He's Here!

He's Here!

We welcomed:

BABY BOY 

Sydney Michael 

on Thursday, May 28th 

at 11:39am 

weighing 8 lb. 11 oz. 

and measuring 21" long.

Baby Sydney's Uncle Mike was taking a trucking load from Des Moines, Iowa and needed to shut down for the night. Thankfully, work OK'd for him to shut down in Dubuque so that he could see his nephew following birth. (PHOTO taken shortly after birth on Uncle Mike's iPhone.) Uncle Mike was on the phone talking to Grandma Olson while Baby Sydney was making an entrance into the world.

Making the magic happen (x+31.9)

We saw our doctor this morning, following her vacation. 

There were NO TRACES of protein or sugar in my urine. My blood pressure was good. Baby's heart rate was 140. Head is reportedly still down, stationed at -2. (Last time, we were told -1 so, that was a step in the wrong direction or a different interpretation from a different doctor.) My weight was .9 pounds less than last week so, I am down to x+31.9 pounds. (Ideally, they want you within 25-35 pounds of gain for the entire pregnancy so, I am well within that range.)

Conditions are "favorable" but not perfect yet. I am dilated to 2cm and ideally they want you to be 4 or 5 cm before they induce. Therefore, in an attempt to dilate me more, they will have me go in and they will use a Foley Catheter, which is like a balloon that will "open the door" so-to-speak. Then, they can monitor conditions to see if we're "good to go". The cervix is reportedly SOFT, which is desirable at this point so, my body has been showing "SIGNS" of natural progression.

The act of checking me today, as well as the potential from the catheter applying pressure may be enough to kickstart natural labor. In the morning (Thursday), they will check me and we can decide if we want to proceed with induction. (We're told there are LOTS of options; although, we want to be least stressful on my body – in hopes of not flaring the MS up and hope to avoid the possibility of a C-section.)

Dr. O'Donnell is "on call" today through 5:30pm tomorrow.

I'm told to eat a normal dinner, but avoid extra spicy in case it doesn't agree with me later. We're checking into the hospital at 7pm tonight to get things moving. Then, she will be in around 8:30pm to insert the Foley. And we'll see how things go from there....

Mike doesn't have to be back to work until 2pm on Friday so, we have a little bit of time on our hands.

Probably best to sneak in a nap this afternoon... if I can manage the excitement. We have NO IDEA how well I will be sleeping tonight and from the sounds of it, may have a BIG DAY ahead of me later this evening or tomorrow, depending on how things go.

PERHAPS nature will take over? Only time will tell.

Baby Sydney – we're hoping to SEE YOU SOON and can't wait to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

Ask self daily: Is TODAY going to be Sydney's birth day?

For the past few weeks, we wake each day and wonder:

Is TODAY going to be Sydney's birth day?

And every day so far, the answer has OBVIOUSLY been "Sorry, but NO... Not today!"

Baby was MOVING UP A STORM!

Last night, as I sat at my computer – designing a birth announcement card (while I should have been cleaning the kitchen) – Baby Sydney was MOVING UP A STORM!!! I was relieved that he was moving so much – knowing that he truly hadn't had a heart attack earlier in the evening:

Standing in the kitchen, as Mike announced that he was going to bed, he kissed my belly and announced GOOD NIGHT, SYD! MAYBE WE'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW? Then, after he kissed it again, he did a ZERBERT on my lower abdomen... and Baby Sydney JUMPED! 

All of us a little startled with it, Mike announced "I ACTUALLY FELT HIM JUMP!" (Then, he apologized for scaring him... and... well, did it again before telling him that it was time for Daddy to go to bed.)

So, as I sat at the computer last night, Baby Sydney was VERY ACTIVE! My entire stomach was MOVING AND SHAKING... if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was repositioning himself to make sure that his head was NOT down anymore... so that he could potentially avoid another round of ZERBERTS so close to his ear.

OR MAYBE.... he wasn't doing somersaults to reposition himself at all... MAYBE he was just trying to get comfortable in the tight quarters while saying "GOSH, my head seems to be STUCK in this hole and there seems to be no where else to go!"

