Click here for Part I and here for Part II...
Those first few precious moments of baby gazing were so incredible. Holding her tiny little (purple!) feet. Watching her big blue eyes just stare at me...my heart melted.
My baby sister and Adam and had been at the hospital almost the whole time (poor thing--I think I traumatized her from wanting to have kids!). They came in and saw Blueberry right away. And of course there were phone calls to make to anxious parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles.
And trying to feed Blueberry that first time! Well, she licked a lot. That was about as good as it got. It was so cute though. The pediatrician was actually the one who helped me figure out what I was doing. It seemed so easy sounding reading about it but actually doing it was not quite as simple!
Other Reflections:
I was prepared. I did everything I could to make sure I was ready for the whole birth/labor process. It's hard not knowing exactly what you're getting into. But I'm very grateful for all the hours I spent reading and preparing with Chris ahead of time.
The breathing really worked. Focusing through what I was feeling was what helped the most. Recognizing the tenseness of my body and trying to relax gave me something to do that I could control in a situation where I felt so much was out of my control.
Chris was incredible. He was my support. I don't think I would have made it through alive without him there.
On the actual experience--I do wish things had been a lot better than they were. I left the hospital with a very bad taste in my mouth. Our next child very well may be born at home just because I don't want to risk having that kind of experience again. I will definitely be finding a different practice if we decide to go the hospital route as I do not want to risk ever having that man again.
Once again, I feel a lack of faith in the medical system. A process that my body was designed to do was treated as a problem. Every natural instinct that I had was ignored. Most of the things that I wanted to do that I knew would have helped the situation, I was kept from doing. It's the bizarrest thing. Why do we have a system that treats the most natural experience in the world as a medical problem to be fixed? Do problems happen? Sure. And the medical system can be there. But I felt like more problems were being caused in this case than were being helped.
I did find strength in myself that I never imagined I had. I know what I can handle, and I know that I can do this again in the future. And I also know that I will be a lot more assertive in the future when it comes to things like this. I'm tired of being pushed around by doctors.
Side Note on Three "Coincidences":
1. We had a great nurse in our patient room. The first words out of her mouth were "So, how did you get dengue fever?" Now, that may not seem so extraordinary except for the minor detail that she was literally the first person all day who not only knew what dengue fever is but knew how to pronounce it correctly! Turned out that she just happened to be a former missionary in the same mission as my parents who knew a lot of the same people I know as she and her husband had been to Bangkok frequently, and who was on her second to last shift at the hospital as she and her husband were going back out as missionaries!
She was a blessing as I was able to talk to her relatively freely about my experience with the doctor. Turns out he's pretty much a jerk to everybody. She had even had to report him before for abuse of staff and abuse of patients. Knowing that my impressions of him were not just because of how I was feeling has been helpful. I tend to be someone who second-guesses my responses to people, even though I'm told that I'm normally pretty accurate with how I'm reading someone, I still have doubts. Knowing that I wasn't crazy but he really was not a good doctor to work with has helped.
2. There was a girl that was in the two classes Chris and I attended before Blueberry was born (the birth class and the baby care class). We had talked in the second class as we recognized each other and were due right around the same time. Well, the second night at the hospital, Chris was walking down the hall, when who should he run into but this girl! She had her baby just a few hours after Blueberry was born. We've run into each other several times since then and are now friends on Facebook. It's been kind of fun having a random birth-friend.
3. Although I did not get my week of relaxation that I so desperately wanted before Blueberry arrived, the timing was impeccable in another sense. As I mentioned in Part I, my husband's grandparents (who live several states away) were in town that particular weekend. They were scheduled to leave town Tuesday morning, and had actually been discussing leaving a day earlier! If Blueberry had waited even one more day, they would not have been around for the birth. Meaning, they probably wouldn't have seen her for at least four months if not even longer. And it meant a lot to us, and I know it meant a lot to them, that they were able to be here right away.
I don't believe in coincidence. God has to perfect of a plan for that.
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Blueberry's Birth Story Part II
Continuation of...Blueberry's birth Story Part I
They took us to our delivery room and then the poking and the prodding began. First was the IV--even though I had tried on multiple occasions to request only a hep-lock in case of emergency, it was hospital policy that everybody be hooked up to an IV. Then the antibiotics drip. But the worst was the monitor. Now, I know they have a walking monitor. But the hospital and doctors don't like it as much because it doesn't give as perfect readings as the stupid waist/external monitor does. But that external monitor increased my back labor tenfold. I am just grateful that they didn't try to force me to have a catheter instead of being able to walk to the bathroom because the only relief I could get from the monitor was when I could take it off to use the restroom (which I therefore did, a lot).
This is where I get really frustrated. The IV, ok, I understand why they want that attached. But I did not have to be hooked up to their monitor like I was. And the antibiotics, I didn't want. And they were so poorly put in that it literally took two weeks before the vein in the back of my hand went back to normal because it had been so severely hurt from the antibiotic needle.
In the world of hindsight, there are a number of things that I should have just refused to allow. I don't think I really realized (or had the brain power to realize) that I could have just refused some of the stuff that went on. I had that right. Live and learn, I guess.
Any ways, they finally got us "settled" and left us alone for 5 minutes. They also finally gave me a birth ball which I used tons for the next 8 hours.
Well, this is where it gets fun (and more hazy for me). Basically, my dilation progress stopped. My theory is that the back labor probably had something to do with it (I recently discovered with doing a smidgen of research that a baby facing the wrong way can by itself cause a longer labor or a break in progress. Would have been nice if the doctor had bothered to find that out for himself). I also know that how uncomfortable and stressed I felt definitely had something to do with it. Because of the monitor they had me on, I couldn't walk. I could sit on the birth ball, which helped, but getting up and walking was only permitted for so long as it took me to go to the bathroom.
Also, heat was not allowed. Hot packs, hot shower. Nothing. I respond really well to heat. When I'm stressed or my muscles are tense, what I instinctively gravitate to is heat. A hot bath. A hot compress. Even a hot drink. Instead--cold ice chips (we did sneak in some food and Chris had water which I drank as much as I wanted whenever the nurses weren't in the room), cold compress if I wanted that (as if!), and that was it.
To be honest, I felt trapped. I was stuck in positions that I didn't want to be in, wearing clothes that did nothing but get in the way, denied the things that would have helped me, and the people who were supposedly there to help us did nothing but cause more pain and more frustration.
It was around 4:30 or so that my doctor came in and we discussed breaking my water to see if that would help me progress. He was not on call that night, and it was actually a different doctor than the on-call doctor who came in to break my water. I actually liked that doctor quite a bit--he managed to make me laugh which was saying something. I think it was about 5:30ish that they broke my water.
Good grief. I never knew I had that much liquid inside of me. It's no wonder I looked like a basketball!
Well, it didn't really help that much. Maybe a little bit, but things were still going slowly.
I think it was about 7pm that everything got even more tough.
The on-call doctor is a man that I never saw clearly. I had taken my glasses off for most of this, and so I never saw his face distinctly. I pray that I never do because I don't actually want to know the face of the man that I despise so much.
What happened was this, I was still not getting anywhere. The nurse came in to tell us that if I didn't dilate faster (like I had much control over that!), they were going to put me on Pitocin.
Here's the thing. I was doing all of this with no epidural. No pain meds. I didn't spend the last nine months of my life eating as carefully as I could and avoiding all drugs to suddenly load my baby up with as many drugs as her little body could handle before she's even born.
I did NOT want to be induced though without anything to take the edge off. I honestly didn't think I could go any longer with that kind of increased intensity. Naturally, sure I would have been OK with the gradual increase of contractions. But to have them forced like that. No. Not my cup of tea. Besides, I was concerned about the probability of have a C-section if I did go on Pitocin.
Now, I did know that an epidural would not help the back labor. That's the dirty little secret they don't bother telling you when the wonders of the epidural are being touted. It's for contractions only. Back labor--not going to be touched. But my thought was that if I wasn't dealing with the contractions as much, then maybe I could handle the back labor a bit better.
Well, we told the nurse not yet. We kept going trying different positions, going to the bathroom frequently, etc.
The nurse came in several times to inform us that I was going to be put on Pitocin. Which we continued to fight against. Finally, I had found a position (temporarily) in the bed that was helping a little bit. It was quiet. I was focused. Chris was being the amazing man that he was the entire time. And in bursts the on-call doctor.
Now, from my perspective, all I can see is a blurry shape of a very tall man with a very loud, very deep voice, his arms crossed, and expressing very loudly (Chris says he wasn't yelling, but it was close enough in my books) that if I didn't go on the Pitocin, I was going to have a C-section in an hour.
We asked why a C-section. The only answer I was given was the labor was taking to long and with my water broken, infection was going to set in (please keep in mind that at this point, it had barely been a few hours since my water was broken). The baby was fine. If they had quit checking my progress every five minutes (slight exaggeration there, I suppose, but not by much!), that would definitely limit the likelihood of infection. The other hinted at answer was that because the monitor kept shifting around so they weren't getting clear, constant readings (which don't even get me started on the shifting monitor. The whole time I was in labor they were coming in to adjust it because it just didn't fit my belly! I was ALL belly at that point, and the monitor wasn't designed to fit around my particular shape). As far as we can tell, that was the real reason. He just didn't like not having his constant readings. That or he didn't want to deal with me anymore. Blueberry was not in any distress. I was just taking to much of their time.
I told him I didn't want a C-section. Chris and I had talked earlier (with the warnings the nurse had given us), and agreed to request the epidural if we finally got to the point of having to go on the Pitocin. So I told him that fine, I would go on the Pitocin, but I wanted the epidural.
And he told me no! As he put it, I came in not wanting an epidural and I needed to deal with not having one now. Bah! So, there you have it. I wasn't going to get one. It was certainly wasn't because I was too far dilated. His reasoning was that an epidural can slow up labor and the whole reason they wanted to put me on Pitocin was because they were trying to speed things up.
I finally told him that I wanted to talk to my husband before I made my decision. At this point, he became even more of a bully telling us that we'd had an hour to discuss before this and he wanted an answer now or he was going to make me have a C-section. After all, and I quote, "I'm looking out for the well-being of the baby!" Like that wasn't something we were factoring into all of this! Jerk! He made me so mad. I kept telling him that I was going to have some privacy and I was going to talk to my husband first.
Fortunately, it was right around that time that he got called into another room for the delivery. The nurse came back in and by this time, I was crying. She didn't have much in the way of comfort; although, apparently that doctor had a reputation of being a bully to everybody. Needless to say, the additional stress was not helping the situation at all or aiding my ability to deal with the back pain or focus through contractions.
Finally, Chris pulled the monitor off, helped me get up, and we spent every minute that the doctor was out of the room walking. Regardless of their stupid machines and monitoring. The ironic thing was that the nurse came back in and praised us for being up and walking! That's what I had been wanting to do since 12:30 in the afternoon, and they wouldn't let me!
