Twenty-Eight Weeks

Joyfully, we salute another monumental milestone...

28 weeks pregnant! 

28 weeks means...

*A 90% chance of survival for Miss Rapunzel if I have to deliver after this point. Yay!

*Swollen hands and feet. Boo.

*An uncontrollable craving for grilled cheese sandwiches. At every single meal. 

*Time to paint the nursery! Thanks to my sainted mother for helping me out with the task!

*Tossing and turning in a fruitless quest to sleep at night.

*The dreaded GTT test (to see if I've developed gestational diabetes).

*The Rhogam shot. (trust me, you don't want to know the injection site). 

*Only 9 weeks to full term!

Here's what I've been doing to keep myself busily challenged while Brock is at school...

Nursery Decor....

This was a really simple project.

You need:

styrofoam balls

dollar store candlesticks

flower paper punch

corsage pins

pretty paper

Bibs!

Using an online tutorial and generic pattern, found HERE, I *painstakingly* sewed these bibs--they were slightly tricky for a girl who cat fights and argues with her temperamental sewing machine. One one side of the bib, you have a fabric of your choice. On the flip side, is chenille. All that's missing is the velcro closures.

I plan to make more of these.

Burp Cloths

I found a great tutorial for burp cloths HERE

Although, I don't remember needing many burp cloths with Brock, this little lady could prove to be a much messier baby than her big brother was. 

Using chenille and an assortment of cute fabrics (from fabric.com), I created my own template with a cereal box (9"x16" rectangle). This was such an EASY project because all you had to do was sew two rectangles together, flip them inside out and sew shut. Then run a top-stitch around the perimeter of the rectangle. Voila! That easy! Seriously, I would not (could not) have tackled anything more challenging than a rectangle with my meager sewing experience. So, this was a great project for me!

And they would make awesome baby shower gifts. Except, I'm keeping these!

Crisis Averted

My first thought, when I hung up the phone last Friday morning, was, "I wish they had never called."

Sometimes opportunities present themselves at the wrong time and this was one of those situations. It was an opportunity with a deadline of that afternoon, leaving hardly enough time to fully digest the pros and cons and to formulate a sound conclusion.

Last May, we were devastated to learn that Brock's name had not been chosen in the Falcon Ridge Charter School's annual lottery, determining which new students would be attending the charter school that fall

. The letter of non-acceptance arrived and we were asked to sign it and send it back to allow Brock's name to be added to the school's waiting list. The letter sat on my kitchen counter for two weeks, daring me to sign my name and mail it back. I clearly remember the day, I crumpled up the letter and tossed it in the garbage, not out of spite towards the charter school, but because we felt it was not in Brock's best interest to change schools mid-year, should there be an opening at the charter school.

When Falcon Ridge Charter School called me on Friday morning to notify me that they had an immediate opening in the kindergarten class and that Brock was next on the waiting list, it seemed like a no-brainer answer; though, I was stunned that Brock's name still made it to the wait list, despite my not returning the signed consent form. I called Clarke and he and I both agreed that since this is what we initially wanted for Brock, we would accept the open spot. I spent that afternoon making all the necessary arrangements.

But, I couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling that something was very, very wrong with our decision.

In fact, I was physically ill. And it had nothing to do with my pregnancy.

All weekend long, I dreaded the changes that our family was about to make. On Sunday afternoon, Clarke also began receiving promptings that we were making a mistake by pulling Brock out of public school and putting him in the charter school. Neither one of us could explain why something we had wished for initially was now causing us so much gut-wrenching turmoil. After all, this was allegedly an educational advantage for Brock. Right?

 Crisis Averted....

After much discussion, Clarke and I decided to decline the charter school's invitation. This morning, I made all the necessary arrangements to re-enroll Brock at the public school, with the same schedule and teacher. It is as though a gazillion pound burden has been lifted from our shoulders and we feel such comfort and peace with our decision; although, we can't fully explain why. Except, that prayers are answered, even if the answer isn't what we hope or expect.

Did we make the right decision? Absolutely.

Cheeky Baby

Miss Rapunzel has grown rather cheeky in the past month since our last ultrasound. That's not to say that she's grown impudent and saucy, rather she's developed the most precious chubby cheeks! Evident by yesterday's ultrasound picture...

Explanation: You're looking straight at her face. The top of her nose/brow bone is bright whit and the black socket is her left eye. You can see the roundness of those cheeks and see her right arm and hand up near her chin.

In previous ultrasound images, my doctor has always managed to capture the same shot--looking directly at Rapunzel's face. In every single image, she closely resembled, I'm sorry to say, an alien. But now, she is "rounding out" those cheeks and looks more and more awesomely cute. She is just over two pounds now and is lengthening out around 15 inches!

In celebration of making it past viability and inching ever so closely to full term, Clarke and I began shopping for something other than completely adorable clothes. In the past week, we purchased the following items...

Graco Snugride 35 Racer

Fischer Price Space Saver High Chair

 Fischer Price Snugabunny Swing

and Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets

(which Clarke is just now finding out about as he reads this post...)

