreaming of him helped get me through my third trimester.)

Back to Aaron, I'm just not that into his Gaston like dimpled chin and blond surfer looks.

But apparently my subconscious would disagree. I was even shocked enough to mention it to Jeff. I've alway went by the policy to not mention my leading dream boys to my real life leading man but I felt this was an exception I needed to make. He thought maybe it was because we recently saw Batman, but then why didn't I get Christian Bale?


Oh well, the mind is an amazing thing and a good looking man in a dream is a terrible thing to waste!

Babies! Babies Everywhere!

I called a friend last night and left her a voice mail that went something like this . . . "Hi. The last time we went this long without talking, I called and you were 3 months pregnant, so I'm just wondering what's new with you?" She called back five minutes later and I answered my phone "Are you pregnant?" She said, "As a matter of fact I am." Just goes to show what your friends know about you! That make it three people pregnant that I know about (not all are family so don't get your hopes up people!) Jeff just got a second interview for a job at work that would put him on the day shift. I can only dream what it might be like to have him at home during the evening. I'm trying not to get my hopes up by planning how to get my shopiing in during the week instead of running errands all day Sunday.
Am I the only one unfortunate enough to go grocery shopping on Sunday evenings? Yikes. When I went this week, they were all out of bananas. Bananas! There are always dozens of bananas! I always expect them to be out of cilantro and low on good onions, but bananas?
And the saddest moment of my entire week was finding out that Once upon a child is moving to the south side of town. No more sneaking down for quick shopping over lunch. It will no longer take 3 minutes to drive there and back, sniff sniff. Oh well.