EEEEK!!!!!

Oh, my sweet Avery...
She's keeping me on my toes.
Today, Nadia was fast asleep in her bassinet and I was in the kitchen doing dishes. I heard Nadia fussing and didn't think much of it. Hmmm...where's Avery?
Panic set in and I flew up the stairs. There was Avery. There was Nadia. Avery had her arms wrapped around Nadia's shoulders, with Nadia's arms down at her sides. Avery was tripping over her own feet, next to the wooden bedframe. I can only imagine my face and my voice as I moved in what seemed like slow motion to the other side of the bed, yelling, "Hold on to her, hold on to her!" I grabbed Nadia, held her close for a moment, and then held onto Avery, who was in tears by now.

Am I going to survive having three under 3?
Will they????

By the way...

I am aware that I haven't given any birth details, and that it's odd for me. I promise to post the long version soon.
But for now, I'll sum it up to say that labor was in full swing at 11pm, but manageable. Contractions were coming every 6-7 minutes. At 2am, I got up to see if I could move things along. Hopped in the shower and contractions got much closer together (2 minutes apart!) Greg and I got things situated with kids and got to the hospital at 3am. Four hours later, she arrived. Epidural free, but not as peaceful as Levi's birth. Thank goodness there wasn't a video camera in the room.
Hmmm, but maybe I could've won some money for the scene that would have been captured!

I can't believe it...

But I actually miss it...

Farewell, sleep...

Here we are again...a couple of hours before bedtime, and I am wondering how much sleep I will actually get tonight.

I can't complain about Nadia's nightly sleep patterns. At eleven days old, she is up once or twice a night, leaving me with a couple of 3-4 hour opportunities to sleep. And the hourly potty trips that come with late pregnancy are gone, thank goodness!

However, there are other children that are waking up at night. Why this happens when I'm already waking with a newborn is a mystery. The other night I was up with four children, all at separate times. Oh dear Lord...

All I can think is about how quickly I am aging...

And that I'll probably never sleep through the night, ever again.

Welcome Nadia Claire Jastrzemski

She's here!
Nadia arrived Wednesday,

July 8, 2009
(07-08-09, pretty cool, huh?)
at 6:59 am
8 lbs., 14 oz.
21 inches long

Absolute sweetness

I take it back...

My last post was titled, "Won't be long now,"and I was wrong. I thought I'd have a baby by now, for sure. But here I am, two days before my due date, still pregnant. I have never gone within a week of my due date. It's a bummer because it's made me feel like my due date was actually a week ago. Never been this pregnant. Probably never had such a big baby in there...
It's very frustrating. I'm extremely restless. I can't think about anything other than getting this baby out. I know I should be treasuring these last days of pregnancy I'll ever have, but I'm not. I'm ready to get this party started, to meet this little one.
My sister is here. Everything is ready. Now we just need a baby. Please, God...

Won't be long now...

Slowly, surely, everything's coming together.

After a day of irregular contractions yesterday, I finally got myself in gear and took care of a few things: bags are packed and kids' stuff is ready to be transported in the middle of the night.

And, over the course of the past few weeks, the obsession has begun.
I've read my favorite books on midwifery and birth stories. My favorite is written by a midwife who works with amish women in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The stories of those women inspired and strengthened me as I went drug-free for my last birth.
I've chosen my "labor music" (don't worry...no tribal chants or african drums, just some of my favorite slow songs).
I've watched the tear-jerking birth videos set to music on youtube.

I need to do these things. I don't want to forget that labor is a part of the birth process. And that every contraction is a step toward meeting our new baby. I need to wrap my mind around my obsession over birth in order to be ready, to be "in the zone" when labor comes. And I think I am. We'll find out!

Now...we just need to hope this baby is a girl. (Remember, we are going on a hunch and really have no clue...yikes!) Because if it is a boy, he doesn't have a name. Oh boy...