SHE is here

Please meet Norah Jean Burke

She was born this morning, March 31 at 2:18 at home. on our bed.

She's 22 inches long and 7 pounds, 15 ounces.

As soon as I'm off bed rest and am able to put it together, I'll be sharing her incredible, life altering story with you.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl
Mae

Psalm 46:10

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth"

Psalm 46:10

Yesterday I woke up with easy contractions 10-15 minutes apart.
I went to bed last night with strong contractions <7 minutes apart.
I woke up this morning with no baby, and not in labor.

I wanted so badly not to be that mom that alerted her midwives and friends too early. I wanted desperately not to have days of practice before my actual labor like I did with Lily. But this is the way God created me. This is how my body prepares for birth. It can be overwhelming...ok, it is overwhelming sometimes, but I am taking this as a blessing. The days of warm up labor with Lily led to a fantastic birth, so I will trust my body, I will trust the Lord, and know that I will meet my baby soon.
I am so grateful that we are having a homebirth. Had I gone into the hospital last night- with a day of early labor and 7 minute growing contractions [I actually broke a sweat through a few], and then suddenly stopped at 3:30, they'd have given me pitocin and started trying to get my baby out when s/he is clearly not ready. My birth team is very excited for me and have been such a huge support the past 24 hours, I know they will be joyful to celebrate with me when it actually is time.

For now, I will continue to wait, continue to grow my baby, and start trusting that the Lord is on my side. He will bring this baby into the world on the date that He set before I was even born.

Hope you're having a great start to your week,
Mae

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This...

No. Baby.
It's probably bored to death like we are, lol.

Today was absolutely, mind numbingly boring for me. I'm sure the rest of the family would describe it as "uneventful" but for some reason I'm just out of my mind bored.

Last night/this morning, baby punched me SO HARD in the cervix that I was sure that my water just popped [which didn't happen until I was pushing with Lily, so I'm not totally sure what that feels like, but I'm assuming that since I'm not walking around looking like I peed myself, that wasn't what it was] but other than that...my body's done nada. I tweeted earlier that I'm not quite so sure that my body knows it's supposed to have a baby soon. It's just behaving so differently this time around! Yes, I should be grateful that I'm not working through 2 weeks of cramps and mucus, or days of per-dermal labor, but it makes me feel like my body's being lazy!

I know it will only be a few more days [please sweet Jesus, only a few more days...] but all this sitting around is making my mind wander...and that's never a good thing!

Last night I went out to my birth center for a "belly painting pj party." It was lots of fun and I got to see other mamas and get cold sticky paint rubbed on me.
Can you guess which belly is my 40+ weeks belly??? Huuuuuuge....

I will leave you with a list of things I've said today
"The baby will come when it's good and ready!"
"This baby is never going to come out."
"Maybe sextractions will help?"
"Well if the chili doesn't give me contractions, at least I'll be less bored because of all the pooping"
"But I don't want to have a two hour labor!"
and of course,
"Lily, don't stick cheese up your nose"

Hope you all had a fun, more eventful weekend than I did ;]
Mae

Nesting in the Ghetto

Yep, still pregnant :]


Last night I tweeted about a young man who came in to our workout center while I was walking on the treadmill. It went something like this:
"Hey, how you doin' tonight?"
"Fine, thank you"
He looks around the gym for a sec, doing that weird rubbing-hands-together-thing
"You mind if I ax you somethin' real quick?"
"Uh...sure"
I was expecting something along the lines of how far along are you, or does your doctor know you're doing this.
"Whatchu walkin fo?"
I laughed and said "Well, I'm about to have a baby, it's hard work, I've got to stay in shape."
He walks towards me, still rubbing his hands together [gag...why you gotta be a creeper?] and says "Well, to be honest wit chu, you look good just the way you is."
Before I could even say anything he said
"I mean, you just pregnant"

OOOooooh...wasn't aware...
He noticed my tattoos and that I'm married and quickly exited after that.
I just kept walking, laughing at the ridiculousness that just happened. I shook my head thinking...Why? Still laughing.



