Mama's Having A Baby

This is a big week, and today is a big day. Ken and I head in this evening to begin the induction process for Baby Faith. We promise to keep you all posted on her progress!!!

For further details on this particular state of affairs you can read In This Corner.

It's Game Time!

I'm in holy cow mode, so this is going to be brief. The doctor visit showed that I am a textbook case of myself. Still no further movement in the effacement department and a whole 1 1/2 cm. Doc says I'm measuring at 40 weeks even for little me, and seemed confident that we needed to help nature along at this point. I was all for that, so he said he'd call and make an appointment.

He came back in the room minutes later and said, "We'll see you at 7:30pm."

TONIGHT?????

Yep. Tonight.

All this time I've been preparing myself for Wednesday at the earliest. Since my cervix isn't quite favorable enough I need to go in tonight for the softening part and then it is two men and a truck of Pitocin tomorrow. Game time is in T-minus six hours and Moving Day for baby Faith is probably tomorrow.

I'm a little frazzled with the idea of going in tonight. I hadn't psyched myself up for action this evening. I'm sure I'll feel better once I pack the remainder of my gear, and a have a pep talk or two with myself. So...Wahoo!!! She's a comin' folks!!!

BTW, if you are a science dork like myself, and like to look further into the whole ripening of the cervix gel thing that include time averages and success rates, etc., you'll find this medical study informative and helpful.

"You're Still Here??"

(Quote of the day today at church.)

Today was a bombardment of wide eyed well wishers, sympathy, and laughter as everyone marveled at Faith's silent stubborn streak and her Mama's endurance. At 41 weeks tomorrow, I really am the last one standing.

I received an adorable handmade crocheted shawl from a good friend at church, and I had to show her handy work off. She made this in a DAY. I wish I could pump something as beautiful as this out in a day:


Tomorrow is my next appointment, and I'm interested to hear if I have made any progress. A close friend has recommended a tincture of parsley boiled in water (drink just the water). Parsley is apparently known for its ability to stimulate contractions during childbirth and increase the flow of breast milk. I am not a very brave sport or believer in many home remedies, but if I choose to do any self imposed things to get everything moving faster, I'll probably give it the ol' college try tomorrow (as long as my cervix is pronounced "favorable").

All of my experiences with Pitocin have been very pleasant - we get along, and my babies have never reacted unfavorably. Oh, but the principle of it all!!!! My third one should have just slid out by now. I just might raise a glass of green goo in the name of my last battle against Uterus of Steel. If I'm going to go under the needle, I'm going to go down swinging.

One Down, One To Go

Look what Grace lost this morning! Yesterday, a bite into an apple did a large amount of the leg work for Grace's bottom wiggler. It was so wiggly that it was painful to eat just about anything without breaking it into bits and shoving it off to the side of her mouth. This morning, before church, Grace demonstrated just how loose the little guy was laying it almost perpendicular to her gum.

We encouraged her to give it a little twist and pull when she was ready. She disappeared for awhile and came back with a big sneaky smile and her hands behind her back. She has a big wide gap to show for it, and a tiny tooth.


The tooth has been boxed in a small ring box under her pillow, and Grace is expecting a visit from the tooth fairy over night. However she is very curious as to how the tooth fairy knows that she has just lost a tooth.

Tooth fairies...they just know these things.

What Not To Tell Your Hormone Riddled Wife

Last night Ken mentions that he looked into more life insurance, and he proceeds to tell me how much I'll get if he dies.

Here's where men and women are different: Right now, all you women are shaking your heads (you get it), where as the men are wondering what life insurance company my husband looked into.

Now men, I know that it is your job to provide for the family, and you all take it very seriously, and only want the best for your family if something horrible should happen. That is good. That is responsible. That is as it should be. But consider timing carefully...

DON'T talk about life insurance and your impending death with your overdue pregnant wife!!! The idea lots of dough, is not going to protect your wife from drowning you both in an undertow of hormonal emotion. I held it together pretty well, but I was very close to losing it.

It ended up being a great conversation. Really it did. We both shared how absolutely impossible it would be to find someone else like each other. We have a relationship like no other couple I know. Absolute divine soul mates to the core. He talked about how much I would need to have someone to protect me, and I talked about how much he would need someone to care after the kids and home. (fighting tears mind you) We both shot each other down, and said we would rather suck it up and make it on our own. A second spouse would never match up to what we have built together. And the pickins'...I don't even want to think of the slim pickins'. And the work...sigh.

God knows my heart, and He knows that I trust His ways are perfect. He was without a doubt our matchmaker (one day I'll share the story), and His timing in all things is impeccable. There are so few marriages that really work anymore, but Ken and I do. Extremely well. We've been married almost ten years, and I can still count our arguments on one hand. It is my hope that the Lord feels that it is right and good to keep both of us on this planet for the good of the institution of marriage itself.

But I digress...MEN...just don't mention the words "life insurance" to your honeys when they have swollen feet and fat faces. If your wife loves you, don't expect her to jump out of her chair like she's just won the lottery at the sound of compensation in exchange for your life.

But if you must proceed, you are a very brave and courageous man. Clearly you have trained with only the best older sisters to be able to balance highly unstable emotions. Advance with conversation at your own risk, and bring lots of back up: umbrellas, swim floaties, diving gear, hovercraft...

