Uggghhhhhhh...

Wow, that was fun.

I had 12 hours of regular, rough contractions yesterday, from 4 in the afternoon to 4 am, but it went away. That was rather anticlimactic.
But I think we're going to attempt all the "natural" labor encouraging stuff today, so anyone who wants to be there, be ready!

Oh, and for those (female) family members who want to be there, I've changed my mind (again)-- I know, I originally said I didn't want anyone other than Daniel, my mom, and Diane, but I've decided I would love to have more support there with me, if anyone wants to be there-- especially because my mom won't be able to make it up here. (She's in Central Oregon, with my grandma)

Anyway, everyone will get calls when we go... hopefully it won't be much longer!

39 week appointment today

So, I think I posted this last week, but I had my 38 week appointment last week, and was 2 cm.
Today, I had another appointment, and I'm 4 cm dilated now. Getting closer!


It was actually kind of funny, last week, my midwife told me that at today's appointment, I would have the option of choosing to have her "strip the membranes", which is basically just a slightly rougher way of checking my cervix, and it functions as a pretty natural way to speed up the onset of labor if you're getting antsy. When I got home, Daniel asked how it went, and I told him about it, and he looked at me, puzzled: "How can she strip your memories?-- and what would that have to do with starting labor, even if she could?"
Just had to laugh... they're easy words to mishear, but totally different implications!

But anyway, we decided against it, even though for my own purely selfish reasons, I wouldn't have minded helping things along a little. Being nine months pregnant is, to say the least, uncomfortable. But since I'm obviously moving along somewhat, I decided to just wait and see-- and if nothing's happened by my appointment next week, then I'll do it.

These pictures are from a while ago, but they deserve to be posted! This is Natti, Benjamin's three-year-old cousin who loves to "smuggle", with almost anyone available. Apparently, one Friday night not too long ago, none of the grown-ups were available, so she decided to commandeer Benjamin for a smuggle on the dog's bed! I couldn't resist pictures...

You wouldn't know it by his blank expression, but he was about done here, ready to get up-- but notice her fist gripping his t-shirt! I felt bad, I didn't even notice until Adam S. (Natti's daddy) pointed it out.

This is the wonderful diaper cake that Juli made for my baby shower! Thank you, Juli! And thank you, Diane, for buying all the little onesies and blankets and things inside!

I thought this was cute... I can't believe he was ever small enough to fit in that carseat!

I was at my parents' house the other day, and Benjamin was playing with my sister-- he loves his aunt SheeShee (Lizzy)!

And my little muscle-man! This picture is so funny, it looks like he's really trying to lift the table, with that perfect little bodybuilder pose!

This one's gonna be long...

So, as the days tick down to the end of any sembleance of rest and calm in the Johnson household (AKA the birth of child #2), I've been scrambling to make sure I've got everything for the baby together and ready. Kinda last minute, I know, but I finally found a bassinet on Friday-- in pristine condition, at a garage sale for $40! Not bad, huh? (Yes, that is a very messy kitchen in the background...)

So, this is it, as it came. Cute, huh? I really like the old-fashioned look of the floor-sweeping skirt (makes it sound like I'm talking about a wedding dress!), and it even has the same exact vibrating, musical, light-up mobile that I loved on Benjamin's bassinet! Here's a close-up of the detail-- brown and blue, my favorite baby colors this time around!So, that was the bassinet before... and this is it after I "customized" it, with a roll of brown ribbon that Juli used for my diaper cake and gave me the leftovers (by the way, Juli, how much was that roll of ribbon?...and it was at Target, right? I think I could use another roll or two, I've got other projects in mind!), some blue ribbons I had for scrapbooking, and lots and lots of hot glue.

Isn't it cute? I feel so accomplished!

Oh, I also got the crib taken apart a couple days ago-- and that sucker was very uncooperative! Two of the Allen bolts were completely rounded out inside, so after trying over and over again, I finally ended up using a screwdriver point to literally carve a hexagon shape inside the bolt. I think when we put it up again, we'll just buy new bolts to save that trouble later...

So, for the less technical stuff...

Benjamin's been sleeping in his "big-boy bed" (otherwise known as his crib mattress on the floor, with a blanket and pillow) for a little over a week now, and I've actually been surprised at how successful the transition has been! He gets up maybe once or twice, but we just go back in there, and tell him to go back to bed, and that's usually all it takes. Daniel's better at putting him down, though... when I do it, sometimes he gets up over and over again, but it's like he takes Daniel seriously or something, because when Daniel puts him back to bed, he doesn't get up again!

Last night, though, I laid him down, and he fell asleep in bed without getting up once! Yay! Of course, that could be because David and Joey were spending the night, and he was worn out from playing... oh well, whatever reason, I'll take it!

Our morning routine lately has been Benjamin waking up and coming and getting into bed with us to snuggle for a little bit before we get up. I have been so tired lately that I am very happy with this arrangement, and often am able to sneak in 10-30 minutes of extra, much-needed sleep that way. So, the other morning, Benjamin climbed out of our bed, and I had kept my eyes closed for a few more minutes before getting up-- and when I did, I found him sitting in the bassinet, playing with the mobile!! I wish I would have gotten a picture, because it looked so silly, he's so big in it-- but I didn't want to encourage it at all. All I could think of was the possibility of him doing that a week or two from now, when there'll be a tiny, fragile newborn inside the bassinet!

