Eli who?

There has been more and more focus lately on preparing for Eli's arrival. Well, that has been the focus inside my head anyway. I think Lila is starting to feel the stress of that herself, though I doubt she really understands the source of it. She woke up last night with a bad dream and came into our room with the most pitiful request I've ever heard...

"Keep me safe. Keep me safe."

After crawling in bed with us for awhile, she was able to go back to her own bed and finish sleeping without incident. [Side note: This morning, we asked her what her bad dream was about and she said she opened a box and a pile of frogs came out. Then one of the frogs bit her. Nearly all of her bad dreams have been about some sort of unusual animal biting her, poor girl.]

This morning, when I told her that we were going to BSF, she declared that she doesn't like BSF. She has said this before, but she has also told me that she's excited about going and I know that she nearly always enjoys it once we get there. Anyway, we went. When I was picking her up after class, one of the teachers commented that she seemed to be having an "off" day.

At that point, I decided to ditch the ideas I'd had for last-minute baby-stuff shopping this afternoon. We have just spent the day at home and I have made sure to give her the amount of focused attention that she is used to. It may not make an immediate difference in her attitude, but at least I know that I am doing what I can to keep her world normal in the midst of this crazy-making anticipation!

Still Pregnant Blah Blah Blah...

I've made it to 37 weeks pregnant, which means that Eli is full term. [Okay, you can come out now!] That means that if he were born now, his lungs should be fully mature. [No really, you can come out any old time!] So he's ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though my due date is three weeks away (and my c-section two weeks away). [Did you hear that? You're ready!]

I felt pretty great last week. Lots of energy and not too much discomfort. As of today, I'm back to being done with this. I'm so done with it that I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's talk about... umm... Drat! I can't seem to think of anything else.

Okay, let's talk about kitties. That's always a good topic. They are cute and fuzzy and they purr. I like little bitty ones with round heads and tiny ears. They open their mouths all wide and then make these teeny squeaking noises. I would like a basket of them, please. I would also like to ride the Hogwarts Express, in the rain, TO Hogwarts.

What?!? I'm about as likely to get one as the other!

What a cutie!

I took Lila yesterday morning to have some "Spring Portraits" done and they turned out wonderfully! These two scans are really not great, but you'll get the idea. The dress she's wearing is her Easter dress, which we successfully got no photos of her wearing on Easter weekend. Well, that's not entirely true. She is wearing it in several pictures, but she also has a long sweater on over it. Effectively, no photos.

Lila and I went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this morning and it was great, as usual. We did find out, however, that the Teaching Leader for our class will not be with us next year. So sad! I'm sure that next year's teacher will be good as well, but I'm sad to lose Renee because I love her lectures.

Next week, we are preregistering for next year's BSF class and I'm signing up in faith that I will find some way to make it work. They don't have childcare for little ones - only classes for kids 2 years and up. That means I'll have to find either a babysitter or daycare center for Eli on Wednesday mornings. It will be a challenege, but it's worth it for Lila and I both!

Where is your head?!?

It's ironic that I was just mentioning Eli's position yesterday. I had an appointment with my doctor today and found out that he is, in fact, breech. Frank breech, to be specific, which means that he's presenting booty first, with his feet up by his head. It was all a little funny because the doctor couldn't find his head and had to get the ultrasound machine to determine his position. And yes, I'll admit, I did experience a moment of paranoia that perhaps my son no longer had a head. Thankfully, he does.

All this time, I've been accusing him of trying to push his way out through my right-side ribcage, but I think I've had it all wrong. He actually knows where the exit is and is trying his best to stay away from it! Sorry kid, but you've got to come out eventually.

The photos I posted yesterday and today are of Lila and Jace Reed, son of our friends Chip and Sara. Jace is a few months old and has been instrumental in getting Lila more excited about Eli's arrival. She loves to hold him and give him his pacifier and his bottle, etc. Let's hope she likes her brother this much!

23 Days and Counting...

As of yesterday, I'm 36 weeks pregnant and I'm starting to get very excited. I mean, I've been sick of being pregnant for some time, but now I'm actually getting excited about our new child. Anyway, Eli is gaining about an ounce a day and (probably) weighs almost 6 pounds. I am looking more and more like I could explode at any moment and I'm noticing worried looks from people I talk to.

This week's vegetable weight equivalent means nothing to me, so I'll move on to tell you that Eli is also probably more than 18.5 inches long. Since he enjoys laying sideways inside my body, that means I have a very wide belly. (come over here some evening, if you think i'm kidding about this.) He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body, as well as the waxy substance that has protected his skin (the vernix caseosa, if you're interested).

Next week, I'll be considered full-term, which means that this baby REALLY could come out at any time with no concerns (and my complete blessing). I think Eli is head-down, when he isn't laying sideways. I'm not sure about that, but I'm altogether unconcerned about it for the same reason that I won't care if he's enormous - I won't be pushing him out!

Good Grief!

