Shutting Down...

Well, it was inevitable, folks. I am sad to say that Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom will be shutting down for a while. With the new baby and current demands on my time, computer time will be limited. It's not a choice at this point, unfortunately.
Apparently four children was the magic number for me to be officially overwhelmed. :-) What can I say? Supermom I'm not. But I'm trying! And one day I'll return! Just as soon as I get the hang of things.

I am grateful for all my readers and their comments and well wishes. You guys keep me going! Thanks everyone!

Lara

IT'S THING FOUR!!!

Well, his FEET anyway! Aren't they cute??? Here's the whole image:

This was the day we brought him home from the Hospital. I really am not one to get into squicky details about births (sorry, Laura!) but can I just say it was rather harrowing this time? I usually get the epidural and the whole thing turns into a party--but this time was rather...different.

I guess I should have clued in when the nurse had to do my least favorite part--the IV--TWICE. OUCH. Then, I started to get nervous (and just plain mad!) when the anesthesiologist had to stick me not once, not twice, but FIVE times with the numbing needle AND the crochet needle in my back before he got the "right" spot. So I was stuck a total of TEN TIMES. Ugh.

Then, the epidural catheter came out of my back at some point (lets just say I had to move a lot at the end) and I started feeling EVERYTHING. So I was basically giving birth au naturel at the end, and I was not happy. I felt everything, the last ten contractions or so. And yes, pushing out a nine pound baby was not something I was used to feeling.
ANYWAY, he's here and he's a cutie and we have decided to keep him! He was born May 10th (yes, same bday as Thing Two) and I am completely sleep deprived and worn out but feeling very blessed.
Here's a couple more:
I caught him in his swing--with eyes open. :-)

He loves to stare at his dog--and yes, Mommy put mismatched socks on his hands! THE HORROR! (He likes to claw his face, in case you wondered)

So, I posted pics of my kid. Yeah, I broke my own rules, but I figure he won't look like this for long. I hope everyone has a good week! I'm too tired to write much else!

Lara

He's Here!!!

Yes, I've had the baby! He was very healthy (and overdue) --9 pounds and 22.5 inches! WHEW!
I am currently living the life of The Walking Dead, but we are very happy. Monday I will tell all and post pics. Just so no one thinks I've disappeared into a black hole! I've just been too dang tired to do much, let alone get on the computer!

Until tomorrow...

Lara

Jubilation!!

Here's the Latest:
I was at the Dr. today and they've put me on the waiting list for inductions TOMORROW at the Hospital! Woo hoo! I am supposed to call at 7am tomorrow morning and see if they can get me in. NO ONE ELSE CAN GO INTO LABOR, DAMMIT! I NEED TO GET IN!!!

If I don't blog tomorrow, you'll know I got in to have the baby. And I'll be posting pics of Thing Four next week!

The only hitch: Thing Two's birthday is tomorrow. But life goes on, doesn't it?

What Happened???

Here I was, loving the Spring weather, and yesterday was about 85 degrees, and Humid, a.k.a. sticky, miserable and YUCK! I had tons of windows open, but all it accomplished was sticky wood floors. YES, the humidity was that bad. There was a breeze, but it was hot. UGH.

I folded about 2pm and turned the air on. It was like out of one of those science fiction movies where the air finally gets turned on and all the people who were dying come back to life and resuscitate.

I could never have lived during the 1800's. Layers of petticoats and a long-sleeved dress with a high collar, NO AIR and well, you get the drift. No wonder they had "summer ovens" in their yards. That's what is cool about Wisconsin. You have tons of these historic log cabins and homes, and they all have summer ovens. Some of them are very well-kept, too.

I got an email from Grandma-in-law, she accidentally sent the wrong size for Thing Two's birthday tomorrow, so I'm going to run and get a shirt for her here to replace the one that's coming. Hey, at least she took the time to send a card and a gift. She always has, and she has TONS of grandkids. She always makes time to pick out something special and write up a card for them, and send it, BEFORE the birthday. I'm highly impressed. She has a pretty crazy schedule as it is. I'm the one who buys something the day before and spends a small fortune making sure FedEx gets it there "the next day" etc. I'm such a procrastinator! I could take a page out of her book.