Any given day Lily and I open our living room window and see the "bad dogs" [pit bulls] being walked, a baby daddy picking up his kids, the maintenance men rushing off to fix something else, "Biggie Smalls" rolling his joints or yelling at Red Shirt Man, or the ambulance or cops picking someone else up [it's unREAL how often this happens...] It makes me infuriated with myself because I chose to live here.
I constantly think, "This is not the way I wanted to raise my kids. I want them to be able to play outside without getting a second hand high. I want them to have other baby friends in the neighbor hood that won't teach them how to hot wire a car." To be honest, I want to shelter them :\

But the past few days we've been privileged to watch these two working away outside of our window.

Lily stood at the window a few mornings ago yelling, "DUCK! DUCK!" And when I went to see what on earth she was talking about, I saw these two fighting the wind, picking up sticks and dried leaves to build a little nest.

 It's so cute to see that while I'm inflating my pool, setting out outfits, putting together birth supplies [that's not weed, I promise, it's an herbal mixture for our bath, lol] and cleaning like mad, these little birds are pretty much doing the same.

I've been waiting anxiously to see what their finished product will look like, and when she'll lay her eggs. Well this morning I saw Mama Bird sitting proudly in her finished nest. And then the Lord did a tricky thing.
He said
"Now if this tiny little bird picked this tree, in this neighborhood with faith that she can lay her eggs, and prepare her babies for flight, why can't you?"

Dangit.
He's right [duh]

It's little reminders like this that assure me over and over AND OVER again that He's taking care of us. Our bellies never hunger at night, we go to bed in a big fluffy bed at a ridiculously comfy temperature, and despite our biggest fears, we are safe inside our apartment every night, despite the chaos going on outside [and when we're not, He even protects us in that]

Matthew 6:25-27

25 "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food,drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing?

26 Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your Heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are.

27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not.

Ok, now I'm ready to have this Baby :]

Happy Wednesday Friends

Mae

First Day of Spring

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately, and the first day of spring marks just another day that I'm still pregnant :]

I got a LOVELY gift yesterday from some sweet friends of mine, Esther, Lesley, and my doula Leila. They came over with cleaners and brooms and trash bags, and scrubbed the dirty out of my apartment!! I feel like such a failure sometimes for not being able to keep the house clean like I want it to be, but each one of them said "Oh, you can't do that when chasing toddlers" Ha! So my kitchen and bathrooms are sparkling and my living room and bedrooms are cozy and tidy...it's SO nice. Eamon took Lily on a date while the ladies cleaned up. When he came back he said "...So...they just came over to clean our house?" YUP! "...that's SO weird!" It is so foreign to the both of us to just have friends who do stuff for you just because! They're such a light of Jesus...

Ah...

Anyway, I feel like there is such a weight lifted off of my shoulders. Every night when I go to bed I think "But if I go into labor tonight I'll have this and this and this to do" It's kinda been stressing me out. But now everything is set up. The pool is inflated, hoses are ready, all of the supplies are where the midwives and doula can get to them, a girl's and boy's outfit are picked, my postpartum basket and a baby essentials basket are filled and accessible, Lily's activities are planned out for her and daddy. It's all coming together :]

I'm now starting to prepare myself for being pregnant past the 40 weeks, even though I'm already so uncomfortable and so ready. Yesterday I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to cramps and irregular contractions, but they stopped after a few hours and then I got nada, lol.

Here are the stats

• 39.5 weeks pregnant
• 30 pounds gained [I've been walking 30 mins every night to get ready for the birth and to build momentum for post partum]
• just now getting swollen fingers and feet
• appetite is not as monstrous as it was
• sleep is not coming easily
• Baby's head is way...WAAAY down low
• and I wouldn't be surprised if at any moment my legs separated from my hips in order to let my hips splay out more

Well this is my Due Date week, let's see if any of your predictions come true :]
Mae

Super Moon

On my Facebook Feed, there is a whole lotta talk about the moon right now.
Not about going back to it or the man that's in it, but what it's doing to uterus's around the DFW.

Midwives, doulas, and birth photographers are trying their hardest to catch up on their sleep and might be carb loading to get some extra energy. Why? There is a Super Moon tomorrow night. This means the moon is at least 14% larger and 30% brighter than a normal full moon because it's so close the the Earth. Tomorrow night we're supposed to see the biggest one ever! [Ok, that is not an actual fact, but roll with me on this one...] Last night one of my doula friends counted SIX births just last night. If that's just the warm up, friends...it's about to get crazy!

Is this just a bunch of Hocus Pocus Mumbo Jumbo?
Probably.
Does the possibility of me having a baby soon get me excited, even if it's dependent on how close the moon is to the earth?
Absolutely.

