Well, Hi There!

Rewind -- Friday, August 31, 2012

J had yet another wonderful doctor's appointment today, and A sent us these photos.

J said she felt it was a girl, and she was right!  We didn't think we'd learn the gender until the baby was born.

Meet our precious DAUGHTER!

We are thrilled.  Mr. Rambler is "nervous."

36 Weeks

Rewind: Friday, August 31, 2012

Today is 36 weeks!  J is busy cooking our baby to perfection.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Faith vs. Fear

Still There? Still Counting?

Anyone there?  ::taps on glass::

Helllllllooooooo?  :: presses face against the glass & starts to breathe heavy to fog it up and entertain myself::

I'm seriously beginning to think that I'm just here talking to myself.  Outside of the occasional spam, comments are few & far between.  Sorry I can't share more exciting news to keep you interesting.  Believe me, I wish I could.

Well, in case you're actually still here and you are still counting, last weekend was EIGHT (8) MONTHS into our wait.  We have now reached the point that we will require an update to our homestudy since it expires at one year.  It will have to be reviewed, completed, and re-approved.  We'll see if the dogs behave again this time.  Promise to keep you posted!

35 Weeks

REWIND: Friday, August 24, 2012

NOTE:  This is NOT a photo of my bump, but it is a pic of the bump for my baby.  :)
We hope to meet our (potential) future birthmother next week. 

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Speechless

Rewind --- Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 2:47pm

THE CALL came today.  8 months and 5 days officially waiting and we are matched.

We are going to be parents . . . in only a handful of weeks.  This is amazing.

It's Not IF Calling . . . This Time

Nope.  It wasn't IF.  Instead, it's the waiting-future-adoptive-Mommy-and-presently-crazy-lady!  Mr. Rambler and I went to South Lake Tahoe for a weekend getaway and family wedding.  After we landed at the airport, we descended down a long & steep escalator towards baggage claim.  As we were coming down the escalator I saw a stroller/infant carrier like we plan to get at the bottom. Then (here comes the delusional me!) I thought to myself, “How cool would that be if A (the co-owner/director of our agency) was standing there with OUR baby in OUR carrier???”

Told ya so . . . . . I am now the waiting-future-adoptive-Mommy-and-presently-crazy-lady.  This can only get worse the longer we wait!

The (Non-) Nursery

I've been planning to write some fancy, well-worded blog post about our nursery but I'm unable to find the words.  Imagine that . . . The Rambler has no words.  However, I have no nursery either.

I'm not able to go in there and get anything started.  I just can't.  Lately, I've felt kind of hopeless about "that room."  For YEARS (longer than the 5.5 years we've been married), I have envisioned that room as our baby's nursery.  From the day I moved in this house until that dreaded day I had to let my kitty go, that was Mindy's room.  It's been my scrapbooking & craft room, but I haven't had the motivation to do that.  I can only scrapbook so much of Mr. & Mrs. Rambler, our family and our pets.  All I want to sew is baby stuff, but I'm scared to do that.

I asked DH if we could move his office in with mine & use his office for a nursery instead.  I like the layout of his office much better, but he doesn't want to excavate all his millions of piles of shit and other random crap do that.  So, for now, the room that should become a nursery for our imaginary baby is just a shithole full of stuff, a storage center, a place to dump things.  And I have a feeling it's going to stay that way for a while.  Well, at least until I have a true reason to do anything with it.