Unfortunately, even though we walked for about an hour, it didn't do enough. I was still not progressing fast enough. It had helped, but I still wasn't far enough. So finally, I believe around 9pm, they hooked me up to yet another machine and the Pitocin started.
I swear, I could feel every drop entering my body. It did the trick. Definitely increased the contractions and definitely sped up the dilation. But I thought I was going to die. Again, though, the worst of it all was not the contractions. Even with the Pitocin, they weren't what was hurting so much. What was really killing me was the back labor. And the increased contractions, of course, only increased that pain.
Off and on that afternoon/evening, we had been on the phone with Chris' aunt who has done this six times now. She was giving us good advice and encouragement. One of the pieces was really funny though. Basically it was to talk to Blueberry. Tell her how much we wanted to see her, and how she needed to come out. Well, Chris did a good job with that. He told me to talk to her, and I told him that there was no way I was doing any talking to Blueberry, I was praying my heart out! He could talk to her!
Well, long story short, by around 10:30 I was ready to push. Oh my. That was fun. Actually, while it hurt, I much preferred it to the contractions. But what didn't help was the fact that the back pain just kept going, and once I was really ready to start pushing, they insisted on me being on my back which was just pure torture. What was even worse was when they stuck me in the stupid stirrups and made me push from that angle. I was not a silent sufferer. I will never make that claim. I definitely made myself heard. And I'm glad of it.
By the way, birth plans--useless. They don't read them. They don't listen to them. As a patient, I felt like I had no rights. I was not allowed to be in charge of my own body. Maybe some places it's better, but this particular hospital was useless.
Fortunately, after all the labor, pushing was actually pretty fast. At 11:12 pm, out popped my Blueberry. She promptly held up her head and looked around--which impressed everybody.
After that, it was all stitching me up (yes, they did an episiotomy--another thing I had requested not to have as I would have preferred the tear), holding the baby, running their tests. Oh the relief of it all being done. The back labor stopped immediately. Such relief. The doctor, charming man that he was, came in only for the delivery, stuck around long enough to stitch me up, and left. I honestly don't remember him saying anything to us afterwords. Maybe he did, but my impression was that he was just doing his job and was in a hurry to be out of there and he could care less that he was actually dealing with humans.
But the moment when they placed that wet little bundle on my chest and I looked into her beautiful eyes, was perfect. Was she worth it? Absolutely. Without a doubt.
Continued in Part III...
They took us to our delivery room and then the poking and the prodding began. First was the IV--even though I had tried on multiple occasions to request only a hep-lock in case of emergency, it was hospital policy that everybody be hooked up to an IV. Then the antibiotics drip. But the worst was the monitor. Now, I know they have a walking monitor. But the hospital and doctors don't like it as much because it doesn't give as perfect readings as the stupid waist/external monitor does. But that external monitor increased my back labor tenfold. I am just grateful that they didn't try to force me to have a catheter instead of being able to walk to the bathroom because the only relief I could get from the monitor was when I could take it off to use the restroom (which I therefore did, a lot).
This is where I get really frustrated. The IV, ok, I understand why they want that attached. But I did not have to be hooked up to their monitor like I was. And the antibiotics, I didn't want. And they were so poorly put in that it literally took two weeks before the vein in the back of my hand went back to normal because it had been so severely hurt from the antibiotic needle.
In the world of hindsight, there are a number of things that I should have just refused to allow. I don't think I really realized (or had the brain power to realize) that I could have just refused some of the stuff that went on. I had that right. Live and learn, I guess.
Any ways, they finally got us "settled" and left us alone for 5 minutes. They also finally gave me a birth ball which I used tons for the next 8 hours.
Well, this is where it gets fun (and more hazy for me). Basically, my dilation progress stopped. My theory is that the back labor probably had something to do with it (I recently discovered with doing a smidgen of research that a baby facing the wrong way can by itself cause a longer labor or a break in progress. Would have been nice if the doctor had bothered to find that out for himself). I also know that how uncomfortable and stressed I felt definitely had something to do with it. Because of the monitor they had me on, I couldn't walk. I could sit on the birth ball, which helped, but getting up and walking was only permitted for so long as it took me to go to the bathroom.
Also, heat was not allowed. Hot packs, hot shower. Nothing. I respond really well to heat. When I'm stressed or my muscles are tense, what I instinctively gravitate to is heat. A hot bath. A hot compress. Even a hot drink. Instead--cold ice chips (we did sneak in some food and Chris had water which I drank as much as I wanted whenever the nurses weren't in the room), cold compress if I wanted that (as if!), and that was it.
To be honest, I felt trapped. I was stuck in positions that I didn't want to be in, wearing clothes that did nothing but get in the way, denied the things that would have helped me, and the people who were supposedly there to help us did nothing but cause more pain and more frustration.
It was around 4:30 or so that my doctor came in and we discussed breaking my water to see if that would help me progress. He was not on call that night, and it was actually a different doctor than the on-call doctor who came in to break my water. I actually liked that doctor quite a bit--he managed to make me laugh which was saying something. I think it was about 5:30ish that they broke my water.
Good grief. I never knew I had that much liquid inside of me. It's no wonder I looked like a basketball!
Well, it didn't really help that much. Maybe a little bit, but things were still going slowly.
I think it was about 7pm that everything got even more tough.
The on-call doctor is a man that I never saw clearly. I had taken my glasses off for most of this, and so I never saw his face distinctly. I pray that I never do because I don't actually want to know the face of the man that I despise so much.
What happened was this, I was still not getting anywhere. The nurse came in to tell us that if I didn't dilate faster (like I had much control over that!), they were going to put me on Pitocin.
Here's the thing. I was doing all of this with no epidural. No pain meds. I didn't spend the last nine months of my life eating as carefully as I could and avoiding all drugs to suddenly load my baby up with as many drugs as her little body could handle before she's even born.
I did NOT want to be induced though without anything to take the edge off. I honestly didn't think I could go any longer with that kind of increased intensity. Naturally, sure I would have been OK with the gradual increase of contractions. But to have them forced like that. No. Not my cup of tea. Besides, I was concerned about the probability of have a C-section if I did go on Pitocin.
Now, I did know that an epidural would not help the back labor. That's the dirty little secret they don't bother telling you when the wonders of the epidural are being touted. It's for contractions only. Back labor--not going to be touched. But my thought was that if I wasn't dealing with the contractions as much, then maybe I could handle the back labor a bit better.
Well, we told the nurse not yet. We kept going trying different positions, going to the bathroom frequently, etc.
The nurse came in several times to inform us that I was going to be put on Pitocin. Which we continued to fight against. Finally, I had found a position (temporarily) in the bed that was helping a little bit. It was quiet. I was focused. Chris was being the amazing man that he was the entire time. And in bursts the on-call doctor.
Now, from my perspective, all I can see is a blurry shape of a very tall man with a very loud, very deep voice, his arms crossed, and expressing very loudly (Chris says he wasn't yelling, but it was close enough in my books) that if I didn't go on the Pitocin, I was going to have a C-section in an hour.
We asked why a C-section. The only answer I was given was the labor was taking to long and with my water broken, infection was going to set in (please keep in mind that at this point, it had barely been a few hours since my water was broken). The baby was fine. If they had quit checking my progress every five minutes (slight exaggeration there, I suppose, but not by much!), that would definitely limit the likelihood of infection. The other hinted at answer was that because the monitor kept shifting around so they weren't getting clear, constant readings (which don't even get me started on the shifting monitor. The whole time I was in labor they were coming in to adjust it because it just didn't fit my belly! I was ALL belly at that point, and the monitor wasn't designed to fit around my particular shape). As far as we can tell, that was the real reason. He just didn't like not having his constant readings. That or he didn't want to deal with me anymore. Blueberry was not in any distress. I was just taking to much of their time.
I told him I didn't want a C-section. Chris and I had talked earlier (with the warnings the nurse had given us), and agreed to request the epidural if we finally got to the point of having to go on the Pitocin. So I told him that fine, I would go on the Pitocin, but I wanted the epidural.
And he told me no! As he put it, I came in not wanting an epidural and I needed to deal with not having one now. Bah! So, there you have it. I wasn't going to get one. It was certainly wasn't because I was too far dilated. His reasoning was that an epidural can slow up labor and the whole reason they wanted to put me on Pitocin was because they were trying to speed things up.
I finally told him that I wanted to talk to my husband before I made my decision. At this point, he became even more of a bully telling us that we'd had an hour to discuss before this and he wanted an answer now or he was going to make me have a C-section. After all, and I quote, "I'm looking out for the well-being of the baby!" Like that wasn't something we were factoring into all of this! Jerk! He made me so mad. I kept telling him that I was going to have some privacy and I was going to talk to my husband first.
Fortunately, it was right around that time that he got called into another room for the delivery. The nurse came back in and by this time, I was crying. She didn't have much in the way of comfort; although, apparently that doctor had a reputation of being a bully to everybody. Needless to say, the additional stress was not helping the situation at all or aiding my ability to deal with the back pain or focus through contractions.
Finally, Chris pulled the monitor off, helped me get up, and we spent every minute that the doctor was out of the room walking. Regardless of their stupid machines and monitoring. The ironic thing was that the nurse came back in and praised us for being up and walking! That's what I had been wanting to do since 12:30 in the afternoon, and they wouldn't let me!
Unfortunately, even though we walked for about an hour, it didn't do enough. I was still not progressing fast enough. It had helped, but I still wasn't far enough. So finally, I believe around 9pm, they hooked me up to yet another machine and the Pitocin started.
I swear, I could feel every drop entering my body. It did the trick. Definitely increased the contractions and definitely sped up the dilation. But I thought I was going to die. Again, though, the worst of it all was not the contractions. Even with the Pitocin, they weren't what was hurting so much. What was really killing me was the back labor. And the increased contractions, of course, only increased that pain.
Off and on that afternoon/evening, we had been on the phone with Chris' aunt who has done this six times now. She was giving us good advice and encouragement. One of the pieces was really funny though. Basically it was to talk to Blueberry. Tell her how much we wanted to see her, and how she needed to come out. Well, Chris did a good job with that. He told me to talk to her, and I told him that there was no way I was doing any talking to Blueberry, I was praying my heart out! He could talk to her!
Well, long story short, by around 10:30 I was ready to push. Oh my. That was fun. Actually, while it hurt, I much preferred it to the contractions. But what didn't help was the fact that the back pain just kept going, and once I was really ready to start pushing, they insisted on me being on my back which was just pure torture. What was even worse was when they stuck me in the stupid stirrups and made me push from that angle. I was not a silent sufferer. I will never make that claim. I definitely made myself heard. And I'm glad of it.
By the way, birth plans--useless. They don't read them. They don't listen to them. As a patient, I felt like I had no rights. I was not allowed to be in charge of my own body. Maybe some places it's better, but this particular hospital was useless.
Fortunately, after all the labor, pushing was actually pretty fast. At 11:12 pm, out popped my Blueberry. She promptly held up her head and looked around--which impressed everybody.
