Pregnant?

Okay folks. This is it. We’re counting down HOURS here. The end is nigh. The beginning is imminent. Life, as we know it, will be turned on it’s ear. Are you scared yet? No? Cuz I am. Heh. Seriously though. Very excited. Very nervous. I can’t keep a thought in my head for more than two seconds at a time. It’s really rather pathetic.

In other news, I had my last NST this morning. Good times were had by all. Except maybe Evie who fell asleep about 5 or 10 minutes into the darned thing and kept her heart rate at a steady 120bpm the rest of the hour. Go figure. But all systems are go for tomorrow.

So here’s the drill: My c-section is scheduled for 12 noon (pacific time, yo) and I need to be down at the hospital by 10 am. We’ll probably leave here at 9:30 or so. Even so, I’ll try to throw up a post of some sort (something that probably says, “OH. MY. GOD.”) before we leave. I will be leaving the laptop in the van until I have a postpartum room all set up (along with the rest of my crap, of which I have lots), but I will have my cellphone on me. Which means two things, a) I will be able to check email, though it would be considerably more difficult to send email and b) I can twitter to my heart’s content. I can also conceivably “post to my blog” through flickr. Which is how I do the majority of my Wordless Sunday posts. And this will probably how the initial “announcement” is made. I’m trying to educate Kile on what media he is expected to take at what point throughout the day. I want video of the actual birth. But I want stills of her on the table and being brought to me. Somewhere in there, I want him to take a picture with my cellphone so that it can be sent to flickr and posted to the blog. WHEW.

So I guess my point here is that if you are interested in updates, keep an eye on Twitter, Flickr and eventually, the blog here. Once I do get settled in, I plan to fire up the laptop, post pictures to flickr in earnest and make a nice decent blog post. That probably won’t happen until evening sometime. Again, this is all pacific time, of course.

And, in case you don’t know, I am beyond thrilled at everyone’s interest and excitement in my big news. You all totally rock, you know that? I love each and every one of your comments. Your encouragement means more to me than you could possibly know.

I also have a little fun in store for you all. I decided to make a little contest out of how big you all think this baby will end up being. Harry was 7lbs 5oz at 40weeks 2days. Jackson was 6lbs even at 38weeks even. Liam was 4lbs 15oz at 37weeks even. Now, at my 35week ultrasound, the doctor thought that she weighed 5lbs 9oz. A pretty good estimate, but who knows, really.

Tomorrow I will be 37weeks 2days pregnant. What do you think her weight will be? The winner with the closest guess will be awarded Something Fabulous (that I haven’t figured out what it is yet). But you can rest assured it will be Fabulous. So whaddya say? And, in case of any “ties”, I will break it by having you all guess what TIME she will be born. Now, I know I said I’m scheduled 12pm, but we all know how these things go. I could get bumped because of an emergency or whatever. And I’m talking EXACT time. If two people guess 6lbs 2oz but one guesses 12:05 and one guesses 12:30 and she weighs 6lbs 2oz and is born at 12:25, the second person wins. Sound fair? Sound like a plan?

Let the guessing begin!

This is the calm before the storm.  The small moments of quiet (eerie though they are) before the shite hits the fan.  And you know what?  I feel pretty much EXACTLY about how you’d expect I would.  Restless.  Antsy.  Unsettled.  Thoughtful.  Nervous.  Neurotic.  Perhaps this is what my dog is picking up on.  Because she WILL NOT leave me ALONE.  It was downright silly during my nap yesterday.  Where she normally sleeps under the covers down by my knees, she insisted on having her HEAD ON MY SHOULDER and if she didn’t have the absolute worst breath in all of dog-dom, I would have thought that was real cute.  Right now, even though she hates any part of her body to touch any part of Pup’s body, she is sitting on Pup (who is laying next to me in my chair) just so she can be sitting next to me. And she’s doing that goofy dog thing where they’re tired but don’t want to lay down for one reason or another (more parts of her body would have to touch more parts of Pup’s body!) but her head is dipping so low from exhaustion it’s nearly touching her toes.

Dogs are weird.

Anyhow, where was I?

Oh yes.  I have about an hour and a half here of calm.  And then I need to go to my last NST appointment.  I’ll most likely have lunch with Kile after that because that’s the easiest thing to do at that moment in time.  And then?  My mother in law will be here.  Which means I probably will not be napping today (even though I COULD NOT sleep last night and am v. v. exhausted) but will instead be going over plans and arrangements and household quirks with her.  Tonight, there will be shopping.  Hey, isn’t that what most women do the night before they give birth? (You know, other than scrub out their refrigerators.)  We need to make sure there is food in the house, after all.  After that?  Bed.  I mean, no point in staying up TOO late because I won’t be able to EAT anything after 10pm or so anyhow.  GAH.  And there’s that whole exhausted thing.  But who am I kidding?  If my eyes close anytime before midnight I’ll consider it a miracle.

I do plan to post later today, so this isn’t the last you’ll hear of me before “BABY DAY” or anything.  I’m a rabid blogger, you know, and no matter how hopped up I am at the moment, nothing could keep me from my blog.  You can take that to the bank.

