35 weeks!

Baby is doing great! I’m seeing the doctor weekly now, and still measuring 3-4 weeks ahead. My uterus isn’t thrilled at the prospect of being so stretched, so it is protesting with regular bouts of painful contractions. Doc was able to monitor baby through a few of these contractions today and said that he/she is handling them just fine. Doc assured me that this is pretty typical for a uterus with scar tissue and rapid growth. We’re holding off on the VBAC/repeat cesarian decision till February 1st.. if I’m still measuring ahead at that point, we’ll do an ultrasound and attempt to measure the femur (random, but the most accurate way to estimate size this late in the game), and take it from there. Even if baby isn’t particularly large, excess fluid could be putting extra stress on my uterus.. and we’re trying to minimize the risk of uterine rupture, so that’ll factor into our decision.

It’s a relief to remind myself that even in the midst of complicated yet important decisions, I’m not ultimately in control. Casey and I want to be discerning and not act rashly, but we rest in the truth that our God is sovereign. I couldn’t help but smile  when I read through part of Job tonight. Such a healthy, almost comical, reminder of how ridiculous I can be, to leave an all-powerful creator out of my thought process. I’ll worry, grasp at random statistics, and allow myself to feel wayyyy too much of the burden in such a situation.. missing a perfect opportunity to trust, hope, and find comfort in a perfect, unchanging, good and loving God. You’d think I’d have this down by now. Nope. Not even close.

In other baby news..

My sweet sister-in-law, Beth, threw a baby shower for me in California! It was low-key and very beautifully planned. I had a blast hanging out with family and friends, and baby honeydew is officially spoiled.. already.

“hi mom! taking pictures? what? you want me to smile?”

“sorry.. not feeling smiley. i’m too FIERCE!”

editor’s note: in case you were wondering where penelope got her tarzan toes, there is a prime example of a theule foot right there. those puppies could definitely climb a rope.. or weave a rope from bamboo switches, for that matter.

sometimes, when you’re learning to walk, you fall on your face.

if you do so on cement, you get a really cute scab and bruise. i’m pretty sure it was forgotten within about 2 minutes, though..

penelope takes drumming with grandpa very seriously..

we went to disneyland!

i was slightly nervous– penelope doesn’t usually nap well in her stroller. i envisioned being that family. you know, the one with a screaming, exhausted toddler… trying to force happiness at the happiest place on earth. all my fears were misguided, however, as she napped well and had a wonderful day. we spent about 10 hours at the park. no joke.

highlights included:

• penelope pointing at stuff in “it’s a small world,” and then looking down at her finger.. slightly amazed, but also confused.. wondering how she possessed the power to make things sing/move/light-up just by pointing
• tossing my cookies loud enough (in the california adventure bathroom) to get really sympathetic looks from strangers
• auntie beth and penelope communicating with their special “ahhh” language all day
• the look on penelope’s face when she realized she could steer the buzz lightyear car with a joystick.. and trying to get her to face grandma & grandpa
• penelope’s instant need to sit with daddy when the pirate battle got a little too intense

i’m sure there were more.. but i waited to long to blog about them! all-in-all it was a great day. i’m still not sure how i managed to survive a disneyland trip in the midst of first-trimester sickness.. but the lord was gracious, and we all had a blast!

(click for larger images)

this video was taken at approximately 11pm a couple nights ago. i thought she had successfully made the switch when she was sleepy at around 730pm. i put her down. she woke up a few hours later wanting a snack and thinking she had just had a really great nap. i enjoyed her silly mood and started over the next day…

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on another happy note, i am beginning to feel better! i was hesitant to celebrate, as this is MUCH earlier than last time around… but an ultrasound today confirmed that everything is progressing as it should, and still, i’m  hardly sick at all. i’m often tired, but i have quite the appetite. after all, i have some weight loss to make up for.

in case you doubt :pregnant confession warning: casey just made me clam linguini at 11pm. and it was definitely my second dinner of the evening.

okay. back to the ultrasound. baby lemon seems to be VERY laid back. s/he was mellow, cozy, and couldn’t be bothered with such trivialities as stretching out to be measured. baby preferred to tuck a single arm behind his/her head, and curl up comfortably. case & i were both a little nervous at the start of the ultrasound.. because we were accustomed to seeing a firecracker jump and dance around (read: penelope) and didn’t know that it was okay for baby to be sleepy. we have one picture, but no real way to get it on the computer right now. it isn’t very exciting anyway… kind of like… yep… there’s a head, and there’s a body. the 20 week scan should be much more photogenic.

since this pregnancy has been dramatically different than last time (more intense sickness, but for a seemingly shorter time) we’re both thinking boy now. we’ve finally settled on a (sorry, surprise) name for either gender, and since i love them both so much, i feel more prepared for either. . something about having that name to attach makes a baby so much more endearing. the tech was pretty excited that we’re going for a delivery room surprise.

okay. so apparently this is a long post. since i haven’t blogged at all in the month of august, i suppose you all had it coming ;).

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casey started school today. this semester he is taking hebrew (intro), history (baptist), and galations (greek exegesis). the hebrew class is pretty much going to kill him, so i’m glad he’s getting it out of the way before baby comes. apparently the professor is a bit like a drill sergeant, who eases up in later semesters. this morning he spent the whole class period saying “if you are doing _______ while trying to take this class, you might as well just drop  it now.” many students looked afraid for their lives.

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MY MOM IS COMING TOMORROW. i’m super excited. we moved the day before we left for california, and hadn’t unpacked a single thing. you know those shows where people confess to being pack rats? yeah, that’s what my apartment looked like when we got back from california. just what you want to see after spending all day wrangling a toddler on a plane… while pregnant. needlesstosay, reinforcements are kindly welcomed. i can’t wait to see her. i feel a little like we’re somehow cheating… we just got back from california, and i don’t even have to get homesick before i get a visit from mom. sweet.

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i have quite a few pictures to upload from our trip… it was a wonderful, refreshing, restful time. just what we needed. we spent lots of time relaxing, a bit of time exploring la with friends who had never been, and loved being around family. it had been 7 months since we had last gone home.. entirely too long! i’ll work on getting the pictures posted throughout this week.

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i have a list of crafts i want to start that is about a mile long. i think it is time to reinstate some sort of craft night. once we settle into our semester routine, i’ll send out an email and get it started :). i feel like i’ve been isolated for so long! too much time spent on the bathroom floor the past couple of months, i’d say. time to remedy that. and see people. i’m excited :)

okay. this is reaching epic-novel length… and none of it is epic-novel worthy.. so i better just stop. go watch that video again. it’ll redeem my rambling..