34 Weeks

Here I am at one of our favourite places in Dallas!

Reason # 492 why I love homeschooling
As you probably know, Jonathan travels with his work.  It's not always ideal, but he really likes his job, and I think he's pretty darn good at it, so I won't complain.  What does that have to do with homeschooling you ask?  Well, Jonathan left Saturday before last and didn't get home until Sunday, so that's two entire weekends that we missed together.  After more than 2 weeks of working nonstop, he took today off.  If the girls were locked into going to school every day, we could not really take advantage of this, but since they aren't... We had a nice relaxing morning around the house.  I made some muffins like I would normally do on a Saturday, and we had a nice leisurely breakfast together.  Jonathan spent a little while showing the girls how to do some graphic rendering on his computer, and then we headed to the aquarium as a whole family for the first time (and probably the last time as a family of only four!) in quite some time.  We ate lunch overlooking the shark tank at Cafe Maya, and spent the rest of the afternoon watching our animal friends.

Are we a little behind on our schoolwork?  Sure.  Will we be able to tack a bit extra on every day to catch up?  Yep.  Was it worth it?  Undoubtedly.  I "heart" my family!

Doctor update

Went to the doctor again today.  I have an appointment on September the 8th, and that will be my last bi-weekly appointment.  After that, we start going every week.  I can't believe it's getting so close!!!  :)  Zachariah's heartbeat was 131, which is the lowest it's been, and my doctor said that between 33 and 36 weeks is when babies' heartbeats start to regulate a little more.  She said that when baby moves, that the heartbeat will go up like an adult's does when they walk up stairs, and when baby is at rest, the heartbeat will go down to a lower rate.  Obviously, Zachariah was at rest.  ;)  The doctor tried to push on my belly and get him to move around a bit, but he was apparently comfortable where he was.  lol  My blood pressure was a little high for me, but still within a normal range.  As I have been under a bit of personal stress the last couple of days, and we've been super busy at work, I rather expected it.  I lost a pound from last appointment, and have absolutely no swelling in my feet or hands, so the doctor wasn't worried at all, and agreed that the blood pressure was most likely due to stress.

In other news, our cloth diaper stash is completely finished for a good long while.  It now consists of 1 dozen dyed infant pre-folds, 2 dozen unbleached small pre-folds, 5 Thirsties Duo size 1 covers, 5 GroBaby shells, 9 GroBaby soakers, 9 GroBaby boosters, 1 medium sized fleece cover, 2 snappis, 1 set of diaper pins (that I will probably never use, but they came free with some of the pre-folds) 2 diaper pail liners, and 1 small wet bag to put dirty diapers in when we're out and about.  WHEW!!!!  :)  I think my little Zachariah is going to have one cute bum, don't you agree?

33 Weeks

Here's my 33 week shot taken at my mother's house.  Why?  Because today was our first full day back at school, and we were busy girls!  I didn't get quite everything on our agenda accomplished, but a good portion of it was done, and hopefully we will be able to catch up tomorrow.  :)

32 Weeks

Here's what our life looks like most of the time right now.

Jonathan always makes me laugh.  :)
This one, however, was Jonathan's favourite shot of the ones we took.

