Goodbye 2008

I guess this little boy isn't going to be a tax deduction for us this year.

Ah well. I am, somewhat, being able to lean on God, and trust that He knows what He is doing.

Bright and early on New Year's Eve morning, I blew into the chiropractor's office. And I do mean "blew". Goodness gracious, it is blustery, cold and windy here. Gale force winds. Whew.

Anyway, got a good adjustment (and maybe some baby clothes!) from the chiropractor. And then I waited and the acupuncturist fit me in. Stuck some needles in certain points of my hands and feet and hooked me up to the electrodes. Supposed to start labor. Maybe.

I did feel quite a bit of movement. Which then stopped the instant the needles were removed. Oh well.

And so this evening we moved back to spicy food. Indian this time. Oh, and a good foot rub by the husband on all those pressure points.

We shall see!

Happy New Year's everyone!

...Or Not.

So, the baby is still comfortably ensconced inside me.

I am determined not to be annoyed. God knows when this baby needs to be born.

I have packed the bag, talked to the insurance company, pre-registered at the hospital, etc. Friends and family are all prepared to come running at the phone call.

We have packed little presents for our toddler to open when he comes to see the baby.

Now we wait.

Mexican food Saturday night, Cajun last night, Thai tonight. If this baby doesn't come, we are bringing out the big guns and having Indian tomorrow night.

I have been admonished by more than one person to trust God in all of this, especially regarding timing. Ok. Ok. I get the message.

This is the day!

Well, at least in MY mind. I have decided that today I am going to have this baby. I don't know what he has planned, but that is what I have decided.

And, generally, in spite of the lack of sleep, and the toddler being up several times, for long stretches, last night, I have a surprising amount of energy, emotional if not physical. Some of it has to do with the Christmas season. We had a glorious Advent, and our church has some lovely Christmas traditions. We went to the Family Service on Christmas Eve, because of the time, and the fact that there was child care. It was really nice. And we had a really low-key Christmas Day here, just the three of us. Jonathan doesn't really "get" Christmas yet, and since none of the rest of the family were here, there were only a few presents to open, so it wasn't the chaos that some experience.

I did bake a ham, which, when pulled apart, is apparently going to feed us well into the baby's second year. And then we went out to the Festival of Lights at Bull Run. It is a bit overrated, but we knew that Jonathan would enjoy seeing all the different things, and, indeed he did. And, shockingly, he fell asleep on the way home, and we just put him in bed when we got here. At 6:30 p.m. Did you see that, people? My hubs and I got a surprising Christmas present....several HOURS in the evening all to ourselves. Nice.

And we have run all of the pre-baby errands that seem to need to be run: Costco, Babies R Us, the grocery, etc. All of the people who are on-call for labor are back in town, clothes are being washed as we speak, etc. I think we are as set as we are going to be for this new arrival. We went to church last night for Lessons and Carols. What a worshipful time it was for me. Just what I needed.

And now we wait. I am not as anxious as I was, probably because everyone has been praying for me. And, as I said, I have a shocking amount of emotional energy. Not that I am going to channel it into cleaning bathrooms or anything, egads. (Oh, speaking of bathrooms, our master bath toilet decided to start leaking like a sieve on Christmas. Lovely. So, we have the water turned off. Good thing we have other bathrooms in the house.)

Actually, my emotional energy is high enough that I almost titled this post "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning" and started the body of it off with "It's time to rise and shine..."

Does anyone remember that from the 70's? Mom used to come into our room and chirp that to us to wake us up. Needlesstosay, we found it annoying at best. But that is the chirpy mood I am in. Which may change on a whim.

So....I will post the birth story stuff here.

If you want a more timely announcement of the baby, you can follow me on Twitter, or send me an email, and I will put you on the "announcement" email.

As Tigger would say, "TTFN: Ta Ta for Now!"

Almost Christmas!