Come Out With Your Hands Up

Yesterday, things picked back up again around late afternoon. I began having strong contractions about 10 minutes apart for an hour or two (strong for me on my own...feeling the uterus lift, tighten to a rock, and hold, but no pain). Of course, then I moved around, and they left, until Ken and I hunkered down to watch Cinderella Man. A few more here and there, but nothing really. So more false labor, but hopefully it is loosening the pipes down there.

Last night was the best night of sleep I have had in months. I should be feeling like a hippo, but I almost don't even feel pregnant right now. My belly feels so petite compared to my other two. I didn't even make a trip to the loo during the night...which is unheard of. Seven hours straight of uninterrupted sleep. Pure Bliss.

In the last month, I have been making trips to various Baby sites and boards (Baby Blogland, Fertility Friend,) and watching an occasional baby show to psych myself up for reality. It's my way of prepping and "reviewing the tape" of all of the game plays before playing the game. Before the last month of pregnancy I couldn't tell you how many weeks I was - I never counted or kept track with Faith. But I do get serious in the last month, and start studying up. Of course, almost all of the lovely round ladies due in January are now talking about breastfeeding, exploding diapers, sleeping routines and the like. And then there is me, still lurking around. With #4 (yes, there will at least be a #4) I should count on the following formula:

1) Prior to first ultrasound add 10 days to estimated due date in order to be within remote target range.

2) At first ultrasound, be prepared to see at least a week earlier baby then expected based on adjusted due date. Add an additional 7 days.

3) Quit kidding yourself. Pass Go. Swallow hard, and add two more weeks.

4) Induce and ignore all three adjusted due dates.

Don't even bother to do the math. I don't know how I get positives on a pee stick that early either.

Today...I finish sewing my bunting sacks. I'm sure that is why Faith is waiting to emerge from her fully furnished pad. She better hurry if she plans on coming out voluntarily. Two men and a truck of Pitocin will be arriving soon if she doesn't.

Lost The Beat

I had a real good run at it this time. Steady contractions all the way up till lunch that started slowing down in frequency but getting stronger. I even had a tiny bit of measurable pain with one of my last contractions.

I feel like a simmering volcano at the moment. My letting down reflex is going nutty, but not being accompanied by any further contractions. So I sit on my purple ball and roll around, and continue to think happy, happy, joy, joy, oxytocin thoughts.

I've Got Rhythm

I slept great! What a blessing good sleep is to the body. And aside from the pain in my shoulders, I feel really rested.

God and I had a little conversation this morning. Between Bible study being out of session and the focus on every movement of this pregnancy, I have felt distant and self centered. My daily routine of being in His Word is shot, which is a huge contributor to feeling removed, and large cornerstone of my walk with Him. I feel a strong desire to get back to my beloved routine before I witness another miracle of life.

At the risk of going back to my own self centered thoughts...This morning also brings the onset of something new. I've got rhythm and I've got contractions. Weak contractions. Weaker than much of my BH contractions, but I've got some rhythm kicking in, and it is 8:00 in the morning. Faith is very quiet; her movements are usually responsible for triggering BH contractions. So these are coming along all on their own.

So here's to a day of thinking happy thoughts..."Happy, happy, joy, joy...happy, happy, joy, joy.", and getting back to the really important things in life.

Keeping It Together

I had my first "wig out" today. I just couldn't take the waiting game anymore. It helps if you have a contraction, but most of the day today has been contractless. Absolutely uneventful. I could just begin to feel Depression walking into the room this afternoon, which is really stupid. I'm not THAT late.

I was not about to let Depression get in the way of something that WILL eventually happen, so, I grabbed the keys and some cash and did what I almost never do...I got a "mani and a pedi". The works with all of the treatments. And then I got my brows waxed followed by a shoulder massage for 15 minutes. Not sure how she did it, but the non-English speaking lady managed to convince me to get 50 more minutes of shoulder and face massage. I kept thinking, maybe I just need to relax a little to open things up. In the end, my hands, feet, and brows look lovely, but my shoulders are killing me!!! They are honestly bruised to the bone. Pleasure endorphins, pain endorphins...something needs to set this labor into motion.

I do feel a little better. Ken has been very supportive, and suggested tonight that we add to our "help the baby out" regiment and he'd blow up the purple exercise ball for me to sit on. I already feel like I walk like a cowboy, but I'll try something different. Put me on the ball, pump me full of raspberry tea with a double portion of parmesean eggplant and a chaser of castor oil. I'm not so sure about the castor oil, but it sure sounds like pulling out the big guns.

The good news is my ol' false labor friend Braxton Hicks is sitting beside me again tonight. I know I'm living a lie, but it make me feel better just pretending like this is early labor. If I go get a Pepsi and stay propped on my back, I can probably convince him to stick around for another hour or two and keep me and Faith company.

Booger.

I'm still here. The heaviness and BH contractions subsided by noon yesterday, so I went on a cleaning binge. This was followed in the late evening by a trip to the grocery store for a much needed restock. By the third aisle, my back was done. I have never experienced the kind of exhaustion that I felt when I finally crawled into bed last night. My entire body felt like I had been lifting weights for three hours straight - my legs were like rubber and I had the shakes. I submitted to Ken that my body was done. Spent.