Since I did NOT get my St. Patrick's Day baby [...obviously] maybe I'll get a Super Moon baby. If not...I'm just settling on this baby coming on April Fool's Day. This is my kid we're talking about here...

Have a great weekend!
Mae

Luck O' the Irish

Last year Eamon told me I didn't need to wear green on St. Patrick's Day because "you've had a little bit of Irish in you." Isn't he sweet? [insert HUGE eyeroll...who is he, Matt Damien?]

For all his talk about his Irish heritage -dad is first generation, grew up on the docks of Boston, Eamon and his brother have "done enough Catechism to be priests"- I have never benefited from the Luck of the Irish that is supposed to come with hailing from the most beautiful, superior, and awe-inspiring place in the world.

When we were dating, I always noticed that nothing worked out for Eamon. He had the worst luck in the world. Bank accounts went haywire on a regular basis, cars went kaput, injuries were acquired...it was never ending. Then we got married.
My identity got stolen, bank accounts were overdrawn by about $2000, my car bit the bullet...all of a sudden I was no longer the good luck charm in our relationship, I too fell under the spell of bad luck.

So as I sit here, wondering how the heck I have done nothing but clean for two weeks and my house is still a wreck, 39 weeks pregnant with a mini watermelon [according to Babycenter.com], I wonder if Eamon's Irish luck will finally kick in. Will I get my St. Patty's Day baby? Or will this baby just hang around and be an April Fool's baby? [Oh Lord...I could still be pregnant in April...ooooy...] 

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!
Mae

39 Weeks

I'm posting a night early because I'll be busy tomorrow :]

No signs of anything yet...hmmm.
On the morning of week 39 with Lily I lost my mucus plug [did I just make you barf a little? I did, didn't I?] which, by the way, is still the only part of the birthing process that makes my stomach turn. Granted I didn't actually HAVE her for another TWO FLIPPIN WEEKS, but it was still progress.
I started a Monistat treatment and my infection seems to be getting much better [HALLELUJAH! It only took...3 months for me to finally do it...blegh]


Ummm...

Every night before we go to bed we change our boy name. Not even kidding. Every time I think "YES! If this is a little dude he will not be nameless!" Eamon comes to bed and says "Hey, so what do you think about the name XYZ?!" [I told him we can't just name our kid letters...just kidding, that was lame, huh?] Part of me gets really frustrated because I'm thinking "Did we not just stay up and talk about this LAST night and come up with a name?" but I'm glad we're both coming to names we really like. And since we keep flip/flopping on the name, I don't think I'm going to reveal it now ;] But Norah Jean is definitely still our girl name.

Let's see...
Well, I just don't have a lot of interesting things to say at this point other than I'm ready now! Tomorrow is my prediction for when Baby is supposed to make his/her appearance, but that looks far fetched now ;]

Hope you're having a great week!
Mae

Still Growing

No Baby yet!

Yup, s/he is still hanging out in there, makin my shirts work overtime.

I'm finally almost done with my birth playlist. [Thanks for the help Karissa!] I've been swaying and swinging back and forth to it trying to keep Lily occupied and me active.

I've got outings planned for the next two days to keep me busy, but after that, Eamon and I would really like to meet this baby. And how fun would it be to have a St. Patrick's Day baby?!? I thought about it, and even if Baby takes as long as Lily did to come, I potentially only have 17 days til I meet this baby :] That makes the wait a little [read very, very tiny] bit more bearable.

I'll be updating less [unless I'm totally driving myself crazy waiting around] while I drink in the last little while of having Lily as my one and only. But I'll definitely be here to give you weekly bump pictures on Thursdays. Hopefully I'll have some newborn pics to share soon ;]

Happy Monday!
Mae

38 Weeks!

I loved reading all of the responses to the giveaway! You guys are great! Here's what it panned out to be:

Looks like it's pretty evenly mixed between boy and girl, but so far Norah is winning ;]
I wouldn't mind that ONE bit...but I also really want a boy. Last time I REALLY wanted a girl, but was convinced she was a boy [we named her Finn] but this time I truly want a boy or a girl. I love having a little girl, love love LOVE it...aaaand we already have everything for her, lol. But I really do want to give my husband a son and I want to know the joy that is raising men. As a matter of fact, I think I like his guess best

"Sometime Wednesday night.
Boy
7lbs 6oz"

He couldn't decide between the 23rd or 24th.

