7th dream

Everyone said I'd have some strange dreams during this pregnancy... and that I have! I'd thought I'd share a few of the ones I've been able to remember.

I remember they started as animal dreams. The first odd and vivid dream I had was set in a seaside village and with channels of water connecting the ocean with the village, almost replacing streets, it seemed. I remember spotting Orka whales in the bay and seeing them fighting and eventually suffering some kind of massacre/mutilation. I began swimming the channels back into town to avoid the blood and carcasses, but the tides were pulling the awful scene into the village. At one point I remembered being completely engulfed in blood and guts. The disgust and matter of fact of it were simultaneous and I eventually was fine, climbed my way out.

Another early pregnancy dream was simply me watching a baby cow try to nuzzle an infant sleeping in it's stroller. The cow was cat-like in its attempt to be affectionate and gradually tried to climb into the stroller with the infant.

A few that I especially enjoyed were when my belly was translucent when a bright light was shown from one side. I remember a few times having this dream and being able to see the baby's position and rub his little head through my belly.

Once I dreamt, that just for a brief moment, I had removed the baby from my belly long enough to see it was a girl and then I put her back. She's not a girl.

A recent dream I had was a bit more amusing. I was being analyzed by a young lady who was a very serious participant in a dance related event. And she asked me to answer a few questions and then was going to give me some feddback. One of the first things she said was I needed to engage my abdominals a bit and added that I was a bit lax in addressing this area. I responded I was pregnant, in fact, 9 months pregnant! To which she replied, "oh, really? Gosh, how old ARE you? You can be much older than me!" "Well, I wouldn't know," I said. "How old are you?" "25".... and I laughed...."I'm 35" at that point she got about telling me her assessment. That I would need an E-F to the G ratio above HIJ and that this would really need a lot of massage oil. And that she didn't know if it would be worth it. Another dance/body analyzer came over when she heard this and asked what was the problem. My girl remarked that everything was in order and it was all because of my smirk. (hmmm, was I smirking? perhaps....) This second lady began to ask me a few questions and concluded that yes, a subtle smirk had in fact been detected. Maybe next time they won't ask me to hold in my 9 month pregnant stomach!

baby gear 101

All I can say is that the mommy network is amazing. I believe we have been given, handed-me-around, or loaned everything we could possibly need for this baby. It started with the 3 huge boxes we were sent from my cousin, baby bassinet, bouncy jumper swing, regular swing, bath tub gear, body wedges, co-sleeper, and clothes and more....
and then the mother's and my dear friends began lining up what could be passed on and temporarily handed over to fill in the gaps of what we need. At this point we have spent no money and we have a co-sleeper for the beginning and a crib for later, a car seat with stroller, baby carrying slings of various styles and mechanics, a good supply of cloth diapers, an electric and manual breast pump, a changing pad, a bath tub, 2 actually, a diaper bag, toys, an electric swing, moving chair/bassinet thing, "boppy", a play yard, clothes for the first 9 months.... and then there's everything we've been given... diapers, bottles, onesies, more clothes, toys, baby food processor (cool), first aid kit, diaper changing gear, memory book, 2 glider chairs (one for Andrew and one for me!)

I am feeling so incredibly fortuneate that the material needs are here and we will be able to enjoy this new baby without the worries of how are we going to afford this baby!

I am a new member of this group, but what an honor! I feel especially supported and privledged. And I imagine the gratitude here is just beginning. I'm already looking forward to how I will be a contributing member! How to expand this momasphere to reach more mommas.

final word-Complete

I had my final ultrasound today. And it's definitive, complete previa.
That's that!

the extended family

Last night the Demings hosted a dinner/pot luck for Deming-Birdy friends Emmanuelle, Hilary, Joshua and, of course, Hugo! This was primarily for Michelle and Hilary and Manu to meet as they are helping to throw us a baby shower for Philly friends! But what a sweet night it was. The Demings made halibut, currently Andrew's favorite fish, we brought mushroom risotto, and Hilary made one of her killer salads, and Manu and the family brought dessert!

And we had a lovely time, relaxing and making friends, catching up, watching Hugo meet/play with Boyne, the dog. And when Hugo saw the tape measure it was serious play from that point on. He and Andrew measured door frames, table heights, dog tails, floor boards, complete focus all the way up to dinner.

When it was time for dinner, the tape was put away but not removed from Hugo's memory. Oh what a tricky thing it is to distract a child with full sights set! And although we tried to hide it, to seduce him with yummy food, it wasn't enough to break his love affair with the tape measure. And after a while of trying it seemed only reasonable to share our meal with his new best friend as well.

And we did. One big happy extended family.