I’m 37 weeks along today. I had Liam at exactly 37 weeks so it almost feels a little surreal to NOT have the baby today, for some reason. But I know it’s a good thing too. Two more days count for quite a bit in “womb-land”. According to my trusty BabyCenter email, she’s the size of a Swiss chard today. If only I knew what a Swiss chard was. I’m starting to think I’m woefully uneducated in the area of fruits and vegetables because there are apparently a whole lot of them I had no idea existed.

Kile took a half day today and spent the morning cleaning Harry’s bathroom and doing dishes. Both of those are staggering tasks and I’m not entirely sure which one is “worse”. As Kile said to me as he was scrubbing out the bathroom, “This is the perfect punishment for Evie. If she ever screws up, just have her clean this bathroom. I can promise you she won’t do it again.” I fear for Harry’s future spouse. Now hopefully, we can urge him to keep it clean for the next several days.

Evie’s room just floors me. It’s so… girly! I’m not used to such a display of pink and butterflies and flowers. But I’m so happy it’s done now. That’s a huge item off my list and a large weight off my shoulders. Kile really delivered on it, I’m pretty proud of him. I did what I could to help, but I was really just “support”. I don’t think I picked up a paint roller once (though I did pick up a brush to touch up a couple spots). And I just held the wallpaper border up while he pasted it to the wall.

I feel like I’m caught in this surreal little “bubble” right now. Time is stretching out, but not necessarily slowing down. I’m having a hard time imagining my life past this weekend. I look at Liam and I can’t comprehend him not being the baby anymore. I look at the wee diapers we have here ready for her and I can’t comprehend actually using them. I’ve left all the tags on all the clothes and can’t even unwrap my diaper cakes. It’s like being caught in limbo or something.  No going back (duh), moving forward but not quite quick enough for my tastes.  I count her little kicks and pray that she keeps on kicking.  I keep thinking of little things I need to remember to do or pack or tell someone… my stomach is in knots when I think about it all.  My stomach is in knots because I’m so excited.

I also worry because that is me.  I had a great time with the spinal and the surgery last time.  Will it be as easy this time?  Will I feel anything this time?  Will the surgery make me throw up?  It didn’t before, but I know it can do that.  And how about the baby?  It was nothing short of miraculous that Liam came out of my belly squalling.  Will we be as lucky this time around?  Will they need to suction her first?  Will my heart climb up into my throat while I wait to hear that cry?  Worry, worry, worry.

But SO EXCITED.

In closing, I have to share this ad I saw on IMDB this afternoon (while looking up actor David Morse whose portrayal of George Washington on “John Adams” literally gives me goosebumps). This probably doesn’t mean anything to ANYONE other than Kile and I, but I saw this and I literally laughed out loud. This is one of Kile and I’s favorite quotes from Napoleon Dynamite. Surely we’re not the only people who have seen (over and over) and enjoyed (entirely too much) this movie. Anyhow. I think we have to have this t-shirt. I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to show it to Kile. Hmm, his birthday IS coming up…

So… it’s done.  The nursery, that is.  PRAISE BE TO JEEBUS.  Good timing too, seeing as we have about exactly 48 hours before have to be at the hospital (probably less but whatever).  Tomorrow hardly counts anyhow since I’ll be gone in the morning at my last NST appointment and my mother in law will be here in the afternoon.  Talk about under the wire!  But it’s rather gorgeous, if I do say so myself.

^{The crib lacks a mattress and I just set the bumpers in there, but you get the idea.}

^{The valance was a pain in the arse to put up and those diaper cakes are just too precious to unwrap.}

^{The bedspread is in the washer still, the Boppy finally has a cover and I’m still not 100% sure about the quilt on the wall.}

^{See those letters?  I painted those mahself.}

The walls are a real pale pink above the wallpaper border and a pale taupe below.  It’s really a nice effect.  You can see the rest of the nursery pics over in my flickr photostream if you are so inclined.

In other (related) news, I got TWO packages yesterday!  One was from longtime online pal and frequent commenter Lisa.  She is just such a sweetheart and has been holding onto this beautiful cardigan for a while, wanting to give it to me.  Thank you SO MUCH, it’s just perfect.  I love the little purple flowers!  Kile, when he saw it, was equally impressed.  For he now knows the value of these adorable cardigans because Babies R Us charges a small fortune for them.  Leave it to a man to think that way.

The other package came from Miss Zoot.  Part of me had to giggle as I was opening it, because of course as we all know, she is the real father of this baby.  All joking aside, she is completely sweet and thoughtful and the adorable dresses she sent just OOZED her style (which, I’m sure you know, is a total compliment).  I don’t even think these pictures do the dresses justice because they are THAT CUTE.  I am vowing right now to put this girl in these dresses at every opportunity.  Thank goodness we go to church.  Heh.  THANK YOU, Zoot.  You rawk.

   
^{The one hat has a little bow in the back (aww!) and the yellow dress has the most adorable bow in back too.  AM DYING.}