Wish lists

I've added a wish list for Baby 2 to my sidebar. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask for anything with the second baby, but I did have a handful of things that I thought of. If it's a girl, we're pretty set for clothing (we might need a few more wintery things). If it's a boy, we're okay for the first month or two and then we'll need some. Since we try to live with a less is better mentality when it comes to baby stuff, we're really pretty set. We have most of the basics from when Becca was a wee one.

Committed

Well, we did it. We signed our names on the line, agreeing to purchase a house. We're both a bit overwhelmed at making such a decision (and agreeing to spend so much money on one thing!), but we think it is a good one and we are quite excited. Some of you know a bit about the house already and others of you are probably hearing about this for the first time. Nate took pictures of the outside of the house with his camera phone, but we have to figure out how to get them off of it. I could refer you to the listing page, but I'd rather not have my future address out there for all to see. :)

Some extra info for those interested:

1. It's located just south of downtown, about four miles from our church.
2. There are at least 8 other families (including 10 children) from our church living on that street or around the corner. The neighborhood has a small town feel to it--people looking out for each other. And the other people from our church have a like-minded vision to help redeem and revitalize the neighborhood and city and reach out to our neighbors.
3. The houses has around 1800 square feet of livable space, plus some storage on a third level and an unfinished partial basement.
4. The house will be completely renovated when we move in, which we hope will happen sometime in early December--and by completely, I mean, pretty much just the shell of the house will remain, while everything else will be new. We are working with an organization that buys beat up houses and gets them renovated, so we don't have to deal directly with the contractors.
5. The house will have 3 bedrooms, a sitting room, and a bathroom upstairs. Nate's office, another full bath, a laundry room, a bonus sitting area, a living room, and a dining/kitchen area will comprise the main floor. With the exception of vinyl in the bathrooms and laundry room, the rest of the flooring will be hardwoods (we are still debating between the oak or bamboo, which is $1200 more). We'll also have a small porch outside the front door.
6. Construction will start the week after next.
   

Once we figure out how to get those pictures off the phone, I'll put them up here.

Four years together

Today is Nate and my four-year wedding anniversary. A few days less than five years ago, we met for the first at SLT up at Cedar Campus. We quickly became good friends and then started a relationship during our month there. Nate went off to grad school in Texas and I went back to Kzoo to finish my schooling at WMU. Five months later, in December, Nate proposed to me when I came to Texas to meet his family. And six months after that, we were married up in Michigan, honeymooned in northern Minnesota, and moved to Houston. A whirlwind...I know!

I never thought I'd marry someone I had just met less than a year ago, but everything fit, and I'm sure glad I did. Nate is the right husband for me and such a wonderful father to Becca (and Baby 2). I'll spare y'all the mushiness and just end this now by saying...Happy Anniversary, Nate. I love you.

Since our batteries for our digital camera are charging, I can't take a picture of the beautiful flowers Nate bought me yesterday, so instead you get two silly pictures of us that we took back in May while waiting for Nate's sister to pack up her dorm room.

Book deals!

Head on over to desiringgod.org either today or tomorrow. They have a special running: all books are $5 if purchased online.

Be prepared to be patient. I think there are lots of people taking advantage of the deal, so the site is running slowly, but I think it's worth the wait.

32 weeks 5 days

Sorry, no pictures right now. We are at my parents' and I left our digital camera at home and brought my 35mm film camera with the hopes that I will get out there and practice taking pictures.

On Monday I had another appointment at the birthing center. I will have another appointment just before the 35 week mark and then every week after that until Baby 2 arrives. Since we are not taking any birthing classes this time (we took a Bradley class last time), I'm going to get out my Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way book and start reading up again on the labor process just as a refresher and to prepare me mentally for how my body will be working to get our baby out. It's such an amazing process. I have to admit, I'm nervous to go through it again, but I'm really trying to relax about it.

Official measurements of the appointment:

• BP: 100/70--the bottom number was a little higher, but between all of us being a bit sick and trying to make a major house decision (that's another post), I'm not surprised that it's a bit up.
• Belly measurement: 31 cm
• Weight: 169, which puts my weight gain around 15 pounds so far.

