Etsy Love

I am in love with the prints at this etsy shop.  Trafalgar's Square, a husband and wife team from California, create these perfectly innocent images of animals doing things like reading books or having tea parties.  

Love.

You can call me Mrs. Brown.

Yay!  Another thing off my Before Baby To-Do List!  Wednesday I went downtown and met up with the Social Security guy to change my name!  It's been over two years since I married, but it took me that long to decide on what my new name will be.  I just couldn't let go of my maiden name!  There's not many people with it (it's German), and it makes me feel unique.  I don't have strong ties to that whole side of my family (in fact, it's been over 25 years since I've even seen my aunt/uncle/grandparent of that side... and I'm only 27 years old), so it's purely a vain name thing.

So I changed my name so that my maiden name is now my second middle name.  It's there for me, and pretty much only me.  But it's there.  Keeps me unique.  

Because there are so many Mrs. Browns out there.

Friday Fill-Ins.

Join in here.

1. While the cat's away I will miss the cuddles and lap-warming.

2. The weekend is fabuloso!

3. Children draw the weirdest things on free-choice days.

4. I always have a to-do list when I get home from work or shopping or what have you.

5. This may seem odd, but I'm really excited to go grocery shopping today (good deals and coupons!).

6. I just read about NaBloPoMo and that seems like a fine idea to me!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to, umm... grocery shopping, tomorrow my plans include working on sewing projects for baby (like a quilt and slings and baby legs, oh my!) and Sunday, I want to build a bookshelf for baby's room!

33 Weeks! And heartfelt letter to Lentil.

Dear Adelaide,

You really put your moma into a frizzy this week.  You decided to turn breech for a few days, which is when your head is up, when it's supposed to be down.  I knew right away when it happened, because I could feel your head like a hard roundness at the top of my belly.  I could also feel strong kicks down low.... kicks that made me go "woah!"  They were very strong.

A couple of days later, we had an appointment with our midwife, and she confirmed what I knew was true.  You were breech.  She told me to put a board against the couch and lay down on it with my head down, so I was inverted.  That was supposed to get you up out of the pelvic area so you would have room to turn.  I did that a few times over the weekend and it worked!  

Everything started feeling normal again, and I made a quick appointment with the midwife just to have her feel my belly so I could stop worrying.  And of course, I already knew, but you had turned back the way you were supposed to be and you were head down.  She even thought that maybe you were already becoming engaged, which is getting ready for birth!  We still have 6.5 weeks though, so don't be too anxious to come out, please!

Why did it freak me out so badly that you were breech?  (And why does it freak me out that you could still change your mind and become breech again?)  If you were to be breech when I went into labor, I wouldn't be able to birth you at the birth center.  I would have to find an obstetrician in the last month or so, and chances are that doctor would immediately recommend a c-section, which is surgery to get you out.  Not many doctors are trained anymore how to help a woman birth a breech baby.  There are a lot of complications, but it can be done.  

[I was hiding from the neighbors so they wouldn't think I was silly for taking pictures in the front yard.]

A c-section is still a possibility, and I know that.  I know that even if I begin labor at the birth center, an unforeseen complication could arise and make us have to transfer to the hospital.  But that would be after we tried a natural birth.  

When I was picturing myself having a c-section the couple of days you were breech, I was so worried.  I know what surgery would do to me.  Physically healing would be tough.  But the emotional healing would be way harder.  After working towards a natural birth for 8 months so far, to have to change plans to a medicated surgery where our first picture would be me dazed out and your dad holding your precious body next to my face so we could meet.... That's not what I want (although, again, I know it could happen).  I just don't want that scenario.  I hope, hope, hope that was the only "scare" this pregnancy will give me.  

[Kevin thinks I look like the girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who swallowed the blueberry gum!]

I want to be fully awake and aware and raw when I meet you.  I can't wait to hold your newly birthed body against my chest and feel your slippery skin and smell your baby smell.  I'm so excited to meet you and I love you so much!  Each week that passes, as we get so close, I really can't contain the emotions I'm feeling.  

