… I’m going to have a baby.

(Of course, it’s so late that by the time most of you read this, it will be today.)

We have finally settled on her name—Sarah Brooke Felio. If everything is on time, she should be joining us around 11:30 tomorrow via scheduled c-section. I’m a little nervous because sometimes scheduled c-section babies have breathing difficulties at first, but I’m 39 weeks and it is a very small percentage at that point. I just know I’m going to want my baby in my arms as soon as possible!

Anna has been so sweet about the impending arrival of her baby sister. She talks about her all the time. She talks about sharing her toys with her, holding her, reading to her, and maybe baby sister will do this or that; when I have to put away something that is too small for Anna to wear, she says maybe baby sister can wear it, etc. She loves to feel her move, and she will often lean into my tummy and hug or kiss her, or tell her she loves her. She has also been around some other little babies recently and absolutely loves it. She knows that she lived in Mommy’s tummy when she was a little baby, and the doctor took her out and we brought her home. I really think she has some understanding of what’s about to happen. I can’t wait to see them together!

This pregnancy has been very different in that we have been so distracted by so many things. Part of that is due to having a toddler that needs our attention, part is moving and remodeling and everything that has to do with the house, and part is getting two new canine family members recently. (By the way, Sydney and Lexi are down at their former foster home for a week or so while we bring home Sarah.) With everything we’ve had going on this year, I feel like it’s only been in the past couple of weeks that I’ve really been anticipating a new baby. It helped to get her room ready and wash all her clothes and such.

But I think we’re finally ready now! I know I’m ready to be done being pregnant; it just hasn’t totally sunk in yet that we’re really going to have a little baby tomorrow. I guess when I see her, it will get pretty real, huh?

Well, I’d better try to get some sleep. Haha, right. :)

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… girl!

Yep, we are expecting another healthy baby girl! I had my Level II ultrasound yesterday down in Little Rock to check for any abnormalities (not because of any existing concerns, but because of “advanced maternal age”), and everything they saw looked healthy and normal. Although the doctor couldn’t see everything he was looking for in the heart, what he could see of the heart as well as all the other anatomical features looked fine, so David and I were satisfied enough to not schedule a return visit. FINALLY, at the very end, he was able to get a good enough look to say he was 90% certain it was a girl. That’s good enough for us, especially since I know my own doctor will do a couple more ultrasounds before my due date, so I’ll ask her to make sure. :)

We are thrilled to be having another little girl. I know you’re not supposed to have a preference, but we did. I think most people probably do whether they admit it or not, so we just went ahead and admitted it. If it were a boy, I know we would love him like crazy, and once he was here, we would marvel at why we ever wished for anything different. Maybe a boy is in our future; I don’t know. (We are seriously considering adopting in the future, and I have no idea when, from where, what age child, etc.) But for now, we’ll have 2 little girls—how precious is that?

And before any parents of same-sex siblings get on my case, yes, I do realize that another girl doesn’t mean another Anna. Anna is so wonderful and has been a blessing beyond our wildest dreams, and I know that our second daughter may be completely different than the first. But she’ll be a blessing beyond our wildest dreams too, I know it. Anna is very particular about things, plays with her toys the way they were intended to be played with, already knows her letters and numbers at age 2, and doesn’t like to be messy. Will the second child be the crazy, creative artist that leaves David and me scratching our heads wondering how in the world to help her channel her energy?

I hope that, for both of our girls, we can help them find what they’re good at and do it well. David and I share a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses. If one of our girls shows an interest in what we’re weak in, I hope that we are able to recognize it and help her succeed in whatever she’s supposed to do.

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Ok, so… I’m pregnant. About 8 1/2 weeks. Due around mid-October.

I’ve had 2 ultrasounds. The first was a week and a half ago, and we had intended to tell the world after we got back from the doctor. However, even though baby and heartbeat looked good, Dr. L. saw some suspicious stuff on the ultrasound that made her think there was a chance it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. She drew some lab and told us to come back in a week for another ultrasound. With heavy hearts, we told a handful of people (like our family) and decided to wait at least another week to go public.

The lab results were normal and this week the ultrasound looked much better, thank the Lord! It’s looking more like it’s going to be a healthy baby, and she gave it a 90% chance now. She wants to see us back next week. We were going to try to wait one more week before we told people. But…

I’m sick, tired, ready to bail on all my commitments, and not wanting to come up with excuses anymore. So, folks, I’m checking out of society for about the next 4 weeks or so. :) You might see me, you might not; it just depends on how I feel on any given day. I’m very thankful for a husband who works from home (and will make a grocery run at 7 a.m.) and a mom who lives close by who can come and get Anna if I can’t take care of her. I sure do miss her when she’s gone, but at least she loves going to her Mammaw’s house. Meanwhile, I’ll be subsisting on saltines, Jello, Sprite, and white bread toast. By the way, I was not sick with Anna. This kid is already giving me trouble!

