just a few weeks left!

well we're at week 37 here so i thought i should probably do a little update. (little? is that possible?) sunday the 20th was my last day of work, and i feel simultaneously relieved and tormented by this. it's nice to know that i will now most likely be at home when labor starts,...but that's right about where the relief ends. for the most part, staying home is just a huge heap of boredom and stress. i am not a person who likes to be alone, so once my to-do list is done for the day, there's nothing left to do but wallow in my loneliness. ok, that's a bit melodramatic, but my goodness is it boring. in less than a week, i have already dwindled down my baby prep list quite a bit. everything is washed and put away in its proper place, the house is clean, car seats are set up,...today is my big grocery shopping day, followed by lots of cooking and freezing. that stuffed elephant is started. i bought the materials i needed to finish it, but had a startling realization yesterday while walking the dog--i figured out why i've never fully gotten onto the sewing wagon...or the reading wagon, or the gardening wagon, or the knitting wagon....while these are all things i long to learn and would love to have mastered, they are all SOLO hobbies. i am sarah. i HATE being solo. so how can i spend the hours required to really learn these things or call myself a doer of them? i love books. i think they're wonderful. but do i read many of them? nope. i love vegetables and nature and making things, but have i gotten past the research phase of starting a garden? not hardly. but am i really ok with resigning myself to a life of wish-i-had's all because of this one, LAME excuse? no. so what do i do? so far the only option i see is to figure out how to do these things in a group setting. i don't see my entire way of being changing, but i do know that sewing circles and book clubs exist. for the time being, i don't have the money for these things, and probably won't have the time at any point in the near future either. but, i have my entire life ahead of me. and now that i know what it is that's been holding me back, and have figured out a way around this obstacle, i have every intention and every capability of finally doing these things i've been longing to do for so long. it feels good to have figured out another part of my ever-mysterious self. i don't know why i do a lot of what i do, so when a piece of the puzzle finally clicks, it's a really tremendous feeling.
i guess this little update isn't going to be so little after all...
back to baby stuff--
the hypnobirthing classes are over. am i glad i took them? yes. very much so. not only did i learn some valuable techniques and information, i also met some wonderful people. now, have i been practicing said techniques? take a wild guess. i'm not sure what has been holding me back. since i've been on leave and sitting around thinking so much, i have had a couple momentary episodes of worry about being in labor. so you'd think i would want to really buckle down and start preparing. but that just hasn't happened yet. the class was great, though, and the instructor was wonderful. she also happens to do placenta encapsulation, which jason and i have decided would be a good idea. if you would have asked me a couple years ago if i would ever dream of eating my own placenta, i would have answered with a big fat NO after promptly having barfed on your shoes. but, the evidence in support of it is astounding--how could i not want more energy, less bleeding, shorter recovery time, improved mood...? (here's a great website for more info) http://placentabenefits.info/articles.asp
haven't made samson's video yet. i feel like that's something i should do when it really feels right, not just because it's next on my list. i have, however started looking into pediatricians (a little late, i know), and boy what a pain in the butt that is. after much research to little avail, however, my friends once again came to the rescue with their recommendations. (why didn't i just ask them in the first place??) so now i have a few numbers to call on monday and hopefully i can get some consultations set up. what i'm really looking for besides the obvious is someone who doesn't think pills first. i want all natural options exhausted before any medication is prescribed. hopefully one of these doctors will fit that bill.
we also met with the cloth diaper service people and got that all set up. i haven't yet actually technically done business with them, but i will say based on phone calls, that initial meeting, and the products we have so far been given, that happi bunz is an EXCELLENT company. jason and i loved everything about the man we spoke with and the business model he presented. i foresee this being a choice we'll be very glad we made.
here are a couple more pictures of samson and the nursery:

35 weeks:





























hung these pictures up finally




the cutest thing in the world--thanks, jamie!















blanket, bear, cap and booties made by auntie amie's friend :) so sweet and so well done!

well i suppose that's it for now. three more weeks to go and he hasn't dropped yet. that's fine by me. he's got more important things to do in there still. i'm gonna put my money on april 15th. i don't think he's going anywhere any time soon.

