Preparing for Birth

The birth of this precious baby has been on my mind a lot lately. I have been contemplating hiring a doula for the process but have recently decided against it.

The main reason is because I love the birth experience I had with Abigail. It was a very private and joyful thing between Andrew and me . . . just the two of us. It was lovely. I think I'll keep it that way.

The reason I was considering one is that I currently have this (irrational?) fear that Andrew somehow won't make it to the birth. He works downtown Cincinnati and we are having the baby in downtown Dayton. He is traveling to NY when I'm 36 weeks pregnant and probably again the week after (although that will be a closer destination). More than likely it will be fine.

However, if I don't have a support person/coach I am not allowed to deliver in the birth center that we love so much. Thankfully the midwives that I see would still be with me in the Labor and Delivery ward and so I think I could still do it natural, although it would be tough!

Okay that being said I want to touch on natural birth and dispel some of the myths I have heard lately. Here we go:

1) I do not think poorly about other women who decide to have pain relief during childbirth. If I am passionate and talk to you about it, it just means that I want you to decide for yourself what is best, not have a doctor or other medical staff tell you that you need a particular drug just so the birth is easier and more convenient for them. (A BIG problem today in Labor and Delivery Wards - heard of Pitocin? - sometimes necessary but usually used when the doctor just wants your baby born). I am all for having a safe healthy baby but I think it is pretty obvious that too many interventions can lead to a unnecessary cesarean section rate.

2) I did not choose to have a drug-free birth because I want to be looked upon as heroic or tough. That's quite silly!

3) I did choose to have a drug-free birth because I believe our bodies were created to do it with the least amount of interventions possible. When we are in labor it is the only time we are in the hospital and we're not sick. It is one of the only times that we are in pain but are not injured or sick. I want to be treated like I'm in labor, not like I'm sick or injured.

4) If you have drugs you probably won't be allowed to walk around or eat. It will probably be highly discouraged. (I'm not sure about drinking. My first practice told me "no" - which is why we left). You will be hooked up to a continual fetal monitor, and an IV. I had occasional monitoring with a Doppler and a hep lock IV (meaning it was in my arm but not hooked up most of the time).

5) I chose to have a natural birth because I felt it was better for my baby and would make breastfeeding easier. This doesn't mean that I think those of you who do choose to have drugs are out to harm your baby or you won't be able to breastfeed. That's not the case at all!

6) Yes, I am hoping and praying that #2 will be easier because I'm not sure I can do the same labor again. Abigail was quick moving at first (7 cm when I arrived) but stalled very quickly. It was probably because I got into the huge warm tub and wasn't walking and using gravity. It was a 15 hour labor with 2 1/2 hours of very painful hard pushing but . . . she finally arrived safe and sound.

I was able to breastfeed immediately and walk shortly after birth. I didn't need a catheter (yeah!) and was able to get up with Abigail (she only woke once!) during that first night. It was lovely.

7) I have never experienced such a euphoric high as I did after Abigail was born. I don't think it would have felt the same if I hadn't felt the pain. The absence of pain and the presence of my daughter was the most unbelievable experience for both of us!

I am planning to have a drug-free natural birth again because of the reasons I listed above but I will admit that I hope it is easier than last time!

Today

I don't think I'll write much today. I don't think it will make much sense.

My post time is wrong on the last post. Neither of us were in bed or asleep before 2 a.m. Ok, well I was in bed but not asleep.

But, 6 am rolled around and we're awake. I'm sure we'll both sleep well tonight!

By the way, we talked about it and step #1 in helping Andrew sleep better is no TV in the bedroom.

P.S. Having another baby will probably help him sleep better. :)

Tired

Guess who is going to be tired tomorrow . . . we both are (not Abigail, she's sleeping).

We've got to get these sleep things figured out. Would not be good with a new baby!

This is from the guy who used to sleep through an infant screaming in the next room.

Seriously!

