Short update

All is well...we're just getting used to our new routine (or lack of one!). Kylie has been a bit jaundiced and we've had to have her on a light blanket but as of today, her blood work shows she's on the mend and should be fine in a day or two. Wendy's milk is coming in and we're excited about that (so is Kylie!). I know we owe you a lot more details and they'll be forthcoming (we promise) but I thought I'd give you a few shots of our sweetie to hold you over.

This is our OB with Wendy and Kylie the day after her birth.


And all these are Kylie in all her glory! I could stare at her for hours (and do)!








More to come!

- Karen

It wasn't a false alarm! She's here!

Well, we thought it was a false alarm, but our little girl was ready to come a couple of weeks early! At 3:28pm on Tuesday, April 17, Wendy delivered our beautiful 7 lb. 12 oz., 20 inch little girl with a head full of dark curls after 36 total hours of labor (story to come later) and 2.5 hours of pushing. Mom (actually both moms!) and baby are doing wonderfully.

Here we are just after the birth (look at all the vernix on that baby!).


You can check out a few more photos (out of the almost 200 we've already taken!) here. I'll get more photos uploaded a bit later after we get home and settled.

Woo hoo!

- Karen

Tulips

We had our doctor's appointment on Friday and everything looks great. Blood pressure is good (108/70), no protein in my urine, fundal height is right on target at 37cm, and the baby's heart rate is 140. And although my cervix is thinning, it's still long.

The doctor snickered a bit when I let loose with a few choice expletives when she told me there was no dilation. I know first babies are usually late, not early, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Fortunately, Karen knew just what to do to make it better. She bought me some yummy lo mein for lunch and then took me to the scrapbook store. I was able to finish the baby shower scrapbook pages I had been working on. If you are interested, you can see them here.

On Saturday, we saw over thirty acres of beautiful tulips at the Wooden Shoe Tulip farm. It was a feast for my eyes and spirit and I had a wonderful time taking over 150 photos.








You can see a few more pictures here including a funny belly shot.

There were hundreds of people at the tulip festival. Many families were posing their small children among the flowers. It was touching to think that next year, I would be able to do the same with my almost-one-year-old.

We walked around for over an hour, soaking in all the gorgeous colors, listening to all the many languages of the visitors, watching the kids romp around in their galoshes. I felt fine at the time (just moving slowly) so I was surprised to see in one of our photos that my lips were turning blue!

My feet swelled up a bit more than usual that night but seeing all those stunning flowers was so worth it!

-Wendy
[37w,6d]

Scrapbooking

Thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful comments on our pregnancy photos. Wow!

It was particularly nice to read the comments as they came in because yesterday I felt very crampy and achy and yucky. I was convinced that I was in the early stages of labor. All day yesterday I thought to myself, "Okay...when you go to the doctor on Friday, she's going to tell you that you are a wee bit dilated/effaced. That's what you are feeling".

But today, the crampy feeling has gone away and I'm just sore and tired like I just ran a 10K. I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor told me there was no dilation/effacement and that the baby is gaining weight and what I feel is the extra poundage/pressure on my pelvic floor.

That's the weirdest thing about these last days/weeks. I know stuff is happening to facilitate the birth of the baby but it's so freaky to have very strange sensations in one's body and NOT know exactly what it is.

Anyway....I have distracted myself marvelously with scrapbooking.

The idea of scrapbooking came to me because I couldn't find any fill-in-the-blank baby books that I liked. And I know several people who scrapbook and rave about it. So I thought I would create a scrapbook to record all of the baby's firsts (first smile, first word, yadda yadda).

And I thought I could keep the baby's scrapbook "small and simple". (Feel free to laugh outrageously at that one. It's like saying you want a small wedding.)

Dang! It's an expensive yet addictive craft. You would gasp if I told you what I've spent on start-up supplies and paper. And I've only made three pages. As I've made the three pages, I've had a little angel and little devil sitting on my shoulders bickering.

Angel: "You should stop this now. You already have an expensive hobby in knitting"
Devil: "But it's so pretty and creative. And it's for the baby."
Angel: "Who are you kidding? Just buy a regular photo album and add notes like you've done in the past. Or make one of those cool iPhoto books."
Devil: "But scrapbooking is so fun and pretty".
And on and on--you get the gist.

So...are there any scrapbookers out there? If so, how did you get started? Did you take a class or did a friend show you or did you learn from magazines like I'm doing? Do you have any scrapbooking blogs you like to visit? Are you terribly glad or sorry you started scrapbooking?

-Wendy
[37w,3d]

Aren't we cute?

We picked up our pregnancy portraits today. You can view all six pictures by clicking here

-Wendy
[37w,1d}

Just a kid at heart

Wendy and I visited with friends over the weekend and I got to have my little girl fix playing with their 17 month old daughter. We took a bottle of bubbles with us and little Jillian and I had a blast playing together with them. She doesn't quite have the whole process down (i.e. dip, place bubble wand in front of mouth, pucker and blow gently), but she's close! She tended to want to press the bubble wand right against her lips and ended up with a pretty soapy mouth, but seemed to enjoy it anyway. It was absolutely delightful and as you can see by my face, I think I was having more fun than she was.



This picture is from a few weeks ago during another visit. Jillian and I had made dinner napkin kerchiefs and were quite a sight!



I can hardly wait for Kylie to arrive and give me more opportunities over the coming years to let my "inner child" out to play. I find that I'm getting more and more excited with each passing day waiting on our little girl to arrive. It's hard to sit still sometimes! I know it'll be a while before Kylie is ready to romp and play with her momma but in the meantime, it's fun to let my inner kid out to play whenever I can. :)

- Karen
[37w,0d]

TERM

Swollen fingers










Swollen toes and ankles (complete with sock wrinkles)










I must be at 37 weeks!

I feel like I'm standing in line for a really scary roller coaster ride. One where I will be flipped upside-down numerous times and sent screaming down incredibly steep hills. There's a strong possibility that I could collapse, faint or puke. As I'm standing in line, I'm excited and nervous and breathless. My mind is screaming "Are you nuts?! Get out of line!" but I know that I can't. So I just stand there with sweaty palms and a stupid grin on my face.

