our angel is here

Our sweet Connor made his entrance into the world on Monday morning, October 28th at 9:07 am.  He weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz and is 22 inches long.  God has blessed us immeasurably.  I am working on his birth story and cannot wait to share it with you!

finally a scientist with a brain + KK engaged

If you're in the loop on pregnancy news, maybe you heard that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have narrowed down the "full term" label.  Instead of being considered full term at 37 weeks, they've changed it to 39 weeks.  You can read the full article here.

FINALLY.

Here's why this makes a heck of a lot more sense (and I'll try to be polite):  Women who are ignorant to their situation or those who don't have much of a "backbone" tend to take their doctor's words to heart without asking questions, or they take in the plethora of internet information out there very literally.  So when they hear that they're "full term" at 37 weeks, it makes them much more likely to schedule a medically unnecessary delivery because they think the baby's ready.  Please tell me you've noticed how many women already have a pre-determined date for their delivery?  What the hell is going on with that?  One of my favorite bloggers has a due date of April 28th but a delivery date of April 21st.  This is someone that I respect and agree with almost 100% of the time, but are you kidding me?  To seriously schedule a delivery date?  Now granted, she has to have cesareans and I do not know her medical history, but I sure would like to know because it boggles my mind.

Let me back up just a bit by saying that in any case where there is a medical issue of some sort, (high blood pressure, etc.) obviously inductions can be and are necessary.  The same goes with cesareans - they can and are necessary for certain situations.

Let me give you an example of a cesarean that I don't believe was necessary:  someone very close to me had a baby who was breech for weeks heading up to her due date.  The doctor told her there was a less than 1% chance that the baby would turn on its own.  (Now I didn't go to medical school for 12 years but I've heard plenty of breech babies turning within hours of spontaneously laboring down.)  So here's this girl:  huge, uncomfortable, very ready to give birth.  She gives in and decides a c-section on her due date is the best option.  Now all her babies will be cesarean births and she has to deal with that painstaking recovery over and over.  There is a possibility that she may have had to go through all of that (even a couple weeks later), but can we just let nature do it's thing, pa-lease??

Here's my issue with inductions:  so many times they lead to cesareans.  I suppose that's where all the pre-determined delivery dates come in.  I'm not kidding, I know more women (these days) who have cesareans than they do vaginal births.  I'm not saying that a vaginal birth is in any way "better" than a c-section, because it's not - a birth is a miracle however it happens.  But come on, to electively choose a cesarean?  It's a surgery!  With all the same risks involved in any surgery!  And there are all those women who have had cesareans for an actual medical reason that have got to be thinking why would you choose this if you don't have to?

Anyways, I'm so so happy with the new terminology for what constitutes a "full term" baby.  Even my own doctors keep telling me "Well, when you reach 39 weeks we can talk about inducing you."

No thanks.  I'll let God be in charge of that.

By the way, I tried searching up an awesomely beautiful pregnancy picture from Pinterest for this post and these are a few that popped up:

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Something else everyone's talking about:

Kim & Kanye are engaged!  Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited - just because I really enjoy seeing people in love.  I mean, what's not celebrate?  Who cares if Kanye is one of the most arrogant idiots on the planet?  He loves his baby, that's obvious, and I love me a good baby daddy.  Congrats you two lovebirds! 

lately

Today is my day off.  That wonderful, beautiful personal day that I've been dreaming about for weeks.  Naturally I started it off by pounding four eggos and finishing Mean Girls.  I promise that after I sit on the computer for a couple hours and head to the salon for a pedi I will get around to the cleaning and organizing that this day is meant for.

Since I'm due on Halloween and have no clue as to when this baby will make his entrance, I made sure to take Patrick trick or treating at our downtown Farmer's Market this weekend.  It was raining and freezing but we were troopers.  There was hardly anyone else there so we got a ton of candy and lots of smiles.  "That's the cutest chipmunk/wolf/squirrel I've ever seen!"  I'm all he's a foooooox.  We already had to put the candy on top of the refrigerator because Patrick won't leave it alone.  We spotted him in the corner with a dum-dum in each hand and the fun was all over.  Poor kid.