After that, it was all stitching me up (yes, they did an episiotomy--another thing I had requested not to have as I would have preferred the tear), holding the baby, running their tests. Oh the relief of it all being done. The back labor stopped immediately. Such relief. The doctor, charming man that he was, came in only for the delivery, stuck around long enough to stitch me up, and left. I honestly don't remember him saying anything to us afterwords. Maybe he did, but my impression was that he was just doing his job and was in a hurry to be out of there and he could care less that he was actually dealing with humans.
But the moment when they placed that wet little bundle on my chest and I looked into her beautiful eyes, was perfect. Was she worth it? Absolutely. Without a doubt.
Continued in Part III...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Blueberry's Birth Story Part I
OK, so writing this has been rattling around in my head for the last three months. For the purpose of record as well as for reflection and catharsis, I give you Blueberry's birth story.
This story really starts on Friday, August 6. On that day, I packed up my bag at work, bringing home the last few things i didn't want to leave in my office during my maternity leave and I blithely skipped--ok, ok--waddled to my car with the knowledge that my baby was due any day, and I didn't have to worry about work again for 12 weeks.
Kind of. I had actually been able to do some work from home for the previous few weeks, and I left knowing there were a few things that I needed to get written for work the following week. But that was fine. I had decided to leave work nearly two weeks before Blueberry was technically due, as that should give me a bit of time to finish those loose ends as well as relax and get those final projects around the house done that I still wanted to attempt before Blueberry was to show up on the scene.
That weekend was rough. I was so tired and moody. I told Chris that I thought I was just decompressing from all the stress I'd been under at work for the last, well, year. I slept a lot. Sunday morning I couldn't even get to of bed to go to church. I tried, but I wound up sleeping instead followed by a two hour nap in the afternoon.
Sunday evening, we went out to eat with Chris' grandparents who just happened to be in town that weekend. I remember sitting at dinner with them and his grandmother hopefully (they live rather far away) asking me how I was feeling. I told them, honestly enough, that while I'd been having regular Braxton Hicks contractions (which I'd been having for weeks), when I saw the doctor four days earlier, he said I wasn't dilated at all, and I really didn't expect to see Blueberry in the too near future.
And truthfully, I kind of wanted a few days at home to relax before she came. I had been telling her for weeks--come anytime after the 12th!
Sunday night I went to bed with my 10 pillows (my gracious husband had moved himself to sleeping on the futon weeks ago as me and my pillows had slowly taken over the entire bed). I slept for about 2.5 hours.
Then I woke up. It was around 1am. I felt like I was cramping like I was about to start my period. I also started having to go to the bathroom. A lot. Now, I know being pregnant is all about having to go to the bathroom lots, but this was ridiculous. I mean, we're talking every 5 minutes. Which when you're lugging a bowling ball around with you every time you get in and out of bed, was not impressive!
Maybe it was the fuzzy brain or maybe it was just that I really wasn't sure what a contraction was going to feel like--it's kind of hard to get a good description--it took me about an hour before it suddenly hit me that, oh hey, I think I'm having contractions.
Obviously they weren't that intense at this point; however, they were just uncomfortable enough to make it impossible for me to fall back to sleep. Eventually I got up, deciding to stay up for a few hours to see where this was going to go. After all, I know it's not that unusual for people to have contractions off and on for quite awhile (read days or even weeks) before they actually start going into labor.
Well, several hours later I had taken care of some emails (I remember sending an email to Hillery answering a question about something or other and putting in there the reason I was up at the ungodly hour of 2 or 3am...needless to say, I had her on tenterhooks for several hours that day as I failed to call her and update her until later that afternoon), read some blogs, played a few games, and it was becoming apparent that (a) these weren't going away and (b) they were actually getting distinctly closer together.
Finally, it was around 5:30am. I hadn't woken up Chris yet because if I wasn't really in full labor, he would need to go to work in the morning. I decided to give it a little bit longer and see how things were going. Finally, around 6:30am, since he needed to wake up any ways, I went in and sat on the futon. I gently shook him awake and when he looked up at me, I told him what was going on. My ever silly husband's first words out of his mouth were, "I guess we won't be watching Doctor Who with Joy and Adam [my sister and her fiance] tonight!"
After punching him, we talked about what to do. He got up, had a shower, had some breakfast, as we started to time contractions. In the meantime, I piddled around the house doing various things (tried laying down to nap--not going to happen!). Set up the pack'n'play, finished putting the final few things in my hospital bag, took a shower myself, put the dishes away in the dishwasher, even answered a Skype call from work! Movement. That was all I could think--I need to move. I wanted to move.
Chris did a few jobs as well (put the diaper sprayer on the toilet for one!) and mid-morning made some phone calls: my parents, brother, and sister, his parents, his grandparents (they were scheduled to leave town the next day--thought they might want to have some time to rethink that plan!). Nothing definite but just an update on the goings-on of the morning.
As time went on and the contractions slowly increased in intensity. The movement began to be inter spaced with sitting on my exercise ball as that really helped the contractions. Basically, get up and do something, rolling the ball with me, sit down and breathe.
Finally, around 11am, we decided we should go to the hospital. Movement was increasingly becoming more painful. And laying down was not much better. The problem I was beginning to deal with more intensely every passing hour was the back labor. The contractions I could breathe through just fine, but I had severe pain across my lower back that wouldn't stop, contraction or no contraction (Blueberry had the back of her head to my back, which seems to be the primary cause of back labor like that). That was definitely the worst part of everything. No way to get comfortable. No breaks ever. It was just a constant, painful, pressure across my lower back. It started almost as soon as the contractions started and lasted the entire labor.
Any ways, I sat on the exercise ball, breathing through contractions, as Chris went and finished loading up the car. Finally, armed with a pillow that did little to make me more comfortable, but was great for squeezing, we set off. That was the longest car ride of my life! So uncomfortable. I'm grateful we live only 20 minutes away.
When we arrived at the hospital, Chris dropped me off at the door and I waited in the vestibule for him to park (I didn't want to have to walk any farther than necessary at that point). They admitted us and the annoying began.
I had pre-registered, naively assuming that the tons of questions I had answered already were all that I needed. Nope. 20 minutes later, they finish firing questions off at me. Then they checked me to see how far I was dilated (second to the back labor, having to lie down so they could check my dilation was one of the absolute most painful part of the whole thing--the back labor actually was part of that pain. Laying flat on my back was like stabbing me with a knife. I seriously wanted to kick the nurse every time they did this).
At this point, I was only at 4. They don't like to admit someone until they're at a 5. Little did I know that as much as I didn't want to have to drive home again if they didn't admit us, it might have been better for me if they hadn't.
Any ways, we began to walk. For about an hour, we walked the halls of the labor and delivery wing, stopping every few feet. What was really frustrating was that there was one thing that gave me some relief to my back, and that was sitting on the exercise ball. But they wouldn't give us a birth ball to use until they admitted us. Torture for an hour.
Finally, they checked again, and I was close enough to a five that they decided to go ahead and admit us.
This story really starts on Friday, August 6. On that day, I packed up my bag at work, bringing home the last few things i didn't want to leave in my office during my maternity leave and I blithely skipped--ok, ok--waddled to my car with the knowledge that my baby was due any day, and I didn't have to worry about work again for 12 weeks.
Kind of. I had actually been able to do some work from home for the previous few weeks, and I left knowing there were a few things that I needed to get written for work the following week. But that was fine. I had decided to leave work nearly two weeks before Blueberry was technically due, as that should give me a bit of time to finish those loose ends as well as relax and get those final projects around the house done that I still wanted to attempt before Blueberry was to show up on the scene.
That weekend was rough. I was so tired and moody. I told Chris that I thought I was just decompressing from all the stress I'd been under at work for the last, well, year. I slept a lot. Sunday morning I couldn't even get to of bed to go to church. I tried, but I wound up sleeping instead followed by a two hour nap in the afternoon.
Sunday evening, we went out to eat with Chris' grandparents who just happened to be in town that weekend. I remember sitting at dinner with them and his grandmother hopefully (they live rather far away) asking me how I was feeling. I told them, honestly enough, that while I'd been having regular Braxton Hicks contractions (which I'd been having for weeks), when I saw the doctor four days earlier, he said I wasn't dilated at all, and I really didn't expect to see Blueberry in the too near future.
And truthfully, I kind of wanted a few days at home to relax before she came. I had been telling her for weeks--come anytime after the 12th!
Sunday night I went to bed with my 10 pillows (my gracious husband had moved himself to sleeping on the futon weeks ago as me and my pillows had slowly taken over the entire bed). I slept for about 2.5 hours.
Then I woke up. It was around 1am. I felt like I was cramping like I was about to start my period. I also started having to go to the bathroom. A lot. Now, I know being pregnant is all about having to go to the bathroom lots, but this was ridiculous. I mean, we're talking every 5 minutes. Which when you're lugging a bowling ball around with you every time you get in and out of bed, was not impressive!
Maybe it was the fuzzy brain or maybe it was just that I really wasn't sure what a contraction was going to feel like--it's kind of hard to get a good description--it took me about an hour before it suddenly hit me that, oh hey, I think I'm having contractions.
Obviously they weren't that intense at this point; however, they were just uncomfortable enough to make it impossible for me to fall back to sleep. Eventually I got up, deciding to stay up for a few hours to see where this was going to go. After all, I know it's not that unusual for people to have contractions off and on for quite awhile (read days or even weeks) before they actually start going into labor.
Well, several hours later I had taken care of some emails (I remember sending an email to Hillery answering a question about something or other and putting in there the reason I was up at the ungodly hour of 2 or 3am...needless to say, I had her on tenterhooks for several hours that day as I failed to call her and update her until later that afternoon), read some blogs, played a few games, and it was becoming apparent that (a) these weren't going away and (b) they were actually getting distinctly closer together.
Finally, it was around 5:30am. I hadn't woken up Chris yet because if I wasn't really in full labor, he would need to go to work in the morning. I decided to give it a little bit longer and see how things were going. Finally, around 6:30am, since he needed to wake up any ways, I went in and sat on the futon. I gently shook him awake and when he looked up at me, I told him what was going on. My ever silly husband's first words out of his mouth were, "I guess we won't be watching Doctor Who with Joy and Adam [my sister and her fiance] tonight!"
After punching him, we talked about what to do. He got up, had a shower, had some breakfast, as we started to time contractions. In the meantime, I piddled around the house doing various things (tried laying down to nap--not going to happen!). Set up the pack'n'play, finished putting the final few things in my hospital bag, took a shower myself, put the dishes away in the dishwasher, even answered a Skype call from work! Movement. That was all I could think--I need to move. I wanted to move.
Chris did a few jobs as well (put the diaper sprayer on the toilet for one!) and mid-morning made some phone calls: my parents, brother, and sister, his parents, his grandparents (they were scheduled to leave town the next day--thought they might want to have some time to rethink that plan!). Nothing definite but just an update on the goings-on of the morning.