Yesterday, we took a tour of the labour and delivery unit of the hospital.  I've never had a baby at Plano Presby, so didn't know anything about how it was run, or where L&D is.  I have to say that taking the tour has made me even MORE excited to bring our little Zachariah home!  It's much different there than it was at Medical City.  Whether that's the hospital, or just a general change in procedures from 11 years ago, I don't know, but...  off the top of my head, the major differences are:
Birthing balls, and a general encouragement to find a comfortable position while in labour.  I require intravenous antibiotics while in labour, so was always tethered to the bed before and not able to get in any kind of a comfortable position.  Maybe being able to move around will help me to avoid an epidural this time around.
We will get an extra hour in the delivery room (in addition to all the initial testing, cleaning up Momma and baby, etc.) with the baby before being moved to the postpartum room.  At Medical City, it seemed like you got maybe 20-30 minutes before baby was whisked off to be poked and prodded, and it was several hours before they were brought to you in postpartum.
You can order what you want to eat at basically any time the kitchen is open, and I hear the food is good!  I'm really excited about this one.  For those of you who don't know, I was in labour with Celestia for 37 hours.  In that entire time, I had a smoothie from Thirsties at about 4:00 PM on day 2 of labour, before I was admitted to the hospital.  Celestia was born at 6:02 AM, and breakfast wasn't served until something like 9:00.  If you can imagine, I was famished by that time and broke down in tears when they brought it to me and it was just-add-water eggs and Malt-O-Meal cereal.  UGH!
24 hour rooming in with baby.  Medical City allowed rooming in, but you had to be very specific with EVERY nurse who took your baby to do checks.  Otherwise, they would keep them forever, and you would have to call to have baby brought back.  I remember falling asleep after they took Celestia late in the evening, and waking up hours later with milk-laden breasts, and no baby.  I was ANGRY when they brought her back with a pacifier in her cradle.  That child ate every hour and a half when she was a baby, so I know they just shoved a paci in and let her cry.  Grrrrr.  Won't have that happening at Presby!
All private rooms in the postpartum unit.  Medical City still had semi-private rooms when I delivered my girls, and for a short period of time after having one of them (Tatiana, I think?), I had one before a private room became available.  Now, I don't know about you, but the LAST thing I want is to be stuck listening to someone else's family, and baby when I'm tired and sore from having a child.  Not to mention having to share a bathroom.  UGH.
Serious security measures.  Mom, Dad and baby all get matching bracelets, and baby has an electronic tracking anklet.  No one can take baby within a certain distance of the doors without activating the anklet, and locking down the whole floor.  Now, I never felt like my babies were in any danger at Medical City, but it sure is nice to have that extra safeguard.
The only level 3b NICU in Collin County.  Not that I really want to think about that too hard, but it's nice to know it's there.  Now, Medical City does have a level 3 NICU (can't find anywhere if it's a 3a or a 3b), so there's really not a difference there, but I don't think I was aware of that when I had the girls.
So, the long and the short of it is - I sure am glad that we're in Plano Presby this time around.  Maybe the procedures have changed since I had my girls, but I think this experience is going to be much more relaxing this pregnancy.  At least as relaxing as having a baby can be.  lol

Updates

Well, really more of the same.  I went to the doctor today, and everything is looking good.  Zachariah's heart rate is in the 140s, and the doctor is happy with my weight gain and blood pressure.  The biggest change is that the baby has now moved to the right side of my belly instead of the left.  I think I've narrowed down my choice in pediatrician, and hope that she will be as good as she seemed in the interview.
My breast pump arrived last week, and appears to be in good working order.  At least the motor works.  lol  I wouldn't have ordered it so soon, but Amazon had it on sale for a really good price, and I couldn't pass it up.

31 Weeks and more preparations

A pregnant friend of mine recently said she was going to have a sign printed with all the facts about her pregnancy.  I think I may look into business cards.

In October.  Yes, that's two months away.  Yes, I know it's hot.
Yes, I know I'm huge.  Who said small girls have to make small babies?
Yes, I'm sure there's only one in there.
It's a boy.
No, this isn't my first
Yes, I was this big before.  I'm short.
P.S.  I will laugh at the look on your face when you found out I have two months to go for the rest of the night.

In an attempt to get some things up and out of the way, Jonathan hung his bass and guitars on the wall leading to our bedroom.  I like it.  I like it a lot!  :)

Computer Nerds Anonymous

My daddy is an old school computer nerd.  He holds a degree in electrical engineering from an era when actual computer degrees did not exist.

One of my very earliest memories is waking up in my crib, and hearing the old dot matrix pounding out something in the office down the hall.  Growing up, our Saturdays were not complete unless we had made a trip to Soft Warehouse.  Anyone in Dallas remember that place?  I often sat in the office, watching Daddy take apart his computer to put in the latest upgrade he had purchased on one of our Saturday trips.

It's no surprise, then, that when I settled down, I found my very own blonde-haired, blue-eyed, freckle-faced... computer nerd!

Jonathan, much like me, grew up with a computer guy for a father, and never remembers not having a computer in the house.

