Contractions are not always what they seem to be.

The first kind of contraction that we learn as English speaking people is to take two words and make them into one. I do not want to go into detail because I don't want to bore the non grammar lovers. I find it ironic that I enjoy speaking without contractions but today I want to blog about contractions in the medical sense.

Braxton Hicks contractions are named for the doctor who "discovered" them. They are described as:
Braxton Hicks are described as:

• Irregular in intensity
• Infrequent
• Unpredictable
• Non-rhythmic
• More uncomfortable than painful
• They do not increase in intensity, or frequency
• They taper off and then disappear altogether 

The nurses at the hospital, when a prego momma is hooked up to a fetal monitor calls them "tightenings". have been putting up with them since my second trimester but since week 35 they have been increasing in frequency, intensity and pain every time they start up. As inconsequential as they seem to be they actually (for me anyway) do make things happen as they do the work of making the baby go down and sort of training the uterus to do it's job of contracting when the time is right.

Contractions need a few hormones: oxytocin is what makes the contraction happen and protaglandins are what make the cervix soft enough to open and disappear as the contractions get stronger, pushing the baby down into the birth canal. Why do I know all this without even having to think about it?
I have been reading and reading and studying and studying documents, other mom's comments about contractions, pictures and diagrams of the anatomy, edumacating myself on the subject which makes it that much more likely that I will understand when it happens for real.

NOT!
My title says it all, contractions are not always what they seem to be...

There are also so many things that people say can bring them on but it seems that it really does all boil down to timing.

With all of that said, I will add that I am sitting here with my belly going rock hard every 10 minutes and causing pain in my back and making my eyeballs pop out just praying that they go mega painful because experience and now some edumacation has taught me that I will KNOW when its the real deal.

So along with my prayers for a hurry up and let me see my baby, I do ask for this one too (which is why my house got cleaned by yours truly)

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the patience to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Playroom DONE!

April was a great month for us as a family. We moved into this amazing house and began to make it home. The first room on my list to be set up (besides the bedrooms) was the playroom.

The playroom is a room that needs to accomodate 8 people. The reasons vary from day to day but basically it was my vision to create an environment that ANYONE could relax or play in and clean up and RESET.

On Denise's first visit over, we did our best to convert the room from the dumping ground it had become, to a safe environment for the 3 little boys to spend time in without the fear of getting hurt. To Kevin's utter dismay, many boxes were shifted and many more things were added to the basement which is just beyond the playroom. A huge thanks went out to Denise for lighting a fire under my arse and helping my vision be rethought.

A couple of things went a tad arrey; we needed a gate to keep them from coming upstairs OR going outside (naked I might add), a way to keep them out of the extrememly dangerous for 3 and 5 year olds basement, locks on cupboards and furniture arranged in a nice way.

To make this blog short the point is that FINALLY it's done! All the toys are sorted into labled bins and either locked in cupboards or placed on the shelf which is the last step in making the room a nice and neat place to KEEP nice and neat. This will also facsilitate teaching the kids how to play with the one toy and then put it away.

I am going to be putting some pictures on the walls as soon as we find some frames in the basement and honestly I am so happy that it's finally done! Now, tomorrow, I will be able to take lappy downstairs and hang out on it without feeling like I am abandoning the little ones and well, my post...heehee post, like I can post a blog while I am at my post...

part two of the last post...

Awwww! Thanks KIM! I appreciate that.


After I wrote that post, I really did go into my bedroom and start on what needed to be done.

Up 'till a few hours ago, the crib had a bouncy seat, the diapering bin, and a few other straggly bits in it, the tower of pink (Paige's "dresser") had a laundry basket on top of it and the dresser still had the mirrored vanity on it but that's where the change area is designated and wasn't set up. NOW...there is nothing in the crib but a nice altered (by moi a little while ago) blanket and some stuffies for Paige to look at. The dresser is cleared off but for my jewelry box, two of my stuffies for Paige to look at, a makeshift change pad and the diapering bin which makes the change area complete. :D The mirror thingy is now on top of Hope's dresser in the basement, and she now has a few shelves to put her little trinkets on and a mirror for her to do the girly stuff she likes to do nowadays. On the bare wall "above" the dresser, I am getting Kevin to install these nifty box shelves.

Here's my list for tomorrow:

• all the parenting I did today, plus the potty training, the mothering, the cooking, minor tidying up and making the twins' bed
  
• making my bed (I really miss seeing it all made up)
  
• cleaning my bedroom floor and getting the closet door closed (done)
  
• cleaning the entryway Austin did this at 8:15 yay
  
• reclaiming the playroom
  
• vacuuming my bedroom, the stairs and the playroom
  
• and if I get to it, picking up the big boys' room and vacuuming it as well
• DRINK MORE WATER - I sorta forgot to do that today so if you call me remind me to have a glass of water :D
• oh and get the family to get rid of the crap on my dining room table (argh!) too bad a rift through space and time seems to be here where somehow freakin' K'Nex, lego, books, boardgames and tools seem to "find" their way into my living room...geeesh guys, tell my family to move it or lose it ;)

Again, love you all!

