The Longest Month Ever

Hello there! So as you've noticed, I haven't been keeping up on my blogging. To be honest, I am feeling done with blogging about pregnancy. Done being pregnant, ready to be a mommy. So ready. Liam is ready too--the non-stop rib kicking being the clearest indicator in my mind.

So, what to blog about? Life is good in spite of discomforts. Daytime goes pretty well, I teach, I cook, we laugh, we play, the usual Speedie stuff. Nighttime is another story. Just finding a position where I can actually feel quasi comfortable, that's a challenge right now. It is a little ridiculous how many pillows and props it takes to get myself into a spot where I can settle for the night. My discomfort has my family a little worried I think. Sasha the cat, she reminds me of one of those stoic guards that is planted outside of Buckingham Palace. She positions herself right by my face at night, and if I so much as utter one groan, she is on me with full purring healing power. Marley is great too. She is always there to hang out with me when I simply cannot sleep. I feel a little bad for her after I've been up all night, because the next day she can hardly keep her eyes open. Normally the most persistent 5 am alarm clock ever (it's a breakfast thing) this morning after being up all night she slept right through breakfast. For any of you that knows her at all, you know this is an absurd abnormality.

Nevertheless, as I said before, daytime is great. Sure, it does not feel awesome lugging around another human being all day long, but I am in good spirits! I am excited for what's coming up and feeling as prepared as I can at this point. As usual God's timing is just right and amazing as ever. I realized about a week ago, that Liam is due the same week Don's school is set to complete. Translation: Don will actually be able to enjoy his paternity time without fretting about his project.

I also realized the other day just how insensitive our culture is to what new dads are going through during this whole process. This morning I read an online article about how dads shouldn't be jealous if their wives openly admit that they love their new babies more than they love their husbands. The other day at the doctor's office while reading a parenting magazine, I read an article with a similar message. These senseless articles written "just for dads" both discussed how to NOT voice any honest feelings regarding breast feeding, sexual frustration, and even jealousy towards your newborn. The long and short of the article was basically: suck it up dads, you have no idea what your wives just went through. Their pain and suffering will always be more important than yours. Your job at this point is to give your wife jewelry and smile like a robot at your new baby, even if it seems you are as worthless and unimportant to your family as ever. Nice, eh? Somebody please slap me (not too hard though and on the wrist please) if I start buying into that mentality. Don't get me wrong, I am all for jewelry...David Yurman to be specific, but geez...it's no wonder everyone is divorced or cheating these days.

The fact is, your husband might feel neglected, because he is suddenly being neglected. He might have sexual frustration because you aren't having sex for at least six weeks after delivery, and he might even just feel like you do...worn out and overwhelmed with all of the change. Husbands have a right to be heard and validated too. They even (as my friend Linda would say) have a right to express an HONEST EMOTION.

So I know it's hard to juggle everything and to be loving and gracious towards your husband when you are hormonal and dealing with a newborn who leaves you sleep deprived and cranky. I know this, and I dread this fact of new parenting. I just wonder as a society, why we accept and even perpetuate shelving our husbands after they provide for us, nurture us, and give us children. Any thoughts?

I love my little family, ready for another member though!

So I am to the point in my pregnancy where every day feels like one big exercise in waiting. I definitely want Liam to cook for at least three more weeks, but I still feel like the waiting is relentless. It's not just the waiting, but the waddling, the fatigue, the achy bits, and other unmentionables.

Nevertheless, I am still in good spirits, and I am really enjoying my family these days and cherishing the last few weeks I will have alone with my husband for many, many, years. Don and I have been spending our time in lots of wonderful deep discussion, long (slow) walks, and lots of laughing, sometimes at each other, but most of the time at our crazy animals. They sure do add to the flavor of the household.

My family is experiencing pregnancy with me in a way that has really surprised me! The other day as Don and I were out walking, I stopped, turned to him and said, "now why are YOU waddling?" He stopped, thought about it, and said, "well, I don't know, I think it's the only way I can walk as slow as you!"

Marley who normally bounces around the house first thing in the mornings, has been a lazy dog these days. She has completely adopted my energy level, and when we go for walks together, she is perfectly content to let the leash be slack and walk as slow as her pregnant mommy. What a good girl she is.

