Baby Girl Guessing Games

As help arrives today (Aug 27), and any day between now and September 10 is good, I have decided to go ahead with the fun baby pool with the key purposes being fun and to amuse me! (So scroll down for new posts, and feel free to change your mind if the date you pick passes and repost!)

So, here are the facts to help you make a guess about our baby girl:

• we are scheduled for a C-section September 10, so you know it will be no later than that, and that is 9 days early
• Miss Pear was born 2 days early, and even though she was a c-section, I did go into labor.
• she was 6 lbs, 15 oz, 19 and a half inches long
  
• at last Friday's appointment baby's weight was estimated at 6lb, 6oz, but those estimates are always high
• on average, most babies gain 2 to 2 and a half pounds in the last month (4 weeks), assuming full term delivery, but our baby will be born at least 9 days early
• babies come about the size of Miss Pear on my side of the family, but blue ribbon pumpkin size on Mr. Pear's side (why yes, that is the scientific term...)
  

So please submit your guesses for the pool including:

1. Will she wait for September 10 or come early? Be sure to include date (and time if you feel so inclined - our first doctor claims that babies only come in the middle of office hours and the middle of the night, and Miss Pear came in the middle of office hours)!
2. How big will she be?
3. How long will she be?
4. Shall we call her Baby Pear or Pear Blossom or something else on the blog? (this is the one I really need help on!)
   
5. Your best advice for a second time mom.
6. Your favorite children's book.

Okay, technically the last two are not pool questions, just my avid curiosity, and quest for new books to read.

I will let you know all the details when we return home from the hospital as our hospital does not have wi-fi, but will date this for September 10 so it stays on the top. I will try to let you know when we head to the hospital though, if possible. (With Miss Pear I went into labor in the middle of the night and if the suit case was not already packed with a detailed "to add" list actually inside it, we would have been in deep trouble.....)

So tomorrow is the big day....

We have tried our best to explain to Miss Pear what is going to happen, and in some respects we have done well, and in others she is kind of missing some of the finer details, but she is 3! We are happy with what we got!

There is basically no chance of anything happening before tomorrow at this point, especially considering I plan on polishing off the chocolate treats a friend delivered as soon as I hit post, and I have to fast for 8 hours before surgery (really, are they kidding me? Do you know any pregnant women who can go that long with nothing?)

The plan for tomorrow morning is to spend the time playing and reassuring our girl, and encouraging her. We hope to have everything else last minute done tonight as all the ahead of time stuff is done. Although it occurs to me that I have to drop off my prescriptions, but worse case scenario is that I drop them off on the way to the hospital and pick them up on the way home - they have a drive thru window, so I am not the least bit concerned!

We have to be at the hospital at 2PM, and by supper time will be holding our baby!

The only thing kind of spoiling my excitement is the reminder of exactly what a C-section entails, especially the spinal and needles, and the thought that it is not a go home the next day kind of thing. Even though we are making plans to bring Miss Pear to visit, it is not going to be the same, and I will miss her so much.

Our hospital does not have wi-fi, or any internet access that we know of, so I will post the pertinent information when we get home on the weekend, likely Sunday. I guess it will be one of those no news is good news kind of deals until then.

Thank you for all the emails we have already received loaded with prayer and encouragement, they mean so much to us. And we know that the only way we are going to get through this is with the Lord's help!

Moving right along...

...but still no news.

We are scheduled for our C-section tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday), and I have to confess, it is weird knowing within an hour or two when you baby will likely arrive. Baring a little eager beaver deciding to arrive earlier (which would be great!). The weirdest thing is that our C-section is scheduled 9 days before our due date, but that I have come to start thinking about Wednesday as our due date, so earlier sounded great to me! It freaked out my husband though, who wanted baby to get all the time she needed to be sufficiently "done". But then again, he can roll over at night without hips cracking loud enough to wake up the whole household!

This past weekend we did the last things that needed to be done. All the closets are organized, which is monumental when you consider that the closet in baby's room is the one that was the "just chuck it in there" closet, since we moved, over a year ago. It is now neat and organized, as is ours. The diaper stash is even stacked in proper order so we can just go in and grab the top package and it be the one we need. Plus everything is washed, including the car seat, stroller, and swing.

The afghan is, of course, not finished yet, but that is okay, I have time as we will be swaddling for a while.

The baby books are not as done as they could be, but that is okay too, the important stuff is in there.

Our play group is rallying to bring meals next week, and our church will bring meals between the grandparents visits, so we are very well cared for.

I am trying to maintain my attitude about the C-section and stomp on my fear with the Lord's help. My attitude is that it is worth it for a healthy baby, and that I am going to trust that the Lord is protecting us from something, either me or baby, that would be a problem medically if we went forward with a VBAC.

So our suitcase is mostly packed, we will add the last things tomorrow morning, after we use them, and now it just feels like we are waiting.