I've got more pictures/stories of Ben, but I think I'll just start a new post, this one's getting loooooong!

38 weeks today...

I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday, and was surprised to find out that I am already not only 2 cm dilated, but also 50% effaced! Now, that's totally normal, and even routine for most women, but for me, that means it's going to be soon! With Benjamin, I was in the hospital, having contractions a minute apart before I dilated past one.

Oh, and for anyone who heard my concerns about the baby possibly being breech (I was feeling lots of little kicks WAY down low, where I knew the head should be), she checked, and his head is most definitely down, and just about engaged. I'm measuring a little bit on the small side (35 cm, at 38 wks, it should be right around 38 cm), but it's no big deal at all, I measured small with Ben, too.

That's all the technical stuff.... totally incidentally, I now weigh exactly what I did when I went into labor with Ben, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a go-ahead from me! ;)

Of course, between now and July 4th, my midwife will only be in Labor & Delivery on Thursday the 19th, so it would take some planning to try and have the baby with her assisting. But oh well, that's how it goes.

I guess I should probably add a picture... this was a couple of days ago, but close enough! As you can see, all my shirts now leave a lovely little gap over my pants/skirts-- or, as Shellee pointed out at my baby shower, "Your belly's hanging out!"

Nature boy

I've discovered that Benjamin is a real outdoorsman... there is nothing he loves better than just playing outside in the grass. He can entertain himself indefinitely by simply examining stalks of grass, or meticulously plucking the petals off of a flower (think "loves me, loves me not..."), or comparing two pinecones, looking for differences (or signs of edibility, which, of course, leads to "Oh! Ewww, stop, no-- Benjamin, we don't EAT pinecones, they're yucky!")




Fortunately, I can entertain myself for some length of time by capturing these moments on camera.. but unfortunately for Ben, my camera's battery runs out before his does, and I'm usually ready to go back inside within an hour or so.





Oh, well, there's always the next day... and the next, and the next, and the next!

Just a few random pictures of Ben in the car...



His feet are so cute!







SO done with the paparazzi!


Anyway, yesterday, it was incredibly warm, somewhere in the high 80's to low 90's, I think (in case anyone missed it, I'm sorry, it was beautiful!)

Daniel decided he wanted to go fishing at MHCC-- more to get outside than really do much fishing, I think. Obviously, bringing a toddler (and a wife?) doomed it to be much shorter, not to mention louder, than your average fishing trip. But it was fun, letting Ben run around while Daniel fished for a while. Benjamin was fascinated by the gravel on the path. He kept bending down to pick up handfuls, and then either throwing them back on the ground... or dropping them in the diaper bag. That was fun to clean out... I think there are probably still several in there. Oh well.

I showed him how to blow the fluff (petals? No... what exactly IS that stuff?) off of the dandelions. He gave a valiant effort... but ended up kissing them instead, which of course resulted in a very fuzzy-mouthed little boy, as we had just shared a small cup of ice cream, much of which was still all over his lips.





I love this one... click it and look at the large version. The string of drool from his chin is clearer that way ;D

Multnomah Falls: trip #1 of the summer

We went on our first hike this summer with Daniel's family a week or so ago, it was so nice! Ugh, even the easy hikes are tough when you're carrying 20+ extra pounds, though! I think Daniel and I had an equally hard time on the uphill hike, though-- he had all 30 lbs of Benjamin on his back in the hiking backpack.


Daniel and Ben taking a break on a little bridge along the trail.





David sitting on a tree overhanging the trail. I took the picture wrong, it doesn't show the 15-ish feet above the trail that the branch is.

There were lots of beautiful Trilliums along the side of the path the whole way-- and then there was this one, standing tall (well, as tall as a 3-4 inch tall flower can stand, anyway), smack dab in the middle of the mud of the trail.



Just a nice view of the trail ahead...

Aww... the little family. Don't ask what Daniel was scowling for, no idea. I think he was just trying to ruin each and every picture. This one was the best out of the 15 or so Diane took!

Contractions already??

These are two slips of notepaper I used to keep track of the Braxton Hicks contractions I was having the other night (the numbers in parentheses are how long a few of them lasted). Yes, they were literally 2-3 minutes apart for over three hours (I didn't start writing them down until they'd been going for over a half hour, and I stopped writing quite a while before they actually went away. (Oh, and the super sloppy section is when I asked Daniel to write them down for me ;)

It did eventually stop-- obviously, or you'd all have been invited to see the new baby by now!-- but then the next morning they were back, 5 minutes apart for several hours. Ugh... I think my body thinks that it's ready for delivery-- and I can't say I blame it! I'm only 34 weeks (and two days), but I feel like I've been pregnant for a year!

But I did think this was kind of strange... I called my midwife and left a message, and she still hasn't even called me back! I was surprised, even though I didn't feel like I was actually in labor, I would have thought that my midwife would have viewed a 34-week pregnant woman having contractions two minutes apart for three hours as at least somewhat urgent. Guess not, though.

Anyway, I guess it's still possible for Great-Grandma Martin (GiGi) to be here for the birth, if that keeps happening!

Benjamin wanted to add the finishing touch to a birthday card I made the other day, so I let him help out... I think he got more marker on himself than on the card, though!

Also, I think we need to get a set of crayons... markers aren't so great with this toddler, I think!

He wasn't so thrilled when I took the marker away...