I think the reason for the long blogging hiatus is that I've had too much to say. My journal has suffered a similar loss. There's been an overgrowth of thoughts and ideas, projects and changes in my life this year, and instead of getting a few of them down somewhere, I've opted out completely. The problem is that many of them will now disintegrate into the depths of my lonely mind unless I start somewhere! So here's to a comeback.
I am a little surprised every morning I wake up without being in labor, as I've been anticipating and looking forward to the experience. Last week, however, we had an unexpected development in the waiting game, which could explain the postponement of labor onset. Samuel contracted pneumonia! Sher said it could be because he's at the tail end of a growth spurt, thereby becoming low on iron, which can make one more prone to bacterial infection. Apparently, children can become deficient fairly quickly because of how fast they grow, so we really have to watch them. She says you can generally see if it's happening by the pallor of their skin. More on that later maybe.
He woke up Friday breathing about 60 times a minute, worrying me more than any of his other symptoms, which had been gradually worsening over the two preceding days. The horrible thing is that despite my disbelief, our thermometer was only registering him as having a temperature in the 99-100.4 range. Well, when we took him into the doctor on Friday, the nurse found his fever to be 103.9! Time for me to change the battery I guess (yikes)! So after a very unpleasant series of probing and testing, they discovered the pneumonia. We put him on an antibiotic, hoping baby would wait a couple more days to emerge so Sammy would be ready to welcome him with us. We'll be sure to give him lots of yogurt, kefir, and acidophilus to buoy him back up. :)
Sammy having a treatment to help clear his lungs
while hearing a version of the oft-requested "dump truck story."
In this one, the dump truck is being used in the copper mines
to help make pennies. Sammy got to keep the penny,
and clasped it tightly in his hand until we left.
Now that he is himself again, I am ready. I am genuinely excited for the labor and birth, and feel the last couple weeks have been a sacred time. My experience with Samuel left me feeling a little bittersweet about childbirth, but during this pregnancy I have come to terms with my anxieties, and I feel ready. Even though one can never quite predict how things will go, it's much easier to prepare the second time! Among other things, I've been preparing by being more connected with myself - recognizing and properly reacting to emotional charge, sensing tension in a way I never have before, linking spirit to body, breathing through distress, and just being more patient and positive about everything. Wonderfully, these things are helping me in many more ways than simply readying for childbirth.
I have enjoyed being pregnant a great deal. I feel like it's practically slipped right through my fingers! We don't really comprehend the scope and grandeur of the change that is upon us, but we're really looking forward to the adventure of having two little brothers around to keep us laughing and running.
I don't have many pictures of me in my late pregnancy.
Here are a couple I found from July.
Much more to come.