Sasha is just a bad kitty. She has been trying to prepare both of us for parenting by crying loudly in the middle of the night for Don and I.

Anyhow, things are peaceful and happy at the Speedie house. The latest update on the pregnancy is that I think I have started having practice contractions. I guess that's a good thing, although they are pretty uncomfortable.

New Name

http://www.livescience.com/culture/baby-names-effects-100610.html

So, we changed his name...again. Sorry for anyone who might have been monogramming or praying for "Owen" who is no longer "Owen." We changed little Speedie's name from Owen Eric Speedie to Liam Eric Speedie.

Liam is a great name! We are really excited about it. I have changed this little guy's name so many times, but this time, I am sure! This is the only name that has felt and sounded right once I started saying it aloud. Liam is a short version of the name William. It has two meanings. In Irish it means "strong-willed warrior," and in English it means "Guardian." Strong-willed warrior is a little intimidating as a first time mother, but guardian is nice, especially for the first born boy.

We are ready...I think. Don's project in Downtown should be wrapping up within the next four to five weeks and Liam is due in 5.5 weeks on August 19--which happens to be two days before my 29th birthday. The nursery is 90 percent finished, and I think emotionally, relationally, mentally, physically (for me), we are ready to get this show on the road. I keep asking Liam to come a couple of weeks early. I think an August 5th birthday would be nice. I'll probably start doing jumping jacks the first week of August--does anyone think that will help at all?

Anyway, pregnancy issues are as follows...nothing major, a little insomnia here, sore legs and pelvis there, a little carpel-tunnel from inflammation, and a few bruised ribs (he is a strong kicker) but nothing I can't handle--especially because the reward at the end is so awesome!

Post-partum things I am most excited for besides Liam...sleeping on my back, eggs benedict, walking without waddling, jogging with Marley, sleeping without 5 pillows surrounding me (it's really cramping any cuddling Don and I used to do) and of course, getting my body back to myself.

Post-partum things I am most excited for that include Liam...just holding him, and looking at him. I want to meet him and love him. I am also so excited to see Don with Liam. How amazing that we get to go through this adventure together. Oh, and as all of you know, Marley is going to be the best nanny ever, so that will be cute to see as well.

Anyway, please keep praying for Liam, that God would help him be a strong, healthy baby with a kind character. Also, please pray for me to have a safe delivery (2 weeks early!) and a smooth transition into motherhood that doesn't involve any serious post-partum depression. Lastly, I ask that you please pray for my sweet husband, that he can have endurance as his project comes to a close, and that his transition into fatherhood is one of happiness. Please pray that God keeps our marriage strong as we welcome Liam into our family.

God Bless.

Father's Day

Hello there friends,

I just realized I am really behind in my blogging! All of the extra sleep I have been needing has severely slowed down my productivity. Sorry, here's an update for you guys...

Don and I celebrated his first fathers day on June 20. What a blast we had. I had a big surprise up my sleeve for Don--which ended up forcing me to act like a crazy, moody, pregnant, maniac, but it all worked out for the best in the end. The end result was a 42" flat screen TV. We have been without a TV entirely for nearly two years. I have been secretly saving little by little to get Don the TV that he really wanted, so of course I wanted it to be a big surprise for him! Anyway, I had it all worked out. I was going to take him on a date to the bookstore for Father's Day, and let him spend my 6 month old $25 gift card (so generous, I know). Being the easy-going Canadian that he is, he was thrilled with that, saying things like, "I am so lucky to have you for a wife. I love going to the bookstore. Thanks so much for thinking of me in this way." I couldn't believe how happy he was for a bookstore date and a $25 gift card, you can imagine how excited I was to give him his "real" Father's day present. Anyway, we were supposed to be out of the house by 10 am so that my friends could come over and set up the TV for me. I was supposed to text my friend as we were leaving, but just as we are ready to leave, I realize my phone is lost. Now, you have to understand that earlier that morning, we discovered my GPS had been stolen out of my car, and about two years ago my phone was stolen out of our house, so you can imagine we were a little worried. Needless to say, I was trying to play it cool, so that we could just leave the house before they got there. Don however had different plans. He adamantly said that he didn't want to leave the house until we had peace of mind about my phone. This is when I started to panic, and decided to through a small hissy fit. After about 15 minutes (it's 10:15 now) I whine to Don that having a nice date with him at Border's is really important to me, and that I don't want my stupid phone to ruin our father's day date. He still insists on searching for the phone, so at this point I am stomping around looking for my phone, slamming things around until he finally catches on that I am actually irritated and really want to go. Finally, Don decides we can go, and forget about the phone. It's now 10:30, meaning we are 30 minutes behind schedule, and Ty and Danielle are most likely going to be at our house within minutes. Sure enough, just as we are about to drive away, they pull up to the house and the conversation starts going something like this:

Don: "Hey, Ty and Danielle are here."
Rachel: "Who cares! Can we please just go before they see us?"
Don: (Bewildered) "They are our friends, why would we do that?"
Rachel: "Because I just want to go on a father's day date with you!"
Don: "Can't we go to Borders after we see what they need?"
Rachel: "Fine!" (Eye Roll)

Rachel stomps out of the car, and goes up to Ty and Danielle's car.

Rachel: "What are you guys doing here?" (wink, wink)
Danielle: (Slightly panicked, but playing it cool) "Um, we were just in the neighborhood (they live 20+ minutes away) and we have been trying to call to ask you what you are bringing to the father's day bbq, but you didn't answer, so we thought we would come by and ask."
Rachel: (Thinking to herself, this girl is good at fabricating stories!) "I am bringing corn."
Don: "Did you guys need anything else?"
Ty: "No, we are going to go to the store now to get the rest of the stuff for the bbq now that we know you guys are bringing corn."
Don: "Ok, see ya soon!"

Ty and Danielle drive off fast and I think at this point Ty runs a red light because he is so nervous about the surprise nearly being ruined.

Don and Rachel get back in the car, and I decide to throw a little bit more of a fuss just to keep Don from thinking too hard about how it doesn't make sense at all for Ty and Danielle to just be in the neighborhood. I say, "Can you believe our friends? They shouldn't just stop by without asking, how rude!" Poor Don at this point just thinks he married a very high maintenance woman, nevertheless, he just kind of nods in a confused way, and off we are on our very important Father's Day Date.

Things calm down at Borders and we have a great time. Afterward, we make our way to our friends house for a BBQ, and find out another person in our circle is pregnant. Yeah! Looks like my baby will have a friend to play with about 7 months after he is born!

Anyway, the whole thing ended with Don walking through the front door, and saying "Wow, someone's been in our house, and they stole your phone, but brought us a TV!" I laughed so hard. Once he figured out it was his, I laughed even harder because he asked who on earth brought over the TV. Ty and Danielle of course!

It was fun to surprise Don. If his husband skills are at all indicative of his fathering skills, he is going to be one heck of a dad, and I am so happy my baby gets to have him for a daddy.

Missed all of the dads and grandpa's in Reno and B.C. Happy late father's day to all dad's around!

Owen Eric Speedie

A name...FINALLY! It's true, we are naming him Owen after well nobody, we just thought it sounded cool, and Eric, after my grandpa Eric....who is the worlds GREATEST grandpa ever! I had a 30.5 week ultrasound a few days ago and little Owen is looking not quite so little anymore. He is about 3.5 lbs. and he has his head down and arms tucked like he is ready for take off. He is so big now that he doesn't really fit on the ultrasound image, so she gave me three photos of him, one of his spinal chord, one of his VERY large foot, and one of his hem hem, scrotum. So, yep, there you have it, he's definitely a he.

Don has been such a trooper these last few weeks. He has been spending weekends refinishing/painting nursery furniture. It's looking amazingly beautiful and I am once again reminded of how thankful I am that I married a man whom I find both handsome and handy. I promise to post pictures as soon as the whole thing is finished.

Besides some stiffness in my legs, I am feeling GREAT! Can you believe it? Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks pregnant and I feel amazing! A few weeks ago, when my brother in law was visiting, I felt terrible! Overly emotional and achy all over, but that seems to have passed. If there's one thing about pregnancy that I have learned, you just have to remember to relax and think to yourself , this too shall pass. At least for me, the uncomfortable symptoms have only seemed to last for a week or so, and then it's on to something different--which is so manageable. Like, at least they aren't all snowballing on each other, eh?

