Say Yes to the Dress!

In case you're not a facebook friend, I'm waiting very impatiently for baby boy to arrive.  I've added even more silly things to the list of "things I've tried to birth this baby" in the last few days, to no avail.  That includes a "supermoon" full moon last night, according to a friend who sent me an article about its baby birthing powers.  Now my sister in law is here to "help" with the "baby" because this is when she took off work, this weekend being the weekend after my due date, so certain we were that this baby would be born by now (!) and to prove we really are crazy, we are planning on going matron-of-honor-dress-shopping for me this afternoon.  At almost 41 weeks pregnant!  Seriously hilarious, and probably ego-boosting for me, too.  Please take that in a foot now!  


If we actually go, I'll take a pic or two - not that I'll try anything on, but seeing a woman as pregnant as I am in a wedding dress store should make for a few laughs!

P.S. I wasn't dilated and he hadn't dropped at my Thurs. am appointment and we now a have a C section scheduled for Weds, May 9.

P.P.S. We've made a small bit of progress on the Pull Ups Predicament, putting them both in underpants, M all day, and N at home.  M is dry almost all day, N just dampens his unders sometimes and bolts for the potty before the flood - baby steps of progress, but we just may be nearing the end.

P.P.P.S. My massage got cancelled but that's okay because I got sunburned, so my skin is not only swollen and retaining water, but it's tight and red, too.  But Hubs keeps saying I'm beautiful.  God love that man.

No Soup For You!

Come back, one year!
"No Soup for You" You Tube Clip

I feel like Elaine in this Seinfeld episode, when the Soup Nazi won't give her the mulligatawny she orders (complete with a laugh track from my MIL's friend, Elaine, the one who carried her baby elephants to 46 and 44 weeks).

My 39 week appointment this morning netted the same result: No Dilation For You!  Come back, one week!  With a little postscript: then we'll schedule a C section for 41 weeks.

Boo.  Hiss.

But I'm taking it well.  Handsome Hubs had a hunch this was coming I think, so while I was gone this morning he swept, mopped and vacuumed, as well as changed N's pee-pee bedding, and was shopping with the boys at Menard's for a snake (auger) to fix my clogged kitchen drain when I got home.  That definitely softens the blow.  He's turning into quite the Mr. Mom.  And I like it!

Here's a funny for you: last night we walked to a nearby playground and chatted with the neighbors who were out doing yard work.  Coming upon a neighbor who was weed whacking and showering her driveway with debris, M piped up and loudly asked, "Why you making such a mess?!"  

No Soup for You!

Baby Update: 38 Weeks

No dilation, nothing happening, all is well, see you next week. 

I'm not as disappointed this week, I was expecting it. But I'm going to spend the next week working on some of those home remedies I found last night in hopes of making progress by next Thursday morning (except for the castor oil, ew).  It's the best excuse I've EVER had to get a pedicure (not to mention they're looking pretty gnarly) tomorrow afternoon.  And A, by "other things" I meant eating an entire fresh pineapple.  What were YOU thinking ;)?

At least I've been feeling better the last few days, like second-trimester-better, so I don't mind waiting one more week if I feel like this.  Plus I think my Michigan-dwelling help will not be too happy if I go early.  But they'd all get over it when I deliver a ten pound turkey.

Just sayin'...I was a 9 pounder, my brother in law was a 10 pounder, and I know for a fact that my uterus can hold 11 pounds of baby.  So when I say I don't want to go much longer,  I reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy don't want to go much longer! What's wrong with wanting to having a normal-size baby in the normal way? Really?!  Can't I do anything normally?  (Sigh)

Okay, this is a very unflattering photo of me (taken on a not-feeling-well-night to boot) but the boys are SO CUTE at bedtime, hugging and kissing baby brother goodnight, singing "Twinkle Twinkle" into my bellybutton, where they've decided is the hole where he will come out - and I'm not telling them any differently.

Mommy and her 3 boys

Baby Update: 37 weeks

Today was my 37 week appointment, the one where you're finally really and truly considered full term.  I was keeping my expectations really low, as in expecting Doc to say, "you're fat and not dilated," so that if the news was any better than that, I'd be happy.

