names, sprinkle, etc.

I was just checking up on my little name poll and here are the standings as of right this second:

Chloe Marcella is in the lead with a total of 56%. Isla Colette has 47%. Landon William is in the lead for the boys with 100% and Landon Phillip has 50%.

I pretty much agree with those standings. I might favor Chloe a little more than Isla and I think I favor L.W. over L.P., too.

So about this sprinkle thing... a "baby sprinkle," if you will. My co-workers surprised me with a bag full of baby goods last week! I thought that was super sweet of them. I got (or baby got, I should say) some burp cloths, onesies, pacifiers, lap pads, a Boppy cover and some dishwasher baskets. And also a gift card & some cashola. So now that I'm on the topic of baby necessities, I better make myself a list of all things BABY that I might need to purchase in the near future so I can keep my thoughts organized:

- Closet shelving unit (Target)
- Bookshelf (Target)
- Storage bins (Land of Nod)
- Nursing pads (almost forgot about those)
- Nursing cover (which I think I will be using my gift card on)
- Book organizer (Land of Nod)
- Crib sheets (Target)
- Crib (eventually)
- Feeding chair (eventually)
- Convertible car seat (eventually)
- Bottle labels (for daycare)
- Woven wrap carrier (not really something I NEED but we'll throw it in there)
- Cloth diapers (Kushies prefolds with Thirsties covers)
- Wet bag (another one for good measure)

Speaking of cloth diapers... to anyone who laughed at me when I was pregnant with Noah about using cloth diapers... who's laughing now?? I love cloth diapers!

- Washcloths for wipes (Circo & Carter's are the best)
- Disposable newborn-size diapers (because they poop so much)

new plan of action.

Okay, so I'm not seriously thinking that I can schedule my baby's arrival. That's one of the obvious things out of your control for which you sign up when you become pregnant. However, I find no harm in positive thinking. And I REALLY need some positive thinking this week! I found out this morning that my midwife needs to have some minor surgery done next Monday... two days after my estimated due date. She will be out for 1-2 weeks after that, meaning that if I go until labor during that window of time, I'm SOL for having her attend the birth. I guess I need to be thinking positively whatever the outcome is, but I would really like to believe that this baby loves me enough to either a.) arrive by Monday or b.) hold off until the 31st. Being that the 31st is dangerously close to an induction (but don't get me wrong, I will gladly take that chance if it means my midwife is there!), I hereby declare my new fantasy birth date to be this Thursday, March 17, at 1:00pm (and that has nothing to do with the fact that it's St. Patrick's Day)! But any time around there is good, too.

Just please, sweet little one, if you care at all about Momma's well-being (and your own), PLEASE come soon! I will give you whatever you want. ;)

So aside from all that, things are fine. I have been feeling contractions here and there... some stronger than others but nothing timeable. If you know anything about prostaglandins and where they are found at their best, you will know that Matt is going to be a very happy man this week. Sorry, TMI.

Fundal height: 39
Heart rate: 140's
Weight: Don't even go there.
Heart burn: As terrible as ever.
Pee: Too frequently.
Sleep: Almost nonexistant.
Sciatica: A pain in the (literally) rear.

ideal timing.

The BEST option would be to go into labor in the early morning (like 6:00 or 7:00am), have Matt take Noah to daycare as usual and then give birth in the afternoon (like 1:00pm). Then, Matt could spend the afternoon bonding with us for a few hours, go get Noah from daycare and bring him to the hospital to visit and then Matt could take Noah home and just stay there with him for the night and we wouldn't have to worry about finding overnight arrangements for Noah. Then, Matt and Noah could come back the next morning (or just Matt if it's a weekday) and then check out of the hospital. This must occur on a Tuesday, Thursday or Friday since that's when my midwife would be able to oversee the birth AND daycare would be open for Noah.

So let's look at our options: March 15, 17 or 18 (which are pretty unlikely considering my EDD is not even until the 19th)... OR... March 22, 24 or 25. Actually, the latter week would be optimal since I will already be on maternity leave.

OTHERWISE... if I can't start labor in the early morning like I would prefer, then it must hold off until the 29th when my mom gets here so she can watch Noah on the off-hours. If not the 29th, then the 30th is out because my midwife has to be in the office so we would have to hope for the 31st, which is just stepping on the toes of induction.... because that would happen on April 1st if I didn't go into labor on my own.

SO. With all that being said... giving birth at about 1:00pm on March 24 would be my favorite circumstance. My midwife will be there... daycare will have Noah... Matt can take the afternoon to bond as a family at the hospital, then go pick up Noah and bring him back to meet the new baby, then they could go home for the night. Then Noah could still go to daycare the following day for at least a couple of hours while we get checked out of the hospital and settled in at home. Then Matt can also be with me the following Monday to help out (and that would only end up being three days he has to take off from work) and my mom will be arriving on the 29th so then she will be there to help while Matt goes back to work! So if anyone wants to send me "March 24 at 1:00pm" vibes, that would be spectacular! :D

march christmas gifts: check.

For the little Nohster: An accessory to his wooden railway set that I bought for him in January!


















And for the little noobster: A pack of organic bodysuits from American Apparel. And its the last month that I won't know the sex of this child! Then I can start buying super cute girly things or more awesome boy things. :P

give me sugar or give me death.

