Ever since we added baby #5 to the family, I have been pondering and wondering WHAT I was going to do about this blog since we are no longer a "half dozen".
I am excited to announce that we have moved to a new blog! You can find us here:
http://thepurpleegg.wordpress.com/
I will be keeping this blog up for a while until I know that the other one is up and running, and I have copied all of the posts that exist here to the new blog. However all new posts will be on our new site.
So, be sure to come and check it out and let us know what you think! Hope to "see" you soon!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Damage Control
So it's been a while -- almost 4 weeks to be exact -- since I've posted last. Life is marching along swimmingly in terms of adjusting to life with a new baby. Please note that I use the term "swimmingly" very loosely... and in some instances, quite literally. (I shall explain later.)
I don't know how this could possibly be, but I had completely forgotten what happens to my household when we have a new baby. We immediately go from offense to defense. From proactive to reactive. From damage prevention to damage control.
Indeed, every time I sit down to nurse C, the other kids know it's a free-for-all for, oh, at least a good 10 minutes. The following is just a sampling of things that can be accomplished by small children in 10 minutes or less:
1. an entire FULL roll of toilet paper can be unwound and piled up on the bathroom floor.
2. two kitchen pans can be filled with water from the bathroom faucet, carried out to the kitchen table -- while only losing half of said water -- to be used for baptizing 2 small plastic dogs.
3. four bath towels, 4 flashlights and 57 stuffed animals can be brought out to the backyard to be used for "camping".
4. a 2-year old can completely cover his face, hands and arms with liquid soap under the pretense that it is lotion.
Of course these things make it sound like I have entirely no control over my children. But aha! You have not heard about how I deftly choreographed them all to help with chores today while I nursed! I had sweepers, dusters, laundry-folders and even a mopper.
And THIS is where the "swimmingly" part comes in. When I finally finished nursing C and was able to check on my little worker-bees, I nearly needed a life preserver to wade through the puddles in my kitchen. Apparently, the mop is a little difficult for a 4 year old to squeeze excess water out of. Eh. No matter. Floors are clean.
So during these first few weeks of round-the-clock nursing, I am perfecting the art of damage control. A certain amount of shenanigans goes on while I nurse, and I know full well I will have a mess to clean up later. But except for bleeding and bodily fluids which require my immediate attention, everything else can be dealt with in approximately 10 minutes.
I don't know how this could possibly be, but I had completely forgotten what happens to my household when we have a new baby. We immediately go from offense to defense. From proactive to reactive. From damage prevention to damage control.
Indeed, every time I sit down to nurse C, the other kids know it's a free-for-all for, oh, at least a good 10 minutes. The following is just a sampling of things that can be accomplished by small children in 10 minutes or less:
1. an entire FULL roll of toilet paper can be unwound and piled up on the bathroom floor.
2. two kitchen pans can be filled with water from the bathroom faucet, carried out to the kitchen table -- while only losing half of said water -- to be used for baptizing 2 small plastic dogs.
3. four bath towels, 4 flashlights and 57 stuffed animals can be brought out to the backyard to be used for "camping".
4. a 2-year old can completely cover his face, hands and arms with liquid soap under the pretense that it is lotion.
Of course these things make it sound like I have entirely no control over my children. But aha! You have not heard about how I deftly choreographed them all to help with chores today while I nursed! I had sweepers, dusters, laundry-folders and even a mopper.
And THIS is where the "swimmingly" part comes in. When I finally finished nursing C and was able to check on my little worker-bees, I nearly needed a life preserver to wade through the puddles in my kitchen. Apparently, the mop is a little difficult for a 4 year old to squeeze excess water out of. Eh. No matter. Floors are clean.
So during these first few weeks of round-the-clock nursing, I am perfecting the art of damage control. A certain amount of shenanigans goes on while I nurse, and I know full well I will have a mess to clean up later. But except for bleeding and bodily fluids which require my immediate attention, everything else can be dealt with in approximately 10 minutes.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Caleb's Birth Story -- It's a long post!
In order to fully appreciate C’s birth story, I feel like it’s important that I put it in context: I have never before had a vaginal birth. I had labored with my first two, and after hard labors that were made even more difficult with medical interventions, both ended in c-section. My next two babies were born via "elective" repeat cesarean.
When we learned that I was pregnant with C, I immediately knew that I was going to look into attempting a VBAC again. (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). Having a 5th c-section carried risks that I was not comfortable with, and though I knew it would be a struggle to find someone willing to attend me, I knew I had to try.
We tried various doctors, we tried various birthing centers, only to be repeatedly turned down. The risks were “too high” they said. We did a lot of research during those months: reading studies, analyzing data, making sure we were still making the safest choice possible for the baby and me. (One of the resources I found most helpful in analyzing the data can be found here.)
And then we found midwives who confirmed what R and I had learned: a VBAC after 4 c-sections was not necessarily MORE risky than a 5th repeat c-section, it just came with a different set of risks. Our VBAC plan was a ‘go’ with only one small detail: we would be giving birth at home.
I have to say that I was really OK with that. After reading VBAC studies and looking at my own medical records from the previous deliveries, I really felt that my only REAL chance of having a successful VBAC was away from all the medical “interventions”. Ideally, medical interventions would only be used on women and babies who require them; ironically in my case, it was the "routine" use of such things that got me to where I was facing a 5th c-section and I knew that the continued use of these routine interventions would only get me another c-section - whether my baby and I needed one or not. No, I did not want to be induced: depending on the type of induction, there was a possibility that it would put increased stress on my scarred uterus. (Not to mention that statistics show that induction greatly raises your risk of having a c-section.) No, I did not want pain medication: that would make it impossible for me to alert my birthing team if anything felt “off”. Etc., etc. The only way I was going to do this, was if I was left to do it on my own.
And so we did.
Contractions started on Sunday night. Pretty mild in hindsight, but that night, they were strong enough to wake me from sleep every 30 minutes. When I woke up Monday morning, I told R to go to work and that I would keep him posted. As I got myself and the kids ready in the morning, they increased to about every 10 minutes apart, but were easy to talk through so I continued to go to work and see what the day brought.
By 2:00 Monday afternoon, some of the contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable to the point where I preferred not to talk through them and were coming about every 7 minutes. Shortly after that, I told my co-workers I was going to go home and have a baby! I had R pick up the kids from the sitters and we all hung out at home hoping to have a new baby by morning. I put a lasagna together so we would have a meal ready to eat after the birth and the kids and R went swimming. After supper we had my mom pick the kids up and R’s sister, I, came over ready to help with the birth. At this point, the contractions were about 5 minutes apart, but weren’t really increasing in intensity or pattern. At around 11:00 Monday night, we decided to all lay down and try and get some sleep and the contractions spaced back out to around every 30 minutes throughout the night.
By Tuesday morning, I was so tired from the two previous sleepless nights and was feeling really discouraged. My contractions picked back up to about every 10 minutes and were getting increasingly difficult for me to deal with but I wasn’t sure if that was because they were indeed getting stronger, or I was just getting less able to handle them because I was so tired. One of the midwives came over around 9:30 to listen to baby’s heartbeat and provide some much needed encouragement. She said that this could last for even a few days and that it was perfectly normal, baby sounded great, my body was doing what it needed to do, and I should take care of myself: rest, eat healthy food and stay hydrated. And so we continued to wait and let my body labor gently. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Throughout the day, the contractions remained about 5-7 minutes apart. R’s sister went home and we assured her we’d call if anything happened. By 9:45 Tuesday night, I woke R up and told him I was starting to need help getting through the contractions. R started timing the contractions and they were coming every 3 minutes. I was also becoming increasingly uncomfortable during them. So, R ran a bath and I sat in the tub while he poured water over my belly. While the water felt great, the bottom of the tub was so slippery, and I was using my legs to keep me from sliding down. It just was not very comfortable. But, it passed some time, and this is where R and I fell into sync: he watched quietly during contractions and talked to me gently after each one was done. He did awesome. I think I was only in the tub for about a half hour when I felt like I needed to get up and move around. We decided to time the contractions again for a while to make sure it was the real deal and then we would update the midwives.
At 11:00 there was a change of plans: my water broke all over the living room floor. R actually heard it ‘pop’ from the other side of the room. That was the first and only time I experienced any sort of "fear" about the birth. For some reason, I couldn't look at the waters that had just flowed from me. I made R look for me, and as soon as he told me they were clear, my fear was completely gone and my head was back in the game. Right after my water broke, I felt a very welcome relief of pressure. The bag of waters must have really been pressing against my cervix. But that nice feeling only last a few minutes because after that, the contractions immediately picked up in intensity and frequency. We called 'I' and the midwives and by midnight, the whole team was assembled for the job ahead.
As everyone was arriving, I was on the floor on my hands and knees trying to work through the contractions, but my legs were starting to shake and I felt like I needed to get off of them for a while. The midwives helped me lay down in bed on my side and we labored like that while the birth pool was getting filled up. I couldn’t wait to crawl into that pool!! My body was starting to get that pushy feeling and I had even asked for the bucket to throw up in (Ha!) so I was feeling happy, assuming I must be getting close. I got in the pool and my body continued to give little pushes and I remember thinking “Well, the midwives got here just in time! This is happening so fast!”
After I was in the pool for a while, my midwife asked to check and see how dilated I was. I crawled out of the pool and was devastated to learn I was only about 6-7cm! My mood immediately changed. This was exactly what happened with my first two labors: I got the urge to push “too early” and the reminder of my first two “failed” vaginal deliveries just completely devastated me. I started to try and beg R and the midwives to just let me go to the hospital and have a c-section since I was convinced my body was betraying me yet again. But as hard as I tried to tell them that I couldn’t to do this anymore, the more they told me that I WAS doing it — one contraction at a time. And a half hour later, when the midwife checked me again, I was at 8cm. And then 9. I was still having the urge to push, but the midwife said that it obviously wasn’t swelling my cervix at all and I was progressing well, so to continue to work with my body rather than fight it. She just kept telling me to give each contraction only the amount of energy it required and nothing more. Wise words!
The next time she checked me, she noticed that I had a stubborn lip on one side of my cervix that wouldn’t thin out. She recommended that I lay on that side of my body and she gave me the option to let it work itself out or she could help push back the lip during contractions. Pushing back the lip would be “pretty intense” she said, but it may make baby come faster. I decided I wanted my baby here faster, so she worked on the cervical lip while I clung to R’s hands.
And then I felt my contractions change and knew that it was pushing time for real!! Because the midwives could feel that C was coming down a bit crooked, they recommended that I get in some different positions to help move him down. Moving around during that part of labor was not exactly fun, but it worked. I could literally feel his little body moving and adjusting with each change that I made. I was so proud of my tiny little son doing his part to help with his own birth. So amazing.
Once it got to the point where I could reach up and feel his little head, it was game on. I was so ready to meet this little person and ready to do whatever it took to get to the finish line. We were about half way into the 1 hour it took to push him out when I made a stunning realization: If I got his head pushed out to his ears, I was going to have to sit there like that with him halfway out until the next contraction. I said this to the midwives and they got a good laugh over the fact that I was just now realizing that. So, yes indeed, I got him out about halfway and then had to wait for the next contraction to push the rest of his head out. That was probably the longest moments of my life, but after that, he was out and on my chest. It was perfect.
He came out so calmly and peacefully alert. The midwives joked saying “Does he even know he was born?” He pinked up really quickly and immediately started nursing like a champ. He had a little bit of extra fluid in his lungs that the midwives helped him take care of, but his apgar scores were both 8s and they declared him A-OK.
I still am not sure that I have fully processed the culmination of basically a 7 year journey. I am so happy that I finally got to give birth on these terms: just me and my baby working together in the way we were designed to do. I wasn’t a hero — I didn’t handle it with quiet grace and poise like I had hoped I would. I moaned and grunted and even cried my way through it all. But I wouldn’t take it back or change it for the world. It was real. It was powerful. It was birth!
