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Even though I’m still two days away from being offically 39 weeks pregnant, I figured since I had my OB appointment today I’d go ahead and ignore my typical OCD, perfectly punctual postings and go ahead and write an update now with the latest news.
So, first for the visuals. Here I am today at 38 weeks and 5 days:
Full disclosure: totally had to clean my mirror clean of all the toothpaste splatters because that would have been too embarassing to share with the internet. Except I just went ahead and did that anyway in that last sentence. Meh.
And here’s a comparison of me pregnant with Avalon at 39 weeks and me today:
Besides the fact that I have about half the overall padding this time around, I’d say I definitely look lower right now, which, yay! She’s heading in the right direction! (heh. “heading.”)
As for the facts, I’m currently 3cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby appears to be around 0 station – basically very snug down in my pelvis. Hopefully she won’t remain there long enough to develop some strange, angular head shape. Of course, even with all of this information we have no idea as to when I’ll actually go into labor – especially since I have yet to have any sort of contractions at all – but I’m not gonna lie, I am constantly imagining my water breaking wherever I am: in the car? (thank goodness for leather seats) in bed? (ew, gross, PLEASE NO) in Target? in Chick Fil A? (at least I would reap a peach milkshake out of that one).
Bottom line: WHO KNOWS. I do plan on asking my sister, Courtney, to blog the whole ordeal again like she did with Avalon, so for those that care about gross things like, you know, CHILD BIRTH, there will hopefully be some updating here of the whole shebang. Court? Will ya? Promise to re-pay you in four months or so.
So everybody, please do me a favor, and think child-laborous thoughts, would you?
And now, just for fun, a cute photo of me and Courtney + babies from this past weekend at a wedding:
At 36 weeks pregnant right now, I BETTER be holding this baby in my arms within a month’s time. Cause I’m ’bout done. I’m feeling big, unwieldy, and clumsy thanks to the bowling ball I’m carrying around in front of me. People have been very kind to me, telling me I really don’t look like I’m nine months pregnant (which is supposed to be a compliment apparently?), but frankly I don’t care what my mother, neighbor, or dentist says because WHATEVER, I’M HUGE AND I KNOW IT.
At this point I’m no longer able to bend over my bathroom counter to carefully apply my mascara four inches from the mirror or eat a meal without a dribble of something ending on the front of my shirt – in fact, I was thisclose to tucking a napkin into the collar of my shirt the other day when we were eating ribs out of fear of barbecuing my entire frontside. And painting my toenails requires such a coordinated, technical pose that I have to complete a round of hamstring stretches beforehand.
I’m up fifteen pounds this far, so it appears as though a (primarily) Paleo diet has been kind to me, the ‘primarily’ part being due mostly to that McDonalds executive I’d like to whack across the head who created the brilliant billboards all over town advertising $.59 ice cream cones. I’m a major sucker for those right now and fall way too easily for their dirty marketing scams. I wouldn’t be surprised if the baby came out with her hair in a twist on top of her head, I’ve had so many of those cones.
And now you want a vanilla cone, DON’T YOU?
Today was a major nesting day; I spent the majority of today up in the new nursery getting clothes washed and put away, curtains hung, lamps plugged in. It’s all coming together very adorably and I can’t wait to share the finished product.
I also took the liberty to rearrange the living room while Rob was at work, which, SURPRISE, HONEY! He always loves when I do that, but too bad, those darn Sliding Robots make it way to easy to move heavy chairs and couches on the sly.
All of this to say, it ain’t long before the baby is here. And I’m feeling very EXCITED! and ANXIOUS! and a little bit HUMONGOUS!
That being said, I’m also very sentimental these days, knowing that my time of having only one baby is coming quickly to an end. Avalon is going to be my only child for just about a month longer, and while I couldn’t be more back-flipping, toe-touching excited for her to gain a sister, I’m also just a little sad that my world will no longer be able to revolve solely around her and her every need, 100% of the time.
So, needless to say, I’m relishing these next few weeks with her. Taking extra special time to play, read, dance in the living room, and cuddle before she goes bed.
Today, clearly on a whim because HELLO UNWASHED FACE AND BAD HAIR DAY, we had fun making videos on my computer together. Here’s one of them, which turned out to be a full-on Love Fest at one point.
I love her. So fun.
(Those of you in a feed reader, click through to see the video.)
Lately many people have been asking me if Avalon understands the fact that she will have a baby sister in only a couple of short months.