I'll post a real update soon, but for now, here's how Baby Burke is doing:

Mae

So much for trying

When I got pregnant I promised myself I wouldn't fall into the "You can have a baby any minute now since you're 37 weeks." mindset...

Welp, so much for trying.
EVERY. NIGHT. I dream about labor, holding the baby, calling the midwives...SOMETHING. Last night I dreamed that I had just woken up [don't you hate that?!?] and went to the bathroom to find "the big show" When I woke up for real I thought that I had just gone back to sleep and should call Eamon to let him know.
Then I realized it was a dreamed I was slightly ticked off...Ok, I was really ticked off, but I'd probably lose half my readers if I wrote down the actual thoughts I had...

Last time was so different, I had distractions.
I had our one year anniversary to keep me busy, then moving, then my birthday. There were little things every week that even if I didn't have the baby, I would still have something to do.
This time I'm just sitting. Waiting. Looking at the storage bin that the birth tub is in. Making double triple sure I have the essentials like Depends, olive oil, hydrogen peroxide, and extra sheets [homebirth can be weird, y'all]. I've organized and reorganized each room multiple times. I keep cleaning up the house so that when my birth team comes home they don't see what kind of pigs we really are.

And I'm still two and a half weeks away from my due date. THREE and a half weeks from when Lily was born...

I was kinda encouraged though when I looked in the mirror this morning and noticed Baby is sitting practically between my knees, see?

So it can't be that much longer...right?

I'm actually praying it happens Friday. Next week is Spring Break at the TCC campus and Eamon will be off, so we'll have a whole week AND an extra weekend of just the four of us if the baby comes this weekend. But it's really just not likely.

How on Earth am I going to distract myself without putting myself in labor? Ugh.

Lastly, if you haven't already, go enter the big Hip Green Baby giveaway by telling me what your predictions for this baby are! So far you guys are thinkin boy ;]

Mae

200th Blog Post & A Full Term Baby Giveaway!

Well, our baby is officially "full term". For my blog readers I want to do something fun, something baby centered, and I want to give away something REALLY cool.
So without further ado....

200th Blog Post & A Full Term Baby Giveaway!
*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*
Winner will be announced when Baby is born :]

Many of you have heard me talk about my good friend, Kristi, over at Hip Green Baby.

She is our source for cloth diapers, teething necklaces and crunchy parenting advice since she's a mom of six! She is EXTREMELY knowledgeable when it comes to what cloth diaper is best for your baby's bum and goes out of her way [often!] to help her customers out. So just for my readers, she is offering a 

$50 STORE CREDIT TO HIP GREEN BABY!!!

How exciting is THAT?!

The Details:

So how do you enter this amazing giveaway? See the calendar below?

Predict what date that you think Baby Burke will come!

My estimated due date is March 24th. Lily was born exactly one week after her due date, which would put this baby being born on the 31st if he/she follows the same pattern. I've put any "relevant" details on the calendar to help you pick a day :]

To Enter:
1. Follow my blog & leave a comment.
2. Leave a comment telling me the date you think Baby is going to come on. [If it's past the 8th, we're gonna have a talk...]


For extra entries:
3. Leave a comment predicting a Boy or a Girl.
4. Leave a comment predicting the weight [Lily was 7 lbs 11 oz]
5. Link this giveaway on your Facebook page and leave one comment saying so.
6. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with a link to your blog.

Did I win?!?
If you have the most accurate predictions, YOU WIN!
*If more than one person has 3 correct predictions [Date, Gender & Weight] or if several people have the same number of correct predictions, we will put their names on a slip of paper and put it in a hat for Lily to pick the winner. [The more comments you leave, the more slips of paper you'll have in the hat!]

The giveaway will be open until Thursday, March, 10th so you have plenty of time to tell you friends ;] [maybe?]

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Get your thinking caps on and start guessing!

Mae

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this is how Baby is doing ;]

Check out the full series here :]

A Quicky

Ouch.

That's what I've been saying a lot of these days. I'm definitely in the uncomfortable part of my pregnancy, I feel like Baby is just SO low...but it's probably all in my head.

