Entries in prego (17)

my first!

DateAugust 2, 2007 at 9:14 PM

while the labor continues to evade me, how 'bout we have a contest!?!

whoever guesses the closest to the day, time, and weight of my baby wins a goodie box of the foods i craved during my pregnancy!

also, if you like... the jury is still out on a proper middle name for *baby hawmoony.* i want Joy and the hubs likes Anne (for NO apparent reason!) but we're completely open to suggestions, as long as they're one syllable. i'd love to find something hebraic to match my other girls's middle names. but i'm open to new ideas...

Authorjenica | Comment17 Comments |
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the other side #1

DateAugust 1, 2007 at 12:59 AM

The hubs has been *begging* me to be able to tell his side of the story on many of my stories, so i figure this is as good a time as any... notice that he even capitalizes!


The STAGES of Pregnancy (according to the hubs)...

I apologize in advance if this strikes any sensitive chords (as I know some of the things I'll mention have and do actually effect real people--just not my wife to this point). The first stage of pregnancy is the one I like to call the "I think I'm pregnant with twins" stage. This stage begins when Jenica gains an unprecedented amount of weight in a short period of time--forget about the fact that it happens with every pregnancy. And for those of you who may be wondering all of our children, to this point, have flown solo into this world. Oddly enough the ultra sound confirmed that there was, you guessed it, one child in the womb.

The next stage of the pregnancy is the "there's something wrong with the baby" stage. During this stage Jenica has a dream, or is reminded of a dream she once had in which she had a bad feeling about the pregnancy. Fortunately this stage does not persist. Normally she feels the baby beginning to move sometime shortly following the beginning of this stage. Since babies, like grown ups, come equipped with both hands and feet they somehow manage to kick and push on opposite sides of the belly almost simultaneously; this causes a relapse into the "I'm pregnant with twins" stage. It's sounds funny when you read it. But when you put it into perspective by comparing it with the previous three pregnancies, and again, the fact that each produced one child, it begins to be a bit troubling. The Hubs + Jenica = Baby. Just in case there are any math freaks out there, and that equation troubles you, it's because it doesn't add up. 1+1=2 in most cases, but where Jenica's pregnancies are concerned, contrary to the law of "twins," 1+1=1. It's the opposite of synergy. I can't think of a name for it. The sum of the two constituent parts equals one half of their sum.

Next comes the "baby is dead" stage. (Now I realize that those are harsh words, but it's the tale I've heard four times now). This is the one stage that actually troubles me; with each pregnancy I doubt for a brief period and wonder if this time she's right. Fortunately, she's been wrong every time. After this somber period passes later that day when she feels the baby move we enjoy a brief period when all seems great.

But wait, someone is still carrying a baby in her womb, and it isn't getting any smaller. This gives rise to the third to last stage--which just happens to also be the last stage: the "I'm done with pregnancy" stage. Fortunately one of Jenica's bloggie babes Stephieface has coined a term that deals with the daily tasks I face at this point in the pregnancy. It's called the "dead-to-me zone." Anything that Jenica drops, anything she needs, any child located beneath, clothes, pens, purses, etc. below the waist might as well have fallen off the flat face of the earth unless I'm right there to pick it up. Have you ever showered with a pregnant lady? Ladies, have you ever showered with your husband when you're pregnant? It's not fun for the man. It reminds me of Sesame Street when the kid bends his body to form the letter "C." That's what I have to do to change places so that I can rinse off my body. I don't think that there's a letter of the alphabet that describes what I have to do when she drops the soap.

Then an odd thing happens, the "I'm okay with this pregnancy" stage begins: Joints feel good; back doesn't hurt as much; kids seem almost angelic for a day or two. It slowly begins to fade and the last month consists of the "I'm done with pregnancy" stage again.

Previous to this pregnancy I thought that was the last stage, but as you all may now know there is now an "I'm in labor" stage that's really not labor at all. My only hope is that it doesn't give rise to the "procrastination" stage which could lead to the "husband delivering the baby at home" stage. Don't get me wrong. I think it could be done. I'm sure that people in other countries do it all the time. But let's get real. I sell parts to the petroleum transport industry for a living. I often take orders, over the phone, and have parts delivered to those customers; but someone else delivers them. We don't even do it ourselves, we've contracted with a company and they deliver for us. When we have company lunches and I order the food, someone else delivers it! People try to get me to commit to things that I can't deliver on all the time. It's not my fault. Sometimes vendors don't come through. It's not my fault. I just sell parts. I DON'T DELIVER!

I have to give a lot of credit to my wife. Take for instance today. The boy pooped and peed in the bed at nap time. My solution: buy a new bed. My wife simply washed the sheets and semi-impervious mattress protector. And he's back to sleeping on them again. Wednesday is trash collection day on our street, that shit could have easily been in the trash. Now I know why Wonder Woman wore those gloves.

Authorjenica | Comment19 Comments |
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the week i lost...

