What to do on your due date (when the baby's not doing anything!)

Soo...here we are at April 13, 2013.  A date we've said hundreds of times in the last nine months because it happens to be the day that the doctor's estimated that baby would arrived.

Here we are at April 13th, and baby isn't doing anything.  Yes, I'm having some lower back pain, a few Braxton Hicks contractions here and there, and the occasional "crampy" feelings down low. But nothing significant or consistent.

So what do you do on the day your little one is due?  Of course, we have nothing on our calendar, as you don't plan to attend big parties on the date you may have a baby.  But the last thing I wanted was to sit around all day.  So, below is a list of the things my husband and I decided to "due" on this special day.

1. Schedule something early.   Yesterday afternoon, when I realized I probably wouldn't be having a baby in the (very) near future, I called my salon to get a haircut.  Because then it's still a 'do date, right?  I wanted to get in early so that I would have a reason to get my booty dressed and out of bed!  I sat down in the chair and my beautician said, "Remind me when you're due."  When my response was "today," I really thought she was going to have a heart attack.  (That was kinda fun.)  The hubs went to "That Man is You" bright and early at 6:45 this morning, a men's faith-sharing group.  It sounds like the other guys were pretty surprised to see him there!

2. Go out and do something.  After my hair appointment, I called Brandon to see if he wanted to accompany me to Target.  He was already at Theisen's buying a shovel.  

3. Shop for other people.  We have 3 sets of couple-friends who are also expecting: One yesterday, one tomorrow, and one in a few weeks!  I really love shopping for other people, so it was exceptionally fun to browse the baby aisle at Target for them :)

4. Squat and stretch and walk. I'm pretty sure I've read every "old wives tale" about how to go into labor naturally.  I think I've tried 20% of these methods (because, seriously, some of them are ridiculous and/or scare me!)

5. Talk about the baby.  Pretty much all we could talk about was our little bundle of joy and the fact that we want to cuddle him/her on the outside...and then we'd talk to baby and try to persuade it to begin it's entrance into the world.

6. Visit the hospital.  Friends of ours had their beautiful baby girl yesterday afternoon, so at least we got to cuddle a newborn (even if it's not ours!)    We figured maybe just being in a labor and delivery room or holding her would persuade Baby K that it's pretty cool out here in this world.  Baby did kick when I was holding Grace...or maybe it was a high-five (they're certainly going to be friends!)

7. Walk stairs.  We took the elevator down 5 floors and then walked up the stairs to the top.  Then took the elevator down again.  Because maybe the old wives tale about stairs could really be true? 

8. Nest.  My husband's nesting instincts kicked in--I'm not even joking! We completely reorganized our basement, and let me be the first to tell you that I did not initiate this reorganization (although I did participate).  Included in this organization overhaul was washing some baby clothes and cloth diapers and throwing away a ton. of. stuff.  I was definitely in a "purge" mood--is that the same as nesting?

9. Call family.  You know...to scare them/get them a little bit excited, but just to reassure them that nothing at all is happening. at all.

10. Cook dinner.  Yes, we do this every day.  But I had a taste for mac-n-cheese, so we're making it the old fashioned way (aka: not the stuff from the blue box) in the oven and adding chicken for the protein!

11. Visit the hospital again.  Truth be told, different hospital this time. And no, this doesn't mean we were actually in labor.  We found out that our very good friends who were due tomorrow had their darling little girl today!  So, of course, we can't keep ourselves away from a good newborn.

12. Enjoy one another's company.  We realize that we won't have as much time to just snuggle on the couch together.  So, we did, while talking about how excited we are for sweet pea to join in our cuddle times!

13. Nest some more.  Truth be told, it took until my due date to get baby's clothes hung up and in drawers  But--now it's done!

While we didn't have a baby on our due date, we did get a lot done!  Hope this list helps if you're wondering what to do when baby's due. :)

Life will surely change.

Baby K will make it's entrance into this wonderful world in less than two weeks.  At least I'm hoping it's less than two weeks, as our due date is this Saturday!

I'm beginning to receive the sweetest texts and phone calls from family and friends.  One such text was received this morning from my Gramps:
"And how is our Sweet Pea doing today? a little resless maybe?"

