grocery shrink plus give away, or where I attempt to get something for nothing

There is a giveaway for a year's subscription to grocery shrink plus menu planning at inashoe.com

Now, you don't really *have* to enter and lower my own chances of winning, haha! But I have to say...I have subscribed to three or four menu planning sites over the years...I have liked different things about each, but none was a great fit for one reason or another. This one looks really, really promising, and it's only $5 a month. So, even if I don't win, I will probably order it anyway. Shhh...don't tell anyone though. I'd rather win! lol...

my not giving birth saga

My original due date is Monday,,,Memorial Day. My "other" due date (determined by early ultrasound) is almost a week past. Usually I consider my original one more accurate, but this time it was a total guess, that date. I hadn't been watching my cycles *at all*, so when I realized we were expecting we kind of determined a likely window and then I picked a date that was generous, knowing that I tend to go late and freak out midwives and such. So, this time, I (secretly) considered the ultrasound due date to be more accurate.

So, here I am. A few days to my due date, or a few days past it, depending on your date of choice. I have had just enough going on to keep me in hopes that labor is trying to start. My labors are sad and piddly and slow...eternal, really. Henry was the exception, my castor oil induction baby, and so I'm not sure if this one will be quick when it finally gets going or if Henry was just quick because of the castor oil.

Anyway, on the 20th, 5 days ago, I started having strongish contractions after going to bed..this was around 11pm. I went to sleep and woke up around 4am with more contractions. I traveled to the couch and dozed off again until Jack woke up at 7. They had (annoyingly) puttered out at that point. So, believing that I was close and knowing the doctor had talked about possibly inducing at that week's appointment, I decided to try castor oil. It worked like a charm with Henry. Around 1pm I started dosing. At 3:30pm, three doses later, I couldn't take anymore of it. I had a lot of cramping, some irregular contractions, and lots of "returns" from the castor oil..much more difficult than I remember it being with Henry. Around 5pm the contractions got stronger and more regular, but by 9:30 they had puttered out again. Sigh. I went to bed, up again at 5am on the 22nd with more sad returns from the castor oil, but no contractions at all. I tried walking a lot that day, on walking trails, around Lowes, etc.,,,that triggered some contractions but they didn't stick.

The next day, the 23rd, was my OB appointment. She told me I was still just a fingertip dilated, maybe 25% effaced, but soft. She did a nonstress test (I've had some extra fluid), which was fine, and we told her we wanted to hold off on inducing, something which was difficult to say because I am *so dang tired of this*, but it's true, I really don't want an induction. She said she would give us two more weeks as long as baby is doing ok. That evening I started contracting around dinnertime, and they fizzled again when I went to sleep. The following morning (which would have been yesterday), I woke up to find a tiny bit of mucus plug had passed and was very excited about this...prematurely, it turns out. I felt very crampy across my lower belly and back all day, but otherwise, nada, not even any real contractions. This morning was the same. I woke up to a tiny bit of of mucus plug, and I even think my water might be leaking, but other than a very few contractions, there's not much else going on.

It's all very frustrating. I'm very uncomfortable, my belly feels very irritable, especially when there is a child trying to climb on it, which is most of the time. I am tired of sitting in baby limbo. I'm not sleeping well and have been waking up very early and unable to go back to sleep, and then during the day I fall asleep every time I sit down. I'm ready for this baby to come. Now, please.

mole bites, nesting, and sweaty pregnancies, and baseball

I am starting this post sprawled out on the futon in the playroom, the coolest room in the house mostly because it has a truly awesome ceiling fan. All our rooms have ceiling fans. But the living room one is broken. The living room is also one of the hottest rooms. Naturally I avoid it at all costs. I actually have a new fan...it will hopefully be installed soon. Anyway, I never write on the nook normally, but the computer is, of course, in the living room. I am grateful that my last three pregnancies have been done with before summer arrives in full force.

Jack was bitten by a mole yesterday. You've never heard of someone getting bitten by a mole you say? Why, that is because you don't have a Jack around. He drums up new and exciting adventures almost daily. I was sitting at the hot computer desk and Jack comes wandering in and says, very casually, "A mouse bit me." It almost didn't register. I called him over to figure things out, and he said, "I picked it up and it stuck on me with its teeth. My blood started leaking out. Jesse is eating it." Inspection revealed a small bleeding wound on his finger. Maria ran outside to find the dog (Jesse) playing with a mole.

Today was Jack's last Miracle !eague baseball game of the season. He just loves to play. I was on my own today, which is always a little hairy. John had to work and Maria was with a friend. They do have a little playground area and a small concessions stand between fields, so that helped keep the littles happy and I could still kinda watch Jack play.

Tess with chalk. Henry with Cheetos.


Jack dearly loves his trophy.


No new baby news...some strongish contractions late today, but nothing regular and they always taper off. My energy has been a bit better and I have been scrubbing a bit obsessively. But the house really does need it!
***edited to add...I started this post yesterday afternoon, Saturday. It is now Sunday night, still having contractions. All day. And night. Not constantly, but frequent, and not miserable, but there. I'm considering a bit o'castor oil in the morning. I feel like things are trying to get started. Henry was a castor oil induction after being more than a week overdue, and it was very nifty and effective. I'm not getting so impatient that I feel like I need to do this *now*, but on the other hand, my first three births were days long whereas Henry was only a few hours long. That's looking pretty attractive after these last two uncomfortable days. It would also make arrangements for the other kids a lot easier if we only needed help for a few hours instead of so long... Hmmm.....

