53!?!

Today marks a lot of mile stones, in terms of pregnancy, for me. I am officially 53" from stem to stern and back again, Shiloh is about 7 lbs now, and I'm 27 days from my due date. She's my biggest and longest pregnancy yet. I hoping that she'll come this week. It's getting very difficult to move. I could hardly walk yesterday due to how low she was sitting. Oh, I forgot to tell you! The other day I actually had Braxton Hicks contractions. In the past, contractions were full blown labor but this time it's not, even though I wish it were.

My legs are beginning to show signs of my plumpiness. Big bruises from tripping over things or falling in the tub are frequently in fashion down there. I can't see things on the ground in front of me. I think that I'm walking around them when I'm walking right into them. The kids are the worst for blindsiding me! They like to be almost attached to me. Jenna is just barely tall enough that I can see her over the expanse of belly, but she likes to walk in front and quickly stop to turn a round and give me a hug, which as you might guess, poses some challenges when getting from point A to point B. Ashton is one slick cookie. He likes to cut right in front of me and nearly cause me to topple over him every time.

All topic of conversation has become all about everything that we're going to do when the baby "pops out of mommy's tummy". (They've got the belly button pagged as the point of exit.) They are especially looking forward to going to visit grandparents when the baby's out of mommy's tummy. I've resigned myself to the idea that I'm going to have to work for this one. The other two came out so easily that I enjoyed labor more than I did the pregnancy. But, with this one, I'm leary that she's going to take some pushing on my part to come out. (With the other two I pushed once and twice respectively.) But, maybe not since two weeks ago I had already started to dialate. I'm becoming awkwardly front heavy and I feel very much like a turtle that's been turned over on it's shell when ever I lie down. So, when thinking of me today, PRAY HARD that I have this baby...SOON (today would be a good day *wink*wink*).

Dreaming

When you're pregnant you get some pretty intense and very strange dreams. My dreams last night were strange, but in a good way. March 4 of last year, my grandma past away. But, last night she was living in my dreams. I dreamed I had the baby and when I went to the nursery to see her, but it turned out to be a boy and there was my grandma just loving every moment of holding him. It's comforting in a way to have that vision in my head. Grandma was too sick to visit when I had the other two and I was too poor to take them to see her. But, having the thought of her holding my baby somehow makes the pain I've been having seem more tolerable, like maybe on the other side of the veil she's giving Shiloh one last hug and kiss before sending her to me…

Breastfed: The Best Fed

I am a huge proponent for breastfeeding. I was able to give that gift to both my active, healthy kids; Ashton for 17 months and Jenna for 14 months. I came naturally and easily for me. It's a bonus that it helps to reduce my risk of breast cancer in the future, too! And, hey, why else would God put them on women's bodies if it wasn't to be used to further ensure that the generations to come would thrive right out of the gate? It is not for sex appeal as the media would have you believe, that I firmly believe. So, given my stance, I was most definitely planning on doing it again for Shiloh. When I had Jenna I weighted 50 lbs more than I do now and all of the nursing ware that I saved is now not an option, at least not an easy option. Okay, so I packed my hospital bags the other day… (We're down to five more weeks until the due date and I've never gone more than 36 weeks in a pregnancy) and I realized that I'm going to need some nursing bras and some shirts would be helpful too. I had Randall take me to Motherhood Maternity after my doctor's appointment on Wed. to get a few things. Two bras and three shirts later, I had dropped $100.00. I was reeling! The whole was home I kept thinking there had to be a cheaper way. I can sew something, I thought. I came home and googled. I found the best blog. Rostitchery. She has tutorials on how to convert regular patterns into nursing ones. Folks, this got my juices flowing! I couldn't sleep for all the ideas I had floating in my head that night. I printed out a several pages of info from her blog and the next morning I set to work making my own patterns for nursing tops. I cut out one shirt in some jersey fabric I had and then realized, I can't get to my sewing desk. I the midst of preparing for Shiloh to come, I had to reorganize my bed/craft/office room in order to fit the crib in there. Everything that still needs to find a home is in the middle of the room and all over my sewing table and desk. So, I've merely been thwarted, not defeated in my quest to maintain a somewhat fashionable and current modest look while I nourish my baby in the coming year.