Nope.  Sweet Pea is definitely still sitting pretty...(the nickname was given by Gram because it's the official flower of April--isn't it amazing how much this little human is loved already?!) 

The excitement and support we've received from everyone has been overwhelming in the best way possible.  Everyone's questions lately typically go like this:
Them: "How are you feeling?"
Me: "Fabulous--I could forget that I'm pregnant sometimes!"
Them: "Are you getting excited?"
Me: "Absolutely!  We can't wait to meet this little person and cuddle on the outside."
Them: "Is the room ready?"
Me: "Nope, but our hearts are.  And I'm told babies live even when their nursery isn't adequately decorated."

It's really funny because despite my type-A-ness, I've really been able to give up a lot of anxiety about bringing this baby into the world in the last couple months.  This probably has to do with the large amount of praying I did...pleading, really...asking God to pretty-please take away all of the anxiety I was feeling about labor and delivery and what life looked like post-baby.  Oh, my prayers were most definitely answered and along with that anxiety went a lot of my perfectionism and over-achieving qualities.  Although this feels a bit bizarre to me--Praise the Lord!  I hope that the feelings of peace and calm stay with me in my first few months as a momma. :)

Happy Ashy Wednesday

First let me start out by acknowledging how long it's been since I've blogged.  

Alright, now that we have that behind us....

Since about two months into pregnancy, I have been grateful that Lent would fall within the nine months I happen to be carrying our first child.  While I absolutely love the incredible feeling of baby moving inside of me, and while I am overjoyed at the fact that such a miraculous feat such as housing a human was gifted to me, pregnancy hasn't always been the sweetest walk in the park.  

What has been extraordinary is the way the Holy Spirit has been using the various sufferings of pregnancy to bring me closer to God.  I have found myself praying my way through times when I was rather uncomfortable physically, asking Jesus to unite my suffering, minuscule in comparison, to His own.  Suffering is never for naught (why is this so easy to forget?), and in this case there's a baby at the end of this journey!  

Lent allows us to take time to recalculate where we are in our relationship with God, a time where we are encouraged to intentionally focus on prayer, fasting, and generosity--3 pillars we are called to every single day of our lives and that will help lead us closer to the Lord.  It's beautiful that there is an entire liturgical season dedicated to helping us refocus on what is important.  We are so human, aren't we?  Although just one year ago I had 40 whole days of Lent to reflect on my life, I ended up slipping back into some old habits and became aware of things in my life leading me away from God.  But here we are upon Lent once again, and these weeks of "accountability" are so helpful to me in my faith journey!

This year, the 40 days of Lent are within the last 58 days (give or take) of this pregnancy.  What better time to offer up the achey-ness in my back, headaches, cramps during the night in the back of my knees (seriously, has this ever happened to anyone else?!), sore neck, not being able to drink cabernet, numb hands, ribs being kicked, waddle-walking, swollen ankles...whoops...

So, you see, it's pretty dang easy to hop on the "complain-train" and think that a human growing inside of me also entitles me to gripe about my body.  Yes, it's very obvious to me how much of a blessing it is that Lent coincides with these last two months before we meet our precious babe. Such a blessing that I am intentionally reminded by the church what living like a Christian should look like.  Hopefully I'm able to continue to strengthen my trust in the Lord, lay my anxieties at His feet, and offer up the sacrifice of my body to Him, because only God can satisfy my deepest desires and hungers.

In response

I try to remain as apathetic as possible to much of the political agendas thrown around via Facebook statuses. This time, though, I cannot just sit here: I must respond to a certain quote being replicated on dozens of status on my news feed.

Here is the original quote, followed by my response.  The response uses a lot of the same language as the original.  I do not mean to infringe another person's intellectual property. Instead I wish to mirror what is being said to people who are passionate about civil rights, but have forgotten about the most infringed upon right of all.  

"I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they’re voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, “My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood. It’s like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don’t get to walk away clean, because you say you "disagree' with your candidate on these issues." - Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright, Doug Wright.

