Today I am 38 weeks pregnant and last night was the first night I’ve been in actual pain with regards to contractions. You know that cervical pain I’ve been mentioning? Well I’ve now decided it feels like Tater is poking or clawing at the cervix and that I’ll pop and gush water at any moment as a result, lol.

I know it is kind of a strange way to describe it all and technically Tater isn’t touching my cervix since my bag of water/ membranes are separating her from the actual cervix right now. She isn’t clawing the cervix so to speak but I am pretty sure she is stretching or pushing on it based on what it feels like and I am sure that is how it will feel right before my water breaks.

I am not leaking or bleeding and my membranes are still intact as far as I know but the cervical pain sure got worse than normal last night for a few brief seconds. I would not describe the pain as all encompassing or as debilitating by any means. It was more like a stabbing pain inside me where I think my cervix is. The pain would last a few seconds and then go away, like she was bumping something and it caused a stabbing pain.

Didn’t feel anything contracting or tightening during the stabs of pain (it would come before or after) but I did have some lower abdominal aching and some real back aching that N massaged away while I laid on my side.

It all came on late last night right after the tornado sirens sounded and I went out to secure the bunnies. I was making some spaghetti Alfredo (didn’t have fettuccine noodles) with shrimp and N was almost home from work. I took this video of the coming storm, the lightening was way cool. Make sure your sound isn’t on full blast when you play it though. The sirens are loud!

Anyway, I was having a burst of energy so I took a video, got the animals ready for the storm, was cooking dinner and then I even mopped the kitchen floor because there were ants coming in from somewhere and eating somthing off the floor that you couldn’t see.

I was having a few moments of “nesting” or whatever and then the weird pain and uncomfortableness began. At first I would find relief in sitting down but towards the end sitting or laying just didn’t do the trick. It was not like I was crying or screaming in agony like everyone perceives woman should be. It was annoyingly uncomfortable that is all. Not sure if that is normal or what but that is how I felt.

Oh, and how come nobody talks about the constant constipated feeling of late pregnancy when the baby drops? It is like people are scared to say that it feels like you’ve got a 10 lb shit chillin in there. Some have said it is like sitting on a bowling ball, others say you feel like you are trying to carry a bowing ball between your legs. None of those descriptions seem to fit what I am feeling.

After some internet searching I was able to uncover the fact that feeling like “you have to #2” all the time (when you really don’t) is an early labor sign. Yeah, okay so feeling like you need to crap 24/7 means something is definitely getting ready to come out of there (either baby or poo), got it. Was that so hard to say?

It’s like women are afraid to bluntly discuss the yuck parts of labor and pregnancy because they aren’t lady like or something, LOL. Well I am proud to say I lack that behavioral conditioning and I am all for being real about it.

Oh and anyone else have stabbing pain in the anus/ perennium when they bend over? I know this is related to the 10 lb shit I described above, just putting it out there as pretty annoying in my book.

So yeah, my ass hurts along with my tailbone my pubic bone, my belly skin and occasionally my cervix. I am happy to report no diarrhea or hemorrhoids though, what a silver lining huh?

My hormones are changing too. Just the other day I went from sweating my ass off to freezing ass cold in minutes. I stayed huddled under the covers all day and now I’ve got a cold sore coming in so it seems my body is making the shift from human incubator to no longer incubating spawn. Woot.

We are counting down the hours till we leave for The Farm, can’t wait to get this show on the road and to meet our little girl already!

The post Late pregnancy, early labor symptoms. Blunt and graphic talk ;-) appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

In 6 short weeks I’ll be taking a blog hiatus and enjoying the forest settings at The Farm while I wait for Tater to join us. Can you believe that? 6 weeks! I am feeling pretty good about it all and am still totally ready and excited! If you missed the update on my latest OBGYN appointment from yesterday you can read about it here.

Some of you already know, we went thrift store rummaging for baby clothes as did Maiden53 (who is a doll for thinking of us) and we’ve also received some new clothes from N’s family and from my grandparents for Tater. This means we have about 30 outfits in varying sizes and styles ranging from 0-24 months!

I succeeded in getting them all laundered at the moldy rental while we were cleaning it over the weekend. I am so pleased to have some clean clothing packed away in the birth kit ready for Tater’s arrival, makes me feel all prepared and stuff!

As I am writing this it is 3pm and 82 degrees in the coolest part of our house. I am chugging water and eating a jonagold apple with the fan blasting me while I type this. I am a Phoenix, Arizona baby and am very used to NOT having AC (thanks to Flagstaff, AZ apartment living) so I refuse to use the AC unless it is totally unbearable. I know once the humidity comes I’ll need the AC but for now, while it is a dry heat I’ll make do. It saves money right?

On Saturday we called and were avoided by the slumloards but left more messages, we are still trying to set up a move out inspection time. We also spent several hours over at the old place cleaning and doing laundry. While we were there N got to chatting with the neighbors who were all very curious about our landlord drama.

One of them even asked us for the landlords current phone number. I guess they’ve got a friend who also used to live in that place as renters. The slumloards never returned the owed security deposit to them, it’s been 2 years and they are still trying to get their money back. Also we were told that 2 other old tenants have had to abandon the premises without a move out inspection since the landlords mysteriously become unreachable. N talked to 3 different sets of neighbors about our crappy rental situation, the slumloards seem to be on everyone’s bad side!

We did have a wonderful “date night” Sunday. We were given tickets to a show and we rewarded ourselves to a cheap “linner” out (late lunch/ early dinner= linner, lol) and then went to the show in Owensboro, KY. It was fun to get dressed up and to go out since the majority of our days are spent cleaning, running errands or unpacking right now.

