Just a Pregnancy Update

That's it. Just the rattlings and ramblings of a 32 year old woman with a case of pregnant brain coupled with a case of mommy brain. I have both conditions, quite acute cases in fact. :-)

I am marking off the days one-by-one as they pass. Today I have 17 days left until our projected baby date. Most of the people I know will lighthearted ask, "How much longer?" or "When are you due again?" to which a promptly reply with the remaining number of days without skipping a beat. I have not had a difficult pregnancy at all. In fact, it has been very pleasant. I've not had much problem with heartburn, reflux, muscle cramps, irritability (although it can creep in), or much else. I've probably had to deal with the most swelling this go around. I am just tired of being pregnant ... for this time at least.

I saw one of my school teachers yesterday at the grocery store. She is the blessed mom of 7. Her oldest is a freshman in college and her "baby" is 3. See, my mom thinks that I couldn't possibly be telling the truth when I say that I hate being pregnant. Don't misunderstand. I am blessed to never have had fertility issues. I love my larger-side-of-medium-sized family. I am amazed by the miracle of a little soul living in my belly and all that stuff. But pregnancy is just not fun. It's difficult and makes everyday life more difficult. Well, as I was chatting with my old school teacher, she shared the same sentiments. She and I agreed that after the first pregnancy, the infatuation with it all was over. LOL, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Anyway, something that is a different "symptom" that I've dealt with this time is my arms randomly falling asleep. It usually only happens when I'm sleeping at night or when I get still ... which is usually just when I'm at church. No matter what sleep position I use, or how many pillows I barricade myself with, or whatever I try, my arms go to sleep. Then they ache. Then it wakes me up. Then I have to sit up in the bed for about 15 minutes to get circulation back. Then I can sleep for another hour or two and repeat the process again. But hey, at the end of it all, I'll have a beautiful little baby boy to cuddle with...who will no longer be pressing on nerves or blood vessels. :-)

Speaking of swelling, I have not been able to wear my wedding band since the end of June. I really do miss it. I don't know if that sounds silly or not. I wear it on a chain around my neck, but my fingers are just too fat for it. When I'm not pregnant, my wedding band is almost too loose and almost falls off if I've just lotioned my hands. I can't get it around my knuckle right now.

I am not looking forward to my surgery, of course. I am thankful for life saving, medically necessary procedures and all that stuff. That said, I find c-sections terrifying even though I've had 4 in the past. I know exactly what to expect, which doesn't help at all. With both Lydia and Josiah I told my OR nurse "I know I seem in control of my emotions right now, but when we enter that OR I will not be like this. I am scared to death of c-sections." I've always had great nurses who are great supporters. I can't say the same about anesthetists and anesthesiologists at least in my experience.

I also got a question in a comment a while back:

If you dislike pharmaceutical companies, will you be declining any meds when you have your C-section?

I strictly do no publish inflammatory comments or comments that I perceive to simply serve to poke fun at me or my family. I felt at first that this was asked in a mocking fashion, but as I read and reread many times this comment, I can see where this is a legitimate question. To answer it, obviously, I can't go without all pharmaceutical medications. I'd probably never even survive my surgery if not for meds. I think that's a little obvious. I definitely don't do things "normally" though. Doctors where I live at least suggest that you get an epidural for c-sections and they then leave in that epidural for 24 hours post-op. I did this only with John it was utter misery for me. Furthermore, when you have an epidural they won't let you sit up. They also won't let you keep your baby alone. If your husband leaves, you have to take your baby to the nursery. I'm just not going to do that. I always ask for just a spinal block (which is normal procedure in other areas). The anesthesia wears off in about 3-5 hours for me, at which time I get up, take a bath, and get comfy.

What about pain meds? Well, I don't really get much of an option when it comes to my IV of morphine. Once the IV finally gets taken out, I try to be very objective as to how bad my pain is. I usually try to just lie down for a while and see if I feel a bit better. If not, I will usually ask for something for pain. Lortab, Percocet, and all the typical pain killers I can't take. Lortab makes me vomit. Percocet makes me so dizzy that I can't lift my head. There was a pain killer that I'd had some success with called Darvocet. It was a very weak pain killer, but it has since been taken off the market. More than likely, I will just take an 800 mg Motrin. Now that said, once I get home I'm usually off of all forms of medication...not even a Tylenol. The heating pad and lots of rest work very well. In fact, I think that with the last pregnancy I didn't even get my prescription for pain meds filled.

I mentioned a while back that we were hoping to / praying about getting a separate building for a schoolroom and for extra storage space. We were able to buy a beautiful building. Right now Jeremy is in the process of getting it ready. We're taking a "baby break" soon. By time we return to school after our baby break we hope to have electricity out to it, have it insulated, install an air conditioner, hang sheet rock, and move all the school stuff out there. Thus far we have gotten the electrical run to it. September 7th we are planning on having people come to insulate it. Jeremy was going to hang fiberglass insulation, but we decided to go with foam insulation. It wasn't too much more than the cost of fiberglass, plus hubby won't have to install it. After that, it's all downhill. I hope to get pictures and share our progress with everyone.

Anyhow, I understand this is a rather disjointed post. Like I said: pregnant brain, compounded by mommy brain. I have to add that I also have a case of back-to-school brain on top of all that! Have a great day, peeps!

