37 weeks and counting

I'm in the last few weeks of this pregnancy.  I wish I could say it's been a wonderful pregnancy that I will cherish memories of forever.  Bah.  It's been hard in more ways than I can think of.  Though VERY thankfully, the baby has always been healthy, and I've only been to the hospital once.  I can say now though that pregnancy hormones can be extremely hard to deal with.

But enough negativity.  The pregnancy is almost over, and the baby will be here soon!  This is one wiggly baby!  My belly is sort of long and skinny looking.  My midwife said it's "torpedo shaped."  Haha!  I agree.  I think the fact I'm carrying so far out is probably one of the reasons the muscles in my belly are having a hard time keeping up.  It's probably the reason also that, even after 3 previous full term pregnancies, I have still managed to add a few stretch marks to my collection.

I'm down to only a few items of clothing that I enjoy wearing.  I like comfortable, but not too baggy.  My shirts are getting shorter, too.  I do my best though.

My heartburn is nearly unbearable at times.  I had a week where it wasn't as bad, but last night it came back full force.  I will NOT miss that when this whole thing is over.  I would much rather be kept up at night with a new baby than with miserable heartburn.

I do expect to make it at least until my due date... but here's hoping for an on time baby!

Clothed in Nature

The weather here in the Austin area has been absolutely incredible the past week or so.  We got a pretty big rain storm, and then a couple of days later the skies cleared and it's been BLUE skies ever since.  The temperature has been in the high 60's to low 80's.  We've been loving it!

The kids have spent a ton of time outside exploring and playing in the yard.  Everything is GREEN.  There are wild flowers everywhere.  My favorites are the pink ones in the backyard.  Absolutely gorgeous.

The grass is green, too.  Unfortunately, being 37 weeks pregnant, I can't actually mow it myself.  Cam has been extremely busy lately, so our yard is a bit of a jungle.  Honestly, I'd rather a jungle than a desert, so we're okay right now.  I admit I'm tempted at least once a day to just go out and mow what I can myself.  I know Cam would be mad at me though, so I try to think of my poor achy pregnant body, and take it easy.

Maddy got her creative juices flowing the other day and made us all leaf hats.  They were awesome.  Giant leaves fastened upon our heads with thick blades of grass or something similar.  I even humored her and wore my hat, too.

I think River's was the most fitting.  He looked like a true explorer in his hat.  I think the green shirt helped make the look, too.

The beautiful weather is always so heartening.  I love it here in Round Rock.  I hope we have a lot of rain this summer and are able to avoid the drought.  Green is always a lot more fun than brown and yellow.

My Midwife

Throughout this pregnancy, I don't think I have gone into any details about my midwife.  I definitely think that needs to change because Michele Fitzgerald deserves an introduction.  I decided it is important to give a little overview of my midwife and the experience of visiting her office.

Michele works out of her really cool house in Austin (though she is buying another house so she can dedicate her current home to a full time office).  It's the neatest blue hippy house ever.  I love it.  The house is about a 25 minute drive from ours here in Round Rock, but is worth the drive.  For the past half dozen or so visits the whole family has gone together.  I let the kids play with the Nintendo Dsi (we have two) on car trips, and we count this as one of those.  It keeps them occupied, so I don't mind.

The inside of Michele's house is really neat, too.  I'm always surprised with how much art she has around, and also with the fact that all the kids coming and going don't break things (knock on wood!).  There is always something interesting to look at.  In fact, she has so many cool things that often I have to ask if something is new because I don't remember seeing it -- there is just so much to look at!

Michele has two midwife apprentices right now.  They help Michele with all of the question asking and poking and prodding.  Sometimes I don't mind so many people being there, other times I do wish it were just Michele.  I'm a pretty private low key kind of gal.  It does help that both ladies are super nice though.

Michele is an experienced midwife.  She has been in business over 30 years, and exudes confidence.  She has advice and answers any time I might need them.  She has been a valuable resource for me during this pregnancy.

Michele insisted on getting a picture of our whole family (thus far) sitting on her couch.  It is nice to have a shot of all of us this time.  They really are few and far between.  We do so much all together, and yet it's hard to get all of us in the shot without someone missing behind the camera.

I have less than 4 weeks left until my due date.  I am ready for the baby to be here.  Unfortunately, there are a few preparations remaining.  The biggest being that out nursery is still a construction zone!  Eek!  Hopefully Cam will have things finished up in time for the baby's arrival.  Otherwise it may never get done at all!