Birth is truly transforming… and even though I know it isn't ALL about the experience; even though I know having a healthy baby is the ultimate goal, it doesn't change the fact that I am so grateful for having had it. I can finally say I got to experience that beautiful transformation. I am so very blessed!
For more information on what the evidence says about VBAC, visit: VBACfacts.com
Sunday, July 31, 2011
What To Say To An Overdue Pregnant Woman If You Want Her To Put You In a Choke Hold
1. "You're STILL pregnant?"
No. I actually had the baby and stuffed it under the bed for safe-keeping. This belly is just a result of my post-pregnancy sushi and margarita binge.
2. "You look so uncomfortable."
Really? Because I think that having a watermelon sized human being pressed against my internal organs is rather comfortable. Especially when I bend over or try to pry myself up out of a chair. THAT is the best.
3. "What are you going to do?"
Well, I figure I'll give it about another 24 hours and then I'll just start pushin'. Going to evict this tenant like the beer-bellied slouch who forgets to pay rent on time.
4. "Oh my gosh, you're so BIG. You look like you're about to pop!"
What a coincidence! I AM about to pop... about to pop you one in the nose.
5. "Have you tried (fill in the blank here with any old wives' tale induction technique)?"
No, I have NOT been spending every waking hour on Google searching for ancient Guatemalan medicine women's techniques to bring on labor. Who would be that desperate?
6. "Do you think you'll go into labor soon?"
{crickets chirping}
No. I actually had the baby and stuffed it under the bed for safe-keeping. This belly is just a result of my post-pregnancy sushi and margarita binge.
2. "You look so uncomfortable."
Really? Because I think that having a watermelon sized human being pressed against my internal organs is rather comfortable. Especially when I bend over or try to pry myself up out of a chair. THAT is the best.
3. "What are you going to do?"
Well, I figure I'll give it about another 24 hours and then I'll just start pushin'. Going to evict this tenant like the beer-bellied slouch who forgets to pay rent on time.
4. "Oh my gosh, you're so BIG. You look like you're about to pop!"
What a coincidence! I AM about to pop... about to pop you one in the nose.
5. "Have you tried (fill in the blank here with any old wives' tale induction technique)?"
No, I have NOT been spending every waking hour on Google searching for ancient Guatemalan medicine women's techniques to bring on labor. Who would be that desperate?
6. "Do you think you'll go into labor soon?"
{crickets chirping}
Friday, July 29, 2011
Today Is My Due Date and Other Thoughts About Birth :)
Well, OK, it's one of my due dates.... either today or Monday, depending on which way you calculate these things. :)
And I am ready. Not because I am uncomfortable or exhausted (even though both of which are true) but because I am just so ready to meet this new little person! This time around has been such a different pregnancy for me. I am truly tuned in to my body and this baby like no other time before. I have done so much reading on "pregnancy and birth" -- in the natural sense this time -- and it truly amazes me what the human body is capable of doing, and does so perfectly in most instances when left alone.
I just wanted to share some of the stuff I've learned during this pregnancy that I find absolutely amazing. I do believe I have turned into a birth junkie! :)
Did you know that the placenta holds 1/3 of the baby's blood volume at birth? When we cut and clamp the cord before it stops pulsing - before it stops pumping all that blood back into the baby - babies are left without a huge portion of their blood cells! YIKES! If we had 1/3 of our blood volume removed, I'm not so sure we would be feeling the greatest. After birth, there are valves in the placenta that basically "shut off" in one direction to prevent blood from flowing back into the placenta and once the blood is all pumped back into baby, the cord will stop pulsing and we know that baby got all the goodies it needs!
Did you know that babies have a natural reflex (that is still present at birth) where if you put pressure on their feet, they will push back? So, when the top of the uterus contracts downward, it puts pressure on baby's feet (assuming baby is head-down!) and thus babies actually HELP move themselves down into the pelvis during labor?
Did you know that babies are born with decreased amounts of vitamin K (a substance that aids the blood in clotting)? Now, the medical community will tell you that this must be "fixed" and we should all inject our newborns with vitamin K to get their levels where they "should be". But maybe there's more to this than we realize? I don't believe that God screwed up and "forgot" to give babies the adequate amount vitamin K. Maybe there's a REASON that babies have lower amounts of vitamin K that we just don't understand yet?
Did you know that babies who are born to un-medicated mothers, when put on mama's belly after birth will literally "crawl" up the mother's body to find the nipple to start nursing - completely unassisted? How amazing is that?!?!
There is just so much I've learned about this amazing process called pregnancy and I just can't get over how perfectly we were made. Everything, EVERYTHING, has a purpose and now, knowing what I know, I just can't wait to meet this perfectly made little human being!
It is sad that it has taken me 5 babies to figure all this out, but I am so thankful for these last 40 weeks with this little one. He has already taught me so much, I only hope I can teach him half of what he has taught me.
Come earthside soon Little One! Mama can't wait to hold you!
And I am ready. Not because I am uncomfortable or exhausted (even though both of which are true) but because I am just so ready to meet this new little person! This time around has been such a different pregnancy for me. I am truly tuned in to my body and this baby like no other time before. I have done so much reading on "pregnancy and birth" -- in the natural sense this time -- and it truly amazes me what the human body is capable of doing, and does so perfectly in most instances when left alone.
I just wanted to share some of the stuff I've learned during this pregnancy that I find absolutely amazing. I do believe I have turned into a birth junkie! :)
Did you know that the placenta holds 1/3 of the baby's blood volume at birth? When we cut and clamp the cord before it stops pulsing - before it stops pumping all that blood back into the baby - babies are left without a huge portion of their blood cells! YIKES! If we had 1/3 of our blood volume removed, I'm not so sure we would be feeling the greatest. After birth, there are valves in the placenta that basically "shut off" in one direction to prevent blood from flowing back into the placenta and once the blood is all pumped back into baby, the cord will stop pulsing and we know that baby got all the goodies it needs!
Did you know that babies have a natural reflex (that is still present at birth) where if you put pressure on their feet, they will push back? So, when the top of the uterus contracts downward, it puts pressure on baby's feet (assuming baby is head-down!) and thus babies actually HELP move themselves down into the pelvis during labor?
Did you know that babies are born with decreased amounts of vitamin K (a substance that aids the blood in clotting)? Now, the medical community will tell you that this must be "fixed" and we should all inject our newborns with vitamin K to get their levels where they "should be". But maybe there's more to this than we realize? I don't believe that God screwed up and "forgot" to give babies the adequate amount vitamin K. Maybe there's a REASON that babies have lower amounts of vitamin K that we just don't understand yet?
Did you know that babies who are born to un-medicated mothers, when put on mama's belly after birth will literally "crawl" up the mother's body to find the nipple to start nursing - completely unassisted? How amazing is that?!?!
There is just so much I've learned about this amazing process called pregnancy and I just can't get over how perfectly we were made. Everything, EVERYTHING, has a purpose and now, knowing what I know, I just can't wait to meet this perfectly made little human being!
It is sad that it has taken me 5 babies to figure all this out, but I am so thankful for these last 40 weeks with this little one. He has already taught me so much, I only hope I can teach him half of what he has taught me.
Come earthside soon Little One! Mama can't wait to hold you!
Friday, July 15, 2011
A Time and A Place
You know the old saying "To everything there is a season", or "There's a time and a place for everything". Well, that is the lesson we are really struggling to learn over here in the Hansen Household.
I don't know if it's because I'm super-pregnant, not sleeping, uncomfortable and tired, but lately, my patience for any sort of misbehavior has hit sub-zero levels. Pair this with 4 small children who think the world is their jungle gym and let's just say our home life is less-than-Brady these days.
Just tonight, the kids were playing downstairs before dinner. They were rowdy beyond belief, but as they were downstairs, they were in the correct PLACE for that type of behavior. (My rule is either outside or downstairs for extremely boisterous play. There's simply just too many of them to allow that kind of play upstairs!)
So, I called them up for dinner, had them sit down in their chairs and we did not even get through saying our prayers before the rowdiness completely took over the room. In hindsight, I understand that I didn't give them much time to "transition" from play time to dinner time and I would have been well-served to call them upstairs a bit earlier, but the fact remains that the DINNER TABLE is not the TIME nor the PLACE for playing. I just have no tolerance for lack of manners at my dinner table and yet the kids continue to test my patience on this issue. (I'm certain they know it's one of those famous "mom-buttons" kids like to push.) The kids were just completely unable to settle themselves down and one by one they were told to leave the table and told they could not have dessert.
OOOOOOH, the meltdowns. OOOOOOOH, the "I'm sorry Mamas". Just now Mason said that every time he looked at the dessert, it made him want some. I asked him if I should just eat all the cake myself so it would be gone and he wouldn't have to look at it. He was not impressed with my sense of humor. But I was. I dissolved into a fit of giggles.
So, while we won't give up on teaching the "Time and Place" lesson, I think it would be wise if I remembered that there are still some adults -- obviously myself included -- who struggle with a fit of giggles at inappropriate times. (Sorry Mason.)
I don't know if it's because I'm super-pregnant, not sleeping, uncomfortable and tired, but lately, my patience for any sort of misbehavior has hit sub-zero levels. Pair this with 4 small children who think the world is their jungle gym and let's just say our home life is less-than-Brady these days.
Just tonight, the kids were playing downstairs before dinner. They were rowdy beyond belief, but as they were downstairs, they were in the correct PLACE for that type of behavior. (My rule is either outside or downstairs for extremely boisterous play. There's simply just too many of them to allow that kind of play upstairs!)
So, I called them up for dinner, had them sit down in their chairs and we did not even get through saying our prayers before the rowdiness completely took over the room. In hindsight, I understand that I didn't give them much time to "transition" from play time to dinner time and I would have been well-served to call them upstairs a bit earlier, but the fact remains that the DINNER TABLE is not the TIME nor the PLACE for playing. I just have no tolerance for lack of manners at my dinner table and yet the kids continue to test my patience on this issue. (I'm certain they know it's one of those famous "mom-buttons" kids like to push.) The kids were just completely unable to settle themselves down and one by one they were told to leave the table and
OOOOOOH, the meltdowns. OOOOOOOH, the "I'm sorry Mamas". Just now Mason said that every time he looked at the dessert, it made him want some. I asked him if I should just eat all the cake myself so it would be gone and he wouldn't have to look at it. He was not impressed with my sense of humor. But I was. I dissolved into a fit of giggles.
So, while we won't give up on teaching the "Time and Place" lesson, I think it would be wise if I remembered that there are still some adults -- obviously myself included -- who struggle with a fit of giggles at inappropriate times. (Sorry Mason.)
Friday, July 8, 2011
37 Weeks - We are Full Term!!
How Far Along? 37 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: I have officially hit the "OK, any time now baby" part of pregnancy. I've been having lots of uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions and lots and lots of pressure. I've also hit the point of pregnancy where any bending over results in a rear end in my ribs and a head on my bladder. Therefore, bending over is avoided at all costs.
How your baby's growing: Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.
Movement? Movement has definitely become less vigorous now that room is running out. Instead of full-body acrobatics, I feel smaller kicks and rolls. I have to say I miss the crazy movements from a couple weeks ago -- it's so fun to watch!
Food Cravings/Aversions? The sweet tooth is still hovering around. (Evidenced by the fact that I just cracked a bag of M&Ms.)
Symptoms: Lots of practice contractions, some back pain..... the ol' body's getting ready!!
Maternity Clothes? Up to this point, I haven't really worn maternity tops, but this week I noticed that my regular shirts are finally starting to not cover the bump all the way. Please excuse this small indiscretion as I refuse to haul out the maternity tops at this point. Thank you.