And the only thought in my mind is "Can I get on the ride now?" Can I please start labor now? Please?


-Wendy
[37w,0d]

Wardrobe

After alternating wearing the same two maternity dresses for six weeks now, I'm officially ready to burn them. The dresses are oh-so-comfortable and are the closest thing one can get to a mumu but I'm ready to cast them aside and wear something different for a change.

And speaking of wardrobes....here's two questions for you:

For your baby's first few doctor's appointments, did you
A) dress your baby in a simple onesie or
B) dress your baby in one of his/her cuter outfits?

At the first few doctor's appointments, does the pediatrician want want the baby to be nude?

-Wendy
[36w,3d]
[40 Babies R Us visits]

Wipe down, not up

Last night I dreamed that I was visiting my old friend Kim who gave birth to daughter Brianna.

In real life, Brianna was such a sick little baby. She caught lots of colds and was particularly prone to getting kidney infections. Turns out that the reason for so many kidney infections was that her family had a tendency to wipe her bottom and special parts in an upwards direction when they changed her diapers.

In the dream, Kim was dressed like a drill sergeant and yelling at me, "Repeat after me--wipe down, not up!"
"Wipe down, not up," I dutifully answered.
"No poop in the hoo-hoo!" she cried. "Repeat it, you nugget!"
"No poop in the hoo-hoo!" I yelled back.
"Girls get infections," she yelled.
"Girls get infections!

I actually woke myself up mumbling "Wipe down, not up". It was good for a late-night giggle.

Went back to sleep and dreamed of beautiful women, dressed like prom queens and riding a float in a parade. All of the women in the parade were trying to conceive via IVF. The "queen" of the float was the woman with the largest, prettiest eggs. She got to sit highest on the float and wear the biggest crown. And the streets were lined with people throwing money at them to pay for their conceptions.

Who knew that spaghetti would yield such weird dreams?!

-Wendy
[36w,2d]

Fickle

Pregnancy can be so dang fickle and crazy. Here is a perfect example-

I've been eating really well and managing my gestational diabetes but have been plagued with horrible indigestion that likes to rear its ugly head between 1:00 - 3:00am every morning.

Last night, after a very hard day, I broke down and indulged in three Taco B*ll tacos, a handful of fritos, and several bites of chocolate chip cookie dough......And then slept through the night!

I got up four times to use the bathroom but was able to go right back to sleep. It's been WEEKS since I've slept through the night. I'm so thrilled to get a decent night's sleep!

-Wendy
[36w,1d]

Google cracks me up!

Well, the folks over at Google have added to their long list of hilarious (at least I think so) April Fool's day pranks. Take a look at this. And, to get a little history of previous pranks, see this.

I have to admit that for about 10 seconds when I first started reading the press release, I wanted to believe it. But, one look at the installation page and I was cracking up. Geesh...it's got to be a hoot to work for those guys!

- Karen
[35w,6d]
[39 Babies R Us visits]

31 days to go!

That's just a month of days folks! Woo hoo! I keep swinging from sheer joy and excitement to just a bit of terror. :) I am so excited about Kylie's arrival and what having her in our lives will mean. There are so many things I want and hope for her....so many dreams I hope she sees fulfilled in her lifetime (both my dreams for her and her dreams for herself). I can't wait to see her and hold her and touch her and smell her. Don't you just love that baby smell?!?

Really, it doesn't seem possible that she's almost here. There have been so many times throughout this pregnancy that we have waited on something and wanted time to pass faster than it was. But, now that we're so close to the end, I look back and wonder at how fast the time has actually gone. Now...you may hear a different story from my sweet Wendy who has dealt with all the ups and downs of the changes to her body and carrying Kylie so safely and so well all these months. I think there have been times that have gone much slower for her than for me. :)

But, I'm just so thankful for the wonderful experience of this pregnancy. I've had numerous men attempt to verbally bring me into the "dad's club" with comments like "has she bitten your head off yet?" and "the bigger they get the harder they are to live with" and "won't you be glad when this is over?". Harumphf, I say! I have thought nothing of the sort during this whole wonderous adventure and have treasured every moment...really. Every up and every down has been a part of this amazing journey and I wouldn't trade one minute of it away for anything in the world. I think I find it surprising that men seem to take the pregnancies of their wives so hard (I know not all men...but most that I've been around fit this category). It's like the pregnancy put them out somehow and that they should be given some kind of special award for having survived it. That's just totally bizarre if you ask me. I'll say it once again in this blog that I am just honored and awed to be my sweet Wendy's sherpa during this journey.

And...while I can't wait till Kylie is here, there will be a part of me that misses the journey that brought us to her arrival. But I suppose as with all things, the end of one journey is just the beginning of another, right? :)

- Karen
[35w,4d]

Bark, Doc and pictures

Yesterday we had mulch delivered to our house via "The Bark Blowers". Now why didn't I think of this idea?

Basically mulch is blown onto your flower beds via a great big vacuum hose attached to a delivery truck full of mulch. They mulched in 15 minutes what took me 2 days to mulch myself last year.

I had to restrain my little redneck self from running out and taking pictures of the bark blowing truck in action. Already the dudes who operated the equipment thought we were a little weird because we had staked down white mesh over my little seedlings to keep them from getting trampled. The back yard looked like there was little pieces of toilet paper flung all over the place.

The guys did a great job mulching and then cleaning up. It was well worth my dollar.
. . . . . . . .

We had our 35 week doctor's appointment yesterday. I had an internal exam as well as my Strep B test. The baby is beginning to drop but so far no dilation or effacement (which is fine because it's still a bit early for that). We had a quick ultrasound to confirm that the baby is head down and that she is, in fact, still a girl. We laughed when the doctor said she wanted to double-check so there were no big surprises when she was born. Kylie took a couple of amniotic breaths which was good to see.

My blood pressure is up ever so slightly from my normal range but it's still excellent at 106/70. And there was no protein in my urine-hurray!

I'm beginning to get more uncomfortable and swollen but I feel so lucky that I'm still able to Jazzercise, that I haven't had heartburn (which plagues so many pregnant women), that the baby doesn't kick my ribs, and that I'm able to still sleep lying down. A lot to be grateful for!