Do you see this? [Ignore the Lily just woke up and there is crap all over my floor mess] This baby is huge...and low. The front of my belly pushes out my panties...Another month of this is gonna be the end of me. BUT I'm not sick of being pregnant yet. Yes I want to meet this little baby, yes I really want to wear normal clothes again, but I know as soon as he/she is here I'm going to wish they were still in my belly, nice and warm, safe from Lily's and Rusty's slobber.

Every other day it seems like the weather is finally gonna warm up for good, but it never really makes up it's mind. I'm so ready for the pool...sigh.

And about yesterday's post.
I've never had to moderate my comments as much as I did yesterday, you guys got way, way, way fired up. My post was meant to 1) Introduce my birth team to you all 2) Say it's stupid to insult people for their marriage/parenting decisions. This is MY blog and I was defending MY choice to birth how we see fit, if I can't do it here, where can I? I felt like I got a LOT of backhanded complements, and contradictory encouragements. My intentions were not at all to offend anyone, make anyone feel like they are less of a mother/parent for not having a midwife/home birth, or preach about doctors. [So the "Well I just pray that you don't need those idiot, unexperienced doctors. Not all of us our superwoman." comments were really hurtful and rude.] I really love all of my readers and hope that I didn't offend you yesterday :\

I've got one more post planned before the big 200...it's probably gonna be about poop again ;]
OH! And look over there <<<<< I've got a nifty little poll! Go vote!

Happy Monday!
Mae

Actually, I'm Not That Brave

When you get married, you quickly find out that there is a right way to be married, and a wrong way, and everyone has an opinion on what is right and what is wrong.
When you get pregnant and become a parent...the opinions grow and intensify.
From "feed that baby whenever they cry" to "let that baby cry it out" to shots, to food, to books...it's never ending! Sometimes I think either Lily or I would have died if it weren't for  the advice we got, other times I wish I would have never asked!

One of the most aggravating things I've been told since we got pregnant with Lily was
"Wow...You're really...brave for having a homebirth. I just like the safety of having the doctors there, I guess."

Why is it so aggravating? Because they don't mean "brave". They mean "irresponsible", often times "credulous" or "impulsive", but most likely "stupid."

They think some woman wearing overalls and a bandanna, or a muted dress covering her head to toe will come into our house with a small bag of towels and weed and sit idly by while a mother lays in her bed screaming in agonizing pain. They usually don't understand that they go through many years of schooling and apprenticing, attending dozens [sometimes hundreds!] of births before they are certified [unlike OB's who are trained for surgery, and rarely see a live birth before they graduate medical school]. 

After doing a lot more research than most people do when they birth in a hospital [IMO], Eamon and I decided very early on in Lily's pregnancy that if remained low risk and healthy, there was no reason I shouldn't use a midwife. And if we were going to use a midwife, I might as well birth at home. [Getting in a car during transition to go to the birth center or hospital just sounds like hell to me, lol!] Our home birth was a huge success, so when we got pregnant this time, we of course chose the same path.

After a few changes in the line up, lots of prayer and joy, I'm happy to introduce my birth team to you :]

Angela Friesen: As you can see, not much brings her more joy than watching a mama pull her baby up to her chest. God told her that she was supposed to be at Lily's birth last time, EVEN THOUGH I had hired someone else, and low and behold, she ended up catching my sweet girl! There was never a doubt we wanted her here to help us bring Number Two along.

Photo Credit: Amanda Gipson Taken just a few months ago at Mama J's birth of Baby B :]

Ann Crowell: Ann also attended Lily's birth, just in the nick of time too! She has attended THOUSANDS of natural births over the past 20 years. [She has THE BEST stories of any woman I know!] Please indulge me while I brag a little bit ;] During a birth convention not too long ago there was a woman representing a local hospital bragging about the fact that her cesarean section rate was about 20%. I kind of rolled my eyes thinking "Ya, but crisis rate is 30%, so you're not really doing so hot lady..." Then Ann was asked what hers was. She's been at this a lot longer than that woman, so her percentage must be a lot higher, right? WRONG! Ann's cesarean rate is less than 2%. Eamon and I don't feel that our decision to birth with her on staff is "brave" at all ;]

                           

Photo Credit: Michelle Monk! She's our sweet friend who will be here for Baby's birth. This was taken just a few minutes after Ann delivered her own granddaughter, Hazel, just a few weeks ago <3

Leila Farber: Leila will be our doula. She will be the first person to come over, and will let the midwives know when it's time to come. Doula literally means "woman who serves". They are women who provide non medical support for women during their pregnancy, labor, and even post-partum. Luckily for us, Leila worked in the NICU as a nurse for years before deciding to become DONA certified. Again, I wouldn't say the decision to hire her was misinformed. She has become a dear friend and I'm very grateful that she will be there to assist Eamon and I in whatever way possible :]

Photo Credit: Me! I got to shoot her and her lovely boys a few months ago. Isn't she GORGEOUS?