Weight gain? 28lbs. Hopefully we're nearing the end of the weight gain?
Sleep? Things are remaining status quo. I don't expect that to change for many months to come. :)
Best Moment of the Week? Hitting the full-term mile marker. Even though I know I will probably still be hanging around past my due date, it just feels good to know that it "could" be any day now.
What I'm looking forward to? Meeting baby!!! And I know this may sound crazy, but I am looking forward to the whole labor and birth experience. It will be a beautiful day. :)
How I'm Feeling Overall: I have officially hit the "OK, any time now baby" part of pregnancy. I've been having lots of uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions and lots and lots of pressure. I've also hit the point of pregnancy where any bending over results in a rear end in my ribs and a head on my bladder. Therefore, bending over is avoided at all costs.
How your baby's growing: Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.
Movement? Movement has definitely become less vigorous now that room is running out. Instead of full-body acrobatics, I feel smaller kicks and rolls. I have to say I miss the crazy movements from a couple weeks ago -- it's so fun to watch!
Food Cravings/Aversions? The sweet tooth is still hovering around. (Evidenced by the fact that I just cracked a bag of M&Ms.)
Symptoms: Lots of practice contractions, some back pain..... the ol' body's getting ready!!
Maternity Clothes? Up to this point, I haven't really worn maternity tops, but this week I noticed that my regular shirts are finally starting to not cover the bump all the way. Please excuse this small indiscretion as I refuse to haul out the maternity tops at this point. Thank you.
Weight gain? 28lbs. Hopefully we're nearing the end of the weight gain?
Sleep? Things are remaining status quo. I don't expect that to change for many months to come. :)
Best Moment of the Week? Hitting the full-term mile marker. Even though I know I will probably still be hanging around past my due date, it just feels good to know that it "could" be any day now.
What I'm looking forward to? Meeting baby!!! And I know this may sound crazy, but I am looking forward to the whole labor and birth experience. It will be a beautiful day. :)
Emotions? Really anxious to get the show on the road! The kids are so excited too and keep asking when the baby is going to come. Oh, how I wish I had an answer for them. But someday soon.... I will! :)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Anniversary of our Miscarriage
I can't believe it has been a year. One whole year since we lost the little soul we never got to meet.
On the one hand I have come so far from here, yet on the other hand, the emotions today feel as raw as the day it happened. I marvel at how the hole left by someone I never really "knew" can feel so.... empty.
We went to the cemetery this morning as a family and I was so crabby the whole way there. I was mad that "I had to be doing this" and just feeling angry about everything. Anger is a funny emotion for me... it's like my "default" emotion. If anything gets too emotionally difficult to handle, instead of feeling sadness or despair, I just get royally ticked off. Survival instinct I guess?
I am just so thankful to be pregnant again. I think about all those mothers out there whose womb is still vacant after a miscarriage and whose arms still don't know the weight of a baby they carried. I can only imagine the additional heartache they must be feeling. While no one can ever bring back the baby one lost, there is definitely healing that comes from filling that void with another equally precious little life.
One year. One whole year of living and laughter, sadness and joy. One year closer to someday meeting our little soul in heaven. We love you and miss you Elizabeth. <3 You will never be forgotten.
On the one hand I have come so far from here, yet on the other hand, the emotions today feel as raw as the day it happened. I marvel at how the hole left by someone I never really "knew" can feel so.... empty.
We went to the cemetery this morning as a family and I was so crabby the whole way there. I was mad that "I had to be doing this" and just feeling angry about everything. Anger is a funny emotion for me... it's like my "default" emotion. If anything gets too emotionally difficult to handle, instead of feeling sadness or despair, I just get royally ticked off. Survival instinct I guess?
I am just so thankful to be pregnant again. I think about all those mothers out there whose womb is still vacant after a miscarriage and whose arms still don't know the weight of a baby they carried. I can only imagine the additional heartache they must be feeling. While no one can ever bring back the baby one lost, there is definitely healing that comes from filling that void with another equally precious little life.
One year. One whole year of living and laughter, sadness and joy. One year closer to someday meeting our little soul in heaven. We love you and miss you Elizabeth. <3 You will never be forgotten.
Friday, June 17, 2011
34 Weeks
How Far Along? 34 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Still doing good. Up until a few hours ago, I would have said that it is getting increasingly difficult to breath because of baby being up so high, but literally in the last few hours, I feel maybe a little reprieve in that area and increasing pressure downward. And both Ryan and my mom confirmed that my belly looks lower. So hooray for progress!
How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
Movement? It's very funny... baby has been head down for weeks now and the rear end stays pretty much in the same place too. Baby just rotates from left to right in my tummy and that determines which side I get to be kicked on for that period of time. Every once in a while, I feel little feathery movements down low from baby's hands, but usually, I just get good swift kicks in the side.
Food Cravings/Aversions? My sweet tooth is back. That is all. :)
Symptoms: Aside from still needing to get up to go to the bathroom every hour, I have something new for you to listen to me complain about!! (Yay you!) I have been having a lot of round ligament pain. I jokingly told my midwives tonight that it must be because I'm getting old and my body is getting worn out from so many pregnancies. Yeah, turns out it's not a joke. I am getting old. I have been pregnant a lot in the last 7 years. These two factors combine to make my round ligaments a wee bit exhausted. Go figure!
Maternity Clothes? It's funny, this pregnancy, I've only hauled out ONE of my maternity shirts. I've been just wearing my old clothes for the most part... and everybody is commenting about how small I look this time. Maybe all those lovely tent-style maternity tops I've worn in the past really weren't flattering after all. Ha!
Weight gain? 24lbs. I'm holding steady at about a 1lb. gain each week. And how many weeks do I have left?!?!? :)
Sleep? What sleep? Oh, you mean those 45 minutes where I close my eyes briefly in between my hourly potty breaks? OK, well, then it's going fine.
Best Moment of the Week? Watching Ben literally bounce off my belly. I came home from work one day and Ben came running up to me to get a hug. His head ran right into my belly and he seriously bounced right off and fell on the floor. I laughed so hard. Er... I mean, of course I checked to make sure Ben was OK first. Then I laughed really hard.
Gender? I learned from my friend Becky that technically, this question should be "Sex?" Because "sex" is the chromosomal male or female DNA we are born with and "gender" is the sex we self-identify with. So there you go! :) Although, I suppose just the word "sex" with a question mark after it would raise a few eyebrows....
What I'm looking forward to? Um, still looking forward to pulling out all the baby stuff and getting the house ready to welcome our little one. I didn't very far in that arena since my last update.
Emotions? I'm just excited! I'm still feeling good compared to my other pregnancies so all I'm feeling is excitement! It's nice to be able to just relish this time with the baby and watch the other kids experiencing it all too.
How I'm Feeling Overall: Still doing good. Up until a few hours ago, I would have said that it is getting increasingly difficult to breath because of baby being up so high, but literally in the last few hours, I feel maybe a little reprieve in that area and increasing pressure downward. And both Ryan and my mom confirmed that my belly looks lower. So hooray for progress!
How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.
Movement? It's very funny... baby has been head down for weeks now and the rear end stays pretty much in the same place too. Baby just rotates from left to right in my tummy and that determines which side I get to be kicked on for that period of time. Every once in a while, I feel little feathery movements down low from baby's hands, but usually, I just get good swift kicks in the side.
Food Cravings/Aversions? My sweet tooth is back. That is all. :)
Symptoms: Aside from still needing to get up to go to the bathroom every hour, I have something new for you to listen to me complain about!! (Yay you!) I have been having a lot of round ligament pain. I jokingly told my midwives tonight that it must be because I'm getting old and my body is getting worn out from so many pregnancies. Yeah, turns out it's not a joke. I am getting old. I have been pregnant a lot in the last 7 years. These two factors combine to make my round ligaments a wee bit exhausted. Go figure!
Maternity Clothes? It's funny, this pregnancy, I've only hauled out ONE of my maternity shirts. I've been just wearing my old clothes for the most part... and everybody is commenting about how small I look this time. Maybe all those lovely tent-style maternity tops I've worn in the past really weren't flattering after all. Ha!
Weight gain? 24lbs. I'm holding steady at about a 1lb. gain each week. And how many weeks do I have left?!?!? :)
Sleep? What sleep? Oh, you mean those 45 minutes where I close my eyes briefly in between my hourly potty breaks? OK, well, then it's going fine.
Best Moment of the Week? Watching Ben literally bounce off my belly. I came home from work one day and Ben came running up to me to get a hug. His head ran right into my belly and he seriously bounced right off and fell on the floor. I laughed so hard. Er... I mean, of course I checked to make sure Ben was OK first. Then I laughed really hard.
Gender? I learned from my friend Becky that technically, this question should be "Sex?" Because "sex" is the chromosomal male or female DNA we are born with and "gender" is the sex we self-identify with. So there you go! :) Although, I suppose just the word "sex" with a question mark after it would raise a few eyebrows....
What I'm looking forward to? Um, still looking forward to pulling out all the baby stuff and getting the house ready to welcome our little one. I didn't very far in that arena since my last update.
Emotions? I'm just excited! I'm still feeling good compared to my other pregnancies so all I'm feeling is excitement! It's nice to be able to just relish this time with the baby and watch the other kids experiencing it all too.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
30 Weeks
How Far Along? 30 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Good! I'm starting to hit the point though where you pause a second before you bend down to pick something up, thinking, "Does this REALLY need to be picked up? Who can I rope into bending over for me? Hmmm.... maybe if I just use my toes like this...."
How your baby's growing: Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
Movement? Yup, I'm definitely getting good swift kicks to the ribs... which of course means baby is head down and likes to rotate his sweet little noggin on my bladder.
Food Cravings/Aversions? Eh. I'd say I'm eating pretty normally. I've never craved anything strange like pickle juice.... don't think I ever will. Yuck! :)
Symptoms: Still lots of potty breaks. My hips hurt at night so I find myself flopping like a fish back and forth from side to side. And Ryan wonders why he's not sleeping good at night!
Maternity Clothes? I recently signed up the kids for swimming lessons.... yes even for the little guy which requires that I get in the water with him. I have no idea what I was thinking, especially since I don't own a maternity suit. I fear it will not be a pretty sight.
Weight gain? 22lbs. I am amazed at my body's consistency. I have kept track of my weight for all of my pregnancies and I am seriously within 2-3 pounds for ALL of my pregnancies. Week after week, I am pretty much where I was the other five times at the same point in pregnancy. It's crazy.
Sleep? Pretty disrupted, but it's just getting me warmed up for the newborn-sleep-deprivation-zombie-during-the-day phase.
Best Moment of the Week? Having the midwife show Ryan how to feel the baby's outline in my belly. She showed him how to find the head and the little butt. Ryan thought it was pretty cool.
Gender? ....whistling....
What I'm looking forward to? Pulling out all the baby stuff and getting the house ready to welcome our little one.
Emotions? I'm really excited. These next several weeks are going to fly by so I'm hoping that I continue to feel good enough to take the other kids on a couple fun excursions before baby comes.
How I'm Feeling Overall: Good! I'm starting to hit the point though where you pause a second before you bend down to pick something up, thinking, "Does this REALLY need to be picked up? Who can I rope into bending over for me? Hmmm.... maybe if I just use my toes like this...."
How your baby's growing: Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)
Movement? Yup, I'm definitely getting good swift kicks to the ribs... which of course means baby is head down and likes to rotate his sweet little noggin on my bladder.
Food Cravings/Aversions? Eh. I'd say I'm eating pretty normally. I've never craved anything strange like pickle juice.... don't think I ever will. Yuck! :)
Symptoms: Still lots of potty breaks. My hips hurt at night so I find myself flopping like a fish back and forth from side to side. And Ryan wonders why he's not sleeping good at night!
