We are very proud to announce the arrival of our third child!
Abigail Joy Yong En Chew
18 September 2010, 8:02 a.m.
8 lbs., 19.5 inches
Abigail Joy Yong En Chew
18 September 2010, 8:02 a.m.
8 lbs., 19.5 inches
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
01 October 2010
13 September 2010
Start and Stop
We are eagerly awaiting the birth of our third child. She, however, seems to be in no hurry to exit the comfort of the womb. As a result, I am at this point officially more pregnant than I have ever been: 39 weeks and 3 days.
Perhaps this wouldn't cause so much anticipation if Joshua and Hannah had been born a bit closer to their due dates. They were born at 37 weeks and 38 weeks 6 days, respectively. I have been saying throughout this pregnancy that I would be surprised if the middle of September came and I was still pregnant. And yet, here I sit. It's September 13 (nearly the very middle of the month) and very pregnant indeed. And since everybody knows that first babies come late and subsequent babies come early, I felt certain that this little one would be here by Labor Day weekend. She has proven me wrong and I am humbled, indeed. Certainly, no one knows the day or the hour.
Again ,this wouldn't be quite as much of a source of anxiety if I weren't having the stop and start approach to labor. The Lord is currently enabling me to ignore any labor signs that I might feel, particularly those hours at a time when I have regular, fairly strong contractions that do a good job of mocking early labor. But this was not the case last week when I was certain every time that this would be it (you'd think I would know by the third time around!) and was more than happy to try and move things along.
On Wednesday I decided that labor would definitely start if I walked with the little guys to a nearby playground - somewhere over 2 miles round trip. Plus I was playing with them on the playground for two full hours. Surely if those contractions started again they would progress into labor. But no. That day gave me a wonderful time with Joshua and Hannah, plus a very stiff and sore pelvis and lower back.
On Thursday I woke up with regular contractions. Maybe the walking did pay off! So I figured that I would clean the floors, organize a few things around the house, and finish packing a bag for Joshua and Hannah. This was all very productive but not in terms of labor. Again, I enjoyed spending time with Joshua and Hannah along with a prolonged backache.
Friday was going to be different. I was going to stop thinking about what all these contractions might be doing (aside from generally preparing my body for the real birth) and instead I was focusing on grocery shopping. So, I headed to Costco. Lifting 30+ pound kids in and out of incredibly high shopping carts, transporting gallons of milk, and large containers of other bulk goods off of shelves, into the cart, onto the belt at the checkout, into the car, and then out of the car, down the hill, up the steps and eventually into our cupboards seemed promising labor-induction activities (even thought I had theoretically stopped thinking about inducing labor at this point). Again, I enjoyed time with the kiddos, felt like my back, pelvis, and hips would just fall apart from being tired, sore, and by this very loose, and was pretty much exhausted.
The Lord really is helping me this week, however. Instead of thinking "today could be the day" or "it might be tomorrow so I'd better be prepared just in case my plans have to change" I have now mapped out the entire week, just as I always do, and in my mind the calendar looks normal. No question marks, no "false" starts, just the usual day to day with as few thoughts of "when is this baby going to come?!" as possible. Of course, we'll see how many days this mindset lasts this week. On my own I wouldn't have gotten through today, so if I can just keep leaning on the Lord I think we'll make to the big day (whenever that may be) without too much unnecessary stiff and sore joints.
Perhaps this wouldn't cause so much anticipation if Joshua and Hannah had been born a bit closer to their due dates. They were born at 37 weeks and 38 weeks 6 days, respectively. I have been saying throughout this pregnancy that I would be surprised if the middle of September came and I was still pregnant. And yet, here I sit. It's September 13 (nearly the very middle of the month) and very pregnant indeed. And since everybody knows that first babies come late and subsequent babies come early, I felt certain that this little one would be here by Labor Day weekend. She has proven me wrong and I am humbled, indeed. Certainly, no one knows the day or the hour.
Again ,this wouldn't be quite as much of a source of anxiety if I weren't having the stop and start approach to labor. The Lord is currently enabling me to ignore any labor signs that I might feel, particularly those hours at a time when I have regular, fairly strong contractions that do a good job of mocking early labor. But this was not the case last week when I was certain every time that this would be it (you'd think I would know by the third time around!) and was more than happy to try and move things along.