I can't get enough sugar. I just want to eat the entire candy aisle in the grocery store... and some cookies and ice cream, too. I CRAVE it. Ugh. Please... I've gained enough weight already. But there is a mountain of chocolate in our office thanks to our "candy man" who brought enough leftover Valentine's Day stock to easily last us until he brings the leftover Easter stock (but at least I won't be here for that... although I'm sure there will still be some leftover by the time I come back).

I had my 38-week checkup this morning. Baby's heart rate was in the upper 130's. My fundal height was measuring 39cm and my midwife guesstimated the baby's weight to be around 7-1/2 lbs right now. The swelling in my feet really took off over the weekend, lol. It's pretty annoying when it gets so bad that I can feel it on the top of my foot... but right now, it's all good. Physically, I feel like I'm about to crumble or spontaneously explode. I never really understood why a lot of women complained about being pregnant toward the end. 40 weeks is 40 weeks, that's what you signed up for! So I'm still trying not to complain too much but I definitely understand why others do now, hahaha. It was not this bad with Noah! I don't know if it has to do with the fact that this is my second pregnancy or my pregnancies were relatively close together or what... but it is taking a toll on me now. But I only have a little time left so I can deal with it.

I've had my eye on these amazing nursing tops from Undercover Mama for a while now and Babysteals.com has them at 50% off today! I ordered two... and I hope the sizing works out okay. So I've got my two Bravado bras and two nursing tops on the way. Now I just need my boobs to work, haha. But seriously.

So last night I woke up at 1:00... 2:00... 3:00... 4:00...

I woke up to pee at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00. Mostly because something disturbs me and I either a.) realize I really must go or b.) I better get up and go in case I need to go comfort Noah and I cannot rock him while having to pee... I tried it last week and it's torture. But at 4:00 I really did have to go rock him but since I just went pee at like 3:15 or something, I figured I'd be okay. So I did that... then realize he peed a LOT in his sleep last night... so much so that his diaper leaked. I had him all rocked to drowsiness and found this out. So I changed his diaper while he was laying in his crib, just hoping and praying that that wouldn't disturb him to the point of wakefulness (it didn't, thank goodness). Then I decided that Cinnamon Toast Crunch sounded really good. So I had some of that. Then I went to the bathroom again and finally went back to bed around 4:30.

names.

Our boy name has changed. Yes, that's right. Emery is no more. Our new pick? Landon. That's all we have agreed upon for now, at least! Matt decided that Emery was too similar to Emily and just wasn't a very strong name. I can see that. After all, it is a unisex name. I still love it but I wasn't completely attached to it (see, I do that for a good reason).

Now, thinking up a middle name for Landon has proven to be quite the challenge. Or I should say... thinking up a middle name for Landon that we both agree upon has proven to be quite the challenge. Matt is still set on a Biblical/Hebrew name and that's FINAL. I, on the other hand, think a family tie is more important. Choosing a name you don't love just because it's Biblical doesn't make too much sense to me but whatever... we'll let that slide, I suppose.

I did some research and discovered that we have two family names that can be associated with the Bible: Philip (OK) and August (meh). So I like Philip but don't completely love it...

Landon Philip Hales
Landon August Hales

I think I can force myself to like Landon Philip (not sure if we would spell it Philip or Phillip)... but Landon August is kind of a stretch.

Then I thought of Landon Forster (Forster is a surname from Matt's side of the family). It flows so NICELY.

Landon Forster Hales - But it's not BIBLICAL. I tried telling Matt that there must be a forest mentioned somewhere in the Bible and Forster means "forest" so... connection! But I don't think he's going to buy it.

oh, hell.

My due date is THIS MONTH!

I was telling Matt last night about how, even though I'm the one who's carrying this baby, I still don't think I'll be able to fully wrap my head around being a parent of two until the day is actually here when I'm holding the little one in my arms. YIKES.

Round two, here we come... Give me one more year of infancy and I think I'll be set for life... but I'm still happy with our decision to have two back-to-back. I would rather pay now and live later. ;) Although we might have one more. We'll see.

Anyway, my weekly checkup yesterday morning was GREAT! Why so great? Because I passed the final test... GBS negative. That means that I can labor at home and birth at the hospital. Phew! And that also means we can go home from the hospital the next day. I think now the thing I'm stressing about the most is burdening someone with having to babysit Noah overnight. We have gotten offers for help which we'll certainly take but it's still stressful to think about because I've never been away from Noah overnight... ever. And I keep thinking what if none of the three people who've offered aren't around or can't come for whatever reason? We take Noah to the hospital with us? Matt drops me off and goes back home with Noah? lol! That would be terrible. But hopefully that doesn't happen.

In other news, fundal height was measuring 36 (at 37 weeks) and heart rate was in the 150's.

I've been thinking more about baby names lately, too (I don't know why, it's not like we don't already have it narrowed down enough)... I think mostly for the girl names though because we have more middle name options. I think I've decided that Lilah/Lyla/Lila is my least favorite of the three. I don't know why... I even had a dream about talking about not liking it. I think it's just too frilly-sounding or something and that's totally not my style. Chloe and Isla, on the other hand, are some pretty cool, chillax girl names. Isla reminds me of Isla Fischer who is cute and hilarious but not over-the-top. And Chloe is just adorable but not too cutesy. That one reminds me of Chloe Sevigny, who seems to be pretty laid-back and I like her style. You know, good associations are important. And we will leave the middle name open for Emery (Nolan or William) and wait until we see him before making that call. I'm just so excited to find out if Noah will get a little sister or a little brother! :)