Not much else to report from the appointment. I did get to ask our midwife to run me through the basic routine from the time I call to report that I'm having regular contractions to when we leave the birthing center, Lord willing, with our new baby (not inside my womb). For those who are interested, here is what she said:

• Call Carla to tell her that I think I'm in labor so she can rearrange her schedule for the day or alert the other midwife if she isn't available.
• Be in contact with her until contractions are closer together--come to birthing center when they are around 3-5 minutes apart.
• Carla checks me once to see how far along I am. Hopefully will not have to be checked again--I hate being checked.
• Go through labor and delivery--baby is born!!! I'm hoping to birth in the water again.
• Baby 2 is laid right on my chest and cord is allowed to pulsate out completely (as long as baby is breathing well). Daddy gets to cut the cord.
• Baby is wrapped up in towels and given to Dad to hold for awhile while I get out of the tub (or off the bed) and I finish birthing the placenta and get to take a shower.
• Baby breast feeds for first time (I believe this is still in the first hour--they don't like to wait very long at all, since baby is usually very alert after being born and ready to suckle)
• We eat, hang out, I get stitched up (if I tear), and after three and a half to four hours following delivery, if everything is okay, we head home.

Depending on the time of day, if Becca is able to be at the birthing center (my mom will be watching her), Becca will get to come in an meet her new brother or sister. We have decided, due to Becca's personality and age, to not have her in the room for the birth, but I would love to have her in their while the baby is still connected to the placenta, if possible. We'll have to see. This is obviously all the ideal situation, but that's the basic run down.

We have been rehashing our girls' names. Boys' names are still Aaron and Caleb. We decided against Jenna, since it sounds so much like Becca in number of syllables and style and we want the names to be more unique. We really like Abigail and may still use it, but it is in the top ten, which is a bit of a turn off at the moment. Other girl names we are considering: Lydia, Julia, Ellen (Elle, Ellie/Elly for nicknames), Evelyn (Evie for a nickname)--all these would have Grace for a middle name. I also really like Elizabeth--I know, also very popular (#11), but it has a ton of nicknames that I like--Eliza, Liza, Beth. Sigh...it's such a hard decision.

As for how I'm feeling, I'm really doing quite well. I get tired easily, but other than that, I can't complain. No swelling or other hard pregnancy things. Baby 2 moves a lot and I have been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for awhile now that are quite noticeable. I don't think I noticed them last time so much, but I notice them a lot now.

Sales

On a whim I went over to hannaandersson.com and discovered that I was late to the party again! (I came too late at their after Christmas sale to find anything in Becca's size) They are having their Big Big Twice a Year Hanna Sale, up to 50% off on some really high quality clothing. I just spent way to much time their and I hope not too much money. I started with $100 more in my cart than I ended up spending in the end. My suggestion to you to reduce some frustration (the frustration that comes when you see something really cute and then click through all the sizes only to realize that the size you want it sold out already) is to go to the "availability" section under "sale". Following that link, you can see what sizes are available right away.

Movement

The baby was moving constantly this afternoon. I couldn't figure out what he/she was doing in there! I spent a lot of Becca's nap either lying down on the bed or relaxing in the comfy living room chair with the foot rest out (I'm trying to recover from the Gamefest weekend, I think), so I might have just noticed the movement more, but it was sure a lot more than usual.

Becoming a history buff

I'm currently reading a rather long book called Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (loaned to us from Nate's grandmother). I was never much into history before a couple of years ago, and actually found it to be quite boring. I think because most history textbooks (from elementary to college) are written to just stuff as many facts into them as possible, so that we can regurgitate the information for the test. This book, I think, is what Charlotte Mason would have classified as a "living book". It's a multiple biography of Abraham Lincoln and the three other men who contended with him for the Republican nomination to run for President. It's really a story of each of their lives, very well told by Mrs. Goodwin, that also has me learning about the politics of the day, abolition of slavery, events leading up to the Civil War, and many other things all woven in to the book. I'm really enjoying the book. Once I finish it, I'll let you know what I thought about the whole thing.

