artsy-crafty babe

It's a GIRL!

Beki had a baby girl at 8:28 this morning!

She weighed 9 lbs 0.7 oz. and was 21 1/2" long.

Beki and baby are both fine. Name announcement coming soon . .

The Last

The last picture in the series.

The last full day of my pregnancy.

My last pregnancy.

My last moments as a mom of two.

The last time you'll have to look at my enormous belly.

In a few short hours my little blessing will be here...my last moments of this baby being a mystery.

See my journey here.

37 Weeks

Here I am at 37 weeks.  This is my second to last picture - the next one in the series will be right before I head to the hospital.  I am the most uncomfortable I have ever been with any of my pregnancies.  This morning as I was ironing my pants I cried.  I cried because I hurt.  I don't know how much more my pelvis can take.  My hips literally throb with pain.  Thank goodness I only have two weeks left.  Matt suggested I take off work, but I'd be uncomfortable whether I was at work or at home, so I might as well stick it out.  Honestly, laying around hurts more.  I'm most comfortable sitting upright, though it does help to elevate my feet.  I'll survive - I'm in the home stretch now!

I am happy to report that this past weekend I washed some baby clothes, bought some diapers, and pulled out the baby names book.  Yeah, we're making progress!  I also started nesting.  Sunday night, though I was extremely tired after a day of Easter fun, I couldn't relax until I cleaned the kitchen, mopped the kitchen floor, bleached the sink, and vacuumed the living room.  I don't know where that energy came from.  If it weren't so late I would have scrubbed the tub.  Yesterday was my weekly Dr. visit.  Everything was fine, nothing interesting to report.  The baby scored 8/8 on it's biophysical test, my cervix isn't doing squat, and I lost two pounds.  Thank goodness the end is near!!!

34 Weeks

I'm running out of room.  I have very few shirts that cover this massive bump.  At least I'm near the end.  The tentative date to birth this baby is May 1st as long as something is available (scheduled c-section).  My doctor wanted me to go earlier, but Lily has a dance recital on April 30th - hopefully I can hold out that long.   Okay, go ahead, point and laugh at my expense - here's another view, stretch marks and all:

As uncomfortable as I get from time to time, I know I'll miss this once it is gone...

<---Click on the "Watch me grow" link to the left to see my growth so far.

Quick Update

Thank you all for your positive thoughts - everything was fine.  The Dr. said that if the baby does have a club foot, then it is a mild case that won't require surgery.  He was more concerned with the baby's size and my fasting blood sugar levels.  He wants me to try a medication to lower my levels, which should in turn slow down the baby's growth.  The baby is already estimated at 5 lbs 12 ounces at 33 weeks. 

My transition to typepad is going smoothly.  I'll probably start posting there sooner than I anticipated, but I still have lots of tweaking to do.

Thank you again for all your support!

Early morning thoughts...

I wish I were sleeping right now. I woke up about an hour and a half ago and can't fall back asleep. The alarm will be going off in about 30 minutes.

Today is my ultrasound with the specialist to determine if the baby has club feet. I'm feeling a bit anxious about it. Right now I'm wishing that we don't find out, but then I guess I would like to know so that we can find the right doctors now, ahead of time. Matt can't make it to the appointment, so I'm going it alone. Today is the start of statewide standardized testing, which requires a certified teacher to be in the classroom, so his finding a substitute is next to impossible. We haven't told any of our family members about the baby and this appointment because we figure there's no need to make them worry about something that may not even be a problem, so having one of them go with me is out of the question. I'll manage.

This upcoming week I'm making the switch from Blogger to Typepad, though I may not do it until the weekend. I've been thinking about it for a while and feel like now is the time, before I accumulate too many more posts. I'm most worried about losing all my archives when I try to export this blogger weblog over to typepad. With my luck I'll mess it all up! The instructions seem pretty straight forward, but I'm still a bit skeptical. I'll make an announcement when I do, so you can update your link, bloglines, whatever.

Okay, I'm going to go lay in bed for the next 25 minutes until my alarm sounds...

Friday night

Here it is, Friday night, and I'm surfing the net while Matt and Lily are playing a game of Memory. What an exciting life I lead! I'm about to to soak in the tub - too bad I can't enjoy a glass of wine while I'm in there.

I wanted to follow up to the post I made earlier today about the fabric. I found the coupon, so I dropped a chunk of change on that. In a few short days I'll have some new fabric to play with. Actually, I'm gearing up for only using what I have on hand for the month of April. I can do that. I'll probably be doing my Mother's Day gifts then, so I had to get the supplies now, and um, a few fun things for me.

This will definitely be a weekend of rest for me. I'm running out of gas. By the time I get home in the afternoon all I can do is lie down. The pain in my pelvis is getting so bad that I can hardly stand it. Walking is miserable and sitting isn't too fun either. I guess the baby is dropping. I do have a few little projects planned, so I will have pictures to post, but I'm saving them up and spreading them out. Be on the look out...

My bath is calling me - I hope you all have a good weekend!

32 weeks

Yesterday marked 32 weeks for me. Wow, my time is running out. There won't be many more of these pictures, as I will most probably deliver this kid at 38 weeks via scheduled c-section. As you can see, I am quite large. My belly has finally caught up with me - I'm slowing down BIG TIME. I'm still taking the stairs at work, but I think my morning walks are coming to an end. Besides it being pretty painful, I don't think my walking partners want to go at a turtle's pace. I'll still give it a shot if I feel up to it, but I couldn't this morning. I discovered something new in the last few days - NEW stretch marks. I didn't think that was possible. The old faded ones are starting to regain that purplish hue as well. Yep, my abdominal skin is shot. Oh well, it's worth it!

You can see me grow and grow and grow here.

Hallelujah, it's Friday!

I LIVE for Fridays these days. Friday holds the anticipation of the weekend, of all the possibilities that lie ahead in the next two days. Friday means that I can sleep past 5:30 am the next morning. Friday night means that we can order take out and the kids don't have to take a bath. If I choose, I can stay up later than 10 pm because there's no need to get up before dawn the next morning. Oh, how I love Friday!

I have a whole list of things I'd like to accomplish this weekend, but I have a feeling I won't get to do half of them. My body is wearing out. Yesterday was my achiest day yet. By 7pm last night I was laying down with tears in my eyes because I hurt so badly. This big ole baby must be moving further south because my c-section scar was burning, the ligaments down there were aching, and my pubic bone felt like it was splitting in half. I get a little nervous when I start feeling pain down there because I have a low lying placenta, which means that I'm at a risk for hemorrhaging.

I'm gonna try to do my best to get a little accomplished, but I'll most likely be doing a whole lotta resting.

Baby news

I had an ultrasound and regular OB appointment today. I wish I could say that all I got was good news. There is a possibility that my baby could have club feet. Not that having club feet is the most devastating thing in the world, but nobody wants to hear that something may be wrong with their baby. Nothing can be done at this point, but I won't find out for sure until I have another ultrasound with the maternal fetal specialist in two weeks. I was more upset about this before I learned anything about it. It seems to be fairly common (1 out of 1000 births) and can be corrected with casts and or surgery. Of course I'm hoping that my baby doesn't have this. It is possible that nothing is wrong, but club feet couldn't be ruled out due to how the baby was positioned. If you're the praying type, we sure could use a few.