February 1st seems like an eternity for induction, but I won't give into the idea any sooner. Not sure why. Mother's intuition I guess. I secretly hoped that if I just admitted my exhaustion, my body would pull a sympathy move and start kicking things into overdrive. Instead the night was filled with delirious dreams of delivery, and feelings of contracting and some cramping through the night but barely coherent enough to register what was really going on. I might have been imagining all of the contractions. And then there were the trips to the loo where I thought I had to go, but then didn't. I'm slowly going loopy.

I was up for good by 6:00 AM - which is ridiculous considering how tired I was last night. This morning, I've just got a lovely case of a stomach ache. I've got a line from "Nemo" running through my head...

"Just keep on swimming...keep on swimming..."

Homeschool Radio Shows

Charlotte Mason mothers, you are going to LOVE this!

A friend of mine e-mailed a link to a website that provides free downloads of old time radio shows. The shows are geared directly toward children, reenacting great literature classics. My children adore audio books, and will have library picks memorized by the end of the week. After a listen in on the current offering "Snow Queen" it sounds perfect for their little ears. In fact, as soon as I started playing the file, the kids were at my side in an instant wondering what I was listening to.

What a wonderful way to mix it up with excellent literature and bring it to exciting new life with a narrator and voices for each character. I see lunch and Snow Queen in the kids' future this afternoon.

Visit: http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

I received this in my inbox today, and just had to share. The older kids in the household are sure to appreciate this as much as the adults:

This is so funny that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep
trying it at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot.

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and
make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your
right hand. Your foot will change direction!!!

I told you so... And there is nothing you can do about it.

Oxytocin...Is That You?

There is a very odd heaviness in my belly this late morning. And my Braxton Hicks is kicking in at 11:00 AM - very, very, unusual. That is usually a late evening thing for me, or is triggered when I lay against my back. Faith has also been unusually quiet over the last 24 hours. She's in there, just more quiet.

There is also something else. And I've done a little research. It is a first for me as I don't recall having this sensation with my other two. I've mentioned before that my body has started to practice letting down for nursing. The feeling is not nearly as strong as a true let down, but it is the feeling that you have in the first second or two prior to the actual let down of breast milk. The science fanatic in me is interested by this let down practice in that it will precede a contraction. In fact, it is the first sign that notifies me a contraction is coming. It isn't always present before a contraction, but more often then not, it precedes the stronger contractions. This would make sense medically, as contractions and the letting down response are both triggered by the hormone oxytocin.

So here is the deal: This morning my stomach is doing a whole lot of contracting and letting down practice. Which means I'm swimming in oxytocin right now. And that is good!!! I don't know what is up, if anything, but knowing that my body is in oxytocin mode is a really positive sign for me. And again, the letting down sensation before the birth of my baby is new. I'm SO hoping that I still might stand a chance of avoiding Pitocin. (Fingers and toes crossed.)

Sleepless In The Land Of Nod

I need some Mommy advice. My current youngest, Jack, has developed a habit of waking up in the middle of the night like clockwork and coming to the side of my bed to tell me that he is scared. We then head back to his room, reset a soothing music CD (to keep him company), I rub his back for a minute, and then leave the room. Usually, this is enough to put him back to sleep.

It is so bizarre that when I was sick and sleeping on the couch, Ken was the one who received the 3 AM wake up call from Jack, and it went something like this:

Jack: Dad? Where's Mom?

Dad: She's probably downstairs Jack.

Jack: Oh. (pause) Dad?

Dad: Huh?

Jack: (loud yawn) I sure am tired.

Dad proceeds to put Jack back to bed.


On the surface, I can handle this small interruption in my sleep. But between a bathroom trip or two, Jack and an early alarm for Ken in the morning, it is becoming disruption after disruption in my sleep. I'm starting to really feel it. With the soon addition of Faith needing to be nursed in the middle of the night, I felt the need to develop a dream last night where I freaked out on my son about all of the wake ups.

I have no idea what is waking him up at 3:00 am, but it is pretty consistent. And he's not sleep walking. I can't remember the last time he slept straight through in the last few months. He goes right back to bed...the problem is Mom being able to settle back to bed as easily.

Any recommendations on how to break this cycle????

Call Me Stupid

O.K. - apparently I still have a little rebellion in me. I didn't pack yesterday. So feel free to call me stupid and irresponsible. I deserve it.

Quite frankly, I'd rather watch 24, or check e-mail than think about what I'll need when I'm shaking like a leaf in a hurricane from the epidural/adrenaline cocktail. And of course, I want to pack nice things, but deep down experience reminds me that if I love my clothes, I won't pack my nice ones for this trip.

I'm still upbeat, I just hate packing for anything. I WILL do it today. Cross my belly, and hope to deliver.

Happy Due Date to Me

Today is finally my "due date" for little Faith. It turns out that some genius has felt compelled to arm the world with the knowledge that mathematically, January 23rd works out to be the worst day of the year. Gee..thanks.

Of course, Faith didn't get the Due Date memo or the Dooms Day memo, so I don't have to worry about her being scarred forever knowing she was born on the worst day of the year. I'm actually feeling rather upbeat after a doctor visit this morning. In one week, I have progressed to 50% effaced and 1 cm dialated. That is a lot better than hearing "closed up like a clam". At 40 weeks, most pregnant ladies would be climbing the walls with that news, but this is certainly "progress" for my Uterus of Steel, and I'll take it.

