I truly enjoy the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It seems busy at the time, but how much fun is it to eat wonderful food, bake amazing cookies, and decorate the entire house? I'm still waiting for this baby to make it's debut, but one way or another she's coming out on Dec. 2nd! I can't wait for the house to smell like sugar cookies and pine needles (even though I have a fake tree, it always smells like pine needles during Christmas!!) I can't wait for the little Prince to get super excited about Santa coming and watching all the great old cartoons that I enjoyed as a kid. I love watching all the great Christmas movies such as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original) and all those great claymation cartoons! I also love the new cartoons and traditions that we always seem to come up with. It's definitely my favorite time of the year, and this year I'm so very lucky as I will be home on maternity leave until the middle of January!
If I don't get back to you all before the holiday season is over, I wish each of you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Still Waiting...
Just a few words that are on my mind!
Yes, I am still waiting for this tiny little jelly bean (according to my doctor she's not so tiny, but you know) in my tummy to make her worldly appearance! In her defense she technically isn't due until next Monday, but I have always thought that I would deliver on or before Thanksgiving. I'm not afraid of her birthday in years to come, but I am afraid that I will be without my little Prince on a very precious holiday! Unfortunately because of this H1N1 craze the hospital does not allow children under 5 to visit at all! I'm hoping I can convince them that since he has been vaccinated that he is of no harm to anyone and hopefully he can get into the maternity ward after this little girl is born. We'll see. I'll miss my little Prince, but I'm sure I'll be super busy with my new little bundle of joy.
Yes, I am still waiting for this tiny little jelly bean (according to my doctor she's not so tiny, but you know) in my tummy to make her worldly appearance! In her defense she technically isn't due until next Monday, but I have always thought that I would deliver on or before Thanksgiving. I'm not afraid of her birthday in years to come, but I am afraid that I will be without my little Prince on a very precious holiday! Unfortunately because of this H1N1 craze the hospital does not allow children under 5 to visit at all! I'm hoping I can convince them that since he has been vaccinated that he is of no harm to anyone and hopefully he can get into the maternity ward after this little girl is born. We'll see. I'll miss my little Prince, but I'm sure I'll be super busy with my new little bundle of joy.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Waiting for Baby.
At 37 weeks I feel like I can't grow anymore! However, my doctor says that I will continue to grow about a pound a week in the last few weeks. Yikes! I'm heading to the doctor once a week now and I could go into labor anytime. I'm really torn on this though, you see, I'm completely ready physically. The baby is matured enough, and my body is definitely ready to deliver. I'm even starting to have contractions now and then.
However, I'm torn because I'm not sure I'm emotionally or mentally ready for an actual birth. I had to have an emergency C-Section with the Prince because I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome and my blood was not clotting (a major problem in child birth). I was unconscious during the birth (to regulate my blood pressure) and don't remember much laboring at all. This time around I plan to try a VBAC, and I'm mostly concerned that my huge WUSS patch will show and I'll become a wimpering pile of goo. I also tend to get really cranky when I feel out of control and I'm afraid that I will alienate all of the nurses and staff at the hospital, not to mention my husband and no one will want to be around me!
Not only am I not sure that I'm mentally ready, but I'm definitely not prepared either! Everyday on my way home from work I go through all the items that I plan to do when I get home: make dinner, clean the living room, do laundry, clean my room, etc. However, I always seem to just veg out on the couch until 8:30 and then head to bed. I thought I was supposed to be nesting or something! Then again, I do curse my laziness every morning at about 4:30 a.m. (seriously, every single morning!) when I get up to use the restroom and stumble over a laundry basket or my ironing board that I can never seem to put away.
In my defense, I've had some chronic lower back pain for the last two months that no heat, massage, or a chiropractor can make better. This really prohibits any extraneous bending at the waist so it's hard for me to pick stuff up off the floor. This is where a three-year-old comes in REALLY handy! The problem there is to get him to put the items away, rather than just play with them and drop them in a different place on the floor. When he's in the mood, the Prince can be a really big help!
