Henna Party

Pics from the henna party last night (put on by my mom's group)! My friend L did the painting...and here's the final result, taken minutes ago:

For those who haven't done mendhi before, you apply this thick dark henna paste and leave it until it dries...then you scrape off the paste, and the dyes gradually darken over the next 24-ish hours. It lasts a few days to a week usually...maybe longer, depending on where the "tatoos" are. Hands and feet get and stay darker longer I guess.

Family pool break-in

It's finally warm enough that both of us (the big people, that is) got in the pool with the girls! After a half-mile walk to breakfast this morning, I had a pedicure while D brought the girls home. By the time I walked the half-mile back home (and brought baby one day closer, I'm sure), D and the girls were in the pool...I thought I'd join to cool off. Scary thing is, the pool temp had gone from 74 at 8:00 to almost 78 by noon! What on earth is it going to be like in another month??


And since the camera was out, we went for another belly shot:


Final addition for the day...E wanted a pic like big sister with her 2nd Womb sling:


I lied. It's 2:45 and I'm adding to this post. Just checked my thermometer outside - in the shade - and it says 102!! I promise I won't do this all summer, but it is going to take some serious adjusting!

38-3!

From this morning...(I think the white tank below makes me look bigger...or maybe baby dropped?!?!)

Had spicy Thai last night with our friend S and her baby boy; my meetup moms are having a little baby-welcoming party (moms only) tonight for the two of us expecting very soon; tomorrow we'll try to hit an outdoor music thing in the evening - though with temps in the mid-90s, we'll have to see! Here's what the weather says for today:

Mostly sunny. Highs 92 to 97.

If we come up with something fun for the weekend, I'll be sure to post. In the meantime, think baby thoughts :) We can't wait to meet this little one!

The obstetrician song

I'm shamelessly copying from Rixa yet again - but I just had to make sure this one got shared...warning: it's very pro-natural, anti-c/s birth (shocking, coming from me, I know).

Click here!

It's an MP3 file by the way...

And thanks Rixa for finding this gem!

Congratulations are in order

My sister has been named to Phi Beta Kappa!

And a picture for all to enjoy (it's an original Second Womb child's sling!):

37 weeks 5 days

C took this picture for me this morning:


Braxton-Hicks are getting a little stronger - had a couple last night that were much more noticeable than most. Send vertex thoughts and wishes to my Yale-living friend J (the one due the same time as I am...just discovered a breech baby).

Happy Birthday yesterday to Grandpa C!

And Happy Birthday (32!) today to my favorite Athens Olympics star!

Speaking of McDonald's and bad food...

...there's some buzz online about a family in Texas staying at a Ronald McDonald House. A sick boy was being nursed in the common area, where all food is supposed to be consumed, when the staff asked mom to take him up to their room to continue nursing. Mom and aunt argued for their legal right to nurse right where they were, and were threatened with being kicked out of the RMDH! It seems that there were complaints, and somebody was "uncomfortable" seeing the child nursing...
Some links with more info I've found:

Mothering Dot Commune
The Lactivist
The Reluctant Lactivist

...isn't it great to know there are organizations out there ridding the world of anything I might find a little uncomfortable - even if it's natural? *grr...sarcasm dripping here*

Brewer's Yeast

We're back from SD - had a great time at the aquarium, the zoo, and playing in auntie's heated (to 90+ degrees!) pool. More pics from the zoo in the album!


C got a new playmo set from Aunt J, and E got a shark and two horses (plastic figurine kind). She has named the shark "Brewer's Yeast." Is this a sign that our poor girls are destined to a life of playground taunting? They love vegetables and popcorn with Brewer's yeast, and every time we drive by a McDonald's, they both exclaim, "Yukky food! It's not healthy for your body!"

More on preschool

Just heard from another Montessori school - E has a spot for two mornings a week next year. It's not the same school as C (they only offer 5 days), but it's between our house and C's school, so drop off will be easy! I think E will really enjoy it - it's a very small school with kids ages 3-6 in her class. More on this in September!

Heading to San Diego this weekend with the girls. D will stay here to do taxes, projects, and rest (hey, no fair!).

That's about it for now...

Baby is 36 weeks today!

