baby update

sorry for the delay with updates, we got home on thursday afternoon and had to go back in to get gibson's jaundice checked out on friday. his levels were a bit high so they re-admitted him into the hospital. he is currently laying under the bili lights to help him process the biliruben. his numbers have been coming down (which is a good thing) and he is active and feeding well (translated..mama has to stay in the hospital 24/7 with him for feedings). God willing, he will be coming home again tomorrow. now i know what bret favre fans must fell like.

gibson... is there a gibson marshall in the house...

...yes there is!! at 4am this morning (5/20/09) gibson marshall was born. he was a bit of a chunk comin in at 8lbs 6oz and 21 inches long. both mama, who did an amazing job, and baby are doing great... i'll leave detatils for her when she gets out of the hospital. dad is tired and going to bed. more updates soon to come

the final exam

just wanted to post a quick pregnancy update. today was my last visit until we go in wednesday. it'll be nice not to have to go back on the scale for a while, especially since i gained 4.5 lbs in 1 week (oops).

i'm still at 4 cm but i'm 80% effaced. outlook is good.

after discussing in more detail about this wednesday with my midwife, it looks like we'll still be able to carry on with what's on our birth plan after all. apparently, they'll give me a hep-lock so that once the antibiotics are administered i don't have to be stuck to an IV. hooray! she also mentioned that i can still try out water birthing despite having the hep-lock. yay!

she also made it clear that using pitocin will be an absolute last resort for getting labor going, which i'm soooo thankful for. since i'm so close anyway, the hope is that the amniontomy will be the only induction method i'll need.

i'm so thankful that i'm able to work with a care provider who is flexible, laid-back and understands my personal labor and delivery perspective.

so in less than 48 hours...the fun begins.

home stretch

at 38 weeks, i feel this baby has no. more. room. to. grow. no more. it's time for you to come out little one.




















since the last pregnancy update (which have been quite few, i know), it turns out i tested positive for GBS. quite a surprise since they were negative with emma. 2 doses of antibiotics to be administered during labor helps keep the baby from getting GBS during the delivery process. since i labored quite quickly with emma, an induction (via amniotomy) is now scheduled for 20 may to ensure that there will be enough time for me to receive the antibiotics before i deliver the baby.

unfortunately, the antibiotics are administered through an IV, which i had hoped to avoid getting (the IV that is) since i feel it will limit my mobility during the laboring process. i'm also uncertain if our water birth plan will follow through because of the IV, but maybe there'll be enough time for them to administer it and then take the IV out. i think that's probably wishful thinking, since it wouldn't make sense to take an IV back out once it's in.

ultimately, the priority is to deliver a healthy baby, so if it means compromising my birth plan, it certainly is well worth it. on the plus side, it's actually nice to have a confirmed date as to when to expect your baby's birth (though I could certain go at any moment before then).

so it's truly down to the home stretch. in just a few short days we will be meeting the newest member of our family.

wordless (sort of) wednesday::a taste of home

it can get tricky when my pregnancy cravings are for specific indonesian foods and snacks (nearly impossible to get sometimes). i had a craving for these last week and had not been able to find them anywhere around here for years. until yesterday...





















oh happy day!

more wordless wednesday here and here.

what do sunny days bring?

some fun at a newly discovered playground...













































































...followed by a picnic lunch with dad.

i wish it could be warm and sunny forever.

space...the final frontier

who knew that we could venture in space as a family?

the month of "e"

the month of april was brought to you by the letter "e."

here were our "e" themed activities...

introducing the letter e:
head on over here and here for details about this specific activity.


























e themed books:
easter story from the bible
"saggy, baggy elephant"
creation story from the bible (for earth)
there were a few others, but i have forgotten what they were

easter and easter eggs:
we read the easter story a number of times in preparation for easter, and introduced a related memory verse, john 3:16.

we decorated easter eggs using the crayon resist technique and then dying them.

















ears:
we found her ears, discussed how people ears are different from animal ears (e.g. blue's ears are different from people's ears). then we made some cat ears and rabbit ears. she was really into cutting so after the craft she proceeded to cut the extra paper into tiny little pieces (makes for a VERY fun clean-up).



































earth:
in celebration of earth day, we read the creation story and discussed how God made the earth. we made rice krispie earth balls (managed to incorporate some sorting and counting in the activity) and practiced scissor skills by filling in an earth image with green (for land) and blue (for water) paper pieces. the cutting got a bit tedious for emma after a while, so we ended up tearing pieces of paper (which was much easier!). we also took a few nature walks, observing (and sometimes collecting) God's creation around us.
























































































































eggplant:
i had a cute photo with emma and an eggplant, but i must have accidentally deleted it. **found them** anyway, we made eggplant parmesan for dinner and it was tasty!























earings:
emma loves those stick-on earrings. genit sekali! (general trasnlation: such a little ham).





























elephant mask:






























there were a few other e activities i wanted to do, but time did not allow us to fit everything in. i was especially looking forward to making elephant ears. maybe the next time we go through e again.

until next month!

wordless wednesday::pretty flowers

more wordless wednesday here and here.

VANITYLAB's Festivus::the results

a big thanks to vanitylab for hosting such a fun event. though i was at my table for most of the night, there was a great turn-out and lots of fantastic local artists featuring their wares.

i happened to place myself next to a local chocolatier (go figure), and of course the baby was telling me to buy something from her! if you live in the area, she has some fabulous, specialty, hand-made chocolates. her shop, lilly handmade chocolates, is located in tremont. the one i bought was a square chunk of dark chocolate with figs and walnuts (and vegan, i might add). i resisted buying the truffles because i knew that the box would be gone in one evening.

when i was first invited to participate in the event, i approached it as more of a marketing and networking opportunity since i've never done a craft show before. but it was definitely encouraging to be able to sell some of my items :).

and the salon itself is very chic. and conveniently sharing a building with a winery. wine and a massage? how nice would that be?