babies don't keep

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.


by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

weekly review

Weekly Review

How far along? Would be 40 weeks... instead, one week postpartum!

Total weight gain/loss: Down 18 already, to 126!! 8 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight! Believe me, I let out a huge wow when I saw that.

Maternity clothes? Some pants still... but mostly just wearing loungy clothes and nursing tanks.

Stretch marks? Little devil horns coming off the top of my belly button!

Sleep: Good, but in spurts! Lol. We have our little alarm clock sleeping with us... that wasn't the plan, but she sleeps so much longer and better when with us, and I'd rather share my bed for a bit then be getting up every 20 minutes! We got one of these to use in bed with (it makes it much more relaxing!) and will use it when we go to transition her to the crib.

Best moment this week: Meeting my daughter! But also watching Trav be so sweet with our girl, having Daisy be a true champ when meeting Gwen, getting her newborn pictures taken... all of those sweet first moments.

Movement: N/A ... lol.

Food cravings: None, just trying to eat well to be healthy for Gwen and myself.

Actual Gender: GIRL! :-) ::sigh of relief::

Labor Signs: Yup, definitely had those! Full labor story coming soon... its hard to sit down and find the time to write it all out.

Belly Button in or out? Going back in where it belongs!

What I miss: Sleeping through the night... (TMI) having not sore lady bits!!

What I am looking forward to: Everything! I can't wait to see her grow, experience her firsts, and really figure out who she looks more like. Also, my brother is coming up this weekend and I can't wait for him to meet his niece!

Weekly Wisdom: Every ache, pain, annoyance during pregnancy... and every excruciating contraction is worth it the very second you see your baby for the first time.

Milestones: I'm a mom now! That is so surreal.

There is so much to write about these past three days (we are all doing great), but I'm holding a beautiful sleeping baby on my chest... so now really isn't the time. Instead I'll catch you up on what happened right before.

Saturday the 13th was GG's first birthday party!






It was a lot of fun and GG was adorable. She's walking all over the place now.

My mom stopped down on Monday to bring me some things she completed for Gwen... a few crib sheets, a crocheted blanket, and her comforter:




Turned out to be pretty great timing...

More to come soon, promise!

She's Here!

Everyone in the A New Day household is so excited to announce the arrival of our little bundle of joy... now known as:

Gwenivere Mae H*****



born 2/16/10 at 12:53 in the afternoon
(after 12 hours of labor)

Weight: 7 lbs
Length: 20 inches

We're exhausted, but so happy. She's a sweetie.

More details and pictures to follow once we get a chance to recover. For now we are going to be catching up on sleep and enjoying our girl's first days.

With happy, full hearts!
Meegs & Trav

38 weeks, etc

First... a very Happy Birthday to Miss GG!! Gabrielle is one year old today, and I can't even comprehend how quickly this little thing:

Turned into this funny girl:

The time goes so fast!


So I'm home today with my boy and my pup. We were able to go to our appointment, and get home before the snow started. I think we only got a few inches last night, maybe 3-4? But its hard to tell just by looking out the window, which is all I've done today. It wasn't snowing all morning, but its restarted now (just before 11). It's coming down heavily, but the flakes are so tiny it almost looks like we're in the process of being dusted with powdered sugar. :-)


Weekly Review

How far along? 38 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +3 lbs (um, holy crap)... for a total of +26 or 144 total

Maternity clothes? oh yes.

Stretch marks? nope, i've been lucky on that front

Sleep: full of the weirdest dreams! very weird, very vivid... and I have been having some trouble falling back asleep after waking to pee

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat... that never gets old. Plus, hearing that she is now partially engaged!! (Aka she is moving down and her head is partially in my pelvis... yay!)

Movement: Not as much, but she's still bopping around in there.

Food cravings: I can't get enough clementines! And I seriously want alfredo.

Actual Gender: GIRL! :-)

Labor Signs: Contractions, 6 hours at 10 minutes apart last Thursday, off and on over the weekend, and for a few hours last night around 5-8 minutes apart. Some today, but they don't seem regular. In any case, its a start and a sign my ute is doing something!!

Belly Button in or out? Flat, or slightly out.

What I miss: Laying on my stomach, sleeping on my back, being able to easily put on shoes, being able to walk quickly without my pelvis aching.

What I am looking forward to: Meeting our little girl soon! Getting to see what she looks like and kiss her cheeks and hands.

I'm adding my own little addition here. Since I wrote above what I miss while being pregnant, and since I'm not going to be pregnant much longer (less then 4 weeks at absolute most)... I thought I should include this:

What I'll miss when not pregnant:

1. Having her with me and all to myself, all the time. It's sort of nice to not have to share her with anyone! I always know where she is and I always get to be the first to feel her move.
   
2. On that note, feeling her kicks! Yes, they can be a bit uncomfortable at times, but I think its going to be weird not feeling them anymore.
   
3. Knowing that she is safe, protected, well-feed, and getting all she needs... without having to worry about it. I know I'll figure out her cues quickly, but I'm sure there will be times that she cries and I don't know why, and I'll miss just being able to meet all her needs without doing anything.
   
4. Just having it be Trav & me, and yes, being a bit spoiled by him! I'll admit it... I love that he does all the dishes now! (It kills my back! the belly makes it so I have to stand so far from the sink that I have to bend over slightly to reach, and oh man do I end up in pain.) I know this one is going to be replaced by something even better, but it will be an adjustment. :-)

So there we go! 38 weeks in a nutshell.
Now I'm going to head downstairs, drink some tea, eat some alfredo, and watch a movie. Enjoy the snow!!

briefly (updated)

• Really enjoyed the SuperBowl. And of course, the SB commercials too! Loved the Doritos one with the tiny boy telling the big dude to keep his hands off his mom and his doritos. LOL. I was routing for N.O. too... so I was very happy with the outcome.
  