We went to Firefly Southern Grill and had the most amazing food. It was by far the BEST food we’ve had since moving here. We loved the atmosphere and the service and the food was amazing. I had my first taste of fried green tomatoes and collard greens, yummo! I enjoyed steak and N had salmon wellington as our entree items. Everything was fantastic!

The show we saw was also great! We saw the Broadway show, the Spelling Bee and thought it was tons of fun. Tater was super active during the show, I wonder what she thought of the singing and music. Hopefully she’ll be a lover of the arts like we are.

All in all the date was super fun, we had a great weekend and are off an running for another productive/ busy week.

The post 6 weeks until the baby wait begins… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I’ve got a prenatal appointment with the OBGYN next week and I am sure she’ll make a comment about the lack of weight gain this month but N and I aren’t worried. According to all our reading Tater is just starting another growth spurt so I’ll probably pack on several more pounds shortly.

It seems my weight gain is not really a gradual thing, I pack on a good amount one month which puts me over what is deemed normal then the next month I stall out and don’t gain much… It is hit or miss really. Good news is I am still eating like a mad woman and I’ve put on 20 pounds since becoming pregnant, I think gaining another 20-30 pounds in 3 months is not going to be a problem.

This morning I was happy to see it was again a warmer day and we were able to open up all the windows and enjoy the fresh breeze. We are fresh air and sunlight people. We love our windows to be open so winter is sometimes a downer for us, especially when we don’t get enough pretty snow.

The morning email checking was nice with the cool breeze blowing through the house. Andrew one of our cats climbed in to my lap and took a nap as soon as I got up. These days all the pets have been less interested in hanging out with me, probably because they sense Tater is coming. So it was nice that Andrew came to see me today.

N snapped a photo of the love fest on my lap so everyone could see how the belly is looking…

It is kind of funny how Tater responds to the cats purring. She can totally hear them and she will kick when ever they are purring near my belly.

I told N she is either going to be super soothed by the purring when she’s born or she’ll go crazy wanting to play with them when they purr. What do you think?

The post Purring Cats on Pregnant Bellies… 24 week pregnancy thoughts appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I thought it would be cool to try recording some of Tater’s movements so I can show her once she is older. I captured a few short/ good videos of her. You can see them here and here.

Last night we had thunderstorms, which N and I both love very much. We had windows open enjoying the fresh cool breeze and we loved hearing the rain/ thunder. Unfortunately the pets decided the weather was their cue to act completely insane all night.

Once N and I finished watching our recorded episode of American Idol at around 2am we went to bed (by the way tune in to American Idol next week to see my old choir buddy Scott MacIntyre’s performance).

Anyway, The cats stayed up all night bouncing off the walls. There were several times when they jumped on our faces/ pillows as a means to “springboard” up to the headboard where they like to perch. Also, there was all sorts of fighting between them for access to the fresh air coming through the open window in the bedroom. Basically they kept us from really falling fully asleep which means we awoke unrested and grumpy today.

N went to pick up a vacuum that was offered up on freecycle this morning (since ours has melted and the manufacturer wont replace it) but the person giving the vacuum forgot to leave it out for him to pick up. So we still have dirty carpets… I was hopefull vacuuming was going to be possible soon, oh well. One less chore right?

By the way all the cats are laying on or near me right now in bed snoozing as I write this. Hang on I am going to yell and jump on the bed a bit to wake them all up…

Okay, I am back now!

I was gifted Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth(among other things that I’ll share about soon) and am already hooked on reading it. Also my newest Mothering magazine just came in the mail so I am reading like crazy today, I was missing having good stuff to read so now I am excited to read again. Yay!

Our letter goes off to the landlords tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed that they let us out of here early! We are also looking at several other possible rental homes tomorrow. Hopefully we find something!

The post 23 weeks pregnant: baby kicks and stormy warm nights… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Anyway, I’ve been tweeting about the supposed critters living in our attic lately. You see we’ve been hearing all sorts of ruckus and we suspect some birds have found a way in there. While the noise is noticeable we’re not worried about animals being able to get in to the attic.

As long as it is a “crappy home” issue we aren’t worried about dealing with it. As far as we are concerned it is the landlords responsibility to fix holes in the attic to keep the wildlife out and if they don’t care about possible damage we don’t care either. It’s not our house! (We’re still waiting for word back about the pre approval too).

Unfortunately, on Saturday morning when N awoke to make the coffee he found our cats curiously sitting on the kitchen counter staring at the kitchen wall. He thought nothing of it and shooed the cats off the counter since counters and table tops are off limits to them.

While he is waiting for the coffee to brew he hears this scrambling and scraping coming from inside the wall, the cats hear it also and jump back up on the counter to see what the noise is all about. Apparently whatever was scurrying around in the attic of Friday has now found it’s way down in to the kitchen wall and was stuck there.

Luckily N is a handyman type of guy who will dive right in and figure it all out if need be… But before I got up I guess N and the cats sat there listening for the critter for a while before dismissing it and going about their daily business. Once I was awake and alerted to the situation I was very sad for the little thing stuck in the wall.

I don’t know about you but listening to a critter scramble and eventually starve to death over the course of several days is NOT my idea of a good time regardless of whether or not the critter is a pet. When N realized how big of a deal the trapped thing was for me he set out to do some investigations and problem solving.

Here is what he found scoping out the attic:

Here is how the rest of the critter situation played out:

And last but not least, here is the happy ending:

The post Critters are everywhere! What is that in our wall? appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.