Well folks, I have been tired. I have about a week (give or take) to go in this pregnancy, and I am tired. And, my 2 y.o. is sick. Coughy, snotty, can't breathe, can't sleep kindof sick. And so, we generally haven't been sleeping, any of us.

Somehow last night it all caught up with us, and we all slept, including the sick toddler. He slept for nearly 12 hours. Groaned once or twice, and we heard a couple coughing fits over the baby monitor, but he never really woke up. My husband actually went in and got him up just before he left for work. Poor little guy.

But this post isn't really about sickness, though that has figured prominently at the house recently.

This post is about cuteness.

My son, who is two months shy of being "Two and a HALF", loves Christmas carols. All music really, but Christmas carols figure prominently in his repertoire. His favorite is "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing". I have been singing that to him as one of the lullaby rotation, since he was born. He now knows the entire first verse, and some of the other ones. He sings it atonally, but at the top of his lungs. We, of course, think it is terribly cute. No one else really knows about his penchant for carols, but check out what he received for an early Christmas present from a friend of mine: a plastic snow globe that plays Christmas carols at the press of a button. For five days he has carried it everywhere with him, on errands, into bed for naps, etc. To nearly all the carols, he sings the words to "Hark". Except for Jingle Bells, to which he sings at least part of the first verse. All of this is quite funny. We have a video for posterity. One of these days it might actually get downloaded to the computer!

Another vignette:

My husband puts Jonathan to bed at night. Once he was weaned, Marcus took over. First there is the bath, then the bedtime stories, then the prayers and songs. It all takes about 45 minutes. I am so pleased that Jonathan and his dad pray together. Marcus told me last night that for several weeks, after the obligatory "Now I lay me" prayer, he does a general, "God, please take care of Mommy and Daddy and Jonathan" prayer. And Jonathan has been adding names (and things, like cars) to the list for Marcus to pray about. But last night, Jonathan made it very clear that daddy was not to pray, that "Jonathan [would] do it." And this is the prayer that Marcus recounted to me, "God, take care Jonathan and Mommy, and Daddy and Mommy. And the peoples, and the girls and the girls and boys. And the cars and the fire engines. And Miss Judith (babysitter). Amen."

Priceless.

I don't scrapbook, so this blog will have to do for some memories.

Christmas for us is going to be very low key. We did go to a living nativity the other night, so that we could see the "baby animals". We have a Christmas tree up, and a winter wreath on the front door, and a small nativity scene. And that is it. Jonathan has enjoyed the large-ish Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus scene at his preschool. We are looking forward to the Christmas Eve service at church. We may get take out for Christmas dinner. There are some presents for Jonathan, but we are saving most of those for when the baby comes. Some of this is the theory that we don't want to train him to expect presents at Christmas. Part of it is sheer laziness/tiredness on our part. We want Christmas to be about the Christ Child, and about family, not "stuff."

We are still in our own personal "advent", waiting with expectation for the arrival of this second baby, and that has eclipsed most Christmas preparation, especially since all of our family will be elsewhere, and not making a special trip until the baby comes. Also, we tend to celebrate Christmas, starting Christmas Eve, and continuing for the twelve days following. This year that nicely coincides with the expected arrival of the baby, so celebrations will be had later.

I will be trying to update this blog when the baby begins his arrival, so y'all can check here. I will also send an email. And, if you are desperate for real time info, you can follow me on Twitter. Merry Christmas everyone!

New Post......

Ok people, I have been so bad at posting this week.

The breech baby is no longer breech!

I was scheduled for a 'version' this past Wednesday, in the early afternoon. I went to the chiropractor in the morning for my regular (in this pregnancy) adjustment. She was happy about the version since it would improve my chances for a VBAC.

Anyway, after I left, I felt odd. Just different. I couldn't have told you exactly what was different, but I described it to my doula as feeling looser as well as fuller.

Hmmm.

So, went to the hospital, got myself admitted. Thankfully the OB ordered the sonogram before the I.V. Lo' and behold, the baby was vertex!! Thank God. Seriously. There has been so much prayer surrounding this issue. And, I am very happy with the chiropractor, too!