"Moe" Video's

Abigail says more "moe" all the time. Would you all like to see more videos of her? Yes, that's what I thought. :) Ok, here's one! (I have another great one of her watching her daddy mow but it's not downloaded yet).

Sleep!

(I may be a bit biased but isn't this photo adorable?!!!)

It's not secret that my darling has trouble with sleep (Andrew). I have always thought it to be mostly mental, as in he thinks he can't fall asleep but really he's usually asleep before me. However, this week it has been worse than normal.

Last night was the second night in a row where he tossed and turned for some time before getting up. This meant that I was up until about 12:30 am (because trying to sleep next to a tossing and turn 6'4" man is difficult - let me tell you) and he was up until 2 am. These are not fun times when you get up at 5:45 am like he does.

I'm trying to find a proactive approach to the problem. I think the first step we need to try is to have him take a 4 mile walk or jog and see if he can't sleep after that. I feel so sorry for my poor babe and want to help him out if I can. As for me, no problems sleeping here. Occasionally I can't sleep as well but for some reason I can just lay there and relax!

Any other ideas?

P.S. He's highly opposed to drugs!

Return of the Sobbing Mess

So, I have had a nice break of . . . oh, 2 or 3 months where my emotions evened out a bit. I thought, "Great, I guess it was just 1st trimester hormones". But no. They have returned (as has my back pain/side ache which is a weird coincidence).

8 1/2 weeks until my due date. Then I'll have the baby, be a weepy ball of emotion for a month or two after that (if history repeats itself) and then get back to my old cold, unfeeling self (just kidding about the last part - I just consider myself to be "reserved" emotionally).

Soup?

No, I did not make soup for supper. It just seemed too warm! Instead I made Chicken Pot Pie x2. Yes, I doubled the batch (which was very easy, actually) and froze one pie and we ate on the second one! :)

I also made brownies for Bible study tonight. I didn't let Andrew have any (yet!).

We have a busy weekend ahead of us.

On Friday, Abigail and I are going to take a short trip to look at a Dora Kitchen for her. It is being sold for only $15 and they are originally $85 so I hope it is in decent shape. Andrew/Dada doesn't want me to get it because it's not a "need" so I might save it for a Christmas present for Abigail. It just seems that with her love of Dora and play kitchens, this is a deal we shouldn't pass up!

I am going to spend the rest of the day (though it won't take me that long) making Pioneer Woman's Best Baked Beans for Andrew's company picnic on Saturday (and cleaning). I'm looking forward to getting to know his co-workers better and letting Abigail run around outside at the park.

Then Saturday night we're having some friends over to our house to take pictures of their newborn. In case you were wondering, almost all of our friends have newborns so don't be confused! This year alone our small group will add at least six babies (and I may be forgetting someone).

That's it for now. I just enjoyed my left over Chicken Pot Pie so I'd better get back to work.

Yumm! Soup!!

Many of you know, if you know me in real life or just read this blog, that I'm not a huge fan of winter. I'd take one or two snowfalls but then I'm ready for the warm weather again. I like pools, beaches, capri pants, flip flops, watermelon, corn on the cob and all the other joyous things that come with summer! However, if there is one thing I appreciate about winter, besides beautiful snowfalls, snuggling, and Christmas, it is getting to eat and cook soup recipes!

Right now I almost can't wait for it to cool off enough for me to make some of my favorite soup recipes and try new ones. I hope my husband is up for all this soup because I'll probably be making them a lot! (I'm sure he won't mind).

My favorite is probably Corn Chowder. Yumm! (Sorry the recipe is at home. Maybe I'll share it when I make it).

I want to try Pioneer Woman's Cauliflower Soup. (I'm sure I'll be making about any soup recipe she posts).

I found this recipe and want to try it. We love Salmon and Chowder so why not put them together.

And of course, my favorite "sea food" is crab so I've got to find the perfect crab chowder too. I'll start by trying this one.

I'm also thinking of starting now, making lots of soups, and freezing them because I'm going to be a bit busy this winter. I can hardly find the time to really cook (beyond making spaghetti, pizza, and egg sandwiches) with my toddler, so not sure how another baby will play into this so some frozen meals would probably be a good thing.

