fidean.net

Ella is in Duluth, on her first trip ever away from home without mama and papa. She went up with grandma Kathy yesterday afternoon. She’s having a great time walking in the woods and going to see all kinds of fun things and generally keeping the grandparents Clark very busy.

We’re trying to get some things done around the house; moving some dressers around, getting piles of clothes organized and generally trying to get things more ready for #2.

It’s very very quiet in the house.

We miss her!

So the mattress delivery was great. Better than expected even, because i forgot we were supposed to be at a 7am prenatal, but the mattress came at 6:30, so we got the mattress and arrived on time anyway.

The frame was the problem child. In addition to 3 days of delays when our house was apparently “closed” as far as the driver was concerned, it arrived beat up. A broken dowel, gouge out of the headboard. Sucky, but refused delivery.

The king mattress on the floor is still better sleeping than the full on a frame.

Tomorrow will be a busy morning; we have 2, count ‘em 2 giant-size tractor trailers delivering stuff to our house. The frame did NOT arrive as Autumn previously indicated, the *(&#($* driver, who never showed up, claimed we were “closed” and they couldn’t deliver. Anyway…

The first truck will have our new mattress 7 am.
The second truck will have the bed frame: 11 am.

We’re getting a king-size (eastern king, mind you) bed, a step up from the x-long full. Free shipping on the mattress (woo hoo!). We can’t wait

We’re 34 weeks on Friday…starting our 35th week! How time flies! Just three more week till we’re full term (meaning the baby could come at any time and be considered ‘on time’).

(www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/775.html)

The baby is still very active…and I think s/he is going to be LONG…since there are lots of elbow and knee things going in there. The babe has also been head down for several weeks. This past week (Fri-Sat) I had a ton of contractions, some stopping me in my tracks. We talked to our doula (Sarah) and the midwives at Fairview and all agreed it was probably dehydration. So, I started drinking more water and got in the tub daily (even bought a fancy new jet spa thing and a bath pillow)…and feel much better now. Sunday I was VERY sore, all across my front and back, but by Monday the soreness was gone. No more major contractions since (just a few, normal pre-labor Braxton Hicks contractions).

(www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/childbirth/156.html)

The contractions proved to be a good thing in some ways. It gave us a nice kick in the butt to get things ready! We are finalizing our birth plan, drafting our contact list, picking out baby names, getting the ‘nest’ ready, and packing our labor bag. My friend Autumn (yes, another Autumn!) is coming over on Sunday to do a belly cast in plaster of paris! We also hope to have some photos taken of all of us and the belly.

We have three more pre-natal appointments scheduled between now and our due date, including one this friday. We will ask that I am checked to see if the contractions I was having have done anything (dilating or effacing my cervix). At all our previous appointments, my weight, blood pressure, swelling, and everything else have been great. Our appointments are fairly spread out, which is quite different than how things were at this point with Ella. By this time, I was VERY swollen and going in for tests every week!

One of the midwives said she was worried that the baby would be very big (since Ella was, and I’m also measuring 3 weeks ahead). Induction was suggested, which did not make us very happy. We were induced with Ella and it was not fun. Most of our pre-natals have been and will be with Jill, our favorite now that Lisa is no longer there (Lisa delivered Ella and is now training the Birth Place nurses instead of delivering babies). Jill said that induction does not usually help deliver big babies more easily - if you induce early, the baby is smaller, but then the mother’s body is being forced to do something its not ready for (case in point - Ella’s birth!)…waiting for nature to take its course will mean a bigger baby, but then the mother’s body is open and ready for birth. Our doula agrees. This is music to our ears! We know how my body does with induction (not well), we’ll wait as long as we can this time for nature to do its thing (as long as the baby and I are staying healthy).

Our new bed frame is going to be delivered today, and the mattress should be coming soon too (www.naturaworld.com). We also ordered a waterproof mattress pad in case my water breaks in the brand new bed…and also to protect it from leaking milk, wet diapers, etc. The new bed is a KING, so we’ll have plenty of room for us, the baby, and Ella, if she needs to sleep with us (although she slept the last two nights in her own bed, for a change).

Here’s a funny thing: yawns apparently don’t become contagious until we’re older. I know this because whenever I yawn, it has no effect whatsoever on Ella. When she yawns, however, i can’t help but yawn.

You can also see the national science foundation’s take on the matter.