As time went on and the contractions slowly increased in intensity. The movement began to be inter spaced with sitting on my exercise ball as that really helped the contractions. Basically, get up and do something, rolling the ball with me, sit down and breathe.
Finally, around 11am, we decided we should go to the hospital. Movement was increasingly becoming more painful. And laying down was not much better. The problem I was beginning to deal with more intensely every passing hour was the back labor. The contractions I could breathe through just fine, but I had severe pain across my lower back that wouldn't stop, contraction or no contraction (Blueberry had the back of her head to my back, which seems to be the primary cause of back labor like that). That was definitely the worst part of everything. No way to get comfortable. No breaks ever. It was just a constant, painful, pressure across my lower back. It started almost as soon as the contractions started and lasted the entire labor.
Any ways, I sat on the exercise ball, breathing through contractions, as Chris went and finished loading up the car. Finally, armed with a pillow that did little to make me more comfortable, but was great for squeezing, we set off. That was the longest car ride of my life! So uncomfortable. I'm grateful we live only 20 minutes away.
When we arrived at the hospital, Chris dropped me off at the door and I waited in the vestibule for him to park (I didn't want to have to walk any farther than necessary at that point). They admitted us and the annoying began.
I had pre-registered, naively assuming that the tons of questions I had answered already were all that I needed. Nope. 20 minutes later, they finish firing questions off at me. Then they checked me to see how far I was dilated (second to the back labor, having to lie down so they could check my dilation was one of the absolute most painful part of the whole thing--the back labor actually was part of that pain. Laying flat on my back was like stabbing me with a knife. I seriously wanted to kick the nurse every time they did this).
At this point, I was only at 4. They don't like to admit someone until they're at a 5. Little did I know that as much as I didn't want to have to drive home again if they didn't admit us, it might have been better for me if they hadn't.
Any ways, we began to walk. For about an hour, we walked the halls of the labor and delivery wing, stopping every few feet. What was really frustrating was that there was one thing that gave me some relief to my back, and that was sitting on the exercise ball. But they wouldn't give us a birth ball to use until they admitted us. Torture for an hour.
Finally, they checked again, and I was close enough to a five that they decided to go ahead and admit us.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Fine Art of Cloth Diapering
Actually, in today's modern world of convenience, I think cloth diapering has become little less of an art form than the years of prefolds and pins. Just my opinion. The creating of cloth diapers definitely has stepped up though in terms of art!
Early on, I decided to go with cloth diapers over disposables. Mainly to save money but also to save on diaper rash, chemical exposure, and besides, fat little cloth-diapered baby bottoms are just so cute! I've had a number of people ask me my opinion thus far on the cloth diapering and also the types of diapers we are using, so I decided to take some time and do a review on some of the types of diapers we've been using, etc.
First of all, I really like using cloth. Is it a pain/gross to wash the diapers out? Yes. Although, having a toilet sprayer has been very helpful in handling that. I also really like my diaper pail and my reusable and water-proof diaper pail bag. Just grab the whole bag and dump it and its contents into the washing machine!
The reason I've liked cloth, though, is that within a few days of life and living in disposable diapers, Blueberry was already developing diaper rash. I had originally planned on doing only disposable for the first few weeks and then switching to cloth once things had settled in a bit. Changed my mind on that pretty fast as I couldn't bear the sight of her bright red little bottom! I do switch off and on of disposable when we go out sometimes. But mostly we are, and have been, straight cloth.
Side note here....the other thing we started doing early on was laying off of the diaper wipes and just using cloth wipes and plain old water to clean her up. Occasional need for soapy water if she is uber-messy. That has really, really, helped with the diaper rash. Again, I do still have diaper wipes and I do use them when out and about, but at home, water and a cloth it is.
For those who envision cloth diapers as they used to be--flat diapers that have to be folded and pinned and those huge, plastic diaper covers--welcome to the 21st century and a new world of cloth diapering.
I do have some of the prefolds (flat diapers). I honestly am not a huge fan. The other diapers I have make me a wee bit lazy on that end, I'll admit, so I'm still not the best at folding them (although I am learning). Pins--kind of hard to find anymore. The Snappi has taken the place of most pins. And, yes, it actually does work! Diaper covers are also much nicer (and often times cuter) and designed in a more leak-proof manner than the old ones (for those who question my knowledge of the "old days" of cloth diapering--my sister is 8 years younger than I am and lived in cloth diapers, so yes, I am quite familiar with how it used to be).
The more modern cloth diaper, however, are ones that look and act like disposable diapers. Except that you rinse out these diapers and then wash them afterward instead of just tossing them. There are various kinds of these diapers. Those that need a cover (also shaped like a disposable diaper), those that need liners stuffed into them, but have built in covers, and those that have everything all sewn (or snapped) together ahead of time--no extra work needed! For those who are curious about these different types, here's a great link with basic information on cloth diapers of today. In particular go to section 2.
OK--diaper types. I wound up buying quite a few different types when stocking up because I could get some good deals that way. Also got a few free ones from one company (Kelly's Closet--sign up for their newsletter as they send fabulous coupons all the time). Broken down by type, here's what I've been using and my thoughts on them:
All-in-One (AIO)
I actually have two of these (they're the most expensive kind, so I really didn't focus on buying them at all--just happened to get a good deal on one and one for free). The Thirsties AIO that I have is an extra small. Which means that it has fitted beautifully but will not last that long. Very nice diaper. If I had tons of money and couple splurge on specific sizes (which cuts down on accidents), I would definitely be willing to buy more of this diaper. The other one I have is called a Sposoeasy. Again, specifically sized. It's an ok diaper. Not as nice as the Thirsties but it works fine.
Pocket - These are my favorite kind in general, even more so than the all-in-one diapers. Mainly because the pocket diapers are easier to clean, not to mention cheaper. But they also allow a little more versatility in determining how thick you want the diaper (aka--do you put in some extra liner for night time or just stick with one liner, etc).
Hands down, my absolute favorite is the bumGenius! one-size pocket diaper. Fabulous diaper. Worth every penny (and they do cost a few pennies). The one-size literally means that they should (if cared for correctly) last until Blueberry is about ready to be potty-trained. They are currently my diaper of choice for nighttime (although they would be for all the time if I had more!). The reason I really like them for nighttime though is that now that Blueberry will actually go almost a whole night without pooping, I can put her into a BumGenius at bedtime and not have to worry about changing it every couple of hours because the micro fleece layer stays waterproof and keeps her comfortable and dry even if her actual diaper is wet. They come in bright, solid colors and come with a doubler (which is a second lining that you can put into the diaper if you want extra soakability [I'm just making my spell check go all sorts of crazy here!]).
My second favorite is the FuzzyBunz, one-size pocket diaper. Very similar to the bumGenius! just not quite as easy to use. Definitely do like that diaper as well though.
Another brand I have is called Happy Heiny's (great name!). I have two of these that are sized diapers (will last her until she's about 16 pounds) and then another one that is a one-size. Similar in price to the bumGenius! they do work quite well. The one-size is definitely not as good as the bumGenius! but I really like the two sized diapers (and besides that, they're darn cute (one is a cow print and the other has a print with ballet shoes and flowers and crowns all over it)! They fit well and seem to be holding up nicely. Downfall, of course, is that they will only last a few months.
I also have a Flip diaper and a SmartPants and a BumEssentials. All three are one-size pocket diapers. With these, let me just say that they are fine. And that is what I'm learning about cloth diapers. You can be very snobby with the brand and style you like, but there are cheaper options and more expensive. The cheaper will not hold up as well and may not work as perfectly, but they do work. I would put all three of these brands into that category.
Fitted
I only actually have one brand of fitted diaper. To start out our cloth diapering with, as most of the one-size diapers aren't intended for a baby smaller than 8 or even 10 pounds, I bought Kissaluv size 0 fitted diapers. These diapers are ones that you have to use a cover with, but they look and snap together like a pocket diaper--just comes with a separate cover is all. For anybody wanting to start out their newborn in cloth diapers (and who doesn't anticipate a baby of 8 pounds or more at birth), I would totally recommend the Kissaluv's. They fit her perfectly as a newborn and I've yet to experience the dreaded blowout (which I have had a couple of minor ones with some of the other cloth diapers just because they were still a wee bit too big on her). For covers, I have a sized Thirsties cover and a couple of Prorap covers. I much prefer the Thirsties cover even though most of what I read ahead of time recommend the Prorap. For the price, the Prorap is the way to go. For fit, go with the Thirsties, small.
OK, enough on the cloth diapering. Those are the primary brands I've played with so far. I have a few other ones as well, but most of them don't fit yet, so I have no real opinion as of yet!
And talking about diapers, I need to go wash mine and the loud exploding sounds coming from the napping baby beside me is probably a hint that I should change hers!
Early on, I decided to go with cloth diapers over disposables. Mainly to save money but also to save on diaper rash, chemical exposure, and besides, fat little cloth-diapered baby bottoms are just so cute! I've had a number of people ask me my opinion thus far on the cloth diapering and also the types of diapers we are using, so I decided to take some time and do a review on some of the types of diapers we've been using, etc.
First of all, I really like using cloth. Is it a pain/gross to wash the diapers out? Yes. Although, having a toilet sprayer has been very helpful in handling that. I also really like my diaper pail and my reusable and water-proof diaper pail bag. Just grab the whole bag and dump it and its contents into the washing machine!
The reason I've liked cloth, though, is that within a few days of life and living in disposable diapers, Blueberry was already developing diaper rash. I had originally planned on doing only disposable for the first few weeks and then switching to cloth once things had settled in a bit. Changed my mind on that pretty fast as I couldn't bear the sight of her bright red little bottom! I do switch off and on of disposable when we go out sometimes. But mostly we are, and have been, straight cloth.
Side note here....the other thing we started doing early on was laying off of the diaper wipes and just using cloth wipes and plain old water to clean her up. Occasional need for soapy water if she is uber-messy. That has really, really, helped with the diaper rash. Again, I do still have diaper wipes and I do use them when out and about, but at home, water and a cloth it is.
For those who envision cloth diapers as they used to be--flat diapers that have to be folded and pinned and those huge, plastic diaper covers--welcome to the 21st century and a new world of cloth diapering.
I do have some of the prefolds (flat diapers). I honestly am not a huge fan. The other diapers I have make me a wee bit lazy on that end, I'll admit, so I'm still not the best at folding them (although I am learning). Pins--kind of hard to find anymore. The Snappi has taken the place of most pins. And, yes, it actually does work! Diaper covers are also much nicer (and often times cuter) and designed in a more leak-proof manner than the old ones (for those who question my knowledge of the "old days" of cloth diapering--my sister is 8 years younger than I am and lived in cloth diapers, so yes, I am quite familiar with how it used to be).
The more modern cloth diaper, however, are ones that look and act like disposable diapers. Except that you rinse out these diapers and then wash them afterward instead of just tossing them. There are various kinds of these diapers. Those that need a cover (also shaped like a disposable diaper), those that need liners stuffed into them, but have built in covers, and those that have everything all sewn (or snapped) together ahead of time--no extra work needed! For those who are curious about these different types, here's a great link with basic information on cloth diapers of today. In particular go to section 2.