Maternity Clothes? I recently signed up the kids for swimming lessons.... yes even for the little guy which requires that I get in the water with him. I have no idea what I was thinking, especially since I don't own a maternity suit. I fear it will not be a pretty sight.
Weight gain? 22lbs. I am amazed at my body's consistency. I have kept track of my weight for all of my pregnancies and I am seriously within 2-3 pounds for ALL of my pregnancies. Week after week, I am pretty much where I was the other five times at the same point in pregnancy. It's crazy.
Sleep? Pretty disrupted, but it's just getting me warmed up for the newborn-sleep-deprivation-zombie-during-the-day phase.
Best Moment of the Week? Having the midwife show Ryan how to feel the baby's outline in my belly. She showed him how to find the head and the little butt. Ryan thought it was pretty cool.
Gender? ....whistling....
What I'm looking forward to? Pulling out all the baby stuff and getting the house ready to welcome our little one.
Emotions? I'm really excited. These next several weeks are going to fly by so I'm hoping that I continue to feel good enough to take the other kids on a couple fun excursions before baby comes.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Don't Judge the Mamas!
We moms need to be pretty tough. Not only do we get to deal with all sorts of bodily fluids on limited hours of sleep and a wardrobe that hasn't been updated since our college years, we also get to shoulder innocent little comments like "Mama! What are all those lines on your tummy?" and "Mama, why do your arms wiggle when you wave?" (A good friend once told me: Never rely on your children for your self-esteem! Boy was she right!)
In light of this, you'd think we moms would all stick together right? Form an impenetrable barrier and defend each other in the battle. Only, that's not how it happens.
Just today I came across a comment where a woman was complaining about another mom "letting" her kids misbehave while she stood idly by. But what if the "complainer" didn't know that the "complainee" is operating on 4 hours of sleep due to a sick baby and this is the 20th time that little Junior has tested her patience in just the last 2 hours? I've heard another mom complain about watching a mother talk on the phone over lunch with her daughter and be ridiculed for "not having the decency to pay attention to the daughter in front of you." But what if the mom on the phone has a husband who works out of town and this is the first time they've been able to connect in 3 days?
I guess my point is, is that we moms make it way harder on each other than we should. We are all in some sort of race to be Super Mom that it often makes us tired, irritable and, well, LESS of a mom than we could be if we just let go of some of the pressure. We moms need to shore each other up, not tear each other down.
So, next time you see a mom like me at the grocery store, with a whining 2 year old pulling on his mama's pant leg, a bouncy 4 year old stashing juice boxes into the cart by the boat load, and 2 girls meandering 4 feet behind the chaos, keep in mind that though we might really, REALLY want our kids to line up behind us like obedient little soldiers, the scene before you might be as good as you're going to get on that given day. And that's OK. :)
In light of this, you'd think we moms would all stick together right? Form an impenetrable barrier and defend each other in the battle. Only, that's not how it happens.
Just today I came across a comment where a woman was complaining about another mom "letting" her kids misbehave while she stood idly by. But what if the "complainer" didn't know that the "complainee" is operating on 4 hours of sleep due to a sick baby and this is the 20th time that little Junior has tested her patience in just the last 2 hours? I've heard another mom complain about watching a mother talk on the phone over lunch with her daughter and be ridiculed for "not having the decency to pay attention to the daughter in front of you." But what if the mom on the phone has a husband who works out of town and this is the first time they've been able to connect in 3 days?
I guess my point is, is that we moms make it way harder on each other than we should. We are all in some sort of race to be Super Mom that it often makes us tired, irritable and, well, LESS of a mom than we could be if we just let go of some of the pressure. We moms need to shore each other up, not tear each other down.
So, next time you see a mom like me at the grocery store, with a whining 2 year old pulling on his mama's pant leg, a bouncy 4 year old stashing juice boxes into the cart by the boat load, and 2 girls meandering 4 feet behind the chaos, keep in mind that though we might really, REALLY want our kids to line up behind us like obedient little soldiers, the scene before you might be as good as you're going to get on that given day. And that's OK. :)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Death of the Opinion
Opinion, the lifelong companion of many, passed away recently. Having been losing strength in recent years, he was eventually executed by Political Correctness.
Opinion was most well-known in America where he allowed people to express concerns, sentiments and ideas as seen through each individual's eyes. Over the course of a decade, Opinion was welcomed less and less in public life by those that mistakenly identified Opinion as having Judgment. The misdiagnosis of Opinion appears to have started when Political Correctness came in to power.
Opinion will be deeply missed. He was preceded in death by his partners Common Sense and Morality. He is survived by Relativism and If-It-Feels-Good-Do-It.
Opinion was most well-known in America where he allowed people to express concerns, sentiments and ideas as seen through each individual's eyes. Over the course of a decade, Opinion was welcomed less and less in public life by those that mistakenly identified Opinion as having Judgment. The misdiagnosis of Opinion appears to have started when Political Correctness came in to power.
Opinion will be deeply missed. He was preceded in death by his partners Common Sense and Morality. He is survived by Relativism and If-It-Feels-Good-Do-It.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A VERY LONG Post on my Birthing Regrets and Why What I Know Now Will Forever Change the Way I Feel About the Medical Community
I apologize ahead of time for how long this post has become, but once I started I couldn't stop.
Three months. Just three months until we welcome another new little one into this world. While I should be excited and happy and filled with joy at the prospect of this new arrival, instead I am filled with fear and quite frankly, dread.
I cannot WAIT to meet this new little person. I cannot wait for our other children to meet their new sibling and to watch our family open our hearts to another one of God's blessings. What I am dreading is HOW this baby is going to enter the world.
All of my babies have been born via c-section. It is a bitter pill that for some reason, I cannot swallow even as the years pass. Maybe it's because knowing what I know now, I look back and realize that I got robbed and coerced and completely misguided into thinking my c-sections were medical necessity. The only reason they became medical necessity is because of what the mainstream medical community did to my body.
With my first pregnancy, I was 2 days overdue when my water broke spontaneously on a Friday night at 10:30pm. We had just finished watching the news and I stood up from the couch to fold up the blanket I had been using and whoosh!! I remember shaking with excitement as I prodded Ryan and said "My water just broke!" My contractions started within 15 minutes of that and as we called the hospital to let them know, they said to come right in.
Mistake #1: Not staying home longer to let my body get through the first, slower part of labor.
As labor slowly got under way, the nurses were telling me that my body "just wasn't getting into a predictable labor pattern" and they told me I needed some pitocin to get things moving.
Mistake #2: Letting them pump me full of a chemical to force my body along instead of just letting my body and baby work things out
Of course, once the pitocin was started, that meant I needed continuous fetal monitoring. Which in turn meant my movement was from then on restricted by wires and IV lines. Which means I spent a lot of time on my back in the hospital bed.
Mistake #3: Spending too much time on my back.
And the pitocin was not a one time thing. They continued to increase the dose and increase the dose so much that I remember lying on the bed in so much pain, the nurse coming in and doing something over at the IV pump. I remember looking at her with tears in my eyes saying "No! Don't increase my pitocin again!" But she just smiled and said that I needed to "keep things moving".
Mistake #4: Not ripping that blasted IV out of my arm right then and there.
After enduring the pitocin-induced back labor for some hours, I finally caved and requested an epidural. I was exhausted, sore, panicky about not having any control over the process and I thought "I can't do this anymore!" and got the epidural.
After that, things went downhill even further. For the rest of my labor, I laid on my back in pain (because apparently I am one of the lucky 2% of people that epidurals don't work for) unable to go anywhere or do anything constructive for my body. They continued to poke my body 4 times in an attempt to get an epidural to "take" but none of them worked.
After 21 hours of my water breaking, they told me that the baby needed to come out because she was exhibiting "some signs of stress" and they feared that I was developing an infection in my uterus that could affect the baby. They told me a c-section was the safest way to get baby out. Even though I was 9cm with "just a little lip" and my body was already wanting to push, they told me "No, don't push. You're not ready yet." I was so close and didn't realize at the time that the next 20 minutes would change my life forever.
Mistake #5: Not knowing then that 24 hours is the "magic number" of the amount of time that most doctors like to let a woman go after her water breaks. Upon approaching that magic number, it seems that all babies are immediately in danger of an infection and must be extracted post haste. (insert sarcasm here)
Our little girl was born via c-section on Saturday night. While she came out with extremely low apgar scores (a score of 1 at 5 minutes and a score of 5 at 5 minutes) and looking more gray than pink, I believe this is due not only to the amount of pitocin that was causing my uterus to clamp down so hard that she was probably getting decreased oxygen, but also because of the 4 epidurals they injected into my body. How is an 8 lb. baby supposed to metabolize all of that and come out pink and crying and writhing with life???
With our second pregnancy, I vowed that I was going to have a better birth experience. My doctor agreed that a VBAC was safe with one caveat: I would need to be induced 1 week prior to my due date so baby would not "get too big". (I won't even get into how ridiculous that reasoning is.)
Mistake #6: Allowing the doctor to induce me. Statistics prove that induction raises the c-section rate significantly. But of course, at that point, I still trusted that the doctors knew what was best.
So, on Friday, May 13th, we went to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning all excited to bring another baby into the world. They broke my water around 8:00am and after that we walked and walked and walked up and down those halls trying to get contractions to start. Finally by 10:00, I started to feel that contractions were coming and once again, I vowed to have a different birth experience. I was NOT getting in that bed, I was NOT letting them give me pitocin, I was going to DO THIS!
So we walked and walked until the contractions started to get a little more intense and I asked to go into the tub. I laid in that tub and was actually able to get a good handle on the contractions for a while. Suddenly though, I just felt this incredible urge that I needed to get out. I was getting panicky and I know now that I was entering transition. I got out of the tub and my body was wanting to push so the nurse checked me and said that I was 7cm. I panicked. Labor was moving so fast this time (for me!) and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it without drugs. I told them I wanted an epidural. (Knowing full well that it wasn't going to work again, but in my transition-state of mind, I wasn't thinking straight.)
Of course the epidural didn't work. All it did was make them continuously monitor me again and keep me on my back in that hospital bed. After a while, our baby's heartbeat started dropping and after some careful monitoring by the doctors, they decided an emergency c-section was necessary, fearing a uterine rupture.
Mistake #7: Getting that epidural. When baby's heartbeat started to dip after that, the doctor had to automatically assume uterine rupture. Never mind that babies' heartbeats normally dip during a contraction and that an epidural will cause even more decelerations. Because I was a VBAC, uterine rupture HAD to be the default scenario.
Our second little girl was born Saturday afternoon, only 7lbs 9oz (remember how concerned they were with her getting "too big?") and healthy as can be. My uterus was fine. Although, I wasn't aware of any of this until some time later as I was completely put to sleep for her delivery and had to spend time "waking up" in the recovery room.
When we got pregnant with baby #3, my doctor recommended a scheduled c-section due to the risk of uterine rupture after having 2 previous c-sections. So, our sons were both born via scheduled c-section, each c-section dragging me further and further away from ever getting to experience birth the way God intended.
Which brings me to today. I have 3 months to gear up for yet another c-section. I'm not sure I will be able to willingly sign that consent form that day that states that I understand the risks involved of what I am about to do. I am basically signing my life away. I have a 3.5% of needing an emergency hysterectomy on the operating table. Now, I am not particularly attached to my uterus at this point. However, in talking with my doctor, a hysterectomy during a c-section is a very risky procedure. Not only do you have the blood loss from the c-section, now you have blood loss from multiple arteries that are enlarged 10 times in size due to the enlargement of the uterus from pregnancy. Controlling bleeding during this operation is not easy and most women require blood transfusions. Some die.
How can I gamble with a 3.5% chance of having this happen to me when my chance for uterine rupture during a VBAC is only 2%? Statistically, it seems like a no-brainer to me. While neither odd is completely favorable at this point, doesn't the 98% chance of having everything go well sound better than the 96.5% chance? And yet, the medical community still says that a c-section is safer.
