It's a slice in reality with light shining through.

That is my interpretation of Cilton's ophthalmic migraine. Yesterday was the second time it happened, so we scheduled appointments with the ophthalmologist, neurologist, optometrist, and dentist (for good measure).

And poor Owie: Cici called me at 4pm today saying he had a 101 degree fever. Oh no! So I got to him, and he seemed normal and in a playful mood, just warmer than usual. At home I verified his fever, rectally (he was very accommodating), and it was 101.0. He went to bed at 6pm and I checked on him several times, waking him at 9. He still felt warm, but maybe not so much, his fever is now, accurately, 100.4. He easily went back to bed - still in a very playful mood - no fussiness tonight at all. What a sweetie! Nurse Shawn left a nice message at 6:10pm to follow-up in the morning.

Levi Jordan

OK - So there are two parts to this post that appear unrelated, but read on:

Part 1:
I am working on the restoration of the Levi Jordan Plantation in Brazoria, Texas. Levi Jordan was a slave owner who had the largest sugar and cotton producing plantation in Texas in the mid-19th century.

Part 2:
While I was recording little Owen achievements in his diary, there was a Land of Nod advertisement (the diary was free). I actually love the Land of Nod - their stuff is sooo cute. So, the ad shows two growth charts, side by side. Do you remember these kinds of growth charts from when you were a kid? Your name was at the top, and your mom marked your height as you grew. Anyway, in this ad, the name on the left chart was "Levi" and on the right..."Jordan".

I will scan the ad and post it - I found it pretty...unreal!

Well, this is a huge jump since my last post, but I just wrote a good letter to my uncle that summarizes stuff Owen is doing these days. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

Regarding the road trip in July (7-15-10), we stopped in Spanish Fort, Alabama for my first night out of Texas since Owen was born. My uncle gave me his master bedroom with a huge, soft, king bed, a ceiling with mirrors, and a bathroom. Owen was still sleeping with me in the bed at this time. The mirrors were key because I could just open my eyes and look up to check on Owen!

"...I think your bed is my favorite bed to sleep in. I was pretty nervous at the start of our trip - not knowing what to expect, resistant to hurrying, shaky new mom away from home..."

"...Owen is starting to eat solid foods (yay!) and is on the verge of crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees and oscillates back and forth, but still uses his face to accomplish any distance. When we visited 2.5 months ago, he was aching to roll over. And I remember he said "no" for the first time! He now makes sounds like "mum" and "nee" and "moo" these days..."

M.I.A. Pregnant Performance

She performed at the 51st Grammy's on her DUE DATE (02/08/09)!!! She gave birth 3 days later.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00021868.html

She is awesome. I was just dancing around the kitchen and I had to stop because my baby likes to get on my sciatic nerve and numb my right leg.

Ho Hum - Still Waiting...38 Weeks 6 Days

On Monday the doctor told me I was 2cm dilated and completely effaced. He asked if I wanted to have a baby this week, and I said YES! But when he said "hold on, let me call over there" and came back offering to induce me Wednesday morning, I realized it wasn't about mind over matter! So...that would have been today - like, right now. It was a little tempting - he described my cervix as "ripe" and thus the pitocin would likely not lead to a c-section. Also, we would really like him to deliver for us and he is leaving for vacation tomorrow for 10 days (sailing with 6 other dudes on a catamaran in the Virgin Islands).

But a natural birth is important to me and us, so we said no, thus I am blogging instead of pushing! The baby will probably stay in until he gets back anyway...

Doc is funny - we talked about natural ways to induce labor and he mentioned a small Danish study that was interesting...

I am considering going to Ikea today. I think I can go by myself...Ikea+Kat+Cilton+me on Monday made the baby room super cute+beautiful. I have a few things to return and I will buy an office chair for the home office. This folding chair with folded blankets for padding is not cutting it!

Names...

Vaughn
Oskar
Paxton
Logan
Biney (ha ha ode to Dexter)
Winston
Walton
Allister
Avery
Archer
Blaze
Drake
Brogan - this old Irish saint name approaches a Hollywood fantasy of Irish manliness
Owen
Guy
Kai

38 Weeks 2 Days

My mom is in town! We went to the Zilker Botanical Gardens and tried to walk until contractions started. We walked for an hour, but no contractions - only sweat...

The gardens are SO BEAUTIFUL right now. There are lots of flowers in full bloom - roses, poppies (my fave), columbine, banana magnolia...go to the new prehistoric garden RIGHT NOW and smell the banana magnolia - it is so amazing - it smells like banana runts taste.

Good job taking pictures mom!!!

37 weeks 3 days

We had another ultrasound today to measure growth. According to the tech and her computer, he weighs 7 lbs 10 oz. She also thought the smooshed baby face would look like mine...

I am still 1cm dilated and 90% effaced.

Doc released the restrictions from exercise, and because the baby is so BIG, doc prescribed extra exercise so that he will come sooner than later. So took my first walk in weeks and...

Angie came over to make dinner for us (yummy pesto pasta with red potatoes and green beans - she whipped it up in like 5 minutes!) - I was feeling contractions the whole time she was here and for hours after she left. She was pretty excited about the potential of him coming tonight! I started feeling the contractions at the store (around 6pm) and started timing them on Cilton's iphone app at 9:30 pm. Towards 11:30pm, they were averaging 40 seconds long at 4 min intervals. I called my mom and my doctor, but the contractions went away and we fell asleep.

37 Weeks 2 Days

I love Monday night TV night at Kat and Tray's. I always sit in this chair and Kat pampers me and we watch Breaking Bad which is the best show ever. The wife in the show is pregnant and whenever she does something a pregnant woman would do, everyone looks at me.

36 1/2 Weeks

Watch this video of him moving around in my belly!!! There is a large kick at 12 seconds, then some undulation for the rest of the video. Cilton is working on a soundtrack for this little clip, so check back for a repost.

33 Weeks 4 Days

Today we had a portrait session with Mr. Sandy Carson (www.sandycarson.com) who is a super fun photographer. We shot for almost two hours - and then it took me two days to recover! My favorite one is where Cilton is hugging my belly and Sandy's feet are peeking into the side of the photo.

Thank you to my awesome brother for this memorable, thoughtful, and unique gift!!!

P.S. You can see more photos if you click the links at the top right of the page: "pregnancy portraits" and "more pregnancy portraits"

32-ish Weeks

Here's a pic of me and Breaux loungin' with the cool chair. My aunt and I found it in a thrift store in Maryland for $5!!! It took some years to get it from MD to TX, but it was totally worth the wait.

Today was our first prenatal appointment. Dr. Reue (pronounced "Roya") said twice that I was definitely pregnant, then we saw the heartbeat and the little "turtle". We cried.

I got a 'Similac' journal from the first doctor visit and filled in their little prompts:

***I discovered I was pregnant on 9/3/09. Monza encouraged me to take the pregnancy test and Cilton was with me when the result revealed itself. This was Thursday, after lunch at the UT Club, at the Lovell house, in the kitchen. Robin, the nurse, confirmed on Friday, then I drove to Houston to go to Portland with my mom to see my bro.

***The first thing I did after finding out I was pregnant was laugh then doubt the accuracy of the test.

***The first people I told about my pregnancy were Cilton, Monza, and Fumika.