This should make moving interesting. We accepted an offer on the house, and if it goes through, we close on April 30. So, if I start feeling better at around 12-13 weeks, I’ll have about 2 weeks to pack and get out of here! I may be directing some packing from the bed or couch. No, we don’t have a house to move into yet. We may have to crash with my parents. I love my parents and don’t mind staying there, but I was really hoping for a smooth transition from this house to the next, with several days of overlap to move our stuff, rather than having to pack up the whole house in its entirety. It’s looking pretty iffy though.

So there you have it.

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It seems I disappeared from blogdom for a while. I thought it would be easy to find a few minutes here and there to post something, but funny thing, I don’t really care right now! But I wanted everyone who reads this (all ten of you) to know that Anna and I are doing great and I’m absolutely loving these first few days, even with a little sleep exhaustion thrown in.

I’ve done a lot of thinking/reflecting on the whole experience. In fact, I’m having trouble sleeping, not just because of taking care of a new baby, but because even when I do have the opportunity to sleep, my mind is racing and re-living everything.

I am amazed at how many things are so different than what I expected. Some of this gets a lot more personal than I usually care to get in a blog post, but I’d like to write it. After this, I’ll probably go back to being my old stoic self. (more…)

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I’m ready for this baby to get here. I’m certainly not miserable, or even that uncomfortable really; I’m just a little impatient and curious about how it’s all going to happen.

Fortunately, I have something I can do (as long as I still feel up to it, of course) every day and/or evening for the next several days: Thursday—community group; Friday—Bible study and shopping at Rhea Lana’s consignment sale; Saturday—St. Patrick’s Day parade/music/dancing in Little Rock; Sunday—church and St. Patrick’s Day party at a friend’s house; and Monday—doctor’s appointment and Irish music session.

So I think Tuesday would be a good day for her to come.

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I’m 38 1/2 weeks pregnant, and I can still give the dog a bath. I consider that quite a feat.

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I’m 37 weeks today, so I’m no longer considered pre-term if I went into labor. So bring it on! I think we’ve got all the essential “baby stuff” we need to get started. I’ve got things packed as much as I can, and the few things I can’t pack yet are on a handy list so I can grab them at the last minute.

While I’m ready for Anna any time now, she and I are also getting along just fine the way we are. I’m very grateful that I still feel good, have no problems, and can continue about my normal activities for the most part. And I still have plenty I can do to occupy myself the next few weeks. So while it would be great if she came, say, tomorrow, I’m also fine waiting a bit, which is a good thing, since that’s more likely what’s going to happen!

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In various pregnancy books, web articles, childbirth classes, etc. they discuss the role of the “support person” (husband, boyfriend, significant other, etc.). Apparently this person is supposed to do things like comfort the laboring mother with gentle touch/massage, reassure her with encouraging words and tell her how great she is doing, remind her of what she’s learned about breathing/relaxation techniques, provide emotional support, blah, blah, etc., etc.

Well, this just didn’t seem like it quite covered it for me, so I came up with my own set of rules:

• Don’t touch me unless I ask you to.
• No fussing at me, about anything, for any reason.
• Just do whatever I tell you to.
• No “cheerleading” during delivery. (This means yelling things at me like “atta girl, you’re doing great, honey!” and things of that nature. Seriously, I’ve heard people say “atta girl” on TLC’s A Baby Story, like you’d say to a six-year-old who just scored her first soccer goal.)
• As soon as I’m allowed to eat, get me a snack already. Like, yesterday.
• Keep visitors out of the room unless they’ve called ahead of time and arranged to come by.
• As much as possible, go wherever the baby goes, if she has to be taken away for some reason. And make sure it’s a good reason.

Well, I think that pretty much covers it. Oh, and I reserve the right to amend these rules at any time without explaining myself!

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I had a pretty big weekend—an Irish house session on Friday night and Anna’s baby shower on Saturday.

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On Friday night, some gracious friends of one of our ACMS musicians hosted a party. They invited musicians to play, dancers to dance, and many of their friends and neighbors to listen and watch. They have a great old house with plenty of room for everyone. It was a wonderful evening.

These photos were taken by Mark Wagner. You can see all 151 of them, if you choose to, here.

Judi and Cory on fiddle:

Joe and Peggy on bodhran:

Dancers from the O’Donovan School of Irish Dance:

Me, to prove I was there:

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Anna’s baby shower was held at my church on Saturday. Thanks to all our friends and family who came to help celebrate, and thank you Emily, Kim, Bonny, Rae Lyn, and Tanya for putting this together!

The cake was made by a sweet lady named Susan, who generously donates her time and talent to make the baby shower cakes for our moms-to-be at church:

Me and the moms—mine on the left and David’s on the right:

Me and my little helper, who always made sure I had just the right present to open next:

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Today I made some spinach dip for a get-together tomorrow night. As I finished, I got out a pretty crystal bowl to put it in. Then the thought came to my mind, “There’s gonna be little kids there, running around and getting into the food.” So I put the crystal bowl back and reached for a cheaper Pyrex glass bowl. Then I thought again, “There’s gonna be little kids there, running around and getting into the food.” I put the glass bowl back, reached in the bottom cabinet, and grabbed an ugly utilitarian plastic storage container.

Sigh… so long for a while, crystal.

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