Mom has gone, and it's just me and the kid. Or, the Mom and the Kid.

Man, I don't really feel like a Mom yet. More like the Great Milk-Provider.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Well, I know I'm feeling better-- because I'm bored. Three weeks on Sunday, meaning next week... next week I hope to be a bit more active than I've been.

In an effort to talk about something besides our darling daughter (who is hanging peacefully in her sling as I write this), there's been a whole lot of presidential debates going on in this house. I'm of the opinion that whomever does get elected will be so darn tired from the drawn-out campaigning that they'll collapse of exhaustion or have a heart attack right off the bat. You think we could condense this whole process...it's not like they have a lot to say.

So there! A non-baby thought!

In baby news... she really is very cute. We had a big day Wednesday, with a 2-week appt with the midwives in Memphis and her first visit to her pediatrician in Oxford. She handled both well, thought 1. it sucks watching your baby get a needle poked in their heel and 2. it sucks to watch her cry in her car seat b/c she's hungry, and not be able to feed her because you're late and it's illegal to take her out in the car.

Health-wise though, she's a strong lusty little thing, despite her fine looks...she's over 8 lbs now, which is more impressive when you realize that (like most babies) she lost weight after being born. 14 ounces in 9 days; I'm very proud of my milk.

K.'s still the husband of the year-- such a good-natured man I married, even at five in the morning!

Check it out:

Good Lord, child.

(note time.)

2 weeks in, and we're still here

I drafted a column today. It felt good to do something with my mind; granted, I was writing about the baby, but man alive, I was WRITING, after all.

My start date for my my old jobs is Feb. 1st. It'll be good to get all my balls back in the air, I hope the baby thing gets a bit easier between now and then. Because right now showering, making breakfast, and taking a walk seems like a reasonable list of activities for a full day.

In Annaliese news, we went through a brief spell of discussing how much we could get for her on the baby black market, but then she got cute again, thank Heaven. Nonetheless, it'd be nice to get some sleep at night (and by some, I really do mean some...)

(Regardless of my whining, I'm really very glad that she's been here for 2 whole weeks. I wouldn't go back to two Sundays ago for ANYTHING (right about now was when I was moaning like a dying cow and forcing myself to walk up and down our front porch steps, since "steps are good for getting babies out" and we don't have any INSIDE). )

So happy 2 weeks, kidlet. It'll be neat to see what tricks you pull in the next 14 days.

In the world's greatest role reversal, K. is actually now the one in need of r&r, between caring for me, the dogs, the baby, and starting back at work. hence the lack of posts over at his blog. I'm attempting to take up some of the slack.

We had a fab Sunday (one week! yes!!) and went on our first excursion that was not within spitting distance of the house, so we could listen to our baby girl cry under a bright blue sky.

The dogs were very happy to be somewhere different, as was I-- so much so that we hopped in the car and went a-driving. It's true; cars really do puts babies to sleep. She didn't make a peep.

Oh, and K. shaved his beard....in stages of varying grossness, as he likes to do, by which I mean he emerged from the bathroom sporting this:

But now, thank heaven, he's all cute again:

In Annaliese news, she's doing just fine. She's a great baby, though some sense of circadian rhythm would be much appreciated.... Because we are us, we still mock the baby though:

saturday

every day gets better. we ventured across the way on saturday. super-fun. my first time out since the 6th!





ain't she gorgeous? apparently new babies should spend a lot of time nekiid, but i love stuffing her into her "outside" outfits...

the two faces of annaliese

of course, we think she's darling, even when she's crying...

so.

I had a baby. What have you been doing?

I now know that the smell of milk and baby is heartwrenchingly lovely. That living in the present is the only way to get through this; right now, I can type and reach my juice. Yesterday, I shaved my legs. This afternoon, I ate some gingerbread. These are the small good things that mark my hours, since I am not going to be my old self, bounding around the house unencumbered, ever again, and nor am I yet the sling-wearing mama I hope to someday be.

But progress is being made...Sunday night, I could not sit up. Monday, I could not walk to the bathroom without help. Tuesday, I took a bath. Wednesday, I gained some breast-feeding confidence after a visit from the midwife. And today? Today I walked around the house for a whole ten minutes while Annaliese slept on her own. We're doing good.

Amazing how accurate the term "labor" is, and that's all we'll say about that.

Funny thing:

I am sweating up a STORM. Apparently, it's one of the ways your body gets rid of all the fluid you retain during pregnancy; consequently, my legs, feet, arms, face, etc-- so much thinner than they've been. I hadn't realized.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alexe.pvb/AnnalieseUpdated

for a few pics and video.

so many blessings

Our freezer is full of grass-fed beef and gourmet frozen meals. Roses sit in a vase; "we're sorry you have to wait," said the friends who dropped them off.