So as you can see, I don't plan on going into this alone, and we've spent lots of time preparing for exactly who will be helping us. In just a few short weeks I'll be making "The Call" through some contractions and these women will head on over, bless us with their amazing medical and biblical knowledge, and welcome sweet Rhys or Norah with us in the comfort and safety of our bedroom. 

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend! Only THREE more posts til my 200th blog entry extravaganza! [I'm a bit dramatic sometimes...]

Mae

36 Weeks

We're getting so close :] I can't believe how fast it's going!

Whew...just a few more weeks...
Mae

Lend Me Your Ear & I'll Sing You a Song

Not really...I tend to moo during labor.

Actually - Have you ever seen Orgasmic Birth? Well I was pretty mortified when I saw women, well, one woman in particular, have an orgasm while pushing out her baby. I was pretty equally mortified [I really just don't know why...] when I saw this breech video [Careful, there's some boobies...and some lady parts.] of this mom smiling HUGE at the end of each push and showed Eamon. He said "Oh ya, that's pretty much exactly what you did" Oh...weird.




Anyway, I've been thinking about my birth playlist since I saw this video of an amazing home birth a while back.
I. Love. This. Song.


Leo Hart from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.


Notice, neither of these moms are screaming about how much they hate their husbands or to "Get this damn things outta me!!!" It can be done ;]

Well anyway, if you read my last post, you know that I'm having trouble finding good songs this time around, so help me out! Aside from harp solos, beach sounds [both of which I actually LOVE during a massage], and praise music, have any good suggestions? I stalk your blogs, I know you people have good taste in music! So help me out!

This is what I have so far, care to contribute?
Mae

Baby Burke To Do List

Ninety percent of my friends think I'm going just a little bit crazy.

Why?

Well aside from the usual reasons, I'm in nesting OVERDRIVE...and I still have over 5 weeks to go. But there is a very simple explanation to why I'm putting everything together for this little baby so early.

I didn't get to last time.

During Lily's pregnancy I painted her nursery, folded all of her little clothes, picked out outfits, baby proofed everything-then we got infested with bed bugs [more on that some other time] We had to move in order to get out of the mess and to have a successful homebirth where my birth team wouldn't have to worry about carrying any of the little critters home. So we ended up moving into our last apartment on my due date.

The pretty mural I worked so hard on, all the sticks and spit I had glued together, all my hard work seemed absolutely worthless. And all the time that we were deciding/waiting to move, I couldn't do anything for Lily. It seemed pointless. So after my due date, Eamon let me paint our bedroom, living room, and bathroom [we both kinda hoped all the work would put me in labor, lol] and let me do whatever I needed to in order to be "prepared" for baby. But it still felt weird. It was like cramming for a test instead of spending the whole week [read: 10 months] steadily studying for it.

This time around is different.
Every few days I'm trying to get one thing done so that I'm not overwhelmed and so that I'm in a good habit of doing something exclusively for the baby. Here are some things that are on my list [some accomplished, others not ;]