The doctor and I both agreed that we'd probably be seeing each other in the uneventful setting of the OB office next Monday. He didn't recommend induction at this point, and I don't want to induce just yet anyway. I've never been in a hurry to rush what isn't finished. I'm guessing that February 1st might be a likely induction date if there is little change by next Monday. The goal is to be home to watch the Superbowl --- who wants to be in a boring cold hospital for the Superbowl?

So today, I figured I'd give a little ground to reverse psychology, and celebrate by packing for the hospital. I'm still willing to put up a good fight against UOS (Uterus of Steel), but it would admittedly border on stupid and irresponsible if I didn't have my bags packed by my due date.

cue the music...Happy Due Date to Me...

Create A Meal Planner Flip Book

So, what does a Mom who values her free time do in her free time, to gain more valuable free time?

Construct a full months planner of meals and reusable shopping lists.

A few weeks ago, I came to the conclusion that if I could just plan out about three months of meals and rotate them, I would make my life a lot easier. It took a good full day to get just one month organized and get the shopping lists created through AllRecipes.com, but it has been very worth it. Here's what I did:


Purchase a cheap photo flip book that can hold 3x5 recipe cards. Divide the book out into sections: 3 pages for intro of meals in the book, and add tabs for breakfasts and breads, and 4 individual weeks. Each week contains 4 popular meals plus one type of fruit salad and one appetizer. Load the flip book with recipes on hand or those printed from your favorite cooking web sites, dividing things out so that the family gets a nice variety in the week of meats and pastas. Then using AllRecipes.com, create and save 4 pantries and 4 shopping lists to accomodate a full week of meals. (The pantries are needed to add ingredients from any of your own recipes that AllRecipes.com doesn't have.

The results have been a dream. I can hand the book to my husband and say, "Pick a week of meals", he picks his week, I print the shopping list off, and head to the kitchen to spend 3 minutes crossing anything off the list that we already have in stock.

I still have 2 more recipe flip books to create that would bring me to a full 3 months of meals. But having just one flip book has been SO convenient and helpful. I have found that I didn't need to shop on the third week, as we still seemed to have enough on hand. It is also a nice compact way of protecting the recipes, carrying them into the grocery store if needed, and having them on the counter as I cook.

We Survived The Week - A Recap

I'm really proud of that. Despite being ill, all of us were able to pull it off and stay on schedule. The kids were very patient with my barely audible voice as we tackled the readings for the day. And just as important, they were pleasant and positive. Here is a look back:

Now in his second week, Jack has an even stronger desire to read after creating Starfall books from a free Starfall workbook we obtained. They are actually the same early reader books you find on their site, but I chose to go with a hands on approach for him as it tackled two things: fine motor skills using his scissors to cut and create the book, and he's able to pull out his handmade readers any time for practice. By the end of this week he was wanting to tackle the harder words that had "tricks" to them. So I introduced the first book with the rules for the silent E. Now when Grace sits down to read to herself, he feels less frustrated in that he can pull out one of his readers and read with confidence alongside her.

Grace is really enjoying the addition of music lessons two to three times a week. We've learned how to hold and strum the guitar, we've learned notes A and B on the recorder, and she's been making up her own songs on the keyboard. I just received the piano book so we'll begin that this week. I've found that I have the best one on one time with her when Ken takes Jack to Tae-kwon-do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So those 50 minutes are spent helping me prepare dinner (which she loves) and then we do a Monet activity, Puccini activity, or a music lesson together.

I've mentioned it before, but I can't say enough how much Grace's reading has blown my expectations out of the water. The words she can figure out, have me second guessing if she has somehow read the material before. I am glad that we are using the poetry of La Mare for her reading at the beginning of this term as it is enough to challenge her. As an exercise I will have her look over two of the assigned poems and go over it on her own. She is to circle any words that she doesn't know, we review them first, and then she reads the poem. This has given me some time to work with Jack while she reads, and it makes her reading go quicker once she has gone through it silently herself.

The children are taking to our rodent studies well. Despite the bad name rodents get in the adult world, they are pretty irresistable to the children. I've had little trouble keeping their interest during our introduction and time spent on squirrels these first two weeks.

So despite a bumpy beginning, we are off to a great positive start. And I'm happy to see that the pretend play has still been wonderful since starting school back up. Despite the messy playroom...this is a good season.

We Survived The Week - A Recap

I'm really proud of that. Despite being ill, all of us were able to pull it off and stay on schedule. The kids were very patient with my barely audible voice as we tackled the readings for the day. And just as important, they were pleasant and positive. Here is a look back:

Now in his second week, Jack has an even stronger desire to read after creating Starfall books from a free Starfall workbook we obtained. They are actually the same early reader books you find on their site, but I chose to go with a hands on approach for him as it tackled two things: fine motor skills using his scissors to cut and create the book, and he's able to pull out his handmade readers any time for practice. By the end of this week he was wanting to tackle the harder words that had "tricks" to them. So I introduced the first book with the rules for the silent E. Now when Grace sits down to read to herself, he feels less frustrated in that he can pull out one of his readers and read with confidence alongside her.