Following a few rounds of acrobatics, I felt (and heard) some sloshing and bubbles going on inside my belly. I sat, secretly hoping that my water would soon break and that we'd know that this show was going to get on the road soon. SADLY, no rush of fluids ever transpired. (Although, right before climbing into bed, I did feel as if there were BUBBLES again and had an incredible urge to go to the bathroom... AGAIN. I had even declared to Mike that "things felt DIFFERENT tonight." As I laid in bed, baby was moving again and I had a few sharp, stabbing pains near "the exit", but those subsided within minutes as well.)

Eventually, I must have managed to get comfortable and fell asleep.

Worked on birth announcements

SO, as for the birth announcements I had been designing on the computer during the acrobatics session – I have requested a price quote from the woman who printed all of my wedding invites, boat tickets, programs, and thank you cards – to see how much it would cost to print a birth announcement for me.

I had been kicking around the idea of hand making my own greeting card announcements, sending out a photo announcement (similar to the Save the Date wedding photo) or designing my own card. Given the fact that EVERYONE keeps telling my how incredibly tired (and sore) I will be following birth, I was starting to lean towards the printed birth announcement card so that all I would have to do is to address envelopes.

So, I used a few of those low resolution images off of our 39week photo shoot's CD and designed an announcement. I had put in a sample date of birth, weight, etc. onto my announcement. When I showed it to Mike, he took one look at it and said "HONEY, NO... 12 pound baby, not 8!" Needless to say, along with inserting photos of Baby Sydney after birth, it will be easy enough to change the birth stats to real ones... and I am hoping that the words "12 pound baby" are NOT uttered by ANY medical staff during our delivery.

However, I was a little apprehensive to put it into words on my computer after overhearing some people talking at the Borders bookstore earlier yesterday afternoon. From the sounds of it, a man and a woman who had not seen each other in a while had run into each other. 

The woman asked the man "You had a baby due not too long ago didn't you... a girl, right?"

The man replied "Well, here's the kicker... we were told it was a girl, but SURPRISE - it came out A BOY and shocked us all!"

SO, FOR THE RECORD... if despite MULTIPLE BOY PART VIEWINGS, the ultrasound predictions were wrong and Sydney comes out a girl - we will still name her Sydney. (And my digital baby announcements will be easy enough to change.)

Anxious for tomorrow's morning doctor appointment... wondering if they will do another ultrasound to make sure that baby is still head down, as well as get a feel for HOW BIG he is. Hoping for news of progression, a delivery of a healthy baby yet THIS WEEK and still banking on a boy...

OR... is TODAY going to be Sydney's birth day?

Someone who can relate/24 didn't happen

Someone who can relate

While we sat in the lawyer's office, in late February, waiting to close on our home in Iowa, the sellers had asked us if we had any kids because a lot of the neighbors were inquiring. It was OBVIOUS that we had one in the oven, but they didn't know if we had any others. At that time, we were told that the neighbors across the street (in the yellow house) were also expecting a baby in May. As it turns out, after we moved in, those people in the yellow house were the first to come introduce themselves and although we barely know them, we're thankful to have them (Will & Kate) for neighbors.

Kate's baby girl (daughter #2) was born earlier this month. We ran across the street a week or so ago to meet the new little one and hear how labor & delivery were at Mercy Hospital, where we, too, plan on delivering. Kate had offered to loan some meditation pregnancy CD's that she found INCREDIBLY helpful to get through labor & delivery. So, I left a message for her that I would indeed consider borrowing them, especially since I plan to get through L&D without an epidural. Last night, she brought them over and we chatted briefly.

It was SO NICE to be able to ask her questions, as I had just re-packed my hospital bag for the second time yesterday afternoon. I was SO UNSURE of what to pack and since Mike has never done this before, he offered no help either. (Whenever I would bounce a question off of him, he would say "I don't know. I've never had a baby before." or else the wise-crack in him would say "You know, the last time I gave birth...") Through Kate's guidance, I have come to realize that I will need to re-think my bag yet again later today. 

It is comforting to know that I have someone SO NEARBY that I can talk to. And being that this is Kate's second child, she's been through all of this before – bringing valuable experience to the table. (First-born CLAIRE is almost two years old.)

Kate clarified that she's about 99% sure that it "should" be OBVIOUS when I am having real labor pains. (I told her that I am nervous because my mom is at the cabin this weekend instead of my hometown so, it is a 5.5-6 hour trip instead of 2.5-3 hours.)