I am not good at waiting.

We are very eager to hold this little one in our arms!

Because some days are like that...

Last year I had so wanted to U-pick apples and pears. I registered for orchards near us to be notified in advance of their opening weekend because often there is only one weekend. I registered a month in advance, and heard nothing. Until yesterday, when I received notice that this up coming weekend will be U-pick time.

3 days after a C-section.

Yeah, maybe not. I think I will be otherwise occupied! :-)

(And no way am I rescheduling, I can barely wait for Wednesday!)

And as today's entry into the dumb ideas I had while pregnant I honestly though that pizza would be great for supper - you know, the homemade kind??? Then I remembered! The worst night of heartburn I have had this entire pregnancy happened right after pizza night. And I am already nauseous today. So excuse me while I work on plan B....

Please humor me and share what you thought was just the most brilliant idea ever during pregnancy which, of course, was not really the case.....

Baby's Blanket

On Saturday I decided it was time to pull out the measuring tape again and see just how much knitting on baby's blanket I have completed, and how much I have to go.

Well, I will be knitting quite a bit more.

The afghan is 33 inches wide.

It is 28 inches long.

So while I would be happy with a square, meaning another 5 inches to knit, knitting tends to stretch more in the width than in the length, so I have more knitting to do....

On the plus side I am thrilled with the way it is turning out!

Happy Friday

I am looking so forward to the weekend. Mr. Pear has had such a long week that I think he is looking forward to it even more.

I have no creative ideas to post - oh sure, I have the hope chest list to write up, but to be honest, I only get computer time while Miss Pear naps, and I am at the point where I love to be horizontal as much as possible... :-)

We are all doing well. The house is getting back into shape, and our suitcase is packed for the hospital (except for those last minute things, but there is a list!) Miss Pear is exceedingly excited about baby arriving and is always giving my tummy hugs and kisses, and taking about baby! So sweet. It makes it easier to talk to her about it more and explain more.

The million dollar relish is canned, enough for the year. Unfortunately there are not enough cucumbers left for pickles. The first of the tomato sauce is being canned today, Miss Pear and I helped a bit, but it is mostly my MIL doing it. And pears are on sale this weekend, 3lbs for $1, so we will be getting some of those to can as well. But again, it will not be me doing most of the canning. We are also loving just munching the tomatoes as well. I will skip planting grape tomatoes next year but will definitely plant the romas and sweet baby girl cherry tomatoes!

This weekend we are planning on doing the few remaining tasks to prepare for babies arrival, all stuff that could technically be done after with no problem but that are nice to get out of the way early!

It is very hot here so I am hiding inside with the A/C and loving it. But impatience has kicked in. I am having a very hard time waiting to hold this little baby of ours. I hope she comes early!

Oh, and I officially have a pregnancy craving - Chinese food. There have been two nights in the last 3 weeks where I have been totally focused on it, and then it tasted SO delicious! This is a very pleasant treat because it means that some food might actually like me! :-)

Just waiting...

I love being the boring patient at our doctor's office. We joke that our goal is to be the most boring patient they have ever had - labs are always good, blood pressure and weight are always good, and when we see the doctor baby is always strong and healthy and the doctor is always keeping the appointment short as there is nothing to talk about...again.

So far so good.

And I am so thankful.

It is funny, there is lots to do, but I feel tired today, so I am doing very little. Miss Pear is playing a made up game with grandma which is hysterical to her, and her hysterical laughter has her sister kicking like crazy - a usual response.

So all I can say for today is that we are getting a few things done, are taking it easy, and are resting while listening to the wonderful music of 3 year old laughter.

Now if I could just stay on track and get my stamping supplies organized and put away...finally.

Still Boring

At 37 and a half weeks, we had our last ob/gyn appointment this morning, and we are still boring. Next Wednesday we are scheduled for our C-section so the doctor does not feel there is a need to see us on Tuesday unless something comes up, in which case of course we would call between appointments.

On one hand I am nervous about having another C-section, of course. But on the other hand I cannot wait to meet this little girl who moves around and kicks me, and when I hear that strong heart beat it is even worse! I don't know if I can wait another week!

Yup, patience is something I need to work on....

Oh, and the doctor figures a weight in the high 7's.

Happy Long Weekend!

I am starting my long weekend a day early. No good reason, just because I want to!

Have a wonderful, restful long weekend!

(why yes, this is a pointless post, but I realized that if I am not where I should be people think I am at the hospital, and if I don't answer the phone people think I am at the hospital....I just did not want you to gleefully think baby was here and not play in the pool!)

Miss Pear is Overjoyed!

Her buddy is here, and she is so happy to have her grandma to play with! I can hear them reading books very happily and discussing every detail as only a 3 year old and her grandma can!

It is so sweet.

And she even managed to nap for an hour this afternoon - I was not expecting that so was very happy!

