Well, with less than 3 weeks to my due date, I am officially declaring myself "Allowed to Waddle." According to what I've heard from ultrasounds, my due date is anywhere from 2 weeks and 2 days from now to 3 weeks and 3 days from now. I'll just listen to my own dates, which puts the due date at May 24- 2 days short of 3 weeks from today. Craziness!
And hmm.... Today is some kind of super-duper full moon, so if you believe that affects labor, it may be sooner than we all think...
So, what people always ask: "Are you ready?" How do you answer that question? Yes, I have diapers and sleepers and the room is mostly set up. My hospital packing list is printed out and lying in the crib, waiting to be needed. Yes, I am ready to sleep well when I am in bed. I am ready to not be carrying around this big belly.
And I am so ready to be holding this little baby in my arms, rather than in my belly. I can't wait to meet her.
But does any of that really mean you're ready? Am I ready to be up with her in the night? (That actually sounds like an improvement compared to the way nights have gone for the entire pregnancy.) Am I ready to try to figure out what she needs when she is fussy? (Kendall and I were recently in a meeting where 2 babies were fussing. He looked over at me and I could see the terror in his eyes.) Am I ready to face to possibility of postpartum depression again? Am I ready for labor and delivery? (Let's not even get into that one.) Am I ready to not simply jump in the car, holler at the boys to buckle up and speed off to somewhere? Do we really have any idea how this will change our lives? Probably not. But ready or not, here we come!
I cling to my friends' assurances that Baby #3 is so different, easier, so much fun. (I have found that sometimes even false hope works in a pinch.) But I'm hoping that we will find this to be true. It makes sense: I'm older and hopefully more mature; Baby #3 has to be flexible to fit into an already busy family life; lots of attention from big brothers; more of us to enjoy each smile and new step.
So, though we are nervous about the coming changes, we are ready to face them and welcome this new family member.
I guess I should also give a bit of a "medical" update. My boys were big- each very, very close to 9 pounds. This baby is small. When they try to put dates on her during an ultrasound, they measure her at close to 2 weeks behind. The medical concern is that perhaps the placenta isn't giving her all she needs. So we are being sent out to Winnipeg next week for an ultrasound and an appointment with an obstetrician. There is a possibility that if they believe she needs more than the placenta is providing, they will go ahead and induce labor, bringing her out where she may be better off.
I think she's fine. I rejoice at the idea of a healthy baby that is smaller than the boys!!! She is so active (and here I thought girls are calm). I just can't imagine that a malnourished baby would have so much energy. Even the doctor that I've been seeing most recently, seems to think that things are probably fine. Girls tend to be on the smaller side. I'm on the smaller side. A 6 or 7 pound baby should not be an issue. We are going to go ahead and keep the appointment in Winnipeg, but I expect to come back home and wait for another 2 weeks.
Really, my big concern in all of this is Eli and Evan. We decided to take them with us to Winnipeg since we just left them for 2 nights when we went to Winnipeg a couple weeks ago. They don't love being left overnight and we decided to make this into a fun family get-away. But we have had to think about the off-chance that the doctor will tell us to stay in Winnipeg and start labor. What do we do with the boys? It's hard to know how to handle the possibility of a long-distance delivery, but that's reality for everyone who is pregnant in Red Lake. Any ideas? Anyone want to be on call to drop everything and get to Winnipeg to hang out with the boys???
Anyway, so that's my update... And lest I sound less than enthusiastic about this baby, let me reassure you that I am very, very excited! I would love to fast forward everything to babytime. But it's Saturday morning and there is work to be done...