Kate says "We REALLY need to get together to hang out. It will be nice to have some adult conversation." She stressed that if I need ANYTHING at all, she is right across the street. (She is a teacher at a local college so, she's got the summer off to attend to her children.)

While Mike is at work today, we may get together to go for a walk. (Well, they will walk – while I waddle; hoping that the sciatic nerve or sudden, shooting groin pain don't take me to my knees.) I also have to re-pack MY BAG for the hospital. The food/goodie bag has been packed for a long time now and the black, (JEEP) diaper bag now contains clothes (etc) for BOYS ONLY.... Mike and Sydney.

24 didn't happen

Mike asked me yesterday afternoon if we should sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sydney. With pure excitement, I said "It IS the 24th so, yeah - we should!" 

I stood close to Mike's recliner so that he could sing to my belly. He started to sing:

Happy 

birthday... 

ON 

THURSDAY!

Happy birthday... 

ON THURSDAY!

Dang it, he tricked me!!! (Toying with the emotions of a pregnant woman like that... that is SO NOT NICE!)

Then, he asks me:

Do you think we can convince the nurses at the hospital to sing Happy Birthday to Sydney when he's born?

Mike went on to tell me that TODAY (well, yesterday now) is NOT Sydney's birth day because 1) Mike took a vacation day on Thursday so that he can catch and 2) Sydney is meant to be born ON  May 29 because it is only fitting since we were legally and officially married on the 29th of the month.

(And then... I broke the news to him... that Thursday is only the 28th.) Right away, he (cockily) replied that "it might be a long labor that gets induced on the 28th, but lingers until the 29th" and that he "doesn't have to be to work until 2pm on Friday the 29th so, that still works for him."

(Dang it... That stinker has an answer for everything!)

Only Sydney knows WHEN he's coming... and right now, he's enjoying the hospitality that I am providing.

Mike 1971 vs 3D/Sydney 2009

This afternoon, Mike was out in the Bonus Room, which he has recently renamed "The Bunk House". He was going through some boxes of stuff and found a photo album that contained photos of his earlier years. I'm betting he wished I hadn't seen them because I announced "Oh my gosh, you were SO CUTE!" so many times that eventually, he just rolled his eyes.

EDITED: When Mike read this babyblog posting, he laughed and said "EVENTUALLY, HE ROLLED HIS EYES? YEAH, HOW ABOUT AFTER THE SECOND OH MY GOSH..."

Anyways, when I found the photo from 1971 where Mike is just a baby – I could see a little resemblance to the 3D ultrasound pictures of Baby Sydney.

Now, I am EVEN MORE ANXIOUS to see what Sydney will look like.

ALSO, I thought it was SO CUTE to see John and Mike holding their little sister Nicki. When you see John and Mike as little kids, you REALLY see the resemblance to John's son, Alder.

EDITED: Added comparison photo of Alder (from October 2009 wedding).

Today was a pretty good day (for this fat girl)

Just thought I would quickly report (before bed) that TODAY was a pretty good day for this fat girl.

Yesterday, I had dug out my wedding ring to wear to our photo session and by evening had discovered that my fingers were swelling and that I had to PRY it off so that I could move it back into SAFE KEEPING. I wanted to have it on in the maternity photos in case they did any hand shots. I wonder, on my many excursions to the grocery store, how many people see this poor fat girl as an unwed mother waddling behind her Wal-mart shopping cart because her ring finger is naked. (Perhaps no one truly notices at all, but I do find myself pondering the looks of sympathy.)

This morning, I rose from bed earlier than I had hoped, but it is because I felt achey in bed. (I had stayed in bed for the better part of 8 hours – less 3 (or so) nocturnal trips to the bathroom.) I'm guessing that it is from the changing position of the baby - in hopes that he is dropping lower. My body has been tired, my joints stiff and my sciatic nerve pinching on & off. Then again, it (my body) is carrying a lot of extra weight and is forced to sleep in the same dreaded position(s) – either left side or right. (I can't wait to sleep on my stomach again... to not get up specifically to urinate... or to be able to curl my back inward without the belly bulge blocking the bend!!!) My legs have REALLY been suffering the most lately - as the past few days I think that I have sat less than usual and found that my legs each feel as if they weigh a half ton. It is especially noticeable when attempting to go UP stairs or to heave my leg into the car. And you gotta love the sudden, sharp-shooting groin pains that can almost take you to the ground in .3 seconds FLAT! I did mange to find some comfort sitting in the recliner in the early morning hours while Mike slept for a solid 10 hours.