Spotlight: Lydia

top: Ethan holding newborn Lydia
bottom: Lydia at about 8 months old

I almost can't say her name without chuckling to myself. She is such a joy and blessing. She says the funniest things. For example, on the way home from church last night she shares these thoughts:
"Mom, I have a bad heagache. (headache)"
"Oh really? Why's that?"
"Because sometimes I get a heagache because I open my mouth and out pops some silly words. It really gives me a heagache!"
Me: *eruption of laughter*
"See Mom?! ... ... Moooooomma! Quit laughing!"


singing with dad and brothers

Such a princess. Nothing could be worse than wearing an ugly dress to her. Nail polish, perfume, pink, frills.

She loves people, but tends to be shy: "Mom, hold my hand and say 'hi' to this girl for me."



In raising her, I haven't made much of a fuss about "what do you want to be when you grow up." I asked Lydia one day, just a few weeks ago, and her reply was "I want to grow up and be a mommy...and have lots of babies!" Good girl!



Lydia has to explain everything in great detail, which can be hilarious and sometimes wearisome. Hilarious because of the nutty stuff she says, but wearisome because her mind goes faster than her vocabulary can keep up, which can lead to lots of stuttering.


Lydia also has lots of pretend friends, which is also adorable. Nay-na is her best (pretend) friend who wears pink and even has pink hair and skin. All the other friends have rhyming names: Sella, Bella, Tella, Della, Mella and the list goes on forever. She makes up these very entertaining stories. For example, once she said that Nay-na died and went to heaven. Then God kicked her out of heaven for talking to the Philistines. We stopped her in her tracks and explained that God would never ever kick any one out of heaven. This caused her to become very annoyed: "Mommy, I already know God doesn't do that, but I have to get Nay-na back out of heaven some how!"

She loves for her siblings to fuss over her and wait on her (which I try to discourage as much as possible).



Her sense of modesty is very becoming. At the beginning of the summer (like, the beginning of April lol) I tucked away her winter nightgowns and traded them for summer ones. Since nightgowns are so difficult to find, I was hoping to get a week or two's wear of last years gowns. One of the gowns came to the top of her knee. She completely insisted that she would not wear it. She pulled at and wrestled with the hem and said that she could never EVER wear that because the boys (her brothers) would see!

She loves to color, paint, draw and the like. Usually Lydia blesses me with at least 5 pictures a day.

The best part about being Lydia's mommy is when she grabs me around the neck and says "Mommy, you're my bestest pal!"

Spotlight: Ethan

For a while I have been wanting to sort of spotlight each of my kids. I often chat about how each of them is doing, but I want to sort of go more in depth. A brief catch-up first: pregnancy is going well. My dreaded c-section is scheduled for September 14th for 7am. It squelches all the surprise out of it, doesn't it? I am looking quite round, but not as round as I have in some other pregnancies. I think I've pretty much come to terms that debilitating leg cramps, bulging and fevered varicose veins, oily skin and hair, acne, achy bones and on and on are just normal pregnancy symptoms for me. I find myself being slightly more patient with these annoyances than usual. Praise the Lord!! Just a few more weeks...I'm so ready now. The only thing I like about being pregnant is feeling baby movement and that. is. ALL.

Today is mine and Jeremy's 11th wedding anniversary (edit: it was last week on the fifth, when I started writing this post. haha!). We have (had) all the kids distributed at different grandparents' houses tonight for a fun night out. I'm looking forward to it! (went to Red Lobster and Marble Slab! Yum!!)

Homeschool is just going great. In the past I have not kept a listing of the kids' grades. I have simply tested and used the results as a gauge to see where the kids are struggling and where they need help. This year I decided to keep a grade book. Ethan has an A in everything. John has all A's also, except spelling. He's really struggling in spelling.

~~~†~~~

Ethan...



Here is our imagination. Life is an open canvas to this boy. He's an outside-the-box thinker. He's SUPER ticklish and actually asks to be tickled! Can you believe that?



He is our sensitivity and compassion. He doesn't have the typical superficial compassion that most of us have. He has Jude 22 compassion. If one of his siblings wanted his snack, he'd give up his so that the other could have.

He is cautious and to share his true feelings. It usually takes a while to see what is bothering Ethan.



Ethan is our unbridled energy. He's the one that sometimes can't contain any longer and has to let out a spontaneous scream while running down the hall. (which can be difficult)

He is our organizer, but strangely doesn't mind clutter. Strange, huh? He'll be the one to volunteer to organize a bookshelf and leave everything on the top of his dresser strewn about.



This is also our champ who overcame asthma. Most people, naysayers, say that it was just time for him to outgrow it. I vehemently disagree. He struggled with asthma for months after we took him off of the meds. We had seen the downward spiral that the pharmaceutical companies had him on. He hated it (even at the age of 3), and so did we. It was indeed a struggle. Though he was miserable, he barely complained...ever. He's so much more healthy than he was, praise God!!


(A Lego truck for Dad and a Lego heart for Mom)

Just like all the other children, he has his own little personality, unique from the others. I'm so thankful to have him as a son!

I promise that I didn't fall off the face of planet earth! :-) I have some posts that I've been working up, they're just not completed. Everyone is chipping away at week #5 of school. We have 4 weeks to go until we're taking our baby break. Just keeping up with every day chores seems to be more than I can handle some days. Our church is in revival this week and Lydia started a fever today, so that's some more added to the regular craziness.

Even now, Josiah is pulling on my skirt and asking for a "puck" (his word for cup...isn't that precious?!).

Bear with me peeps. I promise not to let the dust settle on my blog!