I wanted to update this in case anyone is looking for a midwife in Austin. I do not recommend Michele for various reasons. Overall I feel that the business side of birth is very central for Michele. That tended to overshadow the experience and left a bad taste in my mouth. If I have another baby I will be finding a new midwife, and would recommend looking elsewhere if you are currently in search of a good one.

Princess Tea Party

Would you believe, at 30 years old, I've never been to a Princess Tea Party?  I'm sure your jaw is dropping and you're thinking, "Lady, you've never LIVED!"  You're right.  Princess Tea Parties make life wonderful.  This is why, at merely 4 years old, I'm grateful that my youngest has now had this experience.

A little friend of hers invited Britta to her birthday party.  She was celebrating with a Princess Tea Party. Hooray!  We were SO in. Any excuse to wear princess attire outside of our home.  Well, at least Britta got to wear a princess dress and crown.

To make the occasion even more festive I took Britta, all dressed in her princess getup, to get a princess present at the Disney Store.  I haven't been able to do much for the past little while since I haven't been feeling well, but I took this opportunity to take Britta out.  I was glad I did.  She loved picking out a gift just for her friend.  The Disney Store was just icing to her.  It was fun to be in there with my little Princess.  The employees all gushed about how cute she was and how she looked like a little angel (not that that's anything new, they always gush about how adorable Britta is).

The party was a lot of fun.  There were about 7 little girls 4 years old and younger.  They were all decked out as fluffy princesses.  The attire made the whole thing that much more exciting to them.  There were all different colors and styles. Nearly every one of the girls came to the party with a tiara already upon their head.

They got to play musical chairs and a princess matching game.  They had fun, though they had the attention span of, well, 4 year olds.  It was still fun for them.  There were a lot of squeals.  They were also given princess wands for the occasion and waved them around as much as they could.  Thankfully there were no injuries inflicted.

The best part was the lunch.  There were little finger foods as well as miniature cupcakes.  The overwhelming favorites were the black olives and the miniature pickles.  There were also little sandwiches and strawberries.  It was really fun to watch the girls eat.  We don't drink tea (neither did the birthday girls' family), but there was plenty of water, and juice going around.  The girls loved it and drank it until it was gone.

It was such a fun little party.  There were just enough girls to make it chaotic and yet fun.  It was nice to just let them do their thing and not worry too much about keeping them seated and quiet the whole time.  I love giving them the freedom to pretend and to play.

I'm glad I ventured out in my very pregnant state to ensure that Britta had a Princess Tea Party experience in her youth.  I hope there are more where that came from!  I may have to make sure of it.

Baby Excitement Continued

Britta is rather obsessed with dolls.  Not in a scary or negative way at all, just in a really really cute way.  Everything turns into a doll to her.  We will often catch her playing with miscellaneous objects as though they are the cutest little dolls.  It cracks us up.  She does great voices, too.

A while ago she and I were sitting at the table.  She was drawing and I was typing in my journal.  I had given her a few gummy bears as a treat, too.  I shouldn't have been surprised then to hear her chatting it up a few minutes later.  Expecting to see gummy bears talking to one another I was a bit surprised with what I actually did see.  Britta wasn't making the gummy bears talk.  She was making two pencils talk to one another.  The best part though was that she had taken a red gummy bear, licked it, and stuck it to the middle of one of her pencils.  It only took me a few seconds to realize that Britta's pencil had a baby in its belly.

Oh my goodness how I love that child.

Pictures by Britta

One of my very favorite things that has happened this pregnancy that has never happened in my previous pregnancies is the excitement of the other children to meet this baby.  In past years the other kids were just too young to really comprehend what was going to happen.  Maddy may have had a vague idea that a baby was inside my belly when I was pregnant with Britta, but she didn't really know.  This time is completely different.

All three kids are beyond excited for the arrival of this new little one.  It is talked about constantly.  The baby is included in every single prayer.  The kids (Britta especially) often point out to friends or complete strangers that I'm going to have a baby -- usually multiple times.  There is no hiding the fact that they simple cannot wait.

Britta might just be more excited than anyone else (perhaps Cameron and I included).  One way that I can tell is by all the pictures she draws of the baby.  Oh, and it's not just of the baby, but it's also the baby inside my belly.  There have been many family pictures drawn in the past 8 months.  I love every single one of them.

Diaper Sewing

There was never any question as to what type of diapers we would use with this upcoming baby.  We are avid cloth diaper users.  I can't remember a time I put a paper diaper on any child since beginning to cloth diaper Maddy when she was about 18 months old.  Oh sure, relatives have put a few paper diapers on them, but not me.  There was never a need, and I happen to hate the chemical smell of disposable diapers.