Safer for whom?? THE DOCTORS? Because then they can't get sued that things went wrong because I signed a waiver saying I understood the risks?
So, I have three months to prepare for the arrival of this little one and potentially -- dare I say it out loud -- the departure of ME? I know that sounds melodramatic, but my fear is real. I don't trust that things will go well. I can't, given where I've been.
My birth experiences are not anything I can change at this point. My only hope is that other woman out there are better educated than I was and that they have the faith in their bodies that I lacked.
Three months. Just three months until we welcome another new little one into this world. While I should be excited and happy and filled with joy at the prospect of this new arrival, instead I am filled with fear and quite frankly, dread.
I cannot WAIT to meet this new little person. I cannot wait for our other children to meet their new sibling and to watch our family open our hearts to another one of God's blessings. What I am dreading is HOW this baby is going to enter the world.
All of my babies have been born via c-section. It is a bitter pill that for some reason, I cannot swallow even as the years pass. Maybe it's because knowing what I know now, I look back and realize that I got robbed and coerced and completely misguided into thinking my c-sections were medical necessity. The only reason they became medical necessity is because of what the mainstream medical community did to my body.
With my first pregnancy, I was 2 days overdue when my water broke spontaneously on a Friday night at 10:30pm. We had just finished watching the news and I stood up from the couch to fold up the blanket I had been using and whoosh!! I remember shaking with excitement as I prodded Ryan and said "My water just broke!" My contractions started within 15 minutes of that and as we called the hospital to let them know, they said to come right in.
Mistake #1: Not staying home longer to let my body get through the first, slower part of labor.
As labor slowly got under way, the nurses were telling me that my body "just wasn't getting into a predictable labor pattern" and they told me I needed some pitocin to get things moving.
Mistake #2: Letting them pump me full of a chemical to force my body along instead of just letting my body and baby work things out
Of course, once the pitocin was started, that meant I needed continuous fetal monitoring. Which in turn meant my movement was from then on restricted by wires and IV lines. Which means I spent a lot of time on my back in the hospital bed.
Mistake #3: Spending too much time on my back.
And the pitocin was not a one time thing. They continued to increase the dose and increase the dose so much that I remember lying on the bed in so much pain, the nurse coming in and doing something over at the IV pump. I remember looking at her with tears in my eyes saying "No! Don't increase my pitocin again!" But she just smiled and said that I needed to "keep things moving".
Mistake #4: Not ripping that blasted IV out of my arm right then and there.
After enduring the pitocin-induced back labor for some hours, I finally caved and requested an epidural. I was exhausted, sore, panicky about not having any control over the process and I thought "I can't do this anymore!" and got the epidural.
After that, things went downhill even further. For the rest of my labor, I laid on my back in pain (because apparently I am one of the lucky 2% of people that epidurals don't work for) unable to go anywhere or do anything constructive for my body. They continued to poke my body 4 times in an attempt to get an epidural to "take" but none of them worked.
After 21 hours of my water breaking, they told me that the baby needed to come out because she was exhibiting "some signs of stress" and they feared that I was developing an infection in my uterus that could affect the baby. They told me a c-section was the safest way to get baby out. Even though I was 9cm with "just a little lip" and my body was already wanting to push, they told me "No, don't push. You're not ready yet." I was so close and didn't realize at the time that the next 20 minutes would change my life forever.
Mistake #5: Not knowing then that 24 hours is the "magic number" of the amount of time that most doctors like to let a woman go after her water breaks. Upon approaching that magic number, it seems that all babies are immediately in danger of an infection and must be extracted post haste. (insert sarcasm here)
Our little girl was born via c-section on Saturday night. While she came out with extremely low apgar scores (a score of 1 at 5 minutes and a score of 5 at 5 minutes) and looking more gray than pink, I believe this is due not only to the amount of pitocin that was causing my uterus to clamp down so hard that she was probably getting decreased oxygen, but also because of the 4 epidurals they injected into my body. How is an 8 lb. baby supposed to metabolize all of that and come out pink and crying and writhing with life???
With our second pregnancy, I vowed that I was going to have a better birth experience. My doctor agreed that a VBAC was safe with one caveat: I would need to be induced 1 week prior to my due date so baby would not "get too big". (I won't even get into how ridiculous that reasoning is.)
Mistake #6: Allowing the doctor to induce me. Statistics prove that induction raises the c-section rate significantly. But of course, at that point, I still trusted that the doctors knew what was best.
So, on Friday, May 13th, we went to the hospital at 6:30 in the morning all excited to bring another baby into the world. They broke my water around 8:00am and after that we walked and walked and walked up and down those halls trying to get contractions to start. Finally by 10:00, I started to feel that contractions were coming and once again, I vowed to have a different birth experience. I was NOT getting in that bed, I was NOT letting them give me pitocin, I was going to DO THIS!
So we walked and walked until the contractions started to get a little more intense and I asked to go into the tub. I laid in that tub and was actually able to get a good handle on the contractions for a while. Suddenly though, I just felt this incredible urge that I needed to get out. I was getting panicky and I know now that I was entering transition. I got out of the tub and my body was wanting to push so the nurse checked me and said that I was 7cm. I panicked. Labor was moving so fast this time (for me!) and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it without drugs. I told them I wanted an epidural. (Knowing full well that it wasn't going to work again, but in my transition-state of mind, I wasn't thinking straight.)
Of course the epidural didn't work. All it did was make them continuously monitor me again and keep me on my back in that hospital bed. After a while, our baby's heartbeat started dropping and after some careful monitoring by the doctors, they decided an emergency c-section was necessary, fearing a uterine rupture.
Mistake #7: Getting that epidural. When baby's heartbeat started to dip after that, the doctor had to automatically assume uterine rupture. Never mind that babies' heartbeats normally dip during a contraction and that an epidural will cause even more decelerations. Because I was a VBAC, uterine rupture HAD to be the default scenario.
Our second little girl was born Saturday afternoon, only 7lbs 9oz (remember how concerned they were with her getting "too big?") and healthy as can be. My uterus was fine. Although, I wasn't aware of any of this until some time later as I was completely put to sleep for her delivery and had to spend time "waking up" in the recovery room.
When we got pregnant with baby #3, my doctor recommended a scheduled c-section due to the risk of uterine rupture after having 2 previous c-sections. So, our sons were both born via scheduled c-section, each c-section dragging me further and further away from ever getting to experience birth the way God intended.
Which brings me to today. I have 3 months to gear up for yet another c-section. I'm not sure I will be able to willingly sign that consent form that day that states that I understand the risks involved of what I am about to do. I am basically signing my life away. I have a 3.5% of needing an emergency hysterectomy on the operating table. Now, I am not particularly attached to my uterus at this point. However, in talking with my doctor, a hysterectomy during a c-section is a very risky procedure. Not only do you have the blood loss from the c-section, now you have blood loss from multiple arteries that are enlarged 10 times in size due to the enlargement of the uterus from pregnancy. Controlling bleeding during this operation is not easy and most women require blood transfusions. Some die.
How can I gamble with a 3.5% chance of having this happen to me when my chance for uterine rupture during a VBAC is only 2%? Statistically, it seems like a no-brainer to me. While neither odd is completely favorable at this point, doesn't the 98% chance of having everything go well sound better than the 96.5% chance? And yet, the medical community still says that a c-section is safer.
Safer for whom?? THE DOCTORS? Because then they can't get sued that things went wrong because I signed a waiver saying I understood the risks?
So, I have three months to prepare for the arrival of this little one and potentially -- dare I say it out loud -- the departure of ME? I know that sounds melodramatic, but my fear is real. I don't trust that things will go well. I can't, given where I've been.
My birth experiences are not anything I can change at this point. My only hope is that other woman out there are better educated than I was and that they have the faith in their bodies that I lacked.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday Funnies
Just sharing my giggles for the day:
Funny #1:
Emily: "Mama, do you think ballet is hard?"
Mason: (excitedly) "DADDY doesn't think ballet is hard!!! He knows EVERYTHING!!"
Funny #2:
Samantha: "Someday, I want to be a princess."
Me: "Well, that means you'll have to marry a prince."
Samantha: "Oh. (looks disappointed) I'd rather marry a race car driver."
I know there was one more that I wanted to write down too, but now I've gone and forgotten it. This brain of mine these days!! If I think of it, I will add it. :)
Funny #1:
Emily: "Mama, do you think ballet is hard?"
Mason: (excitedly) "DADDY doesn't think ballet is hard!!! He knows EVERYTHING!!"
Funny #2:
Samantha: "Someday, I want to be a princess."
Me: "Well, that means you'll have to marry a prince."
Samantha: "Oh. (looks disappointed) I'd rather marry a race car driver."
I know there was one more that I wanted to write down too, but now I've gone and forgotten it. This brain of mine these days!! If I think of it, I will add it. :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Moving
We've moved! We are officially at our new home and I am officially back online. Whew! What a long couple of weeks.... and even longer weekends for the 2 "old" guys (our dads) that helped us move both weekends. They have both informed us that we are never moving again. Thankfully, Ryan and I agree. There are just way more boxes stacked in the basement than any married couple of 8.5 years should have. Where have we accumulated so much STUFF??
The kids seems to be adjusting really well. There really doesn't seem to be any confusion about the fact that this is our new home and there hasn't been any sadness about leaving old bedrooms, yard, etc. The whole thing has surprised the heck out of me! I really was prepared to have 4 little munchkins sleeping on the floor of our room for a while, but thankfully, everybody is sleeping well.
I think it has been a harder adjustment for Ryan and I. I can't count the number of times I have cried about it; today is the first day I have not broken down in tears since we closed on April 8th. We left some really great friends behind and so many memories were created there. Not to mention all the sweat, blood and tears shed while remodeling and doing the backyard landscaping. Sigh. I keep telling myself it was "just a house" and the people I am with make anyplace a HOME, but it's still hard. I guess change in general is just hard.
On a totally unrelated note, it is snowing here. Yes, it is April 19th and we are supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow. To make matters worse, my children have just asked if they could watch the movie Frosty the Snowman.
Well, maybe that's a good thing. I have no idea what box the Easter decorations are in, but I'm pretty sure I know where to find the Christmas ones. Maybe we'll just skip right back to Christmas over here.
The kids seems to be adjusting really well. There really doesn't seem to be any confusion about the fact that this is our new home and there hasn't been any sadness about leaving old bedrooms, yard, etc. The whole thing has surprised the heck out of me! I really was prepared to have 4 little munchkins sleeping on the floor of our room for a while, but thankfully, everybody is sleeping well.
I think it has been a harder adjustment for Ryan and I. I can't count the number of times I have cried about it; today is the first day I have not broken down in tears since we closed on April 8th. We left some really great friends behind and so many memories were created there. Not to mention all the sweat, blood and tears shed while remodeling and doing the backyard landscaping. Sigh. I keep telling myself it was "just a house" and the people I am with make anyplace a HOME, but it's still hard. I guess change in general is just hard.
On a totally unrelated note, it is snowing here. Yes, it is April 19th and we are supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow. To make matters worse, my children have just asked if they could watch the movie Frosty the Snowman.
Well, maybe that's a good thing. I have no idea what box the Easter decorations are in, but I'm pretty sure I know where to find the Christmas ones. Maybe we'll just skip right back to Christmas over here.
Friday, April 8, 2011
24 Weeks
How Far Along? 24 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Doing good. Had a few days where my legs were so puffy from water retention that you could actually put dents in my legs by pushing on them with a finger. The kids always find that very amusing. Me... not so much. I was surprised to see it happen so early as I am usually 30+ weeks along before I start getting "puffy", but alas, I get to experience it early this time. My wedding ring is already growing snug too!!! :(
How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
Movement? Oh yes! We have a very active little one in there! Especially when I wake up in the middle of the night and realize I am lying slightly on my belly. Baby is in there kicking away like "I'm trying to gestate in here Mom! Please don't lay on me!!"