Things are coming together in so many ways, and your dad and I are preparing for the best part of our lives: you.

We love you!

Love,

Moma

Midwife Check-Up

Yesterday I went to the midwife for her to feel my belly, and Adelaide is in the PERFECT POSITION! :)

I guess she wanted to freak me out for a little bit by going breech for a week, but everything feels good now.

Midwife said that her head felt very low, possibly engaged (to which Kevin said, "everything's going so fast! I haven't even met her yet and she's already engaged!... silly!). She was able to tell me where all her little parts were: her butt, her feet, her back. She held a babydoll over my belly to help me visualize her position.

Also, from what I read on Spinning Babies, most babies that are breech who do turn, end up being posterior (baby's back at moma's back, resulting in back labor - ouch!). Adelaide is NOT posterior! Her back is to the left of my belly button, which is the best position right now. That will make it easier for her to center herself when the time comes, and be able to come right out the way she's supposed to. I'm doing a lot of pelvic rocks every night to help her stay that way (one thing the Bradley method encouraged).

So yay! Keep your fingers crossed that she'll stay this way for me! No more freaking mom out, Adelaide!

I was right...

Friday we went to the midwife and sure enough my moma instinct was right on.  I had a breech baby in there.  Her head was way up high and those were definitely strong kicks I was feeling in my nether-regions.

Midwife showed me how to invert, so when I got home the hubs found a nice piece of poplar to prop up on the couch and I laid on it, head-down myself.  Apparently this is so that the baby gets up out of the pelvic region and has room to turn herself.  I did that a few times over the weekend, and by Sunday things were feeling different.

I definitely feel either little hands or feet higher now, with lots of high-up movement.  But I can't tell where her head is.  She's definitely turned at least a little bit because her head is not at the top, but like I said, I just can't tell exactly where it is.  

So I emailed my midwife yesterday and asked to come in today, even though our official appointment isn't until next Tuesday... just so she can feel my belly.  Hopefully she'll give me good news so I can stop worrying.  Or maybe she'll say that Adelaide has some more turning to do and to get back on the board.  Either way, I need to know.

Breech for me is not good.  If she were to stay breech, I wouldn't be able to give birth at the birth center, as it's against their licensure.  And for most OBs... a breech baby is an automatic c-section, which is the TOTAL opposite of everything I've been working towards this whole eight months.  When I heard that my suspicions of her being breech were right, my mind instantly pictured a forever-scar, both physically and emotionally that I knew would be difficult for me to heal.  I imagined that first picture where I'd be drugged up and confined to the table, and Kevin would be holding Adelaide up to my head so we could meet.  That's not the meeting I want.  I fully realize that healthy baby, healthy moma is the outcome we're striving for no matter what that means... but I really want to avoid a c-section if possible.

So we'll see!  11:30 a.m. is when I find out!  Cross your fingers for me!

A few things. And Friday Fill-In.

I have a midwife appointment this afternoon.  I'm nervous.  Adelaide has been sitting differently in my belly all week, and I've been feeling strong movements way down low and not many up top.  I'm worried she's breech.  At almost 33 weeks she is probably getting into whatever position she's going to be in, and breech is not what I want.  We'll find out today, and I'll let you know.

I've been busy busy busy working on the house.  At the end of each night this week I survey my progress and it doesn't seem like much, but I know that at least some progress is being made.  My baby shower is in a couple of weeks, at my house, so that's kind of a deadline that I'm trying to meet.  Have the house presentable by then.  Which basically means not cluttered and halfway clean.

And one more teeny tiny thing:

Help the Teemant family.  I don't know this family, and I can only somewhat imagine what they are going through as the dad suffers from stage IV melanoma.  No matter how many projects are on my to-do list or how many bills I have to pay, I know they are nothing compared to what this family is dealing with right now.  I hope hope hope that he can get better for his wife and children.

Now for the Friday Fill-In, because they are so fun:

1. One of my strongest beliefs is that all people and animals are equal in the world.  There is no one being more important or higher than another.

