We haven't come up with a name for sure yet but have narrowed it down to Siiri and Eleanor. We may put them together and call it good. They don't exactly flow together but they won't be said very often together anyway. This has definitely been the hardest naming job we've had. If we name her Eleanor we would call her Elle, Ella, or Ellie. Or if her name is Siiri we'd probably just call her Siiri! or Siir, or other silly nicknames that I used for my sister Siiri, like Siiri-lodel, Sweeri, Siireal, or Siiriously. I bet the girls will come up with their own:).
The house is a mess right now so hopefully I won't go into labor tonight! I feel pretty ready but not completely yet so I can wait.
I read my journal from around the time that Lili was born the other day and it is sometimes hard to imagine when she wasn't here yet. I'm sure it will be the same way with the little one. It will be like she was always part of our family in no time. I hope we all adjust easily. 5 girls! Wow!
In my reading some of the midwives encourage you not to use the term contractions and rather refer to them as surges or rushes. I like that better. Especially since it sometimes feels like you are driving and going over a little hill and coming down really quickly- you know how you lose you stomach a little when that happens? Well, that is part of the feeling I get when a contraction first starts and that is more like a surge or a rush for sure! I will try to envision the muscles working together to do their job and even though I know that it will be intense I am feeling ready to do it and also feel like it will be a real growing and bonding experience for me and Tom and for our whole family.
Some tips that I've picked up that I think will be useful in labor are humor, kissing (Tom of course), relaxing into a limp, detached state, rotating or dancing the hips on a ball or as you lean on a walking stick or the side of the tub, also hanging a little from the top of a door or something else high to stretch into the rushes. I might give birth in the tub if it is soothing. Alternately they will bring a birth stool and I can lay on the bed on my side if that ends up being most comfortable. I want to try walking early on as much as possible. The McCleans told us about a pressure point inside the ear that helped Amy a bit in her last delivery. I think I remember where it is and they showed Tom too. Between the two of us maybe we can make that work.
I stayed home from church with Lucy today. She has a fever and a cough and a little bit of a runny nose. She said that it hurts behind her ears. I treated her tonight for an ear infection with E3 oil. It is a combination of Mullein, Lobelia, and Garlic. It always works wonders so we'll see how she is tomorrow. I hope on the mend. She also drank some raspberry leaf tea. She is so sweet and I am glad we had some relaxing snuggle time today since she'll have to share me for a little while before long. I'm so glad we do buddy dates so that we have that time for each one of them.