OK--diaper types. I wound up buying quite a few different types when stocking up because I could get some good deals that way. Also got a few free ones from one company (Kelly's Closet--sign up for their newsletter as they send fabulous coupons all the time). Broken down by type, here's what I've been using and my thoughts on them:
All-in-One (AIO)
I actually have two of these (they're the most expensive kind, so I really didn't focus on buying them at all--just happened to get a good deal on one and one for free). The Thirsties AIO that I have is an extra small. Which means that it has fitted beautifully but will not last that long. Very nice diaper. If I had tons of money and couple splurge on specific sizes (which cuts down on accidents), I would definitely be willing to buy more of this diaper. The other one I have is called a Sposoeasy. Again, specifically sized. It's an ok diaper. Not as nice as the Thirsties but it works fine.
Pocket - These are my favorite kind in general, even more so than the all-in-one diapers. Mainly because the pocket diapers are easier to clean, not to mention cheaper. But they also allow a little more versatility in determining how thick you want the diaper (aka--do you put in some extra liner for night time or just stick with one liner, etc).
Hands down, my absolute favorite is the bumGenius! one-size pocket diaper. Fabulous diaper. Worth every penny (and they do cost a few pennies). The one-size literally means that they should (if cared for correctly) last until Blueberry is about ready to be potty-trained. They are currently my diaper of choice for nighttime (although they would be for all the time if I had more!). The reason I really like them for nighttime though is that now that Blueberry will actually go almost a whole night without pooping, I can put her into a BumGenius at bedtime and not have to worry about changing it every couple of hours because the micro fleece layer stays waterproof and keeps her comfortable and dry even if her actual diaper is wet. They come in bright, solid colors and come with a doubler (which is a second lining that you can put into the diaper if you want extra soakability [I'm just making my spell check go all sorts of crazy here!]).
My second favorite is the FuzzyBunz, one-size pocket diaper. Very similar to the bumGenius! just not quite as easy to use. Definitely do like that diaper as well though.
Another brand I have is called Happy Heiny's (great name!). I have two of these that are sized diapers (will last her until she's about 16 pounds) and then another one that is a one-size. Similar in price to the bumGenius! they do work quite well. The one-size is definitely not as good as the bumGenius! but I really like the two sized diapers (and besides that, they're darn cute (one is a cow print and the other has a print with ballet shoes and flowers and crowns all over it)! They fit well and seem to be holding up nicely. Downfall, of course, is that they will only last a few months.
I also have a Flip diaper and a SmartPants and a BumEssentials. All three are one-size pocket diapers. With these, let me just say that they are fine. And that is what I'm learning about cloth diapers. You can be very snobby with the brand and style you like, but there are cheaper options and more expensive. The cheaper will not hold up as well and may not work as perfectly, but they do work. I would put all three of these brands into that category.
Fitted
I only actually have one brand of fitted diaper. To start out our cloth diapering with, as most of the one-size diapers aren't intended for a baby smaller than 8 or even 10 pounds, I bought Kissaluv size 0 fitted diapers. These diapers are ones that you have to use a cover with, but they look and snap together like a pocket diaper--just comes with a separate cover is all. For anybody wanting to start out their newborn in cloth diapers (and who doesn't anticipate a baby of 8 pounds or more at birth), I would totally recommend the Kissaluv's. They fit her perfectly as a newborn and I've yet to experience the dreaded blowout (which I have had a couple of minor ones with some of the other cloth diapers just because they were still a wee bit too big on her). For covers, I have a sized Thirsties cover and a couple of Prorap covers. I much prefer the Thirsties cover even though most of what I read ahead of time recommend the Prorap. For the price, the Prorap is the way to go. For fit, go with the Thirsties, small.
OK, enough on the cloth diapering. Those are the primary brands I've played with so far. I have a few other ones as well, but most of them don't fit yet, so I have no real opinion as of yet!
And talking about diapers, I need to go wash mine and the loud exploding sounds coming from the napping baby beside me is probably a hint that I should change hers!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Baby's First Vote
To begin with, and to somewhat assist the pleas I've had recently for some new "baby bump" pics, I give you Blueberry's first vote. Granted, she's a little under age, but if illegal immigrants can vote, surely she's allowed a vote?
38 weeks:
38 weeks:
You'll note my feet will not be showing up in any pictures any time soon. They are large and swollen and rather cranky with me. Someday I will have ankles again. I hope.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Just drop on down, why don't you?
At least that's apparently what Blueberry decided she needed to do Saturday night. I went to bed with her pressing against my ribs and basically woke up with space to breath and a realization that I urgently needed to buy more toilet paper because she apparently decided it was a good night to drop down and settle on my bladder.
I wonder if bumping around in a boat for awhile on a lake joggled her into action?
Either way--change is coming.
I wonder if bumping around in a boat for awhile on a lake joggled her into action?
Either way--change is coming.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
32 weeks & 13 Things No One Told Me Before Getting Pregnant
Disclaimer: I've actually, despite the aches and pains and throwing up and and swelling and occasional meltdowns (*ahem* very occasional.......), enjoyed being pregnant. What I write below is not intended as a list of complaints (indeed--they're not all negative), but simply some observations that I've personally made over the last few months as things that I never really realized before I got pregnant!
1. Your body, size, weight, how you feel, and everything else suddenly becomes a point of public discussion. Everyone (and I'm talking everyone here--including random people in stores!) feels entitled to an opinion, and has no hesitation on expressing said opinion. And, everybody (aka--women) will compare you with how they looked, how their friends looked, how much they weighed, what they felt like, etc. And for some reason, some people feel that they absolutely must tell you the worst horror stories of birthing that they can come up with. So encouraging, let me tell you!
2. Your body--well your stomach--suddenly also becomes an area of public domain in terms of touch. Fortunately, I don't mind. I actually find it kind of funny. But if an individual has issues with people touching them, I could see this driving someone insane!
1. Your body, size, weight, how you feel, and everything else suddenly becomes a point of public discussion. Everyone (and I'm talking everyone here--including random people in stores!) feels entitled to an opinion, and has no hesitation on expressing said opinion. And, everybody (aka--women) will compare you with how they looked, how their friends looked, how much they weighed, what they felt like, etc. And for some reason, some people feel that they absolutely must tell you the worst horror stories of birthing that they can come up with. So encouraging, let me tell you!
2. Your body--well your stomach--suddenly also becomes an area of public domain in terms of touch. Fortunately, I don't mind. I actually find it kind of funny. But if an individual has issues with people touching them, I could see this driving someone insane!
3. 9 months of pregnancy is a lie. Do the math. You're pregnant for 10 months, unless you want to calculate in there all the months with extra weeks and days and it's just one confusing mess. And it's even more confusing explaining to someone who has never been pregnant or who has never tried to do the pregnancy math before why it really is easier to count in weeks and not months because the months don't add up right!
4. Getting out of bed is a very difficult business when you're trying to sit up with someone weighing you down.
4. Getting out of bed is a very difficult business when you're trying to sit up with someone weighing you down.
5. Heartburn is not fun. And I never knew that pregnancy could give you heartburn. I've never had heartburn before in my life--until recently. Not my idea of a good time. However, I did (well, Chris discovered) that about 1/4 tsp of baking soda and 4oz of water will actually clear up heartburn. Yay for non-toxic cures!
6. Your body has a mind of its own. Before we got pregnant, I had read things like "every pregnancy is different" yadda, yadda...I'm realizing exactly how true it is. But more, I've realized that I have relatively little control over most of it. I can be really, really careful about what I'm eating, how many calories, etc, and I put on 2lbs in a week. But then I can have a week or so where I'm not as careful and I lose weight! I've given up worrying about it. I'm not overeating, I eat a healthy diet, my vitamin levels and everything are all showing fine (even without prenatals), and unless my doctor is worried--I'm not going to. Got enough on my mind otherwise.
7. Your OB/GYN might not be your biggest medical support in pregnancy; your chiropractor might be. I honestly don't know how I would have survived the last few months if I had not decided to go see a chiropractor. I wonder sometimes if it has something to do with all my years of dance, and having my posture forcibly changed so dramatically that my body doesn't know how to cope with it.
8. 2am is apparently a great time of day to work out. The weird thing is that it's not Blueberry waking me up in the middle of the night. A lot of people talk about not being able to sleep because the baby is moving around. I've just had insomnia, I guess. Or my body's been doing it's best to prepare me for 2am feedings.
9. Your skin is way more flexible and stretchy than you ever could have imagined--it can even become transparent. Who'd a thunk?!
10. Having arms and legs and feet and elbows and toes poking around inside is just weird--in a cool way. People always talk about feeling baby move, but the oddness of the sensation of having an entity essentially entirely separate from your own bouncing around inside regardless of what you might be doing is almost beyond description.
11. The brain becomes a very weird place when pregnant. There's no other words for it--it's just bizarre! Weird thoughts, especially when I'm trying to sleep, flit through my mind. Dreams are more vivid than I ever thought possible. And of course throw in a few hormones into the mix, and sometimes I seriously think I'm becoming insane!
12. My doctor very nicely reminded me that if/when my belly button pops, it doesn't mean the baby is done. So far no pop yet, but every day I check anxiously to see if it's any closer. I'd really rather my nice little in-e stays an that way rather than becoming an out-e!
13. The Linea Nigra (I think I spelled that correctly) is the oddest looking thing. I keep thinking I should find a handle somewhere at the top or bottom of this enormous line running straight down the middle of my belly that I could just use to zip this little girl right out. Chris thinks that's how God originally intended childbirth, but the Fall messed up that whole plan. Not quite sure what I think about that...
7. Your OB/GYN might not be your biggest medical support in pregnancy; your chiropractor might be. I honestly don't know how I would have survived the last few months if I had not decided to go see a chiropractor. I wonder sometimes if it has something to do with all my years of dance, and having my posture forcibly changed so dramatically that my body doesn't know how to cope with it.
8. 2am is apparently a great time of day to work out. The weird thing is that it's not Blueberry waking me up in the middle of the night. A lot of people talk about not being able to sleep because the baby is moving around. I've just had insomnia, I guess. Or my body's been doing it's best to prepare me for 2am feedings.
9. Your skin is way more flexible and stretchy than you ever could have imagined--it can even become transparent. Who'd a thunk?!
10. Having arms and legs and feet and elbows and toes poking around inside is just weird--in a cool way. People always talk about feeling baby move, but the oddness of the sensation of having an entity essentially entirely separate from your own bouncing around inside regardless of what you might be doing is almost beyond description.
11. The brain becomes a very weird place when pregnant. There's no other words for it--it's just bizarre! Weird thoughts, especially when I'm trying to sleep, flit through my mind. Dreams are more vivid than I ever thought possible. And of course throw in a few hormones into the mix, and sometimes I seriously think I'm becoming insane!
