Friday, March 20, 2009

Spring Equinox in Alaska

Happy Spring, everyone! At least, officially, right?
I was eagerly awaiting this morning, the first official day of spring. I hope everyone else woke to a beautiful spring day, Lower 48 style. Alaska style meant a "balmy" 3 below zero this morning, and either a light dusting of snow, or a layer of frost on the cars and roofs in the neighborhood.

I received some beautiful pictures from a friend in California the other day... wildflowers in bloom on the mountains, and even news of her officially breaking ground on her annual garden. She also sent me a picture of some beautiful jonquils, and I teased her about making me sad.
Jonquils are one of my favorite flowers... where I grew up, it was the first official sign of spring, followed by the larger yellow heads of daffodils. Those two flowers meant an end to winter, and soon, things would begin blooming.
On the other hand, it is nice, experiencing the first dawning of spring without my usual hay fever symptoms. This will be the first spring in my life that I don't need sudafed or benadryl to keep me breathing. *grin*

This past week has been a busy one for the Moose Nugget Family. We returned from the midwife's office with news that we should definitely be prepared to have to head to Fairbanks at any time now. Seems that there is some progress in the direction of labor and delivery after all. (Hooray! Oh, glorious day!) Hopefully just a few more short weeks. Or less. Less would be nice. We've been told that IF we make it to our next prenatal appointment, we should be prepared to stay in town, as the midwife wouldn't feel too comfortable with our returning home at that point.

In other quick baby news... we had to fire the doula. Um, yeah...
Well, she "forgot" that we had an appointment this week. This is the second of three appointments she has forgotten. And she offered no real apology, just "Oops. I forgot." Aside from the fact that I was pretty irritated (having driven up a day early for the sole purpose of meeting with her, AND skipping Beans' nap, AND meaning dinner and bedtime would be late too)... this was kind of a "third strike, you're out" deal. The first appointment she missed, we chalked up to an accident. The month it took her to return my calls and tell me she accidentally deleted my birth plan (that I only wrote to humor her, since MY idea of a birth plan is: Have baby, recover, go home), that really hit a raw nerve, but since she's also a dog musher and was "out of town" we chalked it up to a miscommunication about how long she would be out of town. But forgetting a third time? Just unprofessional. So... we terminated that contract. Back to "Plan B". Have a baby, recover, go home.

For family and concerned friends: Everything will be OKAY. The midwife plans on being there through the whole birth. J will take Beans to a nearby hotel and keep her entertained, and they will visit the hospital after the New Little Nugget arrives. The "plan" is still to attempt a drug-free birth, but the new "Plan B" is to throw "Plan A" out the window if we have to.
And besides... birth plans are a little silly, in my humble opinion. God and babies are not in the habit of following directions. I know. I have a toddler. And once or twice, I might have tried to order God around, too. It really doesn't work out so well, for the record. Kids and God pretty much do whatever the heck they feel like doing. (grin)

SO.... ANYWAY...
Our busy week continued. I will shamelessly admit that in an effort to jump start labor, I allowed J to drive me down every bumpy road in Delta Junction, under the guise of "house hunting". Yep. It's official. We like it here enough to stay.
That said, after days and hours of bumpy roads, peeing in the woods (bumpy roads and bladders with babies sitting on them don't mix well, for the record), and a handful of contractions but no spontaneous labor later... we didn't really find anything we liked this time around. Lots of fun, er... "project houses", but as far as move-in ready or meeting our criteria, not this time. We gave up the search for now, and decided to just wait out the housing market a bit.
But it was a good way to kill some time this week!


On one of our bumpy road travels, we saw an amazing sight...
Yesterday, the sun was shining bright in a slightly hazy, overcast sky. A rainbow formed a full circle around the sun, like a halo. It was beautiful, and made me (once again) wish I had remembered to stash the camera in the car.
Can any of the locals tell me: Is that a "sun dog"??? We weren't sure, exactly.

***

In other news... well, there's not much other news. I have officially given up the van this weekend, since driving is getting a little more difficult with this belly of mine. Not to mention, J should really have a way to get back home from work, when I DO have to make the "Honey, it's time" phone call. Beans and I are "stuck" in the house for the weekend, though if the weather is nice enough (as in, above 20 degrees or so), we'll likely venture out for some playtime in the snow, or a little walk around the neighborhood.

Other than that, I am wrestling with strong nesting urges. The intense desire to clean out kitchen cabinets, closets, and various other places in the house that probably don't make a difference in the universe, but just CAN'T be allowed to stay cluttered or messy. I mean, seriously, who can bring a baby into the world when the pots and pans are not perfectly aligned in the cabinets and the spice cabinet is not in alphabetical order? Really.

In the coming weeks, we are waiting for the obvious (duh!), as well as a couple packages at the post office, including some fun books on cold weather gardening, as the gardening bug is really starting to weasel into my daydreams these days.

I hope y'all are having beautiful spring days, and enjoying the dawning of a new season.
Until Next Time,

Happy Moose Trails!

7 comments:

Susan Stevenson said...

I am sorry about your doula. Very unprofessional indeed, and I do believe I know who you are talking about, so that makes it even harder for me to understand. I'd have fired her too. Seems perhaps priorities aren't straight? Anyway...

The 'rainbow' around the sun could have been a sun dog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog). I usually see a rainbow on both sides with a white circle around it. The native Alaskans say that if you see a sun dog, snow will come within 3 days. So be on the lookout. :)

I hope the baby comes soon. I hated the final few weeks before birth. I just wanted it OVER so I could meet my baby!

Were you here last year for Green-Up? If not, you're in for a real treat. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, I can't believe its 'that time' already! I wish you the best for your delivery! Hope everything goes as planned. That stinks about your doula and I agree, you did the right thing, very unprofessional. Good luck, and hope you get some warmer weather soon! I'm excited for the arrival of your new little bean! Take care and safe driving on your way to the midwife's office.

Tammy Kauffman said...

Hope everything is going well for you. Good luck on your delivery. Can't wait to find out what if your having a boy or girl. Take care and enjoy the spring and summer. I know I would.

Susan Stevenson said...

Any news on the baby yet?! I'm getting impatient - and excited! :)

Tammy Kauffman said...

Checking in to see if there is any news on the baby. Can't wait to find out. Good luck.

LynnMN said...

I keep checking to see if that new bundle has arrived yet!!! I'm so anxious for news...LOL! Good luck to you, hope all is well and everyone is healthy!

Unknown said...

Hi Nicole.

Alta and I enjoyed meeting you Joshua and Maddie at the Museum last week...hope this comment finds you on your way back to Delta with your new addition in tow. Please do let Leslie and me know when you all are back up in Fairbanks so we can get together for a play date. Shawn.