1/22/2014
Dear Baby Sommerfeldt,
Happy Due Date! I have my doubts as to whether this will be your birthday or not, but I guess we'll see if you decide to surprise me. Thanks for letting me sleep better last night, thanks for not kicking me in the ribs, and thanks for always being head-down at your appointments and being all obedient and cooperative like that. We have a lovely room all set up with warm curtains and blankets and a nice crib, and we're all set to stay up all hours of the night with you (although if you want to give us a happy surprise and NOT make us do that for very long, that would be an appropriate thank-you-for-bringing-me-into-the-world gift). So you are welcome to join us any time you would like....hint...hint....like, sooner rather than later... We love you so much and can't wait to meet you!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Self-Appointed Due Date
I feel like this is something that should be documented... Long ago, back when we found out we were expecting Little Sommerfeldt to join our family, we decided that the perfect scenario would be for me to go into labor on Friday, January 17 sometime, and have Little Sommerfeldt join us sometime later that night or on Saturday the 18th. The reason for this? The long weekend. Ryan gets Monday off school. It would just be so convenient... So for the whole nine months, we've been encouraging him (loudly, so he can hear through my skin) to stick to the schedule.
So guess what - today is Friday the 17th! The epic day has arrived! The house is clean, the freezer is full, the clothes and bedding are washed, the curtains are hung, the six week menu plan is completed... and I have not had one single contraction :) No worries - if he doesn't arrive this weekend, it's obviously not the end of the world - but I just know that he'll just think it's so funny to arrive right at the end of the long weekend or something. Silly baby. We can't wait to meet you - whenever that may be!
So guess what - today is Friday the 17th! The epic day has arrived! The house is clean, the freezer is full, the clothes and bedding are washed, the curtains are hung, the six week menu plan is completed... and I have not had one single contraction :) No worries - if he doesn't arrive this weekend, it's obviously not the end of the world - but I just know that he'll just think it's so funny to arrive right at the end of the long weekend or something. Silly baby. We can't wait to meet you - whenever that may be!
Monday, December 30, 2013
New Talents
Baby has been learning how to do lots of new things lately:
- Hiccuping: He's becoming quite proficient at it. I guess it's possible that he's been good at it for a while, but now that he's in there pretty tight I can feel every little hiccup. My whole abdomen bounces with each hiccup. It wakes him up, too, because after a few hiccups he starts moving around (probably trying to get comfortable - I know the feeling!) I can tell right when he falls asleep again because the hiccups stop. I think it's the cutest thing - and I can't even see him yet.
- Stretching: He's getting pretty good at that, too. He particularly likes to stretch his back out, which means half of him gets jammed up under my ribs. I'm getting pretty good at massaging him back down into his own territory :) I can't blame him much - while I don't know how big he actually is, the general estimate at this point is about 17-18 inches long - and he definitely doesn't have that much space in there to stretch out.
- Shoving: He doesn't really kick too much these days. Probably because there's not enough room to get a good wind-up for a powerful kick. Instead, he seems to shove his knees and elbows into my side and leave them there for a few minutes - making a nice little lump on my normally round tummy. It's kind of fun, if I poke him a little he'll pull his knee in again. It's like we can communicate (or at least I convince myself that we are :)
Only 3 weeks, 2 days left until baby's due date! At the last evaluation, I was 1cm dilated, 40% effaced, and measuring a week behind. They're waiting until next appointment to see if the measurement catches up. I took the liberty of measuring my own circumference - 39 1/2 inches at the widest point. I feel like a walking basketball, but most people still say I look really small. I don't mind; bigger = more uncomfortable. So far I can still sleep most of the night (just waking up once) and my main discomfort is a stress point in my back that starts aching non-stop about 7pm every night. We'll see how the next three weeks go!
