farewell to fall

i have been enjoying this last two signs of fall in between flakes of snow. the anemone always blooms right when winter is about to hit and she is so perfect and precious. then there is the thistle from my friend who moved away and left me some of her garden (thanks!). i don't remember the specific varieties of either of these, but i am sure savoring them!

they just keep coming!

the latest quotes:

"i want a brother"
possibly quoting one of our books about welcoming a new baby into the family

"WHOA! baby!"
imitating me after the baby sits on a nerve

"so mom, what's your plan?"
hubby often will ask what the plan is

"dad, can i borrow some money?"
hubby, "what do you need money for?"
"to buy something at home depot"

while running errands:
"we need to find God. I fink he is in the christmas trees"

i went ahead and did it

christmas music is in full force. i never pull it out before thanksgiving (except for a brief july listening), but last week i just started craving it. maybe it has something to do with the fact that we have had SNOW FLURRIES multiple days in a row. so today i started a station on pandora radio of all christmas music! it is fabulous to have it going in the background, never having to change cds and hearing new music/artists as well!
zoom seems to be in the spirit as well. or maybe he is just relieved that the "scar-e stuff" is gone. now whenever he sees anything glitzy he exclaims, "its christmastime! no more scar-e guys!"
i still have to work on him and the music. he prefers our church music, which thankfully, is fantastic, he would just prefer a few songs over and over. another favorite is three songs from the sound of music, 'favorite things', 'do a deer', and 'the goodnight song' (which he calls, "goodnight, farewell, all peters say goodnight")
the third cd is our cousin jonathan's music. he is a fantastic guitar and piano player, but the only recording of him is playing hip hop music. the music is great, especially the ones without lyrics. now anytime zoom hears hip hop music he says, "its jonathan music!"
i pulled down the christmas decorations along with the baby clothes and was having a hard time knowing which one to go thru first. i decided to pull a few first days clothes out and then save the rest once we know the sex and weight of the babe.
on to christmas!!

chiro magic

i finally went to a chiropractor. first time in my life. my back pain was getting so uncomfortable and all my other resources weren't quite doing the job. i wanted to want to wait another few weeks, but i sure felt ready to be done with this pregnancy thing!
my midwives had recommended a woman who worked with a lot of their prego mamas. they spoke so highly of her that they wondered why no one had named a baby after her. one of the techniques she uses has been successful in turning breech babies, and in general it has helped babes come out nice and straight.
she told me i wouldn't be able to tell the difference from the general assessment and her actual adjustments because they are so gentle. she was right. simple pressures in specific spots "reminded" my body how it should be aligned.
she talked about how easily a pregnant body can adjust to changes, simply because of the levels of hormones already in the system. relaxin, the hormone that relaxes our joints, muscles and allows our body to make room for the growing baby, is powerfully present in a pregnant woman's system. this is great for all the stretching and growing that our muscles and ligaments have to make. the flip side is that the body moves much easier into an unhealthy position too - like misaligned spine. the other flip side is that it responds easily to an adjustment. awesome!
having never been to a chiropractor i didn't really know what to expect, but i still think she had some unusual practices. first, she called me back right away and offered me three different times in the following two days! wow - i thought i might have to wait another week.
she has a small practice and certainly does private adjustments, but said that most of her clients prefer her family room, a room with 6 or7 tables where multiple clients receive treatment at the same time. i wondered how that would work and if it was just a way to get more people in at the same time, but it was great! while trying to relax, i was able to hear her talk to other clients, speaking in a calm voice. she would rotate between us and i felt like after each gentle touch i was able to relax even more. there were a couple times where she hit on a tender spot and i felt myself tense up, but having a few minutes to relax again helped me be ready for the next move. i thought it worked really well.
i couldn't believe that when i got up off the table i could actually walk without the limp, without the pain i had when i got there. it was more like an ache, like a good workout. and why did i wait so long?? it really was like magic.
then we went right to the MOA (huh?). not the best choice, but grammy and grandpa were in town and zoom had one request: take the train to the mall of america, ride the merry-go-round with grammy. who could resist. so the grandparents served it up while hubby and i took some time to do a few things. i ended up couching it in a comfy leather chair sipping my first eggnog latte of the season. ahhhh. one of the best things about the winter is eggnog!
thankfully, two days later i still feel pretty good.

33 and all is well

6:15 am is a little earlier than i prefer to rise, especially on my birthday, but zoom's request to "snuggle in mama's bed" made it a great way to wake up. we made yummy muffins together and i received numerous spontaneous hugs. then we headed off to caribou coffee for my free birthday coffee. i was a little bummed because i wasn't really craving coffee, but i managed to slurp down a breve. zoom helped himself to the coffee infused velvet topping (thanks gram for awakening that taste in him!) and climbed up and down the stool at the bar.
we did a little grocery shopping before heading home to meet the midwives. we had a home visit today and it was great. the pregnancy is going really well (aside from the sciatica, the hemorrhoids and the varicose veins! ha more on that in a later post) and i am measuring right on time. the baby moved like crazy. kathy had to pin him down so that we could all take turns hearing the heartbeat. she even felt a little contraction, but too faint for me to notice.
we talked more about the list of supplies i am gathering and it was fun to hear how some of them will be used. they will use my crock pot and big pots for brewing herbal teas to make a solution to rinse after the birth. the herbs themselves will be wrapped in cloth to make herbal ice packs! awesome!
one realization: zoom definitely fought for my attention. it was challenging to stay focused on our conversation. it makes me think we'll have mom take him to her house and we'll just call them over when the birth is really close.
it was fun to get loads of emails, phone calls and even a few old fashioned birthday cards to feel special!
i had zoom's little redheaded buddy today and they played really well, emptying out all the games and toys at once, the daily activity.
hubby had a company lunch meeting and brought me home panang curry from a favorite thai restaurant - a perfect lunch!!
then we went to the inlaws (or the in-family as they called themselves tonight, i like that!) for dinner. it was fantastic, as usual. just like growing up, i get to make my own request! tonight we had beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, twice baked potatoes, roasted mixed veggies (brussle sprouts, two different kinds of sweet potatoes, rutabagas, turnips- YUM) and garlic bread. coconut ice cream with chocolate sauce and almonds - wow!
i don't even need a gift! good food makes a fantastic birthday!

