{Rubber-Sol: Why, hello there!}

BABY POOL! A CONTEST!

The time between my posts lengthens as I prepare for our new little bambino.  Her room is being worked on as I type this, and I can't wait for all to resume normalcy!  Dust, workers, dust, commotion!  It's all growing tiring, but it will be worth it in the end, yes?

Anyway, in the spirit of our bun in the oven, I thought I'd run a little contest, a BABY POOL if you will.  Here's what you have to do if you would like to participate.  Post a comment here stating the following:

Date and time of my delivery (i.e. June 30th - 4:42 p.m.)

BONUS QUESTION: (To be used in case of a tie).  Guess the weight and length of the baby at birth.

THE PRIZE:  I'll package up something pretty and fun for you!  Also if all participants could send a little goodie to me (i.e. fun pens, stationery, stickers, a fat quarter of fabric, candy, anything really  -- please keep items small and cheap!).  I'll pool all of these fun goodies, and ship them off to the winner of this contest!  Sound fair?

Okay, so here are some details that will help you with your guess.

My official due date is June 30th.

Both Alison and Henry were early.  Alison just over two weeks early, and Henry three weeks early.

Both were born on a Friday afternoon.

Both babies were relatively big at birth (considering they were early).  Alison 7 lbs. 13 ounces and a whopping 21.5 inches;  Henry 7 lbs. 15 ounces and 21 inches.

As of Wednesday, May 18th, I'm 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and +1 station *

And, say, WHO WINS? I've decided that the person who comes closest to both the date and time will be deemed the winner.  In case of a tie, I'll use the bonus questions!

DEADLINE for participating:  I will close the comments this Friday night at 8 p.m.! Sunday.

* Glossary

Dilation:

The amount the cervix has opened in preparation for childbirth, dilation is measured in centimeters. "Fully dilated" means you're at 10 centimeters and are ready to push.

Effacement:

This refers to the thinning of the cervix in preparation for birth, and is expressed in percentages. You'll be 100% effaced when you begin pushing.

Station:

Station is a term used to describe the descent of the baby into the pelvis.  An imaginary line is drawn between the two bones in the pelvis.  This is the "zero" line. When the baby is above this imaginary line it is in a minus station.  When the baby is below, it is in a "plus" station.  Stations are measured from -5 at the pelvic inlet to +4 at the pelvic outlet.

What the Heck is Going On?

Okay, so I'm in the final stretch.  Maternity leave has officially started, and I'm in full-blown nesting mode.  I never knew about the nesting instinct before becoming pregnant.  Heck! There are a lot of things I never knew about pregnancy.  For those of you who are curious, here are my top 10 pregnancy "discoveries!"

1. LOOPINESS, a.k.a.  "The Duh Factor" - Who knew raging hormones would affect my ability to think like a normal adult?  Instead I've become quite the airhead who forgets names, switches sounds in words (i.e. "I'd like the Meatless Peggie Vatty"), and spaces out.  The Duh Factor has even stumped my five year old daughter.  I've seen her cock her eyebrows at me as if to say, "WTF?"

2.  MANE ATTRACTION.  During pregnancy, the estrogen hormone causes hair to remain in the growing phase and stimulate the growth of one's hair.  So my hair has been thicker, fuller, and more luxurious!  Sounds great, right?  Well, yeah.  It's great for now.  But just wait until the Bun is four months or so, and my hair will begin to fall out in excessive amounts.  Google has taught me that there's even a name for this symptom.  It's called:  Telogen Effluvium.  Boy can't wait for that to happen again.

3.  I HEART TUMS.  Again our mischevious friend PROGESTERONE proves naughty by causing bouts of HEARTBURN.  Oh joy!  The feeling of having that falafel sandwich lodged at the base of my throat has never been so fun.  I get to relive my meals over.  And over.  And over again.

4.  BOOBY PRIZE.   Hey gals!  Wanna have bigger boobs?  GET PREGNANT.  Bigger, bustier, bouncier boobs.  In my case, I actually have cleavage right now.  In fact it goes really well with my BIG BELLY.  But in the end, after breastfeeding is over, so is the boob factor.  Boo.

5.  MARKY MARK AND THE FUNKY BUNCH(es) of scars.  Okay so it's a known factor that the belly stretches to accommodate the baby, and as a result, those fun stretch marks appear.  But did you know that your stomach will ITCH like crazy as it's stretching?  Yep, it does.  To add salt to the wounds, you'll get NEW stretch marks with each subsequent pregnancy.  Yes, that's right!  A new batch...in different places!