Baby Burke To Do List

Write Birth Plan - I used this awesome site to help me write mine. I know that my birth team doesn't really need one this detailed, but I really like it in case of transport. I think it's a wonderful resource for any mom who wants to birth their way [regardless of what way that is!]
Order Birth Kit -  I actually did this last night! We're supposed to have our kits in at the beginning of 36 weeks, and mine is on it's way!
Create a Birth Playlist - This has actually been the tough part. Why? I live in the Metroplex. I've seen every single one of my preggo friends ask for suggestions for their playlist and this what gets recommended, every time, no exceptions. Enya, Dixie Chicks [WTH?!? Sometimes I have to laugh at the fact that I live in Texas] and then there's the praise music [Bible Belt y'all!] Don't get me wrong, but I am just not the type of girl who sings hymms during her contractions. It NEVER fails. Casting Crowns, Keri Jobe, and David Crowder Band. Somehow every other woman says they've had babies to these soundtracks. I have NOTHING against any of these artists, and do listen to them, but I am just not that type of girl... SO I got on Groove Shark and tried putting together a list... I have three songs. Ugh. You know what, I'm going to do another post just for playlist ideas. Last time I had nothing but Coldplay and Norah Jones and loved it, but I'm lookin for something a little different this time :]
Wash Baby's Clothes - DONE! I washed all of our neutral baby clothes as well as all of our little girl clothes 0-3 months that way I won't have to worry about it after the birth if it is a girl. Looking at all of the little dresses REALLY made me want this to be a little Norah ♥
Get out Baby Essentials - Still working on this one. I have our rocker put together, got a bouncy seat from a friend last night, my wraps and slings are washed as well as blankets. I need to wash my new pump and make sure it has all of it's parts. We brought the car seat in to be cleaned...honestly...I don't know what other baby essentials there are!
Meal Plan for a month after Baby is due - Hopefully we'll have some help with the meals/cooking after the birth, but I'm not expecting much. Last time we had a few friends bring groceries, and a few who brought meals, but I was on my own for the cooking after the first week. It was tough. I figure if I can have a meal plan and grocery list ready, Eamon can take care of a lot of that for me :] I'll also try to be putting some freezer meals together so I can just pop em in the freezer.
Plan activities for Lily - Lily's gotten pretty good at playing by herself, but I'm trying to be a little more organized with her playtime, so I'm trying to come up with  "special activities" to do while I'm on bed rest. I'm also working with Eamon to put together some special dates for the two of them so that Baby and I can have a quiet house for a few hours to sleep/nurse.
Pray. A Lot - This is being done and will continue to be done. Every night, regardless of how tired we are, or how many times we've talked/prayed about the baby, Eamon lays his hand on my belly and we pray over our little [pfft] baby and Lily.


Have any helpful suggestions for any of this? What did you do to get prepared for a new sibling in the house?
Hope you have a good day! Don't forget to go help me out with my playlist!
Mae

What Pregnancy Has Taught Lily: The Sequal

About four months ago, I wrote this post about all the little things that Lily has "learned" about pregnancy. With only a few weeks left, Lily has learned a few more things that most children didn't know about pregnancy, let's take a look.

Lily on Christmas morning learning from her "Big Book of Words" book

Angela is "the Baby Lady"
Last week while I was frantically cleaning the house as to not embarrass myself  waiting patiently for Angela to show up at our house for our appointment, I heard Lily at the window screaming "BABY!!! BABY BABY BABY!!!" I thought she had seen a baby in the parking lot or something, and went to investigate. Instead, what I saw was our midwife unloading her equipment from her trunk. I couldn't help but laugh as Lily proceeded to leave the window sill and run in circles around our living room screaming "BABY BABY BABY!!!" I'm starting to wonder if she thinks Angela is just gonna bring a baby to the birth...

You can easily outrun a pregnant lady
After figuring out that she can hide behind things that I just cannot fit behind anymore, Lily quickly figured out that if it comes down to it, she can outrun me. Eamon got to witness this yesterday when we went grocery shopping. We got down the stairs and were waiting near the parking lot. When Eamon came out, Lily took off. It's not a busy parking lot or anything, but that's not the point. Homegirl FLEW past me and proceeded to weave through the cars. Eamon watched his almost 9 month pregnant wife run around in the bent over "get your ass back here" run trying to catch his year and a half old, giggling toddler. After I gave him the "WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?!?" look, he busted out laughing...such loving support in our marriage I tell ya.

Coconut oil is for your hoo-ha
So this one is pretty embarrassing...but it's definitely been something in Lily's learning process. When I'm pregnant, I get a yeast infection. Last time I had it from  TWELVE weeks on, this time I've had it for about 8 weeks, so it hasn't been nearly as long, but it has sucked. Major. My midwife has been very encouraging with natural remedies [despite the fact that I ate AN ENTIRE PAN of lemon squares I made within a three day period. I'm not kidding. out of a 9x13 pan, Eamon ate two...] to help me cure this dreaded infection. One of them is coconut oil. And I tell you, it works miracles! The itching and burning [whoagross] are virtually gone when I use it, but there has been one unexpected side effect...Lily thinks that this alternative cooking oil is to rub on your lady parts. Come on moms, you know it's been an eternity since you've used the bathroom without an audience. Lily watches my every move some days, this is no exception. So when I saw her reach into our container of coconut oil, and wipe herself with it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at my failure. I thought telling her "No no Lily, that's just for mama" might make it better. Nope. What did she proceed to do? Try to help me out by reaching her hand to my nether-region...Oh Lord. That pass was quickly intercepted.