Grace is really enjoying the addition of music lessons two to three times a week. We've learned how to hold and strum the guitar, we've learned notes A and B on the recorder, and she's been making up her own songs on the keyboard. I just received the piano book so we'll begin that this week. I've found that I have the best one on one time with her when Ken takes Jack to Tae-kwon-do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So those 50 minutes are spent helping me prepare dinner (which she loves) and then we do a Monet activity, Puccini activity, or a music lesson together.

I've mentioned it before, but I can't say enough how much Grace's reading has blown my expectations out of the water. The words she can figure out, have me second guessing if she has somehow read the material before. I am glad that we are using the poetry of La Mare for her reading at the beginning of this term as it is enough to challenge her. As an exercise I will have her look over two of the assigned poems and go over it on her own. She is to circle any words that she doesn't know, we review them first, and then she reads the poem. This has given me some time to work with Jack while she reads, and it makes her reading go quicker once she has gone through it silently herself.

The children are taking to our rodent studies well. Despite the bad name rodents get in the adult world, they are pretty irresistable to the children. I've had little trouble keeping their interest during our introduction and time spent on squirrels these first two weeks.

So despite a bumpy beginning, we are off to a great positive start. And I'm happy to see that the pretend play has still been wonderful since starting school back up. Despite the messy playroom...this is a good season.

Bite Sized Peace vs. Explosions

You know what? With my sickness finally retreating, little to no contractions, and knowing my effacement status, I feel a strange peace. My energy is regaining, the last minute items on my plate are getting cleared, and knowing that more than likely I'll be having an early February baby feels just fine. For the future sake of her birthdays, the farther away from Christmas the better, right?

Regardless, my little bite sized angel will be here in a couple of weeks. And that...gives her Mama peace. AND I feel loved. My Father knew what he was doing putting my childbearing years within the last 75 years. I'd have never made it out on the prairie.

It brings a very odd childhood memory to my head. Have you ever had a mosquito land on your arm and flexed it? Flex it hard enough without releasing and the mosquito will be stuck, but they won't quit drinking. If you can outlast the mosquito, they eventually explode. It makes for one huge mosquito bite (I never did it myself, just saw other kids do it), but it sure is interesting.

Well...back to the original vision. That would be me on the range. I would have never made it past my first pregnancy...I'd have just exploded first.

What's For Breakfast?

We have a rule in our house that the kids can't come out of their rooms in the morning until 7:30am. It usually works, and sometimes you receive an extra blessing and they let you sleep while they play together in their rooms. However, there is always a small sacrifice, and I find myself in my morning stupor of sleep and awakeness weighing the sacrifice verses more sleep. It could be a pile of cinnamon and sugar all over the floor as they tried to make their own toast. It could be milk dripping from a sippy cup into the carpet, as they tried to get their own drink. Sometimes more sleep is worth the work later.

Today it was maraschino cherries. For breakfast, the children fixed themselves bread, with stemmed maraschino cherries on the side. Grace has had her eyes on the bottle of cherries ever since I made Ambrosia Salad a few days ago. Can't say I blame her...I love those little bright red tasties too. At least they put them on a tray to eat, it could have been much worse, and red cherry juice in the kitchen was minimal. Today, it was worth the extra hour and half of sleep.

Mothers...Here's An Instant "Pick Me Up"

Why are we drawn to reality based TV? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves and our own life after we watch it. Our lives seem chaotic until we watch a few ridiculous moments of reality TV. So Moms, this is a little humbling gift from me to you. Indulge yourselves in viewing my reality...this is our playroom/schoolroom at the moment:


Sad. Sad. Sad. I do have a few good excuses: 39 weeks pregnant and sick all week. I certainly didn't have the energy for much discipline. It shows.

Excuses mean nothing to the viewer. You thought your house was a disaster until you saw this didn't you? There...don't you feel better?? (Don't say I never gave you anything.)

I bet if I set myself in the middle of the room and stare at it long enough, it just might be enough to push me into labor. Kind of a fight or flight response. And right now, I'm all about flight. Run away...run very far away...

Sweet Sleep

Thank you NyQuil!!! I took a half dose last night and it was just enough to set me over into the Sweet Abyss of sleep. Not loopy enough to prevent my two trips to the loo during the night, but just enough to allow me to breath and settle back into sleep after the loo. The best part - I woke up on my own in the morning with a full 8 hours of sleep.

The only drawback seems to be my eyes which are unbelievably dry today. I have pyscho eyes that are extremely sensitive and reactive to changes in my body. So much so that it took me 5 years and a number of doctors to figure out that one eye goes red for three days (like conjunctivitis) a week prior to ovulation. Isn't that wild???? My own little built in ovulation kit. I bet you didn't know that you have estrogen receptors in your eyeballs. As a sidebar, one of the benefits of pregnancy for me is I don't have to deal with that eye, and the constant "Did you know your eye is red?" comments on a monthly basis. So either my estrogen levels are crashing as I approach my due date or the NyQuil has dried me up - or both.

You can be sure I'll be raising a toast to NyQuil again tonight.

Sheesh. I'm So Predictable

Well score one for team Uterus of Steel. My internal showed I'm going no where fast with 0% effacement. I actually have a worse progress report than my first two at this stage.