He flipped on his own. And, as far as we can tell, he is still head down! I know this because I am much more uncomfortable. And I can't bend over at the waist. So, aside from the complaining, we are very happy! It is very good that he turned on his own and the doctor didn't have to encourage him. So now we wait.

Seventeen days and counting.

Meanwhile, there are good posts up at the Advent Blog from our church. Go read and be blessed!

About being pregnant...and cuteness from the toddler

When one is in the last month of pregnancy, it is really hard to think of anything else other than being pregnant. Seriously. Even though Christmas is almost upon us, and there are a million things that I could/should be doing, this all about being pregnant.

So, I tried to "turn" the baby myself last night by doing some pelvic tilts on the floor, with some support. They say to get your hips 9-12 inches higher than your head. Doesn't sound like much, until you do it. ACK. Couldn't breathe. Said to hold position for at least five minutes, not more than 15. Not bloody likely.

Anyhoooo, so I was thinking about what I like and don't like about being pregnant. The latter list will be longer.

What I like:

1) Good hair, skin and nails. Really good. And that is important, because when you feel like a whale, it is good to know that you glow. (And thanks, S, for the compliment today...sorry I totally brushed it off.)

2) Ability to eat more than usual (though not much, because there is no room in the belly.)

3) Excuse to sit. I know I am supposed to exercise more, but I count chasing Jonathan as enough exercise for anyone.

What I don't like:

1) The constant urge to find the nearest restroom, only to find that the result did not warrant a special, emergency trip.

2) The inability to turn over in bed, or get out of a couch, without ropes and pulleys.

3) The sieve that my brain has become.

4) The disinterest in this holiday time.

Both lists to be continued.

*****

Funny Jonathan story.

Yesterday, he and his dad were "working" in the basement. Jonathan was playing with a portable radio, and using it like a phone. And this is what I heard, verbatim, from the top of the stairs:

"Hell-wo Little Bear. I am going to pick up acorns and sticks outside. Yes, I am fine. Now I will talk to Mother Bear. Hell-wow Mother Bear. I am going to pick up sticks. Goodbye Mother Bear. Now I will talk to Father Bear. Father Bear, I am going to pick up acorns and sticks outside. Yes. Thank you. Ok, Good-bye. *kissing noise* Good-bye."

The boy is only 27 months old.

Version 1

So, the baby is still determinedly breech. And not buttocks down, but feet down. (How do I know this latter fact, you ask? Let me just say this, I KNOW!)

So, on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. my OB is going to try to turn the baby.

They give me some meds so my body doesn't try to fight it.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

'Twould be an appropriate time for prayer, if you feel so inclined. Thanks.

What is impossible?

a) trying to keep a 2 y.o. clean while "decorating" sugar cookies.

b) trying to roll over in bed, while being 8 mos pregnant AND wearing velour pants.

c) keeping the kitchen clean when one hates to do dishes.

d) putting up Christmas Tree decorations when one has a cat who likes shiny objects.

e) having an adult conversation with a friend when the kids are around. Well, the conversation happens, but in small chunks, and with frequent stops to keep children from getting into the food coloring, cleaning up random amounts of vomit, rescuing the cat from kids with sticky fingers, etc.

f) avoiding eating said "decorated" sugar cookies.....

Oh, help....

In the midst of the frenzy of Advent (and more prominently in the Western World, decorating and preparing for the gift-giving extravaganza that has become Christmas) it is easy to forget that there are wounded people in the world, and that evil does still exist.

Frankly, that is why we wait for Jesus to come. To set things right.

Sherri has it right today.

Sometimes when faced with objective evil, all we can do is hope and pray.

"But I know we have the promise of the resurrection, and I am sure that all those little humans are at rest in paradise, awaiting that day when their humanity and ours is fully and finally restored."

I will just requote what she said. Come Lord Jesus.