Happy 5th birthday, C!

How is it possible...five years have passed since little C joined us! Below is C at 4 months (we weren't digital until then), then on birthdays 1-5 (click to see it bigger):


Here's a little walk down memory lane (includes a little bit of um...personal info for those who don't want to read it!):

C's birth. April 9, 2002

I was working as the Health Unit Coordinator in the local Intensive Care Unit during my first pregnancy. I worked nights, usually from 2p.m-2a.m. on Tuesdays, and 6p.m. – 2a.m. Sundays and Wednesdays. I was scheduled to work through my 40^th week, as I hoped to maximize postpartum time off. On Sunday, April 7 (39 weeks, 2 days), I went to work as scheduled, and spent the slow evening feeling oddly crampy. I thought this was in response to the intimacy we had experienced in the hours before I left for work…I had insisted to my husband D that I was ready to have the baby, so we’d better try to get it out! The cramping persisted through my shift, but did not intensify. I got home and slept fine.

On Monday, I experienced some Braxton-Hicks contractions which were coming at rather regular 10-minute intervals, occasionally demanding a little attention, but usually just noticed as an intense tightening. When D got home from work we decided to go out for what could be our last dinner with the two of us – I remember shifting about in my seat at regular intervals, but again didn’t think too much of it. I slept normally all night, but when I woke on Tuesday morning, I felt a little strange. I called into work, saying I just didn’t feel very good, and that I wouldn’t be making it in that afternoon. I also made sure to tell them to NOT remove me from the next day, as I was sure I’d be back (silly, silly me).

At 3:00 in the afternoon, I was sitting at the computer when I was slammed with a true, intense contraction. It took me completely by surprise, but when it was over, I just continued what I was doing. D was due home at 3:45, so I figured there was no need to call. I continued to have contractions for the next few hours – I would hang onto D or hop into the tub...I remember during a contraction telling D that it was the most painful thing I’d ever felt. Sometime around 5:00, I called my parents and left a message on the machine. For months afterwards, my mom had the message on the tape so I heard it later: “okay, Mom. Now it really, really hurts. Call.” At this point, I expected to be laboring through the night, and my parents were going to come up on the early flight in the morning. Mom called back at 6:15, and I talked for a while; I had the longest gap between contractions during this conversation – so she agreed that I had a long time to go. At some point during the evening, our friend J called from the East Coast. I also spoke with her for a while between contractions.

Around 8:00, we thought we should probably let the midwife know that I was having contractions, so she’d be prepared for a middle-of-the-night call when labor really kicked into gear. When she called back, I spoke with her for a few minutes, and she was thinking that I should call again in a while and give an update. Just after we decided on that course of action, I was hit with another contraction, and shoved the phone at D. I think the midwife changed her mind pretty quickly at this point, and told us to come to the birth center just to check on me. We arranged to meet there at 8:30. D put all of our bags, pillows, blankets, tennis ball socks, etc. into the trunk (where they remained!) and we left for the center. I had one contraction in the car – the birth center was all of five minutes away – and it was by far the longest, most painful one I had during labor. I can’t imagine ever driving any farther than that while in labor…(and in hindsight, now that baby #2 was born at home, I can’t imagine ever driving anywhere!). At the birth center, Y greeted us, and did a quick dilation check…fully expecting to hear three or four, I was ecstatic when she said “seven or eight”! D immediately called my parents to tell them to catch the next plane that evening, and I hopped into the Jacuzzi.

I labored for the next hour and a half in the tub, with D doing counter-pressure, as my contractions were concentrated in my lower back. I repeatedly got up to the toilet, thinking I really had to go…but was so far gone into my own world that I don’t actually remember time passing. I know there was classical music playing, and the midwife and her assistant A were preparing for the birth. I also remember Y really leaving us alone, and occasionally checking on me and using the underwater Doppler. By 10:00, I was out of the tub, completely dilated and dying to have the baby. I agreed to an amniotomy at that point, as I was promised it would get me pushing sooner. I sat in a semi-reclined position in the bed for part of one contraction…too many movie images in my head I think…and immediately jumped (as well as a full-term, laboring woman can jump) back out of bed and headed to the birth stool.