The L.P.'s crib has a hand-made crocheted shawl draped around it; next to the bookshelf is a basket full of hand-knit booties, a pair for every day of the week in every color of the rainbow. She has two handmade sweaters, a handmade quilt on its way, and onesie after onesie. She has dresses made by a great-great-grandmother, carefully passed down; a box full of clothes she won't be able to wear for months yet...and so much more.

We've received a child care manual, recommended by a mother of four; a pampering home-care pregnant mama book, an organic baby book, a DVD on communicating with infants. We have boxes of chocolates waiting until after the baby comes, a pot of very rich skin cream, lavender soap, fancy talcum powder, diaper rash cream. We've gotten card after card, call after call, email after email; "I can get you groceries," one friend said. Another recommended a pediatrician and told me not to hesitate to call at two in the morning if I ran into problems.

People tell me they dreamt about us. "She was beautiful," they say, and all I can do is nod and hope that it will be so.

We've gotten support from our families, excitement from the friends that don't have children, wisdom from those who do. Our neighbors, in this small town we've been in for just a year, are beyond kind.

So many good thoughts for one little baby, when babies are born all the time all over the world. I wish that every mama-to-be could have some of the love that surrounds me on all sides.

(yep. K.'s building, inside second floor. Isn't the brick beautiful?)

Who knew?

80% of first-time mothers deliver between 40-42 weeks (Due dates clock in at 40 weeks sharp). 10% go BEYOND 42 weeks.
10% don't make it to the due date.

40 weeks, 5 days, and still waiting.

The last day of the year

And still no Petunia. K.'s been remarkably gracious about watching his cherished dream of a tax deduction fade away; I've been less so. Man, am I bad at waiting.

The only things to keep me sane are walking and work. And so yesterday we drove out to Enid Lake, trekked across lake bed with some very dirty dogs for nearly two hours; we came home and I ended up turning over the garden. That's right, shoveling at 40+ weeks pregnant while K. cleaned the truck and the car.

The upside of all this is that we're doing projects we might never have had time for.

Exhibit A, our new (from K's building) kitchen door, which revolutionizes our kitchen experience with its large pane of glass:



And the new curtains in the guest room (we've got them in our room too), which lets light in and keeps prying eyes out:

The first box cushion for the soon-to-be-slipcovered old blue couch:



And a very snoozy husband, who has slept late every day and shows no signs of tiring of the luxury:

in which I am overly competitive with my unborn child

So, they tell you that it's common to run 8-10 days over. Or, Heaven forbid, as much as three weeks.

But no, I didn't think it was going to happen to me. Not me. I like to arrive on time; they gave me a due date of December 28th, darn it all, and I have full intentions of sticking to it. I LIKE my due date: it's got an 8 in it, falls right between Christmas and New Year's, and nets that all-important tax deduction.

However, seeing as it's past seven and I've nary a contraction, no water has broken, and I spent the day making curtains, cleaning house, walking dogs, and generally feeling pretty much FINE,
apparently this child of mine has other ideas.

I'm now making plans for the coming week out of self-defense. Because the thought of sitting around the house waiting to go into labor is no longer as deliciously sweet after a full week of vacation. NPR's back on, K's down at the building, and I've got big plans for novel revisions tomorrow. Because my life is FULL, baby girl; stand me up all you like and see if I care.

Twas the day before Due Date

No L.P. yet. Despite the fact that I am now officially "ready." So, I am NOT thinking about it, since I will exhaust myself if given any mental freedom. K. will handle all phone calls. Do not call and ask me if I'm excited, how I'm doing, etc... I am doing my best to forget the fact that I could be having a baby any MINUTE and yet I am not.


Being on vacation at home with K. is LOVELY. We've watched three old Cary Grant movies and taken a bunch of long walks during the daylight-- when do I ever get to see my husband in the afternoon?!?!.


We think these are cypresses, as spotted in the nature preserve where we tromped for a good few miles on Monday, but we're not sure. But they sure are pretty.



As well as walking, K. has cooked and cooked and cooked. The beef French stew was fab; the homemade cake doughnuts (my mom gave him an antique doughnut puncher for Christmas) are delicious:



But the true Christmas miracle is the cauliflower casserole he made with these:



I went out to cut off the last of the broccoli and lo and behold, I found white gold. We'd given up on the cauliflower plants, so it truly is a miracle-- and on Christmas itself!


