Wordless Wednesday - Flashback Edition

These were taken June 2006. Abbie was 14 months old, and I was 36 weeks pregnant with Isaiah. (We had recently visited a local VW Bus rally, hence the awesome tie-dye wear. *grin*)

Click here to read my previous Wordless Wednesday posts, or click here to visit the official WW site.

Life after 40 weeks...

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Today is also another significant day- the day after my due date. Yes folks, I'm living proof that your uterus does NOT explode or turn into a pumpkin if you go past your "due date". Babies do not have expiration dates, and some just need a little more time to cook.

While Isaiah was born right on his guess date, Abbie was a whole 7 days late. Fortunately, despite her being my first baby and me being under the care of a very mainstream OB, I still had the intuition to wait it out. I'm so glad I didn't, as she was still only 6# 14oz. I shudder to think how tiny she would have been if some induction-happy doctor convinced me to be induce at 37 or 38 weeks.

The midwives are very supportive of going post-date, as long as me and Weebu are doing well. And we are. At my last appointment, BP was great, Weebu's heart tones sounded perfect, measuring around 37 weeks (about the same as both Abbie and Isaiah when they were born). S/he's in a ROT position (flipped from posterior a couple weeks ago, thank goodness. All that time on my hands and knees paid off!).

To be honest, though, I am getting a little anxious to meet the little one. I'm just SO excited! I haven't been feeling that well today, so maybe it's my body's way of telling me to slow down and take it easy. (We've been on the go the past two days, which I'll blog about next). I guess we'll just wait and see!

Here's a couple belly pictures, taken at 39.5 weeks:

Proof that I'm NOT as big as an elephant!

There is this local rinky-dinky little zoo not too far away, which we pass on the way to town. Yesterday, we were driving by, and I notice an ELEPHANT crossing one of the side streets, going into a side gate of the zoo. I go nuts and scream at Thomas to turn around(because I'm a big kid that way). We pull over and the handler opens the gate back up and walks over to the car with the elephant. I had my window rolled down and the elephant sticks his trunk in and gets snot all over me. Isaiah is in a complete trance. Poor Abbie, starts screaming and crying, saying she doesn't like the elephant. The handler asked if we wanted to snap a couple pictures, so Thomas and I get out of the car (leaving the kids, since neither wanted to get out). I'm petting the elephant (who are quite hairy, actually), and she starts rubbing my belly!! No joke, she reaches around, and starts sniffing and petting Weebu! This is Osha, a 24yo African elephant, and me. Please ignore A) my frumpy, I'm-38w-pregnant-and-it's-ALL-about-comfort-at-this-point outfit and B) my insanely goofy face. I couldn't stop giggling. I keep breaking out in a huge grin whenever I think about it, as it was one of those totally random, yet totally AWESOME things to happen. I will never forget it, and can't wait to show Weebu this picture when s/he gets older. For the record, after talking with Abbie, it seems she does NOT want a pet elephant, although she hesitantly says she would like to see the elephant again some day. Hopefully she won't be as freaked out next time. A couple fun facts... did you know that an elephant is pregnant for 22 months?? (And I'm getting antsy as I near 39 weeks.) Also, newborn elephants can weigh around 265 pounds. Wow!

Yup- there's still a baby in my belly!

It was pointed out that I haven't blogged about my current pregnancy very much. That's because for the most part, I've been GIP (gestating in peace), and there's nothing very exciting going on. I did have my 28 week midwife appointment yesterday. Weebu sounded great. He's currently hanging out on my right side, head-down. Still planning a homebirth, which would be our second. I'm SO excited about it, and find myself thinking about it a lot now. Isaiah's birth was absolutely amazing, and I'm looking foward to another wonderful experience. I finally was able to borrow a copy of Hypnobabies homestudy course, so we'll be doing that this time around. (If you have done this, I'd love to hear some positive feedback/birth stories!) Here's a quick belly picture taken a couple days ago. In a few weeks, I hope to get some better pictures, including the kids and Thomas.

I think that's about it. If I missed anything, just ask! I'll keep everyone posted as the time gets nearer!