I wish my moderate Democrat friends would simply be honest.  They’re voting for Obama for a number of reasons, perhaps one being gay rights.  Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a clear voice, and say, “My beliefs of what is a fundamental civil right outweighs your belief of who is entitled to these rights and it is okay to take away any and all rights from those who have no voices at all.  It is okay to kill people, your own children, as long as they have not yet had their umbilical cord cut away from their mother.  The rights of the presently speaking are more important than those who have not yet had the chance to form or voice their own opinions, dignity does not matter for those less than 9 months old, and the very personhood of the unborn can be ignored.  Healthcare should, in fact, cover murder.”  You’re still complicit. You’re still perpetuating eugenics and a lack of respect for life. You don’t get to walk away clean because you say that you “disagree” with your candidate on these issues.

If we are going to focus on issues to vote upon, and if that issue happens to be civil rights, it can absolutely NOT be ignored that the biggest civil rights issue is killing children before they even have the chance to form their own opinion.  Why is one person's civil right more important than anothers?

Found Meditation

Sometimes thoughts cross my mind that I just have to write down because they feel like a small epiphany.  Organizing a notebook this afternoon and I found this scribble:

"Sometimes you hear people say 'You have 2 ears and 1 mouth: Listen as much as you speak.'  Typically they're referring to listening to others.

It is necessary, though, to listen to your own heart, your own reactions to what someone is saying, before you speak.  Listen for guidance from the Holy Spirit before speaking."

A quip for the day...

Danielle

Our Healer

Below you will find the "script" for my talk in Chapel yesterday. They say you only write about what you know...this week, I must say, I preached what I myself needed to hear. 

     Will I be able to handle that? What if someone is better at it than I am? This is going to be so hard! What’s the use? Should I even try to overcome this? 
It never fails that when we’re facing a problem or even an upcoming event in our lives, a little voice creeps into our head, questioning whether we really are capable; wondering if we’ll really be able to do what we’ve set out to do and wrapping ourselves in doubt. Many times even in areas of our lives where there aren’t any huge problems, fears, doubts and anxieties find a way of becoming present right along with feelings of excitement, gratitude, or success. 
Throughout Mark’s gospel we hear about Jesus’ ministry of healing. As I read a passage from Mark 1:29-39, think about the ways in which you may need healing in your own life. 

“And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them. 
When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. 
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.” 

