Wow, two blog entries in just a few days! Can you tell I've had a bit of spare time lately?  Thankfully, work is slowing down a bit, which is giving me a chance to relax a wee bit more.

 

Anyway, today's blog will be short. I posted pictures of the nearly complete nursery (see the Widge's Room photo album). A couple words of explanation, though: First, the lighting wasn't too great when I took the pix, so they look a little dark. (His room gets full morning sun, so that made shooting pix a little tough.) Second, yes the crib will eventually have a fourth side on it. It was smashed in transit, so I'm waiting for the manufacturer to send us a replacement. Third, you might be wondering about the mass of bedding on the floor. That has been affectionately dubbed "the nest" by Chris and me. When we had the old full-size bed taken out of the room, we kept the Memory Foam topper, down comforter, and pregnancy pillow in there and created a sort of floor nest that has been my haven lately. Chris is a very restless sleeper, and I'm a very light sleeper...the combination doesn't always gel very well. So, I sneak in there and curl up in the nest when I can't sleep. As you can see, Luna has taken quite a liking to it, too. Eventually it will be out of there, but for the time being it works very well as a secondary bed. And fourth, the last picture in the album has nothing to do with the nursery. My Mom's good friend, Gratia, was out for a visit this past weekend, and Chris and I went with them on a day trip to Napa. Thought the picture of the three of them turned out really cute, so I tossed it in here.

 

Now, for the "Tales of a Wild and Crazy Baby" part of the blog. Mr. Pigwidgeon has gone psycho yesterday and this morning! He is moving more than ever, which is kind of funny because he's supposed to actually slow down now, as he's running out of room on the womb. His usual pattern is to move a bit early in the morning, then sleep most of the day, with some periods of light activity after I eat or drink something. (He's a big fan of decaf iced mochas from Starbucks, it seems.) And then most nights, he's very active for an hour or maybe a couple hours, then settles back down. But yesterday, he moved pretty much nonstop all day! I don't think he slept much at all...it was like a constant earthquake in my belly! This made me very happy, because he was super quiet on Sunday and had me all worried. (Yes, I'm a worrywart, I know! But he's usually pretty active, so I fret when he gets too quiet.)

 

So does all this movement mean anything? Probably not. I'm afraid to get my hopes up! They say babies slow down right before delivery, so if anything it probably means that I've got a little ways to go. Darn it. I was hoping it'd be sooner rather than later. But what do I know? Maybe he's getting really bored in there and preparing to make an appearance! Hope springs eternal....

Well, I haven't done a blog entry in a while and I happen to have a rather free day today, so I figured I'd post a lil' update...in the form of some FAQs, just to make it slightly more interesting (or not!). Without further ado, here goes:

 

I wish!! My due date is still three weeks away...but technically he's already full-term and thus could come anytime. And frankly, I'd love it to be sooner rather than later.

 

Like a large, uncomfortable, overly emotional whale.  I'm really not that huge, but I sure feel that way! I lumber around rather clumsily these days, I think. Sore back, sore hips, lousy sleep...all the usual suspects when one is nine months' pregnant, I'm sure.... And I seem to cry about the stupidest things lately. Last night it was the fact that our older dog is losing her sight. I've known this for months, so why I suddenly started bawling about it last night is beyond me! And truthfully, she lives in a happy (albeit rather dark, probably) little bubble, so I don't know why I was so upset about it.  She's 13 years old—all she really wants is to putter happily around the house and eat and sleep, so really, she's got it all. Still, I was suddenly quite devastated about her losing her sight. And this morning, I teared up over the fact that in my favorite online comic strip (Sheldon, featuring a wonderful little pug!), the pug has gone missing! Now, I know they'll find the pug, who is probably just off getting into mischief, but I seriously got all teary-eyed over this! (Well, that and the Dixie Chicks song I was listening to at the time.) So much so that I crawled back into bed with Chris for a hug. He must be seriously confused by this behavior...I'm usually not the "I need a hug" type. Good god, hormones must do a number on me!!

 

Yes, tons! But it seems that most of them stem from me being a bit dehydrated. If I sit down and have a big glass of water, they go away. Sigh...they get me all excited for nothing!

