Yes, Jabberwocky is still in utero. Today I tried reflexology on my feet, massaging the pressure points that the Internet told me are supposed to induce labor. My eagerness is immense, but I am not forgetting to also be grateful for the peaceful time I've been having pre-baby.
Several times every day I experience a distinct wave of emotion that lasts for a minute or two and then subsides. I'll be sitting calmly, and suddenly it feels like someone has poured liquid on my head and it flows down my body and sinks in through my skin and gets absorbed and turns to nothing. The emotion is a painfully sweet nostalgic feeling, like joy and sorrow at the same time. This has only been going on for the past three days. I'd think it's related to whatever hormonal changes I'm undergoing in preparation for labor.
Well. I just made several trips to and from the basement to set up my station in front of the TV. I have my plate of food, my mug of tea, my cup of water, and my computer. Then I spent 10 minutes flipping through the channels trying to find green-and-gold uniforms. Then my husband informed me that the game is on ESPN, which we don't get. If I want to follow the Packers tonight, I have to turn on the radio. Which is upstairs.
If my final trip back upstairs brings on contractions, I'll be much obliged to ESPN.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
One Day Overdue
I woke up this morning and joined my husband in the sunroom. He told me he had been thinking of plans for today, and he thought we should go to the new bookstore in town and also rent Captain America. I love being married to him.
He also suggested that we play Carcassonne, which we did, and grill steaks for dinner. The steak-grilling part is happening right now (quick Anders! Before we lose the light!). So it's been a fun day.
We played ping pong to try to induce labor. I'm convinced ping pong is the perfect activity for this. It is not strenuous, but it involves the perfect amount of lunging and stooping for balls to jiggle Jabberwocky down the cervix. Ping pong daily from now until her birth! Which I hope means we will not be playing ping pong very much!
She's still moving pretty frequently. I keep thinking how she doesn't know that she will soon be making her exit from the womb. I wonder if she's annoyed at how crowded she's getting.
He also suggested that we play Carcassonne, which we did, and grill steaks for dinner. The steak-grilling part is happening right now (quick Anders! Before we lose the light!). So it's been a fun day.
We played ping pong to try to induce labor. I'm convinced ping pong is the perfect activity for this. It is not strenuous, but it involves the perfect amount of lunging and stooping for balls to jiggle Jabberwocky down the cervix. Ping pong daily from now until her birth! Which I hope means we will not be playing ping pong very much!
She's still moving pretty frequently. I keep thinking how she doesn't know that she will soon be making her exit from the womb. I wonder if she's annoyed at how crowded she's getting.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Happy Veterans Day
No baby yet. Unless she is born in the next 3 hours or so, it looks like she is going to miss her super cool 11-11-11 due date. My two days of maternity leave so far have consisted of laundry, vacuuming, dusting, taking naps, taking walks, and making this:
Which was a really great way to keep myself totally absorbed and distracted. So I guess tomorrow I'll have to bake something else.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Waiting for the Zap
I think it's good for me to go through this period of knowing that at any second, God is going to zap my life and change it forever. Zap! I'll be in labor! Zap! I'll have a daughter to take care of! I can't control when it happens, certainly can't stop it from happening, and beyond a certain point I can't even really prepare for it. Anders and I are trying to keep in a state of readiness, at least as far as cleaning the dishes after every use and keeping gas in the tank. But priming emotionally or gaining the correct amount of knowledge beforehand is simply hopeless. I can't wrap my mind around this. I'm excited, and I'm glad Jabberwocky's coming whether I'm ready or not ... because how could I ever actually be ready? Really ready?
It's a reminder that even apart from Jabberwocky, even after she's born, God can zap my life at any moment and change it forever. You know? I spend all my extra time these days wondering what else needs to be done before Jabberwocky comes. What if my water broke at this moment - could I drop what I'm doing and turn to the all-important task of getting her into this world safely? And while I'm thinking that, another thought keeps creeping up. What if Jesus were to come back at this moment? Or some other completely life-altering event were to take place? I'm not in control. God is. Am I ready for whatever He's going to do? Have I arranged my life to make room for Him to come in and shake things up if He wants? Is my heart open to Him? Do I trust Him completely?
Waiting for Jabberwocky to be born does teach me that life is in God's hands. (Cuz if it were up to me ... I'd have her born by now.)