Also, I have found that soups are great to feed kids. Mine is a pretty good eater most of the time, but especially with soup.

Ok, maybe I should make corn chowder for supper, even though it's 75 degrees outside!

Ok, I also think I'm going to need (ok, want) something like this. Too bad it's so expensive!

Dancin' Dancin' Part 1

We have had a lovely weekend so far. I'm very thankful for another day off today that we can all spend together! Enjoy this little video clip of Abigail dancing. It was taken with my phone so the quality isn't the greatest but our other camera wasn't around when she was dancing and I didn't want to miss it.

Boy, do I have videos for you!!

We finally got all the videos downloaded from our camera and onto this computer. This is one that I took on Friday. Enjoy!

Abigail's shoe obsession!

Night Away!

I didn't write about this for fear that my husband would find it. I surprised him with a night away last night to our favorite Bed and Breakfast (in this area anyway). Abigail spend the night for the first time with her grandparents and did great.

However, I tried feeding her lunch when we got home and she threw the biggest tantrum ever. So, she's in bed, already asleep after 5 minutes. However, with very little lunch, I don't know how long that will last. I'm off to clean up her lunch and save it for later!

19 months old

Happy 19-month birthday, baby girl!

I keep thinking that at some point, we'll have to stop celebrating your month birthday's. I guess that doesn't come until you turn 2! Here is a little update on what you've been doing.

• You have so many new and fun words and phrases.
  
• You are starting to put together more words all the time such as "Dada Dora" (when he let's you watch a Dora video on YouTube.
• You whined in the car this morning and I said, "what's wrong?". You answered me by saying "milk" and proceeded to pick up your sippy cup of coconut milk and take a drink. (I thought it was funny).
  
• You're obsessed (seriously) with watching the Happy California Cows videos. You'd watch them all day if we'd let you. I think we're going to set some TV watching limits at our house because you ask constantly!! :)
• When I drop you off at daycare, you know the first think you'll do is eat breakfast. You're so hungry that you'll go to your highchair and say "bye bye mama" and then you're ready for me to leave.
• You are getting physically stronger too. You can drag a little step stool around and it's becoming quite dangerous (I think we might have to put it away for a while) because you can reach the top of the counters!
• You love to help out but do get frustrated if you can't figure something out quickly.
• I have noticed that lately you've been saying "wait" a lot. That's probably because it is one of the most frequently used words at our house . . . at least along the same lines as "patience".
• You're also starting to really love Dewey. You love to bring him in, put him out, help feed him, tell him "no Dewey" and also now "sit Dewey". He can't quite understand you yet, however. :)
• Your eating habits are finally changing. You've been a big eater all your life and you're starting to get a little more choosy about what you eat. We're learning very quickly to give you the veggies first!
  

You are certainly our little adventure. Each day brings something new, whether it is a challenge or a joy, it doesn't matter. We love you and you bring so much joy, adventure, and love to our lives (along with practicing of patience on our part).

Can't wait to watch what you come up with next!

I've decided it's time . . .

No . . . not to have the baby, although with numbness, aches, pains, tiredness and cramps, etc, I'm getting there. I decided that it's time to cut back.

So, as far as I am able, no extra spending this month. Of course, my husband doesn't know this yet. Oops! I suppose we ought to have a meeting this month. The date is coming (very quickly) where we will only have one income for a while, and while we do have savings, it would be nice for those to be a little boosted before then.

The one exception may be that we might buy a swing set. You see, I came across one that a single, male friend of mine doesn't want or need, so the value will be exceptional. Also, my daughter needs to play outside more, I have decided but she doesn't have much to do at our house.

Now, if only we can figure out how to haul it to our house, we'll be set.

Other Updates

After our wild and crazy weekend, I almost forgot to update the other things we learned at Abigail's doctor's appointment.