12. My doctor very nicely reminded me that if/when my belly button pops, it doesn't mean the baby is done. So far no pop yet, but every day I check anxiously to see if it's any closer. I'd really rather my nice little in-e stays an that way rather than becoming an out-e!
13. The Linea Nigra (I think I spelled that correctly) is the oddest looking thing. I keep thinking I should find a handle somewhere at the top or bottom of this enormous line running straight down the middle of my belly that I could just use to zip this little girl right out. Chris thinks that's how God originally intended childbirth, but the Fall messed up that whole plan. Not quite sure what I think about that...
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
It's Showering Babies
At least it's beginning to feel that way...in more than one way!
To begin with, the birthing onslaught has begun. Starting from May, I knew it was going to be a lot of baby births for quite awhile--and it has definitely started. First was Chris' aunt with another beautiful girl, then my friend Hillery with her second little girl, and this week was another friend (another girl!). We have a break (for a few weeks), and then in July I know of four more babies (one set of twins!) that are coming. Then in August is my friend Lindsay, then myself and another friend--due the same day as me! September is yet another friend. Then we have a break for about a month, and then two more babies in November and one more in December. Plus a very much hoped for adoption might occur somewhere in all of that. Craziness! At least Blueberry won't be lonely.
The second "rainfall" has been baby showers and presents! So much funness there.
It began innocently enough (well, given the people planning the shower, innocent is a relative term) with a shower that was thrown for Chris and I at my job.
They went with a Blueberry theme...purple and yellow decorations with babies growing out of plants and the worlds most adorable blocks on all the tables spelling out different words..and little cups of blueberries sitting on the table (does that make Blueberry a cannibal?). Plus, somebody (the dangers of the close-knit missionary family) had contacted my mother and gotten her to send a bunch of pictures of me as a little girl. They printed those and put them all over the room.
This one was my favorite set of blocks :)
The scrumptious GF chocolate cheesecake. Decorated with--what else--blueberries!
Most people feasted on a regular cake...
And once again the dangers of the close-knit missionary family was demonstrated as not only had they gotten pictures from my mother but they also got her to write up a short bio for both Chris and I which they proceeded to read.
And then of course---presents!
Some of our expressions when opening the gifts were hysterical...
"Ooooo...what can it be?"
My personal favorite. I believe the thought going through Chris' mind in this picture is something like "Oh no! More pink!"
The clothes shot...
The next week, another shower unexpectedly occurred. But we weren't invited to this one even though we've been the eventual recipients of the gifts...
My parents, currently on itineration in the US, attend a bible study on Tuesday nights. Well, they were surprised by a Grandpa and Grandma baby shower!
Notice the bathrobes and shower cap.
I love my dad's expression in this photo. And the dress is absolutely gorgeous!
And this is a picture of all the gift. This is going to be one well-dressed baby girl. I don't think I'm going to have to buy clothes for at least her first year and we even have a few outfits up to 24 months!
And the showers of blessings haven't stopped there either. At least once or twice a week for several weeks now random gifts or just other baby items have made their way to us. Sometimes they'll just appear at my office at work. Other times people have just asked us out of the blue if we could use such and such. I even had a scavenger hunt that I had to go on yesterday in order to find one gift!
So I suppose a better title for this post would actually be "It's Showering Blessings"...because that's what this rainfall has been. Live baby blessings and physical outpourings of love and support.
To begin with, the birthing onslaught has begun. Starting from May, I knew it was going to be a lot of baby births for quite awhile--and it has definitely started. First was Chris' aunt with another beautiful girl, then my friend Hillery with her second little girl, and this week was another friend (another girl!). We have a break (for a few weeks), and then in July I know of four more babies (one set of twins!) that are coming. Then in August is my friend Lindsay, then myself and another friend--due the same day as me! September is yet another friend. Then we have a break for about a month, and then two more babies in November and one more in December. Plus a very much hoped for adoption might occur somewhere in all of that. Craziness! At least Blueberry won't be lonely.
The second "rainfall" has been baby showers and presents! So much funness there.
It began innocently enough (well, given the people planning the shower, innocent is a relative term) with a shower that was thrown for Chris and I at my job.
They went with a Blueberry theme...purple and yellow decorations with babies growing out of plants and the worlds most adorable blocks on all the tables spelling out different words..and little cups of blueberries sitting on the table (does that make Blueberry a cannibal?). Plus, somebody (the dangers of the close-knit missionary family) had contacted my mother and gotten her to send a bunch of pictures of me as a little girl. They printed those and put them all over the room.
This one was my favorite set of blocks :)
The scrumptious GF chocolate cheesecake. Decorated with--what else--blueberries!
Most people feasted on a regular cake...
And once again the dangers of the close-knit missionary family was demonstrated as not only had they gotten pictures from my mother but they also got her to write up a short bio for both Chris and I which they proceeded to read.
And then of course---presents!
Some of our expressions when opening the gifts were hysterical...
"Ooooo...what can it be?"
My personal favorite. I believe the thought going through Chris' mind in this picture is something like "Oh no! More pink!"
The clothes shot...
The next week, another shower unexpectedly occurred. But we weren't invited to this one even though we've been the eventual recipients of the gifts...
My parents, currently on itineration in the US, attend a bible study on Tuesday nights. Well, they were surprised by a Grandpa and Grandma baby shower!
Notice the bathrobes and shower cap.
I love my dad's expression in this photo. And the dress is absolutely gorgeous!
And this is a picture of all the gift. This is going to be one well-dressed baby girl. I don't think I'm going to have to buy clothes for at least her first year and we even have a few outfits up to 24 months!
And the showers of blessings haven't stopped there either. At least once or twice a week for several weeks now random gifts or just other baby items have made their way to us. Sometimes they'll just appear at my office at work. Other times people have just asked us out of the blue if we could use such and such. I even had a scavenger hunt that I had to go on yesterday in order to find one gift!
So I suppose a better title for this post would actually be "It's Showering Blessings"...because that's what this rainfall has been. Live baby blessings and physical outpourings of love and support.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Still Alive
Just quiet and busy. But I've been working on catching up on all things bloggy...so I should have some blogs coming.
But in the meantime, I leave you with three pictures:
My adorable Blueberry at 30 weeks. She totally has her father's nose.
Look at her smile!
And her mommy at 30 weeks:
But in the meantime, I leave you with three pictures:
My adorable Blueberry at 30 weeks. She totally has her father's nose.
Look at her smile!
And her mommy at 30 weeks:
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Feminist Movement...
has done me no favors the last few months.
The initial feminist movement (I believe it is normally referred to as the "first wave"), I have no problem with. The fight for political equality and voting rights, etc I'm all in favor of. There are even a few of the ideals that were fought during the second wave that I don't have any beef with. However, there are other portions of that wave (and basically the entirety of the third wave) that continue to show up and play havoc in society that really infuriate me.
For example, the emasculation of men. Excuse me for being old-fashioned, but I like a man who will offer to carry my heavy bags, open doors, and watch his language in front of me. I don't mind being considered "the weaker sex" because, in reality, any man with half a brain recognizes and values the work and abilities that the majority of women bring to their worlds. And those men who are lacking that half of the brain, well, I hate to say it but the feminist movement will never be able to eradicate certain attitudes--no matter how hard they scream and rant.
Then there's the denigration of the housewife and stay-at-home moms--because obviously a woman without a career is worthless. And then, of course, there is the whole abortion issues--which I won't even begin to rant about at this particular time (got to keep the blood pressure down!).
And although I have felt strongly about many of these issues and have seen the impact they have had on our society for years, it has been the last five months of being pregnant in which I have really begun to be irritated with the actual effects of these philosophies. When I sit at my computer at work, craving a nap, and go home barely able to do anything in the evenings because of how tired I am, and then be at home on the weekends and crash and find my to-do list growing longer by the day and my "done" list not increasing as quickly as I would prefer because I'm so exhausted from having worked all week, I'm tempted to find every feminist I can and give them all a good shaking, yelling at them the whole time, "You have helped cause this!"
We live in a society in which the cost of living makes it more and more difficult, every day, for women to stay home. And the rapidly rising costs of health care and the threats of government for jail-time for those who don't pay for health care, is complicating matters even more. And the thought of day care and someone else raising my Blueberry while I become a half-parent just so I can move up the corporate ladder and become a "success" simply turns my stomach.
And since when did "choice" get turned into "believe only in what I tell you to believe otherwise you're ignorant, racist, sexist, etc and are playing into the hands of the male population"?
Just my rant for the day.
Apparently I need a nap.
The initial feminist movement (I believe it is normally referred to as the "first wave"), I have no problem with. The fight for political equality and voting rights, etc I'm all in favor of. There are even a few of the ideals that were fought during the second wave that I don't have any beef with. However, there are other portions of that wave (and basically the entirety of the third wave) that continue to show up and play havoc in society that really infuriate me.
For example, the emasculation of men. Excuse me for being old-fashioned, but I like a man who will offer to carry my heavy bags, open doors, and watch his language in front of me. I don't mind being considered "the weaker sex" because, in reality, any man with half a brain recognizes and values the work and abilities that the majority of women bring to their worlds. And those men who are lacking that half of the brain, well, I hate to say it but the feminist movement will never be able to eradicate certain attitudes--no matter how hard they scream and rant.
Then there's the denigration of the housewife and stay-at-home moms--because obviously a woman without a career is worthless. And then, of course, there is the whole abortion issues--which I won't even begin to rant about at this particular time (got to keep the blood pressure down!).
And although I have felt strongly about many of these issues and have seen the impact they have had on our society for years, it has been the last five months of being pregnant in which I have really begun to be irritated with the actual effects of these philosophies. When I sit at my computer at work, craving a nap, and go home barely able to do anything in the evenings because of how tired I am, and then be at home on the weekends and crash and find my to-do list growing longer by the day and my "done" list not increasing as quickly as I would prefer because I'm so exhausted from having worked all week, I'm tempted to find every feminist I can and give them all a good shaking, yelling at them the whole time, "You have helped cause this!"
We live in a society in which the cost of living makes it more and more difficult, every day, for women to stay home. And the rapidly rising costs of health care and the threats of government for jail-time for those who don't pay for health care, is complicating matters even more. And the thought of day care and someone else raising my Blueberry while I become a half-parent just so I can move up the corporate ladder and become a "success" simply turns my stomach.
And since when did "choice" get turned into "believe only in what I tell you to believe otherwise you're ignorant, racist, sexist, etc and are playing into the hands of the male population"?
Just my rant for the day.
Apparently I need a nap.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Random Thought
I find it simultaneously amusing and disturbing that ever since we got pregnant and have been using the name Blueberry, I keep getting random junk email in my inbox advertising things related to growing blueberries.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Chicken Pox
I look like I just had a run in with a really bad-tempered pincushion.