He left out the "you're fat" part, so I guess I'm happy.  And all the other stats were good: blood pressure, heart rate, belly tape measure, etc. 

But I won't lie: I was really really hoping that he'd say I was dilated to at least one. 

So that there was a least a reason for waking all night to contractions the last few nights. 

Oh, well.

Maybe next week.  

Special Kind of Crazy

When it happened 3 years ago I thought I was losing my mind. People warn you of kankles and fat, swelling and discomfort. But they don't read you the fine print: side effect may include INSOMNIA!

It's not like I don't have sleep problems to begin with, but in normal life, once I fall asleep, I don't wake until the alarm, and then, barely. Nowadays my alarm isn't set of twin toddlers, born to make me crazy all day.

Now I have a pre-born infant making me crazy at night. For the second time this week, I am awake at the wrong time. It went like this:

I was dreaming (they don't tell you about vivid weird dreams either) about M and N playing with a 17 foot python at my sister P's house. Apparently it was friendly, but wouldn't you know, they broke it into 4 large pieces. Of course I yelled at them for hurting their uncle's snake, and they put the carcass pieces onto the coffee table and crawled into a large chair together, pouting. As my sister and I were discussing what to do with the mess and how to tell her husband, I woke up (for real woke up)

To the sound of M crying in his room. I sat up listening to determine whether to go in there, but he stopped a few seconds later and fell asleep.

Begin insomnia. I tossed and turned trying not to wake Hubs for a half hour. I feel totally caffeinated, like I just had a Big Gulp of Diet Coke. All I can think about is turning Chicken in a Pot into Best Chicken salad for lunch, so rather than "waste" time tossing or wake Gibs eating crackers like I did 3 nights ago, I move stealthily (haha, right?) to the kitchen.

Quickly abondoning the chicken salad idea (too noisy, must chop things) I see 3 spoiling nana nas, perfect for bread. Mmmmm, I love banana bread and I even have walnuts in the cupboard...no, even noisier, must use Kitchenaid. Hi, Kithenaid, how are you? Haven't mixed anything lately, huh? Don't worry well make something tomorrow. (sigh)

Finger jello! The boys were mysteriously well behaved last night and each had just one no 2 accident yesterday so I decide to boil water and fix it for them. They can have it after they eat chicken salad for lunch.

Anyone want to guess what size my post pregnancy body will be this summer? The Lands End Overstock catalog arrived yesterday, which I browsed as I whisked with my quiet rubber whisk. There are some great sales and I love the LE suit from 2 summers ago.

"were you in the kitchen?" mumbles Hubs as I slip not so stealthily into bed.

"shh, yes, just insomnia, go back to sleep," I whispered. Fortunately, he did, and he's probably dreaming about cherry finger jello, which the house now smells of.

Seriously it's a special kind of crazy.

PS Happy 32nd Birthday, P! Love you sis! Quite obviously, I was thinking of you on your special day today. And I PRAY J does NOT get you a python. Pretty sure that came from our zoo visit Mon, not because I'm telepathic :)

Day 8: Hold Steady

Whew, I'm exhausted. Potty training is not for wimps. I had an OB appointment this morning and Dr. C asked how I've been feeling. "we're potty training the boys this week," I answered.

As a father of 5, the youngest a set of twins, he just smiled and said, "Good luck,"

He did say his girls "got it" faster but the boys were slower, a theme that nearly every parent ahead of me repeats.

So I'm just grateful that M is doing so well and that we are seeing more cooperation with N, who has not had an accident today! We 're just holding steady today. No major problems, 1 accident, no major breakthroughs. I'll take it.

Here's a funny, non-potty training story. I had a "Julie and Julia" moment last night. If you've seen the movie or read the book, you know Julie gets upset because she has to bone a duck. When she finally does, she's dressing the duck in the living room, talking to Julia as she watches the same procedure and follows along. Because Cub did not have the whole cut up chicken I needed for a recipe, but had the whole chicken on sale for .99/lb., I decided I'd do it myself. I've roasted whole chickens before, but not cut them raw. How hard could it be?