Dusting, Cleaning, Vacuuming, Putting Away

Does anyone know the poem that is written from a mom to her family that says something about "if it's dirty, clean it, if it's full, empty it, if it's hungry feed it"? When I was growing up before I moved to BC, my step dad DRILLED into me that if you walk into a room and see something that needs doing, you do it if you are capable. The thing is that when you are a tween or teenager you can find every loophole for the word capable...trust me on this Hope knows them all...I digress. Today it occured to me that while more difficult, challenging and/or tough to accomplish, housework or in this case the lack of doing so, boils down to willingness or unwillingness because I am ALWAYS capable of doing what needs doing. This is simply a sugar coated version of what the bible would make into, laziness.

In my case, my willingness to do the housework boils down to factors like, attitude, self control and discipline, patience and the newest enlightening thought...timing. My brain sometimes has a chemical imbalance and sometimes overcomes my hearts desire to have a clean, tidy and organized home. But being a recovering lazy person, and slowly but surely, working out my addictions, I have learned to somewhat overcome my sheer lack of willingness to do the housework and force myself to look at the circumstances.

Parenting in a messy home is so tough because there is a constant, "don't touch that, no that's not yours, that's dangerous" dialoge but changing the environment by making it tidy and clean, turns the conversation to, "please put that away, want to draw a picture, let's play a game". Also, it makes it nicer to parent the older ones by giving them the model to follow hopefully giving them the tools to overcome their own struggles of laziness and become individuals who can walk into a room and complete a task because it needs doing and not just because they have been asked, want something or someone is watching.

So all that said, today, after my blog about timing, I tried to call my doctor and make an appointment for the week...there are no appointments until next Tuesday. Today my doctor is on call so I thought that it would be a good day to have her, but givent that I just gave up on all that misery and poor me attitude, I had to take a deep breath. I called Denise (or maybe she called me) and said, "you talk, I am too upset and dont want to think about myself." I did get to vent, thankfully, but at the very least I was trying to get my eyes off of myself. You know what that did? It propelled me into a frenzy of selfless acts of housewife work.

I am pretty proud of what I accomplished today; I am sitting in a tidy, dusted, vacuumed, living room (except for the table FULL of stuff that the other people who live here need to deal with), five hot spots are cleared , my little boys have all their clothes either in the their dirty bin or folded and put away in their closet, my big boys have clean underwear, socks, shirts and pants in their armoir, all the summer clothes are in a bin ready for next year (including swimming shorts in ABUNDANCE), the lined closet is stocked, dinner got made, the bathrooms upstairs are clean, I tidied the carport (which included sorting some recycling) and the twins are asleep. OH! And I made banana muffins. I actually feel good about sitting down but also that I was on my feet for so long because gravity does work with babies.

I am smiling for the first time in a few days and don't feel like whining about my lack of a baby in my arms (although gosh I want to see her!!!) and while the dishwasher is running and I think of a shower or maybe another load of laundry, I have a strange sence of pride welling up...but the list is interestingly getting longer...tomorrow I am going to tackle my bedroom AGAIN (I live with the handsome but messy guy) oh well I just decided to do it now...I will get him to move the furniture, maybe....

Thanks for listening, love you all!

Timing

No baby yet. Well, that's not true, she's here, just not in my arms quite yet. After timing contractions for a few days, telling the nurses at the hospital about my other kids' timing in the past and hearing and trying to get it into my head that this is all about timing, I have made it to the point where I have things a bit more in perspective.

Tomorrow marks the day where some documentation and medical professionals say that baby is term and makes the countdown to Paige's latest day of arrival (I don't think my doctor will let me go past 40 weeks) 21 days. 21 days is easy but as simple as it is to say that, it's not as easy to walk it out.

I want to thank you all for the prayer and support through this very odd time for me. I feel humbled (verging on humiliated), at peace (but mostly forcing myself to be) and calm (even though my teeth are clenched most of the time and my foot bounces a lot).

 This is all happening in this way for a reason and God has the timing all figured out as to when Paige will get here...

Paige is on her way! Could I be happier?!

I love that I have a laptop, that I am fortunate enough to know my body and that I get to blog that I am on my way to the hospital in moments. YAY! All I have to say is holy cow what a horrid weekend, but I am darn sure now that I was in labor! Now, I am breathing through really mega contractions, contemplating a bite of toast and wondering how long it will take, how many people will show up and what Paige looks like, how much she weighs. Just for fun, if you get to read this blog before I let the world know about her, guess how much she weighs, keeping in mind that she is 36 weeks plus 5 days today and maybe just how many pushes she will take to come out.

Boy am I relived and excited that this is finally here!