Still Pregnant

So I'm either 40w4d pregnant or 41 weeks pregnant and the natives are restless. I'm actually okay with it, surprisingly. No one else is. Everyday, I'm inundated with texts, phone calls, and wall posts asking when I'm going to have the baby. The answer is, I don't know.

Due dates are not an exact science; they are an educated guess.  Just like baby weights (we all have that friend who was told her baby was 9 pounds and it turned out to be 7), it's impossible to medically predict when a baby will be born.  I think that we are so conditioned to early babies-from preemies to 40 week inductions-that a baby being born after 40 weeks is an anomaly.  Which is nuts because the due date is just the middle date.  My dear friend R went to 42 weeks with her last LO, a posterior little fella we call Pip. She's like me, doing things the old fashioned way. No hospital, no needles, none of that hoopla.


Here are a list of factors I think are keeping my baby in:

• Princess was a 41 w 3 day induction and Squirrel was a 40w induction.  My babies have a 50% rate of going past the due date.
• Popcorn is posterior. It's possible that the little noggin simply isn't putting enough pressure on  my cervix to get things...popping. Pun intended.
• I've not gone into labor with a child under 8 lbs.  Astronaut was 8 lb 2 oz and Side Salad was 9 lb 1 oz. The girls were smaller, 7 lbs 9 oz and 6 lb 13 oz. Maybe my uterus has a weight trigger.
• I had a stomach virus yesterday and I'm not back on solid food yet. Maybe my body is cutting me some slack because I am too weak to have a baby today.
• Easter is coming.  Why not show up on a holiday?
• I have a luxury womb.  Why leave?  Ever.

Anyway, I've still been contracting but not enough to push a baby out.  I'm going to take another nap for now.

Camping

I want to take the kids camping this summer.

It's one of those things I've never done before. I didn't grow up in a family where people went camping and few of my friends ever did it. But it seems like a cool experience. It would give us an opportunity to just spend time together away from the TVs and computers and Kindles and video games.

I think it'd even be cool, baby in tow. I mean we could use prefolds or gDipes to make it easy. Or we could temporarily switch to sposies.

The problem is, I don't know how to plan a trip. How do I know where to go? Should we get a tent or look for places with cabins? What do we need to take? How will we cook?  Can we fish (by we I mean everyone but me)?  I need like a "Camping for Dummies" which I am absolutely certain exists.  Also, I have to somehow get the hubby on board.  The fishing should take care of that.

Have you ever been camping?  Got any advice for me?

Here's who'd be going:

• Me, the mama
• Lettuce, the papa
• Astronaut, 11 year old boy
• Princess, 9 year old girl
• Squirrel, 6 year old girl
• Side Salad, 4 year old boy
• Popcorn, tiny bundle of joy

Help us out-how do we plan our first family camping trip?

Foto Friday

All my honey bunnies <3

Today I am 40 weeks and a day, or 39 weeks and 5 days, depending on which due date you use.

Doesn't really matter now, does it? Either way, I'm full term.   Clearly, this fetus is the only person I know who is immune to the infectiously catchy Wobble.  Perhaps a friend of mine was right in suspecting I am in possession of a luxury womb. He said that between the cheese fries, the home cooked meals and the simple warm comfort, there was no incentive to leave.

Perhaps he's correct.

I think that I shan't worry about trying to jump start labor. Baby will come when it's ready. I haven't had one that failed to leave at some point yet.  It is true that the girls needed a little encouragement but perhaps the baby just isn't ready yet.

In the mean time.....

We're waiting on YOU!

Ready to Pop!

Okay, I'll admit it. I am ready to have this baby.  I am really excited, ever since my new goddaughter was born last Monday.  I won't do anything drastic to get it out but I do a few things. Here are some of the things I've done.

I started contracting yesterday. They actually got pretty strong and I threw up a few times. We thought we might get a little baby action but it didn't work out. I've been contracting all day today, too. They've been as close as every 5 minutes and as far as every 20 minutes.  A few have been painful but most are pretty mild.  So I'm trying to get my uterus on my side in the fetal eviction process.

1. Nookie.  Poor Lettuce, nookie doesn't interest me, especially since my girth has expanded to such epic proportions.  However, I suck it up *no pun intended* and get it on in the name of labor.  As you know, semen has prostoglandins that help the cervix ripen and thin.

Sex. Because I never learn.

2. Walking.  I don't like walking, or at least I didn't until we moved. I usually walk in the midnight hour, literally. I  walk between 12 am and 2 am because that's when the hubby is home from work, it's cool, there's no traffic, and the kids are asleep.  I also took Side Salad to the zoo this week.