2. My belly is getting huge!
 
3. The sky is cloudy with a threat of rain and wind and cold, so I wore a jacket and scarf today.

4. My bed, with all its layers and fluff is comforting to me.

5. I always thought I'd be a mom of a school-aged kid by now.

6. The students have been crazy this week so I vented to another teacher.  After hearing her theory, I agreed and then I went outside to look at the full moon.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the show Medium, tomorrow my plans include a major purging of clutter and Sunday, I want to work on some cute bunting for Adelaide's room!

Check! Moved all my stuff out of the baby's room!

For weeks my big ol' craft desk has been sitting in the middle of the baby's room.  It's huge - 4ft long by 2.5ft deep by 2.5ft high.  But it's perfect for my sewing machine and gives me room to cut fabric, and pile projects in progress on top.  It's also perfect because it was only $10 at goodwill!

Finally, it's out of the baby room!  This past weekend I spent two whole days sorting through all my hub's stuff in his room.  His monstrosity of a closet needed some desperate organizing, and the stuff in the room needed to be rearranged.  Most of the stuff in his room/drum cave/woodworking tool storage area is going to go out in the shed once it's complete.  For now, all the drum shells, rope and fabric, and shipping boxes need to stay inside until the shed is weatherproof.  But since the shed is mostly up, all the other little tools and things can go out.  

And that's what I did this weekend.  I needed to clear space for my desk and a closet full of craft stuff that was still in Adelaide's nursery.  I was really tired of cleaning it all by Sunday afternoon, but I powered through and got it done.  It took a long time, and I did it mostly myself since Kevin was working on the shed and drums.  But it's (mostly) done!  Now we have an office/craft room that we'll share.  

Now I can see what all needs to be done and organized in the baby's room.  And now that all that stuff is out, I'm worried her room will seem too empty!  (An excuse to go shopping?)

Baby Bump to Baby Bulge

Saturday night Kevin took me out to eat and to a movie.  We went to a restaurant that's basically a salad bar, with a few other things like pasta and baked potatoes.  

The whole time I was walking around getting my food, this rather large country-looking type of man was watching me.  I'm talking large, overalls, fishing cap, beard, and plaid shirt.  When we finally sat down at our booth, I told Kevin that the man was totally watching me, and it was weird.  

I went on to devour my salad, which was DELISH, full of chickpeas and sunflower seeds and mushrooms (among other yummies).  When that man and his company were done and leaving, he turned and headed my way.

"When are you due, if you don't mind me asking?"

"In 8 weeks."

"Really?!  My neighbor - we call her the hillbilly neighbor - she's due in 3 weeks and you're about as big around as she is!  Do you know what you're having?"

"A girl."

"Well, she's big.  And low!"

"I know!"

"Well, congratulations and good luck to you!"  And he ambled out carrying his sweet tea.  He was really quite sweet about it all himself.

Mixed emotions on my front.  First, this was my first total stranger that has come up to me, and I know he was well-intentioned.  I mean, cashiers and people like that have talked to me about being pregnant, but this dude came up on his own.  His smile and warmth did make me feel good.  

But then as I thought about it, I realized that he was also telling me I looked like I was 37 weeks pregnant, and I'm only 32 weeks along!

I know, I know.  Kevin tells me it's all baby, and I know this.  I've been lucky not to have ballooned out all over.  BUT.  I'm used to weighing, um, a lot less... and even though this belly is because I'm growing a beautiful daughter (or son, we'll see for sure in two months!), it's still sometimes hard to take being so big.  Most of the time I love it, don't get me wrong.  But sometimes... it's just a big ole belly.

And at work it's becoming the thing to tell me how big my belly is getting.  As if I hadn't noticed that I can't see my feet anymore or that my belly button sure is sticking out now.  A special thanks to Mr. A, who yesterday  told me that my baby bump is really turning into a baby bulge.