16 week checkup and ultrasound

well i guess i have to start off with an embarrassing confession--i apparently cannot count. :( as it turns out, i have been off on my count this entire time by one week. i'm not really sure how or when this happened, but it looks like i'm 16 weeks now, not 17. that's ok, i guess. just one more week to prepare, right?
so anyway, we had another checkup this morning, and everything was looking STELLAR in there. :) the placenta seems to have moved up some since a month ago, when it looked like the area it attached to might be covering the cervix a little. so, it seems to be correcting itself, as they most often do. good news. :) little bean was looking great, as well. lots of powerful kicks and punches going on in there. it's amazing i can't feel any of them yet. he was also a lot more substantial looking since we last saw him, when he was so skinny and jumpy he looked like a little tree frog. now he looks like a big fat baby, just miniaturized. his heart looked and sounded fantastic, and he looked like he really enjoyed stretching his legs out as far as he could. we got a few good pictures, but i think a video would be the only way you could be as impressed with him as i am. to see him moving around is really something else. and besides, he was so active it was difficult to get a clear picture of all his limbs. but when we were watching him, we got to see hands, legs, arms and everything, and they were pretty amazing. maybe next time i'll try to get a little bit of video to post.

in this one he's sort of facing us, but i think looking down toward his feet a little. his brain is so awesome looking! you can see the two halves so clearly. neat :)

these next to are both a side view with him on his back. you can really see all his bones.

and in this one, i forgot to put it in the caption, but that little black area just above his spine is his big strong heart. pretty awesome. and look at his big old baby belly! :)

and this last picture has a bit of information that some of you may want to see, and some of you may want to avert your eyes from: the crotch shot.

it appears we may have a real monster on our hands. :) (if you click on it, it gets bigger and you can see it a little more clearly.) i have to say i'm a little psyched about the toy situation that would result from such a thing being true--boy toys are just so much cooler than girl toys. sure, my heart would break a little if he NEVER wanted to have a pretend picnic with me, but i think playing with GI joes and cars and pretending to be dragons and daring knights would more than make up for it. but nothing's for sure, and we remain strongly opposed to pink and blue color-coding, anyway. so, a bean's a bean, beanpole or no. (and yes, i did use the following site to come up with that euphemism: http://www.gregology.net/Reference/Dicktionary) *snicker, snicker*

and lastly, here are the missing pictures in the growing belly chronicles:








first lying down picture


my cute little over the pants bump






we painted these blue, and the walls are going to be green and yellow. we can't change the drawer handles, so we're going to paint them. not sure what color, though. i wanted to just use the same green or yellow as the walls, but the handles are very ornate and antique looking, so i feel like maybe they should just be silver. anybody have any opinions on that?

well thanks for reading my ridiculously long update. :) hope you're all doing great.

ps
if anybody has any name suggestions for a boy, we would love to hear them. we're not doing too well in that department...

13 week ultrasound and check up

on friday we went in for a check up and had another ultrasound done as well. we got mostly good news, and a little bit of news that could potentially suck. let me start by saying about a week and a half before the appointment i went to the gym for routine number three, which is legs. i did some squats with a barbell and 30 pounds added on. although i hadn't done squats since i'd gotten pregnant, this was twenty pounds less than i was used to doing, and i did 3 sets of 10, no sweat; didn't feel like i was straining at all. (i had only been skipping them because it was usually occupied when i got there.) i also did another kind of squat which i hadn't done in awhile, with just twenty pounds or so, then some other leg stuff that i usually do. well, the next 2 days i could barely walk. i had no idea why i was so sore. and the scariest part was the next morning. i had a couple drops of blood when i woke up. i was really worried about this, even though i'd already read a lot about all the different things it can mean, and how it's usually no big deal if it's just a little (which it was) and i had no pain (which i didn't). i even checked online about doing squats during pregnancy, and everything was saying that it was actually a great idea. so i called my mom and my midwife and they said to just keep an eye on it, and to definitely not do those squats anymore. (don't have to tell me twice) so i was quite pleased when the day of our check up finally arrived and we got to see our little guy dancing around again. he looked healthy as could be, so i was quite relieved. however, my midwife took a close look at the screen and said it looks like my placenta may have attached a little low (which could explain that bleeding). in less than 10% of cases, this does not end up fixing itself as everything moves up and out in the next 2 trimesters, and when that happens you end up with placenta previa. that would mean the area where the placenta attached is covering the cervix, which would mean no natural birth for me. :( instead, it would mean a hospital, searching for a doctor i like, tons of medicine and interventions, a c-section, and possibly my entire birth plan going out the window if i don't find the right doctor/hospital. i wouldn't be able to bond with my baby right away, they would do all sorts of tests on it, breastfeeding would be delayed, they would cut the cord immediately...all these things i did so much research on for so long and feel so strongly opposed to. so, naturally, i was pretty upset with this news. but i'm trying not to let it get me down. in most cases the situation corrects itself, and even if it doesn't, the baby is still healthy, and that's priority number 1.
here are the three beautiful pictures we got this time:


this is him facing us. a little creepy, but cute.

this is him laying on his back. he kept putting his hand up to his mouth and it really looked like he was sucking his thumb! (which i did read they can do at this point)

this one is my favorite. he is facing down, back arched, arms out, and i swear he is doing a heel click! he looked like a little frog in there. he was squirming in this position for a good minute, and it was hilarious. he's just like his dad:

update of the visual persuasion

i thought it might be neat at this point to put together a little pictoral timeline. so here it is: