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March 8, 2004
It’s March?? As in the month before April?? (3-8-04)
It’s March already? When did that happen? And how can I already be 33 weeks pregnant? I was reading a pregnancy daily calendar yesterday and it said I have 48 days until my due date. 48 days!?! Gulp!
The last few weeks have flown by. Derek was laid off for a total of 5 weeks but I am happy to report that he started a new job today. The company he is working for is supposed to be a very good one and they are working on a huge project at the nearby army base, so we have high hopes for a long and prosperous period of employment. :)
We spent nearly every free moment of his lay-off trying to get projects done around the house. It’s been tiring but productive. The kitchen was the main focus and it is nearly done! A few things still need to be finished, such as adding trim on top of the wainscoting, installing baseboards, and painting the bottom row of cabinets, but enough is done that the change is very noticeable. I can’t believe what a huge difference we’ve made with only paint and $100 worth of wainscoting and trim. I actually like my kitchen now! I hope to add a page to our website showing before and after pictures, or at least the before and in-progress pictures for now. I’ll post on my TTM board when they’re up.
Of course, there are still a million projects left… I told you last time how long my “to do before the baby comes” list was, right? LOL. There are little things in nearly every room of the house but I’ll spare you the minute details. :) The main things that remain are cleaning out the baby’s room, gathering and buying homebirth and baby supplies, painting the bathroom, adding some new curtains and shelves to Aden’s room, possibly finishing the guest room in our basement (I’m not holding my breath on that one, though!), and hopefully getting a few new electrical outlets installed in our room and the baby’s room. So if I disappear for a few days or weeks, you can assume I’m working on one of those things!
We went to get our taxes done last weekend. Isn’t that just so much fun? It really bugs me that I am an educated, intelligent person yet the tax forms still read like mysterious, unknown gibberish to me. Things were really complicated this year because of Derek working in Omaha and all of the expenses we had from that. We had to fill out 5 different federal forms this year plus returns in 2 states, egads! Luckily my grandpa works at H&R Block and we’re able to get our taxes done for free, but it’s still nerve wracking. We honestly had no idea how things would turn out and I was so nervous that we would owe some huge sum of money and have no way to pay it. But everything turned out great and we are actually getting a large portion of our federal taxes back. Phew! We should have gotten them done weeks ago!
Now, on to the real reasons for this diary… Aden and the baby! I’m sure you don’t all log on just to hear about my house and my taxes, right? :)
Aden is great. Well, okay, he’s been cutting his last 3 two-year molars, acting cranky as all get-out, waking up between 6 and 6:30 in the morning, and having major listening issues, but other than that he’s great! He loves to sing silly songs of his own creation and then at the end he asks, “That a good song, Mama?” They really are funny to listen to—earlier this week he sang a really long one about a chicken falling off a wall and all of the ensuing adventures. It didn’t always make sense, but it cracked me up nonetheless.
We’ve also been playing games to teach him his last name and our names, in case he would ever get lost and need to tell someone. So far he can tell you that his name is Aden S**** and dad is Derek S****, but I don’t have a name, I’m only Mama S****! LOL.
He loves to color and when he draws something he tells us exactly what it is. I can rarely figure it out on my own, but his explanations make sense and his drawings are definitely becoming more representational. For instance, one picture had a circle for his head and then another one a bit lower for his diaper. Another had a big scribble that was the dog and a little scribble sticking out to one side for the dog’s tail. I’ve been saving and dating a lot of his artwork because the changes are so amazing right now.
Physically he’s changing a lot too. He’s grown over an inch and gained 2 pounds in the last few months, bringing him up to 35 ¼” and 29 pounds. He’s always been good at motor skills but I watched Derek and him play soccer at the park last weekend and noticed that Aden’s coordination is really developing. He used to run up to the ball, stop, and kick it, but now he can kick while running and he is starting to aim the ball towards specific targets too. My two brothers play soccer and each started with simple Parks & Rec teams at around age 3, so I think I’ll look into that later this year. Is he really old enough to start in group sports? I can’t believe it. He looks and acts so big and grown-up and I know that will only become more pronounced once the baby arrives. Wow.
And speaking of the baby, she is growing great! I was 33 weeks on Sunday and apparently I have finally entered the world of “noticeably pregnant, okay to comment on in public” women. The man at the grocery store checkout, the clerk at the gas station, the salesperson at the furniture store… everyone is asking me about when the baby’s due. My friends have also commented how suddenly my belly has seemed to pop out. I’m beginning to run into things with my belly—unfortunately last week it was the hot stove, and now I have a burn on the underside of my belly. Of course, I can’t see it, but it hurt like the dickens and Derek tells me it’s there. And alas, those old comfy t-shirts are *almost* too tight.
The baby had the hiccups for the first time at 31 weeks and she’s had them fairly often every since. My Braxton-Hicks contractions are steadily increasing in frequency—anything and everything seems to trigger them. I find them so interesting! The pelvic separation pain is mainly only bothering me first thing in the morning right now, although it’s gotten worse again the last few days. The baby is still in the same lovely head-down position that she’s been in since 20 weeks but her head has been floating less the last few days, so that would probably explain the increased pelvic pain. I’m still struggling quite a bit with heartburn, not just at bedtime but other times as well, so I’d appreciate any suggestions anyone has about that! Right now I take Gaviscon whenever it flares up but I’d love some more natural remedies.
I see my doctor this week and plan for this to be my last visit. I see my midwife again in less than 3 weeks, and then the week after that she and my doula will come to my house so we can talk about all of my birth plans/thoughts/expectations.
My crocuses are up and I can see tulips, daffodils, and lilies poking through the earth as well… I told Aden the baby would be here in the spring when the weather was warm and the flowers were blooming, and that time is definitely approaching! I’ll try to update more frequently as I near the end. I hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of spring weather, and congrats to Jen H. and Amy F. on their new babies!
Tara
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