There is just so much to do to prepare for a birth!
However, I'm torn because I'm not sure I'm emotionally or mentally ready for an actual birth. I had to have an emergency C-Section with the Prince because I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome and my blood was not clotting (a major problem in child birth). I was unconscious during the birth (to regulate my blood pressure) and don't remember much laboring at all. This time around I plan to try a VBAC, and I'm mostly concerned that my huge WUSS patch will show and I'll become a wimpering pile of goo. I also tend to get really cranky when I feel out of control and I'm afraid that I will alienate all of the nurses and staff at the hospital, not to mention my husband and no one will want to be around me!
Not only am I not sure that I'm mentally ready, but I'm definitely not prepared either! Everyday on my way home from work I go through all the items that I plan to do when I get home: make dinner, clean the living room, do laundry, clean my room, etc. However, I always seem to just veg out on the couch until 8:30 and then head to bed. I thought I was supposed to be nesting or something! Then again, I do curse my laziness every morning at about 4:30 a.m. (seriously, every single morning!) when I get up to use the restroom and stumble over a laundry basket or my ironing board that I can never seem to put away.
In my defense, I've had some chronic lower back pain for the last two months that no heat, massage, or a chiropractor can make better. This really prohibits any extraneous bending at the waist so it's hard for me to pick stuff up off the floor. This is where a three-year-old comes in REALLY handy! The problem there is to get him to put the items away, rather than just play with them and drop them in a different place on the floor. When he's in the mood, the Prince can be a really big help!
There is just so much to do to prepare for a birth!
- Get all my insurance and paperwork in order to be able to leave work and still get paid! Who would have thought that a simple Maternity Leave would require numerous forms, confirmation numbers, phone calls etc. and I STILL have to touch base with my work after the baby is born to make sure the dates are all correct. Talk about red tape!
- Get all my numbers and other items needed during or after the delivery. You have to call work, the insurance company, a pediatrician, and of course family and friends to spread the news! It's exhausting just thinking about it.
- Make sure all my loose ends at work are tied up. This is more than just making sure the phone gets answered after I leave...I never thought I would be this in-demand! I guess it's a good thing.
- Pack a hospital bag. Nope, I haven't even washed her clothes! Thankfully I had the forethought of washing all of the hand-me-downs from her big brother before I packed them away, so at the very least she'll have a onsie and some pants to wear.
- Find all the baby stuff that has been stored away and rumbled through two moves!
- Since most baby stuff is pretty cute regardless of the color, I've decided that the little girl rolling around in my tummy can stand to wear a lot of blue (hand me downs from her big brother!) We did go to Babies R Us the other day and bought a bunch of items on clearance with a gift card that we received. So she does have some girlie clothes too!
- Search for all the pieces for the baby swing, crib, and monitors. This is interesting because all the cords look the same except they aren't! I did find the monitor items and tested them to see if they worked...the Prince thought they were walkie talkies and had a blast listening to mommy talk to him from his room.
- Clean, clean, cook, clean! I have the biggest fear that when I get home from the hospital I will be overwhelmed with the cleaning that has yet to be done (because let's face it, I'm a huge procrastinator and the odds of it getting done before hand are slim!) I actually had a dream the other night that a big Sesame-Street-style pile of dishes was chasing me down the street. Did you know it's Sesame Street's 40th anniversary! I guess I've been watching too much news coverage on it...but I digress. I also wanted to cook a few meals ahead of time and freeze them. My husband's idea of cooking is either chili or dial for take-out. Since we are still a one income house I don't think eating out more than once a month is in the budget! I also hate the idea of eating out of a cardboard box since my main goal post baby will be to loose all the weight and then some.
So you can see that my list is long. I'm technically not due until the end of the month so I still have some time. I'm also making the 25th my last day at work (it's the day before Thanksgiving making sure that I have two extra days and an extra weekend tacked onto my leave!) so I know I can do some stuff then. I just hope the birth goes well and there aren't any unexpected issues! I'll keep you updated on the impending bundle of joy to come in (hopefully) the near future.
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