*sigh*  8 more weeks, and then the focus will be on my sweet-smelling little baby instead of my itchy, bulgy belly.  Can't wait!

Friday Fill-Ins

Join in here.

1. Wow, it's the middle of October already???

2. Everything has it's own way of being beautiful.

3. My favorite way to start a day is sleeping in!

4. I wish Kevin would come home and walk in the door holding a pumpkin.

5. I look out my window and see kids playing on the playground during recess (my classroom is right next to the playground).

6. Adelaide, Adelaide, Adelaide is what I've been thinking about lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing with the hubs, tomorrow my plans include CLEANING AND ORGANIZING and Sunday, I want to get everything ready for the week (food and clothes) so I don't have to worry about it when I'm dead-tired after work each day!

Hot Chocolate Mornings

It is finally cold enough for a mug of hot chocolate in the mornings.  

Today it was 42 degrees on the way to work, and although it felt wonderful to me and not at all too cold, I still had the want for hot chocolate.  

With marshmallows of course.

I love fall because of the crisp air and the chill.  It's not too cold yet.  I can still wear a short sleeved shirt under my sweater and that's good enough.  Or a scarf.  

My nose and ears aren't screaming with the biting cold, and the leaves are still so pretty.  And still on the trees!  I don't feel sorry for our outside cats (yet), but soon I will have to put blankets and boxes on the porch for them to cuddle in so I don't worry about them freezing at night.  And even though Kevin tells me they're built to withstand the cold, I still fret about finding furry ice cubes in the winter mornings.

Fall is most definitely my favorite.

31 Weeks - and the countdown is on...

Dear Adelaide,

My baby girl, you are getting so big!  My belly has changed shape, from being a nice round bump to hanging down more low.  It always feels so full and heavy now.  You kick and punch and turn constantly.  You never let me worry about if you're alright in there because I can always just wait a few minutes and you'll let me know things are just fine!

I especially like it when we play handsie/footsie.  If I feel you pushing out at one particular spot, I'll press on it pretty hard so that you feel me.  Then you kick or punch, and sometimes you just slide away.  Either way, all I can picture is little hands and feet all wrinkled up.  Not too much longer and I can kiss those hands and feet and watch you learn the world with them.

You're definitely growing, and changing how you're resting in there.  Sometimes when I'm sitting around, it feels like you're up so high!  I have to push you down just so I can breathe.  I know you're only going to get bigger as the weeks go by.  I can't believe we have only 9 more until we meet you!!!  We're into the single digits, baby!

I can't wait to see how our four cats will treat you, and how you will treat them.  I plan to raise you with a deep sense of caring for all creatures, and it will start with them.  I think Cassiey - the brown one - will love on you as long as I will let her.  Skit - the black one - will probably ignore the fact that there's a itty bitty baby around.  Keagan - the white and black one - will run and hide at your slightest cry (he's such a scaredy-cat).  And Tan One - not pictured because she has to stay inside due to allergies - well, I think it will take some time, but she will love on you as crazily as she does us, I bet.  They are our furry babies.

Our family feels so right, and you're not even here yet!  Last night while you had the hiccups (again), I put your dad's hand on my belly and he said "Give me my Adelaide!"  I mentioned that I couldn't wait until I could really hand you over to him and see your tiny self in his big arms.  He then corrected me, saying that it will be more like me having to pry you away from him because he won't want to let go.  I am really looking forward to seeing that bond between you two grow.  I wish for you a wonderful and deep father-daughter connection, and if I know your dad, he's going to make sure that happens.

Love, Moma

Wow.

Holy crap, you guys.  Do you see my little floaty-baby-widget on the right there?  It says I have 65 days left till my due date.

Time flies.

Friday Fill-Ins

Join in here.

1. My favorite month is December because the weather forces cuddle-time, gift-giving (and making last-minute) is so much fun, baking is inevitable, and Adelaide will join our family this December!.

2. Everyone loves a fresh breeze.

3. I love to sniff my husband's shirts (when he hasn't been working outside all day!).

4. Waffles with melty peanut butter in between, butter, and a dab of real maple syrup is what I like to have as a treat for breakfast.

