I'm going to the hospital tonight to be induced. Let the angels rejoice! I consider myself a pretty tough girl, but these last two weeks have been brutal. Probably less painful than being pregnant with Chiara, but I didn't have a toddler to chase/feed/entertain/clean up after in those days ... so I think it evens out. I actually wonder how women can do two children. I imagine that evokes laughter from all those wonderful mommies who have way more than two, but being new to two I'm a little nervous. Not a lot nervous, just a little. But Heavenly Father helped me last time, and I'm sure He'll help me again.
At Walmart the other day - one of the three stores I frequent in this new Oregon life of mine - I was browsing toothpaste next to two women who were talking about a friend of theirs who had been trying to get pregnant and finally was. They turned to me, looking at my belly, and the older one said,
"You are all baby! When are you due?"
"Next week," I smiled. "But I sure hope she comes before then."
"When my friend __________ was pregnant she looked just like you. She's so short she reminded us all of a midget."
I don't know what my face did right in that moment, but I don't think she noticed. She turned to her friend and continued.
"Doesn't she remind you so much of ___________? All baby and just so little! It's hilarious when they look like midgets like that. What is it that makes them look so much like midgets?"
They went on like that, back and forth about the hilarity of short pregnant women, long after we said goodbye. I was two aisles down and I could still hear them talking about that. All I could think was,
I'm even wearing three-inch heels! What a strange thing to say to a perfect stranger. Three years ago that would have made me a little defensive or slightly insecure. Not today. What. Ev. Er. :)
I should mention I've tried every SINGLE thing I was told would induce labor with no results. Noelle likes it right where she is, thank you very much. I even tried castor oil. Two tablespoons the first day, which didn't work, then the full FOUR tablespoons the next day with only a little sprite to help it go down ... Swallowing pure oil is even more disgusting than it sounds. Then we went to the library. I just laughed out loud remembering how smart THAT was. :) Four tablespoons does terrible, terrible things.
Tonight I cooked dinner for the first time in like a week. It's been so fantastic around here. Every time I turn around Eldon is cleaning the kitchen, doing dishes, cooking something, vacuuming, bathing Chiara, cleaning mold from window sills, doing laundry (the cleaning AND folding) ... etc. It has been glorious to have him home. :) What a blessing this between-semesters time has been for us. How many women get to just relax and wait for her baby to come? Not many.
So, to be silly I came up behind him while he was at the kitchen sink, turned myself sideways so I could wrap my arms around his waist, and squeezed him.
"Oh," I said in a sing-song voice. "This is what it feels like to be you!"
We have laughed about that so many times since then. This isn't to say he doesn't work hard, because of course he does. But in real life, when he's on campus all day and comes home just in time to see Chiara before she goes to bed (sometimes), I'm not going to make him do chores. My goodness. I happily cook and clean and do everything so he can come home to a house of order and relax, unwind, and feel rejuvenated. He does take out the trash, but only because it's uncomfortable for me - this pregnant - to haul it out to the dumpster and lift that big heavy lid to get the bag in there. In fact, some of his friend-girls at school have said, watching him eat whatever lunch I've packed for him that morning,
"I need a wife."
Sometimes I wonder how men survive medical school without wives. Then I think of all the demands that come with being married with children and wonder if it's any easier. Certainly it's more joyous and rewarding, though, right? When Eldon comes home and Chiara is still awake she hears him at the door and shouts,
"Daddy's home!!!! I hear him!!!!!"
Then she rushes to meet him, all squeals and giggles, and hugs him while she tells him what she was just doing five seconds before their reunion. That has to feel good.
Because Noelle's due date is right around the corner we weren't able to travel this Christmas ... which meant we had a lovely, quiet holiday to ourselves. That's what I tell myself, since I'm rather devastated that all my family is gathered together at home right now except for Eldon, Chiara, and me. We drew names for sibling gifts, and Shauna got Eldon. She called me to ask what he would want and I told her. A pretty church dress for Chiara. She thought I was joking, but I told her nothing would make him happier. For his birthday, for goodness' sake, our date was walking around Target looking at all the baby girl dresses in the store. I emailed Shauna a picture of his favorite one. She trusted me, and that's what he got for Christmas. :)
Look at his smile. :) It was an excellent choice. He put it on her immediately and she was twirling in it all night. We've been teaching her about modesty lately - spurred by a princess book we have with Jasmine in all her tummy-showing glory ... don't know why it didn't occur to us sooner that Ariel is only wearing a seashell bra - so on Sunday when she didn't want to wear the jacket with her dress we told her it was modest. Worked like a charm. :) Ahh ... these lovely years when they are so obedient.
My mom and my sister visited recently. I was hoping Baby Noelle would make her appearance while they were here, but alas ... some prayers are not expedient. But we had so much fun together, and Chiara has not stopped talking about them - or Grandpa, even though he couldn't even come - since. This stage is so much fun because she remembers everything and everyone. I love it. Also, she tells me where we got each article of her clothing when I'm putting it on her in the morning. I'm not even joking.
"We got this at Walmart?" A little black skirt.
"Yes, Honey."
"We got this at Target?" A light blue shirt with snowflakes made of tulle.
"Yes, Love."
"We got these shoes at Kohl's?" Brown with little pink butterflies.
"Yes, my girl."
How she does that or why it matters I have no idea. But she's definitely arrived at the age when she has the potential and capacity to truly embarrass me with her words. For example, our friend Doug came up to me at church the other day with a smile on his face.
"So, Chiara was telling me in nursery that she can go pee pee on the potty."
"Yeah," I responded. "She's getting really good at that, thank goodness."
"She also told me YOU go pee pee on the potty." Said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Oh ... well, I do do that." I laughed. What can I say?
What was I talking about earlier? I feel like I was going to post pictures. Oh, my mom and sister visiting. :) Here are just a few of the reasons Chiara loves them so much:
Who wouldn't love this Grandma??
Aunt Shauna reading Chiara's new princess story book from Grandma and Grandpa.
You know, everything Chiara loves to play with she thinks my parents gave her. Usually she's right, since Eldon and I hardly ever buy her anything. But she'll be playing with something and she'll turn to me, tilt her head and say with her coy little smile,
"Grandma and Grandma give this baby a me?"
or
"Grandma and Grandpa give this bear a me?"
I just always smile and say yes. :) She's right to think they're awesome.
The bear reads the ENTIRE 'Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. She loves it more than life. Eldon doesn't ... if the batteries ever go missing I'll know he took them. :) Also she loves her princess crown.
Her "major" gift was a doll - whom she named Mary, which confused her for a day and a half while she thought her baby was married to Joseph - with a matching bed and stroller. Oh my goodness, she loves that doll. We dressed her (Mary) in one of Noelle's newborn sleepers and Chiara carries her around like a cherished treasure. It's the cutest thing.
Well, I'm getting induced in 43 minutes, so I'm going to go. I hope my next post has a picture of our littlest girl. Actually, I KNOW it will, because I'll have nothing to say until then. So I guess I just hope that we have that picture tomorrow and not a week from now. :)
(I just heard Chiara tell Eldon, "She's not very modest." I wonder which story they're reading right now. Those hussy Disney princesses. :))
