days of nuwanda

Letter to baby John

Dear baby John,

In 3 days Daddy and I will finally get to meet you face to face. We can’t wait! It has been a fun nine months awaiting your arrival. You truly were a very good baby throughout Mommy’s pregnancy. You didn’t make her sick very often, you didn’t kick her ribs too many times, and you allowed her to sleep fairly comfortably. For that I thank you (and yes, you are my new favorite! Heehee! Kidding, do not tell Jacob or Grace!).

On Monday, Mommy is going to the hospital to “retrieve” you. The doctor has to do a procedure, which can be a little scary, but don’t worry, Mommy isn’t afraid. Soon it will be over, and Mommy and Daddy will be snuggling you and holding you tight.

The best part of your birthday will be when you meet Jacob and Grace! They are SOOOO excited. Your big brother Jacob has been counting down the days for a while now. He will be an awesome brother! He has lots of plans for you and can’t wait to teach you how to ride a bike and play games and shoot bad guys. And your sister Grace prays for you every night before bed and thinks you are silly for hiding in my belly. She is excited about meeting a baby for the first time and will be a big help to Mommy in taking care of you and entertaining you. No doubt she will talk your ear off, so be prepared to just smile and listen. J

God willing everything will go fine on Monday, but no matter what, I want you to know that I love you very much! I know that God gave you to us as a special gift, and Daddy and I can’t wait to teach you about Jesus.

Love, Mommy

P.S. I'm sorry I can't use your real name yet...I'm still sworn to secrecy! :)

Last day of paid work...for a while anyway

(I was going to say just "last day of work" but come on, a Mom's work is never done, with or without a paycheck!) Woohoo, I'm wrapping things up, passing projects along to my coworker, and doing very little. Grace is here next to me at my desk, and I can't be certain, but she seems more productive than me today, with crayons in hand. In my defense, there is little for me to do, so maybe Grace has the right idea w/ her coloring and I should join her. :)

It hardly seems possible to be here at the end of January already. I'm SOOOO ready, then again I'm not overly anxious or impatient. My Sis-in-law wants me to go early b/c she has to be out of town next week, but sorry, I don't see that happening! Everything is ready, the bags are packed, the infant car seat is ready to go. The only thing not done is mopping the floors, and only b/c I had to leave something for Hubby to do this weekend. HA!

The noticeable difference this time around is that my parents will not be here. My grandmother, who lives w/ them since her stroke, is not able to travel the 7 hours here, so they won't be coming anytime soon. My parents are pretty sad about missing out, and I wish it could be different, but such is life. My mom even said, "It would be nice if we had email, wouldn't it, to see pictures right away?" which was shocking, coming from my mom. :) So thank goodness for one-hour-photo and the postal service; we will have to send pics Monday afternoon, so they don't feel left out!

For the rest of you, I'm sure Hubby or Sis will be blogging on Monday, so stay tuned! 

One week until b-day

...and all is well. Grace and I both have a slight touch of the tummy yuckies, but nothing too dramatic. I am sipping a coke to ease the queasies, and it's helping. I'm queasy but soooo hungry at the same time. Truly weird. B/c of my raging work pace last week, my workload this week is slow, so I finished up early and spent the remainder of the day napping, reading, and loafing. I guess this is what I'm supposed to do the week before baby arrives--rest now b/c you can't later. :) Next week this time we'll be holding a brand new little baby boy and enjoying the helpful hands of hospital nurses and eating hospital cafeteria pudding w/ that miniscule dollop of whipped cream on top that I love so much. I'm excited about all of it. Someone asked me if I was getting nervous, which in turn, MADE me nervous. :) Not really. I know what to expect during and after a c-section, having had 2 previously, and more importantly, I know that I can do this and in a few short days and weeks, my body will return to normal. I feel mentally prepared.