Oh, gross. It was full of gizzards and guts! I had to look up "how to cut up a raw chicken" in my Better Homes and Gardens "Bible" cookbook, and read it aloud, following the photo guide! The crunching sound of the knife through cold chicken tendons made me gag! However, when I finished, it looked just like the "whole cut up" chicken I usually buy for twice the price! Now, I'm pretty proud and looking forward to our Chicken in a Pot" dinner simmering away in the crock pot right now. Yeah, I'm totally a butcher.

By the way, Baby 3 is healthy, strong, and doing well. My weight and blood pressure check out well, and I go back in 3 weeks for the blood glucose test. I don't feel diabetic right now, so hopefully I can avoid it this time!

Baby Bump!

Mommy and Three at 20 weeks

Friday was the big day - we found out what we're having!  First, though, I have to tell you that Baby is healthy and active, measuring in the 63rd percentile and all is well.  And there is still only one in there, praise God!  Baby is kicking me all day and all night and he did not AT ALL like the ultrasound.

Oops...I let the cat out of the bag.  You got it, we're having ANOTHER BOY!  It's unbelievable!  But I had a feeling all along that it was a boy.  In fact, when the tech found 'it' I laughed aloud!  She said a couple of times that she thought she saw 'it,' and we knew 'it' could only be one thing - his little man parts.

I know we kept the boys' names a secret, but that was mostly because we had no idea what to name them.  We could only agree on girls' names until the very end.  So we'll probably keep Three's real name a secret as well....because we are totally stumped again! 

Here he is...Three!

Baby Update

Thursday morning was my 16 week appointment - 16 weeks!  Unbelievable.  The pregnancy is going so fast, but I don't have time to sit around and contemplate my bellybutton, so I've barely mentioned it to you.

Fortunately, I'm in my second trimester now so the Utter Exhaustion phase is lifting off.  That's how I figured out I was pregnant- I was so tired at 1pm when I put the boys down for a nap that my bones hurt and I laid down on the living room floor!  Not the couch, 3 feet away, or my bed, down the hall.  I was nauseous - because what mom of two year old twins eats a healthy breakfast? - and nearly passed out.  My brain said, wow, you haven't felt this sick since you were pregnant.  I told my brain, yeah.  My brain said, you haven't had a period since July.  So I asked my brain what day it was.  It said, September 8th. I was six weeks pregnant, I found out a few minutes later, when I peed on a stick.  Thanks, brain, for not reminding me I was two weeks late!

I heard the baby's heartbeat Thursday morning - and yes, we know there is only one because I've already had an ultrasound to rule out multiples.  I think I would have had an anxiety attack by now if I hadn't!  My doctor didn't say how fast it was beating, but it sounded suspiciously like my boys' did.

I think my weight is doing ok.  I'm definitely gaining more slowly than I did with the twins, so I feel downright skinny!  (Haha)  And that's with eating a lot of that leftover Halloween candy, so I think I'm alright for now.  And my XL maternity clothes are still too big, so I'm taking that as a good sign.  I'm not sure I'll be singing the same tune come January and February, after the holidays, when I'll NOT be in my first trimester and nauseous, like last time.

No intense cravings, but I'm preferring salts to sweets, again, despite the Halloween candy.  I've been buying store-brand butter microwave popcorn and snacking on that at night - my non pregnant self much prefers ice cream.  This happened last time, too, when I sent Hubs on a wild goose chase for Maui Onion flavored potato chips, so I'm not surprised!   And I quit coffee, again.  I quit it about a month ago, but I just couldn't function all day.  So I started up.  Then the constant peeing started back up and I suspected it was the caffeine, so I quit again and the peeing is slowing back down.  Like you wanted to know that.  But not having coffee explains a lot...of my grumpiness. 

We're taking bets on the gender.  Anyone?  People seem to think we want a girl, but that's not necessarily true.  We are already all ready for boys here, so a little band of brothers would be great.  But I'm not getting any younger, so this might be it and a girl would be a lot of fun, especially with big blond curls.  I know the Lord has just the right one chosen for us. 

I still think we'll name the baby Surprise.

Way Back Wednesday

One year ago today, the fellas were just two weeks old and had only been home a few days.  Here's what things looked like at our house about a year ago.

I love looking at the newborn photos and marveling at what incredibly curious and sweet boys they're becoming!  Today they're entertaining themselves by endlessly climbing in and out of a plastic toy bin, something that seemed unimaginable when these photos were taken. 