Dude. She barely even understands how not to crap in her pants. Is it really possible for her to grasp onto the concept that a small – and to her, practically imaginary – human is going to somehow get out of her mommy’s tummy and into the world? Come on now. Her imagination only runs as deep as believing that she can feed her chicken nuggets to her yellow balloon at Chick Fil A.
Another question I get a lot is whether or not I think Avalon will enjoy having a baby sister.
Look, I’m just gonna say it. NO. I’m quite certain that the day a stinky, crying, demanding newborn enters the scene will probably be the worst day of her life. And it’s understandable! Mommy and Daddy will all of a sudden not be able to give her 100% of their attention 100% of the time, which is majorly sucky to a kid who’s lived with that kind of reality for two years. Of course, naturally, I pray that in time they’ll be the best of friends, giggling and creating inside jokes between the two of them, playing dress up together, and generally ganging up on their old mom.
But in the beginning? Let’s just say I’m trying not to set myself up for any disappointment if she’s not immediately smitten with the baby.
However. Rob and I are doing the absolute best that we can to prepare her little twenty-two-month-old self that, indeed, a new baby will soon be a part of our family. One of the best ways we can convey this is through books, and specifically a Golden Book titled Baby Dear.
This has easily become Avalon’s favorite book at the moment, and she has totally caught on to the concept: that the older sister receives a special baby doll, Baby Dear, on the same day that her mommy brings her own new baby home from the hospital. In the book the girl and her mommy feed, change, and play with their babies together, each having her own baby to take care of.
As a result, Avalon has affectionately named her baby doll, Baby Dear.
And that girl is a serious mother hen to Baby Dear. She takes her for walks and feeds her. Just the other day I caught her rocking her in her own little rocking chair while singing Barney’s “I love you” song. Yeah, my ovaries ached a little bit when I witnessed that one.
She’s also currently obsessed with the flowers in our front yard and likes to take Baby Dear outside to see all the pretty flowers.
Rob and I have plans to buy Avalon a very special Baby Dear at the American Girl Store when we’re in Chicago next month and then present it to her at the hospital when she comes up to see me and the baby for the first time. In theory I’m hoping that this will soften the whole new-kid-in-the-house blow; that we can take care of our new babies together. But what I’m really looking forward to is seeing what she does with Baby Dear when she sees me feeding my baby…heh heh.
I hate that I’ve been gone for so long. Really, I do. Even though I haven’t been physically sitting down at my computer to knock out a blog post every couple of days, I’ve still been mentally composing a number of them in my head. I guess that after a couple of years, that constant, annoying blog-voice inside my head just won’t give up its day job and go knocking on unemployment’s door, THE HONEST, OVERACHIEVING CITIZEN.
So, really, what happened was that not only was my time feeling extremely limited with not enough hours in the day to blog, I also had a scare on Facebook when I discovered that someone had created a fake profile of me and had stolen a photo of Avalon to use as the profile picture. You can probably imagine how much this freaked me the hell out, and I immediately took down each and every photo of myself and Avalon and hibernated from the Internet until I couldn’t take it any longer, or rather until the withdrawal hit me hard enough with cold sweats and the shakes that I finally surrendered.
My final solution in order to re-join modern civilization, which I have seen other bloggers do in situations such as this, is to watermark all photos that go up on the Internet. Because really, that was what scared me the most; not the fact that someone created a fake profile of me, but the fact that they took a photo – of Avalon’s sweet, innocent face – and stole it as their own property. And so now? This is what I feel I have to do. Burying my head in the sand and avoiding the blogging, the sharing, the socialization, and let’s face it, THE THERAPY, is going to do me no good. Watermarking it is!
So. Ok! Now, to catch up with what’s been going on lately!
1. I’m pregnant. Still. 31 weeks, to be exact. I’ve been feeling great and my only complaint is some decent, fiery heartburn that I deal with on an almost daily basis. Other than that, I’ve just been trying to eat clean and stay healthy to avoid looking like a beached whale by the time this whole thing is over (oh hello, Pregnancy of 2009!). As of today I’ve gained ten pounds so far, and my goal is to stay under 20, so we’ll see what happens. Most importantly, Baby is thriving and growing right on track! We were in Florida last week with my family (go HERE to read my Mom’s blog all about the fun we had) and since I didn’t even change out of my bathing suit the entire week we were, there my 30-week belly documentation is all bikini-style. But, whatevs. It’s all for posterity.
2. IT’S FINALLY SUMMER! And I’m officially in my personal version of Heaven; hot, long, sunny days mixed with fresh seasonal produce, the swimming pool, and colorful flowers in my yard. Avalon is loving summer as well, and last night we took full advantage of the weather by consuming half of a watermelon and running through the sprinklers after dinner.
3. We got a puppy! Her name is Piper, she’s the same breed as our other pooch, Oliver (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) and she is full of piss and vinegar. She’s got some serious energy and is alllll puppy, but she’s also one of the most loving, cuddly dogs I’ve ever met. She and Avalon have become full-on buds and love to snuggle together on the couch to watch Sprout.
If you think we’re crazy (or stupid or downright insane) for adding a puppy into our lives just months before we also add a small human to the mix, well, you probably wouldn’t be the only one. But I figured since we’re already up to our eyeballs in insanity, what’s one more puppy? Feed one dog, feed another. Isn’t that why people have more than one kid? The craziness is already there, you’ve already lost your mind, so why not live on the edge and give yourself another challenge?
4. Avalon has been going to a Mom’s Day Out program this spring, and today I dropped her off for her last day before summer break. Her going to “school” has been as great for her as it’s been for me, and I think we’re both going to really miss those precious four hours a week. I took some photos of her before we left the house this morning now that I’m feeling all bloggy and picture-sharey again, and dear Lord, help me. This child’s adorableness is enough to kill me dead. 
I took this photo today, an attempt to document the growth of my expanding belly at 19 weeks along, and I fear I achieved nothing other than giving the world a giant snapshot of my armpit. It’s evident, though, that my body is clearly defying various laws of physics as I have a significant baby bump going on but no weight gain to show for it. If you’re anything like my mom you’re going to be very concerned about this, suggesting that I dive head first into a family-size bag of puffy Cheetos, but I promise that my doctors aren’t worried and we all know that, OH YES, the weight gain, IT WILL HAPPEN. I’m sure that it’s going to totally creep up on me one day, that I’ll step on the scale like I do every couple of days, and BAM! There will be nine shiny new numbers showing up on the dial. But for now I’m in this totally awkward stage of not fitting into anything – my regular pants are too tight around my gut; my maternity pants are way too saggy still; and my postpartum, one-or-two-sizes-larger-than-normal pants fit around my gut but are loose around my legs – so I’ve resorted to yoga pants, sweat pants, and pajama pants on most days.
I’m making up for being such a scrub by wearing lipstick more often.
Anyway, other than that awkwardness, things with baby #2 are going great! We had our ultrasound last Friday and were blessed to see a very healthy, growing baby squirming around on the screen.
We were also able to see that we’re having another GIRL!
Rob and I both had a gut feeling that we were having another girl, and to see that that was exactly the case made me so happy for no other reason than I really, REALLY wanted Avalon to have a sister. My sisters mean the world to me, and I pray that my two girls will love each other as much as my sisters and I do. I’m also pretty excited to be able to use Avalon’s clothes over again, and now I definitely won’t feel as guilty splurging on things for Avalon knowing that they will get twice the use. (Justification? Yes.)
Also, because we’ve been asked a lot already, no, we have not yet picked out a name for baby girl #2. We have a list going, but have not even come close to narrowing it down. Until we have for sure decided on a name, I’m probably not going to mention anything about it, either, in order to avoid the “ew, I hate that name, I knew someone with that name and she was such a brat!” or “yeah, that name is okay, but it kind of reminds me of that smelly kid I went to kindergarten with” comments and opinions.
Nonetheless, suggestions for really awesome, unique names are welcomed!
I’m going to try to not inundate my blog with all things pregnancy-related for the next seven months, but for now, too bad, it’s another pregnancy post.
So as of tomorrow I’m twelve weeks along, which according to online sources makes the baby the size of a plum. Which, huh, a plum; that’s a decently sizable little fetus, wouldn’t you say? Well let me just show you exactly how sizable that really is:
Now pay attention here: as a frame of reference, on the left is me pregnant with Avalon at 21 weeks. On the right is me pregnant now at only twelve weeks pregnant. It’s like one of those “find the differences between these two pictures” games in old Highlights magazines, only this one has gone all wrong. TOO MANY SIMILARITIES GOING ON HERE.
Twelve. Twenty-one. Twelve. Twenty-one. That’s a huge lapse of time, and according to my math, APPROXIMATELY NINE ENTIRE WHOLE WEEKS DIFFERENCE. If I already look five months pregnant now, does anyone have any experience with how a sixteen month pregnant woman looks? Because evidently that’s going to be me come August.
