Category Archives: pregnancy

40 weeks + a time warp?

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We made it to 40 weeks! It’s in the upper 30s and a bit blustery here in northern Michigan so I’m bundled in a wool sweater with my favorite winter scarf (thanks, Nic!). The baby is still in there somewhere, I assure you. I’ve never been this pregnant before. Uncharted territory, lovelies! Oof. Looking forward to meeting this new little birdie and beginning to reclaim my body. Enough already! Ahem.

I feel like something strange happened between Monday’s quick grocery shopping trip and yesterday’s trip, like I went through a time warp. I was under the impression that Halloween was just around the corner, but my milk was dated December 19!  I looked to my left and spotted egg nog, walked a little bit more and the peppermint ice cream jumped out at me, then in the produce area, fresh cranberries and pomegranates? Yikes.

Please don’t tell me you’re already done with your Christmas shopping because I haven’t even finished (err, started) my spring cleaning yet this year, lovelies…

false alarm

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Lovelies, I thought for sure I’d be home by now with our new little birdie in my arms! We went to the hospital early Saturday morning after I started having contractions and some bleeding. It was going to be the same exact timing as with Wren – six days before my official due date. And the same exact room! I got checked in, got into the gorgeous hospital gowns, got monitored, got mentally prepped. But things slowed down, too much bad early morning TV was watched, progress wasn’t made; I was only at about 3 cm six hours later. So I was given three options: 1) stay and wait, 2) stay and get my water broken, or 3) go home and wait. It was a beautiful day here so we decided to go home and come back later when things picked up again. Well, here I am, several days later. No baby! Well, there is a baby, but it is still tucked safely inside. Sigh.

At first I was discouraged and disappointed, but now I’m feeling fine with it as long as I can be home for Halloween with our little birdies! Again, I realize this is really out of my control, but I would just hate to miss the sugar-fueled time with my little strawberry. 

It seemed like other women’s stories about their deliveries (after their first) all seemed so fast, but maybe this is just what I was hoping to hear. Since our weekend false alarm, I’ve talked to quite a few women who went through a very similar experience. How had I not heard these stories before? Likely because I didn’t want to… regardless, it is inevitable that this baby will come out some day. And some day relatively soon, right? Heck, it could even be today. It’s cold and rainy, a perfect day to be spent laboring away… please and thank you?!

 

nesting: salsa and pacifiers

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I was gifted with a child-free day today and made use of my special (read: don’t know when this will ever happen again!) time on last-minute nesting projects like finally turning all those October tomatoes into roasted tomato salsa and a big batch of roasted tomato soup. Since I was in the mood to boil water, I also sterilized a bunch of pacifiers. Funny juxtaposition, isn’t it? Ah, well, such is life right now.

I can’t really even begin to describe the great sense of relief I have now that I don’t have to stare at all those tomatoes every time I come through the back door. I’m so grateful they didn’t go to waste because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to them once our babe arrived; I just dreaded the thought of having to see them again as I was walking through the door with a new little birdie. Whew!

Have a great weekend in your nest, lovelies! Here in Traverse City there are a couple really cool things happening that I just had to mention: an indie art fair and the nation’s first XC ski race of the season, for which they are hauling in shaved zamboni snow from the local ice rinks. Something for everyone…

{this moment} 39 weeks

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{this moment} 39 weeks – a brief moment from our week, a Friday ritual inspired by Soule Mama.

It’s been cold and rainy here in northern Michigan this week; we walked outside yesterday morning and Wren said, “it’s a blustery day, Mama!” Indeed. So the little birdie and I have been spending a lot of time cuddling up on the couch together this week, reading lots of books, “one, two, three more, Mama?” OK.

This is one of our favorite lap-sized board books by Lois Ehlert: Eating the Alphabet: Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z . Have you read it?

Happy Friday and happy weekend to you, lovelies! Any big plans? I’m hoping to have a baby this weekend. We’ll see how that plan goes…

a gift from the baby

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I’ve been reading a lot lately about ideas for welcoming a new baby into your family and thinking about how to best prepare Wren for her new little birdie friend. There is a great discussion on preparing siblings for the birth of a new baby with lots of different ideas over at Design Mom that have inspired some of my thoughts. One simple thing someone shared was to have a small gift for the sibling FROM the baby and I thought this was a great idea. So I went downtown today to one of my favorite shops and found a cuddly, sweet little bear for Wren that will be given to her when she visits us in the hospital. Soon!