So what is the good news? Apparently my due date is not Jan. 24th as I have always thought, but a whopping day earlier on the 23rd. (not that it matters). There is some actually very good news. I was concerned about Faith getting my viral sickness, but the doc says that I am producing antibodies now, so she should be protected through the breastmilk. That seriously makes me feel better. The other good news is that he suggested I could take NyQuil. I'm not a NyQuil taker, but I've literally been getting only a few hours of sleep a night in the last few nights, and I NEED to knock myself out to get better.

So...we'll regroup on Monday, when doc can check me again and tell me that I could run a marathon and she'd still stay disengaged. Did I happen to mention that my mother was three weeks late with me? Yep...it's in the genes.

A Pregnant Pause...At 39 Weeks

As a mom, you find that you are rarely in front of the camera and almost always the one behind it taking the picture. This usually is just the way I prefer it because I'm still in my PJs, or I haven't showered, or it is a bad hair month, or you blink. But every once and awhile I wish that I had more pictures of myself with the kids. I'm worried one day they are going to look through the photo album and keep asking..."Where were you?", "Didn't you go on vacation with us?", or worst of all, "I can't remember doing anything with you." It's a bit dramatic, but the thought does cross my mind sometimes.

The youngest one always gets the shaft with pictures too. When I was pregnant with Grace we were taking a belly shot every month...poor Faith, this is our first belly shot...at 39 weeks. I was determined to figure out how to work the timer on the digital camera today, and get at least one photo at home. I can't stand that ghastly last minute photo in a hospital gown or on the hospital lawn when you are about to bust at the seams. So here she is, my smallest of the three and all in the front:

Back From The Salon

A girl needs a little extra attention every once in awhile. Maggie's golden retriever hair reached a new level of out of controllness. After two weeks of daily brushings which amounted to mounds and mounds of hair, we gave up. Off to the salon for a wash and cut. It is a little harder to conceal the large fat rolls, but she thinks it is all worth it. A trip to the salon means double the attention since everyone enjoys loving on a clean dog.

I Need MORE 24

I don't know what it is, but everytime I sit down to watch 24, that's when the contractions really start to kick in. Must be all the action and adrenaline. Tonight, while watching the second day to the premiere the BH contractions started laying in one after the other, almost back to back and intensifying into what I would consider a real contraction or two. And then...it was over. The show was over, and the Braxton Hicks went away too. BOO.

The oddest thing is even after 2 kids I can find myself still feeling nervous when things kick in like that. This should be cake. Why do I get the nerves? Maybe the fact that I haven't packed a thing for the hospital...NOTHING...speaks for itself. But, I've been packed before and I've followed the play book both times. There is nothing more disappointing than having your bags still sitting by the door three weeks later. I'm trying a new angle this time. A little reverse psychology with my body.

Two can play this game. Its me against my uterus of steel.

Hole-y Loose Teeth Batman!

Grace has discovered another loose tooth! She is still working on her top right middle tooth, and now she's found another wiggler on the bottom left. It might seem silly, but I'm so excited for her. (This is coming from a kid who's mouth was so small that I had to have 6 front teeth extracted from the top, and 6 bottom teeth extracted from the bottom a few months later). I still haven't scheduled that dentist appointment.

One Week and Counting

Ah, some good news. Mom called me last night and I tried my best to hold up my end of the conversation with a barely there voice. As soon as she heard I was sick she said without hesitation, "Oh, I always got sick about a week before I went into labor with you kids." REALLY??? I asked her with what and she said, "Respiratory illnesses." Oh, Please be true for me!!!! Of course she also cooked all of us for an extra two to three weeks -- but I'm going to ignore that for now and cling on to some hope.

Ken is my other hope. He makes me laugh. He thinks he can "read" my body and all my signs - ovulation, pregnancy, the onset of labor. He is right to a great extent. He knows me very well, and there is a lot of science to support the idea that males are cued into the ovulation patterns of females. But I enjoyed finally being able to keep a secret from him and hiding this pregnancy long enough (3 weeks) to surprise him on our anniversary with a Padron 1926 Anniversary Maduro Sampler (that is an outstanding quad of cigars ladies) and the news that he would be a daddy for the third time. Maybe he was just having a bad month on instincts. Judging by my roundness, he told me last night that he thinks I'm almost there. In about a week. I'll go with that.

Let's see what the doc's prediction is on Wednesday after an internal. Internals are always a big let down for me as I am never beyond a centimeter in dilation. If he tells me two centimeters and up, I'll be climbing the walls with glee.

In Transition...

So here I am...AGAIN...practicing for what usually ends up being the 2nd nursing session in the night. Between Faith working on perfecting her pole vaulting skills over the top of my ribs, and my battle with mucus overload...the next hour will be spent wide awake.

Last night started getting really uncomfortable. I mean REALLY uncomfortable. Ill uncomfortable. Ken and I pulled out Blokus while we watched football this evening, and I ended up finishing the game on my hands and knees in an effort to avoid going insane from the feeling of tautness. Stretching out on the couch is useless, and a warm shower did little to soften things up.

No matter what I do, I can't seem to stretch beyond feeling the dig of her heels under my ribs. It is almost like Chinese water torture - just a small annoyance you can't escape that gradually sends you into flip out mode. But when she starts POLE VAULTING I find myself taking extreme measures and instantly running for the Pepcid, sometimes cheating and taking more than 2 in a 24 hour period. I'm so sick of Pepcid tablets. I feel like I have a constant taste of metal in my mouth from those pink little pills. But without them...I would already be in the nut house.

