At Home…in Alaska

Archive for March, 2007

Chickens

3/01/07 2 (M & L)

3/02/07 1 (M)

3/03/07 2 (L & F)

3/04/07 1 (M)

3/05/07 1 (L)

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The countdown really begins now. I’m anticipating/hoping to just have a week left like last time. Baby has been trying to turn the last couple of days and I’ve been having intense lower back pain as a result periodically. Really throws you for a loop… I had backlabor with our second so I remember what it’s like. All of ours have “hung out” ROA till the very end though so I know a couple of ways to encourage them to turn that have worked and I’m doing them when time permits. I’m going to have to bump it up though I think and help baby along faster.

We had our appt. Thurs. but last weeks never did get rescheduled unfortunately. Anyhow, all is still going along just as it should. My blood pressure was a bit high again but that was because I was busy working most of the day instead of resting. A friend from church stopped by midafternoon and we had a nice visit and she brought dinner which was a wonderful blessing for *all* of us. Our two older girls have been really doing well with simple meals and maintaining the kitchen so it was a nice break for them especially. Then, the midwives came in the later afternoon/evening. So, it was a busy day which excused my bp reading. Baby was ROP when they were here but later moved ROA and then, like I said, it’s been trying to move to the left ever since. We met the substitute midwife and she’s really personable and we felt relaxed with her. Come to find out, the friend that stopped by earlier actually had her as an apprentice (we use/used the same midwives although we didn’t know each other until about three yrs ago and her youngest is 6 or 7 yrs I think) for one or two of her births and reassured us that she’s competent, etc. and she’s certainly had a chance to increase her experience since then. So, I’m confident everything will be fine.

I’m trying to keep myself from anticipating gender but the heartrates are making it hard. No, I’m not going to reveal them or my suspicions…I learned my lesson a couple of times before.

That’s all the news for now. My parents should be showing up here soon to celebrated our second son’s 4th bday a little early. There’s a family party on my husband’s side for Easter tomorrow which I’ll probably take a raincheck on but everyone else will attend. Mon. is our son’s actual bday so we’ll probably do something as an immediate family then as well.

Till next time.

No appt. has been rescheduled yet. I’m feeling fine but baby still hasn’t moved to the correct side yet. Our last baby (the only one I have easy access to records at the moment) didn’t turn from ROA to LOA until 37 wks so I’m not too worried about it. I’m sure it will happen soon. I have been feeling baby changing positions a lot, moving over my spine especially and tending to hang out posterior…so he or she is getting there, just taking his/her time about it. All of mine have done this actually. Like I said, I don’t have easy access to all their records at the moment…just memory. In fact, I had back labor with my second and our first son actually hung out transverse until the last few weeks.

I have closed our store as of today for about a month. These last couple of weeks, I’m just going to focus on family and home stuff. Postpartum, of course, I won’t want to be doing anything except resting/recovering, snuggling baby and spending some special time with the rest of my family. I’ll have some new stuff to add when it opens again. Dh has some of our “personal” knives ready (as opposed to the wholesale orders) and I’m working on a couple of things. Thanks to all who have stop by and supported us. You’re great!

There were a couple of other things I wanted to add…but they’ve totally slipped my mind at the moment. Pregnancy Brain at it’s peak period right now I think…

In closing, I wish you all a pleasant St. Patrick’s Day the rest of the day! No special meal for us this year. Everything gives me heartburn and my dh is not particularly fond of corned beef (Why do I only seem to think of making it around the holiday anyway? I have a good reason to plan it for a later time now I guess…) and it’s accompaniments anyway.

Canceled today. They were at a birth. Will reschedule tomorrow.

Goodness, how fast a week goes! I just realized that I didn’t update on our home visit last week and now we have another appointment tomorrow!

All went well last week. Even the house cleaning. My other half likes to wait longer on things like that than I do…I guess he’s really spurred by the adrenaline rush. He really got the children moving though and everyone pulled together to pick up where I can’t help but be slack right now. Again, it wasn’t what I would have preferred but I’m learning to let things go and things are as they are right now.

My blood pressure reading proved that I’m doing well in turning certain things over to God and “not sweating the small stuff”…it was the best it’s been the whole pregnancy so far!! LOL 114/68 Everything else was exactly right on too. The midwife even laughed and said to the children, “Your mother is such a perfect pregnant lady!” LOL My dh has also said that pregnancy just seems to suit me each time… Hmmm. Tell that to my hips! And, lower back. I’ve had some injuries to both areas so I think that it goes beyond the “normal” pregnancy discomfort. I’ve said it before and I’m not exaggerating…it’s quite debilitating at times. Otherwise, I have nothing to complain about. Six of one, half dozen of the other. I’m thankful that my “problems” are limited in pregnancy and yet ones I do have are real buggers. My family is at least able to compensate for me though with these where if I had any others they wouldn’t be able to. God is merciful.