So I don't forget to post about:

1. A Charlotte Mason Companion and For the Children's Sake
2. Wishlists
3. Team of Rivals

Hiccups

Whenever Baby #2 (I've got to come up with a better way of identifying him/her for the next 9+ weeks) has the hiccups, I feel it in the very bottom of my uterus or sometimes slightly higher to the right or left of their. This makes me think that baby is head down. But yesterday I noticed the hiccup feeling at the top of my uterus, making me think that baby had flipped over and is butt down. This (probably unnecessarily) worried me. I know I have many weeks left, but it is a consolation feeling those hiccups again back where they usually are. :)

Farmer's Market

Gamefest has begun and we are privileged to have guests staying with us because of it. Our friends the Websters are sleeping at our place. I think Nate and Jonathan got home at about 4 am. I'm glad Karen, Becca, and I left earlier! Jonathan and Karen brought us the coolest thank you gifts from Canada: organic (or as they call it there, biologique) maple syrup and a very cool reusable grocery bag with kiwis on it. It by far is the nicest looking reusable bag I own. I love practical gifts, and unexpected ones are nice too. :)

Anyway, back to the point of the post. I think Karen and I will be going to the Farmer's Market around here for the first time this year. It just opened last weekend (I was in Michigan). I'm so excited. It doesn't open yet for an hour and a half, so I'm up a bit early.

Family Integrated Worship

Nate and I have chosen to keep Becca with us in the corporate worship service. We are not the only ones who do this at our church. It's not always easy, but we see Becca as a covenant child, part of our covenant family and the greater covenant family in the church, and because of this, we think she should be a part of corporate worship from her earliest days. I'm always encouraged when I see others doing the same. I recently found a few blog posts from a brother in Christ who does this with his family. You can find his first post on the subject here. So far he has two others, found here and here.

30 Weeks and counting

30 weeks of pregnancy is such a big milestone in my mind. Maybe because 10 weeks (or less...or more!) left until we meet our new little one doesn't sound like that much. It's also when I would usually start going to appointments every 2 weeks (my midwife said that she was fine with me coming every three--once at 33wks and once at 36, then once a week after that) instead of once every four.

Before going into details on how I'm doing and the most recent birthing center appointment, here are a few pics of me at 28 and a half weeks:
The cute maternity clothes are thanks to my friend Jen who is letting me borrow some of hers. I'm getting addicted to wearing skirts--a first for me. :)

Anyway, appointment news--For the most part my 30 week appointment went very well. Baby #2's heart rate was in the 160s again; my BP was nice and low: 110/58; I measured at 27 cm. This measurement is within range, Carla (midwife) says, and she is happy with it. At the last appointment Carla was worried about a small measurement, but she thinks that she wasn't measuring quite right, since she was surprised to find my pubic bone so low this time. I just have a long torso, I guess. Plus, she is happy with a smaller measurement because my glucose labs for gestational diabetes came in just under the mark:139. 140 is the cut off point. The bummer is that she wants me to follow a gestational diabetes diet. This is mostly not a problem for me since we eat mostly whole wheat anyway, but it is hard reducing my nightly scoop of ice cream to just once a week. :( I know it's worth it just to be safe. Other than all that, the pregnancy seems to be going along well, thankfully.

As for how I'm feeling, I have to admit that I'm quite tired and not dealing with the heat well. Our pool opened last weekend, and Becca and I have enjoyed going a few days in a row this week in the morning. Nate even joined us on a little break from work one morning and after work yesterday. It's nice to hang out in the water, feeling weightless. Nate commented that I'm probably feeling more tired this time around because when I was pregnant with Becca, I could just come home from work and crash for the evening, and I can't do that now. I'd much rather have Becca around, though. :) Nate is a wonderful help to me. He's always so concerned and helps when he can.

I haven't been having much back or sciatic nerve pain in the last few weeks, so I can be so thankful for that. My stomach has been bothering me off and on, though, so that's no fun. Baby #2 keeps moving a lot. Sometimes I think he/she moves more than Becca did, but I don't really think I can remember for sure. It's still just as fun to feel him/her moving as it started out as being. I'm not bothered in the middle of the night or anything, most movement takes place in the evening before bed.

Overall, things are going well. We are praying God would keep this baby inside of me for at least 7 or 8 more weeks, and then he/she can be born whenever after that. It's all in His time, though, and we are trusting that His plans are best.