I'm still here and there are no signs of Baby Mus's impending arrival. Since today is my due date, I've decided to take it easy and to enjoy myself. I just took myself, my overly large belly and my dog, Queso, for a walk on the beach. It's an amazing day here in Santa Barbara. The sun and air are very warm and the beach was beautiful with a low tide and lots of birds hanging out. We walked for about 4 miles. I have lots of items on my 'to-do' list in my head, but I'm debating between getting a bunch of things accomplished and just resting ;-). I'll probably do a bit of both today before meeting up with friends for Thai food tonight.
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the fact that the only obligation is to get together and to eat. It's so simple yet so beautiful. No gifts, just hanging out over yummy food. LOVE IT! So I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with the Latin crew this year. I'm going to be making green bean casserole and cornbread (the cornbread will unfortunately come from a mix, but that's just the way it goes). And then once Thanksgiving is over, I'm going to make Javier take me out to do lots of fun stuff over the weekend so I dont have time to sit around getting too anxious.
And just remember, a typical pregnancy lasts 41 weeks in France. If we lived in France, my due date would be Dec 1 ;-).
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
39.5 weeks and going... and growing
So here we are, Nov 20th, 4 days away from my due date. I was so sure 'they' were wrong with my due date, but it sure doesn't seem like it ;-). And now all those people who have said to me, "First babies are usually late" are coming to mind. I am trying so so so hard to be okay with whatever his arrival date, but I am getting a bit anxious. I know it's best to be patient and all of that, but being 39 1/2 weeks pregnant gives me a different perspective. I really want to stop growing too! I've been very hungry and at this point have gained the recommended 35 pounds! NO MORE WEIGHT PLEASE ;-). But every day this little guy grows I know there is little I can do about it. It's kind of out of my hands at this point and that is a little how I feel ... as though someone else has complete control over my body. I am now often getting hip pains and strange other things that keep me from wanting to be out and about too much although I am still keeping relatively busy. Still walking every day, running errands and trying to catch up with friends. I've been to see some new babies this week as well, which only makes me more anxious for wanting my own here ;-). I am getting into the 'stride' of not working if you will. It's not difficult any longer. I'm now so thankful for the fact that I dont have to get my tired body up and and ready for work!!
We're at the point where people are calling and texting on a daily basis asking if there is any progress. It doesn't anger me because I understand the curiosity, but it does make me think ... 'when will our time be?!'
We're at the point where people are calling and texting on a daily basis asking if there is any progress. It doesn't anger me because I understand the curiosity, but it does make me think ... 'when will our time be?!'
Thursday, November 12, 2009
38 weeks and a couple of days
Busy people get more done. I've heard it a million times, but can personally attest to it now. I've been off work for a little more than two weeks now and although I have definitely accomplished many things, it's to a very different degree and generally just feels different. I actually feel very unaccomplished although I know growing a baby is a big job ;-). I've tried to maintain some sort of routine/schedule whereby I still wake up earlyish (around 7am) to get my day going, but if I dont have a definite plan for the day time just gets away .... I dont know how it happens. I dont have a definite plan for today so figured I'd update the blog. Updating the blog for instance used to be a task that I would squeeze in quickly in the middle of my work day or towards the end of the evening. If I wanted to have it updated I had limited time and had to get on the computer, get it done quickly and move on. Today, I could potentially spend hours updating the blog - I'll spare you! LOL
Okay, so what's going on with the baby/me? My belly is getting quite big. We had an appointment with our midwife, Alice, on Monday and she said she didn't think he was too big of a baby yet and I was excited, but I swear I've grown a lot since Monday ;-)! Sunday night I had some random pains going on, but they went away when I sat down so that's a sign they were nothing too serious. I also get random pains in my hips. I guess they are stretching out or something ... not quite sure. I feel like I may have felt the Braxton-Hicks contractions a few times, but nothing consistent. I have a hospital bag packed (just in case) and have all the stuff together for the home birth so we're physically ready to go when things start to happen, but everything I've heard about the first stage of labor is that it can last for 12 hours + so I feel like I will still have time to be getting things together if necessary. More than anything I am excited about the process. I've read, heard and seen so much about it via DVDs, classes and books and now I just feel ready to see how my own experience unfolds. We pray every single day that it goes beautifully for us, for the baby and for the midwives attending the birth. I dont guess there is anyway to know when he will arrive and that's fine for me. I've sort of wondered if I will get a feeling or anything like that, but I guess he will pick his own perfect time for arrival and we'll just have to get on board. And I guess that is how life with a baby is ... you have to be ready for anything! At this point, though, my guess is that it will not happen before this Sunday. I'm predicting the 17th, but that's just sort of a date I've pulled out of nowhere so I dont think we can put much weight behind it ;-). But it will be fun to predict dates even if I'm wrong!