Have any traditions in your nest when you welcome a new baby home, lovelies?

 

still pregnant

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A few people got to wondering if we had welcomed another little birdie into the world because I haven’t posted in a few days. Well, I’m here to tell you that the babe is still tucked safely inside at 38.5 weeks and counting! Feeling (almost) ready for this new adventure, or as ready as I think we can be…

Chris and I finally agreed on boy and girl names, which shall remain a secret for a little while longer. Hey, a girl’s got to have some secrets!

And I finally finished covering the rocking chair cushions that have been waiting for me for months in the basement. They used to be white in Wren’s room and not able to be removed, but they had gotten so stained and yucky after almost 2.5 years of continuous use that I couldn’t take it anymore and tore them off. Now that they’re back on and look great because of some fabric that my friend, Sandy, gifted me, I’m ready to rock away with a new babe in my arms. What do you think?

Oh! I also just realized I must really be craving iron and getting my body ready because yesterday I cooked beef for dinner, which I almost never do (Chris wondered if it was his birthday!), and today I’m making a big batch of molasses cookies, along with a slew of from-the-garden beet & chocolate muffins. IRON!

So there’s a brief update for you, lovelies. Yup, still here. How is your week going? What’s been happening in your nest?

37 weeks and still at the beach

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It’s been unseasonably warm and sunny here for the past week (!) in northern Michigan. We are trying to soak up as much bare toe time as we can before late fall kicks in and we pull out our scarves again. We spent Saturday evening on the shores of Lake Michigan in Empire. While the air was warm, the water reminded us that it was October after all. Brrrrr. Chris bravely jumped in, but the little birdie and I decided to just play near the water’s edge and cool off our toes. We ended the evening with a sunset, pizza picnic, bonfire and clear glimpses of the Big Dipper and Casseopeia‘s showy “W” for Wren. All that and a reasonable bedtime for all. That’s what you get when the sun sets by 7:30 on the western shores of a timezone… thank you, summer in October.

How was your weekend, lovelies? Did you get all sweaty and hot at the pumpkin patch?

Nesting in the nursery: veg out

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This weekend I had some toddler-free time to work on little birdie #2’s room. Although we probably won’t move the new babe into its own room until about the time our new orange tulips (!) begin to pop next spring, I’ve been anxious to get a few nesting projects done in there. I’ve moved the rocking chair and changing table in, along with the baby’s clothes and diapers. Just the basics. Knowing that these little things are taken care helps me sleep a little better at night.

I wanted to create a unique, fun space for our new little one, but I also didn’t want to completely reinvent the wheel since we’ll just be reusing most of the things from Wren’s original nest. Had some paint left in the basement and then I was inspired to create a vegetable garden theme in the baby’s room when my Mom decided she wanted to make the baby this a-door-bell wall hanging we spotted over at PurlBee. I can’t wait to see it in person; I know it will be just perfect. Don’t you think?

So to carry out this veggie theme, I wanted to add a couple more details without being too cutesy, too baby, or too gender-specific. So I’ve been painting a fun carrot and beets border! Here are a few little sneak peeks:

I also wanted to create a little memento of this year’s garden, which helped to nourish the new little birdie so I saved some seed packets and framed them all together. I love that they say “packed for 2011.” Nothing fancy, but a nice little, meaningful addition to the new space.

Maybe if I *find* some extra time I will make a carrot pillow, or something fun like that. What do you think, lovelies? Have any other ideas for this space?

sleep?

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“They” say not being able to sleep well in the late stages of pregnancy is just a way of preparing you for the new baby. 34 weeks and not able to sleep much here, lovelies. Hmmpphh. Sigh. Arrgghh. I just wish I were able to wrangle tomatoes or paint the house or protest stupid politics (don’t get me started) on the street corner in the middle of the night, but no, it’s too dark.

But the Internet is always on! And I have a mountain of work in front of me! And a hot cup of coffee! So here I am. How was your weekend, lovelies? Happy Monday!