Jan. 31: Our week is going really well. This period between when I stopped work and the baby arriving is a lot of fun. Andrew and I have been enjoying outings or visiting with friends in the morning and then napping (or not) and making dinner in the afternoons. Right now, the little fellow is in his bed reading books out loud. And today, that’s alright with me as long as he is cheerful this afternoon/evening:)
Bryan’s mom arrives in just two days. She’ll be here with us until Feb. 16…hopefully the little one will make her entrance on or before her due date so that Andrew can enjoy an extra adult’s loving attentions for a while. If not, we’ll just roll with that situation too:)
We got together with my neighbor, Kathy, and her daughters, Alivia and Rayna yesterday. Andrew had a great time and was talking about what we did at their house for the whole rest of the day. This morning, we met Jessica, Eli, and Celia at the library for some play time, and then we went to Manna Cafe for lunch with my co-workers. It feels so nice to spend time with friends. I really miss seeing my Gathering Waters pals every day, and my heart feels a little cozier for having shared a meal with them today.
Hope all is well in your world!
Visiting Grandma
Jan. 29: I’m feeling pretty snoozy this evening. It’s been a blustery, cold, wet, and snowy day today. An interesting mix of fog, rain, hail, and snow, just to keep life interesting.
Andrew is currently lying on the floor with Bryan listening to the music from Fantasia. He’s saying, “I’m scared, I’m scared…” as he listens to the dinosaur segment. Bryan’s being sweet and saying calming things.
We drove down to Monore this morning to visit my grandma. She’s living at a nursing home as she recovers from a broken hip. Poor Grandma really seemed pretty sad. I think a visit from the cutest little guy and patting an enormous belly helped to lift her spirits, though. And now, we’re off for a quiet wintery evening at home.
Not a manic Monday
Jan. 28: No real news to report today. Andrew and I attended our first-ever story hour, and I sat around feeling big and somewhat uncomfortable. I also re-arranged several dresser drawers in my continued effort to have the house completely organized before the little one arrives. The weather has warmed up significantly. It looks like it doesn’t even matter that we never shoveled the walk ways after last weekend’s snow fall since it all melted off today. I realized this morning that I can now legitimately tell people that the baby is due next week (Feb. 8 – a week from Friday). Wow. I think I want her to wait until February, but I also really want to get this show on the road!
A painted belly
Jan. 26: My dear friend Anne came over this afternoon…driving all the way from Milwaukee on a snowy Saturday to paint my big belly.
Anne painted my belly a few days before Andrew was born (see a photo here), and she has bedecked the bellies of a slew of other friends in the past several years. It’s a fun way to honor and commemorate my largely enhanced size, and the baby seemed to be tickled by the light brush strokes.
We decided on a snowy/starry night theme, and it turned out really well. Anne is such a fun friend! Photos for those who enjoy such things are in the gallery🙂
Terry’s dad died yesterday
Jan. 26 update: A memorial service for Forry is being planned for late February.
Jan. 25: Some sad news to report…Terry’s dad, Forry, passed away yesterday. I believe he was at his home in Salem, Oregon. Forry has lived through a somewhat stunning list of medical problems, and I kind of think we were all under the impression that he just must be immortal. Terry’s mom, Topsy, has been doing a tremendous amount of care for Forry over the last ten years. I believe the last time they came out to Wisconsin was for my wedding in 1999.
I’ve always considered Topsy and Forry another set of grandparents, and it really feels like a huge era is passing to know that Forry is gone.
I hope he is now freed from the confines of an aged body.
Terry is heading out to Oregon to be with his mom and his brother, Michael. I’d like to be able to join them, but there is no traveling when one is 38 weeks pregnant! I’ll post an obituary when one is available.
She’s getting to be such a little person
Jan. 25: This little baby is at 38 weeks! I had an appointment with my midwife today, and the good news is that there’s not much to report:) Baby flipped earlier this week, so she’s lying along my left side now. The flipping process wasn’t fun on my part. It took her about half a day to get re-situated in her new position. She’s still head-down, though, so that’s what matters!
I’ve gained 25-30 pounds since June, and I’m definitely feeling pretty heavy these days. My blood pressure is still low (110/64), so that makes my care providers happy. My tummy only grew by a half-centimeter this week. It now measures 35 1/2 cm from bottom to top. I’m carrying this baby much lower than I did with Andrew. Oh, and I got the good news at my appointment today that my Strep B test was negative, so I don’t have to have antibiotics administered during labor. A good thing!
We met with Laura, our doula, on Tuesday, so she’s ready to come over to help support me and Bryan when I labor at home and then when we move on to the hospital. I’m excited to birth and meet this little one!
How your baby’s growing:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she’s over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Wondering
what color your baby’s eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she’s born with brown eyes, they’ll likely stay brown. If she’s born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she’s 9 months old.
That’s because a child’s irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she’s born, but they won’t get “lighter” or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)
Baking bread update
Jan. 24: I’ve been having fun spending time in the kitchen this week. I love to cook or bake, but normally, I just have no time for it! So this week, I’ve had fun doing all sorts of things that require one to be able to check in on the kitchen over the course of the day.
I’m on my third loaf of bread for the week, I made yogurt, and yesterday I made a lemon-strawberry pie in honor of national pie day.
I imagine that once “little sister” comes I won’t be cooking quite as much, but right now it sure is fun.
