Nesting

Now a week away from the due date. My father-in-law was really hoping for a Leap Year baby in honor of his mother whose birthday is today. Not out of the realm of possibility but looking doubtful. My husband and I were both late arrivals to the world and are generally not punctual anyway so we'll see how this 39th week goes.

I've now cut myself off from working and have managed to keep myself busy getting last minute things done before the baby comes. The doctor and hospital are paid and my husband's time off work was approved, both things causing me a little stress last week, so I'm grateful they are taken care of. We had the house cleaned a couple days ago and for the most part have the baby's room in order.

We were very grateful to get this dresser from a friend of a friend. One of the disadvantages of an older house is the small closets. The closet of her room is already filled with all of my clothes, shoes, crafty things, etc. so the large dresser is for her clothes, blankets and diapers. We went with a Noah's Ark theme, hence all the cute little animals people have given her.

If you're my friend on Facebook you may have seen the rocking chair and crib when my hubby put them together. We got her diaper pail, hamper (it's in the corner where you can't see it) and the rug from Ikea. All of her other items- swing, vibrating chair, toys, play mat, stroller are in the office half of the room. Decided not to post a picture of them since many of them will probably be moved into our bedroom or the living room as we need to use them. The empty wall space over the crib is where we'll have letters spelling her name. We've got a frontrunner but months ago decided not to set our hearts on a name until after we see her face to face.

So what else have I been up to?

Trying to stay stocked up on food and items around the house so there will be fewer errands to send people on later.

Pampering myself with a haircut and color and pedicure.

Maternity photos

Getting time with friends.

Watching childbirth dvds.

Reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block". Even got to try out some of the techniques on a friend's baby and they worked!

Buying items we didn't get from the showers and then figuring out where to put them.

Going to bed early and sleeping in until it's just too uncomfortable or I get too hungry.

Visiting the doctor for checkups.

Getting the car washed.

Writing in my journal and her baby book.

Lots of prayer.

According to the almighty internet, here are some famous people our daughter could share a birthday with in March-

1-Justin Bieber, Zach from Saved by the Bell, and my dad's favorite, Harry Caray

2-Bon Jovi and Dr. Seuss

6-Michaelangelo

7 (the due date)-Pam from The Office

10-Chuck Norris (he lives in TX, maybe he'd come visit us in the hospital!)

14-Einstein

I'm not looking at any dates past that!

Final Countdown

We've got two weeks to go now. I told my husband last night that I was actually feeling more ready but then this morning, when I could've slept in, couldn't because I was thinking of all the things that I need to do today.

I've been working occasionally the last two weeks but have had much more time to do the whole nesting thing. It's ironic that it happens at this point in pregnancy. I have all this motivation to work on things in the nursery, but my body keeps me from doing as much as I'd like. I get short of breath quickly, bending over to pick things up is a challenge, and I can't lift very much. But I've been able to do A LOT of laundry; I just keep finding things that need to be washed. This girl has so many clothes.

My husband and I went to the childbirth, baby care, and CPR classes. It was very amusing to watch him give a doll a "bath" and dress it, and then he just kept the baby in his lap while the teacher continued to talk. We both feel more confident now that we've had a little practice.

In case you're wondering how I'm feeling physically, overall just slightly uncomfortable. Haven't had any BH contractions yet and don't have that "dropping" feeling. But, the bag is packed and loaded in the car with the carseat just in case. Praying daily for a safe, natural delivery and trying to remember that she'll come when she's ready. Makes planning a little difficult but learning to be flexible now!

New Traditions

Outside it actually feels like December should today, though I've been in the Christmas spirit since last week. You may not be able to tell if you saw our house. We have out the Nativity set that I played with when I was little, our stockings sitting, waiting to be stuffed and some pretty towels in the kitchen and bathroom, but that's about it. My inability to lift things over 20 lbs and a general discomfort pretty much all the time prevented me from decorating a tree. We're still trying to get rid of things to make room for baby so I just couldn't bring myself to pull out more stuff for just a month's time. I did buy a new ornament for this year; this and the wedding ornament I bought last year will be on a tree next year, I promise!