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao-tzu
July 1, 2008
This journey so far has taken me one thousand and four miles from my hometown, but I’m having trouble putting my finger on the single step that began it all. Was it Monday afternoon at the border when they gave me my official document allowing me to pass? Was it Saturday morning when we started the car and drove out of Goshen in our funny little caravan? Was it in February when we came up to Red Lake for a job interview at the hospital? Was it two Christmases ago being up here with Kendall’s family and all of us rating our desire to live up here? (I can’t say my number on a scale of 1 – 100 was high, but it was the highest of all the in-laws, so I guess I’m the chosen one.) Was it three years ago almost to the day that Kendall first said, “What if we’d move up here?” (I tried to ignore that one for several months, thinking surely it would go away.) Or was it June 10, 2000 when I married Kendall and made some solemn promises before God and all these witnesses? Was it a night before Kendall and I were married when we talked about moving to Red Lake? (It was a far off and romantic possibility at that time.) Or was it living in and visiting different cultures at different times in my life? Could the first step have been when my parents brought me as a baby to this same area for a year of voluntary service? (Kendall wasn’t born yet, but I surely saw his parents as they chatted with mine from time to time.) What about when my dad lived on a nearby reserve for two years before he was married? Or when my mom visited this town with her family as a teenager? Or maybe it had something to do with choices my grandparents made? Or other ancestors farther back?
At any rate, moving into this house where I slept for a few weeks as a baby and where my dad stayed as a teenager, has made me very aware of roots. And how they affect our lives and choices and passions.
I suspect there is no single step that began our move a thousand miles away from Indiana. It seems, rather, to be a coming together of so many different factors. (Not the least of which is marrying a man who has taken this land as a very part of his being. And for all the ways I can tease him and get annoyed at some of his woodsman ways, I really do mean that in a reverent and respectful way.)
So here we are, a thousand miles from nowhere. (Oops…I meant a thousand miles from Goshen.) I know that we safely made the journey here, but mostly our journey is just beginning. And mostly I’m excited.
This journey so far has taken me one thousand and four miles from my hometown, but I’m having trouble putting my finger on the single step that began it all. Was it Monday afternoon at the border when they gave me my official document allowing me to pass? Was it Saturday morning when we started the car and drove out of Goshen in our funny little caravan? Was it in February when we came up to Red Lake for a job interview at the hospital? Was it two Christmases ago being up here with Kendall’s family and all of us rating our desire to live up here? (I can’t say my number on a scale of 1 – 100 was high, but it was the highest of all the in-laws, so I guess I’m the chosen one.) Was it three years ago almost to the day that Kendall first said, “What if we’d move up here?” (I tried to ignore that one for several months, thinking surely it would go away.) Or was it June 10, 2000 when I married Kendall and made some solemn promises before God and all these witnesses? Was it a night before Kendall and I were married when we talked about moving to Red Lake? (It was a far off and romantic possibility at that time.) Or was it living in and visiting different cultures at different times in my life? Could the first step have been when my parents brought me as a baby to this same area for a year of voluntary service? (Kendall wasn’t born yet, but I surely saw his parents as they chatted with mine from time to time.) What about when my dad lived on a nearby reserve for two years before he was married? Or when my mom visited this town with her family as a teenager? Or maybe it had something to do with choices my grandparents made? Or other ancestors farther back?
At any rate, moving into this house where I slept for a few weeks as a baby and where my dad stayed as a teenager, has made me very aware of roots. And how they affect our lives and choices and passions.
I suspect there is no single step that began our move a thousand miles away from Indiana. It seems, rather, to be a coming together of so many different factors. (Not the least of which is marrying a man who has taken this land as a very part of his being. And for all the ways I can tease him and get annoyed at some of his woodsman ways, I really do mean that in a reverent and respectful way.)
So here we are, a thousand miles from nowhere. (Oops…I meant a thousand miles from Goshen.) I know that we safely made the journey here, but mostly our journey is just beginning. And mostly I’m excited.
4 comments:
I'm so excited for you. :) You bring back memories of those feelings of excitement and anxiety. Tyler was 10 days overdue and weighed 9 lb 5 oz. Aubrey was 9 days overdue and weighed 7 lb 8 oz. I found it interesting that they're estimating your baby girl to be smaller too. (And Aubrey's plenty active)! Wish we lived closer - I'd be happy to help with the boys. :) Can't wait to hear the good news and see pictures. Good luck!!
I'm so excited too, So wish there would be a way to help???? one thought I had, to get ahold of Phil Ramer's and see what there boys who aren't in school do in the daytime? I do know we can pray all will go well and that you'll have a peace and know the direction you are to go. Lots of love to you all.
Mom for us.
When is your appointment this week? Thinking of you all and hoping for the best.
Well, your mom told me sunday at church that you had your baby. AND since I don't have FB i am dying to see some pics and hear about it. Hurry up already!
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