Here's a 35 week belly shot:

And here are two presents we received in the mail from Larry K.- a colleague of Karen's.
Nine month outfit

Sweet bear


-Wendy
[35w,2d]

Rough

Last night I went to sleep at 10:30pm. At 2:30am I was wide awake. And I stayed awake all morning. I felt lots of pressure on my pelvic floor. And my feet and head were aching like crazy. Sleep totally escaped me. Therefore, I'm a wee bit irritable and predisposed to rant.

I mentioned my insomnia to a Jazzercise friend the other day and she told me, "It's only going to get worse for you when the baby comes." I about bit her head off. Only Karen's calming presence kept me from going up one side of the lady and down the other.

Yes I KNOW to expect lots of sleeplessness when the baby comes. I am not an idiot. But don't tell an eight-month pregnant, groaning, swollen woman who is just trying to get through the days that shit is just going to get WORSE.

In fact, "YOU" statements have always been a pet peeve of mine. Anytime someone says something like "You will be happy or you will be sad or tired" or "You will feel this or that" or "You will think this or that", I just want to gnash my teeth. Because really...can this person see in to my future and know what I'll be thinking or feeling?

No. I believe what they really want to do is share some of their experience with me. I just really wish they would turn that "you" statement into an "I" statement. Such as, "I remember I didn't get much sleep for several months" or "I was a walking zombie" or "I remember how tough those last weeks are" and so forth.

Tell me about your own experience and I will listen raptly. Try to tell me "how it's going to be for me" (while looking in your crystal ball) and I will shut down.

I really enjoy hearing and reading about other women's experiences with their children. Some moms radiate such pride and joy and wisdom about how cool it is to be a mother. Other mothers seem to wield their mothering experiences with such smugness and superiority and try to come off like they are the Dr. Sears.

I really need to make my peace with this pet peeve. I don't want to snarl when I hear "you" statements. I don't want to flinch when I hear them compare their child to mine. I want to not take it all so personally.

-Wendy
[35w,1d]

The Spring freeze at our house

It's almost April and the world outside is waking up with new growth and lots of color. But inside our house, it's winter! Let me explain...

Since pregnancy arrived at our house, and Wendy's internal thermometer has stayed constantly spiked it seems, things have been a bit chilly around here. Weathering the winter has been a bit of a challenge for me and the cats. For months now, I have been wearing 2-3 layers of clothing and try to keep my hands warm by wearing my wonderful fingerless mittens Wendy knitted for me. I keep a little space heater near my desk and keep it on high most of the time. The cats sit on the heat registers in the house praying for the heat to kick on or lay in a pile in their basket trying to share body heat. Phoebe loves to sit in front of my heater, but she blocks some of my heat so I "accidentally" bump into her if she stays there too long. :)

Well, with the advent of spring, I have been hopeful that the increasingly warm weather would mean my icy fingers would thaw and I could actually store my space heater away. Ummmm... no such luck! The increased temp outside has made it more uncomfortable for Wendy and we have turned on the air conditioner. Yes...the air conditioner. When I got up this morning, the house temp was 61F (that was only about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temp). Chloe, our younger cat was sitting on the heat register in the kitchen and looked up at me and let out this plaintive, pitiful meow-cry thing that made me want to start a fire for her (and for me too). By lunch time, after I put my icy hands on Wendy's belly and actually made her flinch (she usually loves my cold hands on her overly warm self), I turned the heat on to get the temp up to the upper 60's in the house. Woo hoo!

It's 5 weeks (or less!) till Kylie gets here and the cats and I will be staying bundled up to ride out the last days of winter in our house. :) I only hope the thaw comes when Kylie does!

- Karen
[35w,0d]

35 weeks and 35 days

Today, I'm at 35 weeks and I have 35 days to go.

And I'm basically brain-dead. I want to be witty and charming and interesting on this blog. But lately, I stare at the screen completely blank. So here is a boring list:

What we did this weekend:

Viewed our 60 proofs from our pregnancy portrait photographer. Picked 6 pictures to print. (They won't be ready for 4-6 weeks but when we get them, we'll scan them in and share them with you.)

Saw the movie "The Last Mimzy". It's a smart, charming, feel-good movie with good actors, script, directing and editing. Nice special effects. I recommend it.

Got a manicure.

Fondled yarn at a yarn store. Bought 4 skeins of beautiful, red, Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran yarn for a sweater for Kylie.

Bought two onesies and some baby shoes on sale.

Bought the new Joss Stone cd

Drove around and walked alot enjoying Spring (my favorite season).

Ate out quite a bit. Indulged by eating at a Sonic. The Sonic is a great place to overdose on grease, salt, and carbs. It's one of those restaurants that are everywhere in the South. We've missed having one here in Portland. But now, there is a new Sonic restaurant just a hop, skip and jump away in Hillsboro. And right next to it is a Panera Bread (great bagels!) which is another favorite of ours from TN. Now if we could only get a Chik-Fil-A and a Cracker Barrell!

Camped out in front of the TV for the season finales of "Rome", "The L Word" and "Battlestar Gallactica". The end of Battlestar had us shouting, "I KNEW IT" at the tv screen and squealing on how they are leaving us hanging until 2008.

-Wendy
[35w, 0d]

Opposable thumbs

I can move my thumbs again! Hurray! This is awesome!

For around two weeks I've had tendonitis around my thumbs. It's caused by the swelling of the tissues in the hand which is caused by the pregnancy. For the most part it didn't bother me except that (gasp!) I haven't been able to knit for a while. But then it got to the point where simple tasks like opening a door with a doorknob or pouring milk from a gallon jug or emptying the dishwasher had me whimpering.

So I was willing to try anything. I've tried heat and ice. I've tried thumb immobilizers. Nothing was really helping. On a whim, I called my chiropractor to see if he could help.

Now I've had great success with him with regards to back and neck alignment. But I didn't really think he could help with tendonitis. Boy was I wrong!

He cracked several vertebra in my neck, popped my thumbs and wrists joints several times, and finished with a massager/thumper up and down my thumb and wrists. And now I can move my thumbs!

There's still some swelling and popping and a bit of pain but I can actually move my thumbs in a circle again. I celebrated by knitting five rows on a baby blanket (that I've been working on forever!). I wish you could see me smile!