That being said, still I am sure I will have my moments. With Grace, I literally had a panic attack as they put me on the operating table. My BP shot up like crazy, the little medical alerts started beeping, and the frightened nurse asked me if I was ok. I replied, "I can't do this! Stop this!" I wanted to get up and walk out on the whole thing! She calmed me down fairly quickly, and the rest of the ordeal was smooth sailing. And in retrospect it is hilarious to think of trying to stop a baby from coming! So I know my moment will come--when I freak out and decide having a baby is too scary, let alone having surgery--but the knowing it's coming reassures me that I will get thru it again.

As Hubby says, "it's surreal." The thought that in a few short days we will be a family of five, it's real but it's not sunk in yet. I don't think it really sinks in until you hold that baby in your arms. Then it really sinks in when the hospital kicks you out and you take the baby home! :) Having a c-section, the one thing you really lose out on is being able to hold your baby immediately. They literally tie your arms down during surgery (is this to protect the doctor or what??? haha), so the closest you get is for someone to hold the baby close so you can kiss him for a brief second. BUT I relish the thought of coming out of recovery and the nurse bringing me my baby, fully cleaned and clothed and ready to snuggle. Ok, now I'm bawling like a baby, so this post needs to end. :)

Thanks to everyone for your prayers! I cannot say that enough. 

I am wired!

I'm 37 weeks 1 day along, so shouldn't I be tired, exhausted, aching, swollen, miserable, something other than wired? I've been in super-speedy mode all week, and I cannot stop myself. It's as though something or someone is pushing my buttons into fast forward...oh wait, there IS someone pushing my buttons, but don't pregnant ladies this close to delivery usually slow down, not speed up? Work has picked up w/ some last minute projects, and I have flown thru them as though there were a timer dangling over me about to beep. I've even worked extra hours to get things done right away when they aren't needed til next week. I've sorted thru files, sifted thru emails, and organized work folders as though the inspectors were coming (I'm pretty sure there are no inspectors, but trust me, I am ready for them!). Each day when the mail comes, I sit down and pay the bills (mostly medical bills from my elbow x-rays and Grace's lovely ER visit) immediately, as though bill collectors are standing on the porch waiting for me to hand them a check. I have reviewed our online banking and reconciled our accounts about 12 times this week. I've done several loads of laundry, as though the socks I just took off are going to rot in the laundry pile if they aren't washed w/in 15 minutes of coming off. I even sorted my underwear drawer--I wish I were joking on that account, but tis true! I have finished all my shopping (online deals) for everyone I know who has a birthday in the next say 3 months. AND I have had the kids' clothes packed for over a week now for when they stay w/ Grandma & Grandpa when baby John is born. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????? I finished work for today, logged out, and looked around for something to do. I tried taking a nap, but couldn't stop thinking that somewhere around here, there must be something to fold, something to organize, something to sort. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, I have not had a caffeine overload today. I have actually eaten somewhat healthy today, minus the Slim Jim for my afternoon snack. And this hyper-drive began way before my Slim Jim attack.

Ok, I'm heading to the kitchen. Surely there are some dishes to be washed or some baby bottles to be sorted or some crumbs to be swept up. But if the doorbell rings, I am not answering. I will know one of you sent the men in white lab coats...

Good news Thursday

• My friend Angie's brother is back home safe and sound in the states after 2 tours of duty (about 2 years total) in Iraq. Praise God for his protection of Alan and his safe return! Please pray for him as he returns to civilian life and the huge adjustment that must be.
• Grace has good days and bad days in the land of potty training, but is actually telling us when she has to go sometimes and is not as fearful of going. Small victories, but I'll take 'em.
• My week 37 check-up yesterday was awesome. BP was 136/76, a very good number indeed. By now w/ my other 2 pregnancies, I was either on moderate bed rest or doubling my BP meds, but somehow my body is managing better this time around. And this week I've had double the energy of last week. Call me a cynic, but I'm surprised at how good I feel most days.
• I had a very good end-of-year performance review at work this week and got a good raise--woohoo! Usually raises are effective in March, but my boss decided to process early (due to my going on leave soon) and my raise is effective immediately. Cool!
• It's snowing today!
• In 11 days I'll be holding little...nope, I can't tell you....just baby John for now :)

What's in a name?