Oh, and ha ha on the TWINS, comment, Devon! Happily, there is only one baby in there. At least, according to the ultrasounds I've had. I am pretty sure. I think.

Yeah, I'll laugh too if I end up having twins. But not the "good laughter." It will be the kind that makes people worry if they should commit you or not...

SCORE!! (oops for the other team)...

This is what I love about six-year olds playing soccer. Other than falling all over each other a lot, there's the tendency to get disoriented and score a goal...for the opposite team.

"Not MY kid! He'd never do that! He's a soccer STAR! Look at him run! Look at him masterfully maneuver the ball away from the others...look at him...wait, um, that's the wrong way sweetie, turn it around...wrong way honey! YOU SILLY KID WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT'S THE OTHER TEAM'S GOAL!!!!!!!! ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!"

I had to laugh a little, because there is one parent on the team who brags constantly about his son, and his son scored a goal for the other team last night. It was HILARIOUS. I mean, the kid is six years old, cut him a break! I couldn't get over how upset the father was. In fact, he told his son straight up if he ever did that again he'd deny him his next water break.

The Freak. My son has inadvertently scored a few for the opposing side himself. And since he's ONLY six, I laugh it off and take a picture, you know? It's when they're 8, 9, 10--that's when they realize what is what and where to go. But six? Geez. Lighten up, people! And this guy isn't one of those "I have a truck with antlers on it" people either. He's got glasses and is always wearing his work clothes (dress shirt/tie) and he's very soft spoken. He's just a Pusher. His poor kid.

Okay, I am LOVING Spring. It's been so gorgeous and warm here, and Hubby was right to put a Spring fertilizer on the lawn, because it's this intense green and we're loving it. But we had to turn on the Sprinkler system, because we want it to stay green. The guy who set it up has every sector watering for 45 minutes, which adds up to SEVEN HOURS of watering, three days a week. OY. Our water bill is going to drown us. (Oooh, how's THAT pun?)

I get to run around and get Mother's day gifts today (and FedEx them too) and I don't want to. I don't want to move. I just want to work on my new story idea. But I've been in charge of the gifts for 11 years (because I wanted to be in charge of those sorts of things) but it will be nice to have this baby and get waited on ;-)

Thanks everyone, for your well wishes. I hope little Junior cooperates too! Right now, he doesn't seem to want to go ANYWHERE. He likes it right where he is. At this rate I'll be giving birth to a toddler--with teeth if I go much longer! And I don't have "big" babies, either. My biggest ever was 8 pounds on the nose. This should be interesting!

People are Funny...

Had a good (but quiet) weekend. We stayed home Sunday because Thing Two's fever was out of control, and the other two kids are just getting over colds.

But SATURDAY, we went to the new Majestic Theater and saw Spiderman 3. An admitted sucker for the Spidey Franchise, I loved it of course, and yes, Thing One and I were sobbing in the end.
Well, I wasn't sobbing per se, I had tears rolling down my cheeks, but Hubby kept leaning forward and looking at me with this impish grin (as he always does when he suspects I'm crying during a movie) and it made me annoyed enough to where I never actually sobbed. That was Thing One. She was inconsolable, and crying her eyes out in the car on the way home, and once I gently reminded her it was JUST A MOVIE, and they were "ACTING" she immediately was better.

So, I heartily recommend the movie. HOWEVER, here are a few things I also heartily recommend to my fellow moviegoers (hence the title of this blog):

1) When you are attending a huge blockbuster movie on it's opening weekend, AND the theater you are attending is ALSO brand new and on it's opening weekend, when you show up ten minutes before the movie starts, you have absolutely NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to get angry/whine that there aren't two seats together in the entire theater room. HELLO PEOPLE!!! We got there an HOUR before the movie and we still only BARELY managed to get good seats together...

2) Spiderman 3 is NOT really a movie for your two year old. And when they scream and won't stop, please carry them out, stop trying to stifle their cries and keep them in their seats. Especially when they are screaming into the back of my head...

3) Shouting out (just to impress your fellow teenage buddies) "I saw this yesterday and so-and-so DIES!!!" during a crucial part in the movie will make people angry enough to take you out and stone you.