-Wendy
[34w, 2d]

Blogger spam

FYI for our fellow bloggers...

We've been getting spam almost every day on this blog. It seems that advertisers are creating blogs and blog profiles. They then go to some of our earliest entries (deep in our archives) and leave their advertising message as a comment to our posts. We've had "comments" promoting weight loss, colon health, and riding bicycles! They are actually typing in their sales message in the comments and then typing in the word verification letters.

The only way we've been catching this is that we get an email each time we receive a comment (kind of a cool way to read your comments). It hasn't annoyed me to the point where I want to moderate each comment but I thought I would let our fellow bloggers know about it.

To check it out, you might want to go to some of your oldest posts and view your comments. Hopefully you aren't getting hit like we are.

-Wendy

Isn't she lovely?

She takes my breath away every day. Her joy and excitement about this whole experience of pregnancy and bringing our daughter into the world is a constant source of wonderment to me. She'll laugh for no reason and smile in wonder every time Kylie hiccups or moves. Yesterday she tickled herself by trying to say 'monogamous magnanimous' over and over and kept getting all tongue tied. She thinks it would be a great name for a Dr. Seuss character (so do I).

Pretty soon we'll be three instead of just us two. But somehow, even with all the love I know I'll have for Kylie, my sweet Wendy will always be my heart.

- Karen
[34w,1d]

Photos and Flowers

On Friday Karen and I went to a photography studio to have our pregnancy photos taken. We took around ten outfits each because we had no idea of what to wear. It looked like we were moving into the place! The photographer has a style that I just love. Here's a photo (not me) to show you their style.

However, to get these beautiful photos, the pregnant gal is basically nude. I was nervous at first. Especially for the first round of pictures which was of me in one of Karen's oversized shirts with the belly poking out and nothing on underneath! But the photographer and assistant had such a lovely, easy-going manner that I was able to relax and enjoy the process.

My favorite part was putting on and wearing this tight mesh tube. It was like having your body completely wrapped in a light-weight ace bandage. When I walked, I had to take itty bitty steps and looked like Morticia Adams. But it really accentuated the belly!

The photographer had Karen wrapped around me, hugging me, nuzzling and kissing me for most of the shots. The photographer would say, "Let me see in your eyes and smiles how much you love each other!" It was so very sweet and loving.

I really recommend having your portrait taken while pregnant. Whatever your body type, if you have a good photographer, you'll leave the shoot feeling beautiful and glowing. And as I told Karen, "I'm just going to pregnant once. I want lots of keepsake photos!"

On Saturday, we had beautiful weather and we spent most of the day in the garden. Karen planted over 40 plants in our backyard. The plants came from a mail-order nursery. Well, I've learned my lesson from ordering plants online. There is an amazing selection but when you get the plants, they are mostly tiny little rootballs. So although we have a large area planted, it still looks like an empty plot of dirt! Oh well, maybe it will actually look like a garden by the time Kylie is five or something.

If anyone has ordered plants this way and has had success, please drop me a line and let me know. Right now I'm a bit discouraged that a) these plants won't live and b) it will take forever for them to grow so c) it was a waste of time, money and effort.

On Sunday I woke up to find several stretch marks had bloomed across my lower belly. I guess I can expect new stretch marks every week from here on out.

Lastly, I'm so tickled to be at 34 weeks. For some reason, I've been really looking forward to hitting this milestone and now that I'm here, I'm pleased as punch! 34 Weeks... WOOHOOO!

-Wendy
[34w, 0d]
[37 Babies R Us visits]

Handicap

I've never been one to use the handicap bathroom stalls in public places. To me, they were like handicapped parking spaces. I leave them open and available for the people who really need them.

But lately I've been giving myself permission to go in there. And I've got to tell you... I love the extra room and the handrails. I love that I can use the handrails to heft myself up.

But I'm jumpy when I'm in there. I'm afraid when I open the bathroom door there will be some bathroom police person writing me up a citation. Or that other women who might be waiting for a stall will stare me down, shake their heads and make that tsk tsk sound under their breath.

Hmm.... I don't think Freud covered this one.

-Wendy
[33w, 3d]

No energy

Today is one of those days where I'm just dragging about with no energy.

And it is so very tempting to reach for some carbs (in the form of chips, or bread, or cookies)to just get an extra boost.

I really need to be writing thank-you notes for our shower gifts but have absolutely no desire to do so.

I had my regular check up at the doctor's office yesterday. Everything looks great. My blood pressure is good at 102/64 and the baby is measuring at 33cm- right where she should for 33 weeks. She's still head down and will probably stay in this position until she is born.

Karen helped me run some errands today. She carried my books for me at the library. She carried Phoebe, the cat, into the vet's office for me for Phoebe's annual exam. She's incredibly sweet to drive me about and fetch and tote stuff. But the independent girl that I am wishes on some days that I could take care of these things on my own.

And dang it all... even knitting is getting difficult. I've been having some tendonitis around my thumbs which is getting worse. It doesn't actually hurt to knit. But a few minutes after I've finished knitting, my thumb joints want to lock up and burn.

Sorry to be so boring and whiny today.

I'll leave you with this interesting note. I dreamed last night that Kylie had grown up and become a chemist. She created a system to filter water through different chemicals to purify it. She could take the nastiest water (even nuclear waste water) and clean it without any residual affects. I have no idea what this dream might mean but it was cool to see her as a grown, passionate, incredibly intelligent woman.

-Wendy
[33w,2d]

Baby shower

Yesterday was our baby shower!



We had 16 smiling guests at our house from 2:00 until around 4:00. We had women we know from our Jazzercise class, women we know from PLOP and some of our best friends. We snacked on crab cakes, mini quiches, cheese ball, banana bread and scrumptious chocolate cake.

Our guests guessed on when they think Kylie will be born and how much they think she will weigh. We plan to give the "winner" a Starbucks gift card. The dates people guessed are: 4/23, 4/26, 4/27 (2 votes), 4/28, 4/29, 4/30, 5/1, 5/3 (3 votes), 5/4, 5/5 (2 votes), 5/6 and 5/17 (gasp!). My due date is 5/1. We'll just have to wait and see who wins.