Pregnant women cry...A LOT
It's no secret, pregnant women are hormonal. Ok, well maybe not all of them, but this one IS. Lily has started doing the sweetest thing whenever I'm having a "moment" She's started wiping my tears. She'll come up, right in my face, take my glasses off if I'm wearing them, and gently wipe away all of my tears. She'll say "Oh, sweet baby. I know, I know" and give me a big hug. I think we have a very empathetic little girl on our hands :] It's so sweet.


Well, we have our birth class tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited! It's cool not being the noob in class ;]
Happy Monday!
Mae

Sticks & Spit

I'm in hardcore [I just saw someone else on another blog say "Hard Cord" and lol'd pretty good] nesting mode. It's been kind of hard with both babies building a sufficient nest not knowing how long we'll be in this apartment, or the next one, or the next house. I kind of feel like I always have to keep everything in a condition to where it is easily picked up and moved out. It sucks.

But today I got some things for me and Baby to make our nest a little cozier

We got this rocker [on sale, what what!] for our room. We didn't get a rocker with Lily til she was many months old, and it broke right under my big fat butt a few months ago. It's been something that Eamon's really wanted me to have for Lily, and now Baby.

It'll be nice to have a quiet little space for the two of us that's not in my bed.

Speaking of bed...

Eamon told me before we had Lily that we could get a new bed set...but that never happened. So we've had the same "Bed in a Bag" set that we got from Walmart the night we got married so we could have something to sleep on [it's HIDEOUS!] But since we have a California King now [Thank you Katie and Dusty!] Eamon and I decided that we definitely need to get new sheets and such because these don't fit and will get ruined during the birth since they are currently the biggest sheets/blankets we have. SO I was given permission to buy this lovely set from Target [again, ON SALE!] today to have ready for after the birth. 

I'm already pretty excited about getting into clean, new sheets [in my sexy Depends] holding my sweet, squishy new baby after our herbal bath. *Sigh....*

I've also been taking inventory of gender neutral onsies and pj's, all of our cloth diapers, covers, and wipes, making list after list of what needs to be done [freezer meals, laundry, activity plan for Lily & Eamon, bills] before Baby gets here, and trying to Baby proof Lily the house before we have another tiny one scooting around here.

In all of my list making, I've realized something though-You don't need a lot for babies. You really don't!! With that in mind:

What do you get for a new sibling when you don't know the sex? Does it really effect things that much? [I think it might] What are your essentials for your newborn baby?

Hope you're having a great weekend!!!

Mae

Fruit of the Womb

Do you see these chubby cheeks?

That's my baby ♥

After a good, long look at Baby's heart, we found out- yes, it's irregular, no it's nothing to worry about. She said that it should auto correct itself before birth, and that we don't need to make any changes to our birth plan and can expect a nice, healthy baby [girl? boy?] in March :] 


I can't tell you how thrilling it was to see our little baby hiccuping away, yawning, and routing around [a lot! this baby's gonna have me nursing non-stop!] while we checked it's heart. I swear the technician said girl multiple times, but Eamon's hell bent that she said boy, so [even though I caught both of us squinting when she looked at his/her belly button and feet] we still have two more months to find out if this little squirt is a Rhys [or Sean] or a Norah. I'm glad we didn't find out, the anticipation is such a big part of labor for me!


While we were prepared to see a specialist after this if anything was wrong, and to change our birth plan, and to ready ourselves for whatever this Baby's needs may be, I cannot express how overjoyed I am that the Lord not only heard our [and your!] prayers, but answered them in a way that has comforted us so much! 

 Hosea 14:8

"..I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.

I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me."

Praise God for His fruit!!!

Mae

I want to especially thank my birth team- Angela, Ann, and Leila, Keri, Morgan, Michelle, Katie, Esther, and Whittney for walking me through this since last Friday. You ladies have been so encouraging and loving. So incredibly blessed to have you supporting me!