I was so into cloth that I even started a business sewing and selling special fitted cloth diapers online.  It was a lot of fun for a few years, but I decided to close up shop when Britta was born.  I wanted to be able to dedicate my now very limited free time to enjoying my family.  

One serious perk with having my own business though was that cloth diaper more than paid for itself!  I had as many diapers as I needed, and I loved them!  I designed them to be exactly what I wanted for my children.  I was set.

However, when we moved from Arizona to Texas, and I was fairly confident we were done adding children to our family, I got rid of most of my collection of diapers.  I had more than enough to diaper a small orphanage, and I didn't see the point in toting those things around any longer.  I kept a selection of diapers, and gave the rest away.  Oh how I wish I'd kept more than I did!

Now, I knew I'd need to sew some new diapers when we decided to have another baby.  However, a few months ago I went to pull out the diapers I had chosen to keep around and I realized that I could only find one small box.  That box included about a dozen size large all in one or pocket diapers, about 2 wool covers, and a few other miscellaneous items (such as my diaper sprayer).  I was stunned.  Where did everything else go?  I know I had intentionally kept all of my flats.  I had kept the half dozen newborn diapers made of hemp velour fabric (my favorite diapers ever!).  I had kept a dozen of each size prefold diapers.  I had kept them!  I knew I had!  And yet... they are nowhere to be found.  Did I seriously have ZERO diapers for this child that would fit until they reached size LARGE (which would take at least a year most likely)?  Apparently, this was the case.

I had a friend of mine that had ended up with some of the diapers I'd given away during the great purge. Thankfully she was kind enough to send me about 19 infant prefolds and a few covers.  I am grateful.  I love prefolds.  Britta spent a good amount of time in those things.  They wash beautifully and are super absorbent.  I will probably need a few more, but this is a good start.

I was also happy to find that I had cut out a bunch of size newborn diapers to sew for Britta, but decided I didn't need as many as I had.  They had been in a box, unsewn, since she was born.  Cutting is such a pain, I was really glad to have these already done.  I had 6 each of velour and cotton knit outers. Unfortunately, 2 of each type are really girly, and since i"m feeling like this is a boy I decided to only sew the ones that were either gender neutral or boyish.  I keep telling Cam that I'm going to end up with a cute little girl just because I'm preparing more for a boy.  He shrugged and told me a little girl can wear dinosaurs, but a boy has a harder time getting away with wearing pink velour.

The sewing has been really slow going.  My energy level has been absurdly low this entire pregnancy.  I'm doing my best though.  I only have a month left!  I now have 8 size newborn fitted diapers, 3 all in one (waterproof) newborn diapers diapers, 2 new size small all in one diapers, and half a dozen size small diapers I found in my sewing repairs box (two of which I fixed elastic on, and the rest I couldn't, but figure they might work anyhow).  Definitely a good start!

To finish up my newborn stash I'm making another 4 fitted diapers, and another 5 all in one diapers.  I started cutting them last night.  Because my belly and back hurt and because I have horrible surges of heartburn when I hunch forward, it's been slow.  BUT it's been good to get them cut.  I just need to finish the insides of 2 more diapers, cut soakers, and then sew them all.  Oh boy... that sounds like work.

I admit, I did buy 4 size small covers.  I fell in love with Proraps Colors covers when Britta was born. I found some at a yard sale and they were my bullet proof night time covers.  LOVE them.  So, I invested $30 and bought 4 since apparently I got rid of the covers I had from before.  I think they will do nicely.

I also bought some wool covers as they are more breathable and are great for day time use.  I hope to add more to my collection in the coming weeks and months, too.  When the baby arrives I'll know better what to get in terms of boy or girl colors and styles.  That should be fun.

Best Husband Ever

So, as you might have deduced from my post from last Friday, I am on light duty around the house.  It's been really difficult for me not to be able to do the things I can see need to be done.  It just hurts a lot to stand for more than a minute or so at a time, or to walk.  I try to help where I can, but am also really trying not to push my poor body past its limits.  Thankfully, I have a very helpful husband.

One of the ways that Cameron has been helpful has been in making meals for the family.  The last two nights he made a delicious and somewhat complex meal for us all!  I've been really impressed.  They have tasted fabulous.  Last night was a vegetarian chili with corn bread.  Tonight he made Spaghetti Carbonara.  YUM.

