No Rest For the Weary

Bed rest...what a funny word.  I am sure no one on bed rest actually felt rested, esp. if they have children.  I think it is a oxymoron.  Jennifer, you are on doctor's orders to sit or lay and not get up unless you need to pee(which you will 100s of times a day) or shower(which will become your favorite activity of the day) while you watch your children stamp the walls with your address stamp, proceed to get themselves ice and drinks out of the fridge ie. onto the floor, and constantly complain about what movie you are watching(because we are watching a lot of movies).  Your children will realize that it takes blood for mama to thrust her big old self off the couch to chase you down, so all of the "little things" are pretty much fair game.   If you do not do what the dr told you, your unborn child might be at risk.  No pressure, counting kicks, and downing food and water just in case it might help.  Much to Gregg's and Mom's surprise, I am actually doing "it"..."it" equals...nothing.  Gregg told the dr that I was 99% listening.  I have escaped for 30 mins here or there, but overall I am being a good patient.  That is what mamas do, I guess. 

I look like this 99% of the time.  No makeup all fat and happy.  Have you seen so many freckles? Get his girl some lip stick.

This is the real "swollen" deal. 

But, the "real deal" is that we are also getting tons of help.  I can't imagine what people do without a support system.  We have had so many meals, chickfila drop offs, stuff to keep the kids busy, visitors to "babysit" me, packages in the mail for the kids, take the kids places, calls, prayers, help with cleaning, offers to come and shop(including coupons) and tons of people who are willing to do whatever/whenever(even if they just had a baby or about to pop themselves).  We have even had two people say they would cancel their vacations if we really needed them to the week she is born.  My favorites are the ones who offer to drop off Coke or sweet tea since they know that it is my drug of choice.  It is what "real deal" friends do.  This is a "real deal" situation for us and everyone has made it so much easier to focus on keeping Cate safe.  It makes me tear up just thinking about how blessed we are to have such great friends and family.    

My stepmom Sandy and two nieces, Brenna and Rhianna were able to come for a whole week.  I can't tell you how hard she worked organizing things off our list, taking the kids to the water park, movies, petting zoo, Wal-Mart(to get pjs for Christian of course), and just taking all the worry away about my house and my kids for a whole week.  She is a great gma.  She lets them eat Popsicles at 9am, take baths in the sink, wear miss-matched cloths, and buys them whatever they want at Wal-Mart.  Callie was her little buddy since she painted her toes red white and blue for the 4th.  She was so patient with them and never seemed to be tired of the endless games, sheet washing, and sippy cup spilling.  She promised me she would come back in August to do it all over again.  

So, Cate didn't get the memo that her birthday was supposed to be July 22nd.  I have a feeling this little sweet pea will have her own agenda just like her big sister.  I still have fluid under the 5% mark and the specialists feels it would be best to take her on July 13th.  She is getting really crowded in there(think Sugourney(sp?) Weaver in the movie Alien and that is what she looks like trying to move around) and isn't able to practice breathing like a normal baby would.  And we all know, breathing is a pretty important thing for her to do when she comes out.  They did reconfirm that she was in fact a girl.  I had been having some dreams that she was a boy when she came out.  They also wanted to make sure since girls do such much better than boys if they come early.  So, in 10 days as long as she stays in there, we will meet our next little sweet pea...and I can't wait.  I love these last days of dreaming about if she is going to hair or not, blonde or brown or even red.  With adoption, you give up the thought that your kids would favor each other. I know lots of people say C and Callie look alike, but it is harder for me to see of course since I do know his birth parents.  So, I will say that I am really excited to see if Callie and Cate look anything alike.  

Bed rest has put a kink in the whole "nesting" thing, so I am really trying to bite my tongue and not ask Gregg to do 1 million things that don't really matter to a newborn before she gets here.  He has been amazing, working like crazy, visiting his dad when he can, cleaning, and shuffling kids in beds when they wake up at night.  I would never be able to do this parenting thing without him.  

Our kids are so young they don't really have a concept of Cate or when she is coming or how she is going to get here.  So, we started explaining some stuff yesterday at lunch.  Callie said she was going to rub Baby Cakes' back, give her toys, and give her a muffin(that was eating) when she comes out.  C just kept saying over and over that he was going to have 2 baby sisters.  We tried to explain that Mommy was going to the dr, the dr was going to get Cate out, and then we would come home with her.  Callie seemed fine with that, and said she was going to stay with Mimi.  C on the other hand didn't like the fact that we would be leaving him.  Mommy, I go with you to the dr to get baby Cate.  Their world is about to change for sure and like siblings for 100s of years before them, we will all adjust.    

        

We can't wait to meet you, Catherine Raine.