DateJuly 31, 2007 at 11:20 AM

sorry to disappoint everyone, but we still have not had the baby yet... but look at those cute baby ducklings!

it's taken me a week to break out of the depression of it all. but today i have energy; i feel happy and rested and ready to just be pregnant for a little while longer.
so i figure i would grace bloggie land with more pics of my cute kids, you can't have too many! it's amazing to me how much has happened in the last week, and how much i still feel i was almost oblivious too. my neice anya ended up with a break-through infection with her bladder reflux and was hospitalized for 2 more days (just for IV anti-biotics) and then was here through the weekend. it was so nice to have alison and *baby anya, baby anya* here with us.
this pic just sums up their entire stay with us. the kids just can't get enough of her, and G cries if she can't be the one to hold her the entire time. have you ever seen such a plump and beautiful baby??? and F really does have more clothes than the spiderman costume, but he gets to wear it everytime he poops in the toilet, so we see him in it more than any other article of clothing that he owns. ;-D
my nesting took a back burner after going through labor but not having a baby... so the quilting never materialized. hopefully i can get back on that this week. my dear friend katie came over last week and wet dusted my whole house and mopped my floors. what a difference it made! thanks so much katie!
also last week my basement flooded (boo!), my brother in law got engaged (congrats Jeremy and Natalie!), my mother in law flew in to help me out until after the baby comes (yippie-doodle!), and G decided to start potty training (thanks to E). it really has been busy and wonderful, and NOW i'm beginning to appreciate all the goodness that it has been. where was I all week?
i soooo appreciate all of the support and love that has come from bloggie land while we wait it out. every little comment helped to boost my days. so now i'm just back to being boring me, writing about our family, and striving to enjoy every last minute.

Authorjenica | Comment3 Comments |
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i'm STILL pregnant

DateJuly 29, 2007 at 1:25 AM

yes, the rumor is true... the bun in the oven is not fully baked. i so appreciate the out-pouring of love and support that has been offered to me! all the comments have really brightened each day.

it's been interesting to psycho analyse my behavior over the past week since our *close call.* i really had not been anxy to have my baby before last tuesday. but now that she's played peek-a-boo once i'm on super-power watch for any little symptom that my labor could be starting again.

did my water just break???

nope, you just peed your pants a little bit... again...

so it's been a discouraging few days. my mom bought me flowers while she was here which have helped to lift my spirits. but i still find myself moaning more now about my aches and pains then is necessary.

and yet... today all of this emotion hit me. i know, what a surprise, seeing that i'm a huge pregnant woman and all. but i realized just how overwhelmed i've been since G was born. having three kids has seriously kicked my patootie, and here i am bringing numero cuatro into the world? what were we thinking 9 months ago??? how am i going to do it all? do i have enough love to give when i feel like i'm being sucked dry with the plate i have in front of me?

so there it is. half of me CAN NOT POSSIBLY WAIT ONE MORE MINUTE to get this baby out! and the other half, well, we wish we could take another slow year to get the guts up to be a better mama this time.

i spent the whole day today trying to do *good mama* activities with my kids. we hit the library and the aquarium, i tickled F like crazy, spent a good deal of time with G on the toilet, and taught E how to braid. is this pre-birth repentance? will i be able to adjust? could i be more melodramatic??? i'm sure that getting this baby out will help to quell the emotional discord that i am feeling right now. we just need to get her here stat. ;-D

oh yeah, and one funny thing. as we pulled on to the freeway at 4 am that dreadful wednesday of last week we almost got run off the road by a little sports car with the license plate *nsomniac,* cheered my night right up!

Authorjenica | Comment12 Comments |
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and then it STOPPED!

DateJuly 25, 2007 at 7:24 PM

this is me last night at around midnight at my birth center:

this is me today:
notice anything????? perhaps a large protrusion where you shouldn't have one after delivering a baby???

so last night contractions started around 9 pm. from 10-11 they were anywhere from 3-9 minutes apart. and by 11 they were down to 2-3 minutes apart. so we packed up, called a neighbor, called the imperative relatives that would be helping, and headed on into the birth center. my other labors have gone so quickly that we just knew we had to get there as quickly as possible.
i was only dilated to a 2 when we got there, which wasn't discouraging to me because we all KNOW how fast my deliveries go. i was relaxed, i was happy, i was breathing deeply. we watched a movie, we had some toast and fruit. and then i had a series of really, really intense contractions that were almost 2 minutes long with only a break of about 30 seconds between them. i thought to myself, "here we go!" so we moved back to the bed to be more comfortable, i plugged in my walkman with my hypnobirthing cd and i began to prepare for serious labor.....

i woke up an hour later. the contractions were GONE. i was so embarrassed, so frustrated, so bummed out. so we came home.
i've spent today with lots of energy, running around with my mom who is now in town for the blessed event... the event that may or may not happen while she's here. BOO HOO!

Authorjenica | Comment17 Comments |
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