After Mike was awake and had coffee flowing through his veins, he had started working on some HANDY HOMEOWNER PROJECTS off of his HONEY DO LIST. Last night, Mike had attempted to get a sympathy vote from his dad (Grandpa Lowell) by announcing that "after working 55-60 hours this week – my wife, who doesn't work, wants me to mop the kitchen and bathroom floors on my day off." (I remind him that my body is ALSO QUITE BUSY WORKING... working on growing this baby. By the way, he IS just teasing and would gladly help me with the floor since that mopping motion was difficult for me the last time I tried it.)

Grandpa Lowell replied "Well, that should take you about 10 or 15 minutes - TOPS."

(Hmm, not the response Mike was looking for.)

Mike was busy for most of the day today: He had removed our kitchen sink and faucet and replaced them with the ones that we had purchased on Valentine's Day (which had been waiting patiently in the garage to be installed in our house). He installed a garbage disposal as well, but needs to finish the electrical work on that. (I was THRILLED about that since a garbage disposal was on my birthday wish list, right behind BABY SYDNEY.... and we all know that I didn't get THAT for my birthday!) He also removed the bathroom sink and faucet, replacing that with one that has a small vanity built-in underneath (since we have ALMOST NO STORAGE in our tiny bathroom). BOTH SINKS ARE HUGE IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR HOME!

He also installed the replacement pump in the pond outside of our dining room window and watered our plants, which he proudly announced that ALL OF OUR TOMATO PLANTS ARE NOW FLOWERING! (How exciting... fresh grown tomatoes will taste GREAT this summer! Mmmm, bruschetta... fresh salsa... BLT's... MOUTH WATERING!)

He questioned me about pulling up the carpet in Sydney's room and showing off the natural hardwood floors that we believed were underneath, but we discovered that the floors are NOT in good shape in that room. We had also discussed it as a possibility in our bedroom – to discover that the current carpet has been GLUED to the natural hardwood and would need to be sanded and refinished in order to bring them back to their natural beauty. Needless to say, we put the carpet corners back down as we had found them. (Guess we won't be doing either of those projects any time soon, especially after our recent expensive trips to our favorite home improvement store. We're still contemplating painting our outdated kitchen cabinets and deciding if we want to do new kitchen flooring or new kitchen countertops. None of these are budgeted for yet this year as MEDICAL will eat up a large portion of our finances this year.)

Grandma Olson AND Grandma Carol called today, both of them catching the answering machine... and BOTH of them had wondered (on their message) if we were at the hospital since we were not answering our phone. (SADLY, we were NOT.)

I told Mike that I am getting a little discouraged that Baby Sydney doesn't want to come out to meet us yet. (Mike assures me that "He'll be out when he's ready. Remember, he doesn't want to come until HIS birthday.) I am pleased to announce that I started having more contractions again today, since the past few days had been on the quiet front.

All in all, it was a pretty darned good day – and I enjoyed spending it with Mike.

39 weeks - photos WITH Mike

So, we went in for pictures this afternoon. Mike wasn't THRILLED about it, but was still cooperative. Turns out, those places certainly know how to make money. We were upsold to buy a CD with all of our images (since they do NOT save ANY of them after we leave); however, they contain low-res files and locked hi-res files. Unfortunately, you have to go THROUGH THEM to get the high-res files printed. We were hoping to be able to have Sydney's portrait taken (after he's OUTSIDE in this world) and wanted to combine the silhouette of Mike and I, along with a photo of him in the upper left corner, but in order to do that, we will need to buy another photoshoot - with another photo CD and then, request hi-res images and copyright permission from the corporate office, which MAY or MAY NOT be granted.

I felt it was important to professionally document at least one photo of our pregnancy.

(Too bad these low-res files are only good for emailing and web... and not printing and actual things that I would want to do with them. BUMMER.)