This has been such a bummer week, and on top of it, I am admittedly a complete baby when I get a sore throat (it is right next to mosquitoes on my hate list). And I know my blogging has hardly been in the realm of uplifting over the last few days. I need to remind myself of the beautiful scenery that will soon be before me:

Positive and exciting days are ahead, filled with laughter, baby sounds and that beautiful smell of a newborn. I'm not far from feeling that instinctual and maternal love that occurs when as I study my newborn child from head to toe: the little hairtufts at the top of their ears (Jack), their exotic eyes (Grace), their tiny button nose (Jack), that special something about their mouth (Grace). What unique discoveries will I find as my eyes roam over little Faith?

And lastly, almost what I look more forward to then the birth of Faith herself, is sharing this newborn treasure with my two very loved children. They will both be old enough to know and understand that their sister is here. I long to study every inch of their faces once again, as they meet and hold their new sister for the first time --- what an awesome and moving event that will be for me.

When Sick...Sew

I'm feeling slightly better this evening. I passed the time this afternoon sewing a baby bunting for Faith. It is basically a sleeveless fleece sack that zips up. They usually cost a good $20 at a children's store, but you can make them for about $4. I'm all for babies and comfort, so I plan on sewing a good number of these in different colors so that Faith can freely hang out sockless around the house in just a onesie and one of these snugglies.

I'm a decent seamstress when it comes to sewing anything rectangular, but throw neck holes and arm holes into the mix and I'm a mess. Poor Faith ended up with a straight jacket. Sewed right over the arms holes. Did I mention how dangerous it is to sew when you are sick? (It involves a lot of seam ripping.)

Maybe it was more of a subconscious thing...after all...she is my tiny tornado.

I'll add pictures tomorrow.

What Happens When The Teacher Gets Sick?

Today I was less then capable of being an effective teacher. The teacher has managed to get sick and lose her voice the first week back in school. With the heavy Charlotte Mason emphasis on reading and living books, it is especially difficult to carry out my duties. But it was fun for the kids since they got to swarm around Dad as he read the material for Friday, and Grace was able to show off her narration skills she's developed so well.

I tried my best to rearrange our school day schedule and get the kids to enjoy a little of the good weather in the morning before the storms rolled in by noon. It was short lived, but I was pretty impressed with their scavenger skills. Laid up on the couch, I told them to go outside and bring me back 5 interesting things. Apparently that was too broad, as they were back in 30 seconds, saying they couldn't find anything interesting. So, putting on my CM hat and keeping our current rodent nature study in mind, I asked them to find the remainder of a nutshell that had been eaten by a squirrel. They bolted out the door all excited, and I actually scolded myself for giving them such a hard task (fully thinking they wouldn't find anything). To my astonishment, Grace and Jack were back in 5 minutes with their find: two acorn caps still held together by a small twig - both caps showing clear evidence of being broken on one side by the teeth of a squirrel who extracted the acorn. Unbelievable...they actually found it.

The second request was for a stick that had something interesting. They came back in another five minutes and said they had found a tree that was brown on one side and had green on the other side, but that they couldn't bring that in.

The third (and last) request was cruel. I told them to find a coccoon. I was tired and was trying to have them get a little more air time then 5 minutes here and there. That didn't happen.

So the children huddled up in the green room with me and we watched a Netflix movie called Winged Migration - a full hour of footage with little narration about the migration of various bird species. When the rain hit in the afternoon we cracked open the books.

The Playroom is STILL a Mess, But...

The playroom is STILL a mess, but the children don't mind. We're schooling at the dining room table, until I can pull my energy together to finish the cleaning I started.

Last term, I must confess that Beethoven and Renoir took a back seat to our other studies. Even Grace mentioned that we didn't do much on Renoir. This term, I'm determined to be less relaxed, so every Tuesday we will be incorporating something Claude Monet, and every Thursday will incorporate something on Puccini. Today we played our newly created Claude Monet Bingo using Dover Publication's sticker books for Monet. The children really like playing Bingo, and this was an easy way of introducing the names of paintings.

Besides the nailing of shapes, this peg board with various card designs to follow has been a large hit. Here's Jack working on an arrow that took him a good 15 minutes to follow and put together.

Stepping it up a knotch has gone smoothly. About an extra 1/2 hour has been added to our school time. I have inserted the Montessori activities inbetween the Charlotte Mason assignments, which is just enough break between CM activities to keep the children moving forward and interested.

A Return to Education

At long last, after a TWO week vacation, we have hit the books again. The children were very excited to have the opportunity to tackle some of the new items in the room. It was a little humorous for myself, as I wanted to use that motivation for my advantage in getting some of less glamourous tasks out of the way.

Grace and I got started first while Jack was still in major pretend play mode in the office with Dad. When she discovered that she would not be able to grab a new item off the shelf until she had practiced her memory verse and done her copywork work, she was deflated. After three words into her copywork, she began to feel dizzy and tired, and I had to smile as I recalled how two weeks ago they were begging for school work, and now I was dealing with a child who seemed a bit more "normal". After a few more reaffirmations that this is how it was going to be done, she quickly moved on and finished her copywork. Her reward, working with small tacks and a hammer to create this:

Grace smiling a little oddly because of her loose tooth.
The rest of her day went very smoothly. Her reading went very well, as this term, rather than focusing our reading on "I Can Read" books (which she does anyway on her own), it will be a little meater. Today's reading consisted of the first two poem selections from Walter de la Mare that AO has listed in their Year 2 area.