The bread I’ve been working on this week is just a white sandwich loaf. I hope to move on to French and whole-wheat and sour dough and rolls once I get the sandwich loaf down pat. For those who are interested, here’s the recipe that I’ve been working with. The loaf I made yesterday was wonderful. Reminded me of Mom’s bread:
From James Beard:
Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups 110-115 degree water (I found that I’m having much more success when I measure the water temperature instead of guessing!)
1 heaping teaspoon salt
around 4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
Warm the bowl you’ll use for rising by filling it with hot water. In my house, I don’t have a good, warm place for the dough to rise, so I’ve also been turning the oven on warm for about two minutes, then opening the door a crack while the dough is mixed.
Combine all the ingredients in Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook and mix for about five minutes. I start by adding about 3 1/2 cups of flour and add more until I get the consistency I’m looking for. It shouldn’t be sticking to the sides too much and should form a nice smooth, elastic ball.
Oil the bowl, put your ball of dough in, and turn it around several times so the surface is slightly oiled. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, cover with a towel, and put in a warm, draft-free place (in my case, the oven) to rise. Andrew likes to blow it a kiss at this point and to tell it to have a good nap.
I a couple or a few hours later, the dough should be doubled in size. Punch it down, give it a couple kneads, re-form it into a ball, and let it re-rise for another couple hours, until doubled in bulk. James Beard says that this second rising makes the dough finer in texture and better in flavor.
After the second rising, punch the dough down, and take it out of the bowl. Lightly flour the counter, and shape the dough into a square about 1 inch thick. Cover with a towel, and let it rest for five minutes. Meanwhile grease your bread pan well with butter. Fold the dough into thirds, and fold and pinch the seam together. Fold the ends and roll and pinch them in as well so you end up with a well-shaped loaf. Pop this in to the bread pan, seam-side down. Press down so the loaf fits well.
Cover the loaf with plastic wrap, put in a warm place to rise – for me it’s been around an hour and a half. When the bread has risen just over the edge of the pan, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the bread for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes. You can turn out the bread and knock on the bottom to see if it’s done. It should have a hollow sound. Cool the bread on a wire rack and devour with butter and honey or jam.
Gingerbread displays and remembering Mom
Jan. 23: Andrew and I went over to Dad’s house this morning so I could photograph some of Dad’s Christmas displays. This year, he created an enormous gingerbread castle as a surprise Christmas present for Maretta. Pictures from Dad’s displays are in the gallery.
As we started to walk up to the house, Andrew asked me, “Who will be there?” I told him that Grandpa would be there. He said, “And Grandma too?” At that point, a weird flip-flopping thing happened in my heart. Andrew easily points out his Grandma in pictures, and he knows that I miss her, but other than that, he hasn’t ever brought her up.
It made me feel both good and sad that he remembered that this is where she is supposed to be too. So I told him that, no, Grandma isn’t here. “She’s sick,” Andrew said. Yes, I told him, Grandma was sick. And now we miss her. And then I reminded him about the books Grandma liked to read him like Quick as a Cricket and There’s a Train Going By My Window. Then we went inside and he played with his toys like normal. Sometimes the reality of our reality just throws me for a loop!
He’s a bird-watcher!
Jan. 23: I had a nice list of things to do during Andrew’s nap this afternoon. But I was so sleepy when I put him down that I decided I should just rest on the sofa. And since I can’t really nap, my version of resting is reading blogs and posting new things to my website. One thing I wanted to share was how cute Andrew is when he decides he wants to go bird watching. He made a pair of binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and string, and now one of his favorite games is to stalk around the house saying, “There! In that tree! What is it?” Then Bryan or I offer a suggested bird name, and he uses his binos to spot it. Our yard is rather bereft of songbirds (due perhaps to our excellent owl and hawk population), but when we stopped by Dad’s house this morning, we saw a chickadee in a bush a few feet away.
Andrew stopped and looked at it amazedly. It sang it’s “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” song a couple times, and Andrew said in a hushed tone, “Mommy, it’s a chickadee!” How did I get lucky enough to have a little guy who loves animals as much as I do? We watched my bird song video…an admittedly somewhat boring loop of backyard birds and their songs. Andrew was just fascinated. Pictures of the last few days are in the gallery.
Birthing plans
Jan. 22: We took a tour of Meriter’s birthing center on Sunday afternoon. It was actually a sibling tour, so Andrew got to hold some warm blankets, learn how to make the bed move up and down, and see where the snacks were kept down the hall. I think that at this point, we’re close enough to the baby’s arrival that he’ll remember the hospital when he comes back next time. It’s kind of awe-inspiring to imagine him coming to the hospital to meet his new sibling. I feel a little nervous…like it’s a blind date. Most of me is entirely sure that he’ll adore his sister, but isn’t it a bit weird to imagine saying, “Hey Andrew, come over here and meet our new family member. She’s here for keeps!”
The best thing I learned is that Meriter has wireless internet access, so that means that I’ll get to post photos and updates after the baby is born. With Andrew, I couldn’t send out an email until we got home, so there was a 3-day delay. I don’t promise to send out anything hours after the birth, but it’s nice to know that I can send an update whenever I want.
Michael is my Andrew-care-taker-in-waiting for the next ten days. After that, Bryan’s mom is coming up from Texas and staying with us to help out for two weeks. So I feel pretty good about my Andrew-coverage for the birth and hospital stay. You can usually stay for two days after a normal delivery, so that’s probably what we’ll do.
Here’s a link to some information for visitors to Meriter. The Birthing Center is on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, and you take the North elevator to get there.
My “due date” is February 8, so I’ve probably still got some time, but the big event is coming. And I think that’s a good thing:)