- Hiccuping: He's becoming quite proficient at it. I guess it's possible that he's been good at it for a while, but now that he's in there pretty tight I can feel every little hiccup. My whole abdomen bounces with each hiccup. It wakes him up, too, because after a few hiccups he starts moving around (probably trying to get comfortable - I know the feeling!) I can tell right when he falls asleep again because the hiccups stop. I think it's the cutest thing - and I can't even see him yet.
- Stretching: He's getting pretty good at that, too. He particularly likes to stretch his back out, which means half of him gets jammed up under my ribs. I'm getting pretty good at massaging him back down into his own territory :) I can't blame him much - while I don't know how big he actually is, the general estimate at this point is about 17-18 inches long - and he definitely doesn't have that much space in there to stretch out.
- Shoving: He doesn't really kick too much these days. Probably because there's not enough room to get a good wind-up for a powerful kick. Instead, he seems to shove his knees and elbows into my side and leave them there for a few minutes - making a nice little lump on my normally round tummy. It's kind of fun, if I poke him a little he'll pull his knee in again. It's like we can communicate (or at least I convince myself that we are :)
Only 3 weeks, 2 days left until baby's due date! At the last evaluation, I was 1cm dilated, 40% effaced, and measuring a week behind. They're waiting until next appointment to see if the measurement catches up. I took the liberty of measuring my own circumference - 39 1/2 inches at the widest point. I feel like a walking basketball, but most people still say I look really small. I don't mind; bigger = more uncomfortable. So far I can still sleep most of the night (just waking up once) and my main discomfort is a stress point in my back that starts aching non-stop about 7pm every night. We'll see how the next three weeks go!
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| 36 weeks |
Friday, December 6, 2013
Getting closer...
My phone tells me that there is only 6 weeks, 5 days left until Little Sommerfeldt arrives! I was talking with a pregnant friend today, we both wonder when our children will actually arrive (what baby actually sticks to their due date?)
It's starting to seem a little more real around our apartment (and in our bank account, too...)
We've also added a Black Friday sale pack-and-play and a memory foam mattress pad and pillow to the collection (for Mom... I can actually sleep!) If it weren't for Christmas to distract me, I think I'd be going crazy. Not sure yet what I'll do to get through January... in any case, we're excited!
It's starting to seem a little more real around our apartment (and in our bank account, too...)
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| About 30 weeks |
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| Crib with bedding and blanket (since then we've added some stuffed animals from great-Grandpa Parks, via Grandpa Parks... all we need now is a baby! (no worries, we'll take all the squishy stuff out before putting him in)) |
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| Family picture - 32 weeks |
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| Putting the stroller together (which also came with a car seat) |
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Excitement is in the air
Little Sommerfeldt has been excited of late, bouncing around and kicking and waving his fists in glee almost every half hour.
And although I can probably attribute it to the nonstop Christmas music at our house, I think this is the real reason for his excitement:
Not to mention the fabulous baby shower held in Little Sommerfeldt's honor on Saturday with all the long-time friends from the ward and complete with Daddy's favorite: eclairs! Now what baby wouldn't be excited about that? (It would seem he's even excited about me writing this post - mainly this boy is just excited these days!)
And although I can probably attribute it to the nonstop Christmas music at our house, I think this is the real reason for his excitement:
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| We got this all set up last night! Ready and waiting for a baby to sleep in it :) Thank you to my wonderful mom for getting it for us :) |
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| And this comforter/bumper/sheet/crib skirt set is coming in the mail sometime soon! It will match perfectly with the fleece blanket I made and the quilt Lisa made and our jungle-themed nursery room, although I think it'll look nicer with our white crib than the brown one in the picture. |
Not to mention the fabulous baby shower held in Little Sommerfeldt's honor on Saturday with all the long-time friends from the ward and complete with Daddy's favorite: eclairs! Now what baby wouldn't be excited about that? (It would seem he's even excited about me writing this post - mainly this boy is just excited these days!)
