early labor

i was working on another post for this blog the night before last, but it's pretty obsolete

the most up-to-date stuff is gonna be on facebook, so my dream of creating an epic time capsule blog post for Aria memoizing the last few hours prior to her birth is probably not going to become a reality. On the other hand, she already has 6 buddies on facebook and is 100 years old, so that's exciting!

Aria, if you have a chance to come back and read this in 20 years, just know that I spent 3 days wearing the same pajama bottoms, all the midwives and nurses agree that we had the best birth plan written up for you (presentation wise ... accuracy wise I'm sure other people hit the target much closer than we did regardless of how this pans out), and I'm never going to let your mom get rid of this outfit that she's had on -- that's going to be the centerpiece of the Aria museum. Oh yes, and we are already COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH YOU!!!

All right kids, not much more to see here. Friend Aria on facebook or follow the action on Tai's wall. And feel free to text me at my Google Voice number (but include your name if you haven't already) and that'll make it easy for me to respond to you. I think my next step for today is going to be figuring out the technology for uploading pictures from Tai's prehistoric 2008 phone.

40 weeks pregnant- Hello due date

It appears that we're going to have a baby very very soon. I've started having consistent contractions that SUCK. You can't prepare for this pain. Just had one now. This will probably be the final post with Aria trapped inside the womb of wonder.

39 weeks and 2 days

It's time for you to come out now. My groin muscles are screaming, "We've made all this room in here for your brainy head, OCCUPY!" I'm waddling, seriously waddling and the waiting game is making me so anxious. Luckily, I've been keeping busy and having a grand ole time in these last few days with baby securely and quietly in tow. Today was especially wonderful. John surprised me for my birthday and took me to the zoo. We walked a lot and I had a few contractions and I got some great photos of John posing with various beasts.

Tomorrow I have another non-stress test and we'll get to hear Aria's heart beating for awhile then a normal midwife appointment. I'm hoping that we can get something to kick start labor because right now I'm sensing NO urgency from her about getting out of me, not even fakie contractions.

I'll be 26 years old on Saturday and I only want one thing.

Well, I have a feeling this may be our last blog post pre-Aria. Call it a hunch! Anyways, I snapped a shot of us sitting here on the bed.

37 weeks tomorrow

Alright, as I sit here Aria Clyde is beating up my abdomen and I can't say I blame her. Tight quarters at this point, especially considering that my belly button refuses to pop out and give her that extra centimeter of space.

Lately my life has consisted of moving stuff from one area to another, packing boxes, shuffling more stuff, wondering whether or not I'll need a particular item in the next 3 weeks, taping boxes and putting John's muscles to the test. My house is 80% cleared out which is satisfying.

John is back in Mountain View, CA starting his 2nd week of work today after a lovely weekend together here in Seattle. We took a 2 day "Bringing Baby Home" workshop which actually turned out to be a parenting/relationship preserver class. It was nice to have the time assigned to think about how are lives are about to drastically change. We are in such a good spot with each other and the class just reinforced that. I miss him already though. He'll be coming back on Friday and staying for a week. It sure would be convenient for Aria to join us during that time too.

Body check: It is getting really difficult to get around. My joints are fussy and my muscles super duper sore. I am moving at a much slower pace and it is pretty frustrating. I am very glad that I am only getting these pregnancy symptoms now though as I know this could've been my condition starting much sooner.

Last night was the Lost finale- I'm still unraveling what happened in my mind, but I guess I'm a little lost.

Golly

Here is a super duper quick update because it has been nearly a month since my last post. Things are pretty hectic around here but very exciting. I've had an incredible month, kicking off with a much-needed trip to NY where the fam held a successful 2-day garage sale extravaganza then a SURPRISE BABY SHOWER which was incredible to say the least. I couldn't believe all the people that came out- it was the perfect way to see everyone in a short period of time (and of course get supplies for baby Aria). I had so much fun! Aunt Michele orchestrated the whole affair and Sandra was the perfect hostess. The food was delish, I loved being around all the kids and the weather was warm and lovely. PERFECT DAY! I can't thank everyone enough, seriously.

The rest of the week was spent clearing out the room, packing stuff up to ship to the west coast and thinking about where John's job prospects were going to land us. As it turns out, he got a phone call when we landed in Seattle with a job offer in Cali. We both let out a big sigh of relief after he accepted the offer and finally had something concrete to grasp to. Since then he has been taking care of logistics with his company as far as the move to San Francisco and we've started packing out both of our apartments (his first, since we haven't lived there in well over 5 months). We've made A LOT of progress in the past week and it feels really awesome to be productive.

This weekend was amazing too. Saturday we went to about 25 garage sales in West Seattle and got a ton of quality baby things for cheap cheap cheap. The whole backseat of the car was full of toys, gear and miscellaneous stuff. John got himself an electric shaver which has been put to good use everyday since the purchase making him super smooth and super happy.

Next up Sunday, the day I've been looking forward to for a LONG time- my Seattle Family baby shower, coordinated by Aja and Alie. First though, we went to breakfast with Debbie & Dave (John's parents who came up for the shower from CA) and Nancy & Rod (John's aunt and uncle from Portland) then headed over to Clanci's house for the big event. Aja did such an incredible job of decorating, using my unofficial but apparently undeniable favorite color of orange. There were mini sandwiches (one of which I privately stuffed in its entirety into my mouth), veggies, nuts, fruit salad and SWEDISH MEATBALLS compliments of Alie!! Aja had a candy shoppe spread that was BEAUTIFUL. I'm not even going to attempt to describe, I need to get a hold of a photo. I will say that I am impressed to see her glassware obsession be put to such good use.

We played shower games including trivia and name this baby animal. Lillie and Yontz cheated the whole time. There was also onesie decorating and an album for people to write letters to baby Aria. It was wonderful, every last bit of it.

I was totally exhausted afterwards and immediately went to sleep. The past few days have been packing and planning and more packing and planning- all which has been made a hell of a lot easier with Debbie & Dave in town.

Right now I'm sitting out in the sun in our front yard soaking up some vit. D and finishing up some work tasks. I'll be glad when I don't have to worry about work anymore.

So finally- John starts work on Monday and we are headed to SF on Friday to look at apartments. I'll be back in Seattle by Monday to continue the packing process and get work done. I'm so excited for all of these changes and I'm not really phased by the timing of it (I'm 35 weeks preggers as of yesterday). Maybe in the next 5 weeks I'm going to suddenly be physically miserable or totally overwhelmed by all the work, but for right now we're just happily truckin along.

I guess my quick update turned into a long one, haha. Until next time (which will be sooner, scout's honor)!

just laying next to tai (she's been passed out for a couple hours) and watching survivor -- i was thinking how awesome it's gonna be to be in our own apartment and have Aria nearby in a crib and listen to her crying and stuff. i am really excited and i can't wait :)

tai just rolled onto her back and now she's doing the moan snores. up until a month or two ago i had never heard anything like them. tai's breathing isn't obstructed, she just says hmmmmmmmmmmmmm over and over. maybe they will both do that!