Hopefully, we can make it work to get what we want... even if it is ANOTHER $74 later!

P.S. Thank you SO MUCH, Mike for doing this with me, as well as forking over the extra money to get the package that offers the CD. 

Maybe, another time in the future – we can stick to their minimal Portrait Package Special: One 10x13, Two 8x10, Four 5x7, Four 3x5 and 32 wallets for just $9.95

39 WEEKS!

Today marks 39 weeks of pregnancy! OH MY GOODNESS... it has gone by SO FAST!!!

Although, it seems that these past 4 weeks have DRAGGED ON at turtle-speed, but THAT is entirely because the 3D ultrasound (35wk) messed with my PATIENCE LEVELS. You see, once I could SEE what this baby looked like, I just wanted to SEE him again, but this time – on the outside world that is still unfamiliar to him. 

(INSERT MIKE TEASING ME HERE: Yeah, now you want to hold him, and hug him, and love him, and squeeze him, and kiss him and snuggle with him...) 

Honestly, up until that point of SEEING HIM and watching him suck on the back of his chubby little hand, I wasn't rushing this pregnancy at all; Now, I want to reach the finish line so that we can show off the honorable prize.

Mike keeps reminding me that ANY DAY Sydney is born will be a special day because it will be his BIRTH DAY. He'd still LIKE to have Sydney come on Thursday, May 28th when doctor agreed to induce me; afterall, he managed to schedule a day of vacation during the BLACKOUT DATE for this momentous occasion. Plus, OUR DOCTOR will be on call that day and has agreed to let him "catch". (He's been wanting to show up with a baseball mit to see what she would say.)

Yesterday, he came home from work and informed me about one of the women at work who was pregnant a few years ago - who's due date was also on the 29th of May, but her baby came on the 23rd instead. Mike says: I'd better not tell my wife or else she'll get all excited.

See, I have it all figured out anyways.... since Mike is OFF all weekend and we've got NOTHING going on, I thought that THIS WEEKEND would be the perfect time to have this baby! 

In fact, on Sunday, May 24th would be kind of cool...

I'm not a NUMBERS kind of girl, but I figured that since Mike was born on the 12th of a month and I was born on the 12th of a month, that naturally, when you add 12 + 12, this baby should be: 24.

12 + 12 = 24

Last night, I attempted to learn SODUKO logic with Mike. There had been one in the local paper so, I thought it was something we could do together - out on the sunporch - instead of watching TV. Eventually, it made my brain hurt after he had countless times told me "you picked a difficult one to start with". (I did not SEE the logic on my own, but had to wait for him to point it out to me.) While he was struggling with it, I went online and printed out a word search instead. (My brain handles LANGUAGE much better than NUMBERS.)

Mike and I are both hoping to pass on our strongest suits to Baby Sydney. We're hoping that he gets Mike's math skills and my language skills; Otherwise, if he follows in our footsteps, we fear that he'll ride "the short bus" to school because Mike's spelling (although phonetically thought-out) is awful and I always had to work hard (to achieve A's and B's) in math because there was NOTHING natural about it for me. (Mike was one of those NATURALLY GIFTED kids who got through school without opening a book.)

After Mike went to bed last night, I sat up and did that word search that I had printed. Since Baby Sydney can hear my voice, I would tell him what word I was looking for and would spell it as I circled it. From an outsider looking in, I would have looked CRAZY* talking to myself as if preparing for a spelling bee: 

Dolphin. 

D - O - L - P - H - I - N. 

Dolphin.

(*Although, I would have looked LESS CRAZY than the neighbor woman who is outside talking to herself ALL DAY LONG. At least, I was INSIDE the house – and officially, talking to the baby inside my belly. I've got NO EXPLANATION for the peculiar neighbor though....)

It is slightly misfortunate that after moving to Iowa, I was missing out on all of that "good talking" that I had done while working in the elementary school. HECK, if we would have stayed in Minnesota, this baby should have been able to come out of the womb knowing the entire alphabet and how to count up to 100 and back down again. (Although, he would have also heard me YELLING every day for playground duty as well... and would have grown to think that his mother was a NAG.... or else, would tune my "loud and assertive voice" out completely.)