caught on film!

we've been bragging about our smartypants. i confess, i learned my states right along with him. but it still surprises me that he actually KNOWS all the states!
i picked up the puzzle at a thrift store when he was little, but he found it this past spring and has been totally into it ever since. we aren't quite sure of his system for memorizing the states, but he does know them by shape. when eating a piece of toast he has been known to say, "it look like wisconsin!" - and sure enough, it is the shape of wisconsin (which i now know since i have worked on the puzzle umpteen times as well). the other day we were looking at clouds and he said, "it's tennesee!", and while it was a stretch, the cloud sure did look similar to tennesee.
we don't have a video camera, but i have been wanting one for the sole purpose of catching this on film before it no longer seems like a big deal. so we finally caught him working on his states at a friend's house. i am sure that accounts for his few mistakes. we'll have to get him on his own turf. i love how this clip also captures his non-stop activity. he doesn't stop moving!
next step: the world map!

home stretch

with just six weeks to go i really don't have much to complain about, BUT i do find it in myself to think a whole lot about my lower back/butt pain. i think i could ignore it a bit if it didn't affect my walking. i don't waddle - i have a limp. but, maybe that is what the pregnancy waddle is all about. various aches and pains that make us rearrange our weight and move this bubble in a new way.
sigh.
i take a bath nearly every night and that helps me relax and PTL i am sleeping really well.
i have had two excellent massages. the most recent one yesterday. i can definately say that they helped, but i could use one EVERY DAY!
this morning when i had to tell zoom that i couldn't lift him up he said, "mama need another massage?". so cute!
so i am seriously considering seeing a chiropractor. i have never seen one, but six weeks is a long time to go on like this...i've already suffered a few weeks and i'm not getting any smaller. what if i am just out of alignment??
and i am tired of red raspberry tea. i just want coffee or english breakfast or chai or something with more flavor.

BUT, PTL for clothes that fit!! i think there were some snow flurries this morning and until last week i didn't own anything other than thin yoga pants. my friend just loaned me a bin of the cutest pregnancy clothes - that actually fit!! she is way more trendy than i am, and if i weren't cold i probably wouldn't wear the brown down vest that has a furry hood. but it feels so good not to be sloppy!

tomorrow the midwives are visiting us at our home. i am really excited to hear more about what things could be like, right here! my new countdown is actually 11 days. the midwives won't do a home birth if i go before 36 weeks, so i just have to make it to there.
i have had a few dreams (not like when i was prego with zoom) and they are strange. in one of the dreams i missed the birth - it happened while i was asleep. i was so mad! i had waited all this time to do a home birth and i missed it!!
the other dream i couldn't tell if the baby was a boy or a girl, and i was looking at him completely naked.
i hope they don't mean anything.

i am definately not ready to kick the kid out yet. i still have "a lot to do" - not really, the baby would be just fine, but i want to be a little more ready. i have actually checked off my previous list. maybe it's time for a new one:

• figure out where to put baby's clothes
• plan a few meals that would be easy to make and freeze (might be lofty since i hardly know what we are having for dinner this week!)
  
• write out birth plan
• make a list of helpful things for others to help with during the birth
  

okay, that's good for now.

placenta, and other new words

i've been checking out books from the library in search of a book that tells the story of a new baby from a child's perspective. zoom loves books and sometimes it is easier to talk about big things using a story. there are a lot of not so great books out there, but this one is our absolute favorite!

Welcome With Love by Jenni Overend

a young boy tells the story of his family's anticipation of the midwife assisted home birth of their fourth brother. the illustrations are fabulous and the narrative is really delightful. it makes me very excited to be anticipating a home birth, and makes me a little jealous of the fireplace.
zoom LOVES the book! the first time we read it he had a lot of clarifying questions.
when the mother is pushing out the baby, the illustration shows the entire family gathering around mama, who is leaning against dad, and the baby's head just peeking out from between her legs. zoom said, "so the baby comes out of the mama like poop?". since he is fascinated with the digestive system and has to check out his poop EVERY time (and mine too, questioning what i am eating) it seemed like a natural conclusion. so we talked about the baby coming out of mama's vagina. he always has to repeat what he has learned, "so...poop comes out of the butt hole and the baby comes out of the GINA!". he seemed very content with that explanation. a couple pages later the placenta was birthed, and zoom asked what it was. we had talked previously about the cord connecting the baby to mama, but now i explained that the other end of the cord was actually connected to the placenta, which stored food for the baby, kind of like a refrigerator.
the other day hubby read the book with zoom for the first time. when they got to the placenta page and hubby was reading, "out came a purple and red shape". zoom declared, "the placenta!!", then looking up at hubby he explained, "it's kind of like a frigerator"
PRECIOUS!!
after soup and toast the family all camps out by the fire together. it is such a sweet story!

yesterday i was wearing a hoodie and he was playing with the string. he stuck it into his belly-button and exclaimed, "i'm connected to mama again. so, the food comes down from mama's hoodie into belly". too funny!

i am really hoping that we'll be in labor during the day so that we can have zoom there for at least part of it. i think he will really get it - if he isn't too concerned about me being uncomfortable.