NO, I am not going to post baby's name, nor am I giving any hints. We always keep our baby names a secret...not only b/c it's something to hold over people, but also b/c we change our minds! Jacob was going to be Dexter, and Grace was going to be Natalie until month 7, but our moods shifted (all right, mine did) and voila, we have a Jacob and a Grace. Hubby and I have had a name chosen for a while now, but I still like to review other names just to be absolutely sure. So I sent him a list of other possibilities this morning, and he critiqued according to name meanings, but more importantly to him, according to initials. Yes, if the initials don't work for him or stand for something weird, he can't accept it. My initials (BJB) are very upsetting to him to this day... :)

Hubby sent me this name wizard, and I found this cool blog on baby names. A little fun reading if you're in the market for a name. And here is a list of the top 25 names. Jacob and Grace are both on here, but that was purely accidental. Baby #3's name might be on here.....but come on, we have 13 days to change our minds! :)

Nesting Nuwanda

I've transitioned from calm, semi-normal expectant mother to psycho nesting mommy. Ask Hubby. He will testify to it. I have to be cleaning, organizing, sorting, washing, folding something or I don't feel right. I can't sit and watch a movie w/o having a pile of laundry to fold. I can't just rest; I have to go thru dresser drawers and sort. I can't let other people just relax either. I have to interrupt Hubby's online gaming to get his help w/ changing sheets and hauling boxes and other things that could techincally wait, but I just must get done NOW! I honestly cannot help myself. Ugh.

I had a full-page shopping list that was growing for weeks, and I was dreading to shop for, but finally on Sat we hit Target, Wal-mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and a baby resale shop. I'm happy to report that we found everything we needed...including a new infant car seat/carrier (I have the old one that was a hand-me-down from a friend when I had Grace, but wanted to get a lighter weight version that would be easier to haul around). We tried out a few and settled on one seat/stroller combo, only to find out it was on sale, $40 off! Woohoo! Then we needed some sort of cubes/storage bins for baby clothes and accessories to go w/ the changing table that is now taking over our office, and BB&B had these cheap stacking cubes and ultra cute bins. (See pic below) We also bought out the diaper and grocery section at Wal-mart and are now set for the year. I feel good. I did not feel good Sat night. 5 hours of shopping later, and my back was HATING me big time. But it had to be done.

Just 14 days to go. Wow.

Here are the storage shelves and bins, as our office transitions into half baby room.

A cute shirt

And another

If you don't get it, ask Hubby. It's a techy term, but just listen to it. :) Love it!

WE HAVE A DATE, PEOPLE!

Baby John is scheduled to make his appearance on Monday morning, January 28th! Just 17 days....

Week 36

For all your wondering when this baby is going to show up, I tried to nail down a date w/ Dr. H yesterday. He said my c-section was tentatively scheduled for the 31st, but my BP is crawling up, and he thinks the 28th might be better....or maybe the 25th...then again, maybe the 24th. :) That is exactly how the conversation went. Dr. H cracks me up. It's all up in the air, and I'm for whatever date is best, but I should know for sure by next week. My BP is up but came down nicely after a brief rest, so he told me to take 3-4 half hour naps throughout the day to allow my body to rest. I kindly asked him for a medical note to show my kids, so they will allow me to rest. Ha! I am super grateful for my at-home job w/o a firm schedule, which means I can nap as needed and work when I feel good.

Everything is in place. The baby clothes are washed, the basinet is set up, the grandparents are lined up to watch the kiddos. So now we wait while baby John is packing on the baby fat. And he is doing a good job of that--the scales tipped another 4 lbs yesterday! Jacob and Grace are getting really excited, and it's fun to see their anticipation build. Thanks for all your prayers for us! I have permanent butterflies in my stomach as his birthday gets closer, like a child who's nervous before the first day of school. But it's good nerves and excitement. I try to imagine what it's like to love THREE children, and I just can't wait to find out. :)

Future Colts fan

Gotta love this perfect Christmas gift for baby John from my brother and family.....