No, I don't actually have the chicken pox. Nor have I suddenly broken out in a really bad case of acne. The current state of my face makes either of those options look like a possibility. But in reality, the mess of red spots all over my face is burst blood vessels. And how did I manage to burst blood vessels all over my face? By being dumb and attempting (for the last time!!!!!!!) taking a vitamin. Apparently my stomach disagreed with this experiment and decided to make me pay rather violently, thus bursting blood vessels all over my face.
I look charming, let me tell you!
In other, less "attack of the porcupine" news, I did have my most recent doctor's appointment on Wednesday and was told that I'm exactly where I should be in all things Blueberry related. Which is always nice to know.
And Blueberry does have a name now (we're pretty sure, any ways). But, sorry, we won't be sharing said name until after she decides to make her grand entrance in life. So for the curious, sorry, you have 18 weeks (give or take a week or so) to find out! In the meantime, she will continue to be called Blueberry.
Below are my most recent preggo pics from Easter when I was exactly 20 weeks (for real this time!).
No, I don't actually have the chicken pox. Nor have I suddenly broken out in a really bad case of acne. The current state of my face makes either of those options look like a possibility. But in reality, the mess of red spots all over my face is burst blood vessels. And how did I manage to burst blood vessels all over my face? By being dumb and attempting (for the last time!!!!!!!) taking a vitamin. Apparently my stomach disagreed with this experiment and decided to make me pay rather violently, thus bursting blood vessels all over my face.
I look charming, let me tell you!
In other, less "attack of the porcupine" news, I did have my most recent doctor's appointment on Wednesday and was told that I'm exactly where I should be in all things Blueberry related. Which is always nice to know.
And Blueberry does have a name now (we're pretty sure, any ways). But, sorry, we won't be sharing said name until after she decides to make her grand entrance in life. So for the curious, sorry, you have 18 weeks (give or take a week or so) to find out! In the meantime, she will continue to be called Blueberry.
Below are my most recent preggo pics from Easter when I was exactly 20 weeks (for real this time!).
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Housework
So here are some pictures of the fun times we've been having the last few weeks with the work on the house. Current status--we're almost done. Just a few more bits and bobs to get finished up, need to finish putting away things in the study (waiting on shelves), and this project will be about done. Phew.
Big Brother hard at work.
Big Brother hard at work.
Painting-Party! We have been blessed several times now with a number of people being willing to come over on a Saturday and help us out with this project. We have awesome friends.
The disaster areas.
Lunch! People like food. It's a good motivator.
We have normal friends (and relatives). And then we have our weirder friends (and relatives). That or the paint fumes was causing people to just be weird (and high).
Our orangy-yellow-peach-sandy room.
The crib and dresser set we scored from Craigslist recently.
Our orangy-yellow-peach-sandy room.
The crib and dresser set we scored from Craigslist recently.
Literary themed nursery--I know, I know. She's going to come out with a book in hand!
\
\Thursday, April 1, 2010
A Strolling We Will Go
If I can make up my mind on a stroller that is! That has been the big question the last few days--what stroller to get?
Originally I had thought of just registering for one of those travel system things with the infant car seat that attaches. But then after considering it some more I don't think that's the best idea. For one, they're really heavy. Two, they take up a lot of room, and we have cars on the smaller side and we're not particularly planning on buying a new car in the near future. I just question how beneficial they will really be in the long run. Besides, a lot of mom posts I've seen lately have been all about how they would not recommend buying one. Only downfall, buying some of the options below actually cost total more than just buying one of the big travel systems.
So, that left me back on square one--what do we get? Obviously I want a stroller, even though I do plan on registering for a carrier and/or wrap as well. But there are places and circumstances where strollers are very much needed. Also, we obviously need a car seat. I like the infant carriers for their carrying versatility, so I would prefer to get something along those lines to begin with.
Basically I've narrowed it down to one of two options. (still waiting for my husband dearest to weigh in on these as well)!
Option 1:
Get an infant carrier/carseat. Register for something that seems to be mostly called a Snap and Go that basically is a frame for hooking an infant carrier into and that acts as a stroller until Blueberry is big enough to fit in a regular, lighter umbrella stroller (the kind that are much more compact and lighter). Here's a pic of the frame I'm talking about. This one is the Jeep Universal Car Seat Stroller.
Originally I had thought of just registering for one of those travel system things with the infant car seat that attaches. But then after considering it some more I don't think that's the best idea. For one, they're really heavy. Two, they take up a lot of room, and we have cars on the smaller side and we're not particularly planning on buying a new car in the near future. I just question how beneficial they will really be in the long run. Besides, a lot of mom posts I've seen lately have been all about how they would not recommend buying one. Only downfall, buying some of the options below actually cost total more than just buying one of the big travel systems.
So, that left me back on square one--what do we get? Obviously I want a stroller, even though I do plan on registering for a carrier and/or wrap as well. But there are places and circumstances where strollers are very much needed. Also, we obviously need a car seat. I like the infant carriers for their carrying versatility, so I would prefer to get something along those lines to begin with.
Basically I've narrowed it down to one of two options. (still waiting for my husband dearest to weigh in on these as well)!
Option 1:
Get an infant carrier/carseat. Register for something that seems to be mostly called a Snap and Go that basically is a frame for hooking an infant carrier into and that acts as a stroller until Blueberry is big enough to fit in a regular, lighter umbrella stroller (the kind that are much more compact and lighter). Here's a pic of the frame I'm talking about. This one is the Jeep Universal Car Seat Stroller.
Option 2:
I did find one of the umbrella strollers that I was looking at that actually can fit an infant carrier on the front of it. So basically it acts like one of the travel systems, has a lot of their amenities, and will even recline (which not all umbrella strollers will), but it's much lighter and smaller to begin with. Downside: it's also a bit more expensive.
And then to top it all off, there are so many brands and kinds of strollers to actually choose from! Again, it's been a lot of reading reviews, evaluating what I want, etc, etc, etc. And the prices! Oh my goodness. They range from $20 to $800! For a stroller!!!!! I'm thinking that stroller better come with a maid who will do the grocery shopping for me if I'm going to pay $800!
Any ways, for those who are interested or who might actually have some information that I could weigh into all of this, these are the options of strollers and car seats to which I've narrowed it down.
Obviously the ones above are included in this mix. Click on the links if you actually want to see what they look like. They range in price from $130 for the Keekarro one to $220 for the Mclaren Quest to $250 for the Peg Perego one I mentioned earlier.
And that's the other question I have. What if we get one and then we hate it?! Strollers aren't cheap! But it also seems that you get what you pay for to a certain extent.
KeeKaroo Karoo Lightweight Stroller
Maclaren Triumph Stroller
Maclaren Quest Stroller
Here's the infant seats I've been looking at. These run in range from $80 to $170. And honestly, on the stroller front, I would have no problem buying a stroller that is used but seems to still be in good condition, as long as it would suit our needs. But obviously the car seat is something I want to buy new. And yet at the same time (not to seem like someone who isn't going to care about my child's safety), are the more expensive ones really that much better than the cheaper ones in an accident?
Graco SungRide
Graco SnugRide 35
Thoughts?
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Registry and Baby Bottles
I went out this afternoon with a dear friend and started working on our baby registry.
First of all, I have to say the following. The amount warnings and things to avoid is kind of ridiculous. I suppose I could just stick Blueberry in a bubble for a few years and be done with it. Of course that kind of takes the point out of, well, life....but hey! I'll be following all the warnings (as long as the bubble is bpa free and latex free and lead free and....).
Any ways, other than that minor detail--it was simultaneously fun and stressful. Fun because registering in general is always fun. Stressful because there were so many things that I felt I couldn't make an educated decision on because, well, I don't know enough!
For example. Let's talk baby bottles. Glass? Plastic? How many do I need? I'm planning on breastfeeding, hopefully exclusively, but with the offer of a breast pump from someone, I'd like to be able to utilize bottles occasionally as well. This evening I spent some time online looking at reviews on bottles. Found ones that people love; and the exact some ones are ones that other people hate and swear they will never use again!
I finally wound up putting 4 different ones down on the registry (we're registering at 2 places: Target and Babies R Us). But I'm not sure I particularly want all those bottles on the registry. It's kind of more of a placeholder for now until I can narrow it down further. Here's what I have currently. Any suggestions or insight are more than welcome!
First of all, I have to say the following. The amount warnings and things to avoid is kind of ridiculous. I suppose I could just stick Blueberry in a bubble for a few years and be done with it. Of course that kind of takes the point out of, well, life....but hey! I'll be following all the warnings (as long as the bubble is bpa free and latex free and lead free and....).
Any ways, other than that minor detail--it was simultaneously fun and stressful. Fun because registering in general is always fun. Stressful because there were so many things that I felt I couldn't make an educated decision on because, well, I don't know enough!
For example. Let's talk baby bottles. Glass? Plastic? How many do I need? I'm planning on breastfeeding, hopefully exclusively, but with the offer of a breast pump from someone, I'd like to be able to utilize bottles occasionally as well. This evening I spent some time online looking at reviews on bottles. Found ones that people love; and the exact some ones are ones that other people hate and swear they will never use again!
I finally wound up putting 4 different ones down on the registry (we're registering at 2 places: Target and Babies R Us). But I'm not sure I particularly want all those bottles on the registry. It's kind of more of a placeholder for now until I can narrow it down further. Here's what I have currently. Any suggestions or insight are more than welcome!
- Everflo glass bottles
- Dr Brown's Natural Flow (plastic)
- BornFree plastic
- Tommee Tippee (very British!) plastic
And while we're at it. What about pacifiers?
And by the way, I'm probably going to putting up several posts along these lines. So come with your thinking caps on!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
And Blueberry is...
a girl! And no, we don't have any names picked out yet.
However, if you've paid attention to the baby ticker at the top of my blog, you will notice that we've traveled back in time two weeks. My due date has been reestimated to be August 17 instead of August 4. As this is closer to the date that I thought it should be, I'm actually okay with this change. Although it was a little sad to have hit the half way point and then have to go back two weeks!
Here's Blueberry's first picture. You can just see her little hand all scrunched up by her face.
I think the ultrasound lady (I have no idea what the technical name for that position is) thought Chris and I were just weird because we had, of course, to have our fun with the whole procedure. He was making comments about how the pictures of her spine made her look like this weird creature from the Matrix, and I was commenting on how one picture of something looked like an alien. At which point the lady made a comment about how Blueberry wasn't going to cooperate and give us a good picture of her face if we kept picking on her. But then Blueberry started waving one of her hands around and with the angle we were at, it looked like she was waving at us. So I think she got over it. And so Chris proceeded to point out that it looked like she had 7 toes on one foot :)
But in all actuality, I think she's beautiful and adorable and I'm very, very happy with my little girl.
It all seems so much more real now. I'm going to be a mommy.
However, if you've paid attention to the baby ticker at the top of my blog, you will notice that we've traveled back in time two weeks. My due date has been reestimated to be August 17 instead of August 4. As this is closer to the date that I thought it should be, I'm actually okay with this change. Although it was a little sad to have hit the half way point and then have to go back two weeks!
Here's Blueberry's first picture. You can just see her little hand all scrunched up by her face.
