Six in the Mix

Amazing, but true--I've neglected making an announcement on this blog. Of course, everyone who reads this pretty much knows already, but here goes...I'm expecting #6. So it will be back to just plain "Six in the Mix" for the blog title. Found out on Thursday that it is going to be a girl. So, we're going to have three boys and three girls. Everyone seems to be happy that it is a girl.

We've already made adjustments in preparation. We sold our van and got a Suburban. We're also planning on moving Sugar in with Gem to leave the nursery free. Of course, that doesn't have to happen very soon, but still, it's something to change. Thankfully, the nursery is already decorated for a girl. How nice not to have to change that.

I'm due August 13th. Sinatra keeps asking me if it is time for the baby to come out of my tummy. It's beginning to become something like "Are we there yet?". I just tell him that it is still a long time, but he still asks regularly.

I felt her kick for the first time during the ultrasound on Thursday--two good strong kicks!

Let It Begin

I went to the doctor yesterday: 1cm/30%. We're warming up. Ten days to due date.

I spent an hour this morning (before the kids got up) in the baby's room. I got so much done. It's such a relief to put things in order. It's still a ways from done, but if she came tomorrow I wouldn't panic. I also spotted and washed all the old clothes yesterday and hung up all the new things. I know that you can never have too many onesies, sleepers, burp cloths, and receiving blankets for that first month. I have plenty. I'm just looking forward to seeing her face and holding her soon.

Nesting

I'm nesting. I MUST have order. My entire house needs a thorough decluttering and our bathroom has no "wrapper" (Popcorn's term for wallpaper). Our walls are naked and I have to decide on a paint color. That may seem like a small thing, but it's not. I've thought far too much about it and am no closer to a decision than when I started. We have two more weeks of school before final testing and only 4 and a half weeks until our little girl makes her debut. About 50 other things are swarming around in my head.

What I could really use is escape. If I could go on vacation to a really clean, no-clutter environment with natural beauty and no school I would be a happy woman. Actually, I would probably end up sitting in a rocker on the immaculate porch, sipping tea and thinking about all the things I was avoiding at home.

I wish I could just pop my head off for a while and put it on a neat and dusted shelf for about 12 hours. That's the answer! A removable head--the perfect gift for a woman entering her 9th month of pregnancy. I wonder if I can register for that?

And the Verdict Is...

In our house, the jury voted early on: unanimously it voted yea, girl; nay, boy. Sounds a bit harsh, considering that all we really want is a healthy little one no matter what the sex, but I think even the testosterone producers of our family were hoping for a little more estrogen to balance out the hormone levels in our house.

Today was the day of truth, the ultrasound. Good heart, head, arms, legs, (will she ever get to the sex part), 10 fingers, 10 toes, nasal bone, circumference of waist (they even get us in utero), 9oz., due date May 3, 4 spine pictures, (will she ever get to the sex part) nice pelvis bone, yes, yes, . . . oh, let's measure that femur (I begin smiling, but pulling out my hair on the inside. Actually, I'm contemplating giving her the mom stare--hey,it works on the kids), now, "Here's my favorite way to do this," she said. "See, this is a picture of the baby's body as if it were split down the middle from head to foot. By looking at this cross section, it's easy to tell that...now, you wanted to know the sex, right?"

I'll take this moment to tell you that I had prepared myself to hear boy.

"And boy it is!"

At least that is what I expected her to say. I was almost shocked when she didn't. It's a girl! That's right, female! Long hair and braids and princess dresses and pink and maybe a love for the power tool section at Home Depot (hey, just fantasising here). I just sat there with all that goop smeared over my belly, amazed that the bumpy part was flat this time.

No names yet. We'll be working on it. But just know that the jury is happy.

A Break for the Pregnant Lady

Sorry I've been away so long. I haven't been very sick, but haven't had extra energy either. Just getting school done is my daily task. I swear that the house is being held together by chewing gum and filth. Jon has been cooking and taking care of kids when he gets home. He also puts our tribe to work cleaning their daily sprawl of toys and junk. He lets me sleep or just sit in a quiet room by myself. Good man. He brought me flowers the other day. Right now I love things that smell nice.

All that sounds a bit pitiful. I have had bad days and good days. My worst day was followed by my best last week. On my worst I laid around the house and slept, barely ate anything, could only speak in fragmented thoughts, and put Gem to work watching Sinatra. On my best, I mowed the lawn, tore out the dead garden, fixed the step on the treehouse, took the bush vine thing off the mailbox and washed it, played with the kids and cancelled school because it was a glorious day and I was feeling great.

All that to say, I took a break from blogging. In fact, I don't know that I am back yet. This entry might be a fluke. I'm 10 weeks along, so this shouldn't last much longer. I'm looking forward to feeling better all the time and getting back to blogging.

Supersmell

I swear that I am part bloodhound. Did you know that, to a dog, the world stinks? We can all smell the compost bucket when it needs to be taken out, or the diaper pail in the same condition, but who ever thought that strawberry jelly would be so overpowering that a woman would refuse to make the standard pb&j lunch just to avoid it!

I remember when I was pregnant with Gem (1st). The hardest thing to do was drive, because I could smell the faintest hint of exhaust from the cars in front of me.

There are benefits to this condition: the toddler never gets diaper rash because I failed to catch the poopy diaper in time, I MUST bathe my children daily, my bathrooms get more attention, and the compost bucket must go out before it is full.

Some negatives are that, no matter how hard you try to escape it, people have gas. Another one is that I have to eat to survive. I would much rather drink water and avoid everything that has smell. Cooking is torture.

For this first trimester the only difference between a dog's nose and mine (well, besides the appearance) is that mine is connected to a creature that minds the stench.