Saturday, September 12, 2009

39 weeks and Counting


Well, here I've made through 9 months. :) Quite a feat, if you ask me! =D People ask me all the time if I'm "ready" to "be a mom, and then whether I'm scared or not. Yes, I am more than ready to meet my daughter- to see who she looks like and figure out what all those long limbs that have been poking me look like in the light of day. And, no, I'm not scared. =D I figure I'm about as prepared for motherhood as I can be (which is to say-- still lacking a LOT). Labor will be painful, but it will eventually be over, and I just can't wait to look into her eyes, and know it was all worth it-- the heartburn, the swelling, the straining muscles, the giving tendons & joints, the stretching skin, even 5 months of vomiting... not to mention however many hours of contractions it takes to move her into our world. =D I think (in my ignorant state) that it will probably be like the distance runs I used to do: "I am going to die" for seemingly ages, then the adrenaline rush of the sprint to the finish, exhaustion & euphoria-- "I did it! That wasn't so bad..."


News this week?

Eowyn's still growing and moving lots. Very active, this kid. She really went ballistic during Transformers 2, which we saw in the dollar theater last week. It felt like I'd swallowed a windmill! She is nicely positioned; head-down and with her face towards my back (means less back labor if she stays like that). 4 more lbs gained last week... that makes 8 in the past 2 weeks. Part of that is water-- I've started swelling in my hands & feet-- at least it's not beset me until this, the very end. And it doesn't hurt; my feet just feel strange and don't look at all like my feet to me. My friend Jenny gave me a pedicure yesterday, which was heavenly. Now THAT's a friend for you. When I can see them, my cute toes make me smile.


Last night, Eowyn suddenly plunged even lower than before, meaning that I didn't get much sleep last night, between her hiccuuping, her moving, contractions, and endless trips to the bathroom. I think she was using my bladder as her pillow. I had to laugh when I came back to bed once, and Ryan had stolen my body pillow. I poked him to get him to move, and he looked around (still asleep, of course), utterly confused as to why he was laying horizontally across the bed. He then promptly laid almost completely on "my" side of the bed and went back into REM. I laughed to myself and pushed him over as best I could... I take up a lot of room these days. Anyway, it won't be long now. I'm cleaning and organizing like a mad woman, finishing projects left and right (more on that later), even tackling things like the closets and basement!


The only thing keeping me back from trying all sorts of tricks to induce labor is that my mom still isn't here: she's flying in on Tuesday; then all bets are off, and Eowyn may arrive at any hour she so chooses, as far as I'm concerned. Of course, Daddy has been coaching her to come during the DAY rather than night. We'll see how that goes.


I really enjoyed my 2 weeks of teaching, though not so much the early wake-up times to get there by 7:40 am (30 minutes across town, driving carpool w/ 2 other families...). The kids are precious and fun, and I'll sure miss 'em. I'm glad that I don't have to be on my feet like that anymore, though. It was really draining and my feet would get so swollen so quickly. My co-workers at school threw me a baby shower last week, and I'll post about that, too-- it was so encouraging and really fun. People at DSCS are soooo generous!


Ryan's side of our family was here, too-- Grandma & Grandpa Presley, and Mom & Dad Elder-- we got lots of projects done (by we I mean they =D), especially concerning the nursery, of course!! Mom & Dad gave us our crib, and Grandpa & Grandma contributed the mattress. It's all coming together so well!
Isn't it beautiful?

Diaper cake that is doubling as a decoration until we need the diapers-- a gift from my DSCS friends, Sarah, Corrie Ann & Suzanne


More decor on one of the shelves-- one of my favorite presents is the set of ABC blocks Eowyn just received from one of my students' families


Letters of her name done by Sina Shuey-- aren't they wonderful??


Shelf above her dresser filling up with books, frames & her crib quilt.

2 comments:

Amy Donell Molina said...

her room looks great, Christina!!!! I wish I could have gotten everything together before Jillie was born. We disovered humidity behind the book shelf and in the closet a week before she was born... so we (like you, when I say we, I mean mom and dad)... painted with a sealer and re-painted her whole room. SO... we're still getting a few things together...
anyways... I love Eowyn's room. The colors are so american! That's great!!!

xoxox
amy

Amy Donell Molina said...

I TOTALLY understand the swelling thing! it does just feel wierd!! But, almost immediatly after birth, your feet, legs, hands etc... start to look "normal" again. It's amazing how quickly your body changes with pregnancy! Both in it's inflation AND deflation! It's a wonderful feeling (the deflating part). :)
... after Jillian was born and I was feeling better after my c-section, I felt 100 times better just because of the fact that I WASN'T PREGNANT ANYMORE! I could see my feet, belly etc... you can walk and move around freely! Not to mentions SLEEP! I weighed HALF of what I was weighing at the end of my pregnancy in a matter of 1 week! (of the total weight gained) IT WAS GREAT.. and every day you begin to feel better.
.... the whole "are you ready" question ... i totlally understand too. I think I wrote a small blog entry on that one too.

Friend... I'm so excited for you and Ryan... being a mom is one of the most wonderful things in the world! I feel like nobody every told me how wonderful it really was.
There is NOTHING like looking into your daughters eyes, holding her while she sleeps, kissing her all over, ... you never get enough of her. While Jillian sleeps for 3 hours and I'm busy doing things in the house, it's like I miss her. And she's RIGHT THERE in our bedroom, sleeping. Your just COMPELLED to go and sneek a peek at her and just gaze for a few minutes. It's SO wonderful, Christina. And something that I KNOW you are so acustomed to, as I, is babysitting. But the WONDERFUL THING is that, YOU'RE NOT BABYSITTING! She's YOURS. She won't ever go away. You will never leave the house at the end of the night (or weekend). It's you and Ryan. YOU are the parents.
She will recognize YOUR voices. Hush her cries when she hears YOU talking. Calm down when YOU pick her up to feed her. She looks to YOU for comfort even as a new born. You and Ryan will know her best. Her grunts, cries, and whimpers. You will know what they mean, better than any "expert mom". WHY? Because YOU are her mom.
... IT'S WONDERFUL!
enjoy friend. enjoy.
Love you all so much,
amy
ps... and I've only done this for a month. I can't wait to see what else there is, but I'm treasuring every one of these moments now.