Farm Babies!

We FINALLY got to go to the Minnesota Zoo's annual Farm Babies Exhibit!

I searched the web for the MN Zoo's Farm Babies commercial and couldn't find it, so only locals will understand how ADORABLE the ad is!  We've been watching the same ad for 6 years and every year, the little sheep bleats, "Come on, ma-a-a-a-a-n!" at the end, and every year we say we're going to go, but we DON'T because we'll feel all dumb and stuff for not taking some kids with us.

NOW we have an excuse a REASON to go!  Whoopee!

Oh, my gosh!  Okay, maybe I had a little more fun than I should have, but this was so incredibly cute!  LOOK!

Matthew and I got up close and personal with a friendly cow.  She posed very patiently for photo after photo!

Nathan wore his overalls for this special occasion!

Playing with the other kids!  (Get it, kids?)

 Matthew was enchanted by the goat and kept reaching up to touch him.  Since he could only reach its mouth, we decided to try to touch a different, resting goat.

This was a very patient nice goat that we let both the boys pet.  And ya know what's neat about this barn?  There's a "goat resting area" where they can go back into the barn themselves so they're not touched.  (If I were a goat, that's where I'd be!) 

The piglets were the cutest  farm babies of all, but it was too difficult to get a photo, so we decided to have someone take our picture on the HUGE plastic (fiberglass? IDK) sow with her piglets outside the barn.  I envisioned a different photo, one where you see the whole pig/piglet thing, and just the four of us, not the random little girl, but it's still pretty cute.  Thanks, nice lady, for trying!


If you haven't been to see them, go soon, because they're only there till April 30th! 

Way Back Wednesday

Easter 2009: I was about 27 weeks pregnant - this is my favorite preggo picture, when I was looking and feeling good.  We spent a quiet afternoon having brunch with friends at a local restaruant since I wasn't allowed to travel.  This year will be a different story, surrounded by dozens of two sets of family members!

May 24, 2009: I didn't know I'd be having the boys the next day when we took this picture!  I was 35w2days.  All things considered, I felt pretty good this day, and confident I'd make it to my scheduled C section date of June 17. (Ha, ha, joke's on me!)

 

June 1, 2009: Matthew comes home!  While we were happy to bring him home, I sobbed all the way out to the van because Nathan was still in the NICU and we didn't know how much longer he'd be there. 

June 4, 2009: Nathan (in Steve's arms) comes home!  We were so excited to get our first family picture at home that Steve was still wearing his hospital band.

It's unbelievable that these photos are almost a year old.  Those tiny little 5 pound lumps are now nearly 20 pounds each, feeding themselves bananas and drinking out of sippy cups.  I know they'll be walking and talking any minute now.

Way Back Wednesday

 

Baby Stevie
 

Baby Matthew

 

Baby Kimmy

 

Baby Nathan

Double Doody

"It's Mommy's turn!"  I hear my husband singsong to the boys, kicking and playing happily in their bouncy chairs this morning.  Dang it, he's right.  I can smell the distinct baby-poop scent wafting my way.  I'd weaseled my may out of several poopy diapers over the weekend because "I do it all week - you can do it on the weekends!"  (Don't knock me - it's still working). 

Sniff, sniff..."Which one?" I ask.  They both smile and kick.  I choose Matthew.  It's time to change them out of their pj's anyway, so I lay out the blanket and haul over two sets of overalls, two diapers, and the wipes.  Matthew laughs and coos as I unfasten the diaper as if great fun is about to be had.  I reach to keep his left foot from crashing into his poo and jam my own finger into the small pile of rank, warm mush.  "Eww, Matthew, ewww!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I cry, as he kicks his right foot into the mess.  "Matthew, stop that!" I laugh.

Steve, of course, thinks this is totally hilarious, and takes this opportunity to remind me that HE had to change all the poopy diapers this weekend, so I deserve the mess Matthew is making.  ""Har, har," I retort.

Nathan, by the way, has been watching the scene lying alongside Matthew, quiet as can be.  Steve gloats in his victory of having chosen the clean baby. 

Great fun WAS had by all when he opened Nathan's diaper to find the biggest load of stinky baby doody he's created in weeks!