Also weird? I haven’t actually gained any poundage. Well, I did gain some weight over Christmas, but I can only blame sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls for that, those bastards. That weight is already gone again anyway so I’m back to ground zero as far as that goes, and also defying the laws of physics if I can develop a gut without gaining weight. But surely, now that I just made that claim I’m going to wake up tomorrow three pounds heavier. Hey Universe, I’m onto you.
I’ve heard all along that women “pop” a lot earlier with their second pregnancy, but I never expected that I’d be this large this early on. And to think, with Avalon I was eating cereal, Cheetos and ice cream and this time I’ve been eating super healthy. To hell with that! I’m putting some cookies in the oven.
Did you get the memo? In the video I last posted? Well, the gist of it is:
I’M PREGNANT.
I’m guessing that some of you might not have actually watched the video to hear the news, and I think the same thing happened when I also posted the video on Facebook. Aren’t I a jerk, really making people work to know what’s going with me?
Right now I’m 11.5 weeks pregnant, and yes, I’m already counting those halves because those halves really mean something when you’re growing a baby and, not to mention, feeling fatter and fatter by the hour. Oh, my jeans are tighter today than they were yesterday? Well, BY GOD, IT’S BECAUSE I’M ONE DAY CLOSER TO MY DUE DATE!
My due date, by the way, is August 10th, which will put this baby and Avalon exactly – to the month – two years apart. I always thought I preferred to have my children closer to three years apart, but apparently I forgot all about the hours-on-end crying and sleepless nights a lot faster than I thought I would.
I also starting missing the constant cuddling and tiny baby lips/fingers/toes a lot faster than I thought I would. Go figure.
I took two pregnancy tests; one on the day before my period was expected, which turned out negative. Then, a second test, the day after my period was expected.
It was the Sunday evening following Thanksgiving when I took the second test, which, again, was what I did almost exactly two years ago. Of course everyone is very mindful and thankful for all that they’re blessed with around Thanksgiving, but evidently Rob and I are verrrry thankful for each other in November, if you know what I mean. Anyway, there we were, Rob and I, lounging on the couch watching TV and him drifting in and out of sleep, when I abruptly stood up and decided that I was going to take a pregnancy test. Without saying anything I went into the bathroom to do my thing and immediately I saw two lines appear. I stood there in the bathroom in shock for a few seconds, but then realized that I knew I was pregnant even before I took the test. Somehow, I knew.
I quickly scooped up the test, went into the living, and stood in front of Rob holding the stick.
“Um, Rob? You might want to wake up for this. I have something to tell you.”
Zzzzzzzzzzz.
“Dude. FOR REAL. Wake up for a minute.”
Zzzzzzzzzzz.
“I have some information to tell you, and IT KIND OF PERTAINS TO YOU. “
Zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
“OPEN YOUR EYES.”
*opens eyes. sees me standing with pregnancy test in front of him.*
“I knew it,” he says with a sly grin.
Um, WHAT? HOW?
“I just had a feeling you were,” he claims.
I have no idea why we both ‘knew’ that I was pregnant, other than the logistical and biological knowledge of how babies are made and knowing that it was, indeed, possible.
We decided to hold out on our announcement until Christmas because that’s what we did with Avalon and it was so much fun to break the news on such an already special day. Unfortunately, it meant keeping it a secret for almost an entire month, and for someone like me who can’t tell a lie without shaking, stuttering, and breaking out into a cold sweat, it meant that I was in major trouble. Immediately the next day, friends and family began randomly asking me if I was pregnant; on the phone, though text messages, in passing conversations. I was floored. I had no idea why all of a sudden I was getting charged with being pregnant by almost everyone I knew. Did I let off some new pregnancy scent? Was it written across my forehead? I had no idea, and tried my hardest to deny the accusations for the next month.
You can see in the video how my family reacted to the news, with all the “I knew it!”s and whatnot which is pretty much what everyone said even though I tried my hardest to pretend like I was drinking wine at all of the holiday get-togethers I attended in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Even that didn’t throw them off!
All in all, I’ve been feeling great. I’ve felt nauseous a time or two, but beyond that I really can’t complain. I’m tired, yes, and have all of a sudden developed numerous aversions to various foods, but haven’t once come close to actually being sick. Basically, I feel exactly the way I did with Avalon. Maybe this is God’s way of telling me I need to have at least a dozen kids.
Needless to say, we are thrilled to be adding another baby into our family. Avalon knows that she’s going to be a big sissy and will already point to my belly and say ‘hi baby!’ which is toe-curling adorable.
August is going to be a big month around here this year. We’re going to have kids. Kids. Kidssssss.