I had never even heard of spaghetti carbonara.  Essentially it is spaghetti noodles mixed with bacon, eggs, and parmesan cheese.  At first it sounded odd to me.  Then I smelled the bacon.  I was sold right there.  River loves any and all spaghetti dishes, so that was an easy sell, too.  The other kids were just as enthused.  Seriously, total score.

He also made this amazing green salad with craisins, cashews, and feta cheese.  It was mixed with a balsamic vinaigrette.  The recipe called for an entire head of lettuce.  We halved it thinking it would be too much.  We shouldn't have.  Or at least we should have done 3/4 head.  It was so good!  Score two for dinner!

Of course, these recipes came from The Six O'Clock Scramble.  I LOVE how them come complete with recipes for side dishes.  I love how quick things come together, too.  I love that the site has given Cam the motivation and confidence to cook meals while his very pregnant wife sits around wishing she could help.  It really has been a blessing.

Oh, one more thing I didn't mention.  Cameron made this meal for us, but then had to rush off to a meeting right as it was finished.  He didn't even get to eat until he came back home!  What a great man he is.  I love him so much.

Tree House Play

One of my very very favorite things is for the kids to play outside in our backyard.  As Spring approaches this becomes an even more common thing.  Another fun thing is for the kids to play out back with friends from the neighborhood.

One of the cool features of our backyard is the tree house.  It's a bit small, a bit weathered, but still pretty darn fun.  We want to do some renovations, but in the meantime the kids are still enjoying it.

Today Maddy had a friend over (named Mattie ironically) and she and her friend were playing with Britta in the tree house.  River was trying to play, too.  He was the neighbor in their game of "House".  I don't think they liked their neighbor very much in this game, as I had to remind them to let him inside the tree house a few times.

Maddy likes to drag all sorts of things outside and into the tree house.  I admit that I haven't been inside the tree house since we moved in.  There are probably things "lost" out there that I would like returned.  I do tell Maddy she has to return her toys to the house before playing elsewhere.  I think she does that to some degree.

It really is fun to know the kids are outside using their imagination.  It was an absolutely beautiful day outside.  It's a break in a series of rainy days.  Rain yesterday, sun today, rain tomorrow!  Though I love the rain, today was a much needed break from the storms!

B-I-N-G-O

I think I've mentioned before that my kids love bingo.  They do.  A lot.  I think it's fun to play with them.  They get pretty into it and it's fun to help.

Well, I happened to have a mostly full bag of skittles laying around the kitchen, so I had the brilliant idea to play Bingo for Family Game Night.  It was a hit!  I was hoping to find the game of picture bingo my grandma gave me years ago, but I've misplaced it.  :(  So, we pulled out the dollar store version we had been given at some point out.  It was just great.  It even came with a spinner!  That made it easy!

While we played we ate our treat.  Fruit salad!  Cameron and Britta made fruit salad from a can of fruit cocktail, whipping cream, frozen wild blueberries, maraschino cherries, coconut, and peppermint marshmallows (yeah.. I definitely had my doubts about that one).  Cameron accidentally dumped half the bag of blueberries.  At $14 for the 4lbs, he scooped them off the floor and put them back into the bag.  HA!  Not a happy accident.  BUT it did get my floor partially mopped.

The fruit salad turned purple because of the blueberries!  It was pretty, and tasted great.  I actually really liked it.  Cam said he wasn't super impressed, but I think he was still in a bit of a rut because of the blueberry incident.

Daylight savings time started today.  It really threw off our whole day.  BLECK.  I miss Arizona.  No daylight savings time is definitely something to strive towards.  Anyhow, we played with the kids until about 8pm because nobody was tired at the normal 7pm bedtime.  All the more time for fun.

We played until everyone got a bingo.  That's the way it should always go!  Instead of prizes, when we won we got to eat all the skittles on our card... and usually a few more.  Delicious and efficient.

New Menu Planning tool!

For my birthday Cameron got me something I wasn't expecting.  He got me a six month subscription to The Six O'clock Scramble.  I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first.  I am somewhat of a food snob.  I wasn't sure the recipes would be up to my standards.  However, I've been pleasantly surprised.

The purpose of the website is to help with menu planning.  Once a week they post (and email out to members) a list of five different recipes (including sides) that can be put on our menu for the week.  If you are disinclined to try one of the recipes, there is a database of additional recipes on the site so you can make your own custom menu.

Now, this would all be a waste if the recipes on the website were crappy.  However, I've been cooking from the posted menus for the past two weeks.  I have been surprised at the general quality of the recipes I have cooked and tasted thus far.