I think the ultrasound lady (I have no idea what the technical name for that position is) thought Chris and I were just weird because we had, of course, to have our fun with the whole procedure. He was making comments about how the pictures of her spine made her look like this weird creature from the Matrix, and I was commenting on how one picture of something looked like an alien. At which point the lady made a comment about how Blueberry wasn't going to cooperate and give us a good picture of her face if we kept picking on her. But then Blueberry started waving one of her hands around and with the angle we were at, it looked like she was waving at us. So I think she got over it. And so Chris proceeded to point out that it looked like she had 7 toes on one foot :)
But in all actuality, I think she's beautiful and adorable and I'm very, very happy with my little girl.
It all seems so much more real now. I'm going to be a mommy.
My Guess
I honestly have no idea.
These women who talk about just "knowing" what their baby is--I'm not one of them. I truly have no clue, no opinion, and even no real preference!
For the fun of it, I've taken a few of the various gender predictor tests you can find online--they are actually split down the middle on whether we're having a girl or a boy.
However, every single person I've talked to in person seems to think it's a girl.
So, just to be different. I'm going to go with a boy! Just so I can say "I told you so" if I happen to be right :)
These women who talk about just "knowing" what their baby is--I'm not one of them. I truly have no clue, no opinion, and even no real preference!
For the fun of it, I've taken a few of the various gender predictor tests you can find online--they are actually split down the middle on whether we're having a girl or a boy.
However, every single person I've talked to in person seems to think it's a girl.
So, just to be different. I'm going to go with a boy! Just so I can say "I told you so" if I happen to be right :)
Friday, March 12, 2010
7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 12)
1. Springfield weather is once again proving it deserves the crazy reputation it has. Last Sunday was my birthday. And the weather was beautiful. Best weather we've had in months. Upper 60's, sunny, bright, light wind. Gorgeous all around. And today, as I get ready for work, the weather report comes on the radio. Cold, wet, and oh, by the way, we might have snow tonight.
Snow? Seriously?
*************************************
2. We have started the actual crazy process of doing the grand swap in two rooms of our house. Our current guest room is becoming our new study and our old study is becoming Blueberry's room. We decided, because it is a complicated process, to do it stages.
So last weekend we had four very wonderful people come over for a painting party who helped us move out all the furniture in the new study and Spackle/paint it. Nothing super exciting color-wise in that room--just an off-white very similar to what we already had. My brother will be coming soon to put in carpet into that room, and then will start the process of transferring furniture/belongings from the old study to the new study.
Next weekend, we will have second painting party and will tackle the painting (and large furniture moving) of the new nursery. Once that's been painted, my brother will come back in again and put the new carpet into that room and then, short of actually getting furniture for Blueberry, the major renovations should (hopefully!) be done.
Yay progress!
3. I have survived (and by survived I mean caved in to) my first actual pregnancy craving. Last weekend, along with trying to paint rooms, direct furniture moving, etc, I was obsessed with cinnamon rolls. I actually have a recipe that I've been wanting to try for awhile (read about a year) for GF cinnamon rolls, so Friday night, I decided that I would just make some and get it over with.
Being a, sometimes, sensible cook, I checked my ingredients first. And discovered--to my dismay--that I was nearly out of Xantham gum. Being tired, I didn't think to actually measure the amount left, I could just tell I didn't have enough to make the recipe. Well, I woke up the next morning still craving cinnamon rolls. So I finally measured the amount of xantham gum left--perfect for half a recipe!
Craving became shortly satisfied with delicious succulence. Taste slightly like whole-wheat cinnamon rolls because they're made with sorghum flour, but still gooey and delicious in every good way.
For those of you who like GF recipes, go to Gluten Free Homemaker's blog for the recipe.
So last weekend we had four very wonderful people come over for a painting party who helped us move out all the furniture in the new study and Spackle/paint it. Nothing super exciting color-wise in that room--just an off-white very similar to what we already had. My brother will be coming soon to put in carpet into that room, and then will start the process of transferring furniture/belongings from the old study to the new study.
Next weekend, we will have second painting party and will tackle the painting (and large furniture moving) of the new nursery. Once that's been painted, my brother will come back in again and put the new carpet into that room and then, short of actually getting furniture for Blueberry, the major renovations should (hopefully!) be done.
Yay progress!
*************************************
3. I have survived (and by survived I mean caved in to) my first actual pregnancy craving. Last weekend, along with trying to paint rooms, direct furniture moving, etc, I was obsessed with cinnamon rolls. I actually have a recipe that I've been wanting to try for awhile (read about a year) for GF cinnamon rolls, so Friday night, I decided that I would just make some and get it over with.
Being a, sometimes, sensible cook, I checked my ingredients first. And discovered--to my dismay--that I was nearly out of Xantham gum. Being tired, I didn't think to actually measure the amount left, I could just tell I didn't have enough to make the recipe. Well, I woke up the next morning still craving cinnamon rolls. So I finally measured the amount of xantham gum left--perfect for half a recipe!
Craving became shortly satisfied with delicious succulence. Taste slightly like whole-wheat cinnamon rolls because they're made with sorghum flour, but still gooey and delicious in every good way.
For those of you who like GF recipes, go to Gluten Free Homemaker's blog for the recipe.
*************************************
4. Interestingly enough (well, ok, I think it's interesting, you might just think I'm a weird obsessed, pregnant woman), Blueberry seems to be a big bread fan. I'm not normally a big bread eater. Normally, I can bake one loaf of bread, slice it, freeze the slices, and it'll last me a month or more. I can do the same thing with muffins and unless my husband gets his hands on them, they last for ages. But the last few months, I've really been into bread a lot. And it's not just carbs in general but actual breads. I guess we'll find out for sure in the long-run, but that's just my observation so far.
*************************************
5. The stretch marks have begun. And worse than the stretch marks, itchy skin has settled in. I hate itchy skin with a passion. So after doing some reading, the most popular recommendation I could find for both was cocoa butter. So I picked some up the other day, and thus far it's working really well, at least in terms of making my skin stop itching. We'll see the long-term results on the stretch-marks (not holding out much hope there).
Cocoa butter is a very weird substance. First of all, it's edible (listed that way on the jar!) because at least this particular jar that I bought is literally 100% cocoa butter. No, I have not tried some. But I did find that amusing considering it's sold in the beauty section!
Second, it's very, very hard. The way to use it is to either dig some out and melt it in the microwave or immerse the whole tub in warm water for several minutes or rub it between your palms until it softens enough to spread elsewhere. Personally, I've used the microwave method with the most success thus far.
Third, it leaves you smelling like, well, chocolate!
Cocoa butter is a very weird substance. First of all, it's edible (listed that way on the jar!) because at least this particular jar that I bought is literally 100% cocoa butter. No, I have not tried some. But I did find that amusing considering it's sold in the beauty section!
Second, it's very, very hard. The way to use it is to either dig some out and melt it in the microwave or immerse the whole tub in warm water for several minutes or rub it between your palms until it softens enough to spread elsewhere. Personally, I've used the microwave method with the most success thus far.
Third, it leaves you smelling like, well, chocolate!
*************************************
6. Betting on Baby Blueberry: Next week, Wednesday, 1:15ish is our first ultrasound. Assuming Blueberry cooperates, we will find out whether s/he is a she or a he. Place your bets now and no coming back to me later and saying, "Oh I thought it was a ____ (insert male/female gender of your choice here). I'm pretty good guesser on these things, you know."
*************************************
7. Just for grins and giggles
My husband:
My general attitude towards work lately:
My husband:
My general attitude towards work lately:
Saturday, February 27, 2010
In Praise of Snoogles
Last night, I slept on my Snoogle (the overgrown boppy I made mention of in yesterday's 7 Quick Takes). That's a happy pillow!
Finally something that supports my legs, my back, my stomach, and my neck (although I think I will have to add a small pillow to the neck place otherwise I'm going to get a crick in my neck from the angle the stuffing is at).
And it doesn't fall off the bed three or four times a night or require me to wake up quite thoroughly if I need to turn over (I'm a very restless sleeper--these people who never move in the night boggle my mind) in order to rearrange everything.
And I don't have to either push it out of the way or try to clamber over it so I can get out of the bed in one of my ever-frequent bathroom stops in the night (a feat that has rapidly becoming much less graceful and more difficult--I swear it's like climbing Mt Everest some nights). Instead it has this nice little cut on one side that I just leave facing the side of the bed and I can just lift up one of the arms and slip out easily!
And Chris is liking it too because by itself it takes up less room than my mound of pillows took up (I have--bless him--a very patient husband. He has put up with my pillows slowly taking over the bed because he knows I've just been trying to get comfortable. But I know that I've been slowly usurping more and more of his sleeping space).
The only bad observation I would say about it thus far is that I'm not quite sure if someone who is much taller than I am would find it quite as comfortable. It's very flexible and can be shoved into various angles and what-not, and obviously it had to have been designed with taller people in mind as I am (sadly) not considered normal (height only, thank you very much!--JJ, keep the comments to yourself), but it's such a perfect fit for my height, I do have to wonder...
Any ways, that's my Saturday morning rhapsody on Snoogles!
Finally something that supports my legs, my back, my stomach, and my neck (although I think I will have to add a small pillow to the neck place otherwise I'm going to get a crick in my neck from the angle the stuffing is at).
And it doesn't fall off the bed three or four times a night or require me to wake up quite thoroughly if I need to turn over (I'm a very restless sleeper--these people who never move in the night boggle my mind) in order to rearrange everything.
And I don't have to either push it out of the way or try to clamber over it so I can get out of the bed in one of my ever-frequent bathroom stops in the night (a feat that has rapidly becoming much less graceful and more difficult--I swear it's like climbing Mt Everest some nights). Instead it has this nice little cut on one side that I just leave facing the side of the bed and I can just lift up one of the arms and slip out easily!
And Chris is liking it too because by itself it takes up less room than my mound of pillows took up (I have--bless him--a very patient husband. He has put up with my pillows slowly taking over the bed because he knows I've just been trying to get comfortable. But I know that I've been slowly usurping more and more of his sleeping space).
The only bad observation I would say about it thus far is that I'm not quite sure if someone who is much taller than I am would find it quite as comfortable. It's very flexible and can be shoved into various angles and what-not, and obviously it had to have been designed with taller people in mind as I am (sadly) not considered normal (height only, thank you very much!--JJ, keep the comments to yourself), but it's such a perfect fit for my height, I do have to wonder...
Any ways, that's my Saturday morning rhapsody on Snoogles!
[Liz--you've jumped up to top three in my list of people I'm currently very, very grateful to!]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Well, I hesitate to claim a crying victory too soon; however, I do think we have solved (albeit not in the most perfect way) the crying issu... -
I probably will pay for it tonight, but I just had the best Thai meal I have ever had in the USA. And, truthfully, the quality of the food r...
-
So I break my long blogging silence to make an exciting announcement! I have found (ok, ok, Hillery has found) gluten free crackers that tas...