Jeff is smack dab in the middle of his busy season harvesting soybeans.  I've dealt with this now for almost 8 years with him, but it never gets easier.  I just miss him so much.  Even though I've taken Patrick to ride with him several times, I see him every morning, and we've had some time together on rainy days, it's still not enough.  I need hours and hours.  When I start to complain or whine that he's not around when I'm wobbling to the sippy cups or bending over for the 800th time that day, I have to force myself to step back and be so incredibly thankful for the hard work he puts in for us.

You guys, I found the best food blog EVA:  The Girl Who Ate Everything.  I know everyone has their own style of cooking so this may not suit you, but it's like exactly what I have been looking for.  The recipes are full of flavor, not too complicated, kid friendly and super easy to print off.  When I made my meal plan for the week I got all my ideas from her blog.  I already made her easy white chicken chili and above is a picture of her skillet baked ziti.  Other recipes for my week will include:  cheater korean beef, pumpkin pie dip and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

My big boy.  So I mentioned that haircutting was a traumatizing experience for Patrick and nothing has changed.  I decided to take matters in my own hands, went to Sally's, bought some cheap cutting shearers and tried it myself.  SAME EXACT REACTION.  Screaming, crying, shaking of the head, "NO MOM NO MOM NO MOM.  I DON'T WANT A HAIRCUT." 

My last resort was to cut it while he was sleeping.  It sounds cruel but I so don't care.  Part one is complete:  sides and back.  Obviously part two:  top and front has not been completed yet but it will be.  Ohhhhhh it will be.  The problem is I have to have the light on in his room, I am trying to lean into his crib with a large bump in the way and he has also memorized that snipping sound so he starts to wake up.  Therefore, it must be done in parts.

Oh my poor camera.  I am so sick about it.  I took it to Best Buy where the Geek Squad is completely useless to have them check it out.  Can the lens be fixed?  Please say it can be fixed?  Nope, no can do.  It must have hit head-on.  The cost of a new lens, the exact same one that was working 72 hours ago?  $268.00. 

To put it simply, I cannot afford that right now.  What am I going to do?  I am almost in a panic about this new baby coming and not having a camera to snap shots of his plump cheeks and precious lips.  I refuse to resort to my stupid iPhone camera (which honestly sucks).

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Well, time to get cleaning.  Don't you hate it when you have to plan to clean?  I mean, what happens if I don't feel like it?

38 weeks

• Due to the sneak attack played out by my 2 year old on my beloved $700 DSLR, I now have to resort to an iPhone selfie for this week's belly shot.  A trip to the Geek Squad is in the works, and it's not going to be cheap.
• So the best way to describe how I feel this week is like a life-sized bartlett pear.  I don't even recognize myself when I walk by a mirror!  But all in all, I feel good!  Better than I did a few weeks ago, actually.  Nothing's changed in the food department; I'm still eating everything in sight and can't seem to get full.  I've gained 30 pounds thus far.  (I delivered Patrick at 31 pounds.)
• Dr. Printy says I'm dilated 1-2 cm and my cervix is starting to ripen.  The baby's head is down but still hasn't dropped into my pelvis at this point.  Actually, he showed me how to feel the baby's head with my hands.  He positioned my hands under his in the correct spots and pushed down on them and I was able to feel the sides of the baby's head.  I almost started crying - it was amazing.
• Jeff and I setup the new pack n' play I got and I cannot stop staring at it.  It's so fun to see newborn items strewn about my house.  It happened to be on sale in Target yesterday and I just couldn't pass it up.  In fact, I'm already wondering how I ever did without one in the living room with Patrick...he was just always in his lounger I suppose.  I do feel like a real moron though.  I have a practically brand new pack n' play already but it never got used because it didn't have a raised bed and it felt weird laying a baby in a huge playpen...I don't know.  Anyways, we were putting together the new one last night and I see that the "netting" is what holds the raised bed up.  Actually, my old one came with that netting and I always thought it was meant to cover the top in case there were bugs when you had it outside.  Is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard?  #newmombrainfarts
• Over the weekend I pre-registered at the hospital.  The paperwork didn't seem too hefty - the hefty part was the videos.  Oh my goodness, the car seat video was over 30 minutes.  And the breastfeeding video (that was actually a nice refresher) had to have been recorded in 1987.  Seriously, the baby in the video is probably having kids of his own now.  
• Next week I'm taking a day off work to prepare for the baby.  I've got a huge list, most of which involves cleaning and/or organizing.  Have you seen Target's new kid's organization line?  It's so colorful and cheerful - I need every piece to hide all of Patrick's shit toys.  One thing on my list is to clean out the freezer to make room for a few meals that I am only semi-motivated to freeze.  I'm also having some organic carpet cleaners come in to scrub all my rugs and the carpet in our bedrooms.  They're also doing the glider in the nursery and the couch in our family room.  So excited.
• The greatest thought plaguing my mind at night?  BOOBS.  No, I'm kidding, although I have had like three nights of breastfeeding dreams.  It's actually when will you come, baby?  It's sort of the waiting game the last couple weeks, and even though I don't have any feeling that he'll be coming early, there's still a chance.  Every time I'm late getting to a class at school my students think I'm in labor.  They're so conscientious.
• Speaking of my students, quote of the week about babies from a 6th grader:

 "There are so many 14 and 15 pound babies because Americans eat too many hamburgers."

ten probing thoughts whilst carrying a full term baby

1. This photo shoot is our attempt at topping last year's back porch pumpkin shoot.  As you can see, we just couldn't get it.  Number one:  Patrick doesn't look at the camera much anymore, and he just doesn't make those sweet faces anymore.  He also looks like he crawled out of a dirt pile (which he did).  Number two:  At 37 weeks, it's hard for this Mommy to look flattering in a photo.  But hey, we gave it a try and I'll be looking forward to next year's sesh when there's a good chance I won't be knocked up.
2. Our baby is considered full term today!  I don't really know what that means, but I suspect it doesn't mean much.  I swear BabyCenter just makes up these terms to us pregnant women feel better.  So we're three weeks away from the due date - woo hoo!  At this week's appointment, Dr. Printy said I was 1-2 cm dilated.
3. My hospital bags are packed.  I took all the tags off my new clothes, folded them neatly and stacked them in.  The baby's bag with his few things is also ready to go.  Everything looks so fresh and cute, even my old Boppy cleaned up beautifully.
4. My new most favorite hospital bag item:  the cozy socks from Bath & Body Works.  Are they not the most comfortable, silky and glorious things that ever went on your feet?  
5. It's Clinique gift time!  I'm crazy about Clinique and go nuts when it's gift time.  A new make-up bag loaded with free crap?  Yes, please!  The best item in there:  chubby sticks.  It's their new version of lipstick/balm and it's damn amazing. 
6. Patrick has been loving this app I've got on my iPad called "ABC Song."  He requests it every night after his bath while we're snuggling on the couch.  He smiles so big and we sing along to the words.  There's also a game where you can pop bubbles.  I'm thinking of getting one of those iPad protectors in the kid toy aisle now that I'm feeling a little more comfortable with him using it.
7. Speaking of Patrick, what are his faves these days?  These John Deere semis with trailers at Wal-mart have kept him entertained for hours.  There are three different styles and we only need one more to complete our collection.  And at only $11.97, you can't go wrong!  The CAT train was a gift for his birthday.  Let me tell you, this thing is a winner.  We've spent loads of time hooking and unhooking the cars, turning it on and turning it off.  It actually says "ages 5 and up" on the box, but it's one of those where you just don't pay attention to that suggestion.  
   
   
   
8. Did you know that there are Hot Apple Cider K-cups?  Good gracious, that stuff is delicious.  One of the teachers I work with noticed me scoping it out on the secretary's desk and offered to make me a cup.  (Probably only because I'm pregnant - everyone will go back to ignoring me here soon).  But I of course said Hell Yes I'd like a cup.  I'm a huge apple cider fan.  Hot, cold, frozen...just give it to me.  
9. I rarely get upset about posts on Facebook.  Like, if you want to post those dumb e-cards or a picture of your disgusting dog licking your kid, it doesn't matter to me.  Political statements, rants about everyone in your house puking last night, pictures of your rock-hard abs, or even bragging about your 4.5 mile run this morning - doesn't matter to me.  It's all you - go for it.  But there is ONE THING that I seriously have had enough of and that's posting your pictures on Instagram and then RE-POSTING them on Facebook.  OMGAWWWSH you guys.  CHOOSE ONE.  If your original intention is to post them on fb, then set your phone to airplane mode and try to post it on Insta.  It won't go through but it will save to your camera roll.  This could potentially save my sanity.
10. I need some ideas for a "big brother" gift from the baby.  After running into a fellow teacher of mine (very wise, very amazing mother) with five children and chatting it up for my entire planning period a few minutes, she told me the best thing she did was to have a gift at the hospital for the older sibling from the younger sibling.  Right away, the older sibling will feel the positive vibes coming from the baby.  So what should it be?  I've heard these puzzle wheels are great for toddlers and so are those Thomas the Train magnetic cars.  Problem with the train cars:  they're like 15 bucks a piece at BAM!  I hate BAM!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