5. The hobby I enjoy most is a tie between creating anything and reading.

6. Sawdust and papers and dishes, oh my!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my mom coming to visit, tomorrow my plans include working in the yard and Sunday, I want to do something fun (not work) with moma!

Preggo Milestone - 30 Weeks!

Dear Adelaide,

Instead of counting how many weeks I've been pregnant, now I'm counting down how many weeks I have left.  Only 10.  Wow.  When I rolled over in bed Sunday (my actual 30-week mark) and whispered to your dad, "I'm 30 weeks today", he looked at me all wide-eyed as if I'd been holding this secret and am only just now letting him in on it.  

Ten weeks to get ready for you.  I have such a to-do list, from getting your room ready to getting my maternity leave set up (the human resources lady has yet to return my two phone calls), to installing your car seat - and so much more.  My goal is to be mostly done and ready for you by Thanksgiving, so that I can relax the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy (unless you come early!).

Sunday night I got up to use the bathroom (I'm averaging one pee break a night, usually around 3:30 or 4 in the morning), and when I got back into bed, I noticed that you were hiccuping.  I've noticed your hiccups before, during the day, but this is the first time in the middle of the night that I've felt them.  They are very rhythmic and on this particular occasion they lasted for nearly thirty minutes!  Who hiccups for 30 minutes?!  I couldn't get back to sleep and actually started worrying that something was wrong, so I got up to look up fetal hiccuping online.  The information I found calmed my fears and by the time I was back in bed, you were done. 

I tried prenatal yoga for the first time on Monday night.  My upper back has been giving my issues lately, so I'm going to try that out to see if it might help.  If nothing else, I know yoga will help everything stay loose.  The session I had on Monday was quite a workout too!  Lots of downward dogs and planks, which really work my arms and shoulders.  Lots of other poses too, and it was so fun to be around other pregnant women.  It feels like we're in a secret club and are connected in the most wonderful way: we're all bringing new life into our lives.


Your daddy and I are so happy right now.  Things are falling into place.  We're getting closer to meeting you.  We're seeing the midwife every two weeks now and that makes this whole thin seem even more real.  Your dad's building a shed so that all his woodworking tools and drum stuff can go in there.  I can't wait for it to be done (within the next couple of weeks, we hope!), so that I can finish getting the house ready for you.  Right now it's tools and sawdust everywhere, and my nesting instincts have kicked in, making me want to clean, clean, clean!

We watch you move all the time, and we love resting our hands on my belly to connect with you.

I've forgotten what it feels like to sit around and not have a moving thing in my belly all the time.  Soon, I'll remember, and you'll be in my arms instead.

I love you!

Moma

Comments

Just a quick update for family that's reading my blog but that do not have a Google account.  I changed the settings for my blog so that anyone under the sun can comment on my posts.  You do not have to be registered.  I also turned on comment moderation so I will review all comments before they post to the blog.

So Grandma and Grandpa - start commenting! :)  (Oh, and if you leave an anonymous comment, please let me know who you are by signing at the end of your comment!  Thanks!)

Busy Weekend! Painting the House...

One of the items on my "before baby" list is to paint the side of the house.  Right when I first got pregnant, before we really knew, my mom helped me to paint the front of the house (which is, like, 95% done).  

Then I got pregnant, then it was rainy all the time, then it was a hot, hot summer.  Now finally the weather is cool again and my nesting instinct has kicked in big time.  I've been tired of living in a two-toned house for the past 6 months, so this weekend with the perfectly cool weather, I broke out the painting supplies and did as much as I could without climbing a ladder.

This is what I got done.  The yellow is the old color, and that beautiful gray?  It's perfect.  My mom is coming up yet again this weekend to help Kevin finish that side.  It should be interesting as they are both somewhat afraid of heights and we don't have scaffolding or anything.  We'll see how it goes!