Food Cravings/Aversions? My sweet tooth is slightly out of control these days and I'm currently working on reigning it in. I am blaming some of my excess weight game on this new development. (As opposed to my lack of will-power.)
Symptoms: Lots of trips to the bathroom at night! Good grief! One would think I don't go to the bathroom all day long the way my body likes to filter itself out at night!!
Maternity Clothes? Psh. Of course. Although today, I did squeeze into a pair of my regular pants for work because my whopping 3 pairs of maternity pants are in the laundry. Holy cow! They were unbuttoned of course and worn below my belly, but still! It was a long day sitting at my desk.
Weight gain? 17lbs. so far. Eeeek! 7 lbs in 4 weeks is not ideal, but I still stand by the fact that my new sweet tooth is to blame.
Sleep? Pretty disrupted. Besides the potty breaks, my hips are starting to get sore so I'm tossing from one side to the other all night long. It really must be that I'm getting older because SERIOUSLY, I don't remember having some of these discomfort things until well past 30 weeks with my other kiddos!
Best Moment of the Week? Sitting in the doctor's office for my OB appointment yesterday and watching my belly move. Once again, I don't remember being able to SEE movement so early on with the other kids but I think that the placenta not being in front is making all the difference.
Gender? Yes, baby has one. ;)
What I'm looking forward to? Ryan and the kids being able to feel baby move. Although, now that I SAW my belly moving, everyone should be able to feel it.... if baby cooperates. Usually as soon as I say "Baby's moving!" and everyone comes running, baby stops moving.
Emotions? Regarding the pregnancy, I am so excited to meet this little one and have a new tiny one to hold. I LOVE newborns and 3 of my closest friends all just had babies in the last month or so and it makes me so excited to be able to hold my own. Mmmmmmmm, I can just smell that baby smell. :)
And I'm horrible... I still don't have pics of the ultrasound scanned in yet, but I will try and do that before my next update in 4 weeks. :) And maybe even post a belly shot or two. :)
How I'm Feeling Overall: Doing good. Had a few days where my legs were so puffy from water retention that you could actually put dents in my legs by pushing on them with a finger. The kids always find that very amusing. Me... not so much. I was surprised to see it happen so early as I am usually 30+ weeks along before I start getting "puffy", but alas, I get to experience it early this time. My wedding ring is already growing snug too!!! :(
How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
Movement? Oh yes! We have a very active little one in there! Especially when I wake up in the middle of the night and realize I am lying slightly on my belly. Baby is in there kicking away like "I'm trying to gestate in here Mom! Please don't lay on me!!"
Food Cravings/Aversions? My sweet tooth is slightly out of control these days and I'm currently working on reigning it in. I am blaming some of my excess weight game on this new development. (As opposed to my lack of will-power.)
Symptoms: Lots of trips to the bathroom at night! Good grief! One would think I don't go to the bathroom all day long the way my body likes to filter itself out at night!!
Maternity Clothes? Psh. Of course. Although today, I did squeeze into a pair of my regular pants for work because my whopping 3 pairs of maternity pants are in the laundry. Holy cow! They were unbuttoned of course and worn below my belly, but still! It was a long day sitting at my desk.
Weight gain? 17lbs. so far. Eeeek! 7 lbs in 4 weeks is not ideal, but I still stand by the fact that my new sweet tooth is to blame.
Sleep? Pretty disrupted. Besides the potty breaks, my hips are starting to get sore so I'm tossing from one side to the other all night long. It really must be that I'm getting older because SERIOUSLY, I don't remember having some of these discomfort things until well past 30 weeks with my other kiddos!
Best Moment of the Week? Sitting in the doctor's office for my OB appointment yesterday and watching my belly move. Once again, I don't remember being able to SEE movement so early on with the other kids but I think that the placenta not being in front is making all the difference.
Gender? Yes, baby has one. ;)
What I'm looking forward to? Ryan and the kids being able to feel baby move. Although, now that I SAW my belly moving, everyone should be able to feel it.... if baby cooperates. Usually as soon as I say "Baby's moving!" and everyone comes running, baby stops moving.
Emotions? Regarding the pregnancy, I am so excited to meet this little one and have a new tiny one to hold. I LOVE newborns and 3 of my closest friends all just had babies in the last month or so and it makes me so excited to be able to hold my own. Mmmmmmmm, I can just smell that baby smell. :)
And I'm horrible... I still don't have pics of the ultrasound scanned in yet, but I will try and do that before my next update in 4 weeks. :) And maybe even post a belly shot or two. :)
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sharing Time and Other Beefs
Can I be honest with all of you for just a second?
I REALLY, REALLY hate "Sharing Time" at school. Like, REALLY hate it.
I know my animosity towards it comes from the fact that I'm so lousy at remembering it, but still.
Every single Friday, Emily is supposed to bring in something for Sharing Time and it is supposed to start with the letter that they have been studying that week. (Thankfully Samantha's teacher has decided that 1st grade is old enough to forgo sharing time.) I have tried so hard to remember Sharing Time: I have marked it on the calendar, I leave little notes, I have even encouraged Emily to remind Mommy.
And yet another Friday is here and poor Emily is without a Sharing Time object today AGAIN. Not only does this make the mom feel like a complete failure, but imagine poor Emily week after week after week.
Week 1:
Teacher: "Emily, what did you bring for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nothing. My mom forgot."
Week 2:
Teacher: "Emily, what did you bring for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nothing. My mom forgot. Again."
Week 3:
Teacher: "Emily, did you bring anything for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nope. My mom forgot. Again."
Week 4:
Teacher: "Does anyone have an extra Sharing Time item for Emily to borrow? Her mom forgot again."
Can't we make Sharing Time morph into "Found Object Time"? Like, "OK everybody, look around the room and find something that starts with the letter we have been studying this week."
Yes, I think Found Object Time would be much better for all involved. Except maybe the teacher whose room would get ransacked each week. Hmmm....
On a slightly unrelated note, I'm going to really go out on a limb here and share with you another beef of mine: Snack Time. In past years, the kids all brought in boxes of snacks at the beginning of the year - or throughout the year as supplies dwindled - and everyone shared the same snack.
Apparently in first grade you don't share anymore. You are to bring in your own snack.... EVERY morning. Do you want to take a guess at how many times yours truly has neglected to send Sam in with a snack? You would think it would be a simple enough thing to remember since I pack the girls' lunches every day, but for whatever reason, Snack Time is furthest from my mind at 0700.
I wonder what the teacher would say if I sent Samantha in with a grocery bag full of boxed crackers, pretzels and graham sticks for her to eat at her leisure. "Just tuck it in your desk there, sweetie!"
Sigh.
On a positive note, I have not once forgotten to send the girls with an extra pair of shoes this winter!! Yay me! (Last year, I forgota couple many times and Samantha had to walk around in her boots all day.) I do believe this is what we call an improvement!
So maybe next year, I will finally get the Snack and Sharing Time thing down. Baby steps my friends. Baby steps.
I REALLY, REALLY hate "Sharing Time" at school. Like, REALLY hate it.
I know my animosity towards it comes from the fact that I'm so lousy at remembering it, but still.
Every single Friday, Emily is supposed to bring in something for Sharing Time and it is supposed to start with the letter that they have been studying that week. (Thankfully Samantha's teacher has decided that 1st grade is old enough to forgo sharing time.) I have tried so hard to remember Sharing Time: I have marked it on the calendar, I leave little notes, I have even encouraged Emily to remind Mommy.
And yet another Friday is here and poor Emily is without a Sharing Time object today AGAIN. Not only does this make the mom feel like a complete failure, but imagine poor Emily week after week after week.
Week 1:
Teacher: "Emily, what did you bring for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nothing. My mom forgot."
Week 2:
Teacher: "Emily, what did you bring for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nothing. My mom forgot. Again."
Week 3:
Teacher: "Emily, did you bring anything for sharing time today?"
Emily: "Nope. My mom forgot. Again."
Week 4:
Teacher: "Does anyone have an extra Sharing Time item for Emily to borrow? Her mom forgot again."
Can't we make Sharing Time morph into "Found Object Time"? Like, "OK everybody, look around the room and find something that starts with the letter we have been studying this week."
Yes, I think Found Object Time would be much better for all involved. Except maybe the teacher whose room would get ransacked each week. Hmmm....
On a slightly unrelated note, I'm going to really go out on a limb here and share with you another beef of mine: Snack Time. In past years, the kids all brought in boxes of snacks at the beginning of the year - or throughout the year as supplies dwindled - and everyone shared the same snack.
Apparently in first grade you don't share anymore. You are to bring in your own snack.... EVERY morning. Do you want to take a guess at how many times yours truly has neglected to send Sam in with a snack? You would think it would be a simple enough thing to remember since I pack the girls' lunches every day, but for whatever reason, Snack Time is furthest from my mind at 0700.
I wonder what the teacher would say if I sent Samantha in with a grocery bag full of boxed crackers, pretzels and graham sticks for her to eat at her leisure. "Just tuck it in your desk there, sweetie!"
Sigh.
On a positive note, I have not once forgotten to send the girls with an extra pair of shoes this winter!! Yay me! (Last year, I forgot
So maybe next year, I will finally get the Snack and Sharing Time thing down. Baby steps my friends. Baby steps.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
No, You May Not Have a DS.
My 3 oldest kids have been BEGGING for DSs since last fall. It all started when the girls saw their friends on the school bus playing these hand-held gaming systems on the way home from school.
"But Mom, everyone in my class has one!"
"They're so cool Mom!"
"I will take really good care of it and promise not to play it all the time!"
The pleas have gone on and on. As the kids are still all 7 and under, we just don't feel that buying them such a toy is necessary, not to mention the cost!
So, my kids, being the creative little master minds that children so often are, made their own DSs - out of paper! They drew and cut them out, folded them in half and then colored in buttons, toggles and a screen. They even made the "pen" and charger cords to go with them.
For literally hours on end, they will play with their new DSs. They "play games", use the "camera" feature to take pictures of each other, "download" more games and "play music". It is amazing how imaginative their little brains can be.
And all because Ryan and I said "No" to buying them real ones. Ha! What a novel parenting technique! I wonder if it will work when they are 16 and wanting cars??
"But Mom, everyone in my class has one!"
"They're so cool Mom!"
"I will take really good care of it and promise not to play it all the time!"
The pleas have gone on and on. As the kids are still all 7 and under, we just don't feel that buying them such a toy is necessary, not to mention the cost!
So, my kids, being the creative little master minds that children so often are, made their own DSs - out of paper! They drew and cut them out, folded them in half and then colored in buttons, toggles and a screen. They even made the "pen" and charger cords to go with them.
For literally hours on end, they will play with their new DSs. They "play games", use the "camera" feature to take pictures of each other, "download" more games and "play music". It is amazing how imaginative their little brains can be.
And all because Ryan and I said "No" to buying them real ones. Ha! What a novel parenting technique! I wonder if it will work when they are 16 and wanting cars??
Friday, March 18, 2011
Our Pet Mothy
Our family has acquired a new pet in the last few weeks! He is a very easy pet as he requires absolutely no care or feeding. We don't have to clean up after him, he doesn't make a peep and the kids absolutely adore him. His name is Mothy the Moth Hansen.
That is correct. Our new pet is a moth. Emily discovered him hanging out on our bathroom door about 2 weeks ago and started talking to him. She immediately decided on the name Mothy the Moth Hansen and he was adopted into our family right then and there. Mothy will disappear for a day or so at a time, but without fail, he shows back up again in another room, hovering wherever there is light. Whenever there is a Mothy-sighting, the kids all gather round and talk to him in soft cooing voices. Right now as I type this, the kids are making Mothy a "bed" out of a toy truck trailer and have placed it near a light to keep him happy.
