Thursday, May 5, 2011

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

It's about time that I wrote a more substantial blog post. I would have done it earlier, but there has just been too much going on in my head. Here is an update on our family:

Having the baby:

We have really been getting ourselves ready for baby #2. The room, the labor details, the supplies... everything. I am only 32 weeks, but I really have felt the need to get ready. Maybe that is because last week, at my appointment with the midwives, I realized that I didn't even know where to go when I was in labor. With Luke, there was only one place to go- the birth center. Everything happened there- check ups, birthing, the works. I also realized at that appointment that i had to make sure that Luke had a place to go when I go to the hospital. Another complication that we didn't have the last go around. Basically I had not really thought of the important stuff (or aybe shopping for girl stuff was just more fun).

So, since then, I think I have gotten my act together. In the past week, I: 1. hired a doula (labor assistant) that I am very excited to work with, 2. got an appointment to view the labor and delivery ward at the hospital- which happens to be in a completely different building than my prenatal visits. That was kind of important for me to know! 3. found a back up person to watch Luke if his auntie and uncle are still out of town.

I feel better now.

The baby's name:

I have one that I am completely stuck on now. Hopefully Nathan will consent. :)

Luke:

Luke has continued to be an avid reader with me. He remembers books better than I do and will sometimes just break out into a 12 line rhyme from Dr. Seuss.

Some things that he says a lot right now:

"I got an idea!"
"Let's throw you into the hole top bacon."- we have NO idea where this came from
"It's all right, your friends are all here."
"I'm still hungry mama- my tummy is empty."

Next week, he starts swim lessons. He is very excited about that!

Also, Luke has been better lately. We have still had our moments, but on the whole, I think that he is beginning to get better about obeying and playing nicely with other kids. I found that taking him home really helped me with this. We were at the park on Monday and he whacked a a couple school age kids (Yes, he is fearless) and threw rocks. I picked him up by the arm, took him to the car and told him that we had to go home. He cried for about an hour, but has been a LOT better since.

Nathan:

Nathan has had some good news this past week. His company gave him a raise and a lot more support on the project that he was working on. It was a welcome surprise.

Me:

I have been thinking through a lot of my first birth experience lately. The ups and downs, what I would like to try and do differently. Some of it has just been remembering how things felt. I think it is a grace that most of my sad and difficult labor and post labor thoughts and feelings have dulled or completely been forgotten.

I have also been thinking about how gracious God is to me. This past Sunday at church was a great example. For one, I didn't want to go. Second and third, I knew that Luke didn't want to go and I was feeling really tired from the pregnancy. Luke ended up being very good for me and there were a couple of older mothers who came up to me at lunch and gave me a lot of encouragement. Really, they were exactly the words I needed to hear. I got a little teary.

It is hard to be a mother because you don't always know what to do. I find this especially with church. I want Luke to love God and the Church like I do- and truly much better than I do. I want to bring him often, but I know that he can only handle so much sitting still and such.

Well, I have to go now. We are in the crazy hour before bed and I need to get ready to enjoy some stories with Luke and steel myself for the "I won't go to bed!" routine. :)

2 comments:

Ma Torg said...

I found with my 2nd and 3rd, the nesting instinct struck around 7 months too! Funny, how that is. I think it might be because the third trimester is much more tiring when you have other kiddos to chase around. Glad you are feeling more on top of things now!

Regarding past birth experiences, if it is any condolence, I still struggle with fear and anxiety right before each birth. A lot of the negativity from my birth experience with LUcy still lingers (I am dealing with it myself, now). However, my experience with Mary and Edmund was that you forget that and get into a 'zone' when labor hits.

I just encourage to not dwell on how you could do things different right now. It isn't actually all that helpful, imho. I would try to not dwell on such thoughts and say the Jesus Prayer when they hit . Being reminded of God's mercy and grace is the best help for labor anyhow.

Love and prayers being sent your way!

Emily (Laundry and Lullabies) said...

Thank you for taking the time to write - I've been wondering how you're doing. Great news for Nathan's job, and it sounds like you've got things under control on the baby-coming-sometime-soon front. :) I'm glad you found a doula that you like.

I share your struggle with helping small children learn to love the church as well (no, better!) as we do. I think part of that is that church with children is a lot harder than church as a couple or a single person, and sometimes it can feel hard to love "church" when what we're really struggling to love is "church with a small child who doesn't want to be there." Well, that's often my problem, anyway. :) One step at a time, I guess, and someday I hope that they look back and realize how much they absorbed without noticing.