On Wednesday I decided that labor would definitely start if I walked with the little guys to a nearby playground - somewhere over 2 miles round trip. Plus I was playing with them on the playground for two full hours. Surely if those contractions started again they would progress into labor. But no. That day gave me a wonderful time with Joshua and Hannah, plus a very stiff and sore pelvis and lower back.
On Thursday I woke up with regular contractions. Maybe the walking did pay off! So I figured that I would clean the floors, organize a few things around the house, and finish packing a bag for Joshua and Hannah. This was all very productive but not in terms of labor. Again, I enjoyed spending time with Joshua and Hannah along with a prolonged backache.
Friday was going to be different. I was going to stop thinking about what all these contractions might be doing (aside from generally preparing my body for the real birth) and instead I was focusing on grocery shopping. So, I headed to Costco. Lifting 30+ pound kids in and out of incredibly high shopping carts, transporting gallons of milk, and large containers of other bulk goods off of shelves, into the cart, onto the belt at the checkout, into the car, and then out of the car, down the hill, up the steps and eventually into our cupboards seemed promising labor-induction activities (even thought I had theoretically stopped thinking about inducing labor at this point). Again, I enjoyed time with the kiddos, felt like my back, pelvis, and hips would just fall apart from being tired, sore, and by this very loose, and was pretty much exhausted.
The Lord really is helping me this week, however. Instead of thinking "today could be the day" or "it might be tomorrow so I'd better be prepared just in case my plans have to change" I have now mapped out the entire week, just as I always do, and in my mind the calendar looks normal. No question marks, no "false" starts, just the usual day to day with as few thoughts of "when is this baby going to come?!" as possible. Of course, we'll see how many days this mindset lasts this week. On my own I wouldn't have gotten through today, so if I can just keep leaning on the Lord I think we'll make to the big day (whenever that may be) without too much unnecessary stiff and sore joints.
05 August 2010
Oxi-Clean, Vacuums, and Mops...Oh My!
Yep, it's that time again - nesting. I've been through this three times including this round and it always seems to surprise me - the sudden urge to clean everything in sight, the desperation to have it all done by yesterday, and most of all the burst of energy that enables it all to happen.
The timing, too, perplexes me. Little Three could come in a couple of weeks but more than likely it'll be a month or more, so why am I cleaning now, especially when there are two toddlers in the house??? I have no idea, but cleaning I am - at least a little bit every day.
In the end, even if the house ends up just as messy the day Little Three arrives as it was pre-nesting, it doesn't really matter. The last time I checked, newborns don't generally check behind the refrigerator for dust bunnies.
The timing, too, perplexes me. Little Three could come in a couple of weeks but more than likely it'll be a month or more, so why am I cleaning now, especially when there are two toddlers in the house??? I have no idea, but cleaning I am - at least a little bit every day.
In the end, even if the house ends up just as messy the day Little Three arrives as it was pre-nesting, it doesn't really matter. The last time I checked, newborns don't generally check behind the refrigerator for dust bunnies.
20 February 2010
Cravings
What do Chile's, Cheesecake Factory, and In 'N Out have in common?
They are all chain restaurants that were mentioned by various friends on Facebook and have all made it to the list of Becca's pregnancy cravings.
They also each have the added benefit of zero food preparation on the part of the pregnant person - this includes not having to purchase, wash, cut, cook, or prepare any type of food in any way AND not having to smell the food while it is being prepared even if that preparation is done by a wonderful husband (you know who you are).
Finally, none of them make it on the "healthy enough and within our food budget to have every night of the week" list. *Sniffles*
They are all chain restaurants that were mentioned by various friends on Facebook and have all made it to the list of Becca's pregnancy cravings.
They also each have the added benefit of zero food preparation on the part of the pregnant person - this includes not having to purchase, wash, cut, cook, or prepare any type of food in any way AND not having to smell the food while it is being prepared even if that preparation is done by a wonderful husband (you know who you are).
Finally, none of them make it on the "healthy enough and within our food budget to have every night of the week" list. *Sniffles*
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