 

our weekend in pictures

 

"dump trucks + apple orchards, Mom" 

 

~Patrick Rowland 

 

 

 

 

 

36 weeks

• Ahhhh!  I cannot contain this overwhelming feeling of excitement!  If I think about it too much, I just cry.  There's nowhere else for my emotions to go!  I am truly over-the-moon beside myself about holding this boy in my arms.  Wow.
 
• I saw Dr. Visci again this past week, which began my weekly visits.  After doing an internal, he determined that there's no dilation but I am 50% effaced.  I always wonder what the point of internal exams is - things can turn around in an instant.  But more importantly, it hurts like hell and I kind of dread them.  I mean, who cares if you're walking around dilated?  Anyways, he had me hooked up to the belts to moniter the baby's movements (since I've felt a lot less of it lately) but everything looked perfect.  I guess he's just running out of room in there!  That, or else I'm moving around so much with work and Pat that I'm not noticing it as much.
 
• Over the weekend I was able to hit the shops for baby clothes!  I went through the 0-6 month tub I had from Patrick and realized I really had everything I needed for this one.  But after heading through babyGap this new little one ended up with a "going home" outfit and a couple others that I couldn't pass up; he also got some new sherpa booties for the winter.  Along with the baby, Patrick got a new bomber jacket for fall, Halloween footie jams, some denim and a chevron hat.  It was the most fun shopping trip I've ever had.  Ever.
 
• Since we're less than a month away from D-Day I've been thinking in depth about what I want at the hospital for me and the baby.  Actually, I had it perfect with Patrick - not too much, not too little.  I wanted a little something new for myself, so besides a few new nursing tanks I picked up a nightgown and robe that match.  I at least have to look clothes-coordinated after giving birth.  So here's my official list:

• I hope you're not offended by the words "huge" and "underwear" in the same sentence or the words "nipple" and "butter" for that matter.  These are essentials, people.  Essentials.  I ordered some of that Earth Angel Baby Nipple Butter that's been recommended because I too, like so many others, hated Lanolin.  In that same shipment from target.com I am expecting:  a wipes warmer, washable nursing pads, a buttload of nursing supplies, baby wash (I tried this new Mustela brand - I did my research), and some Pamper's swaddlers.

• Jeff brought down the car seat (which I plan on installing this weekend) as well as the bouncer, the Boppy, and the Boppy lounger.  This is getting crazy real, no?  We're also going to set up the co-sleeper to make sure Patrick gets used to it and doesn't use it as a trampoline.

• With things coming down to the wire I've been doing a lot of thinking, praying and reflecting about the labor and delivery.  I actually found this birth plan worksheet that I'm planning on filling out just for fun - I don't think I'll actually hand it to the nurses.  They'd think I was a complete tool (maybe not?).  I'm confident in my decisions, and nothing has really changed since having Patrick.  I will labor as long as I can and when I become too uncomfortable (probably around 5-6 cm dilated) I'll ask for an epidural.  From there I will allow the baby to labor down for as long as possible.  I don't want to be pushing for three hours - that's ridiculous, and usually unnecessary.  All in all, I'm pretty laid back and will let my body do it's thing.  The only time you'll see me get fired up is if I hear the word "cesarean."  Ain't happening unless one of our lives are in danger.

• As far as the pregnancy has been the last couple weeks, things are great!  Well, great might be a little too cheerful of a word, but really, people have been overly nice to me and I've actually felt pretty decent for carrying around an extra 28 pounds.  Patrick completely exhausts me in the evenings, even though it's the greatest part of my day.  He's like Destructo Boy lately, tearing apart this house like a mini tornado.  After I put him in his crib I collapse in bed and I'm instantly asleep.  Many nights we've both been in bed before Jeff even comes through the door!

• Welp, here's to BABY MONTH!!  ::ecstatic::