"I Need Help"

These have to be the three hardest words I've ever uttered in my whole life.  And lately, I've been saying them a lot.  Yes, I know I'm 39 weeks pregnant and yes I know I should want people to help me.  But for this self-sufficient, independent girl ..... that's a hard thing to do.  Here's what complicates things.

Last Thursday after sweeping & mopping the downstairs floors (see? independant and stubborn!) my back was really achy.  No big deal.  I worked hard so now I deserve to kick my feet up, read my latest birth book and let my back rest and heal.  Well, rest I did.  Heal I did not.  Throughout the evening that "ache" in my back turned to sharp, shooting pains in my lower back and right hip.  Well, thank goodness for my chiropractor who can fix this, right?  WRONG!  This was Thursday night and I found out via Facebook that their office was closed on Friday.  CLOSED!!!  Now is not the time for them to be closed.  This means I have to wait until Monday!

So Chris massaged my back, we prayed and went to bed.  Friday the ache was still there but not the shooting pain.  And Saturday was more of the same.  Ok ... maybe I can make it 'till Monday.  Oh, so wrong again.  Saturday night we attended a BBQ at a friend's house and because we forgot to bring chairs along (thank you pregnancy brain), I ended up sitting on their picnic bench for a few hours.  A hard, wooden, non-forgiving picnic bench.  Re-enter sharp, shooting pain.  Except this time it was worse!  Way way worse!  I informed Chris we needed to leave and as I literally limped to the van I prayed one prayer.  "Dear Lord, please don't let me go into labor!"

Chris again massaged my back, applied heat, we prayed and went to bed in hopes that it would again feel better in the morning.  But apparently I'd really done it this time and those delightful shooting pains were still present Sunday morning, reminding me again and again that I should NEVER mop the floor when I'm 38 weeks pregnant!  Hear that pregnant mamas??  DON'T MOP THE FLOOR!!!  You can live with the dirt!

So I limped through the house eating what breakfast I could and getting myself ready for church.  And the whole drive there I'm just praying no one asks me "How are you feeling?" because they definitely would have gotten a whole sob story they never wanted to hear!  Fortunately we made it through the morning without any comments on how big I was was or questions on how I felt.  This is rare, my friends.  Rare.

I limped back to the van, drove home and pretty much sat on my rump the whole rest of the day.  And here's where the whole "I need help" thing comes in.  I asked for help with everything from cooking meals, to caring for my son to getting out of the chair.  And I asked not because I wanted to.  I NEEDED to.  I physically couldn't do the tasks that I so commonly do every day.  Very very frustrating.  But I am so thankful for an amazing husband who willingly changes diapers, cooks supper and rubs my back.  I seriously couldn't do this without him!!

So today I went to see my chiropractor.  He scolded me for mopping the floor.  I scolded him for being closed on Friday.  And he half-adjusted me.  Because my back has been so "jacked up" for this many days, it barely budged.  Fantastic.  So although I feel somewhat better, my lower back is still achy and sore.  I go back in later this week to have him work on it again.  And I'm still praying I don't go into labor until this is resolved.

Big Boy and a Baby

A few weeks ago we got together with our very talented friend Brent from BK Photography and took some 2 year pictures of my big boy and a few maternity shots too.  Enjoy!

You know you're 9 months pregnant when ....

First of all, I just have to say that I LOVE being pregnant.  This is by no means a pity-party, poor pregnant me post.  But at this stage in pregnancy, there are some things that just make me laugh ... or cry ... or just shake my head.  Here's a few of my observations.

You know you're 9 months pregnant when .....

• Rolling over in bed is something you no longer take for granted.
• You can locate the nearest restroom from wherever you are standing ... at anytime!
• You can't trust a sneeze ... ever.
• People stop looking at you with the "oh, she's so beautiful carrying new life" look. Instead you get the wide-eyed look of panic. As in "Holy cow, she's huge!" or "Dear God, I hope she doesn't have that baby here".
• You have the baby's routine almost memorized.  Early morning: stretches.  Afternoon: A few good jabs to the bladder.  Evening: hiccups.  Always hiccups.
• You don't have to have a reason for being tired and/or sweaty. Overall this summer hasn't been bad with the heat, but when everyone else in my house is comfortable, I'm stripping off clothes and sweating like I just came out of a sauna! And going to the zoo for a hour or two in the morning is enough to warrant a nap for the rest of the afternoon.
• You are now becoming best friends with your chiropractor.  I seriously don't know how pregnant women make it 9 months without chiropractic care.  I would be a laid-up, whining, serisouly in pain mess by now if it weren't for Dr. Marsh.
• Wearing clothes is totally annoying and no longer a necessity when at home.  Although I'll add that it is handy to have a pair of pants nearby, just in case your neighbor girl decides to knock on your door and return your casserole dish while you're in your non-clothes-wearing mood.  You know, hypothetically speaking.  It could happen.
• You actually having nothing to wear.  So you wear .... wait for it .... nothing (see previous point).  I'm down to 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of capris and just a handful of shirts that fit this ever expanding belly.  So to those of you who see me on a regular basis, I apologize for the monotony in my wardrobe.  But these are the days that I'm glad I'm not working where I would feel the need to wear something cute, appropriate & different for work every day.  Now I just sport my one pair of shorts and rotate between the four shirts that fit.  It's functional and that's all that matters!

I'm 37 weeks now, so knowing there's an end in sight makes all of these little pregnancy quirks a bit easier to handle.  But it's really a small price to pay to have the privilege and honor and carrying this new little life.  And even though strangers at the grocery store see my giant belly as a ticking time bomb, I still see it as beautiful and I love it!!

Bye Bye Crib

Oh what a happy and sad day.  Today the crib was taken down to make room for the NEW big boy bed!  With baby coming in about a month or so, we figured now would be a good time to switch Brooks over to a big boy bed while I still have patience and an adequate amount of sleep to help him through the transition.  So on Friday night we went shopping for beds!

The boys had lots of fun trying them out.  And just a side note: it's really easy to lose a 2 year old in a furniture store filled with countless beds, chairs, tables, etc.

We decided on a mattress and the next day went to Target to buy some special sheets for the big boy! His choice? WoodyBuzz of course! (That would be Toy Story to everyone else in the world, but in our house .... it's WoodyBuzz.) So that night we set up the big boy bed and took down the crib. ::sniff sniff:: As proud as I am that our son is growing up to be such a handsome and wonderful little boy, it makes me kinda sad that this little person who I was certain would be my "baby" forever ...... is no longer my baby.

And how did Brooks handle this transition? Like everything else in life, better than I expected. We said "bye bye" to the crib and he even helped Daddy take it down.

So bye bye crib and HELLO big boy bed!!

And how did he actually do sleeping in that big boy bed??  Well, we followed our usual bedtime routine: touchie (aka pacifier), bedtime prayer & kisses.  All went well until we actually left the room.  Then he started crying.  And my heart started breaking.  Oh my baby!  He's not ready for this!! 

But Chris went in and laid down with him for a while, sang some songs and then all was quiet.  And when I peeked in on him later (one of many times) I found him sleeping ... in his bed!  And he slept all night.  Ok, I guess he was ready for the big boy bed after all.

Now, nap time the next day was a different story.  Mr. "I'm not really tired" discovered he could get OUT of his bed and play with all those really fun toys in his room.  But after a few smallish battles, he did finally sleep, half on the bed, half on the floor.  And so Chris and I gave each other the "this will get better" pep talk, knowing that this really is the best time for this transition to happen.  And sure enough, bedtime came around again last night, and without even a whimper, Brooks crawled into his bed, laid down and went to sleep!!  What a big boy!