Mike assures me that it is BEST that we moved when we did; to follow his latest opportunity for promotion. Afterall, there has been ALMOST NOTHING (promotion-wise) to pick from for most of the time that we have been relocated to Iowa and he claims that he would have been ANXIOUS by now. (PLUS, he realizes that MY LIFE is best when I am within THREE HOURS of my family; Minnesota was just TOO FAR for weekend trips and convenient visiting.... only good for web-cam, I'm afraid.)

Later today, I might sneak over to the portrait studio (next to Target) and try to pose for some maternity shots. Afterall, our time to document this BELLY is running out and it is something that I had wanted to do for a while now. OR... I could see if I can get an appointment scheduled for this weekend – when Mike can do it WITH ME. (At this point, after a week of 3:45am wake-ups, all he REALLY cares about is SLEEPING IN ON SATURDAY so, hopefully Baby will cooperate with that request as well.) We'll have to see...

Finally... appetite returned!

Yesterday was an "OFF-DAY" for me. I had suffered from acid reflux and found myself with NO DESIRE to eat (or really, drink, for that matter). For me, it was a sad, sad, day.... TOTALLY UNLIKE ME!

Eventually, late morning with STILL NO DESIRE TO EAT, I called the doctor's office to see what remedies are deemed SAFE for pregnancy. Was given the green light to try the MAALOX (which I had *SECRETLY* tried a swig of the night before). So, after the doctor's green light approval, I had a swig of it - which brought relief for about 25 minutes.

I spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen. I had been chopping and dicing... making a Cajun Chicken Lasagna. (Perhaps SPICY was not best for another bout of acid reflux, but THAT is what I had planned on making earlier this week.) I also decided to make a vegetable stock – since I had the mess out and a few things to use up. During my escapades in the kitchen, I managed to nibble on a little celery and somehow made my cup of Chai Tea last for most of the day (when normally it is gone within just MINUTES.)

By the time Mike came home, around 2:30pm, basically all I had eaten was celery. (And I did try a portion of a broken lasagna noodle dipped into some homemade Alfredo sauce, just to see if it tasted OK.) So, when he got home, I was just finishing up making some egg salad sandwich - which I figured would be TAME enough for my liking. Turns out, it was pretty good.

When I finally sat to eat, as well as put my feet up in the recliner, Sydney was FINALLY starting to move around. (He moved around EVEN MORE after some Cajun Chicken Lasagna and continued to be pretty active throughout the night.) My contractions (or Braxton Hicks practice contractions... whichever they may be)  were almost non-existent throughout the day as well, except for when the 20-pound cat stepped JUST RIGHT onto my uterus, sending it into a brief moment of SHOCK, I'm afraid!

I was RELIEVED that during the night last night, my indigestion and reflux were mostly non-existant. Instead, I woke a few times feeling.... well, HUNGRY actually! Granted, I did NOT eat during the night... didn't want to upset the apple cart. (Sadly, I think I got up to use the bathroom 3 or 4 times though.)

Around 1:30am, our home phone rang and we decided to ignore it. We figured that if it was a GOOD CALL, they would try our cell phones. Within a few seconds, Mike's cell phone started to ring and he quickly hopped out of bed. (The alarms were going off at work and he had to go in to check on the store.) He was NOT all that excited about it, being that he needed to get up at 3:45am to get ready for work anyways.... kind of a bad night of sleep for him. The police met him at work and they toured the premises, guessing that WIND had caused the alarm.

After he had left, Sydney was moving around. I contemplated getting up to make cinnamon rolls, but I must have rather quickly fallen back asleep because I was startled when I heard footsteps creaking up the stairway. (And I never did find the ambition to venture into the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning.) Mike was home again reasonably fast; But then, I found it was hard to fall back asleep again.

When the alarm went off at 3:45am, for an OFFICIAL wakeup, I was thrilled to get up with Mike and to FINALLY EAT!!! We had fried egg sandwiches on english muffins... YUM! It was SO NICE to eat some REAL FOOD again.... and, without the burn!

Now, since I have sat upright for a little while, I think I will try to go back to bed, but will probably take a quick swig of MAALOX to ensure some comfort before messing with gravity and stomach acids.... just to be on the safe side. (Mike wants me to be able to eat today.... in fact, he encourages me to eat, saying that he still wants a 12-pound baby so that he can be a big, tough football player someday. Granted, I am hoping for WELL UNDER 12 pounds!!! EIGHT POUNDS SOUNDS NICE TO ME!)