  
• We took Daisy in for her shots last night... the ones she was supposed to get Saturday, but that we were snowed in for. Our "little girl" now weighs 80 pounds!!! Holy crap. That's a little heavy for her stature. Apparently its very normal after spaying/neutering for animals to gain a bit more weight then they need to becuase of hormonal changes. So the doc recommended cutting down on her dry food, but giving her as many veggies as she wants. So now we're giving her breakfast as normal, but dinner will just be a plate of veggies to feast on. She loved it last night, so I'm sure this won't be a problem. So far we know she loves green beans, peas, and once she "figured them out", carrots too. I think we'll be using carrots as treats as well.
  
  
• I'm hoping the anticipated snow holds off just long enough for my doc appointment this evening after work. I hate missing them, and its always so nice to hear her heartbeat and learning what she's up to in there. After that it can snow all it wants, so I can stay home tomorrow!! :-)
  
  
• Speaking of the snow... if we get just 8 more inches (which they are calling for at least that), then it will officially be the snowiest winter on record for Philly. Pretty crazy since it really hasn't snowed that many days, but every time we've gotten snow it's been a huge amount.

More tomorrow, including a 38 week post... but I'm hoping to include stuff from the doc... so it will wait a day.

UPDATE: My work decided to close!! I'm looking forward to spending tomorrow cuddled up on the couch with 80 lbs of love! ;-)

weekend in pictures

It was a lazy one, and we did none of the things we had planned, because of the almost 2 feet of snow we got. So how about a weekend in pictures?

(Our little furry girl, sure does love to snuggle!)



(Homemade gifts from Trav's uncle and his partner... so pretty!)

(Mini-photo shoot!)

so...

Well, let's see.
Yesterday I started having contractions... I noticed them a little before 4 in the afternoon. They were regular, about 10 minutes apart, about a minute long. Some were more strong/painful then others, but most were just uncomfortable while still allowing me to talk through them. This went on for about 6 hours... through my train ride home, dinner, our breastfeeding class at the birth center, and our ride back home. They started slacking off a bit during the end of our BF class... some were still 10 minutes apart, but some were closer to 15 minutes... and then trailed off a bit more when we got home and I took my shower. I slept pretty well, with crazy dreams (Tokio Hotel was doing a concert in my parent's front yard!), and when I woke up this morning it was to a "quiet" ute. I've had a few contractions today... but not anything regular (though I did just have a strong one!).

So there we go... let's call that practice session #1!! :-) We'll see what the barometric pressure does for me this weekend. (And I'll cross my fingers that I don't have contractions off and on for WEEKS like Ro did!)


Anyway...
It's friday! We are supposed to take Daisy to the vet tomorrow morning for her shots, and Willy to dinner tomorrow night as a belated birthday dinner... but we are also supposed to get 7-11" of snow between this evening and tomorrow evening. I guess this will definitely be one of those play it by ear weekends.

And on that note, my boss has deemed that I should leave by 3... so I should get back to work!

update

• Gained a pound since last week, which puts me at +23... for a total of 141.
  
  
• GBS negative, which is awesome and means I don't need an IV during labor. Woot!
  
  
• She's still head down, but still floating free. Move towards the light little girl!!!!
  
  
• Heartbeat sounded great. She's still moving around a lot and tried to run away from the doppler... the midwife got a kick outta that.
  
  
• They are estimating she's about 5.5 - 6lbs now. Obviously that could be off in either direction... but that's what she's feeling like.
  

All-in-all, things are well and she's comfy in there. Our breastfeeding class is Thursday, and we have appointments every Tuesday from here on out. Hopefully we won't need too many more of those.

Today I'm meeting Stella for coffee while she's in Philly for work, and then having lunch with my coworkers Tally and Ann (a belated birthday lunch for Tally, and an early "birth day" lunch for me). Both of those should (hopefully) make the day fly by.

I had the blogger window open for most of the day yesterday, but just couldn't find the energy to actually write anything. I ended up leaving work early... just too tired and sore and uncomfortable to handle more time camped out in front of the computer. It was not so fun.

I went to bed an hour early last night, and the extra sleep was nice... but I'm still not feeling great today. I think the waking up 3-4 times a night that I've been doing these past few days, both to pee and just to readjust to try and get comfortable, is wearing on me. I've also been having the craziest dreams.

Frankly, I'm over being pregnant at this point. Little girl is full term today, and I'm really hoping she isn't one of those kids who likes to show up fashionably late to the party. I'm hoping she's the helpful type who shows up a little early to help set up the chips and dip. ;-) I just can't imagine how I will feel if she doesn't come until a week or two late.

I haven't had any signs of labor yet, so I'm not holding out much hope for the next few days... though I have had a few painful BH. So maybe those are leading to some real contractions? I have an appointment today, so we'll see if she's still hanging out high (which I'm guessing she is, by the state of my ribs and heartburn!).

At least this past weekend was productive. We headed to Bab.iesR.us and bought the last items we wanted to buy before she arrived... then got them all washed and put away. We also went grocery shopping (got me some Red Raspberry Leaf tea, to help strengthen the ute!), took the pup for some walks, hung up her wall letters, and finished installing the one carseat. Hopefully I can get it inspected soon (that's turning into a pain in the ass)... and then we can install the other carseat (in Trav's car) this weekend after we take Willy and his date out for a belated birthday dinner.

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to report. I'm just tired right now, and spend a lot of time (when not at work) resting, watching movies, reading. Doesn't really make for interesting blog fodder...

So I guess I'll leave it at that.