It is to laugh...

...sometimes as a mom we are privileged to hear the sweetest and funniest things. Sure there are days where it seems like all we do is provide correction, but if we are diligent in teaching our children it seems like these days are rare.

Today was so funny. And it was just what I needed.

I told Miss Pear we were going to do dishes after nap time, and you would think with the delight in her voice that I had promised ice cream. She was thrilled. When I started without her she was most irate and informed me that it was not possible for me to do that big job without her. While helping she pretended to make me a cake, a yummy drink, and cookies. Such a sweetie.

At three and three months she has little jobs around the house that are always hers, such as picking up her toys, etc, but also tasks that bless our family. One of her jobs is filling the toilet paper holders. This afternoon I asked her to do that as it was needed and she very happily did this, counting as she went. The funny part was that I did not think about the package of toilet paper I gave her - it held 6 rolls, our holder only holds 4. Not to be deterred, she carefully stacked the two extra on top! Hey, she had a job to do and she was going to do it!

She was a very big help today, both practically and with laughter. I love being a mom, and I love that I am home each day to enjoy these special times.

36 week update

In many views we are officially considered full term (although some say another few days would be needed to get us there) and might I say that I certainly feel full term? Just roll me along! But it is so great! We are praying that nothing begins before Wednesday as that is when our help arrives, and we would be officially full term by all standards at 37 weeks! (I really want my MIL here before anything happens so that I can be confident that Miss Pear is well cared for and thinks she is on an adventure with her buddy! It will be a great comfort to me while we are in the hospital!)

At our doctor's appointment on Friday we had an ultrasound, and the tech complimented baby on her beautiful spine! I love hearing those things! Confirmed again that yes, it is decidedly a girl! And everything looks good. The weight estimate is currently 6lb and 6oz, and of course that is always high, so I am guessing closer to 6lbs. The doctor confirms that we are indeed boring and there is nothing to talk about! What more could you ask for! And no, she did not say it like that, that is just the way we are saying it! I was concerned because at each of the last two appointments I have lost a pound, and I was worried about that, but was assured that it was fine. (I am so big, and it is so hot that either one would make it hard to eat, and baby is so healthy).

Although I believe that on Wednesday I will open up a fun baby pool that will ask the question of if baby will make it to September 10 (if not, what day will she arrive - note that I am waiting for Wednesday to start this!), and weight and length. This is just for fun - and is solely to amuse me... (and it is fun because everything is going so well!)

So basically, we have no news.

Although Jen will have news today, maybe not posted today, but news nonetheless. Please pray for her and her sweet boy who will be born today, early, via C-section. Please particularly pray for her son's lung development and the abdominal area, her full speedy recovery and that the Lord would be glorified throughout.

Theology according to Miss Pear, Part 3

So we were reading in Psalms more this week, and got to either 17 or 18, and were reading about God being our Rock. And Miss Pear loves to play with rocks.

Looking very concerned about this she looked at me and said, "God is not our rock, He is our Jesus!"

Afterall, she has seen Daddy break rocks into smaller ones for her, so that is not very sturdy and strong, plus she has seen the construction at the school nearby breaking up concrete, that looks like rocks, so that is not as strong either, but she knows what is!

Cherry Tomato Overload

Remember when I said that the tomatoes were producing and that I had accidentally double fertilized them? Well, we are at risk of being overwhelmed with cherry tomatoes - such a hardship! :-)

We are eating them and enjoying them heartily! But for Frugal Friday this week I wanted to share with you a very inexpensive pasta sauce recipe that is only good this time of year and only with fresh off the vine cherry tomatoes (we are enjoying the sweet baby girl variety!)

Pasta Fasta

2 cups of fresh cherry tomatoes washed, dried, and halved (quartered if they are big)
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp dried basil (adjust to your liking, and substitute fresh if your garden is giving you that)
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I usually just do this at the table as the tomatoes have not needed the salt and pepper is iffy for Miss Pear)

Mix the above ingredients together in the morning, cover, and let marinade on the counter all day, stirring occasionally.

At supper time cook enough pasta for 2-4 according to package directions, drain, return to pot, and toss with marinaded tomatoes (scraping bowl for all that yumminess). Toss well and serve warm.

If you want you could add shredded mozzarella cheese, but we never do and don't miss it!

We figure that last night's supper for three, which will also be enough for tonight's supper as I apparently had a heavy pasta hand, cost all of about $1, total.

Knit Knit Knit....

After updating you on the garden progress, I thought that you might want to know how the afghan for baby is going?

As of yesterday afternoon I had finished 23 inches of it. I am thinking that it has to be almost 40 inches. So with 19 days left, if I knit an inch a day....

It is really turning out beautifully, and I am very pleased with it. It is nice to see it long enough to actually keep a baby covered at this point! It gives me great hope that it will be done in time.