It's a reminder that even apart from Jabberwocky, even after she's born, God can zap my life at any moment and change it forever. You know? I spend all my extra time these days wondering what else needs to be done before Jabberwocky comes. What if my water broke at this moment - could I drop what I'm doing and turn to the all-important task of getting her into this world safely? And while I'm thinking that, another thought keeps creeping up. What if Jesus were to come back at this moment? Or some other completely life-altering event were to take place? I'm not in control. God is. Am I ready for whatever He's going to do? Have I arranged my life to make room for Him to come in and shake things up if He wants? Is my heart open to Him? Do I trust Him completely?
Waiting for Jabberwocky to be born does teach me that life is in God's hands. (Cuz if it were up to me ... I'd have her born by now.)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Best Baking Day of the Year
We held Lebkuchen Day early this year. Remember those German spice cookies I was talking about? In my household growing up, my dad kind of made them a big deal. There are people who get really psyched when their football team does well; and people who are Disneyland fanatics and go every year; and in this part of the country, there are lots of people who get all goosebumpy for hunting season (the deer opener is like a major holiday). Well, my dad's annual mark-your-calendars, tell-your-friends, get-ready-to-parTAY event is Lebkuchen Day. Like the football fans and the Disney geeks and the hunters, Dad has specific tools and paraphernalia for the occasion: a marble rolling pin, a butcher-block table for rolling and cutting, and "sanctified" cookie sheets, which are (seriously) only used once a year: for Lebkuchen.
Officially, Lebkuchen Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Since he and Mom crank out around 400 cookies, it's pretty much an all-day affair. It has its own music to go along with it, too: "Mary's Boy Child" by Boney M is always the kick-off theme.
The week before Lebkuchen Day is Batterday Saturday, the day on which the dough is made. Hours are spent cutting dates (a sticky business) and chopping walnuts. One batch produces a bowling-ball-sized lump of dense, heavy, dark-colored dough, smelling of molasses and holiday spices.
To be honest, I barely even liked Lebkuchen when I was a kid. There is a verse in the Bible that says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it." There should also be one that says "Raise a kid on Lebkuchen, and when he grows up he'll love them." Because I love them now, so much that I can't imagine a holiday season without them. They are the flavor of Christmas for me.
So, since Jabberwocky is due the day before Batterday Saturday, Anders and I did our Lebkuchen baking early. His parents came down, and I put them to work for the final stage of the process: glazing. I don't know how much fun they had, but let me tell you, they were both fantastic. I got such a kick out of watching their concentration.
Here are pics.
My parents will also do Lebkuchen early this year to accommodate their trip to Wisconsin to see Jabberwocky. So it looks like my sister's household will be the only one to stick to the official baking schedule!
Officially, Lebkuchen Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Since he and Mom crank out around 400 cookies, it's pretty much an all-day affair. It has its own music to go along with it, too: "Mary's Boy Child" by Boney M is always the kick-off theme.
The week before Lebkuchen Day is Batterday Saturday, the day on which the dough is made. Hours are spent cutting dates (a sticky business) and chopping walnuts. One batch produces a bowling-ball-sized lump of dense, heavy, dark-colored dough, smelling of molasses and holiday spices.
To be honest, I barely even liked Lebkuchen when I was a kid. There is a verse in the Bible that says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it." There should also be one that says "Raise a kid on Lebkuchen, and when he grows up he'll love them." Because I love them now, so much that I can't imagine a holiday season without them. They are the flavor of Christmas for me.
So, since Jabberwocky is due the day before Batterday Saturday, Anders and I did our Lebkuchen baking early. His parents came down, and I put them to work for the final stage of the process: glazing. I don't know how much fun they had, but let me tell you, they were both fantastic. I got such a kick out of watching their concentration.
Here are pics.
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| My mother-in-law treating the Lebkuchen with the care and respect they deserve. |
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| This is one batch, around 100 cookies. We usually make two batches but cut down this year. Dad makes four batches. |
My parents will also do Lebkuchen early this year to accommodate their trip to Wisconsin to see Jabberwocky. So it looks like my sister's household will be the only one to stick to the official baking schedule!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
2:45 - 4:00 a.m.
