Southern Girl Ramblings

James was off yesterday for Labor Day, and I was able to take all three days off from writing, so we enjoyed the long weekend together. Saturday we went shopping and out to eat with my family. We went to a Japanese steakhouse that my parents have been raving about. It was definitely an experience. We sat at the Hibachi grill, and watched the chef prepare our food. The Hibachi Chicken and Veggies were really good, and James and I definitely plan to return just the two of us.

Sunday was a lazy day at home. We slept in, and then finished cleaning the house and doing the laundry. The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and do whatever we wanted. I was able to start a new book, something I have not took the time to do in a long while. We also watched a lot of TV, another thing we do not do a whole lot of.

Monday we went up to my parent’s house for a Labor Day dinner. My mom took some maternity pictures of us. She is coming over tomorrow to take a few more. We finally found some wooden blocks that we can use in the photos to spell out Sawyer’s name. Speaking of the little monkey, he still shows no signs of coming. I guess he is perfectly content to stay wadded up in the tiny place known as my uterus.

Well, it looks like Sawyer will be coming before his due date. Yesterday’s ultrasound helps to confirm he is measuring one week ahead. His femur is measuring two weeks ahead, meaning he will be a long baby. His weight is estimated at 7.2 lbs. With babies in the last month averaging 1/2 lb per week, my doctor feels very optimistic he will be here well before the 24th. I know that sometimes the fundal height and ultrasounds are not 100% accurate, but because the two are very similar in their estimates, she feels very confident that they are accurate. She checked my cervix, and I am dilated 2 cm and 70% effaced.

My next appointment is September 9, but she mentioned quite a few times that she will not be surprised or hurt if I do not make it for that appointment. She thinks there’s a good chance I will have the birthing doctor “laboring on Labor Day.” I think that’s a neat idea! She also said that they would end up inducing me the week of my due date if he does not come on his own before, because they do not want to let him get so big that a natural delivery is difficult or impossible.

We have hit the home stretch, as we are now in Sawyer’s birth month (given that he does not decide to bake for more than 6 days after his due date)!! I am getting excited, and do not feel as nervous as I did a few months ago. I think the childbirth class we took at the hospital was extremely helpful. We also educated ourselves on the Bradley Method, which I plan to use for a natural labor. I really think I can manage the pain so long as I can stay focused and relaxed.

In other news, my freelance writing gigs are going exceptionally well. I have been able to put back some money for when I cannot work when I have Sawyer, and we are doing great financially. I am making as much at home as I was working for the local telephone company, so I have really kicked it up a notch. I have landed a few wonderful clients for continuous writing, and I have several content mills to fall back on if the works begins to slack off from them. I want to look into getting some residual income coming in through articles and ebooks, but that will not happen until later in the year when I have the time to devote to such tasks.

Since we did not take a vacation this year, James and I have decided to take a few days and go to Gatlinburg the week after Christmas. Sawyer will be 3 months old then, which is worries me a little because we will be among so many people with such a tiny baby. My mom and sister are going as well, because my step-dad and brother will be going to their hunting land for the week. We plan to leave the morning of the 26th and return on the 30th. We have booked our timeshare for a couple of nights, and a hotel for the rest of the time. Since we have confirmed the reservations, I have gotten more excited about going and having a few days to not worry about anything!

Even though my little monkey has not arrived, I decided to go ahead and create a new blog about parenthood. I plan to keep Southern Girl Ramblings to use as a more general tool for my rantings and ramblings, but I wanted it enter the realm of mommy blogging. I may decide to start doing paid blogging on here…I haven’t quite decided yet.

My new site is called Hello Mommyhood, and I am currently looking to exchange links with other blogs that deal with parenting or being a WAHM. I started the blog in June, but then did a nose dive into freelance writing and never really got it off the ground. I am hoping to change that now that Sawyer will be here within the next 3 weeks!