Almost 39!

Just a quick post to say I'm still pregnant...which is totally, completely, and utterly fine! I didn't update last weekend because it got pretty crazy since I had a friend from college come to visit, and I spent very little time on the computer...and getting on during the week is still a challenge. I will post a 39 week belly picture as soon as I get Joe to take one, and will update you all on my last (and possibly last two) prenatal appointments.

Officially "term" already?

Wow...37 weeks already! I'm having a hard time believeing that I am at the point where this baby is considered "full-term." Even stranger to think about is that this baby could come anytime. Odds are he or she won't, but it's still exciting and weird to think about. Joe and I set up the birthing room last night, and that really hammered home the fact that we're going to have another baby very soon. I'm really pleased with how well everything came together down there. The bed and pool fit perfectly, and everything is within easy reach and will be easy to find for us and the midwives. It may sound strange, but pulling out my nursing pillow and thinking that "I get to use this again soon!" made me smile.

Baby is still nice and active (often overly so in my opinion). S/he is still head down, but was posterior at my last position check. I certainly don't want to be back-laboring with a posterior baby, so I'm doing a whole bunch of pelvic tilts and really watching my posture to encourage this little one to rotate to anterior. I still have some time, so we'll see what happens.

I'm seeing the chiropracter about every two weeks, since I've found that my back and hips go wonky pretty easily now. I'm really looking forward to my apointment today, since my right hip has been driving me nuts. I've also started taking liquid calcium with magnesium every day, as I've been having quite a few episodes of Braxton Hicks and some round ligament pain. Other than that, I'm still feeling great...tired, but great. I know I could (and probably will) be pregnant for another few weeks, but I'm really anxious and excited to meet this baby. Since I'm having another pretty comfortable pregnancy, I wouldn't mind this little one staying in there longer (because as strange as it sounds I really do enjoy being pregnant). But I'm already feeling a little frustrated because of wanting to meet them and finding out who they are. Oh well, they'll come when they're ready!

The quilt is finished! All said and done it took a little over 42 hours start to finish. It was completely worth it though. I'm thrilled with how it came out. I really enjoyed the whole process, and definately plan to do more. I think I'll stick to smaller sized ones for now, like baby-sized and lap quilts...no big bed ones yet! Here is a picture of the finished product:

And a detail shot:

We also had our maternity portraits taken this past week. I absolutely love how they came out!! I want to make a note about the ones with the "older" looking shoes on my belly. That is a pair of Joe's shoes from when he was a baby that his mom gave us. Here is the link to our proofs on the photographer's website:

http://www.ninemonthslaterphoto.com/kolodinski.html

And here is the obligatory 37 week belly shot:

That's all for now!

Could this kid be any more active?

I couldn't nap today because the little bugger was moving and wiggling so much! I seriously wonder if there is such a thing as a too active baby. Neither of the boys was this squirmy...maybe that means it's a girl...who knows. I know the kid still doesn't like the binder, but it seems to be working. Baby's position was much better at my last mw appointment, head down and "on the way" to being engaged, as opposed to almost transverse. I just wish is wasn't so dang HOT! Being outside with this thing on is really tough.

Let's see, what else...we've got all our supplies except for a couple of shower curtains, and some new nursing PJ's for me. I get a couple of new sets for each baby...kind of a "new mommy" gift to myself. Outside of getting those couple of things, we just have to blow up the pool to full capacity (our battery powered pump doesn't have enough juice to blow it up fully) and we're good to go!

I'm getting my maternity portraits done next week, so I'm really excited about that. We're going to do most of them outside at dusk, so the lighting should be great. I'll have to post some of those when we get them in. We're going to do some family ones too, which will be nice since we haven't had a family portrait done since Dom was six weeks old...so that's almost two years ago.

I don't have a new belly picture yet, because I forgot to get Joe to take one before he left for WI this week (another three day trip for work). But I'll have him take one this weekend when I'll be 36 weeks.

I do have some pictures on the quilt though...I'm almost done!! I had to do some creative editing to get the border I wanted, and I'm really pleased with how it is coming out. This is the template I bought to use:

It is supposed to be 'diamond, loop, loop, diamond'...but doing that pattern didn't fit the width of the quilt. Joe helped me come up with a variation that did fit...this is a picture of what I'm doing with it (I left the pencil lines on hopefully it will be easier to see):

I've got 2 1/2 sides of the outer border done, and then I just have trim the edges and do the binding. Zack has started "helping" me with it too. It's pretty cute, I push the needle about halfway up through and he pulls it the rest of the way. I'll have to see if Joe can get a picture of him doing it, so I can prove in his later years that he did, in fact, quilt in his lifetime.

