Five Days Old

In my few spare moments, I am posting a few photos of my beautiful first born taken on this, his fifth day of life! I don't have the time or energy to write about all his charming features, but I promise I will soon. For now, I know everyone just wants to see pictures anyway!

Brand New Person

Sampson James Vennard
9 lbs 8 oz
21 inches
11:08 am
8/25/2007

UPDATE!!!!!

Exciting news! The midwife pulled some strings and our baby will be born tomorrow! The doctor was able to fit us in and we will arrive at the hospital at 3:00PM for a C-section! Jimmy and I will be parents in less than 24 hours...

Due Date?

Thursday, August 23, 2007... supposed arrival of newest Vennard! To our surprise, not only is the baby not arriving today, but it has flipped over into the breech position in the last few days! At the appointment just last week, it was in the "optimal birthing position" with its head down and back to my left side. Today, its head is between my ribs and its back is to the right! This changes everything. Instead of the holistic birthing approach we hoped for, we have decided to schedule a cesarean section. Our alternative would have been to attempt to reposition the baby by having two doctors push on my stomach from opposite sides. We decided that a definite plan for surgery is a better alternative to a risky and non-guaranteed procedure. We have not yet scheduled the exact time, but it will be sometime next week if I don't go into labor sooner. While we are caught quite off-guard by this switch, we thank God for the midwife who recognized the positioning and the technology to confirm this. The good news is that the baby behaved perfectly during it's Non-Stress Test this afternoon. Its heart rate was good, it moved a lot, and it responded well to some contractions I had. The kid looks great, even upside-down. So don't worry family and friends! Don't panic Grandma! While it was shocking at first, I trust that this baby knows what its doing in there. It must have a reason for completely flipping over at 40 weeks! And only about 3% of babies are situated in the breech position, so our kid is already a unique little individual. In anycase, please keep the little one in your thoughts and prayers until we actually have him/her in our arms. In the meantime... I'll be the large pregnant lady sewing like a madwoman...

Belly Update

Adoring blog fans,

I'm sorry for my lack of entries as of late, but I really thought the baby would be here by now and I was hoping not to write anymore pregnancy blogs! But alas, it seems the littlest Vee is not ready to come out yet, so we took the opportunity to take some more belly photos. This is one heck of a belly if you ask me! It's very hard because the baby sticks its butt out above my belly button. Apparently my uterus is especially long right now (41.5cm) which could mean this baby is "tall." If so, it must have inherited this trait from its father. Hopefully it does not inherit its father's girth as well since Jimmy was almost 11lbs at birth! These pictures were taken at Lum's Pond, 39 1/2 weeks pregnant.






As for me, I am hanging in there! It is uncomfortable to sit because it shoves up into my ribs, and uncomfortable to stand because it pulls on my back. I've gained about 35-40lbs all in one region so a little discomfort might be expected. I've been spending my time sewing little baby outfits and making little felt shoes. I made one for baby Jack, one for baby Molly, and one for our very own. Jimmy is impressed that he married such a crafty lady.

Keeping Busy

Each morning Jimmy goes to work and leaves me sleeping. I enjoy this! I sleep in as long as I can, but lately, I've been having trouble sleeping for long periods of time. I think I'm just getting generally uncomfortable. While he's working all day, I've been keeping myself busy nesting and such. Yesterday, I spent the day making jam with Mom Vee. We used these beautiful organic berries and made two large batches! Most of it will be given away as gifts, but I did have a nice big pb and j for lunch today. Jimmy knew it was jam day, but I think he was surprised to come home to find 18 jars of jam! Smuckers has nothing on me.



One night a week, I teach ESL (English as a Second Language) to four adults from South Korea. They are very kind to me and I really enjoy teaching them. It gives me a chance to ask them questions about Korea and it makes them practice their English. Last night, however, as I was leaving, I had a slight mishap in their garage. In Korean homes, everyone leave their shoes outside the door. You must always take them off before entering a home. I knew this, but it was dark in the garage when I stepped out the door, and down the two steps, and then I tripped on all the shoes! I thought I caught myself but I think the weight of my belly just pulled me forward and down... into the concrete! I landed on my right knee and my left hand. It really hurt! I went down hard! I am very lucky that I did not hurt myself worse than I did and I have learned that I must be more careful with this extra weight being thrown around. And I have a nice bright red bruise to remind me of this. It still stings!


Today, I decided I would get out my sewing machine and take care of all the little projects that have been accumulating over the past year. The machine and its case was a wedding gift from my Aunt Judy (a talented seamstress) and I regret that I have not really used it properly until now! It's a fantastic machine! It has settings for button holes and jeans, and it's very easy to change tension and stitches. Today, I altered the duvet cover for our comforter and made a little reversible tote bag for myself! What fun!

New Friend

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch and I thought I saw something moving in our little yard. I looked out onto the porch and it was a little canine friend looking in at me! He was so cute and friendly looking so I went out to play with him. He had no collar or tags and I had never seen him before. I brought him some water and we played on the porch for a little while. Then I got up to go inside and he was eager to follow me. So we went inside and he checked the place out. He sniffed around and settled on the tile by the front door. I could tell he was an inside dog because he was very clean and well groomed. And look at that little face!

And then Jimmy came home and he was, needless to day, rather surprised to see me standing in our yard with a little dog. He said I needed to find the owner. We went inside and the little guy followed, even though Jimmy was very worried about my inviting a random dog into our house. But it was fine and we enjoyed having the little guest if only for a little while. I decided to take him for a walk (the dog, not Jimmy) to find his owners. We walked toward the building next door to ours and he recognized the hallway. He looked back and me a ran up the steps. He stopped on a doorstep and looked up at me. I guessed this was his house so I knocked. A woman opened the door and my little friend ran inside. She said she was vacuuming and Zuzu ran out the open door. She was glad to have him back, and I was sad to see him go!

Jimmy could see that I really need a little friend. Spending my days at home by myself all day is starting to get to me. I know I will have a little friend here soon, with two legs that is, but a canine is definitely in the plans someday.