     This passage speaks of Jesus healing those people who come to him. In context of the book of Mark, this passage is preceded and followed by other stories of miraculous healings by our Lord. Jesus cures a demoniac, calling the unclean spirit out of a man in the passage prior to the one I read and cures both a leper and a paralytic in the verses following the passage. It concludes by telling us that he “drove out demons” throughout the whole of Galilee. Mark’s Gospel, although the shortest of the gospels, vividly tells us many details about Jesus’ public ministry. It proclaims the good news that Jesus himself is the son of God who was sent to rescue humanity by serving and eventually sacrificing his life for us. Although perhaps a burden at times, He took great joy in serving his people. 
     In verses 29-39, we heardthat people began bringing all who were ill to Jesus after the sun had set. Then, Jesus was up “very early before dawn” and went out to a deserted place to pray. While we don’t know how far Jesus’ deserted place was from Capernaum, it’s obvious that he was seeking to have time alone with His holy father. We find, however, that Simon and the other disciples seek out Jesus in this deserted place and tell him that “Everyone is looking for you.” What this means is that even though he had been up very late healing people, the people of Galilee are up very early the next morning, already eager to have an encounter with Jesus, so much so that they find his disciples and insist on them finding him and bringing him back. These people recognized that they needed healing and had the full expectation that Jesus was the man who could take care of them. 
     Are we eager in bringing our own concerns to the Lord? Do we expect that he will heal us of our anxieties? The Galileans give us such a good example for being eager about the Word of God and having expectant faith. Mother in laws sick? Go to Jesus! Friend has a demon? Find Jesus! Dealing with leprosy? Where’s Jesus? In our lives, these “demons” and “leprosy” may look a little bit like anxiety over midterms, an unhealthy relationship in our life, financial burdens, and other personal concerns. 
     When thinking about how to break the fever of the problems in your life, what do you do first? I know that I wish I could say I eagerly seek out God’s word and expect that whatever concern I bring to Him, he will control. Truly, though, I’m not sure I’ve fully allowed that to happen in every area of my life. Even the demons have faith in Jesus and are pulled out of the ones they’re possessing because, as it says in verse 34, “he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.” The demons themselves know and believe in Jesus! How much more should we as Christians have faith in Jesus? If Jesus is willing to help his followers in all that they ask, traveling for days, preaching and driving out demons through the whole of Galilee, why wouldn’t He do the same for us? We need to allow Him to be our Healer, bring any and all troubles to Him with the full expectation that He’s got it from here. 
     How would your life be different if you treated Jesus as your Healer in all things, whether that be preparing for your next speech, getting ready for your next big game, dealing with a “demon” that helps you forget your problems, such as alcohol, or having a difficult conversation with a friend? As Christians, we expect that our prayers will be answered, even if the answer is “No.” 
     Now, I say all of this knowing that often I find myself believing that my problems are too small for God, that I only need to step up and deal with them, be strong, quit being such a worrier... When I was in college, this belief was challenged when I read a reflection on 1st Corinthians 1:29-30 which says “so that no human being might boast before God… ‘Whoever boast, should boast in the Lord.’” Paul uses this expression to remind us that we cannot claim to be autonomous, we are not, and never will be, saved by our own resources. This is so easy to forget because of the way we are encouraged to live. We’ve grown up in a society that tells us to always do our best, get ahead any way we can, and fend for ourselves. We’ve been taught that independence is to be strived for at all costs, that you need to be good at something to do it at all. While it is worth it to be reminded that we cannot take credit for the good in our lives, it is so important that we remember that we also cannot keep our doubts and anxieties to ourselves. Looking internally for solutions and relief will push us only further into our problems—we’re not supposed to deal with them alone. Instead, we must expectantly bring them to our Healer, to the One who knows our hearts, to the one who sacrificed his life for our salvation. 
     Right now I’d like you to take a moment and pretend that Jesus himself is sitting here in front of you. Imagine the expression on his face, his eagerness to hear from you and his yearning to serve his people, his willingness to listen. Now picture yourself physically placing your fears and doubts and anxieties into his lap, giving them fully to Him, expecting that He’s got them from here. You are welcome to place as many of these as you want, forever, right there in His lap. Carefully revel in how it feels to place each doubt and anxiety there, in the place where they belong. Expect that they will be taken care of, because He’s got it from here. Now picture yourself laying your head in Jesus’ lap, putting yourself in a place where he can heal you, where he can cure your sickness, drive out the demons of your life. It is here that we, as Christians, are free to dwell. We, just like the Galileans, are welcome and called to eagerly and expectantly find that place often, within all of the various pockets of our lives. 
  
Thanks for reading,
Danielle  

Done deal.

Yes, it's been eons since I've logged into my blog to update on the project I finished about a month ago (you can read about the project's process in my previous post)...I've been busy being social and enjoying summer (and, let's be real: basking in laziness.) 


But, here it is, the final look at our painted dresser.  An upcoming project on the list is decorating our bedroom. Right now there is a total of one decoration in the entire room. Unbelievable. Why do I prefer all of my lovely decor sitting in boxes in our office? We may never know.

Of the two photos, this is most definitely the truer color for the wall and the dresser.

My favorite part is the stenciling because it's so understated, like the dresser has a secret.

Oh! And here's a little peek at the wedding gift my husband and I made for his sister and her hubby! My hubs made this from wood in the old Millwork District that is currently being converted into loft apartments.  This wood is old and beautiful with tons of character and it was really fun to work with! He did all the hard stuff while I flitted in and out, holding random tools and boards and things--at least until it was finished structurally.  Then I was the sanding and staining and varnishing queen. 

Good thing this was a gift, what an awkward place for a table.

We're hoping there will be "more where that came from" and we'll be starting up a few more projects soon!  There's really something about working with your hands that is just good for the soul.  Maybe it's being able to tangibly see a project progress steadily: the work I put in comes out in a thing, looking fabulous, sometimes where nothing but a pile of wood (or beads, or yarn, or paper) stood before.  It has been quite refreshing to remember how much I like that feeling of tangible progress. Onward to the next crafty DIY adventure!

In Joy,

Danielle