At first, I thought this was just an amusing little distraction for the kids, and I prepped them that one day, they may not be able to find Mothy and that he may fly away. But, I think I may have actually developed a slight affection for the little guy! The other day, I was vacuuming the house and I noticed Mothy fluttering about 2" off the carpet. Of course I was worried that I would suck him up or even step on him, so I turned off the vacuum, went over and shooshed Mothy safely out of the way. The kids have even given me explicit instructions that we have to catch Mothy and take him with us to our new house when we move. I'm not sure how we're going to pull that one off yet.
I don't know how much damage one moth can do -- I'm assuming they make moth balls for a reason, right? -- but at this point, we're just happy to have Mothy around. He's the perfect pet for this busy momma!!
That is correct. Our new pet is a moth. Emily discovered him hanging out on our bathroom door about 2 weeks ago and started talking to him. She immediately decided on the name Mothy the Moth Hansen and he was adopted into our family right then and there. Mothy will disappear for a day or so at a time, but without fail, he shows back up again in another room, hovering wherever there is light. Whenever there is a Mothy-sighting, the kids all gather round and talk to him in soft cooing voices. Right now as I type this, the kids are making Mothy a "bed" out of a toy truck trailer and have placed it near a light to keep him happy.
At first, I thought this was just an amusing little distraction for the kids, and I prepped them that one day, they may not be able to find Mothy and that he may fly away. But, I think I may have actually developed a slight affection for the little guy! The other day, I was vacuuming the house and I noticed Mothy fluttering about 2" off the carpet. Of course I was worried that I would suck him up or even step on him, so I turned off the vacuum, went over and shooshed Mothy safely out of the way. The kids have even given me explicit instructions that we have to catch Mothy and take him with us to our new house when we move. I'm not sure how we're going to pull that one off yet.
I don't know how much damage one moth can do -- I'm assuming they make moth balls for a reason, right? -- but at this point, we're just happy to have Mothy around. He's the perfect pet for this busy momma!!
Friday, March 11, 2011
20 Weeks
How Far Along? 20 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Physically, I feel really good. Emotionally, I'm a little overwhelmed right now. We have a lot going on and a lot to worry about... so worry I do. I come from a long line of worriers.
How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).
Movement? Yes, definite little nudges and pokes. At the ultrasound, we found out that the placenta is along the back wall of my uterus, which explains why I have been able to feel movement so early this time. (If the placenta is in the front, it "muffles" a lot of the movement at first.)
Food Cravings/Aversions? Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is.
Symptoms: Starting to feel lightheaded a lot like I normally do during this point in pregnancy. My blood pressure always dips really low during the middle 3 months (like as low as 90/50) and this makes me feel dizzy and weak at times, but that's better than going the other way!
Maternity Clothes? Yup.... on the bottom half. I don't fit into any pre-pregnancy pants anymore, but I am still wearing my longer, pre-pregnancy shirts. I save the big "tents" for the end!
Stretch Marks? I'm taking this question out next time. Seriously, who wants to know about my stretch marks???
Weight gain? 10lbs. According to the records I've kept on all my other pregnancies, this is about par for the course for me, if not slightly under. Let's hope I am able to keep it that way!
Sleep? I'm sleeping good yet, although I keep waking up in the night, lying slightly on my belly and worry that I'm squishing the poor kid!
Best Moment of the Week? Going to our ultrasound!! We took the girls with us and they thought it was pretty cool. Ryan and I had decided NOT to find out the gender, but the whole time the girls kept begging us to find out. Daddy totally caved at the end -- his girls have him wrapped around their little fingers I think! ;) -- and so we DO know if we are having a boy or girl.
Gender? Well, we told a few key people, but I'm not sure how much we are going to spread the news. I'm thinking we'll wait and see and if news starts leaking out, I will post it here, but for now, I'm keeping you all in suspense. (Hey, SOMEBODY has to have a surprise!)
What I'm looking forward to? Spring. It will feel so good to get outside with the kids and get all of us some fresh air.
Emotions? Like I said, I'm fairly stressed out right now. This poor baby is going to be a high-strung little peanut, poor thing!! We will be moving in about a month, so that has my mind occupied and Ryan hasn't been working many hours lately, so we're a little stressed about that. We just keep praying that God will provide for us as He has in the past, but of course the fear and worry is never far behind.
I'm hoping to get some pics of the ultrasound scanned in soon and when I do, I will post them. We have some really good ones!!
How I'm Feeling Overall: Physically, I feel really good. Emotionally, I'm a little overwhelmed right now. We have a lot going on and a lot to worry about... so worry I do. I come from a long line of worriers.
How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)
He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).
Movement? Yes, definite little nudges and pokes. At the ultrasound, we found out that the placenta is along the back wall of my uterus, which explains why I have been able to feel movement so early this time. (If the placenta is in the front, it "muffles" a lot of the movement at first.)
Food Cravings/Aversions? Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is.
Symptoms: Starting to feel lightheaded a lot like I normally do during this point in pregnancy. My blood pressure always dips really low during the middle 3 months (like as low as 90/50) and this makes me feel dizzy and weak at times, but that's better than going the other way!
Maternity Clothes? Yup.... on the bottom half. I don't fit into any pre-pregnancy pants anymore, but I am still wearing my longer, pre-pregnancy shirts. I save the big "tents" for the end!
Stretch Marks? I'm taking this question out next time. Seriously, who wants to know about my stretch marks???
Weight gain? 10lbs. According to the records I've kept on all my other pregnancies, this is about par for the course for me, if not slightly under. Let's hope I am able to keep it that way!
Sleep? I'm sleeping good yet, although I keep waking up in the night, lying slightly on my belly and worry that I'm squishing the poor kid!
Best Moment of the Week? Going to our ultrasound!! We took the girls with us and they thought it was pretty cool. Ryan and I had decided NOT to find out the gender, but the whole time the girls kept begging us to find out. Daddy totally caved at the end -- his girls have him wrapped around their little fingers I think! ;) -- and so we DO know if we are having a boy or girl.
Gender? Well, we told a few key people, but I'm not sure how much we are going to spread the news. I'm thinking we'll wait and see and if news starts leaking out, I will post it here, but for now, I'm keeping you all in suspense. (Hey, SOMEBODY has to have a surprise!)
What I'm looking forward to? Spring. It will feel so good to get outside with the kids and get all of us some fresh air.
Emotions? Like I said, I'm fairly stressed out right now. This poor baby is going to be a high-strung little peanut, poor thing!! We will be moving in about a month, so that has my mind occupied and Ryan hasn't been working many hours lately, so we're a little stressed about that. We just keep praying that God will provide for us as He has in the past, but of course the fear and worry is never far behind.
I'm hoping to get some pics of the ultrasound scanned in soon and when I do, I will post them. We have some really good ones!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lent Starts Tomorrow!
Tomorrow, another Lenten season begins. As my fellow Catholics know, Lent is a time for us to deepen our relationship with Christ while preparing for his death and resurrection.
I'll get back to that in a minute, but first, a little humor:
Lent has three facets: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I usually just "give up something" and "try to pray more", but I decided that I needed to be more specific this year. I want this Lent to be more than just a casual, passing thought in the hopes that these new practices and a deeper relationship with God will "stick". After all, our faith journey shouldn't just comprise of a 40-day stint once a year.
Along with the traditional dietary fasts, I have decided to give up Facebook for Lent. This may seem like a strange or even silly thing to give up, but, I spend admittedly a LOT of time on Facebook. I want to better use this time to serve my hubby and kids and spend more time in prayer. I know I can do better in both of these areas. :)
However, I always have lots of thoughts rattling around in my head and if I can't post them on Facebook, they may just end up here!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lent – and even those of you who are! – this link here is a really great Q&A article.
I'll get back to that in a minute, but first, a little humor:
John Smith was the only Baptist to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill. Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper. This went on each Friday of Lent.
The neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done. They decided to try and convert John to become a Catholic so they went over and talked to him and were so happy that he decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic. They took him to Church, the Priest said a few words, sprinkled him with Holy Water and announced "You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic." The men were so relieved that now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.
The next year's Lenten season rolled around. The first Friday of Lent came, and just at supper time came the wafting smell of steak cooking on a grill. The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! WHAT WAS GOING ON? They called each other up and decided to meet over in John's yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent. The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water. He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."
:) Made me chuckle.
Lent has three facets: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I usually just "give up something" and "try to pray more", but I decided that I needed to be more specific this year. I want this Lent to be more than just a casual, passing thought in the hopes that these new practices and a deeper relationship with God will "stick". After all, our faith journey shouldn't just comprise of a 40-day stint once a year.
Along with the traditional dietary fasts, I have decided to give up Facebook for Lent. This may seem like a strange or even silly thing to give up, but, I spend admittedly a LOT of time on Facebook. I want to better use this time to serve my hubby and kids and spend more time in prayer. I know I can do better in both of these areas. :)
However, I always have lots of thoughts rattling around in my head and if I can't post them on Facebook, they may just end up here!
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lent – and even those of you who are! – this link here is a really great Q&A article.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
I Talk Too Much
Seriously. There are times - a lot of times - when I walk away from a conversation and mentally kick myself for not being able to keep my yap shut. Sometimes I feel like I am a 3-year-old bouncing up and down like Mason does saying "Watch me! Pretend I'm a dog. And I have spots. I'm white with brown spots. And my collar is blue with stars on it. And I am 4. Pretend I am 4 and my birthday is in July. And my name is Scruffy. No wait. My name is John. Yeah John. Mama, did you hear me?" (And yes, this is a real conversation I have had with Mason.)
Only I do this with grown-up conversations! Yikes!
Of course it's worse with certain topics. Start talking about my "big three" and I will literally talk your ear off. In the interest of full disclosure, these three topics are:
1. Pregnancy and breastfeeding
2. Parenting philosophies
3. Religion and morality
I suppose these are the three things in life that I feel most passionate about so it stands to reason that I have lots to say about them, but I seriously need to find that personal mute button.
For example, one of my best friends just had a baby. This was her big day! Her chance to tell her birth story, talk about her knowledge of pregnancy and labor and delivery. So as I'm visiting with her in the hospital, I kept finding myself interjecting with "I totally know what you mean!" and "That's exactly what happened to me!" and worst of all, an all-knowing nod of the head. YUCK! When I left, I wanted to smack myself.
So, I sit here today and vow once again to try and learn to be a calmer, quieter person. You know those people who, when you simply stand next to them, you feel calmer? They radiate this sense of peace, contentment and quiet calm. Yeah, I want to be one of THOSE people. Someone who makes the people around them feel at peace instead of someone who animatedly relates to a story with obnoxious facial expressions and loud guffaws at something funny.
So gentle reader, should I be talking to you in real life one day and the train starts barreling out of the station, know that I am doing my absolute best to exude personal calm and restraint. But I am still a work in progress..... er, maybe a major construction zone would be more accurate.
Only I do this with grown-up conversations! Yikes!
Of course it's worse with certain topics. Start talking about my "big three" and I will literally talk your ear off. In the interest of full disclosure, these three topics are:
1. Pregnancy and breastfeeding
2. Parenting philosophies
3. Religion and morality
I suppose these are the three things in life that I feel most passionate about so it stands to reason that I have lots to say about them, but I seriously need to find that personal mute button.
For example, one of my best friends just had a baby. This was her big day! Her chance to tell her birth story, talk about her knowledge of pregnancy and labor and delivery. So as I'm visiting with her in the hospital, I kept finding myself interjecting with "I totally know what you mean!" and "That's exactly what happened to me!" and worst of all, an all-knowing nod of the head. YUCK! When I left, I wanted to smack myself.