3. Herbs. Not the ones that actually induce labor, though. I stick to the red raspberry leaf tea and a pregnancy tea blend. I like the Third Trimester Tea from Earth Mama Angel Baby

but it's had to find so I use the Traditional Medicines brand.

Not only are they delicious, hot tea is very relaxing to me.   

4. Body Positions. My womb contains a posterior baby, which may be why my contractions are either strong or regular but not both.  I do pelvic rocks as well as a modified childs pose.  I also sometimes get on all fours and just shake my hiney. Sounds nutty but it's supposed to help and the hubby finds it amusing.  Spinning Babies has some good stuff.

5. Spicy Food. Mongolian grilled it up with the Side Salad and my brother the other day. I made my eyes water and my uterus contract.  Tonight, I'll be having some habenero wings from Chilis.

6. Emotions. I watch exciting movies, the kinds that make you laugh or cry. I watched Airplane! with the hubby.   I saw the Hunger Games this week. May the odds [of going into labor] be ever in my favor.  As an aside, I never knew gold eyeliner could be so hawt on a guy.  

7.  Dancing. Tonight, I danced. I danced like I'd never danced before. I dropped it low with Esther Dean and C-Breezy.  I got busy with Sean Paul.  I wobbled along with V. I. C. 

WARNING: I didn't know my booty was so close to the screen when I taped it O_o

And now, I contract.  If things aren't shaking and baking by morning, I'm going to have to get a little more drastic.

I'm going to gallop down to the playground and get on a swing.

Stuff Mamas Say...

Kids do the darndest things. Being a mother means I have to give all sorts of instructions I never predicted having to give, especially to Side Salad.

"Sweetie, the cat doesn't want to wear your hat. That's why he keeps scratching you."

Oh and this one came a few days ago:

"Honey, don't feed hair to the cat. He doesn't like it." 

Fun times around here.

Updates! [a long, rambly type post]

It's been a while since I blogged  but I have legitimate reasons:

1. I haven't been blogging because I've been moving!  Yay! We'd been in our apartment for almost 5 years. Now I will be honest, our new home is a bit smaller but it's also cheaper. The kids love their new school.  Their beloved media specialist from their old school is there as are some kids who sometimes attend our

2. I also didn't have internet because we'd just moved.  Now, I've got internet.  Yay for me!

3. I now have a router. I do most of my internet-ing from my room, but the modem is in the living room AKA Kiddie Land.  I got me a router for bout $40 from Best Buy and my house is a wireless zone.

Now I've resolved all these issues :)

Now for the news you were waiting for:

Baby Popcorn is not here yet. 

Today is my original due date. My due date based on the U/S is Sunday. My midwives and I think it might be soon, as early as today or tomorrow, but you never know.

This week, I've done so many fun things. Monday, I went to see the Hunger Games. It was one of the best book-to-movie adaptations EVER!  I loved it. And yes, I did cry when Rue died.  I wasn't the only one.   Tuesday, I took Side Salad to the zoo and out for Chinese. Wednesday, I had my 39 week prenatal visit. I've been walking and drinking my teas. I don't do the castor oil or all that madness so we'll just have to wait it out a bit.  I'll blog more soon.

Baby Sprinkle

Sunday past was my baby sprinkle.

Just a little sprinkle...

See the little sprinkle over my head :) I totally made that, inspired by Pintrest, of course.

We called it a sprinkle because it's not quite a shower. This is baby #5 and we don't need to be showered with gifts, per se.  However, I truly believe that every baby is worth celebrating and I, for one, love a good party. Besides, we had very little baby stuff. We gave away all of Side Salad's gear except for my cloth stash and a pouch sling.

Diapers, Pins, and Booties Galore!
Can you believe that we are having one more!?!
Baby # 5 is on its way,
So we hope you'll join us on this special day.
All the big siblings have plenty to share
This is only a "sprinkle" to show that we care.
Not much is needed, just the basics will do
Like diapers, wipes, odds and ends too.
So we hope to see you there, we hope that you can come
Join in the celebration with family, food, and some fun!

This is my fourth shower. I had one for the Astronaut because he was my first, one for Squirrel because she was my first with Lettuce, and one for Side Salad because it had been 8 years since I had a boy-child and I had absolutely no boy-child stuff.  Astronaut and Princess are my closest 2, just over 2 years apart, so I didn't have a shower for her.  I should have. Baby showers are hella fun.

I know you are loving the dress, or as I like to call it, my fecund swag. If you're curious, I got it on Etsy from Doodlebugs123 and I love it. I'll be wearing it post delivery and for churching.

Anywho, it was a small function but super fun! I learned that apple turkey cranberry baby food isn't as good as it sounds and that apple blueberry is still the best one.   I got some nice gifts but most of all, I got to celebrate with people I love.