We are concentrating on geometry this term, specifically polyhedra and other 3D shapes, so today Grace decorated and cut out a template for a cube and we put it together. The fun part, however, was she was unable to guess what it would turn out to be as she colored it before cutting it out. She was surprised to see that it was going to be something 3D. Grace also began working on cutting out a number of different types of squirrels and squirrel tracks for us to begin putting together on a giant yellow board for our nature study.

Jack was happy to be back into the routine of things. He also was required to do some of his usual tasks first, but there was little complaint. He's weak in the area of the order of the days of the week and calendar months, so we'll be focusing on that, as well as progressing through his strong desire to read like his sister. Jack's favorite subject is Bible reading, and with two new children's Bibles (in addition to 4 others) he is loving the new fodder for this term. It is my sweetest time with Jack.


Lastly, in the late afternoon, we had our very first music lesson for guitar. Thankfully Daddy was around to help me out (who knows a fair amount of guitar) as I was actually a little nervous about teaching guitar. I will be learning with them as we go, and I feel very ill prepared in the area of music lessons. Grace was into the lesson, Jack was a little less patient with the idea.

I played our new Puccini CD for the children as they had some free time, and it went over very well. Tomorrow...Monet! :)

The School Doors Are Locked Again

The children endured a day of locked doors to the school room today, as I prepared for our next term. Locking the doors has proved to be a great way to instantly kick up the anticipation for a new term. They were finding every excuse in the book to find things that needed to get put away in the playroom, just for a quick glimpse of changes to the room. Unfortunately, I am SO TIRED from all of our other preparations around the house, that the playroom will not be the beautiful spick and span it was at the beginning of our last term. I warned the children tonight that I probably wouldn't get it all done. Ken teased that they might not be able to do school until later in the afternoon. This was met with instant protests, and thoughtful words to Mom that they wouldn't care if it was still a little messy.

This term I am trying to add a little more to our load (CM style), but still maintaining short lessons. We are diving head first into Grace's 4th term of Year 1/2 AO requirements, and Jack has made it clear that he would like to dive into reading this term. Plus our new nature study (rodents), Claude Monet, and the wonderful music of Puccini. We will be adding music to our load with an introduction to guitar, piano and recorder lessons.

I placed an order through Montessori-n-Such and Amazon earlier in the week, and the children were able to peek (but not touch) at a few of the hands on activities they'll have available. I'm equally as giddy with the beginning of a new term. There is something about a fresh start, and new material, that is re-energizing. I wish the schoolroom was cleaner, but Baby Faith and my aching pelvis will have no more of it tonight.

Vactioning Breeds Pretend Play

Our vacation has been one of the best things we have done in a long time. Specifically, for the children. Ken and I were growing more concerned as we saw a drastic decrease in Grace and Jack's imaginative play over the last term. It was our impression that perhaps they were being entertained with too much multimedia time, so we reduced their time to only one hour --- the choice of what screen they wanted to sit in front of for that hour (TV, Computer, or PS2) was their decision. After a few weeks of this strategy, we still weren't happy with the results.

Then came Christmas, and my need to stop schooling and relax for two weeks. The first few days were really difficult. The children had an honestly hard time trying to adjust to the disappearance of routine. We weren't homeschooling, there was no AWANA, no gymnastics, nothing for them to grasp and count on except for church. They frequently requested those markers of routine back, especially school, but after a few days, the requests began to ease back.

What I saw over the next two weeks was remarkable. Pretend play began to ooze out of the woodwork. Grace and Jack are often imaginative and pretend, but the play is short and fleeting. This play was different: The children started pretending in overdrive, talking in various voices, with all sorts of props, people and trains. For HOURS they would do this, scampering off to one of their rooms to pretend and make up games. It was interesting that it took the removal of routine for them to break out into this type of play. Their days are not structured hour by hour, but it must have been enough to squelch the art of full blown imaginative play.

I will be watching this next term very closely. I desperately want to KEEP that side of the children alive and fluent and free. It was a real joy to watch them play so well and so freely with anything for long periods of time without interruption.

A New Year Come Full Circle

First off...Happy New Year everyone!

This New Year's Eve brought with it some unexpected sentimental feelings. After a marathon viewing of a few 24 episodes from season 4, Ken and I headed up to the green room to watch the ball drop. Our neighborhood was in full firework display for almost 30 minutes straight before midnight. The fireworks were really large and made enough noise to wake up our oldest, and bring her sleepy eyed downstairs with her favorite yellow blankie she has had since birth.

It was an odd feeling to have her by our side, as we explained the tradition of the ball dropping, and why people were lining the streets screaming and shouting. She counted down with us in the final minute, and we huddled together for a round of kisses and hugs. I get a little teary eyed when I recall that 6 years ago, we have pictures of us as brand new parents, both holding a little 2 month old in front of the TV while the ball dropped into the next century. And here she was now, a child I can barely pick up anymore, again by our sides.

How fitting to have an extra second to enjoy the moment. :)