I did not like pushing. D kept cool washcloths on my forehead while Y and A tried to use hot compresses for my perineum. After some guidance, I was able to focus and direct my grunts, moans and pushes down, and soon D switched placed with A so as to get into position to help catch the baby. At some point I was told to feel the baby’s head, but I thought I was just feeling some of my flesh…it was so soft and nubby, not at all rounded like I thought I should feel. Around this same time, I vaguely remember hearing something along the lines of “now just wait a minute, wait…” but I didn’t connect that it was directed at me. With one final great push, I birthed our baby…no slow crowning, no gradual birth. With a shriek of pain emerging from my lips, Baby C came flying into Y and D’s hands and was immediately raised into my arms. I looked down and saw the umbilical cord and some very swollen genitalia…and said with question, “it’s a…girl?”

The midwife looked too, and humorously agreed. I awkwardly moved over to the bed with the baby in my arms and birthed the placenta five minutes later. I did receive a shot of pitocin to help control my copious blood loss, and also had a second degree perineal tear and bilateral periurethral tears…which explained the shriek at the moment of birth!

Baby C was wide awake and alert for almost the entire four hours until we left for home. My parents were greeted at the birth center door by D holding their first grandchild about 20 minutes after she was born. She nursed like a champ, and continued to do so for the next 26 months…even through my next pregnancy and for six months along with her home-born baby sister.

The house on Yewell Street is...

SOLD
It's official...the offering/counter-offering is done, and we close on May 11...

WE HAVE AN OFFER WE HAVE AN OFFER

Oh, did I mention: we have an offer on our IC house!!!!
Just got the call from our realtor...update(s) to come in the near future. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

35+2

I can't believe it's already been three weeks since I took a belly shot! Here I am - self-portrait style - at 35 weeks, 2 days:

And here is more from my experimentation with picasa...from 11 weeks to 35 weeks, from the lower right corner, clockwise:


I think it's funny how my belly is such a different shape between the last two! Baby is definitely sinking lower...and lower...

*And just a shout-out to my loyal Yale-based reader...I WANT PICTURES!*
Reciprocity time :)

(For those of you scratching your heads, my dear friend is expecting her second baby the same time I am (exact same "due date" for those interested in such things)...but despite many proddings, I have yet to see photographic evidence thereof)

C made bunny ears at school yesterday:


Not much else going on. C had a swim lesson this morning, girls are both "resting" now, then going to play with the neighbor kids. It's another 90+ degree day here, and C turns five on Monday! How is it possible??

Birthday party, revisited

I'm still playing. These pictures were taken last month, as the girls were creating decorations for Gma S's birthday party...but since Gma S's party was a surprise, I never posted them...until now:

Please note the giant roll of paper...there are very distinct child-artistic advantages to having family in the recycling business :)

Playing around with Picasa

I just installed Picasa (google's picture thing) and thought I'd play around a little with it. Here's my belly gallery collage, from 11 weeks to 32 weeks... I'll add to it soon :)

Just click on it to see it bigger, though these are not new pictures...like I said, just playing around for now. Hopefully I can come up with better ways to share pics on here now.

Howdy Pard'ner!

We were out at the Ranch yesterday, running around wildly with the cousins (well, the girls were...I was sitting on my rear!). C discovered this hat in a big dress-up box, and proceeded to run around in it for hours. She also decided to switch from her sandals into her cowgirl boots...At one point I grabbed the camera and asked her to let me take a picture. She struck this pose and without prompting from me said, "Howdy, pard'ner!"


And from earlier in the day, on our way out to the Ranch...


...how's that for a Britax ad? The girls both use the Wizard seat, which apparently has been replaced with the Boulevard. I like the 5-point harness and side-impact head protection - and they can be used up to 65 pounds (C is about 45 now)! New baby will soon be secured in a Britax Companion infant seat, then will move into C's Wizard once necessary (22 lbs or 30 inches). At that point, we'll have to buy C a booster like this one. Yes, we're a Britax family...we used to have a Roundabout too, but sold it to a friend for her babe!

Also: updated the posts "Point of Rocks" and "Family Time" with some pics, and added pics to the shutterfly album - there are four albums from today, separated by topic!