She's here!

Eve Lillian Sullenbrand

7 lbs, 5 oz

Born at or around 11am on April 26, 2011
Everyone feeling well and doing great!

36 week comparison & update

It feels so good to NOT be swollen this time around! I can't speak to why that is--I'd planned to maintain a healthy, low-carb primal diet throughout my third trimester in an effort to keep it at bay, but honestly, that's fallen by the wayside and I'm eating more or less what I feel like eating, pretty much like I did with Eden. But no complaints here! There's also a bit of an angle differential between the pictures, but I think they still confirm my sense that this is a smaller baby than Eden was. Which is just fine--10 lbs, 2 oz leaves plenty of room for downsizing. If this baby follows in her footsteps as far as timing, though, it will be here in less than two weeks! I'm not holding my breath that it will be that soon, but we do have the birth room set up and ready, including inflating the tub--which Eden loves to fool around in.

It's been a challenging couple of weeks around here. Eden is in the midst of some true terrible-2 insanity. Hard-core tantrums are the norm at least several times a day--full-on kicking, screaming, red-faced, sometimes even head-banging-on-the-floor intensity. Sometimes brought on by our unreasonable requests (such as to sit in her chair during dinner or come in from outside) and other times seemingly for no reason at all--like because she woke up in the morning. She does have her pleasant moments in between, but it seems like there's always some raw nerve just waiting to be touched off. I'd like to thing she's getting it out of her system and will be sweet as pie when the baby's born, but that seems like a lot to hope for. At least we have the benefit of four adults in the household (and a few others nearby and more reachable by Skype), because it takes all of everybody's reserves to get through a period like we've had.

Moving forward

It's hard to believe we've been back in the midwest for three months now! And while the first weeks/months involved a lot of uncertainty, trying to find a new routine, and a general feeling of waiting for things to happen, the sensation now definitely seems like one of forward motion. A few of the highlights...

Library book roundup: Parenting books

Several months ago, I would have said I didn't have much interest in reading parenting books. Parenting Eden as a baby felt a lot like an extension of pregnancy: fairly organic and natural, and tended to unfold in the way that was best for all of us. It felt natural to keep her close, hold her lots, and feed her on demand, and she rewarded us by being a happy, easygoing baby.

Parenting a toddler is a totally different story.

32 weeks: Better this time around

This pregnancy progresses: 14 weeks, 24 weeks, 28 weeks, 32 weeks

32 weeks last time compared to this time

Almost on the home stretch, I can say definitively that this pregnancy has been so much easier than the last one.

FYI

I'm back to posting Eden's pictures over at her blog: edenleah.blogspot.com. What can I say-- the girl takes up a lot of space!

What next?