This weekend we will joyfully usher in autumn AND 28 weeks pregnant--which is another huge milestone!

That leaves only about 9 more weeks to shop! Eeep!

Conflicted

Sometimes teaching your kids real-world consequences is as painful for them as it is for you.

This morning as I stood in my pajamas and flip flops, shivering slightly in my driveway, as I watched my backpack clad 5-year old walking toward the corner bus stop where a handful of other children were waiting, I was overwhelmed with a sense of anxiety and seriously questioning our decision, as Brock's parents, to make him ride the bus to school today. I was conflicted.

After an incident on the bus last Thursday that landed Brock his very first bus citation and the label of "bully" by his bus driver, I was determined to drive him to and from school for the remainder of the year, per my 5-year-old's desperate request last week following the citation. To be fair, Brock was not being a bully on the bus as we were led to believe by the message the bus driver left on Clarke's phone (let's not get into the discussion about why I hadn't been called first...I dealt with the school district about that one already). Our kindergartner was one of three children cited that day for bad behavior after Brock tried to defend a child who was being taunted by one of Brock's classmates. For the record. Brock twisted one arm, but was kicked twice by two different children, and one of those kicks was to his head. We're proud of Brock for being courageous enough to stand up for another child, but we do not advocate hurting another child, so Brock was in the wrong on that count. And we're dealing with that behavior.

Although Clarke and I are still uncomfortable with how the situation was handled, we also recognize the importance of allowing Brock the "real world" consequence of disobeying the rules. If he learns these difficult lessons now, it is our hope that he'll understand the vital importance of action and consequence and will avoid much harsher punishments for inappropriate behavior when he's older.

Today was a hard lesson for Brock to learn and for me to impose, but we're ultimately doing him a huge favor and giving him a great advantage. My first instinct this morning was to play the role of "mommy hero" and remedy Brock's discomfort following his citation by driving him to school, but sometimes doing the hard thing is also doing the right thing. And that is being a good parent.

"I'll be right back, mom."

Brock was watching a cartoon on Netflix and I was busying myself in the kitchen. It was Thursday evening and outside the wind had picked up and ushered in a bevy of charcoal colored clouds. We were in for an exciting storm! Brock was semi-engrossed in the cartoon playing on the screen before him, however. I noticed that he continued to glance, worriedly, out the windows at the ensuing chaos that Mother Nature was unleashing on our backyard. Then he slid off the computer stool, and with a sly and challenging glance said, "I'll be right back, mom." He slowly walked towards his bedroom, all the time watching me, as though he was up to something menacing. And I knew something was up.

Minutes later, he bounded happily back into the room and took up his seat before the computer. Smiling. 

"What did you do?" I asked, nonchalantly. 

Still grinning, Brock replied, "I just said a prayer that Heavenly Father would protect us from the storm."

Then, turning around, he continued to watch his cartoon without a care in the world. 

I'm so in love with that kid! He does his momma proud. 

Ninety-Nine!!!

We made it to the double digits, at last, in our countdown to baby!

Today marks 99 days until our baby's official due date: Dec. 18th! 

We won't make it another 99 days, but we're hoping for 80 days. At least!

And...

We've also made it to VIABILITY! 

Our baby now has a 50% chance of NICU survival if she is born!

If we can make it to 28 weeks pregnant, she'll have a 75% chance of NICU survival!!

We're still shooting for full term: 37 weeks pregnant.

And...

Last week, in honor of game day, Clarke took a belly pic.

25 weeks pregnant...

Here's to another 80 days of pregnancy!

Bruiser

Inevitable?

This is what happens the night before school picture day for Brock...

Thanks to his bike and a dirt hill at the bmx park!

Oatmeal Cookies at 9:07pm

I always thought it was such a farce to watch a movie in which a pregnant woman is hit by a middle-of-the-night craving for a sandwich or watermelon and her poor, sleepy-eyed husband would graciously tumble out of bed, scramble for his shoes and make his way to the nearest 24-hour grocery store.

After all, that never happens.

At midnight.

But at 9:07pm.....yeah, that can happen.

Tonight, baby Rapunzel wants cookies. NOW! No, not now. Like 10 minutes ago.

And not that store-bought crap. Homemade cookies.

And not Clarke's homemade cookies (sorry hon), but oatmeal cookies with (gasp) walnuts.

So instead of playing the role of the helpless preggo who is so hungry that she can't get out of bed to make her own sandwich, I am playing the role of the preggo who conquers her insatiable cravings by ravenously scouring the internet for the perfect cookie recipe, tearing through the pantry and in record time collecting all the necessary ingredients and expertly whipping up a batch of creamy cookie dough.

But there's a catch. There's always a catch.

I didn't read the recipe very well because when I got to the part that the dough needed an hour to chill, I almost sat down on my kitchen floor and cried. In abject desperation, I tossed the cookie dough into the freezer, hoping to cheat the "chill" time because there is no absolutely way I am going to make it to 10pm unless it's with a cookie in each hand.

And a glass of milk close by.

I believe they call this being a good mother (and not a crazed preggo with a mad craving for sugar!)