We racked up on presents for Kylie. We ended up with 14 blankets, 10 outfits, 8 books, lots of bathtime supplies and plenty of toys. If you are interested, you can see pictures of all of the presents here.

Our good friend Heather bought us this beautiful cake, wrote down the list of presents and helped us clean up afterwards. Thanks Heather!

Karen asked me what was the best part of the shower for me. I told her that I loved having so many guests in the house and loved reading all of the cards. The cards were filled with such love and such blessings for both Karen and I and Kylie.

At the end of the day, my face hurt from smiling and laughing and my ankles were swollen but I wouldn't have changed a single moment. It was simply perfect!

For more party pictures, click here.

-Wendy
[33w, 0d]

Music

Please tell me that I'm not the only pregnant person who has fretted over the fact that I haven't played the Biscuit ANY Mozart or Vivaldi. I have this image that I should be sitting in the nursery, rocking in our new glider, listening to Mozart while sending soothing, loving, brain-stimulating waves to Kylie.

Instead, the only music she's heard so far are billboard top hits. I've been Jazzercising (and she's been bouncing around) to the likes of Christina Aguilera, Bob Sinclair, Beyonce, and Shakira played at top volumes. Eeekk....what have I done to my child?

However, I will say that anytime I start to stress about Kylie's well being, I'll hear a little voice in my head. This little voice says, "Relax Mom. I'm doing just fine". In fact, she's been "saying" this to me since she started living in my body.

It's no wonder to me then that "Kylie's song" is "Have a Little Faith In Me" by John Hiatt.

I played this song when I would get scared about losing her in the first trimester, when I would freak out about birth defects in the second trimester, and when I've worried about her gaining too much weight in the third.

I do have faith in you baby.

And believe me... you can have faith in me too.

-Wendy
[32w,3d]

Presents

My Mom sent some presents for me to open during our baby shower. But I simply had to open them today. I LOVE to get mail and two packages of baby stuff was simply irresistable. She sent me a onesie, a blanket and teddy, Kylie stickers, nursing pads and some lovely organic baby care supplies. Thanks Mom!






-Wendy
[32w,2d]

Note to self

Do not e-v-e-r call your pregnant wife with gestational diabetes "sugar lump" and expect it to be received as a wonderful endearment. {wink, wink}

- Karen
[32w,1d]

Crazy cats and spring cleaning

I had several mischievous snickers and snorts yesterday. I rearranged furniture in my family room in preparation for our baby shower this Sunday. Now normally this is a fairly mundane activity. What made it so fun was watching my two cats freak out.

You see, my cats have what I call an "attack run" for each room of the house. An attack run is where they can tear across and circuit a room without actually touching the floor. The run and leap across the furniture at top speeds.

But when you move their furniture, they give you this look like, "Holy Crap! What have you done!" And then they start trying to find the perfect "new" attack run. So I had quite a time watching them tear about with freaked-out wide eyes and bushy tails. What can I say...It doesn't take much to amuse me.

I also rearranged our food pantry. Don't ask me why. I really don't think that our shower guests will stick their noses into our food pantry and yet I felt compelled to clean and rearrange it. Do you think this constitutes nesting or spring cleaning? Anyway, I'm glad I did it. There was a bunch of expired canned food in there!

I also bought two spring/summer maternity dresses. I'm getting to the point where I don't want any clothes touching my belly, even light and soft stuff. I would post pictures of the dresses but my official picture taker, Karen, is in Dallas this week at a large conference. Last night, there was a western-themed reception at the conference and someone took her picture with two of her colleagues. Doesn't Karen (in the middle) look fabulous?

I think I'm over the worst of my cold/allergies. I still have a stuffy head but it's much better. And I managed to get some sleep last night. I'm only getting about one night of good sleep per week and I treasure it! Other nights, I'm awake with pregnancy-insomnia for 2-4 hours.

I'm still doing well with my glucose levels. But I'll confide this yucky tidbit. When you draw your own blood four+ times a day, it starts to show up in your dreams. Almost all of my dreams have blood in them now. Eeewwww.

And another interesting tidbit about my restricted diet is that I'm not gaining any weight. I haven't gained any weight in a month. But it feels to me like the baby is gaining some weight and mass (because the belly is growing bigger) and that I'm losing it.

Lastly, because my belly is getting bigger, I'm more aware of people's looks and stares at me. It doesn't bother me at all. Yet many times I wonder, as I'm passing people by, if I'm waling past someone who is struggling with infertility. And I wonder if my baby belly causes them a bit of heartache. It makes me count my blessings and say a quick prayer for anyone out there who desperately wants a child.

-Wendy
[32w,1d]

Waddle and sniff

These days my walk resembles E.T. The Extraterrestrial's.

My head is too stuffy to even think of anything clever to blog. I'll leave you with today's belly picture. Note the red nose, bleary eyes and very pale skin. What's even scarier is that I thought I was smiling for this shot.

This picture's caption could be:
"How in the hell did I get this big?" or
"How many more weeks until I can swig down some Nyquil?" or
"Why didn't anyone tell me about reduced bladder control and really hard sneezes?"

If you have a funny caption for today's photo, please leave it in the comments.

-Wendy
[31w,3d]

Baby video and little boy smiles

The February issue of Babytalk magazine has a great article on the Dunstan Baby Language DVD. Did you happen to see Priscilla Dunstan on Oprah? I did and was so impressed with her that I had to buy her DVD.

If you aren't familiar with Priscilla Dunstan, she has identified five cries that a newborn makes during the first three months of his/her life. She teaches you how to identify the cries so that you know what your baby needs. The five cries are:
I'm hungry = Neh
I'm tired= Owh
Burp me=Eh
I'm uncomfortable=Heh
I have low gas=Eairh

The system was fun to learn. Karen and I got to practice recently at a family restaurant. There was a very young baby nearby who was starting to cry. She very clearly made the "neh" sound. Karen and I grinned at each other and said, "Hungry!". Of course, the real proof will be whether or not this training helps us quickly decipher Kylie's cries once she's born.

But mostly I was impressed with Priscilla's story. She is a former classical musician in Australia who has a "photographic memory" for sound. She created the system by interpreting her newborn son's sounds and then tested the system with over 1,000 babies before creating the DVD. What a cool thing for a stay-at-home mom to do!

