Still pregnant, yessiree.

Our little one is secure in his little spot. As much as the back labor and contractions have been going going going...he's giving no signs of really wanting to vacate the premises. The doctors are keeping a close eye now that it's so close to our due date. Babes is doing well. He's a wiggly-worm. Can't wait to be able to hold him and see those cute little knees that keep ending up in my ribs. Sooner rather than later, if you please.

This afternoon my blood pressure was up a little bit, and I'm running a bit of a low-grade fever. But they sent me home with instructions to go to Labor and Delivery if anything out of the ordinary goes on, or if I'm just really not feeling well. Of course I'm not feeling well (duh!). I'm really uncomfortable, hurting in places I wish I was still unaware of some days. Trying really hard not to catch every thing that the kids, (and Kevin), bring home. So far vitamins and rest seem to be doing the job.

I can't really complain too much. I'm just tired, ya know? I'd much rather be missing sleep because of diaper changes and nursing, though.

ANY DAY NOW, little person! :)

I'm getting to the end of my rope!

I know this might seem contradictory to my last post but....I am in so much pain I almost can't stand it anymore. There is so much pain, and so much swelling, and so much pressure. This is worse than labor. Labor I could handle...the rest of this...UGH!

Lord have mercy.

Feeling empowered.

I picked up some cd's called HypBirth for practicing hypnosis for labor and delivery. It's amazing what a little relaxation will do for you. Since listening to them I feel much more at peace, and with every contraction that happens even now, they are almost painless because I am cooperating with them rather than fighting "this thing that is happening to me".

The author has made some good points about labor. From the time we are little girls we hear horror stories about how labor and delivery is painful and horrible, and the only good thing about it is when it's over. We sort of get hypnotized into believing this and then live it out through our own experience. It's very true. With Anthony, not only was I afraid not knowing what to expect, but I had this vision in my head of how horrible it was going to be and things sort of played themselves out from there. Being induced with him didn't help either. Being induced made me feel even more out of control and like this thing was "happening" to me rather than me being cooperative in the process.

The fact that I feel like my pregnancies and births have become a learning experience, and a process of maturity...well it makes me feel more empowered. I know it sounds silly:) I'm very proud of me for the things I've gone through and learned from.

This little one is going to be one more wonderful learning experience.
~~~~
Isn't it interesting how not only are we called to teach our kids, but we're called to learn from them as well. I think with each one, I've discovered something new about myself that I didn't know was in me before.

Anyway, I'm off to get ready for my check-up and ultra-sound. Can't wait to see the little one:)

Friday. Thank goodness.

Whew! I'm tired. All this getting up early makes me just want to lay in bed the rest of the day.

Thankfully we did Trick or Trunk at church on Sunday, and Anthony has another party thing going on at school today, so I've gotten out of having to haul the kids around trick or treating. Not that I'm a big fan of it anyway. I'm all for dressing up and having fun, but I'd much rather do it for said party at church than just wandering around neighborhoods I don't know. I'm not up for wandering around anyway. You'd have to roll me around, I'm hurting too much now!

Honestly I'm not feeling so hateful towards being pregnant as I did the last two pregnancies. Right about now I'd be cursing silently and wishing for the end. Instead I'm just feeling grateful for a semi-uneventful and safe and healthy pregnancy thus far. I'm ready to hold this little person and be able to thank God for a safe delivery. I'm just so grateful. As much as I complain that I'm tired, I really am thankful to be here! I'm looking forward to Monday when I have my next check-up and ultrasound. This time their just going to check his growth and position. He's very obviously head down with all the kicks I get to my ribs. I was still only dilated a little bit and effaced 30%, but "his head is RIGHT there", and he likes to let me know it too. He puts on foot on my ribs and pushes his head down. Makes me feel like I'm dying, but hey at least I know he's ready and in position!

Kevin left on Wednesday with stern warnings not to have the baby while he's gone. Not that I want to steal that from him, but I wouldn't mind too much. (I think for him this time a big part of it is that he doesn't want me to be alone.) I tend to stress a lot and hold back about things in general when I see him standing by with a very pained/concerned expression and not knowing what to do or how to help. So I guess in a sense I'd like to save him the uncomfortableness of it all. And me too. I've been practicing some self-hypnosis techniques for labor, like I did with Annie, hoping that things will just go easily. I know it sounds sort of psycho-babbly to talk about hypnosis, but the images and relaxation stuff really helped a lot. I'd love for things to go that way again, but we all know how unpredictable it is.

With Kevin gone for a while I feel like I should get something productive done. I'm going to focus on our room and bathroom. I need to do a thorough cleaning before people start showing up at my house too. My mom is coming, and Kevin's mom is coming for Thanksgiving and possibly his brother as well he said. The least I could do is vacuum. And clean the main bathroom and put laundry away....I'd much rather just go and take another nap:)

Most disgusting.

You know...I've cleaned up some gross stuff. Bodily fluids are pretty gross.

But this one tops them all....

Kevin's bottle of chewing tobacco spit. Spilt on the carpet. *gag*

I was tempted to just cut the chunk of carpet out.

Never again.

Seriously....

All I can say is....I am soooooo ready.

Every time I stand up I have a contraction. Which happens to be a lot since it seems like every 3 minutes one of the kids is yelling "MOM! I need you!!!!!"

Today the contractions have been on and off every couple of hours, only a few minutes apart during that hour or so. I'm more tired than anything. If I lay still long enough they stop. (I know...keep my feet up, drink lots of water, relax, stay down....) Last night they were every 7 minutes and would last about 30-40 seconds. My body is seriously reaaaaaaaaady. I figure give it until next week, when I'll be 36 weeks and then if he comes.....ok. Still a little early this week. So I'm trying to relax. Trying, being the key word.

I have an appointment on Monday. At my last appointment I was dilated to about 1 and 30% effaced. I'm pretty sure things have progressed a little. Maybe TMI, but I feel like the little one is stabbing my cervix. The contractions almost make me want to push and are extremely painful down there. I'm sure whatever doctor I see this time will check to see where things have progressed to. As long as my water doesn't break, and the contractions stop things should be fine. He's moving around significantly well for how little room is in there.

In the mean time...nothing is going on. Kevin got off work early today and decided to make a make our bunny a new hutch. (Still sorta scratching my head about that one...but ok!) I finished sewing 3 more diapers today. Anthony is doing well in school. Annie is just Annie. My brother has been working a lot and has made some friends. I'm glad about that, he needed someone outside our crazy walls:) Poor guy gets smothered by the kids sometimes. You literally have to peel them off of him. I keep telling him, "Just smack em! They'll let go!" Haha. They adore him, really.

Back to laying down. My laptop is getting serviced so that's part of why I've been so quiet. And just not much to share anyway. Hope everyone is well. I'll post again soon....

Not the most glamorous, but still.

YouTube is good for something.

Like watching how to uninstall toilets. Something which my brother helped me to do last night. Mostly I handed out instructions while he did the heavy work. Such a great guy:)

I've just had enough of that stupid toilet in our bathroom. The handle kept breaking, which meant I had to keep fixing it. And it was running and running...it was almost like water torture. No, it was water torture. A while back Kevin and I had picked out and purchased a new one, and I was waiting for him to have the time to install it, but he's been so busy lately that when it could happen was anyone's guess. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get on with it. So I Googled, and YouTubed everything I could find. Mostly I was just worried about ending up with a huge puddle of water on the floor, which actually didn't happen at all. It was fairly uneventful as far as taking out a toilet can be. It wasn't even that dirty. You'd think a twenty something year old toilet would be sorta nasty underneath, but the grossest part was the little bit of wax left in the drain. It didn't even smell.

So now, while my brother is gone at work today I'm going to remove the base boards and the old linoleum and put down the pretty tiles that I got yesterday. Hopefully we'll be able to put in the new toilet when he gets home.

(It's pretty heavy, so I'm not going to try to lift it! )

Busy bee!

There are so many things on my mind. I've got too many ideas and too many projects that I want to get started and get finished. I feel like I walk in circles and get nothing done:) Which is partly true. At least I manage to get meals made and children dressed and taken care of.

I still have to

Finish off the wipes I made
Add/make a few more diapers to the stash so we don't run out
Make a wet bag for when we're out
Make a few crib sheets
Make some leggies to wear with the cloth dipes
Finish off the hooded towel
Fix the bottom drawer of babies dresser
Replace the toilet in our bathroom because it's acting up once again...and I can't plan on Kevin being able to have the time to do it and I'm sick and tired of the stupid handle breaking repeatedly.

And then there are projects for my shop I want to do...
Burlap bags
A couple pillows that need finishing
Two other embroidery projects
Finish up a couple more artist pencil rolls


But all I really want to do is sit around and watch the kids do more of this....

....'cause they are entertained and I don't have to do anything:)

32 weeks.

Woah. So big. So tired.
Almost there!
Got the car seat yesterday. (Thanks dad!)Annie thinks it's a cool toy for her dolls. She cracks me up. She's been using the diapers I've made to change her baby dolls too. So funny.

Feeling generally out of it.

The kids won't stop touching me, and being generally full of bologna. The moments that they aren't testing my patience are few and far between. A lot of it has to be my being so tired and worn out all the time, I'm sure. Kevin is gone for a couple weeks again, to Indiana this time. With him gone I feel like I'm going to forget something vital--like paying an important bill or something like that. My memory is shot, and I keep writing things down and misplacing my lists.

Thankfully my brother is here to remind me of things, and play referee with the kids. I would have missed my prenatal appointment this morning if he hadn't woken me up after I lay back down for a minute after I showered and dressed. Ended up sleeping for a good 40 minutes rather than the 4 or 5 I planned on. Oops! Feeling really annoyed with my doctors office, so I wasn't really looking forward to going. I see a different doctor every time. I waited around for about an hour before I even saw the doctor and then it was for only a few minutes. I'm praying for a quick and easy delivery that requires little doctor involvement since I don't know who will even be there for the delivery.

Thank God this pregnancy has been fairly uneventful. May the remaining time pass quickly.