Lila is experiencing some... difficulty. For the past few days she has been extremely volatile. You never know what is going to set her off into a screaming fit. And she's not even pregnant! Right now, Doug is trying to give her a bath and she's freaking out about who-knows-what. I have no idea what's causing this phase, so I'm calling it a Growth Spurt. Sounds as good as any other explanation...

Get Out!

Eli, my darling son, is being very mean to me this week. I had a lot of pain in my lower back -- really my whole lower body -- last Thursday evening and Friday morning. I didn't know what he was up to at the time, but I have since discovered that the pain was because he was on the move. He has moved down lower, which is a good sign that he'll be ready to join us sometime soon.

However, "lower" is not a remotely comfortable place for Eli to be. There are times when it feels like his head is resting directly on my pubic bone. And there is now, officially, no room for my bladder. Needing to go to the potty is a constant state of being, rather than an occasional sensation. The real irony is that somehow, even though his head is lower in my body, he's still managing to stick his feet in my ribs. Go figure.

Oh well. I just finished up meeting with the neighborhood women's bible study that I started recently and we're studying forgiveness. I can practice by forgiving my son for the mental and emotional anguish that he is causing me by continuing to live inside my body.

I have to go potty now.

Sweet & Funny Things That Lila Said Today

1. Lila and I were outside, having just finished blowing bubbles, watching a little lizard, and having our Bible Time. I was pushing her on the swing and she said, "You're always fun to play with and you're always fun to read Bible stories with." Aww... thanks! And here I thought I was the boring parent.

2. Lila was in our bathtub, playing with a stuffed mouse named 'Mousie'. She was holding Mousie and talking to him when I walked into the room. She looked up and said (to Mousie), "Here's my friend, Mommy!" It's always nice to be introduced as a friend.

3. Lila was still in our bathtub, now playing with Mousie and a rain stick. The rain stick was Mousie's daddy, apparently. This is what I heard, "You're tall! How tall are you, Daddy? -- I'm 6 4 8. -- Wow! 6 4 8!" I don't know what sort of measurement 6 4 8 is, but it sounds tall to me!

4. This afternoon, I heard Lila telling someone that they were getting a timeout. I asked her who was getting the timeout and she said it was Piggy. I asked what Piggy had done to get timeout and she said, "He was hitting Cordy, a lot." Is that so? Where's the cat...?

As a bonus, here's a funny one from Easter morning. We had just gone out on the back porch to look for eggs and Lila walked past one without seeing it. After she'd found the others on the porch, we started trying to give her clues to where the missing one was before we moved on to the lawn. The egg was right next to the little Snoopy statue that's on the porch, so Doug said, "I think Snoopy knows where the other egg is. Why don't you go ask him?" Lila walked to that side of the porch, leaned over and looked at Snoopy, and said, "He's not talking."

Stuff

Lila and Doug are playing on our bed right now, running out the last of her energy (hopefully). Lila just threw a stuffed Snoopy at Doug and said, "It's time to dance!" Yes, ma'am!

I'm 34 weeks pregnant now; inching my way ever closer to the finish line. Eli weighs about 4 3/4 pounds, which is the size of an average cantaloupe. He should be almost 18 inches long and he's packing on the layers of fat. Not that newborns are ever really round. Well, Doug, who weighed over 10 lbs at birth, might have been round... But normal babies are wrinkly and look rather like plucked chickens.

This photo, by the way, is of Lila's Easter basket, after she found all the eggs. I didn't even notice that we had given the bunny a pair of blue boobies until I saw this picture later. Doug said it would only have been better if they were pink eggs.

Oh, I saw the movie '21' on Friday night (most likely my last late night movie for a long time). It was a bit predictable and it glorified all kinds of debauchery, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. I wouldn't recommend paying full price to see it, but it's worth a matinee or discount theater trip.

Catching Up

I'm sorry I've been so delinquent at posting lately. I guess there's been some little shift in our routine that's made it hard to find the time. I'm only doing this right now because I decided, for once, not to take a nap while Lila does. I may regret that decision later, but I just didn't feel tired at the time that she went to sleep. My naps aren't always restful anyway.

I've reached 33 weeks pregnant and I have exactly 41 days to go. For those who need to know, the doctor's office had to reschedule my c-section and it will now be on Tuesday, May 13th at 11 a.m. This week, Eli weighs a little over 4 pounds - roughly the same as a pineapple. They've been warning me that he might be larger than average, but that's what they said about Lila too and she was small/average.

Lila is doing well, for the most part. Ever since we went to Dallas last week, she's started waking up at 6 or 6:30 again for some reason. If it continues through the weekend, then I guess we'll move her bedtime back to 7. We had taken advantage of the time change to put her down at 8 and have her sleep 'til 7 or 7:30. We much prefer that schedule, but we're most interested in seeing her get ENOUGH sleep.

Doug is the same as ever - working diligently away at Dell during the day and being Lila's favorite person when he gets home. He's ready for Eli to be born too, though it doesn't weigh on his mind (or his spine) all the time like it does mine. Yesterday, he officially requested his "paternity leave" which made things a bit more real for him. Occasionally, I try to convince him to finish off this pregnancy for me, but he won't do it. Oh well.