It should also be no surprise, given our backgrounds, that we are a gadget-centric family.  Recently, Jonathan acquired his father's old Kindle.  He used it for about a week before deciding that it was perfect for traveling, and that he should have a newer version.  Especially since he found a refurbished Kindle 2 selling for less than the older ones.  But what to do with the old one?  Why we give it to the girls, of course.  Our homeschool curriculum this year is extremely literature heavy, and I have not been able to find a good deal of the books I need without ordering them.  Once I really started doing research and discovered that some were available on the Kindle for free, it was a done deal.  So, everyone is now happy.  Jonathan has a new toy, Momma has access to cheap school books, and the kids?  ...  Well, let's just say I think we're raising our own new generation of computer nerds.

What happens when you're a short mama?

Your ten-year-old passes you up!  She is technically about a quarter of an inch taller than me.

30 Weeks, and a bit of silliness!

Disclaimer:  The following is sarcastic.  Tongue firmly in cheek, this is meant to be funny.  Go ahead and laugh.

"How are you feeling?"  This is a question often asked of a pregnant woman that I don't think has an honest answer.  How am I feeling?  I've been waiting to have this baby for years!  How am I feeling?  Positively ecstatic!  I am aware, however, that people are inquiring more about my physical state than my emotional one, and there's no real way to adequately respond to that without sounding like I'm complaining.  How am I feeling?  Pregnant.  Let me break that down a little.  I am 4' 11" tall.  At this stage in my pregnancy, the baby is approximately 16" long.  That is more than 1/3 of my actual height.  Let me assure you, there is no possible way for 16" of baby to fit comfortably in 9" of midsection.  And that is just the baby.  Furthermore, this babe likes my left side.  Entirely.  And apparently, my left kidney is quite amusing to play with.  Therefore, my entire left side from about the middle of my back all the way down is... How can I put this? ...  Uncomfortable.  Add to that the production of relaxin, causing my joints to be, well, relaxed, and you have a fun combination!  Perhaps now, you can see why pregnant women walk funny.  On top of that fact, I currently weigh about 1/8 more than I normally do.  Let me assure you that this is not the same as simply being overweight.  This is a goodly amount of weight gained in a very short period of time, concentrated in mostly one place.  My muscles and joints (which as I have previously mentioned are somewhat squishy) have not really had the time to adjust to carrying around this much.  My organs are not accustomed to supporting my current mass.  Not to mention the fact that my body is solely responsible for providing nourishment for a second human being.  Speaking of organs, what happened to all the organs which previously happily took up my entire belly?  After all, that space was home to such vital organs such as my bladder, intestines, the aforementioned kidneys, liver... you get the idea.  How does this mass which includes not only baby, but the placenta and amniotic bubble protecting the baby fit where all the other organs are supposed to go?  It shoves them out of the way, of course.  Imagine with me, if you will, taking the heaviest bowling ball provided at the alley and putting it not on top of your belly, but right smack in the middle of it.  Who needs space?  Speaking of the extra weight residing in my midsection, I have reached the point in my pregnancy where turning over to get to a (somewhat) comfortable position while sleeping can be a monumental task.  I wake up literally every time I turn over in bed.  And about half those times, I have to go pee due to all the pressure on my bladder.  Perhaps this is Mother Nature's way of preparing me for sleepless nights with a new baby.  One last point, and then I will be finished.  Let's talk, briefly, about the phrase "bun in the oven".  I have a bun in my oven.  I'm hot.  It's hot outside.  I believe the high temperature for today is supposed to be somewhere around 107.  Don't expect to see me taking a walk, or heading down to the pool.  The sun is not currently my friend.  I will see you outside again in October when it is cooler, and my little bun is finished baking.  For now, I am acting like a bear who has her seasons confused, and hibernating in the air conditioning.  I know my electric bill will not be pretty, and I will gladly pay whatever it costs to keep my hands and feet from swelling to the size of cantaloupes.
How am I feeling?  Tired.  Sore.  Ready for this to be done with.  But it's not time yet, so I'll sit here sipping my red raspberry leaf tea, and patting my belly while the baby incubates for a bit longer.  This isn't my first rodeo, so I knew what to expect.  Nobody ever said pregnancy would be easy, but it's oh-so worth it in the end.