If anyone has a clue, please let us know! Maybe it was too cold outside. Maybe he wants to be really fat and plump before his entry. Maybe he likes the sound of my heartbeat. Whatever the reason, he is going to be a fully baked baby, just like his brother. I'm still hopeful I can beat my previous labor record of 2 hours, 15 minutes. I pray that when I go to my appointment today I'm at least 3 cm. I've got a lunch date with spicy latina food, and it's a beautiful day to go for a LONG walk. Since I was up basically all night long, I should take a nap at some point. And another thing, I'm pretty sure I'm turning into my husband! It all started when I had the urge to purchase not one, not two, but 3 packs of cookies at the Rite Aid. The next week this was followed by 2 packs of Oreos and Cherry Garcia ice cream. Now, if you know me, you would know that I would not be caught red-handed with that stuff in my presence let alone in my mouth! I thought maybe I was just getting soft and getting them for the boys, but I found myself chomping on Oreos and delighting in the cute 200 cal Ben&Jerry ice cream tubs. Even Akil is wondering what has gotten into me. Last night I'm picking off chicken from the whole carcass (a practice generally undertaken by Dr. Gordon much to my dismay) wondering 'why can't I stop?'. Now I'll know I've been possessed if I start playing Mafia Wars. I'm a little worried since I've been letting Avi play video games after school, and have not experienced my usual complete lack of interest. I also think I felt a little TOO excited when we went to Best Buy the other day and he got me a GPS (how did I ever live without that thing?). This is bizarre and the only explanation is the 23 foreign genes that are currently being expressed and perhaps backwashed into my bloodstream!!
Help!!!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
I'm still pregnant!
Babies come when they want to I guess.
We're all just hanging out.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
We're all just hanging out.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Getting Ready
This may be my last blog entry as the mother of one. All the clothes are washed, separated by size and season, packed neatly into labeled ziplock bags (thanks to the help of my own mother who would probably sterilize the whole house if she could!), I've got my hair and nails freshly done (no crazy postpartum picuires of this momma), I changed the air filter in my house (it was definitely overdue), and just got off my last overnight shift before the baby comes (so there will be no delivering in the crisis center!).
Everyone thinks I am slightly off my rocker for thinking he will be here this week since my due date fluctuates from May 1st to May 5th depending on the method, but in reality, it's Isaiah who will select the day of his birth. So I've focused my strategy (in addition to all the old wives tales of inducing labor) on appealing to him directly. Last night Avi and I serenaded him with an African inspired impromptu incantation: "Four more days and you're coming out (repeat X2), Coming out (repeat X2), Go down the tunnel (repeat X2)!" We may continue the countdown and navigational tips tonight. I think he's turning from his head down, but strangely transverse positioning, to a 'butt up' location. Still no 'drop' but I think he'll be a fast mover like his brother.
Second child brings some logistical challenges around planning delivery. What to do with the older sibs since they are 'banned' from the hospital? My brain is not sharp enough to compute all the contingencies so I put together a few options and I'm just going to expect things to work out as they should.
I start each day wondering if it will be the one whose details I will recount for years to come. "On the day you were born..."
In my middle of the night awakenings I wonder what he will smell like, what it will feel like to feel his tiny heartbeat against my own, and how he will look when he sleeps.
I don't feel nervous or anxious. Neither impatient or passive. I'm just ready. I feel like I did before the Penn Relays (which happen to be this weekend), right after a great warm-up round when the hammer and I were in perfect synchronicity and the powerful feeling of release flooded my brain with endorphins. I also feel like I did in the days before my wedding, when it seemed as if all of creation surrounded me and lent me its strength for the journey. The leaves on the trees whisper peace to my soul, the birds sing in anticipation and celebration, the earth supports and uplifts me with each step, and when I tend to my seedlings in the garden, they reassure me "you're a good mommy, we're ready to go outside now".
As much as the pain labor is considered 'Eve's curse', as with Avi, I feel that somehow I'll be given a voucher to labor naturally with ease and joy.
This is truly one of life's most amazing gifts. The journey has been sweet (as I am already forgetting the agony of 7-8 months of nearly daily nausea and vomiting), and I can see how God designed this process not unlike our own lives: not without adversity and struggle, but greatly rewarded with complexly deep positive emotions when you accept the process and journey for better and worse.
At the end of the day, we are all just trying to live and love freely and deeply, to stay connected with our core and find our unique purpose...and I cherish these moments of pause before major life transitions.
I'm grateful for being able to share this journey with so many friends and family, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead!
Glenda
Everyone thinks I am slightly off my rocker for thinking he will be here this week since my due date fluctuates from May 1st to May 5th depending on the method, but in reality, it's Isaiah who will select the day of his birth. So I've focused my strategy (in addition to all the old wives tales of inducing labor) on appealing to him directly. Last night Avi and I serenaded him with an African inspired impromptu incantation: "Four more days and you're coming out (repeat X2), Coming out (repeat X2), Go down the tunnel (repeat X2)!" We may continue the countdown and navigational tips tonight. I think he's turning from his head down, but strangely transverse positioning, to a 'butt up' location. Still no 'drop' but I think he'll be a fast mover like his brother.
Second child brings some logistical challenges around planning delivery. What to do with the older sibs since they are 'banned' from the hospital? My brain is not sharp enough to compute all the contingencies so I put together a few options and I'm just going to expect things to work out as they should.
I start each day wondering if it will be the one whose details I will recount for years to come. "On the day you were born..."
In my middle of the night awakenings I wonder what he will smell like, what it will feel like to feel his tiny heartbeat against my own, and how he will look when he sleeps.
I don't feel nervous or anxious. Neither impatient or passive. I'm just ready. I feel like I did before the Penn Relays (which happen to be this weekend), right after a great warm-up round when the hammer and I were in perfect synchronicity and the powerful feeling of release flooded my brain with endorphins. I also feel like I did in the days before my wedding, when it seemed as if all of creation surrounded me and lent me its strength for the journey. The leaves on the trees whisper peace to my soul, the birds sing in anticipation and celebration, the earth supports and uplifts me with each step, and when I tend to my seedlings in the garden, they reassure me "you're a good mommy, we're ready to go outside now".
As much as the pain labor is considered 'Eve's curse', as with Avi, I feel that somehow I'll be given a voucher to labor naturally with ease and joy.
This is truly one of life's most amazing gifts. The journey has been sweet (as I am already forgetting the agony of 7-8 months of nearly daily nausea and vomiting), and I can see how God designed this process not unlike our own lives: not without adversity and struggle, but greatly rewarded with complexly deep positive emotions when you accept the process and journey for better and worse.
At the end of the day, we are all just trying to live and love freely and deeply, to stay connected with our core and find our unique purpose...and I cherish these moments of pause before major life transitions.
I'm grateful for being able to share this journey with so many friends and family, and I am looking forward to what lies ahead!
Glenda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)