So this is it...

We're at the start of our last day as a family of three plus pug. Of course, we've hypothetically been a family of four for quite a while now, but tomorrow we become the real thing. We've fit a lot of family time into this week, and hopefully today we can fit some more. Mackensie is going to think that having a baby really means getting to go to ChuckE Cheese, get ice cream, and hang out all day with mom and dad.

Tonight she will have a sleepover with grandma and grandpa while Tim and I go down to Philly. We know that we can't make it down there by 7:30 tomorrow morning and actually be on time. That looks so pathetic in print - who can't get up and out on a day like tomorrow? Well, if anyone will oversleep or dawdle around to the last minute it will be us. So we've owned up to our shortcomings and gotten a room near the hospital. We'll get there at 7:30 and get hooked up in the labor room, where they will monitor the baby for a bit and counsel me about my spinal. Yuck -- wish I could do without that. Of course, there's no way I want to be put out during the surgery, so a spinal it will be. I guess the epidural wasn't that bad last time; hopefully this won't be much different.

Then it's off to surgery. Once he is born, I will get to see him briefly, and then the little man gets taken right to the NICU for check-in and evaluation. I can't go see him until I can walk, which seems a little silly considering I can't hold him anyway. What damage could I possibly do? I realize that restriction might be for my benefit, but don't they realize that seeing him would speed my recovery? Anyway, while he is getting checked in, Tim and I get some downtime. Then Tim can go see him and I can join later. Our family is going to be there, too, so there should be no shortage of company for either one of us.

Mac is coming around 2, at which point I will hopefully get to see both of my children. How weird is it to say that? I'm not sure how she will feel about this, but we are fully prepared to buy her approval and affection with a really cool doll and doll accessory set. The accessories are actually the same type and brand that I have purchased for the baby. So she gets to take care of her new baby while I get to take care of mine.

So that should be tomorrow in a nutshell. Based on his evaluation, surgery for Oliver should come sometime on Tuesday. Hopefully by Tuesday night I will be able to hold him. Hopefully, he will not need a shunt right away. Of course, if there is one thing that I have learned over the last few weeks, it's that "Everything can change after his back is closed up and we can't tell you anything until he is born." So at least we should finally get some answers!

Please keep us in your prayers, that we are all strong and healthy, and that the answers we finally get are good ones :)

One More Week!

How can seven days seem so short and so long at the same time? We had what should be our last ultrasound yesterday. Everything looks basically the same, which is good. He weighs 6 lbs. 6 oz., which is a huge jump from last time -- he is ahead of the growth curve. Maybe that is why I feel so fat and sluggish (or maybe it's the chocolate donuts I had for breakfast on Sunday). He should be 7 lbs. by the time he is born, which is pretty decent for being two weeks early. I guess we just have big babies.

Even though I was much more forward-planning than usual in getting ready for his arrival, I still have a ton of stuff to do this week. But that's okay, because I need stuff to keep me busy (as if Mac won't take care of that). I think that getting through the week will be okay, but the weekend will be unbearable.

I guess instead of procrastinating on the computer, I should go start some of these so-called essential activities.

Mackensie Paige is a Rock Star!

Enough said.

Two-berty -- for better or for worse

So Mac is in the full throes of what I have heard referred to as "two-berty." "No" has officially become her favorite word, and it is always uttered in a tone that can make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up. I hear myself threaten to take things away at least 500 times a day -- juice, milk, little people, books, markers, pens -- whatever it takes. We also work a lot on the barter system :

"If you want to play outside later, you have to come in and eat your dinner right now."

"No." (of course)

"Okay then, no playing outside for the rest of the night." (how very drastic -- could I actually follow through with that?)

"Okay." (I think I just won!)

And then she asks me "Are you mean?" which means "Are you mad?" and "Are you happy mommy?" I try to explain that it's not about whether I'm happy or not, but whether she is behaving or not. That explanation never gets me very far, and I always wind up telling her that I am mean or happy (that usually gets me a hug).

Of course, there is an upside to twoberty, too. Mac has a million cute little habits and we are able to have a lot of fun together. We have spent our summer:

Listening to Disney Songs in the car. Mac knows all of the words to Supercalifragilisticexpialidotios and we sing them all (Of course, that's because we listen to the songs over and over and over)

Reading our books and snuggling in bed at night for a few minutes before Mac goes to sleep

Eating ice cream with M&Ms and sprinkles

Playing little people

Watching cartoons

Playing on the swing set

and Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's houses

Mac loves to sing and dance and run around like a crazy person. She is funny and smart and sweet and precocious and naughty all at once. Although we sometimes struggle, and I am always tired by the time she goes to bed at night, she is wonderful. She makes twoberty look good.

Two more weeks...will I make it?

Two weeks from today Oliver will be with us (on the outside)! The doctors say that everything looks basically the same, which is good. He's about 5 and a half pounds, which means he will be about 6 and a half when he is born. Sooo much smaller than Mackensie, who I had to push out on my own. His swelling isn't too bad, and the chiari malformation isn't completely present. We don't even ask what the updates and new numbers mean anymore, because the doctors always say "We can't tell you anything for sure until he gets here."



But I think that he might be as eager as I am for his birthday. I had a lot of contractions last night, only ten minutes apart. I never went into labor on my own with Mac; never even had contractions with Mac until after they induced. So I don't really know what it feels like to go into labor. Somehow I knew it wasn't IT last night but 10 minutes apart for 2 hours is pretty serious. I do not want to go into labor in NJ when I have to make it all the way down Philly!

Everything's almost ready for him. I think that I'm ready for him (but it depends on when you ask). Please just pray that he waits until it is time.