Baby shower last weekend in Reno was so wonderful. The whole trip was amazing actually. I had two nine hour dates in the truck with my husband...which was fun, and I got to see everyone I love and miss--even Marley got to reconnect with her best buddy Stella. There were close to 30 people at the shower, and it consisted of family, old friends, and former clients. My little students have grown up so much this last year! It was terrific seeing them. I was literally overwhelmed by everyone's love and generosity. Thank you so much to all who came. I loved every minute of that trip, my favorite part though was putting my niece Audrey and my nephew Greyson to bed. It just got me so excited to have a little guy of my own to take care of.

As the weeks count down I am trying really hard to give Don extra love and attention, as I know we will be a little distracted right after Owen arrives. Please pray for us, that God would unite us more than ever and prepare our hearts for our new son.

Love you guys!

The Nerve and the Newly Gained Perspective

So this morning I am out jogging on the beach with Marley, and while most of the feedback I get from perfect strangers is completely positive, such as, "look at that pregnant woman, she's jogging, wow!" I of course let the one negative comment I receive nearly bring me to tears. Literally this woman stops me as I am jogging to ask me when I am due. When I respond with my due date of August 19, she breaks into hysterics and says, "Good grief, how many babies do you have in there, whoa?!" I am totally stunned with the comment, and give her a big eye roll before whisking Marley away with me to finish my jog. As I am running home, between chocked up sighs, I start patting myself on the back for biting my tongue and not saying what I was really thinking, which was, "yeah, well, how many babies do you have in there???" You see, this woman was a little bit toothless and a little bit obese. I was reminded once again this week of the Proverb I am learning to live by, "In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise." Proverbs 10:19

Anyhow, today I was asked if I am enjoying pregnancy, and I wasn't able to answer "yes, it's wonderfully delightful, and everything I ever imagined." Being a control freak myself, watching my body expand exponentially, and not having much say in the matter is a little alarming to me. Oh and did I mention this is the second stranger in one week to laugh after I told them my due date? Yeah, not exactly the feedback a pregnant woman desires.

Anyway, the picture I am posting was taken this morning, and looking at it, I think I look great, especially for being 28.5 weeks pregnant! My best friend (who is even more pregnant than I) came over today and took the photo, and you know what, it's all a matter of perspective (thanks Lorri for that) so I am gaining more weight than I intended, and my belly is just popping straight out, but at least I have great teeth (unlike certain insensitive strangers) and at least my skin is clear and shiny thanks to the baby, and at least I am having a baby in the first place, and at least I have a hot husband who still thinks I am beautiful.

So I guess that settles it then, whether I gain 10 or 15 more pounds, or whether I swell up at the end like a balloon, I am going to enjoy this, and keep smiling, because God loves me, Don loves me, Marley loves me, Sasha loves me, and you guys too, I think...:) Ha! I love all of you too!

Patty Cake

Last night I said goodnight to the baby and pat my tummy three times in a row. The baby promptly high-fived me in the exact spot where I had placed my hand. So, naturally I did it again, and he did his thing again too, and we went back and forth like that for about five minutes. It was amazing! Sleepy Don was able to keep it going for a bit too, until he pooped out and fell asleep with his hand on my belly, leaving the baby back to entertaining himself for the night.

When I was at the doctor's office last week she asked me if I had felt any movements yet. I reminded her that I felt movement over ten weeks ago, and she seemed surprised. I was so confused why she would ask that. Sometimes he kicks so strongly that I feel seriously startled! Is it possible some women are just starting to feel movement? Does this mean I am going to have an extremely active, and mobile child? Probably. Great. It's looking like he will most definitely take after his dad, who according to my mother in law was practically out the door by the time he would walk. It's also looking like I will most definitely be worn out chasing him all over the place for the next few years. Good thing I will have Marley to help me baby sit! She is going to be the best nanny ever.

I got my 26 week baby gram today. Apparently the baby is more than a foot long, and weighs over 2 pounds. I can't believe it! He's bigger than an eggplant already! Wednesday night Don and I went to a class at our church and one of the pastors asked me if we were ready yet for the baby. We laughed and joked together, and then Don and I left to go home. About one minute into the car ride on the way home, I realized how not ready we are, and I started to cry. I can't believe my mom was only 21 on her first go. I wish she lived closer!!! Needless to say, we decided this weekend to have a date at the Library and to rent a few DVD's on baby care, and Lamaze. I think that will help a lot.

Missing you all!