Of course, even if we finish painting this side, we still have the other side and the back of the house... but that can wait until next spring.  The reason why this side is so important to me to finish is because that's what people can see from the road... and it looks awful to have two different colors of house!  I want it to appear that the whole house is painted, even if it really isn't.

Woohoo for getting things done (even if it is little by little)!

Excited about October!

Friday was October 1st, and I'm already excited. It's the first month in quite a few months that has something to look forward to.

October finally really means Autumn. The beautiful leaves, the crisp air. Being able to open my windows to let the breeze in. Being able to take a walk without sweating buckets. I love autumn. It's my favorite season.

[Me on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville a few years ago.]

Halloween. I love it. I love the fun it stirs up, the decorations, the crafts. I haven't been that crafty with this holiday the past couple of years, but something about this month, this time, makes me want to CREATE. There's so many tutorials out there for fun Halloween crafts. I'm hoping that our house will be a little less chaotic towards the middle of October, so I can feel okay about decorating and not adding to the madness. (With building the shed, rearranging furniture and reassigning room functions, my house right now is in a state of disaster. Arg.)

[In 2008, carving pumpkins.]

[The end result! "B" for our last name.]

And this year, I want to go out and DO something for Halloween. It's been a while since I've done that, too. The last time I really dressed up in a costume, I was an Oompa Loompa. And a pretty awesome one, too. In fact, when Kevin's sister, Kevin, and I walked into a club that night, a guy actually applauded my costume. It probably worked to my advantage that I'm a full foot shorter than both Kevin and his sister!

[See what I mean? This was in 2006, btw.]

That much closer to meeting Adelaide. Can you believe how close I am? Only 10 weeks to go!

So do you love October? What do you love about it? Please share!

Hiccups!

Dear Adelaide,

I can't sleep because you've been hiccuping for 30 minutes. I was already up to pee (a once a night event, at least), and when I laid back down I noticed little rhythmic movements. I've felt it before, but this time it seems to have lasted much, much longer. Your dad was awake too for some reason so he put his hand on my belly to feel them for the first time himself. I think it's pretty cute and I'm glad to know it's a sign of a healthy baby, but your moma needs her sleep! I think it's woken you up too, because now you're just a-kicking. At least we're up together!

Love,
Moma

Check! Called Colonial insurance yesterday!

Woohoo! That was easy! And I got something checked off my big to-do list! :)

Along with my regular state health insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield), I also have a Disability plan with Colonial Life. I signed up for a pretty minimal plan with them years ago in the case that I'd get pregnant, as that's covered under disability (what?!).

I just called today and talked with a wonderful representative (awesome customer service so far!) about the process of filing a claim since I had no idea how that works. I've been really healthy and lucky so far in my life and haven't had to file any claims. The birth center is filing my BCBS claim for me, and all my dentists have filed dental claims, so this will be my first!

Under my plan, if everything goes well with the delivery, and I'm able to deliver vaginally, I will be eligible for $250/week for 5 weeks. If there are complications, surgery, hospital stays, problems healing, etc... I will be eligible for more.

The only thing I need to do is fax in a form filled out by the midwife after delivery, along with a copy of her license and a letter saying that I went to an actual OBGYN (which I did, for the ultrasound). Two weeks later I get a check.

Sweet! I feel good. :) Come on baby, stay healthy for moma!

Friday Fill-Ins

This is my first time joining in on the Friday Fill-in fun (love the alliteration, dontcha?).  My fill-ins are in orange (homage to October!).  Enjoy!

1. My back feels like it's pulling forward because of the belly... doesn't hurt today though!

2.  My imagination runs wild with thoughts of baby.

3. Leaves are falling all around, and I can't wait till next fall, when Adelaide will be able to play in them!

4. I have pregnancy-induced forgetfulness.

5. Healing is hard to do, but necessary to push forward with a good life.

6. List-making and organizing is what I've been up to lately!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Tuesday's episode of Parenthood, tomorrow my plans include buying fabric for crib sheets and other fun stuff and Sunday, I want to help hubs with the shed!