The DVD is a bit pricey (at $60 in you live in the States) but overall I'm pleased with the purchase. And if it works, I'll be happy to loan the DVD out to new parents who live in our area. If you want more information about Priscilla and her DVD, you can find it here.

And if you've used the systsem with your little one, please let me know how it worked for you.

In other news, I've had a stuffy head with runny nose for the past two days. I think it might be allergies rather than a cold. I'm hoping it will clear up soon. And little Elijah loved his scarf. Hurray! The smile in the picture his mom sent to me made all the work worthwhile.


-Wendy
[31w,2d]

Harry Potter Scarf

Knitting is my thing. I love, love, love it and spend a lot of time with it. But occasionally, it gets me into some trouble.

This latest project is an excellent example. My childbirth educator called me up last Thursday. She told me that her son's birthday was coming up on Tuesday (today) and that he was a huge Harry Potter fan. For his birthday, she actually sewed him a mock invisibility cloak (how cool is that!!). And she asked me if I could knit her son a Hogwarts scarf.

Well I was so tickled to be asked that I immediately said "Yes" if she would buy the yarn. She gave me the yarn late Thursday night. She asked what she could pay me and I waved her off and told her that I would knit it for her and her son as a gift.

Since then, I have been a knitting-obsessed crazy person. You might ask yourself, "What does a crazy knitter look like?" Well, she will say things like, "I really need to pee but first I need to finish this row" or "I'm really hungry but first I need to finish this section". And she will knit like the wind from morning until night with a glazed look on her face.

She will measure the time it takes to knit a row and a section and then do all kinds of weird math in her head in order to calculate how many more hours she has to knit before she can go to bed. When she finally lies down at night, she will have ice packs on her swollen, pregnant wrists. And when she sleeps, she will snort and whimper and say things like "knit one more" in her sleep.

What made this project particularly challenging was the fact that I decided to knit a tube in the round and sew up the ends rather than knit a plain stockinette scarf. I wanted this smooth look and didn't want the scarf edges to curl. Perfectionism and a four-day timeline are not happy bedfellows.

But I am so pleased to show you my finished Harry Potter scarf.

I am going to ask that the Mom NOT let her son see the scarf or open the gift in my presence. If he ignores it or doesn't like the scarf; if he gets it filthy dirty or tries to flush it down the toilet, I might end up having a Linda Blair Exorcist moment. I choose to stay in the happy bubble of my own imagination where the boy absolutely adores it and wears it until he leaves to go to college.

PS - I know that in the later movies, the Hogwarts scarves look different. Yet the little birthday boy is still only watching the early movies and wanted a scarf like this.


-Wendy
[31w, 1d]

Silly Me

Karen and I took our last Bradley method class on Thursday night. Kimberly, a postpartum doula, came and gave a great presentation on swaddling, diapers, and baby carriers. She had a wide variety of carriers to show us. Poor thing...I peppered her with questions and tried on each kind of carrier several times. You should have seen my hair after trying all those carriers on! I finally decided on the Kangaroo Korner pouch.

I then convinced my sweet wife to buy me a cheap babydoll so that I could practice putting a baby in the sling. I tell you... I can be so crazy sometimes! I think this picture captures my incredulity and delight both with the pouch and the practicing.


I'm also jonesing for the Baby Hawk carriers but am going to wait a bit before getting one.

I had a decent night's sleep last night. At it feels like the baby is having a growth spurt today. I've followed this pattern several times. I'll have interrupted sleep for several nights in a row (awake 2-4 hours in the middle of the night) and then one great night of sleep. After the great night, my belly feels stretched all day.

-Wendy
[30w,5d]

Bread!

Well, I've been testing my blood four times a day and monitoring my diet for 9 days now. And it's been enlightening.

Sweets, of course, are out the window. No cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, etc. - even in moderation.
So are any kind of chips.
But I've also lost bread! I didn't realize how much I crave bread.

I've had three evenings where when I tested two hours after dinner, my glucose reading was 20 - 30 points above acceptable. And bread was to blame each time. So bread has been cut out of my diet. And I'm shocked at how much I miss it!

So these days, I'm practically living on power bars. My favorites are the Zone power bars and Balance power bars. And I've spent over $50 buying boxes of bars of every conceivable flavor (except the nasty fruit ones). I have a sinking suspicion that I'm going to be very, very tired of power bars before the first of May.

I have a new level of great admiration for diabetics.

In other news, we have our last Bradley childbirth class tomorrow night. I'm soooo glad that we signed up for an 8 week course instead of a 12 week course. I'm excited about tomorrow night's class because a doula we know will be bringing different kinds of baby slings for us to try.

But it's killing me that I'm going to miss the "live" version of Grey's Anatomy! We are going to DVR it so we can watch it when get home. Is anyone else freaking out that they might actually kill Meredith Grey? I'm convinced that they are going to "bring her back" but there's this small niggling doubt chewing away at my certainty. Makes me want to chew my nails (particuarly since I can't chew BREAD!!)

-Wendy
[30w, 2d]
[36 Babies R Us visits]

I've decided

It hits me like a bucket of ice-cold water.

Yesterday it was, "Oh my gosh! You are so huge! I can't believe you have 2 months to go. You are so big!"

Today it was, "You are going to need a crane just to get around soon" and "It looks like you are carrying twins".

Sigh.

Two excellent reasons why your parents told you to THINK before you SPEAK.

What in the hell are these people that I hardly know thinking when they say something like that to me? To any pregnant person? Do they walk around to other people and say, "Wow, you're fat" or "Geesh, you're old and wrinkled"?

If they could look inside my life, they would know that I already worry about the size of my belly and baby (particularly with gestational diabetes.) They would see that I make good food decisions and I already track everything that I eat (and I'm not overeating but that's beside the point).

But most importantly, if they looked in my eyes, they would SEE how much a comment like that HURTS my feelings. They would see the pain they just unintentionally inflicted.

So here is your Miss Manners tip for the day--
If you want to comment on a pregnant woman's belly say:
"You're radiant".....instead of "You look ready to pop"
"You're carrying really well".....instead of "There doesn't look like there's anymore room" or
"You grow more lovely every day".....instead of "I only gained 10 pounds with my pregnancy".