What's in a name?

Joe informed me last week that he is not as enthused about the boy's name we had picked out as he was a couple of months ago...which is fine, because upon thinking about it, I don't think I am either. So we are now, once again, without a boy's name. I think we'll probably just let it go until the baby is born, and if we have a boy, we'll just do what we did with Dom. Which was to not pick a name until he was 36 hours old.

I blew up the birth pool today, to see how much room we had left in the birthing room. I absolutely love the pool, and will reiterate how happy I am that I spent the extra money to get the LaBassine. The bottom is nice and soft, and the sides are higher so I will get deeper water. We currently have two bookcases in the birthing room that I will have to pack up (right now a bunch of small stuff is stored in them) and they will have to be moved, but that's not too big of a deal...especially since Joe will be the one doing the heavy lifting. ;o)

The baby has been very active lately, which has been a combination of fun and annoying. We watched Dom's birth video last night, and the boys were fascinated, and puzzled by the fact that Mommie was in a swimming pool, sounding really unhappy, and then a baby appeared...which they were then told was baby Dominic. We tried to explain to them that Mommie had another baby in her tummy that would be coming out soon, although we're not sure if they "got" the concept. We're trying to prepare them in case they wind up being present at the birth. I've found in my research that siblings tend to be more receptive to new babies if they realize that "this came from Mommie, so it must be okay," versus "Mommie just showed up with the weird little creature, and I don't think it belongs here." I guess it will all depend on timing. If they're awake and interested in being there, they probably will be, but I don't think we'll wake them up or anything.

Here is a 32 week belly picture:

And here is the quilt in progress:

I don't know how well you can see the quiting on the squares, so here is a close-up of what that looks like, I hadn't erased the lines from the blue square yet:

The white stuff sticking out the sides is the batting (the stuff that makes the quilt puffy). I've gotten 19 out of the 25 squares quilted with the double star design...only six left!! Yes, I intentionally rotated the stars they they weren't all going the same direction. I'm just going to stitch "in the ditch" on the two green borders, which means I'll just be quilting along the seams. There will be a pattern of some sort to the outermost border, but at this point I have no idea what that's going to be. That's all for now...thanks for checking in!

I get computer time!

Joe is in Wisconsin for work for the next three days, so I get the computer to myself! I used to be able to get on a few times a day, but with him working from home now, I don't get on very often at all. Did I mention he's working from home now? Probably not...well, he is. He's working for the engineering firm in Wauwatosa that he will be at after we move. It's been an adjustment for everyone having him home all the time, but I think we're managing pretty well. The boys have finally figured out that when he says he "has to go to work" he won't be getting in his car and driving away, so they don't run to the window to watch him leave anymore.

It just occured to me that I probably didn't mention that I am not working right now. I've been working from home doing exhibit design for about three years, but for a variety of reasons have decided to stop. The biggest reasons being that with a newborn, and a state to state move, I just need to clear my plate of a few things, and reduce my stress level as much as possible. I've yet to decide if I want to continue working when the baby gets a little older, we'll just have to see how things work out once we're moved. At any rate, my work computer is back with my employer, since I don't need it right now, and they do...which is why getting online is hard...we're down to one computer.

I thought I'd write an update on my last midwife appointment. I had an appointment on Friday, and everything was great. She commented that the baby isn't huge and since after two pregnancies (and a c-section) my stomach muscles aren't as tight as they used to be, the baby has a lot of room to move around. This came up because she wanted to let me know that since I've already HBAC'd, she's not worried about me birthing a breech. I told her I'm not worried about breech either, but for some reason I've had this niggling concern about the baby being acyclinic. (I've had people ask me what that means, so please forgive the brief definition:)

Acyclinic is the term used to describe a baby whose head is engaged in the pelivis turned at an angle. So instead of the back top of the head (the narrowest part) going through the pelvis first, the area above an ear, for example, is trying to fit through first. Presenting in this fashion makes the head too wide to fit through. The only way these babies can get out is via c-section. Many women are c-sectioned for acyclinic babies, but are told "baby was too big", or "your pelvis is too small," etc...

