Life in Limbo or: Waiting for Baby

Yesterday I had continuous contractions for over 4 hours. They were irregular; none were farther apart than 13 minutes, none less than 3 minutes apart. I also went in to the hospital for a non-stress test. Apparently things can go horribly horribly wrong within 2 days after the estimated due date. We averted that crisis; she told us everything was perfect and I'm okay to stay pregnant. Yay? :) I also told her that on Thursday, when I went in for my regular appointment with the midwives, I was dilated to 4 centimeters. (I'm also 80% effaced, apparently.) She was amazed that I'm still pregnant. She measured the amniotic fluid and told me that all her numbers had to add up to at least a 5. Mine added up to 15. I think we're good, and baby's content to roll around in my belly for a while longer. *sigh*

Meanwhile, my Mom and sister have arrived in town. Hayley is enjoying her first EFY experience, and Mom is here frantically sewing bedding for the bassinet that she brought. Yay! Cara will have a bed when she comes!

Incidentally, when my Mom was pregnant with me, her contractions didn't start until a few minutes after she had finished putting the bumper pads on my crib. I was a week late. We joke that Cara won't come until after her bed is finished, either. We keep telling her it's okay to come a little sooner- the bed will be ready for her when she comes home. She's not listening so far.

Otherwise... everyone's sitting on pins and needles. "Do you have a baby yet?" and "No, not yet," are the most common phrases in our lives right now. Everything feels like it's on hold. My back is sore. I can't eat much- I'm still not feeling great from Sunday, but I have started drinking juice and eating crackers, so at least both of us are getting some nutrition. She's still moving quite well. I'm sleeping well at night (all things considered) and, though my movement is restricted, I'm generally feeling pretty well during the day still.

Predictions? Well, I thought she'd be here last Thursday. Ryan thought she'd be here on Saturday. My Mom thinks she'll come on July 2nd. I'm figuring out that the baby waiting game is... full of excitement, trepidation, anxiety, and difficulty breathing. :) At this point, I'm excited to be able to hand her to Ryan and let him hold her for half an hour. I can't wait to lay on my belly, eat sushi, and walk in a straight line without swaying from side to side. Ah, the good times ahead!

No Baby Yet

Just in case any of you were wondering... Yesterday was the due date, and while I had contractions for over an hour, they weren't real labor and she didn't make an appearance. Last night my stomach hurt and I slept poorly, which meant that I woke up exhausted and still with a stomachache, which is why I stayed at home all day just resting. Hope everyone has a great Sunday! And rest assured... I will definitely post a blog with pictures when I get home from the hospital with our brand new daughter! Keep checking back!

Twiddling My Thumbs

Seriously, what are you supposed to do with yourself when you're waiting for a baby to come?

Never Fear- the World is Safe Again!

I've had some interesting dreams since getting pregnant, but last night's was probably the coolest:

After years of taking over star systems and blowing up planets, Darth Vader had finally decided to run a Residential Treatment Center. His intentions may have started out good, but his methods left a lot to be desired, and by the time I came on the scene, everybody was, understandably, quite afraid of him. I'm not sure if I was there as a counselor or a client, but I do remember sitting on the ground with the clients, listening to him speak. One of the girls (whom I've never met but who I saw quite clearly and whose name was Michelle) made the mistake of mouthing off. A bunch of boys laughed at what she had said. Vader nonchalantly raised his arm, which, of course, lifted the obnoxious teens off the floor completely. He let them hang for a moment, then dropped the boys to the floor. Michelle, however, he threw across the room, intending to smash her into the wall.

However, in her flight path she came very close to me. I grabbed her hand and stopped her movement. She didn't come down, and Darth Vader, furious, tried to lift me up as well and slam us both into the wall. It didn't work. It almost did. I felt myself begin to rise, but I stayed down by sheer force of will, all the while hanging on to Michelle's hand and yelling at her to "Think, Michelle! Think! If you think hard enough, you'll come down!"