38 weeks

I had my 38 week check up today. Actually, I was 38 weeks on Monday. Not that I'm counting down or anything. On Mother's Day I started having contractions in the evening. And I'm still having them. Oh, not constantly. And most aren't even uncomfortable. But more frequent and stronger than the occasional braxton-hicks I'd been having. Yesterday I decided the baby looked and felt decidedly lower. And at the OB today, the heart rate was found lower down on my belly. But the cervical check didn't show much...a fingertip of dilation maybe. I feel really tired most days, like first trimester tired. I'm grumpy and not sleeping well and my belly is irritated by little kids wanting to sit on it all the time. Mostly I want to sleep and clean. That's about it. The doctor has offered to induce me at my next appointment. Boy, that's tempting. I really don't want to be induced. But it's hard to resist when you are so sick and tired of being pregnant. If I could just go into labor before then...that would be lovely. Sigh. We got Henry out with a castor oil induction. But I haven't gotten that desperate quite yet. He was well overdue, for one thing. It won't necessarily work unless you are good and ready to go. So. Here I sit. Sweaty and sleepy. Taking catnaps during episodes of Go Diego Go and waddling myself to the laundry room when I can muster up the energy. My doctor is on call tonight. Yeah. Tonight would be good, don't you think?

A Mother's Day daybook

Outside my window...it's dark and cool. I'm loving these cool nights. I know they won't last!

I am hearing...Celtic Woman. It's background music for a Wii game Maria is playing. Jack chattering with Maria. Tess chattering to her dolls. It's time to get kids in bed.

I am thinking...about this baby. Kind of pensive in turned inward lately...alternating between appreciating these last couple of weeks of "life as we know it" and anxiously hoping for an early appearance.

I am thankful for...birthday parties! Today we did a combo Mother's Day/Tess's 4th birthday/Henry's 2nd birthday party thing. I don't like the idea of doing combo birthday parties, but they are both so little and they were thrilled with it, and it was just the easiest thing to do right now with all that is going on. It was a nice day, a simple party with just family and presents and cake and such. Maria helped me quite a lot with all the preparing. Also, confirmations! Maria was confirmed last weekend! I obviously have a backlog of pictures to post...she picked Maria Goretti as her confirmation Saint.

I am wearing...a white polo with pink flowers, and pajama pants. I had a skirt on earlier. I ditched it for the pajama pants a few hours ago. :)

We are currently reading...Henry loves Leo Lionni right now...A Color of His Own is a favorite. He also loves (and so do I), the charming Little Blue Truck. I am reading the latest edition of The Womanly Guide to Breastfeeding on my nook. My paperback version was an older edition and tattered.

I am praying...for an early delivery! Just a little early. Or not late even. That would be good.

Latest on the babies...this little honey is a biggun...just like the others. I had an ultrasound a few days ago and the estimated weight is already 9'14, ha! And the head is measuring at 42 weeks. Actually, the head was measuring a bit bigger than that, but that was the biggest parameter they had. I also have a bit of extra fluid. Because the giant baby isn't enough to lug around. I'm having contractions all.the.time today. I keep hoping that they will turn into something, but I know they probably won't. See? That was posted a month before Tess was born See?! This is a week before she was born. So, I don't expect to go anywhere real soon. Sigh.

From the kitchen...pizza. butterfly birthday cupcakes for Tess. Baseball cookies for Henry. Mocha Cappuccino cupcakes that Maria made for Mother's Day. Oh my goodness, they are really good too. I'm not even a huge cake fan, but these turned out wonderfully...

Around the house...a mess. Really. Just a mess. I have really got to get things together in the next day or two. As much as I want to go into labor, I'm kinda scared that I actually might with so much undone around here.

In the learning room...wrapping up as much as I possibly can. Speaking of undone. I need to get papers and grades off to our consultant. I had my consultation the other day and made lots of good plans for the upcoming school year. More about that later, I'm sure!

In the garden- Berry bushes look to be still alive, but not growing much. I haven't been great about watering, need to work on that...

Plans for the rest of the week...Monday, Jack has therapy of course. Wednesday will be busy. I have an OB appointment (38 weeks!), and I'm taking Maria and Tess to get haircuts, and we need to get a few groceries and a new crib mattress for the baby. I thought we had one. But Tess has recently moved back upstairs to sleep on a mattress on my bedroom floor. Sigh. So she has hers back now. Rest of the week looks fairly clear to work on nesting. Or birthing. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

"We would like to pay homage to all brave mothers who dedicate themselves to their own family without reserve, who suffer in giving birth to their children and who are ready to make any effort, to face any sacrifice, in order to pass on to them the best of themselves ... How hard they have to fight against difficulties and dangers! How frequently they are called to face genuine ‘wolves’ determined to snatch and scatter the flock! And these heroic mothers do not always find support in their surroundings. On the contrary, the cultural models frequently promoted and broadcast by the media do not encourage motherhood. In the name of progress and modernity, the values of fidelity, chastity, sacrifice, in which a host of Christian wives and mothers have distinguished and continue to distinguish themselves, are presented as obsolete. As a result, a woman who is determined to be consistent with her principles often feels deeply alone, alone in her love which she cannot betray, and to which she must remain faithful. Her guiding principle is Christ, who has revealed the love which the Father bestows on us. A woman who believes in Christ finds a powerful support precisely in this love that bears everything. It is a love that enables her to believe that all she does for a child conceived, born, adolescent or adult, she does at the same time for a child of God. As Saint John states: ‘We are called children of God, and that is what we are’ (1 John 3:1).”--Pope John Paul II

H/T to Lisa

Napping with Henry

Taken with my phone...yes, that's my very pregnant belly...

Close up of Henry. His hair gets curly when he's sweaty. See the cat in the background?

There is pretty much always a cat napping with us.