• She weighs 25 pounds (50% for weight - completely average).
• She is 34 inches long (97% for height - she's tall - we knew this).
• She has a big head. I don't remember exactly what the measurement was but it was the 99% for head circumfrence. I was a bit distracted during the appointment because I kept wondering when she'd throw up next.

I talked to him about her immunity, that she seems to be sick so often. He asked what she did while I was at work and when I said "daycare part-time" he said that sounds like the problem. Now, I just have to say that I think our daycare is the best there is but still, lots of kids mean lots of germs.

I guess we'll see if Abigail's sickness frequency improves when she's home with me. I understand that kids/people are just going to get sick but she's been down for three weeks now, with three different illnesses. That seems like a lot!

I believe I am now officially a fantasy football widow for the next oh . . . 4 or 5 months. Andrew had his draft yesterday afternoon, during which Abigail was terribly cranky and whiney (no matter what I did) and kept asking for "dada" so we went to his office to see him . . . where he promptly asked me if we could leave. Ha! He actually said it nicer than that - "How long are you planning to stay?" So we left. Abigail and I played outside a lot yesterday afternoon because of the beautiful weather. I just wish I had more energy and stamina!

Names

Round one of name elimination:

You all eliminated (with most negative votes):

Joelle
Tiffany (yes, thanks for that)
Felicity

Andrew eliminated:
Evie
Charlotte
Abrielle

And I eliminated:
Nora
Faith
Elaine

Hmm, I wonder where this will take us!

Today

I just wanted to update that today was much better. Besides being slightly tired, Abigail seems to be better. She still had a slightly elevated temp (99.8) at bedtime but I think that may still be related to her cold.

We spend almost the whole day together as a family and it was absolutely wonderful. It felt so good! Andrew was a huge help to me today as I am reaching the stage of pregnancy where it's hard to always be lifting and carrying a toddler around (and changing diapers on the floor).

We're ready to turn in here in a little bit for some more Battlestar Galatica viewing.

It sure it nice to have time to be together!

What a day . . .

My poor girl just can't seem to get well.

She woke up this morning with another temp (100). We had a doctor's appointment anyway so I took her downstairs to start the day.

I tried to put her in the high chair for breakfast but she resisted (that's when I knew something was up). I tried to intice her with blueberries and toast but she wouldn't eat.

Then the vomiting started! She hasn't kept anything down since then. She did drink a whole cup of coconut milk and kept it down for about an hour but then started acting cranky and I guess that didn't sit well either.

Yuck!

Thankfully she is a sleep right now, which is a blessing. I hope she can shake this thing quickly, poor girl.

I'm off to do laundry before we run out of towels that she can throw-up into. She doesn't get the toilet or trash can idea. Believe me, I tried. She only fought me harder and we got into quite a mess which ended up with me changing all of my clothes, including underwear. It was not pretty!

(P.S. We actually made it to the doctor but that wasn't pretty either. She vomited four times in the car but not once in the doctor's office.)

My thoughts on staying home - Part 1

I have been wanting to write a few posts (for memory's sake) about my thoughts on staying at home. I don't think it's any big surprise that once baby #2 comes along, I plan to be at home with my kids, at least for a while.

It is that phrase "a while" that has me a bit nervous, among other things. I'm a number cruncher and a "budget - er". I love to budget. We are so close to making it work that we're just going to give it a shot. I have no idea how tight I can pinch things when I become a stay-at-home-mom. So, we're just going to see.

I have a few other opportunities that might come up. Some of you might remember that I used to teach voice lessons. There is a possibility that I might be able to do that again to help bring in some income, without a lot of cost.

However, this brings me to the heart of the matter. . . being with my kids.

Life seems so short to me sometimes. I feel called to be the primary influence in my kids lives. I know it won't be easy and sacrifices will be made but I can't ever imagine regretting this decision.

I have gotten so much encouragement as a parent from this blog:

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/

Her words are so soothing to me and so uplifting so I hope you all enjoy it.