One of my favorite recipes thus far is Indian Spiced Salmon.  The recipes for sides to go with were Indian Quinoa Pilaf and Curried Carrots with Dill.  The entire meal was delicious.  It was very simple and took me all of half an hour to cook (probably about 15 minutes prep time and 15 cook time).  The entire family loved it!  I am definitely going to revisit this recipe in the near future.

The website has helped me quite a bit with staying on top of the dinner cooking.  The recipes really are simple yet delicious.  Cameron has cooked once, and has offered a few other times to help.  I think he was happy with how easy it was the first time, and that gave him confidence to try again on other meals.

My favorite thing is how it eliminates the trillion choices available on the internet.  If my default is just to make what is on their menu, I don't have to think.  It's like Costco.  Costco offers a few options, I have confidence in the quality of the things Costco chooses to offer for sale, and therefore it saves me the headache of having to choose between a million things.  WIN!

Another neat thing about the site is the recipes they list on the menus coincide with the season.  So, right now we're in winter recipes.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much they differ from the Spring, Summer, and Fall recipes.  So far though, I've been really pleased.

Overall, I do recommend the site.  Hopefully as I continue to try out the menu items offered I will be more and more satisfied and pleased with the food we are eating in my home.  With the baby coming soon, there's the added relief of knowing this site will help my husband hold down the fort until I'm able to handle the cooking again.  Not that cheese crisps (his previous specialty) every night wouldn't be perfectly acceptable.  This way we will neither starve nor eat the same thing for every meal.

A Trip to the ER

I find it half amusing and half irritating that I am the only member of our little family to have made a trip to the ER.  Actually, to be more accurate, I have made four trips to the ER in our marriage.  Once for an ectopic pregnancy, twice while I was in the last few weeks of my pregnancy with Britta (for the same thing that they just took two visits to figure out), and now once when I was 35 weeks pregnant with this baby.  ARGH.  NOT how I wanted to spend my Friday night.

Thursday I woke up to a sharp cramping pain in my right side.  After consulting with my midwife, she had me drink a bunch of water and put a heating pack on my side.  The pain faded within about half an hour THANK GOODNESS.  I went in to see her a little bit later (the visit was already scheduled before this "incident" occurred), and everything was fine.  I passed with flying colors.

Fast forward to the next day.  I was helping the kids clean up.  I was just finishing up vacuuming the living room rug when I felt the same crampy feeling in my right side.  It was a bit worse this time.  I had water on the stove boiling waiting for me to make lunch.  I had to go into my room and sit on my bed though.  I tried the same thing that I had the day before.  Unfortunately, this time it did not work.  I was in some serious pain.  The absolute worst was when my over active baby would start kicking and moving into my right side.  I thought I was going to pass out.  The pain would not subside.  I left a couple of messages for my midwife, and finally took an ibuprofen about 3 hours after I started hurting (she told me I could take one if needed -- but not to use it often).  The midwife called a few minutes later.

After talking with the midwife (actually Cam talked with her because I was in no state to talk on the phone) we decided it was best to head into the ER to rule out appendicitis.  We had some wonderful friends from church that allowed us to drop the kids off on our way to the hospital (thank goodness!), and we headed over.

As we were driving I did start to feel a bit better.  However, I still couldn't walk unassisted without doubling over in pain.  I was sent up to labor and delivery when we arrived because I don't have an OB (just a very good midwife).  The nurse joked that they are afraid of pregnant ladies in the normal ER so it's policy to send them all over to L&D.  I didn't care.  I just wanted to rule out internal organ issues.  It was nice to get to a room right away.  There was literally no wait.  They poked me some, did a sonogram (where we let them know we didn't know if the baby was a boy or girl and we didn't want to know!), had me pee in a cup, and asked me a bunch of questions.

We checked in around 3:30pm, and checked out in the 7 o'clock hour.  The problem was NOT my appendix.  Unfortunately, they didn't know what it was for sure.  The ibuprofen did seem to alleviate some of the pain, so we figure it's just muscle and ligament pain.  Perhaps there is some separation.  This baby is extremely active.  Insanely so.  So much that I'm a bit nervous for after birth.  Also, the midwife is estimating the baby is already between 4 1/2 and 5 lbs.  I'm feeling like she's right.  This belly is large, and HEAVY.
I have 5 weeks left until my due date.  I can't stand for very long, and I can't walk around much either.  Cameron is being really helpful, but I feel like a burden.  Sigh.  I'm not good at not doing things that need to be done.  Hopefully I'm feeling 100% better soon!