6. CHOOS NEW SHOES.  Right now my feet feel like Bolillos.  Fat and doughy.  I think I knead a new pair of shoes.  But I'll stray from the Jimmy  variety. I'd rather wear flip flops all day instead of cramming these puppies into anything constricting.  Okay so we all know about swollen feet and such, but ladies did you know that your feet actually "grow" during pregnancy?  My feet are a half size larger since having Alison.  Weird, huh?

7.  BLOODY MARY.  It's common for women to have FIFTY PERCENT MORE BLOOD in her body during pregnancy.  So what does that mean?  An increase in blood is responsible for overheating, bloody noses, bleeding gums, itchy skin (shall I go on?), dizziness, leg cramps.  One good thing about this increase in blood volume is that ROSY glow!!  I guess, my trip to Transyvania has been postponed until further ado.

8.  MAINTAIN YOUR POISE.  Okay, so this is one embarrassing pregnancy side effect.  It's called URINARY INCONTINENCE.   Yep, that's right!  I CAN'T HOLD IN MY PEE.  Cough = pee.  Laughter = pee.  Running = pee.  Bending over to tie shoe = pee.  Doing the splits ** = pee.  I've never daydreamed about wearing my son's diapers more than ever.  Actually, I broke down and purchased some POISE pads.  Life has been dreamy ever since.

9.  IN DUE TIME.  Okay so the gestational periods of various animals may not be well known fact (an elephant's gestational period is 620 days?  Sheesh!).  But it is common knowledge that a human gestational period is nine months, right?  Well, not really.  It's actually TEN MONTHS.  Forty weeks = ten months (if you assume each month to be four weeks).  That puts the human race neck and neck with the dolphin's gestational period of 276 days.  BRING IT ON, Flipper! 

10. FROM HERE TO MATERNITY.  Being pregnant for the third time has made me fall in love with my husband all over again.  My love for him has manifested itself in the very breath and the heartbeat of our children.  I see my sweet husband in the caramel colored curls of Alison's hair, and I see him in the caterpillar green of Henry's eyes.  I hear him through their voices and through their bursts of laughter. 

The memory of having him by my side, holding my hand as I pushed our two babes into this world was a gush of happiness so deep and so magical.  It's a feeling that I'll never forget.  It's the image of him cradling Alison in his arms, kissing her gently on her pink forehead before passing her to me for the first time.  It's the memory of him smiling through tears as Henry came wailing into this world.  It's God's blessing that I get to relive all of this happiness one more time.

** Silly readers, I can't do the splits.

Pouchity Pouch

Little Henry spent his first day in preschool on Thursday. Big sister Allie made sure to watch over him -- she's quite the little boss! Henry's teacher told me that Henry did pretty well considering it was his first day, and he did manage a handstand or two in the middle of the lesson! That silly boy! He makes me laugh.

During my two hour stint of solitude (while kiddies were at school), I lugged some of my eBay packages to the post office, and then I headed to the fabric store. Alone! Imagine that! Such an odd feeling! My plan was to craft up some little pouches for sale on my website, The Paper Princess (which will be relaunched soon -- fingers crossed!).

Last night super pal Amanda came over and we spent an entire evening of crafting up. It's been forever since I've done anything crafty, so it was such a LUXURY to work away over music and a good chat. Here are some pouches that I made last night. Here take a looksee:

The first is a floral pouch that I made out of some Amy Butler fabric that the lovely Yvonne bestowed upon me a couple of months ago.

A few miles away from my house is The Fabric Barn, which is otherwise known as a crafter's dream. Despite its name, they really don't offer much fabric, but ribbons...oh they have ribbons. Imagine a warehouse full of every type of ribbon, notion, buttons, tulle, trim, craft items....imagine all that, and you have experienced The Fabric Barn. I scored yards of grosgrain ribbon (4 yards for $1.00) in a bizillion colors!

The green trio was made of vintage repro fabric, and the buttons shown are from the 1950s -- I think the green one is bakelite. They were so much fun to make. If you would like to see the rest of my creations, click on My Album.

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In other news, Mother's Day weekend was quite a treat as the kids spent the night at their grandparents' house on Friday night. This allowed us to sneak in a romantic dinner for two, a play, and frozen yogurt!! Woo hoo! This morning was spent sleeping in (two days in a row!), and spending time with my parents and the in-laws! Such a treat.

Even more exciting is this is MY LAST WEEK OF WORK. MATERNITY leave starts as of 2:50 p.m. Wednesday afternoon! Yipee!