So.

I've decided.

I've decided that anytime someone splashes me with the cold water of their unkind comments, that I will make penetrating yet soft eye contact with them and say in my deepest and softest voice,

"I feel beautiful"

Because I do. I feel beautiful.

-Wendy
[30w, 0d]

Weekend News

Karen and I saw a movie at a theater this weekend. I involuntarily snorted with laughter several times. Not a pretty sound! Of course, snorting made me laugh even more, and then I would have a little coughing fit, and then I would have to go to the bathroom. Ah... the joys!

I'm still having a bit of pain from my thumb to my wrist. It's worse while I sleep and first thing in the morning. I believe it's caused by some light tendonitis. Karen's sister, Amy, taught me some PT exercises which are really helping. It's not really slowing me down. And I think I've finally got over my cold! I'm just really greatful I didn't get the nasty flu bug that's been going around.

My sweet Dad sent me some baby gifts:

He sent these three bears. Note that each bear has his own tie! I guess Dad thought we needed a little male bear energy in the house.

He also sent this adorable sleeper

And this funny book

Thank you Dad!

I finished this cuddly, hooded baby sweater.

Yarn: Berroco Plush - 100% nylon
Needles: Size 10 circular & dpns
Pattern: Baby, Baby from the book "Minnies" by Jil Eaton
This was a great pattern. If I knit a sweater for someone else's child, this would be the pattern I would choose.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

-Wendy
[29w, 6d]

Nothing Much

Isn't this wonderful?.....
I had my hair cut yesterday from my gay hairdresser, Mark. As I was getting shampooed, another hairdresser announced, "Happy Anniversary" to Mark. Turns out he and his partner have been together THIRTY years. I think that's a heck of an achievement! Mark's eyes sparkled as he spoke about his mate and how they met on Valentine's Day. Doesn't that make you just want to thumb your nose at anyone who thinks we "can't" or "shouldn't" marry?


Karen and I got our shower invitations (the picture has been modified to exclude our last name and address and such). Neither one of us has had any kind of shower before. We've been kind of tickled at how excited we are. It's been fun to hand out and mail the invitations.

Hopefully I'll beat the head cold that's been plaguing me for a week in time for us to go to our PLOP event this Sunday. Cheers for now.

-Wendy
[29w, 3d]

Valentine's Day

Feel free to laugh at this picture! A few days ago, Karen and I had our car seat installed by our lovely local firemen. There is an Oregon child seat safety program where you can get a check up to ensure your seat is properly installed. We had a very nice fireman teach us all the things to check for when putting your baby into her car seat. Since then, I've had a bit of fun practicing with Kylie's stuffed froggy.

Here are some photos to finish today's post. Feel free to click on the picture to see a bigger view.

Two new outfits for Kylie



A beautiful three-diamond necklace from Karen for Valentine's Day. (The three diamonds symbolize Kylie, me and Karen).


My 29 week belly picture


And a naked belly shot!

Anyone want to guess how long it will be until the belly button pops out?

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!
-Wendy
[29w, 2d]

Happiness Is

Happiness is....

Karen tying my aerobic shoes for Jazzercise because bending over is just too hard to do.

Me buying a cat bed to put on our dining room bar. The bar is Chloe's favorite spot in the house but she insists on sitting on something like our purses or our mail or a dishcloth so we thought hey... let's put her a cat bed there and see if she likes it. I know this makes her one incredibly spoiled kitten but seeing her smile and purr made it so worth it. (I'll try to get a picture later.)

Feeling the baby kick and

The freedom to take naps!

By the way, we had our appointment with the nutritionist today. It went fine but I was really glad I had done so much reading beforehand. I got my blood glucose machine and learned how to use a lancet to draw my blood. I'll be doing four sticks a day.

Thank you to everyone for your supportive comments and good vibes!

-Wendy
[29w,1d]

Gestational Diabetes

Yep. I have it.

I got the results from my three-hour glucose test. If you are interested in such things, here are the numbers:
Fasting 83 (< 105 is normal)
1 hour 230 (<180 is normal)
2 hour 167 <155 is normal)
3 hour 72 (<145 is normal)

And how did I react?

Well at first my reactions were all over the place. I felt guilty for every sweet thing I've eaten. But mostly I felt angry. Because I've worked really hard for many years to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For a long time, I've watched what I eat. I routinely exercise 2 - 5 times a week. I deal with stress in a healthy manner... and so forth and so on.

So I was angry that I was slapped with this "unfair" and "unhealthy" label.

Then I was worried. Would this mean an induced labor? Would that lead to an epidural? Would that lead to a c-section? Would that lead to a slow recovery? Would this affect breastfeeding? Would I still be diabetic after delivery? And so on.

So I did a very "Wendy" thing. I went to the bookstore and bought three books about diabetes. I wanted to get informed as quickly as possible and research is my way of getting a handle on things. I'm really glad I did.

I now feel prepared (and not pissy, defiant, sulky and rebellious like I was initially) for my meeting with my nutritionist on Tuesday. I'll be issued a meter which I'll use to check my sugar levels throughout the day and I get to start using it on Valentines Day. (I won't even issue a comment about the irony of that!)

So, I'm ready to be even more vigilant about my diet so that I'll stay healthy and hopefully the baby won't gain too much weight. For those of you who don't know, one outcome of gestational diabetes is that the baby gains a lot of weight. Instead of a 7 pound baby, I could end up with a 9, 10, 11, or 12 pound baby. If the baby is bigger, she and I could have a more difficult labor. This sometimes means an induced labor at 39 weeks and many times means a c-section.

I'm committed to sharing my progress with you, my blog family. At first I thought about keeping this diagnosis just among family members. But hell... I haven't done anything wrong so there is no need for me to hide it. And who knows, maybe we will all learn something or be entertained along the way.

If you are reading this long post, please keep this picture in mind. Karen and I are still visualizing a natural childbirth with no complications. We're holding a picture of us laboring at home for quite a while, a good transition at the hospital with no risk factors for me or the baby, and a very healthy Kylie laid immediately on my belly after birth. Wish us luck!