Anyway, it was seriously funny (and a bit entertaining) to see people freaking out over the lack of seats when they arrived just before the movie started. COMMON SENSE would usually be appropriate here. Nuff' said.

--Still no baby. I am beginning to think he doesn't want to come out. And I'm not saying that lightly. I am meeting with the Dr. on Wednesday morning to discuss induction. I am going to push for this Saturday morning. (okay, that was NOT an intended pun!) I guess we'll see what she says! But as swollen and miserable and uncomfortable as I currently am, I actually feel OK. Because I know it will happen this week, one way or another.

Or, at least, it BETTER...

Typical Saturday...

We had it all planned out today. Hubby had to turn his car in for service at 8am this morning, and luckily the Lexus dealership is RIGHT across the street from the Original Pancake House, so we were going to have a yummy breakfast there.

WELL, Thing Two woke up with a fever. We obviously couldn't take him anywhere. So those ideas were scrapped. He stayed home with older sis while Hubby and I ran to the dealership with Thing Three, dropped off the car, and got the horribly NON-nutritious (but decadently yummy) McD's breakfasts for everyone and brought them home. I was surprised. Hubby usually won't touch McDonald's food. I guess once every few months is OK?

Then we decided to get tickets to Spiderman 3. Or rather, TRY to get them. We have a new theater that opened up close to us and it's not like any other. It's called The Majestic and it has restaurants, candy shoppes, a Palladium theatre, etc. inside. It JUST opened up yesterday. So I was a tad nervous about scoring Opening Weekend Spidey tix, at an opening weekend for the largest theater in the Midwest.
But we got em! And we got the Ultrascreen ones too! I am going to have to put about three coats over my belly so the baby doesn't freak out during the movie. It's going to be LOUD. (And yes, for those of you wondering, the baby is STILL inside me! The Dr. won't induce me until next weekend, so I will be in the hospital for Mother's Day!)

Thing Two was feeling better by lunch so we let him go to his friends' birthday party. Maybe the fever was a false alarm? I'm hoping so.

Now we're having post-lunch "quiet time" where the kids read quietly in their rooms. Hubby has started re-reading Order of the Phoenix (July can't come soon enough!) and I'm being bad and surfing the Net. Pretty typical Saturday for us, to be honest. It's too rainy and windy to do anything outside, unfortunately.

In fact, a NAP sounds good...

UPDATE

I guess I was wrong. You see, when I originally found out I was pregnant, I was a few months along and this baby was a total surprise. So I couldn't give them "reliable" information on when I thought certain things had happened. So I gave them my best guess.

That put my due date at May 9th. But I wasn't sure. So they said my first ultrasound would be the determining factor. Well, when I had the ultrasound it projected my due date as April 30th, so I've always maintained that April 30th was my due date.

WELL, here I am, thinking I'm overdue, and my OB informed me that she is going off the May 9th date, so she won't consider induction until after then. So, I have at least a week more of waiting, unless Mother Nature takes over (dammit!) and something happens.

So, I get to wait. I'm not going to "force" things, if the baby isn't ready. But *I* sure am ready for it to happen! What can I do, right?

I just hope I don't have the baby May 10th. That's Thing Two's birthday, and I want it to be his own special day, you know?

What a mess...

Why I Even Bother...

...going to bed at this point is beyond me. In fact, it's pretty moot. I don't sleep, I'm up all night either A) too uncomfortable to sleep or B) going to the bathroom every half hour or C) stressing over stupid stuff, etc.
Last night was typical. Thing One has a field trip to some natural caves today, and she needed to be dropped off at school at 7:45, in order to make the bus. Well, I thought about it all night long--would I wake up in time? I had to make sure that I left at 7:35 to get there, and what would I do with the boys? (Since they can't be dropped off until 8am, etc. etc.)

Couldn't turn my brain off, over something pretty trivial.

And now my feet are swollen. I am officially OVER being pregnant. I have a Dr. appt at 10:30 this morning, and I wonder what she'll do when I get on my knees and BEG her to induce me ASAP? Will she be embarrassed? I certainly won't. I am READY.