Today, we head up to Memphis to see the midwives. We're also going to stock up on library books, hormone-free meat, and organic milk; then we'll be here.

Not waiting, not waiting at all.

*Addendum: the pills in the background are for Shadow; the vino for the beef stew. Just in case you were secretly judging me.

Hold Yer Horses

Baby Protocol:

K. has a call and email list. So you will ALL know after she gets here. Mkay?

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm off to take a nap.

More belly pics (taken on Thursday, one day shy of 39 weeks):

The geese are getting fat

The midwives are coming for a house visit today. It's kind of fun to say that; the midwives are coming, the midwives are coming!

We have a holiday party tonight, K's last day of work for a bit is tomorrow, and I decided we're having savory beef bourginoun or however you spell that for Christmas day. The dogs are sulking, because I can't make it stop raining and they don't LIKE the rain, why would I punish them so?

In my last stock-up at the library, I checked out "PLENTY" a book by these crazy Canadians who spent a year eating food from within a 100-mi radius of their home. The guy was talking about why he felt compelled to take on this experiment. Unlike a lot of treehuggers, he says that he didn't think it mattered in the scheme of things; that his reduction of fossil fuels, etc., doesn't make an overall difference-- and so then, why do it?

The answer he had came from another person: how, then, shall I live?

That resonated with me. It's the answer as to why I am having this baby at home, as to why we pay off our credit card every month, as to why I try to clean the baseboards every six months or so and iron the pretty pillowcases with lavender water. I only get one life, as far as I can tell-- and how shall I live?

This is one of the Christmas photos we didn't use, mostly because of K's expression, but it tickles me nonetheless:

you know most first-timers run 8-10 days over their due date, right?

Alright, I take back the acid reflux thing. Yeck.

I got my first panicked "are you in labor?" call from my mother this morning.

"No, I'm running to the Post Office," I said.

Pause. "Well that's anti-climatic."

And so it begins.

Christmas, Baby

Well, K. stole my post thunder. Seeing as our visitors were his siblings and he was long overdue for a post anyhow, I direct you to his blog.
----
I've been waiting for the baby to drop for weeks now. Since my big fear about all this is not that I won't be able to make it through labor, but rather that I will never EVER go into labor and will remain pregnant until they hook me up to an IV and jumpstart the baby-expelling thing with the aid of Pitocin, a drug I've heard too many bad things about, the fact that I have not woken and found a feeling of "lightness in the chest and bowling ball in the pelvis" has been alarming.

Nonetheless, the baby apparently dropped. I just didn't notice. My Literary Club ladies did; "you're lower," they all said when I saw them on Friday. And then someone asked how my acid reflux was doing; "much better," I said, and she nodded knowingly. When the baby drops, your stomach gets a little breathing room and the reflux chills out.

On the other hand, the bladder gets even LESS room. And that's definitely been the case. So, add all these things together, and I'm forced to conclude that my baby DROPPED and I missed it. I always expect these things to be more dramatic then they actually are.
____

My focus for the coming weeks is getting reduced to Christmas and baby. I turned in my last batch of proofing last week, and I'll write my last weekly article tomorrow; the novel's going to sit for awhile sans daily requirements. It's a definite perk of being self-employed/not making much money: flexibility! I'll be back doing my regular stuff mid-late-January, but for now, I get to putter around the house, take long walks, do the list of things my midwives have told me (raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, perineal "massage" (don't ask), squats, and Kegel after Kegel after Kegel. Not to mention eating well, taking walks, and regular napping. I can think of worse things :) )

K's going on vacay next Friday, so hopefully we'll have some time to catch up, hang out, and dream before the little princess gets here.

I know this child is going to hate being born around the holidays, but for us-- it's been really sweet and nice, what with the general air of festivity and the get-everything-done-before-the-24th mentality.

I imagine I'll be posting a lot these coming days. Prepare for rambling. And Christmas!

the weather outside is frightful

But on the other hand, beer became legal to possess and drink in our county last night in a special election.

Friends of ours fought very hard to get this issue put to vote, and it's so good to see something change for the better here. Why the better? Well, the county was already wet (liquor and wine was legal), enforcement was discriminate and unfair, and dollars were going into other county's coffers. So we're very, very glad-- and maybe our building will benefit! (As in-- a steakhouse will want to rent the first floor.)
_____

The Coughlin siblings are competing in board games. I went to sleep last night to the sound of their trash-talking. Not sure who won :)
____

Lastly, a view of the food K. and I made for our solo Thanksgiving:

sans the 5 pies.