Friday, November 1, 2013
Nesting
My whole life of late suddenly can be explained in one word: Nesting.
http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-symptoms/nesting-instinct.htm
While I am happy to say I have not been irrationally throwing away sheets and towels or scrubbing knob screws, I have spent the last couple of weeks arranging furniture, watching Ryan arrange furniture, bursting into tears when said furniture arrangement doesn't work out as pictured in my head, bursting into tears again when Ryan comes up with a perfect solution and makes the whole room look perfect, scrubbing hard water off the shower, the tub, the shower walls, the bathroom sink, the counters, scrubbing miniscule yellow spots off the walls, scraping age-old burned food out of the recess under the stove burners, soaking stove burner trays in vinegar and water to remove burned stains, even though we cover them with aluminum foil, sweeping the kitchen floor, scrubbing the table and chairs with Pine Sol, scrubbing the kitchen linoleum on hands and knees twice to remove all stains, feeling an irrational need to climb up a ladder and scrub the windows and only barely being able to restrain myself (does anyone know where I can get a long-handled sponge/squeegee for scrubbing windows? It's my only hope...)....... and the list goes on.....
This is what happens when I only work part-time for five months before the baby is due to arrive... Up next: spot cleaning carpets, vacuuming couches, scrubbing walls throughout the house, vacuuming out closets and cupboards and window tracks, cleaning the furnace closet, the refrigerator, the microwave, the oven (without toxic cleaners, of course) and of course the shoe-shaped spot on the ceiling where Ryan smashed a spider once....
Can't wait for Baby Sommerfeldt to get here and restore rational living habits and normal behavior... as if going on low sleep for weeks on end is going to restore normal behavior... but we absolutely can't wait!
http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-symptoms/nesting-instinct.htm
While I am happy to say I have not been irrationally throwing away sheets and towels or scrubbing knob screws, I have spent the last couple of weeks arranging furniture, watching Ryan arrange furniture, bursting into tears when said furniture arrangement doesn't work out as pictured in my head, bursting into tears again when Ryan comes up with a perfect solution and makes the whole room look perfect, scrubbing hard water off the shower, the tub, the shower walls, the bathroom sink, the counters, scrubbing miniscule yellow spots off the walls, scraping age-old burned food out of the recess under the stove burners, soaking stove burner trays in vinegar and water to remove burned stains, even though we cover them with aluminum foil, sweeping the kitchen floor, scrubbing the table and chairs with Pine Sol, scrubbing the kitchen linoleum on hands and knees twice to remove all stains, feeling an irrational need to climb up a ladder and scrub the windows and only barely being able to restrain myself (does anyone know where I can get a long-handled sponge/squeegee for scrubbing windows? It's my only hope...)....... and the list goes on.....
This is what happens when I only work part-time for five months before the baby is due to arrive... Up next: spot cleaning carpets, vacuuming couches, scrubbing walls throughout the house, vacuuming out closets and cupboards and window tracks, cleaning the furnace closet, the refrigerator, the microwave, the oven (without toxic cleaners, of course) and of course the shoe-shaped spot on the ceiling where Ryan smashed a spider once....
Can't wait for Baby Sommerfeldt to get here and restore rational living habits and normal behavior... as if going on low sleep for weeks on end is going to restore normal behavior... but we absolutely can't wait!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Projects
I've found that one of the things that makes me most excited is having projects to work on for when the baby comes. (Plus they keep me busy and doing something productive.) I've already made a couple little flannel blankets, plus the fleece jungle blanket from the last post. Next up: a car seat carrier cover and nursing cover. I found patterns online that had the fabric measurements and I picked out fabric today. Can't wait to welcome this little boy into our family (although he's already pretty much a part of it!)
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| Car seat carrier cover fabric |
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| Nursing cover fabrics - I wanted it to be thick, reversible, and a pattern that I liked, not just cute baby fabric. I got some terrycloth to put in the corners, and it's going to have an adjustable neck strap and hopefully a couple of flap-top pockets, too. |
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