I was thinking the other day about how it hasn't gotten any easier to leave my daughter during this year and a half of working. I still miss her when she's not here, I think about her all day - what she's doing. I wonder if she's upset or crying and feel sad that mommy isn't there to wipe away the tears. I want to be there playing with her, feeding her, parenting her.

However, I do want to say how blessed we've been by our daycare situation. I cannot imagine any better scenario because we have loving and wonderful grandparents watching her and a loving and wonderful babysitter. I can tell by Abigail's reactions to them that she is well cared for . . . and that certainly does help. I am certainly not implying here that I'm unhappy with her care, in fact the opposite is true.

This is all for post #1 but there will be more. In the meantime, I am just simply looking forward to being mommy - the teacher, cook, comforter, doctor, playmate, and maid (and many other hats, I'm sure) to my children.

A Full Heart

I enjoy many things. Definitely time with my husband and daughter is at the very top of the list. But, you want to know what else ranks right up there (of course, beneath them) is choral music. I keep telling myself that I'll have time to sing in a GOOD choir again someday. I am just trying to put my family first right now.

In the meantime, listening to glorious sounds like this will have to suffice:

Precious Girls Updates

After a few night wakings, Abigail woke up with a normal temperature today. I'm not sure why she was awake. She either couldn't find a paci (pachee -as she has been calling them) or she was miserable in some way. Her nose wasn't running and her temperature had gone down throughout the night, so I'm not sure what it was.

I hope she continues to improve throughout the day and will be remarkably better by tomorrow. :)

Here is a little picture of my sweetie trying out her baby sister's new bouncy seat! :)

Another photo of her on the way home from Pittsburg with two paci's (pachee's) in her mouth (mou - as she calls it). See her poor sick eyes? :(

In other news (about Abigail), she has had a big language explosion lately. She can repeat many more words after us now (that sound correct) and has started putting two words together. She often says, "bye bye dada" or "bye bye dewey". Sometimes she'll just march into the room with her baby and blanket and just say "bye bye momma" and walk into the other room.

She regularly asks for Vi, Vi C (vitamin C - only my child, I tell ya!) and has recently started telling me to put it in her mou (mouth). She can also say nose, eyes, ears, and mouth when asked what those body parts are.

She is slowly showing signs of being aware of her body. She regularly says "poo poo" when I change her diaper (whether or not that has actually happened) and has recently begun seeking privacy to use the bathroom in her diaper.

I know it would be nice to have her out of diapers sooner rather than later but everything I have read says that it does no good to rush into things and she's still quite young. So, I'm just trying to make her aware of things, offer the potty when I can, and make sure potty training related things feel "fun" to her.

I'm sure no serious potty training will take place until I am settled in at home with both girls for a while. I take a while to adjust to new things anyway, so I'm giving myself plenty of time to do that with this new baby.

Speaking of the new baby, I suppose an update is necessary. . . :)

I'm almost 28 weeks and went in for that appointment this morning. Everything looks great. Blood pressure was good, baby's heartbeat was great (around 150 bpm) and I got my RoGam injection for this pregnancy (I have an RH- blood type and Andrew is RH+). The only thing of any concern was that my iron levels were a little low. The midwife thought that it might help to add an iron supplement just a few times a week, not even needed everyday. So, I ordered some.

We had a nice talk about adding a second child (thankfully the midwife didn't tell me any horror stories like I have been hearing - but was actually encouraging - what a relief!!!). And I had her sign my paperwork for the birth center. My glucose test came back great and so I can officially be called a "low risk" pregnancy and am clear for delivery in the birth center unless something weird pops up.

I am technically supposed to be going every two weeks at this point but we both felt (midwife and myself) that we could stretch this out a little bit because I am so low risk and healthy. So my next appointment is in three weeks (not that much of a stretch) and the appointment after that will be three weeks later. Then I think I will have one or two - two week appointments then I'll go to once a week.

It is amazing how fast this pregnancy is going. I suppose it helps that I'm quite busy with my first little princess! :)