So, I sit here today and vow once again to try and learn to be a calmer, quieter person. You know those people who, when you simply stand next to them, you feel calmer? They radiate this sense of peace, contentment and quiet calm. Yeah, I want to be one of THOSE people. Someone who makes the people around them feel at peace instead of someone who animatedly relates to a story with obnoxious facial expressions and loud guffaws at something funny.
So gentle reader, should I be talking to you in real life one day and the train starts barreling out of the station, know that I am doing my absolute best to exude personal calm and restraint. But I am still a work in progress..... er, maybe a major construction zone would be more accurate.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Parenting Divide
It finally happened. After eight and a half years of marriage and seven and a half years of parenting, Ryan and I are starting to see differences in our parenting philosophies. And it is a truly good thing!
Ryan tends to rule with an iron fist. As he says, there are no grey areas, only black and white. What he says goes, and there is no negotiating or questioning. He views parenthood as a dictatorship if you will.
I tend to parent more on the laid-back side, using the family structure as a classroom. I try to only say "no" if I am really ready to fight whatever battle I choose to fight. I love the teaching principle of "natural consequences" and use it as often as possible.
For example, the other day, Mason didn't want to get his socks and boots on in order to leave to bring the girls to school. Now, I could have fought him on this issue and forced him to get them on. Ryan admittedly says he would have done exactly that. However, I let him go without the socks and boots.
He cried the entire time, saying his feet were too cold. I kindly pointed out to him that his feet wouldn't be cold if he would have put the socks and boots on. Natural consequences.
Another area where we disagree is regarding food. Food is just something I refuse to make an issue of. I figure, if a kid is truly hungry, he or she will eat. So, rather than make the child sit there and "clean their plate", if they don't eat, they get down and don't get anything until the next snack or meal time. And then if I'm feeling particularly mean, I make them eat the food they left behind before they get anything else.
Ryan HATES that I do this. He believes that meal time is meal time and rather than listen to a crying, whining child say they are hungry later on, they are required to eat at meal time.
But all of this disagreement is so good for Ryan and me in terms of our parenting skills and for our children. I believe kids need BOTH types of parenting. Some kids need more of one kind than the other! :) Our different parenting styles make Ryan and me question our motives. It keeps us from slipping in to lazy parenting, and a "one size fits all" mentality. It makes me aware of times where I need to be tougher and makes Ryan realize that sometimes, it's just not worth the fight. It also teaches the children how to engage with different personalities and types of authority figures.
Our goal is to raise children who are able to think through their actions and make the correct decisions because they know that is the right thing to do, not simply because someone told them to do it. But in the same breath, we want them to understand that there is a time and place where their opinion is of no consequence.
Hopefully, with our two parenting styles meshing, we will achieve our goals without our children spending too much time on a therapist's couch. :)
Ryan tends to rule with an iron fist. As he says, there are no grey areas, only black and white. What he says goes, and there is no negotiating or questioning. He views parenthood as a dictatorship if you will.
I tend to parent more on the laid-back side, using the family structure as a classroom. I try to only say "no" if I am really ready to fight whatever battle I choose to fight. I love the teaching principle of "natural consequences" and use it as often as possible.
For example, the other day, Mason didn't want to get his socks and boots on in order to leave to bring the girls to school. Now, I could have fought him on this issue and forced him to get them on. Ryan admittedly says he would have done exactly that. However, I let him go without the socks and boots.
He cried the entire time, saying his feet were too cold. I kindly pointed out to him that his feet wouldn't be cold if he would have put the socks and boots on. Natural consequences.
Another area where we disagree is regarding food. Food is just something I refuse to make an issue of. I figure, if a kid is truly hungry, he or she will eat. So, rather than make the child sit there and "clean their plate", if they don't eat, they get down and don't get anything until the next snack or meal time. And then if I'm feeling particularly mean, I make them eat the food they left behind before they get anything else.
Ryan HATES that I do this. He believes that meal time is meal time and rather than listen to a crying, whining child say they are hungry later on, they are required to eat at meal time.
But all of this disagreement is so good for Ryan and me in terms of our parenting skills and for our children. I believe kids need BOTH types of parenting. Some kids need more of one kind than the other! :) Our different parenting styles make Ryan and me question our motives. It keeps us from slipping in to lazy parenting, and a "one size fits all" mentality. It makes me aware of times where I need to be tougher and makes Ryan realize that sometimes, it's just not worth the fight. It also teaches the children how to engage with different personalities and types of authority figures.
Our goal is to raise children who are able to think through their actions and make the correct decisions because they know that is the right thing to do, not simply because someone told them to do it. But in the same breath, we want them to understand that there is a time and place where their opinion is of no consequence.
Hopefully, with our two parenting styles meshing, we will achieve our goals without our children spending too much time on a therapist's couch. :)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
16 Weeks
Alright, I'm not *technically* 16 weeks until tomorrow, but since I had some quiet time tonight, I thought I would post now because who knows what the weekend will bring?!
How Far Along? 15 weeks, 6 days
How I'm Feeling Overall: Wonderful! I finally have my energy back, the morning (evening) sickness is gone, and my belly is not so big that it keeps me from functioning without a waddle. Life is good. :)
How your baby's growing: Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
Movement? I do believe they are indeed baby movements that I'm feeling. Not on a consistent basis yet, but I will be sitting there and all the sudden feel a familiar little TAP inside my belly.
Food Cravings/Aversions? I think I'm over my addiction to salt and am eating pretty normally now.... which of course includes a healthy dose of sweets. Aaaah, it feels good to be back!
Symptoms: None right now! Unless you count weight gain....
Maternity Clothes? well, I have one pair of maternity jeans out that I just never put away from being pregnant with Benjamin. But I have NO idea where the other ones are! Well, let me rephrase: I know they are in boxes somewhere down in the basement, but our whole back room is full of boxes right now packed for moving. I really need to dig them out though because it's a little creepy that I walk around with my pants unbuttoned all day.
Stretch Marks? Eh. Stretch marks, smetch marks. To be honest, I won't be able to tell if I get any new ones... they'll just blend in with the previous ones.
Weight gain? As of Wednesday, 6lbs. I can't remember if that's good or bad at this point!
Sleep? Yes please.
Best Moment of the Week? Hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time!! I have had two ultrasounds so far this pregnancy, but at neither of them did they turn on the audio. It's so good to hear that steady whooshing sound.
Gender? If the ultrasound were today, we would find out. No promises what tomorrow will bring.
What I'm looking forward to? The ultrasound at 20 weeks.... only 1 month to go!!
Emotions? To be honest, the pregnancy hasn't been as much on my mind lately simply because of all the commotion with selling the house. So any emotions I am having (read: stress) are mostly coming from the house situation.
How Far Along? 15 weeks, 6 days
How I'm Feeling Overall: Wonderful! I finally have my energy back, the morning (evening) sickness is gone, and my belly is not so big that it keeps me from functioning without a waddle. Life is good. :)
How your baby's growing: Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.
Movement? I do believe they are indeed baby movements that I'm feeling. Not on a consistent basis yet, but I will be sitting there and all the sudden feel a familiar little TAP inside my belly.
Food Cravings/Aversions? I think I'm over my addiction to salt and am eating pretty normally now.... which of course includes a healthy dose of sweets. Aaaah, it feels good to be back!
Symptoms: None right now! Unless you count weight gain....
Maternity Clothes? well, I have one pair of maternity jeans
Stretch Marks? Eh. Stretch marks, smetch marks. To be honest, I won't be able to tell if I get any new ones... they'll just blend in with the previous ones.
Weight gain? As of Wednesday, 6lbs. I can't remember if that's good or bad at this point!
Sleep? Yes please.
Best Moment of the Week? Hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time!! I have had two ultrasounds so far this pregnancy, but at neither of them did they turn on the audio. It's so good to hear that steady whooshing sound.
Gender? If the ultrasound were today, we would find out. No promises what tomorrow will bring.
What I'm looking forward to? The ultrasound at 20 weeks.... only 1 month to go!!
Emotions? To be honest, the pregnancy hasn't been as much on my mind lately simply because of all the commotion with selling the house. So any emotions I am having (read: stress) are mostly coming from the house situation.
Friday, January 21, 2011
13 Weeks
OK, one of my BFFs has a blog and has been using the following format throughout her pregnancy. I hope you don't mind Jaime, but I'm totally stealing it since it's nice and succinct. :)
How Far Along? 13 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Tired, unmotivated and can't wait to crawl into bed at night!
How your baby's growing: Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.
Movement? It seems like it is waaay too early, but I *swear* I feel tiny little flutters every once and a while. It feels just like when I felt all the other babies first start moving.
Food Cravings/Aversions? I can't get enough SALT! Potato chips, french fries, cheese curds. Mmmmmm. :) Which is so strange because I usually have such a sweet tooth!
Symptoms: Morning, or should I say evening, sickness. I feel pretty good in the morning but as the day wears on, about 3:00, I quickly go downhill. Although I do think I am starting to feel a teeny bit better than I did 2 weeks or so ago. Yay me!
Maternity Clothes? yes. I am really fighting it, but gosh, my regular clothes are just so.... constricting. Hey, it's my 6th pregnancy, people. Cut me some slack. :D
Stretch Marks? Nope!!! (OK, well at least not from *this* pregnancy. LOL)
Weight gain? Last time I was in to the Dr., 4 pounds. I can guarantee you it has increased since then!
Sleep? *I* can sleep through the night... it's my children who wake me up!
Best Moment of the Week? Seeing my friend's 3-week old and looking forward to holding a newborn of my own again!
Gender? Ooooh, we can't decide if we will find out or not yet. We go back and forth.
What I'm looking forward to? Actually looking pregnant instead of just looking "fat".
Emotions? Are evening out, I think. But you'd have to ask my husband to get the real answer I suppose. :)
How Far Along? 13 weeks
How I'm Feeling Overall: Tired, unmotivated and can't wait to crawl into bed at night!
How your baby's growing: Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.
Movement? It seems like it is waaay too early, but I *swear* I feel tiny little flutters every once and a while. It feels just like when I felt all the other babies first start moving.
Food Cravings/Aversions? I can't get enough SALT! Potato chips, french fries, cheese curds. Mmmmmm. :) Which is so strange because I usually have such a sweet tooth!
Symptoms: Morning, or should I say evening, sickness. I feel pretty good in the morning but as the day wears on, about 3:00, I quickly go downhill. Although I do think I am starting to feel a teeny bit better than I did 2 weeks or so ago. Yay me!
Maternity Clothes? yes.
Stretch Marks? Nope!!! (OK, well at least not from *this* pregnancy. LOL)
Weight gain? Last time I was in to the Dr., 4 pounds. I can guarantee you it has increased since then!
Sleep? *I* can sleep through the night... it's my children who wake me up!
Best Moment of the Week? Seeing my friend's 3-week old and looking forward to holding a newborn of my own again!
Gender? Ooooh, we can't decide if we will find out or not yet. We go back and forth.
What I'm looking forward to? Actually looking pregnant instead of just looking "fat".
Emotions? Are evening out, I think. But you'd have to ask my husband to get the real answer I suppose. :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I'm still here, I promise!!
Oh boy, I have been a terrible blogger! So much has been going on in our lives that has kept me away from here. To be truthful, I still don't have the time to write about it tonight, but this blog has been on my mind for a couple weeks now and I know I have some catching up to do.
When I find a quiet -- no.... uninterrupted? no.... hmmm.... when I can wrap my head around writing anything intelligible, I will be back. :)
In the meantime, remember this: if a 1 year-old is being really quiet, there is always, ALWAYS a reason.
When I find a quiet -- no.... uninterrupted? no.... hmmm.... when I can wrap my head around writing anything intelligible, I will be back. :)
In the meantime, remember this: if a 1 year-old is being really quiet, there is always, ALWAYS a reason.
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