So, tomorrow another appt. and as I thought the midwives are going to come here. Not sure if it’s just because they have other appts. out-n-about or they are just being sympathetic. (Going on errands and sitting in the car any length of time is just so uncomfortable/painful.) Whatever the case my be, I’m happy to have the checkup here. Only thing is, I don’t have a scale and I’m curious about my weight. Two weeks ago, I’d actually lost 1/2 a pound and then, of course, last week we couldn’t check. No big deal. I probably should be happy not to know. Again, just curious…

I’m still not *exactly* sure when our midwife leaves on her trip…I forgot to ask last week and this morning when she called to set up our appt. (she was at a birth so I didn’t want to keep her anyway ). She said she’s been “praying” (we haven’t delved into her religious beliefs so…for what it’s worth…) that I will go early at 37 wks so that she will be here. Hmmm. As I’ve said previously, earliest was with the last baby at 39 wks. I’ve usually gone to 40 wks minus a couple of days. The Braxton Hicks have really increased in frequency and intensity but that’s not unusual. So… We’ll see. I really don’t think I’ll have the baby at the end of this week. I just don’t feel *that* close.

Wow, can’t believe how close we are now! And, look - our ticker has moved to the last box! Yay!

We are very happy to add another new product to our store for our wonderful patrons!

Just in time for the Spring/Summer Wedding Season! May we introduce…

Tears of Joy Tissue Packs!

We’d love to have you stop by and check them out! We have used them ourselves and can attest to the quality - not wimpy tissues these.

Don’t forget to recommend them to your friends - especially all those future brides! Although, baby showers are a good place to have them too!

Sort of. We still have a month+ of winter left here but we really need to clear some stuff out before baby (and Spring) arrives! We’ve put a number of things on special in our store - please stop by and check them out! Don’t forget to tell your friends! We really try to keep things comparable to what you might find in thrift stores or Ebay and we are willing to dicker (a few exceptions) - so email me with an offer if you are inclined. We’ve also dropped the *free shipping* amount down to $25.00! And, if you’ve been wanting to try any of the handmade soap, we’ve put that on special too. I have a few more things “in the works” but they are going slowly because of gestating. Stay tuned…and thanks again for your patronage!

All continues to go like clockwork. Even measuring the *exact* number of weeks.

We will have our home visit next week. From talk 2 weeks ago, it sounded like we’d have it at 37wks instead of the usual 36wks. However, there is a new turn of events…my midwife is going to AZ for 2wks. She said she didn’t remember my dates right when booking her trip… So, she has another midwife lined up for us just in case. Still, it’s someone I’ve never met. We will have the same apprentice and she was with us for P.’s birth so that makes me a little more comfortable than I would be otherwise. Just as far as having familiar helpers…skill and experience being a whole other consideration. I’m sure the alternate is competent and skillful - she apprenticed/trained with the midwife we have now and our midwife who passed away last year and has been practicing for quite a while. Still, not what you want to hear this late in the game. I made a statement of this happening in doctors offices all the time on the way home…whoever’s “on call” delivers you…and my dh said, “Yeah, well, if we had wanted to go to a doctors office, we would have.” *sigh* I think he’s a little more perturbed than I am about the possibility of the caregiver we *selected* and are *confident* with (not to mention paid for) not being available. It doesn’t please me in the least…but what am I going to do about it? Start all over with a caregiver this late? I’m just going to go with the flow and trust the judgement of my midwife - that she’s chosen a competent skillful person to attend to her clients while she’s gone. Really, the possibility is just as good that she won’t miss it. She’ll be back around the 39wk mark. Trusting God too…He knew and knows and He is working out His Will perfectly. What a concept huh?!

So, anyway, I have a week of house cleaning planned. We still have some things to pack up/move out… Mostly, it’s deep cleaning that’s left though. Homeschooling is officially going on “hold” today and I’m going to pack away all that stuff too. I’ll keep it close to the front of the shed for when we’re ready to start up again. As far as remodeling projects, I’m not sure what my dh will do. I know he’ll continue with the kitchen through the week…but after that I’m not sure what he’ll do. Living with Mr. Visionary is hard sometimes… My goal is to have this house as empty - yes, empty - and as clean as possible! Beyond that, nothing except gestating.