Parenting Practice

I've had several people this week tell me to enjoy resting while I can--believe me I am! I sleep until I wake up then lounge in bed until I feel like moving--usually I have to move because I start feeling so hungry that I need to eat right away, which happens pretty quickly! I soak in a warm bath once, sometimes twice a week. I lounge around on the couch and watch TV whenever I'm feeling particularly low in energy. I can't handle more than one errand a day because just walking around a store (and trying not to waddle) uses up all my energy. Sometimes I take naps, but I try not to because then I don't sleep well at night. My point is I am treasuring my time relaxing and doing what I want when I want because I know that very soon a small person will be controlling my schedule...and waking me up to feed him every 2-3 hours...ALL NIGHT LONG.

Relaxing...

I'm excited for this controlling little person to come into my life. The good news is another month has passed and we are now in April-the last month I will spend pregnant! By the time we turn our calendar to May, I will likely be holding our baby in my arms! In my tummy he keeps a pretty good schedule, seeming to know the difference between day and night...hopefully he adjusts well to life on the outside and keeps that schedule. (Wishful thinking?)

On Thursday I had some mommy practice. Once a week I have my sister's 2 daughters with me all day (Brinlee, 8 and Kenzie, 10). Lately I've been struggling because I just don't have the energy to do anything and I really hate to have them just watch TV all day since that's what they do at home every other day while their mom works. They don't always love it, but I try to save some errands to run with them, have them help me clean or work on projects around the house and get them outside when possible. I consider anything that reduces their screen time and gets them to do something different a success.

I came into the room a few weeks ago to find them giggling and playing a game together

A couple of weeks ago I paid them to pick up dog poop in the backyard while I worked on some things on my laptop out on the patio. Then I walked the yard with them to check their work (and have them pick up all the piles they missed). Next we watched a movie and then I let them watch TV while I cleaned my bathroom (and snuck in a little down time...I was exhausted) before I took them home.

Don't worry...they wore gloves for the dirty part!

They love craft projects, so any time I have something I want to make for the house I let them make something too. About a month ago I painted letters for the name "DEAN" to hang in the nursery. I also bought a "B" and an "M" so that Kenzie and Brinlee could each paint their initial to hang on their bedroom doors. It took me a while to figure out how to attach something to each letter so I could hang them without damaging the doors in their apartment, but I finally figured it out and helped them hang them when I picked them up last week. That day they helped me frame some pictures to hang in my house--including our maternity pictures. They are good little helpers. They helped decorate the nursery last month too. They are so excited to have a new cousin! Every time I tell them the baby is moving they are there in seconds with their hands on my belly.

Feeling baby kicks and door initials (After 2 painting sessions, they came out really cute!)

On Thursday we did a lot! I took them to the craft store for supplies for a couple of projects, then Target for a few grocery items and candy for one of my projects. When we got home we ate lunch (I made them help me finish off some leftovers!) then they helped me make the dough for rolls for my dad's birthday dinner this weekend. While we waited for the dough to rise we started our fun Easter project. I bought some of these plain white plastic eggs at Walmart that you're supposed to be able to dye...well they don't stain well; I learned last weekend that trying to dye them was a waste of time. Instead we used glue and glitter to decorate them. The girls had fun being creative with their designs and using all the different colors of glitter. I decorated some for myself too! Next we rolled out the bread dough and they helped me shape it into rolls. We left them to rise while I cleaned up the glitter mess on the table they watched a movie.

Yesterday's finished products

Brinlee was extra energetic so I had her run laps around the backyard twice. She bet me she would still have just as much energy...after, I told her she was right, but she did seem a little more calm after the second lap! They always get excited for Ryan to come home so he took them with him to get the car washed after work (they still love going through the car wash!) When they got home they helped me finish dinner then we all ate together when their mom got there to pick them up. After they left I cleaned up the dinner dishes and the kitchen and before I knew it it was eight o'clock. I was exhausted after my long day, but shortly after going to bed I learned my parenting practice was not done yet. 

I was so looking forward to a good night's sleep after my long day! My back was killing me from being on my feet and I was so tired, but we ended up with a sick baby...the dog. Around midnight, Saisha started getting up and whining. Each time, Ryan would tuck her back into her bed, but she would be back to whining by his side of the bed within 10 minutes. After a little while she followed him downstairs to fill up his water glass (the next morning he told me he had actually taken her downstairs to go outside). When they came back up she went to sleep...until about 3 a.m. This time Ryan slept through it and I took care of her. She was up every 10 minutes--whining or wandering from the bedroom into the bathroom--for almost and hour. She has done this a few times in recent weeks, usually because she's hot or cold or her blankets are messed up. I kept trying to make her comfortable, turning her heated blanket off and on, turning the temperature down and turning it up, but nothing kept her in bed.

Eventually she started whining at the bedroom door. I was so frustrated that I opened the door and just let her out of the bedroom. Then she started whining from the bottom of the stairs. So I went down and let her outside. After we went back up to bed she seemed fine again, but I couldn't fall asleep! It was 4 a.m. and Saisha was whining in her sleep while Ryan was talking in his sleep and I wanted to cry! Just as I started dozing off--finally--she got up AGAIN!! I couldn't take it! I was so frustrated! I wanted to sleep so much and my back was still hurting; getting out of bed over and over wasn't helping. I angrily got her back in her bed and tossed her blanket over her. Thank goodness Ryan heard her get up the next time--he was much more patient than me and went downstairs to lay on the couch so he could let her outside and I could sleep. Turns out she booked it out the door as soon as he let her outside...she must have had an upset tummy.

The next day I felt guilty for being so impatient with my sick baby girl...so I let her nap with me on the couch she is not usually allowed on (don't tell Ryan). Poor girl was exhausted and extra cuddly today. I was pretty tired too...I guess this was good practice for the sleepless nights ahead of me!

Saisha sleeping on my feet

We had our big 36-week doctor's appointment on Friday: ultrasound, Strep-B test and cervical check. Our baby boy is head down and my cervix is thinning, but still closed (so not dilated quite yet). He still has plenty of fluid for now, but we will have another ultrasound (our 8th one) in 2 weeks to check the fluid again (and his size) because of my gestational diabetes. In Friday's ultrasound we saw his perfect round head, kindof saw part of his face (I had a hard time making it out), got a good close up of his boy parts and even saw his little hand balled up into a fist. We didn't get any pictures this time around, but he's so big now that you can't see much of him at once. I've only gained 0.2 pounds in the last 2 weeks (still lingering just under 170), which the doctor said is normal around this time for someone watching their diet like I am. I am measuring at 37 weeks, which is 5 days ahead of where I am.

36 weeks, Wednesday April 1

Overall everything looks good and normal, so now we just wait. I will get the results of the Strep-B swab next week. If I test positive that just means I will just need an antibiotic by IV in the 4 hours before birth to make sure baby doesn't catch it on his way out (untreated it can cause life a threatening infection in babies). I had never heard up this, but apparently it's fairly common and somewhere between 10 and 30% of women carry the bacteria during pregnancy.

Lastly we went over the reasons to come into labor and delivery:

• I start leaking fluid continuously 
• I have painful contractions coming every 3-5 minutes
• I don't feel the baby move as much as normal

Our doctor said not to call, to just come in; if I think i might be in labor I probably am and if I call they will just tell me to come in anyway. Talking about this with the doctor makes it all so real and exciting that we are really this close. I can't wait to start feeling changes and seeing some progress! We will be meeting our baby sometime this month...it's weird to have the timing of such a big change just up in the air like that, but we are ready!