It is 5AM and the treeline near the Mississippi River is starting to illuminate in hues of light peach and a pale salmon. YEP, YEP, YEP – it is looking like TODAY is going to be another good day with mid-70's in the forecast.

WHO KNOWS.... maybe TODAY will be a good day to have a baby?!?

Do CRAZY DREAMS and ACID REFLUX mean ANYTHING?!?!?!

Woke up with a stomach ache again in the night. It is horrible when you wake, feeling the burn creeping up your esophagus. Instantly, I sat up – which thankfully, there was no sciatic nerve pinching to contend with at the same time. (Funny because Baby was calm and sleeping as well so, I'm not sure WHAT caused the sudden discomfort.)

I propped COUNTLESS pillows up behind me in bed so that I could remain upright and found myself rubbing my belly (in the area where my diaphragm used to be... WHO KNOWS WHERE it is now though, right?!?).

About 40 minutes later, Mike's alarm went off.

After visiting with him in the wee morning hours, I went back to bed - using ALL of the pillows on the bed (as well as the extra space in the bed) in an attempt to get comfortable, which worked for a while. That is, until I woke an hour or so later with another bout with stomach acid. 

Again, seeking comfort, I went back to sleep...

AND HAD SOME CRAZY DREAMS!!!!!

I was dreaming about elementary schools - both the one across the street from my parent's house that I attended as a child, as well as the one that I had worked at in Minnesota. 

I was dreaming about being on the playground – in a capacity of playing, as well as supervising.

I was dreaming about having to climb across awkward places without losing my balance and being scared to death.

I was dreaming about having to crawl into tight spaces – or should I say overly small tunnels and such and then, suddenly becoming claustrophobic and instantly panicked again.

MAYBE I am dreaming like this because I know what a tight squeeze it will be for Sydney to get out of this place he's called "HOME-SWEET-HOME" for the past 271 days. (We tease that my hips are SO BIG that there should be PLENTY of clearance for Sydney to come out, but the truth is - during our birthing classes, they described labor & delivery as pushing a watermelon out the end of a garden hose. OUCH!)

MAYBE I am dreaming like this because I was reading about how scary the new world can be for a newborn – with all of the new sights, sounds, smells; as well as the first-time sensations of thirst, hunger, indigestion, gas, etc. (Or the fact that we THINK a baby nursery should be a quiet place of retreat when realistically, to a newborn used to hearing the external world noises, the beating of my heart and the gurgling of my organs, this can be scary.... and much too still compared to the near-constant sloshing that he was used to, riding inside of my belly.) 

What about that overwhelming sensation of being held tightly (captive) inside my belly and all of a sudden, having NO space restrictions and NO boundaries? I liked the analogy used in the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" where it said: "I imagine new babies feel like someone who enters a detox program and has to go cold turkey from snuggling. No wonder they cry!"

Upon the recommendation of someone else, I have purchased a MOBY WRAP (off of the internet) with birthday money sent to me by Grandma Carol, as well as my own Grandmother. It should be here on Friday and looks like it is a great solution to SNUGGLING while still getting work done around the house. (See video clip link below.)

http://www.babyslingdemonstrations.com/Demo/p/BS1001;jsessionid=34BC19381691BE49291769AF14C9B90A.app3-delorean

Now, I sit – contemplating what I want to try to eat for breakfast. Truth is, I'm really NOT hungry AT ALL and still feeling acid discomfort. (Neither of those are true to my typical nature.) 

So, I am beginning to wonder... IS MY BODY starting to make preparations for the eviction of baby? Eventually, that will be the case, but I guess only TIME WILL TELL... 

P.S. Thank you to Grandpa Lowell for joining us/bringing us dinner last night. It was DELICIOUS and SO NICE to eat out on the deck in our 80+°F afternoon. (For the record, I'm certain that our delicious dinner had NOTHING to do with my acid reflux.) ...AND... thank you for helping Mike carry that storage cabinet from the garage to the nursery so that we can conveniently store our large supply of diapers and baby care items. THANK YOU!