At 2:45 a.m. I woke up to go to the bathroom and then didn't feel sleepy. The doctor's office gave me a sheet called "baby's report card" and told me to monitor Jabberwocky's movements with it, by lying on my side and counting kicks. They don't want her to move less than ten times in two hours. So while awake in bed last night, I told Jabberwocky I needed her to move five times in the next hour. She moved five times in seven minutes. So then I stopped bothering to count, but still couldn't sleep, so I just lay my hand on my belly and enjoyed feeling her, my wonderful little Jabberwocky, doing whatever she's doing in there. And I talked to God too. It was a sweet time ...
An hour later I was tired of being awake. And my hips were killing me. And then she got the hiccups. And then I had to go to the bathroom again ...
After that we went through a ten-minute period where she literally moved constantly. When she finally paused, I said, "Okay, we'll count that as one ..."
An hour later I was tired of being awake. And my hips were killing me. And then she got the hiccups. And then I had to go to the bathroom again ...
After that we went through a ten-minute period where she literally moved constantly. When she finally paused, I said, "Okay, we'll count that as one ..."
Full-term!
As of two days ago, I'm considered full-term! 37 weeks! Baby can come whenever she wants now! I can cross off "pre-term labor" from the list of things to worry about!
It's time to admit that I'm tired of being pregnant. 1.) Tired of the difficulty of getting into the driver's seat of my Corolla. I open the car door, take a breath, and then just sort of pitch myself sideways and downwards and hope I land safely. 2.) Tired of dropping my car keys all the time (clumsiness comes with pregnancy, but know what should come instead? Exceptional dexterity and super fast reflexes. That'd be way more helpful). I drop my car keys maybe once in three times that I pull them from my purse. When this happens I stand there for a few seconds and stare at them deflatedly before stooping to retrieve them. 3.) Tired of stooping in general. When I get to work in the mornings the newspaper is sitting outside the front door. I've started kicking it inside, then kicking it up the couple stairs in the entryway, then maneuvering it halfway up the counter with my foot until it's an easier reach. 4.) I grunt and groan like I'm already in labor - just to put on socks. 5.) Especially, emphatically tired of the time between going to bed and getting up - those hours which used to pass by all in one solid block of undisturbed unconsciousness, and which are now filled with so many aches and pains and trips to the bathroom and bouts of insomnia that I might as well trade them in for getting up to nurse a baby.
People have mentioned that the nine months of pregnancy go by fast for everyone else, and stretch on forever for the person who's pregnant. Not true for me - pregnancy flew by! I think this was mostly because I didn't believe I was pregnant until about five months in. I knew I was, but it didn't feel real. I thought the end of pregnancy might sneak up and catch me off guard.
Well, time has slowed down. My hospital bag is packed. From here on it'll be less scrambling to get ready, and more just - waiting!
It's time to admit that I'm tired of being pregnant. 1.) Tired of the difficulty of getting into the driver's seat of my Corolla. I open the car door, take a breath, and then just sort of pitch myself sideways and downwards and hope I land safely. 2.) Tired of dropping my car keys all the time (clumsiness comes with pregnancy, but know what should come instead? Exceptional dexterity and super fast reflexes. That'd be way more helpful). I drop my car keys maybe once in three times that I pull them from my purse. When this happens I stand there for a few seconds and stare at them deflatedly before stooping to retrieve them. 3.) Tired of stooping in general. When I get to work in the mornings the newspaper is sitting outside the front door. I've started kicking it inside, then kicking it up the couple stairs in the entryway, then maneuvering it halfway up the counter with my foot until it's an easier reach. 4.) I grunt and groan like I'm already in labor - just to put on socks. 5.) Especially, emphatically tired of the time between going to bed and getting up - those hours which used to pass by all in one solid block of undisturbed unconsciousness, and which are now filled with so many aches and pains and trips to the bathroom and bouts of insomnia that I might as well trade them in for getting up to nurse a baby.
People have mentioned that the nine months of pregnancy go by fast for everyone else, and stretch on forever for the person who's pregnant. Not true for me - pregnancy flew by! I think this was mostly because I didn't believe I was pregnant until about five months in. I knew I was, but it didn't feel real. I thought the end of pregnancy might sneak up and catch me off guard.
Well, time has slowed down. My hospital bag is packed. From here on it'll be less scrambling to get ready, and more just - waiting!
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