Been listening to a bit of Christmas music. A friend shared She and Him's album, which I'm liking a lot. Zooey's voice reminds me of Patsy Cline. Tomorrow will be the first movie of the season, White Christmas.

My husband and I are starting new traditions this Advent in anticipation of sharing them with our daughter in the years to come. Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas. I'm not big on Santa, so we will celebrate this day instead. Nothing big, but we bought little gifts for each other in honor of this Saint's generosity.

It's a girl!

Hard to believe that we are already at the halfway point of our pregnancy. I've been saying for awhile that once we know what we're having the second half will go faster than the first. Helps that there's the holidays, friends staying with us, and the births of lots of friends' babies coming up in the next couple months as well.

We found out yesterday that our little one is a healthy girl. People kept asking me if I had any sense about it one way or the other and I really didn't. I was also asked a lot if I had a preference, and again I really didn't. It's not like I had any part in deciding anyway.

Reality is sinking in. We will be raising a daughter in a world that can have some pretty twisted views of femininity. Thank God for our friends and family that will love and embrace her for who she is. I picked out a gender-neutral nursery theme already and we're not planning on changing it, but I am totally okay with dressing her up in whatever people want to give us. I'm sure she'll make her preferences known soon enough.

In fact, one of her "aunts", LEBean, already made her an outfit. I cannot believe how small it is, but a wise friend pointed out, "Do you really want someone bigger than that coming out of you??"


We are going to register soon, so I would love some tips from moms about items that I won't need to bother with and also ones that were really helpful. I've been in Babies R Us a couple times to get gifts for other people but looking for us is a little overwhelming. My hubby and I have been working hard to downsize the amount of stuff we have and don't want to replace it all with baby things we don't really need.

Continue to keep us in your prayers!

Next test of patience

So what I couldn't write in my last post was what I've been praying about a lot. My husband and I wanted to start a family this summer and God blessed us with me becoming pregnant in June. But we agreed we weren't going to make the news public until after our first sonogram which wasn't until August 19. So yes, lots of praying this summer for the "fruit of the week" as that's how all the websites describe the size of the growing baby. I'm at week 15 now and prayer obviously hasn't stopped. I've had to battle a lot of lies (a downside to me being home alone a lot to think) and trust God more than ever. While there are precautions I can take to help keep the little one healthy, there's also a myriad of things about its development that I have absolutely no control over. God has told me over and over again not to fear and to trust Him and I'm slowly starting to listen and believe the truth of His word.

There's also a whole lot of waiting. 40 weeks feels like forever, especially since I'm at the stage now where the nausea is over (still have the fatigue many days), but I'm not really showing, can't feel the baby moving, and don't know what the sex is. This is the honeymoon stage I'm supposed to enjoy, trying to remember that. The Bean suggested that we keep a candy jar with the number of days we have left so we can eat a piece a day as we count down. I have peanut M&Ms and the husband has Skittles so the time looks a lot shorter in his jar. At least I don't have the gestation of a giraffe. I learned recently their gestation is 400-460 days and they give birth standing up, with the baby just falling to the ground!

Other random things from my pregnancy thus far-
I have had cravings, though they usually last for a few days and then I decide something else sounds better, so there's lots of boxes with two or three items left inside. Pickles are the one exception, can't get enough of those.

I'm also in the in between stage where I don't really need maternity clothes yet but my bottoms are pretty uncomfortable. That being said, I've started wearing maternity pants for the wonderful elastic waistbands. I got a pair of jeans at Forever 21 this week; when I told a couple friends they both commented about a teen store selling maternity clothes. Hey, I'm 31 and still shop there so I think it's totally ok.

We're wanting to raise this baby as eco-friendly yet cheaply as possible so wanting to use cloth diapers. Things have changed a lot in 30 years, the options are overwhelming. Thank God I have friends who are using them or will be soon so I can get some help.

You would not believe how many people have asked me already if we know the sex of the baby. Not until mid-October. I haven't had any feelings about what it is one way or the other, but lots of other people have an opinion and it's pretty much been split down the middle. My dental hygienist gave me a blue toothbrush yesterday because she said it's a boy.

The next 7 months a lot of babies are coming into the world. I am so excited for our little one to have playmates. God is good.