 

Yep! Last night was the last one. Well worth the $350 we paid for the 10-week class—we learned a ton! Last night covered newborn care quite a bit, which is a good thing since neither of us know a whole lot about that.  One of the other couples in the class had their baby early and brought him last night—he's only two days old! Little Gio(vanni) weighed in at 5lbs 15oz, 19.5 inches long. Having seen him and our new nephew, Nikolas, lately has made us so impatient to meet our little guy!

 

Yep! All is still well. Pigwidgeon is still head down, though not yet fully engaged in the birth canal (that can happen the day you go into labor or several weeks ahead, so it's not really a predictor of much). He still has a good, strong heartbeat, and his mama still comes out healthy on all her tests, so we're headed into a potentially complication-free delivery (fingers crossed!). From now on, we see the doctor every two weeks until the baby arrives.

 

Just about! I built the nursery furniture last week. The crib was delivered with one smashed piece, so we're waiting for a replacement, but everything else is done. And I finally got my special baby-friendly, mostly-chemical-free soap, so I can set to the task of prewashing all his little cloth diapers now.

 

That he's going to be a big boy! My money says 8lbs or more, but we'll see. We've got big babies on the Snyder side, small babies on the Small side (how appropriate!). Maybe it will balance out and he'll be average. He's going to look like Goliath next to his tiny cousin Nicky, though!!

 

Chris, my Mom, and Chris's Dad all say April 1st. Chris's Mom says March 27th. I'm kind of thinking April 8th. Now watch it be April 29th, which is the longest Kaiser will let me go without inducing.... I seriously might go stir crazy if he waits that long!! Though if it was April 29th, he would share a birthday with three excellent others: my grandma, my friend Lisa's husband (Chris), and Luna pug!

 

Ha ha, wouldn't you all like to know?! Actually, wouldn't WE like to know!! We have it narrowed down to about 12, but no further than that. Each day the top contender differs, so I guess it will come down to whatever the top contender is on the day he arrives. So many good names, only one tiny baby to give one to....

 

He'd tell you he's a stressball, but I think he's doing great.  He sent in the last full chapter of his thesis last night, so now he just has to write his conclusion and do any revisions his readers ask for. He's working like mad to balance work, thesis, prepping for Widge's arrival, and supporting his increasingly weepy wife, and I think he's doing an excellent job!

 

Okay, guess I've procrastinated enough. Here's hoping the next blog post will be pictures of our little baby boy!  

 

 

Well, I don't have any new pictures or anything to post, but I thought I'd add a blog post because...well, it's a good way to procrastinate!

 

I'm 36 weeks along now, and getting impatient! As of late next week I'll be officially full-term, even though Pigwidgeon isn't technically due until April 15th. But that means after the end of next week, he could most likely arrive safely at any time. And I have to say, as much as Chris would like a little more time to prepare for the little one, I, for one, would be delighted if he showed up a bit early! My back and hips seem perpetually sore these days, and more than anything I'm just ready to have the labor and delivery behind me and meet our little son! I guess two weeks past your due date is about as long as Kaiser will let you go, so if nothing else he will arrive before April 29th (coincidentally, my grandmother's birthday as well as Luna's!), but I sure hope he doesn't make me wait that long! I've been having contractions for several days, but I'm told those can start a month or so before the birth, so they probably mean nothing at this point...other than that my body is starting to gear up for what is to come.

 

The nursery furniture we ordered from WalMart is supposed to arrive on Monday, so then we'll finally be able to get everything put together. (Well, okay, Chris will...I'm not sure I'm up to building a crib and changing table at the moment! Though I DID manage to mow the lawn yesterday, which I'm quite proud of.) My Mom and I decorated the walls of the nursery the other day, but the furniture situation in Widge's room is chaos at the moment.

 

Chris and I have two more weeks of Bradley childbirth classes, and so we're feeling pretty prepared to tackle this whole natural-birth approach. We are very much hoping for a natural, drug-free delivery, but only time will tell. I'll say one thing, though: If I deliver this baby on our terms, with no drugs, I am going to feel like SUPERWOMAN!!! Poor Chris will never hear the end of the "I did it!" refrain from me!

 

My sister and her daughters threw me a wonderful baby shower this past weekend—for pictures, check out my friend Kim's blog. It was really neat to get to share that with all my friends and my Sacramento family members.

 

Anyway, that's the news from here! I'm just large and antsy these days...waiting to meet the boy!