Category: mommy

mommy


Dec
2012

End of the Rope

categories: erin is ..., mommy, rambling

Signs You May Be at the End of Your Pregnancy Rope
by Erin

You see this quote from Ina May Gaskin: “Squat 300 times a day, you’re going to give birth quickly.” You start seriously considering 300 squats a day as something normal and easy to work into your daily schedule at 37.5 weeks pregnant.

You watch a cute but not overwhelmingly life-changing, life-affirming, or original movie with David Tennant and a cute chick from Scotland, and you cry into a pillow because it was just so sweet and why can’t more people find love on a remote Scottish island?

The kids have a typical day of being sweet, being, horrid, and being totally obstinate, and you go to your room, shut the door. Go to the bathroom, shut the door. Go into the walk-in close, and shut the door. Then you finally start to feel like you may have a bit of quiet, and you start to cry for no reason.

The walk-in closet becomes your favorite place in the house because it puts three doors between you and anyone else.

You consider throwing away every single toy in the house just so you don’t have to hear “Take TURNS, Seth!” or “NO, NORA! That’s MINE!!” ever again. And it’s not just an idle thought … you start looking for boxes.

You wash all the cloth diapers that are bigger than newborn size and realize the elastic is shot in almost every single one … and wonder how you’re going to fix them all in the month before the baby is likely to start using them.

You try to tell the kids to do something, and can only get out the words that give the exact OPPOSITE message of what you’re trying to say.

You tell your husband about something sprained, and get really frustrated because you can’t seem to form the words you’re really trying to say: “sprayed with stain remover.”

You try to go to bed and rest, and give up because it just isn’t comfortable at all.

You cry for any and all of these reasons, and then for no reason at all.

38 weeks on Wednesday. We can do this, kid. We can make it to the end. This is the best and the worst part of pregnancy … so near, so far, so much guessing and anticipation and STRESS. Is it, isn’t it? Now? Not now. Deep, cleansing yoga breaths … or something like that.

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Dec
2012

Progress Reports

categories: at home, erin is ..., mommy

I’m at the stage of pregnancy (i.e., the end) where you get to have weekly checkups. Woo hoo! Our house is at the stage where we are likely weeks from completion. Although I’m pretty sure the baby will arrive first, it’s neat to think they’re going to be born around the same time.

Baby update: minus 2, 50% effaced, barely 2cm. That’s a bit of code for those of you who don’t want all the gory details. I’ll be 37 weeks (out of 40ish) on Wednesday, and baby is measuring about a week ahead. I got the all clear to not be on antibiotics for labor and delivery, which is different from my previous two pregnancies! Hurray! So we shall see … today’s exam set off an afternoon and evening full of cramps and contractions. I wouldn’t be surprised if the baby came before Christmas. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if the baby waited until New Years. I’m just trying to not set expectations, can you tell?

House update: we have tile and light fixtures and sod! We also have cabinets inside and shrubbery out front. We didn’t get to choose our shrubs, and you better believe those poisonous oleanders are coming out as soon as we move in. I think the next stage is countertops in the kitchen and hardware (plumbing and otherwise) installed throughout. It’s a little insane how fast it’s coming together.

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Aside: one of these days I will post as-is from the phone, with all of its stupidly non-helpful autocorrections.

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Dec
2012

Home Sweet Home

categories: at home, erin is ..., family, mommy

I’m so out of the habit of writing, I couldn’t even think of something to write for the second post. I’m also distracted by the Braxton Hicks contractions I keep getting, which simultaneously is encouraging and reminds me that I am totally not prepared for this baby’s arrival. Unlike the arrival of Seth and Nora, where I was able to start prepping and nesting ahead of time, this baby is coming into a lot of chaos.

When this baby’s arrival became suspected (in April) and we also agreed for my mother to come live with us (June; which has been great) we realized that there would not be enough room for three adults, three children, and three animals. (Alas, now down to two.) So we started the process of building a new house and selling our first house.
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