With this kid having that much swimming room in there, s/he being acyclinic is a definate possibility. (I've also had people ask me why that would make a difference, so here's another brief explanation:)

If a baby engages (drops into the pelvis) prior to labor on their own, the odds of them jamming themselves in there acyclinic are really quite low. It's certainly possible, but the risk is small. A baby that has lots of room to move around and get comfy up in mom's uterus is not going to be inclined to engage themselves in mom's cramped pelvis. They are going to want to stay where it is nice and roomy. So if a baby is unengaged, or "floating" prior to labor, the baby will essentially be getting forced into the pelvis via contractions. Therefore, the odds of the baby getting pushed into the pelvis with their head cockeyed are greatly increased.

All of that to say, I'm wearing the binder from my c-section most of the time now to "fake" the stomach muscles I used to have. By wearing it, I'm restricting the amount of space the baby has, and the plan is that will encourage them to engage on their own to get themselves more room. Once their head is in my pelvis, they will have more wiggle room for arms and legs. I don't really mind wearing it, except if I'm outside for long periods because it's been so hot lately, but the baby doesn't like it at all! It's really kind of funny how much the kid pushes at it!

In other news, I got my La Bassine (my birth pool) earlier this week! I can't wait to get it set up and test the 3" thick inflatable bottom! While roomy with very nice thick sides, the last pool we used had a very hard bottom, which was...well, hard on my bottom. The footprint of this pool is significantly smaller than the fishy pool we used before, which will be nice since we're birthing in a smaller room, as we've converted the downstairs bedroom into Joe's office. I'm really glad I decided to sink the extra $$ into getting this pool. The downside is we won't be able to use it as a giant ball pit/outdoor pool for the kids like we did with the last one.

Since I don't have anyone to take one right now, I plan to post a new belly picture this weekend...my kids are pretty sharp, but camera use is still a little beyond them. ;o)

Oh my it's been a while!!

I've determined that there is a specific gene encoded with a sequence to give a person the ability to keep a journal...I've also determined I completely lack this gene. Every journal I have ever tried to keep fades out of my life after about two weeks. Apparently, this phenomenon also applies to blogs. As I approach the end of this pregnancy, I will try very hard to keep current on this sucker.

Here is a new belly picture at 31 weeks...

I can't really believe that I'm already down to only 9 weeks or so! This is my favorite part of pregnancy...when the baby is always active, and I just feel happy with this big belly. I know that according to the ultrasounds we had, this kid only has two arms and two legs, but with all the movement and kicking (in multiple locations at once), I swear s/he has grown a couple more in the last few weeks!

The heat hasn't been too much of an issue, thanks to AC and tank tops, but I really hope we get a bit of a break soon. I feel bad about not being able to take the boys to the playground every morning like we used to do, but when it's over 80 degrees by 9 am, I just can't take that! Other than the discomfort of the heat from going out, I feel really good. No problems to speak of, just the usual back soreness which is vastly helped by chiropractic adjustments.

I'm on my 5th week of the Hypnobabies course, and although I'm finding it hard to get in all my practice, I really enjoy the deep relaxation I'm able to achieve with it. I think it will really help during my birth. I'm also finding it hard to listen to the CD's during the day, since it requires a half-hour of completely undisturbed time (not so easy to come by with two little ones!) So what usually happens is I only get to listen to the day's script as I go to bed...which means I get so relaxed I fall asleep halfway through. I think I'm going to have to figure out another way to get them in, because although I've been told it really won't make that big of a difference, I want to hear everything at least once!

In the last couple of weeks, I also started a quilt for the baby. Most of the fabric came from my Gramma Grace's fabric stash, but some came from Grandma Ethel's and a few pieces are from mine. The muslin for the back will be from Grandma Ethel. It makes me happy that even though neither of them is still with us, they are sort of still getting to be a part of this project. Here is a picture of the top completely pieced.

Now I have to do the actual quilting, which is where you sew all the layers (backing, batting, and the top) together and then finish the edges. The binding (the outermost border that seals off the edges) is going to be the lighter shade of green, to pull that color in again.

I suppose that's all for now, thanks for reading!

New pictures!

OK, so I finally took some new pictures of the belly. This is at 25 weeks this past Saturday:

Dominic has become fascinated with my belly every since we told him there is a baby in there. He wants to look at it all the time and play with my belly button. This next picture is of something we have coined the "Belly Bump".

Allow me to explain: Dominic will lift up his shirt and say "belly". At which point you are supposed to lift your shirt (exposing your belly) and get down to his level, so he can smoosh his bare belly against yours. We have no idea where he picked it up, but it's pretty darn cute. It should be noted that this isn't just a "mom's big pregnant belly" thing, as he does it to Joe all the time...except with Joe, Joe typically laying down and Dom will pull up both their shirts and then flop onto him. So there you have it...