-Wendy
[29w,0d]

Special moment and favorite place

Each night when I get up to go to the bathroom, I'll pause to look at my silhouette. My shadow is cast onto a wall from the faint night light in our bathroom. Without my contacts, the image is very fuzzy. The silhouette allows me to take in the beauty of my growing belly without the criticism that can arise from looking in a mirror. I call this special moment my "hidden delight". It makes me want to grab my paintbrush and paint this line from my shadow onto my bathroom wall.

It's Photo Friday again and this week's theme (given by Erstellen Mutterschaft's blog) is "Your Favorite Place".

One of my favorite places in Portland is the Japanese Garden. Its meticulous beauty makes my soul sing. Every viewpoint is photo-beautiful. Here's a snapshot:


There's a place in the garden where you turn a corner in the path and find this lovely stone bench which looks out onto a beautiful greenspace and a trickling waterfall. This is one of my favorite places.


Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

-Wendy
[28w,4d]
[35 Babies R Us visits]

Hiccups

Kylie woke me up this morning at 4:00am with hiccups. This is the first time I've felt her have them. It was hard not to giggle in bed. I wasn't able to go back to sleep and now feel like a zombie but it was worth it.

Here's the latest picture at 28 weeks (my back is really beginning to sway). And for grins I've uploaded each week's picture to Flickr. You can check it out here if you are so inclined.

Still waiting to hear from the doctor about my glucose and iron tests.


-Wendy
[28w,1d]

You know this is your pediatrician when. . .

. . .she asks your knitting-obsessed wife if "she felts". We stopped in to check out a pediatrician's office we had on our list and to set up an interview with the doc this afternoon. While chatting with the receptionist, the doctor happened to walk out and say she'd be happy to visit with us then as she wasn't busy at the moment. We had a wonderful visit with her and she did/said all the "right" things...in particular, she was very animated and expressive as she spoke with us. The practice is comprised of only this doctor and her partner so we really liked the small office personality of the place.

As we were leaving, the doctor saw Wendy's purse (which Wendy had knitted for herself) and asked Wendy if "she felts". Now, for you non-knitters (like me), you may be a bit mystified by this question. However, Wendy gasped with delight and proudly said that yes, she had felted that purse herself. Felting, as my layperson's defintion has it, is throwing the thing you knitted into the washer after you finish knitting it so that it shrinks up and looks more like a solid piece vs. an actual knitted item (yes, there's a more technical definition, but hopefully you get the idea). Anyway, Wendy and the doc proceed to have this lovefest about how they both love to knit and the doc is even a "spinner" (spins her own yarn from wool/alpaca/cotton or whatever).

So...guess who's our new pediatrician? Dr. Knits-A-Lot! Hallelujah!

- Karen
[28w,0d]

Weekend News

Friday I had an OB appointment. I'm measuring right where I should be - 28cm for 28 weeks- and my blood pressure is good at 102/64. I had my blood drawn to check for gestational diabetes and anemia. I should get the results today or tomorrow.

Then we had some leisure time at our nearby Starbucks. We LOVE to sip our decaf coffees and read and hang out there. I'm reading "Diaper-Free Before 3" by J. Lekovic which Stacey & Angele recommended. And I'm reading "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner which is frivolous and fun.

Saturday we made our requisite Babies R Us visit where we bought this adorable bouncing Tigger that sings the Tigger song.


Then we went to Pottery Barn Kids where we purchased their fantastic large wooden blocks.


And I finished this cardigan for Kylie.


It was incredibly fast and easy to knit (neck down and no seaming!). I picked a bright apple green yarn to balance all the pink outfits we have. The buttons are little ladybugs. I'm certain I will knit another one of these soon except next time I'll make the sweater a bit longer and the button holes a bit smaller. You can read the knitterly facts here.

Sunday we slept late and had brunch at Denny's. You've gotta love all the grease and carbs they have there for just $5.00. At one point during the meal, I looked over at Karen and said, "Soak this in. It won't be too long before sleeping late and eating out on a whim are distant memories". But we just smiled together. It's hard to be nostalgic for the past when we are so looking forward to meeting Kylie.

Later we spent some time with friends Jeff and Heather and their son Ethan. J & H gave us even more hand-me-downs such as some burp cloths, baby socks, bottles, an outfit, a Boppy and an infant bathtub. They've been incredibly generous with us.

And they even had presents from Jeff's Mom. She gave us two outfits, a bunny and a frame. You can see these gifts here. What a sweet lady!

And last but not least, we had chili and chips & dip and fruit salad with friends Jozette and Michelle and their 15 month old daughter Jillian while pretending to watch the Super Bowl.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

-Wendy
[28w,0d]
[33 Babies R Us visits]

Two memes at once

It's been a while since I've played along with Erstellen Mutterschaft's Photo Friday. This week's theme is sofa love.



Here I am, 7 weeks pregnant in September, knitting a hat for baby Ethan while plopped on our media room's leather sofa. Note the knitting lamp I'm peering around, the three remote controls to the television system, the two cushy pillows, and the two bottles of lotion on the nearby stand (we are big on night-time foot massages in our house!).

If you were to surprise me with a visit, this is what our couch would look like--in all its comfy glory.

The second meme I thought I would answer is Two Sharp Sticks "how did you learn to knit" question.

I learned to knit the summer of 2004 when I was 33 years old. I had recently moved from Tennessee to Portland, Oregon and had quit my full time career to become a stay-at-home housewife. I was really struggling with "how to stay busy". I met my friend Suzi at a nearby Starbucks with ugly plastic needles and ugly yarn and she showed me the knit stitch. I had tried to learn to knit from a book with disastrous results. As she showed me how to knit, I was jumping up and down with frequent, happy exclamations.

At one point, another Starbucks guest stopped by the table and had to ask, "What the heck are you so excited about?"

"I learning to KNIT!!!!" I exclaimed.

And a joyful little knitter was born. I still have my first knitted scarf with its horrible, hole-ridden, uneven stitches. I keep it to show new knitters what new knitting looks like and to remind myself how far my knitting has come.

PS- The second meme is a contest and if I was fortunate enough to win, I would like any of the knitting books offered except the "Men In Knits" book. If you read my blog, you know why.

-Wendy
[27w,5d]