There is a hot debate going on in a writing forum I lurk in, on using pain medication during childbirth vs no meds/natural birth.

There are some women who truly believe that having a baby naturally (sans any painkillers) is the only way to really "experience" the birth, and bring mother and baby closer together. My hat is off to those courageous souls.

My thoughts? Sure. I'd really like to look at the baby and say "I just went through twelve hours of complete and utter hell for you--woo hoo!" No thank you. Granted, I would have a really GREAT guilt tool later on in life, because I could remind said child (whenever they're acting up)that I labored for twelve hours with them in a state of pain that can only be rivaled by experts at 18th-century Torture, but hey, who wants to do that?

I'm all for pleasant experiences, folks. I'm all for feeling a few cramps and getting The Needle and then feeling blissfully nothing, until the baby is out. Granted, I got a taste of the "Real Deal" when, with Thing Two, the Dr. told me to go as long as I could before I got the epidural, and when I finally started crying for it, the Anesthesiologist took their SWEET time getting to me, at which point I was NOT HAPPY. (Hubby told me I was cursing like a sailor but I don't remember). ME? Curse like a Sailor??? *wink*

ANYWAY, I say, why make it a horrible experience when you can make it great? Why be delirious and nauseous with pain when you can chat and laugh and then...be done? Hmmm, not a difficult choice for me.

I also believe pain threshold has a lot to do with it. There are some women who can go through the pains, with little discomfort.
Then there are women like me, who SOB over paper cuts.
I am an unabashed wuss, when it comes to those things. So, bring on the drugs, the big heavy mallet, whatever. I don't want to feel a thing.

Wish me luck today!

False Alarm

Sorry Guys. I guess I just won't blog about having this baby until AFTER I've had the baby. I seriously thought it was going to happen yesterday morning, because I was having LABOR PAINS. Apparently they were just a warm up-- because they stopped in the early afternoon, and NOTHING since. All I can say about that is %^*&*#!$%^$&!!

I mean SERIOUSLY, I am #$#^%*(@! tired of this @#@$&*@ "false alarm" !#$&*(!!why can't I just @#$^&*(^&#^ have this @#%$^*(^^&* already??????

Okay, I feel better. Of course yesterday was full of little "incidents." My personal favorite was I decided to lie down for a nap, and I was hot, so I took off my jeans and got into bed in a T-shirt (hey, I was alone in the house for starters, and who wants to wear tight-belly jeans while napping?) and then I remembered I needed to print up something for the kids on the computer so I heaved myself off the bed and went downstairs, and while I was in the basement the doorbell rang.
My blood ran cold. Of course I was downstairs with nothing but a T-shirt and underwear on, and my pants were UPSTAIRS by the bed and the way our house is laid out I have to run directly past the front door to get to my room, and OF COURSE we have see-through panes of glass in our front door, and long windows on either side, and a window on the top, so anyone trying to see if anyone was home would have a clear view of me dashing upstairs sans apparel.

Acting like a spy on reconnaissance, I peered around the corner and saw some short guy peering into the windows. So, swallowing my pride I yelled "just a minute" and booked around the corner and up the stairs (he at least stopped trying to look in when I yelled) and jumped into my jeans and answered the door.

It was the guy coming to turn on our sprinkler system, and I had forgotten all about it. I noticed he had a grin on his face when I answered the door, and I just KNEW he'd gotten an eyeful. Well, in my pregnant state, I'm sure it was more like TWO eyefulls, but I was over it, and I tried to act normal.

Yes, yesterday was an interesting day. As of right now, I feel absolutely nothing, and I am about to run the kids to back-to-back dentist appointments. I prayed this morning and said very specifically that I was HAPPY to go into labor any time, but after ten o'clock because it fit into my schedule better.

That means they'll be inducing me on Saturday. If I plead my case to the OB tomorrow and catch her on a good day...

#$^&*()(#!!

PLEASE LET IT BE SO...

Well, something is definitely happening, folks. And boy am I glad I resisted trying the Castor Oil!

If I don't blog for a few days, then you'll know I've had the baby. Otherwise, I'll post tomorrow. And just to forewarn you all, it won't be a "happy" post...

We shall see!