Okay, I'm off to create a list of things I'd like to accomplish today so I can see the progress made. Not working is lovely and very restful despite my complaints ;-). I feel very fortunate to be able to take this time to slow my pace down so that once our little prince arrives it will not such a shock to my system.
Okay, so what's going on with the baby/me? My belly is getting quite big. We had an appointment with our midwife, Alice, on Monday and she said she didn't think he was too big of a baby yet and I was excited, but I swear I've grown a lot since Monday ;-)! Sunday night I had some random pains going on, but they went away when I sat down so that's a sign they were nothing too serious. I also get random pains in my hips. I guess they are stretching out or something ... not quite sure. I feel like I may have felt the Braxton-Hicks contractions a few times, but nothing consistent. I have a hospital bag packed (just in case) and have all the stuff together for the home birth so we're physically ready to go when things start to happen, but everything I've heard about the first stage of labor is that it can last for 12 hours + so I feel like I will still have time to be getting things together if necessary. More than anything I am excited about the process. I've read, heard and seen so much about it via DVDs, classes and books and now I just feel ready to see how my own experience unfolds. We pray every single day that it goes beautifully for us, for the baby and for the midwives attending the birth. I dont guess there is anyway to know when he will arrive and that's fine for me. I've sort of wondered if I will get a feeling or anything like that, but I guess he will pick his own perfect time for arrival and we'll just have to get on board. And I guess that is how life with a baby is ... you have to be ready for anything! At this point, though, my guess is that it will not happen before this Sunday. I'm predicting the 17th, but that's just sort of a date I've pulled out of nowhere so I dont think we can put much weight behind it ;-). But it will be fun to predict dates even if I'm wrong!
Okay, I'm off to create a list of things I'd like to accomplish today so I can see the progress made. Not working is lovely and very restful despite my complaints ;-). I feel very fortunate to be able to take this time to slow my pace down so that once our little prince arrives it will not such a shock to my system.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
37 weeks
Each week I find it harder to believe that I will get bigger ... Just looking at the 35-week photos and remember me thinking, "wow, surely I wont get much bigger than this," but it seems I most definitely have ;-).
At this point I have officially been off work for one week. It's been an absolute luxury to be off work and is definitely a major stress relief. Forget the stress induced by work, but the added stress of coming home and trying to figure out how I can squeeze everything I need into the short period of the evening before I must be in bed in order to feel rested for the next day. That weekly cycle can simply be so draining. I've definitely stayed just as busy and incredibly 'occupied', but it's much less stress to be doing the things I want to do :). It's lovely. And officially as of yesterday I feel like I've made some very wonderful progress on little Patito's room. It's coming along nicely. I wasn't too pleased with it in the beginning due to what felt to me like too many different colors going on in there, but I've done some painting on the trim of the room, door and a bookshelf and now it's coming together very well. This child already has so so so many clothes, and very stylish ones at that. It's hard for me to even believe that I every felt like I wouldn't have enough. Now, his drawers are overflowing! Now my biggest worry is ensuring I can put every one's adorable little outfits on him before he outgrows them!
We had our 37-week appointment with our midwife, Laurel, today. His heart sounds strong and great and everything is going well for me. I've gained 30 pounds!!!! Amazing, it really is. I honestly don't know how obese people do it. Simply carrying around 30 extra pounds is a LOT of work ... imagine if it were 100.
At this point I have officially been off work for one week. It's been an absolute luxury to be off work and is definitely a major stress relief. Forget the stress induced by work, but the added stress of coming home and trying to figure out how I can squeeze everything I need into the short period of the evening before I must be in bed in order to feel rested for the next day. That weekly cycle can simply be so draining. I've definitely stayed just as busy and incredibly 'occupied', but it's much less stress to be doing the things I want to do :). It's lovely. And officially as of yesterday I feel like I've made some very wonderful progress on little Patito's room. It's coming along nicely. I wasn't too pleased with it in the beginning due to what felt to me like too many different colors going on in there, but I've done some painting on the trim of the room, door and a bookshelf and now it's coming together very well. This child already has so so so many clothes, and very stylish ones at that. It's hard for me to even believe that I every felt like I wouldn't have enough. Now, his drawers are overflowing! Now my biggest worry is ensuring I can put every one's adorable little outfits on him before he outgrows them!
We had our 37-week appointment with our midwife, Laurel, today. His heart sounds strong and great and everything is going well for me. I've gained 30 pounds!!!! Amazing, it really is. I honestly don't know how obese people do it. Simply carrying around 30 extra pounds is a LOT of work ... imagine if it were 100.
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