I'm not entirely sure how that escapade ended. I would imagine that, having been thwarted, Darth Vader left the room and I enjoyed a grim victory.

Flash forward to a few weeks later, when we are all at a theme park. I've never been to this place in real life, but I visit it relatively frequently in my dreams. All I really remember about it now is that, near the entrance, it has a water ride with a big loop, so you go upside down in a boat. I have no idea how that works. At any rate, we were giving the clients the chance to be at an amusement park.

Enter: Darth Vader! Again, doing something that was unacceptable. By this time, I had gained respect among the clients and staff as the only one who could stand up to Mr. Evildoer. He had gotten fed up with me, and somehow we ended up in a full-on Force fight right there on the loop of the water ride. It lasted several seconds, each of us staring at the other until, finally, Darth Vader couldn't take the force of my will and exploded!

That's right, my friends. I exploded Darth Vader with the power of my mind, and all is well with the world.

The Tablets are Done!!!

Okay, so I'm fully aware that these are awful pictures, but I'm so excited that they're finally done I just don't really care. :)

Here's the story: I made up a language. Mostly it was for fun, but it also happened to work for a school project, which gave me a helpful deadline. For the project, I was unable to complete the language as I would have liked. It was just way too time consuming. Instead, I created the basics of the language, along with many pages of words. I then wrote the beginning of a story, created these tablets, translated the beginning of that story into my language, and then etched the seven verses into these tablets. They were still drying when it came time to turn in the project, so I had to settle for doing rubbings of them and pictures and placing them into a binder to show the work I had done. The semester ended, I inexplicably lost 15 points (out of 200) off of the project (which I'm still bitter about and don't completely understand) and my tablets finished drying. Question: What do you do with 7 random tablets that you worked very hard on but that really have no purpose? You call your Mom and she gives you the brilliant idea to finish them and, when you have a yard, to display them outside. Wonderful! And so, I laboriously cleaned each of them, took them to be fired, gave them 3 coats of glaze, took them to be fired again, and ended up with cool yard decorations!

Interestingly, I calculated it out today, and, including the paint, tools, both firings, and initial clay, I spent just over $30 on this project. Not bad, really.

Anyway, the translation for these tablets is below:

In the beginning, so named because it was the beginning as we understood it, there were five peoples. We lived separately. Each people enjoyed their responsibilities and the talents that came with those responsibilities.

We, of course, were the Earth People, charged with the gathering and keeping of knowledge and talented in working Earth.

Our closest neighbors, across the Great River to the East, were the Water People. They were charged with growth, the growth of people, of plants and animals, and of all of life. To this end, they were talented in working and manipulating water.

Beyond them, and to the North, lived the Spirit People, to whom were given the talent and charge of healing in all its forms.

To our South dwelt the Air People, whom were loved by all. Theirs was the task of friendship, of love, and of communication. Thus did they work Air.

Toward the setting sun in the West, as though they were drawn toward the color of their own element, lived the Fire People, charged with justice, but feared, for they were the bringers and manipulators of fire, and often of death.

Despite our differences and the space between us, we lived in peace and discovery and understanding of each other, in the beginning.

Project #2

So, forever ago (and by forever I mean just a few weeks) I finished painting the dresser. We have since put baby's clothes and toys into it, and it's just the cutest thing ever! Today I finished painting the little bedside stand that I wanted to go with it. Admittedly, I'm not quite as happy with how it turned out compared to the dresser, but it is fun that they look like they match and they're all sorts of girly and cute. Here's hopin' baby Cara likes them... and that they don't get completely beaten up before she can appreciate them!

The Barker Fish Farm has always been a fixture in my life. Every Summer for years I went there with my family and we would catch our year's supply of fish. So much fun! Since coming to college, I haven't had as many opportunities to go, but last Summer I was able to meet up with my family and take my husband there for the first time! These are the pictures that have been posted on my sidebar but that nobody has been able to get to. Enjoy!

Trying this again...

Yay! It worked!