Saturday, November 26, 2011

Our sleep: co-bedding and beyond

When dealing with the eating issues at the very beginning Nick and I literally got no sleep for the first couple days. She would get to sleep, we would lay down and just as we would drift off she would start screaming. 


After we got over the feeding issues our sleep went from 0 to 3 hour stretches. I was getting far more sleep than I ever thought I would and it only got better. For every "bad night" where she was up every 1-2 hours, she had a "good night" where she'd sleep for 5-9 hours straight. You read that correctly. Now just because she was sleeping 9 hours straight doesn't mean I was... at about 4 hours straight my brain is going, "Oh my God, she's dead... go check to make sure she's breathing!"

The common belief is that if you keep your child awake during the day, they will sleep at night. This is simply not true. I noticed she was sleeping longer at night when I was letting her sleep during the day.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Colic

It seems to just be one thing after another in our house these days.

Between a poor latch, thrush, an umbilical hernia that caused quite a scare, and now a colicky baby; Nick and I are losing our minds.

Source

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Dealing with thrush

After I wrote this post about overcoming our breastfeeding issues and having everything going so well, the universe decided I was being too cocky and hit both Annaliese and I with a pretty bad case of thrush.

Due to her poor latch at birth, she got blisters on the inside of her mouth - which I was assured was normal. So when it looked like she had some spit up residue on some of the blisters I didn't think anything of it. About a week and a half passed and I noticed it wasn't getting any better and her breath smelled really sour. I tried brushing the inside of her cheeks with an infant gum brush and when the white spots wouldn't brush away I realized what it was. At this point it had already spread to my nipples - explaining the pain I just thought was due to a latch regression.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Cloth Diaper Snob



I'm not afraid to admit it, I've become a cloth diaper snob. I haven't used a disposable in over a week and I'm loving it. Perhaps the newness will wear off, but I doubt it.

I promised you a post detailing exactly what kind of diapers I'm using, so here's the break down.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Breastfeeding is hard

LOL

Every mammal does it, in fact that's where the word mammal comes from - the mammary gland is what produces the milk for the offspring. After the first few days of breastfeeding I had Nick go pick up The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by the LLLI. In the chapter titled "Latching and Attaching" a sentence reads, "Babies need to choose their own timing. We used to be told to 'latch the baby on' when her mouth was open wide. But mammal mothers never take that much control over a feeding, and babies don't expect it." Now, if you've followed my blog for any amount of time or even read my birth story, you probably know how gung-ho I am about doing things the "natural" way. So if it's so natural and supposed to come so easy... why isn't it?

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Bradley Method & Me

You might remember this post where I basically dismissed the Bradley method as a bunch of cow poop but had spent the money for the class so figured I might as well finish what I'd started. After all, it couldn't hurt, right?

Well, I'm going to have to take back everything bad I said about it. All of the coping methods I used during my labor and delivery were learned from the Bradley classes we took. I never would have thought of vocalization had it not been for that class. I never would have thought to explore the positions I did throughout labor had it not been for that class. I probably would have been begging for drugs.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Our Birth Story

It's taken a while to process exactly what happened surrounding Annaliese's birth. Everything happened so fast, I'm not sure exactly where to begin. If you ask my husband when labor began he would probably joke that I had been in labor for the entire last half of the month of September.

But the exciting stuff started to happen Saturday, October 8th. I woke up around 9 to find I had lost my mucus plug, I texted my doula and waited for Nick to wake up so I could share the news with him. I went to doctor google asking questions like, "how long after you lose the mucus plug do you go into labor?" I got excited with answers like "half an hour" and disappointed with the other answers like "2 weeks." We took Saturday to visit with family and attend another couple's baby shower - trying to keep ourselves preoccupied with something other than kick starting labor. I went to bed Saturday content and mentally prepared to be pregnant for another 2 weeks. 

I woke up at 10:15 on Sunday morning, disappointed I had slept so late since I was going to have to get up early for work the next day. I had been having contractions all weekend so the ones I felt all day were nothing that hinted to the start of labor. I spent the day in bed, watching 30 Rock on Netflix and at about 6 o'clock Nick and I made a trip to the Urgent Care Center because Nick had a pretty bad cough and was running a fever. He had some x-rays done and was prescribed medicine for Bronchitis and we went on our way. Nick went to bed at 9 but baby girl was so active I couldn't sleep. She kept me up until almost 1am with non-stop powerful kicks and rolls. Dr Google told me that movement slows down as labor approaches, so labor was the last thing on my mind. I fell asleep thinking about what I was going to wear to work.


Monday, October 10, 2011

She's here!


Baby Annaliese is here! :  wedding 317083 10150485541269325 778284324 11156889 1947970054 N

Annaliese Marie came into the world on her due date: 10/10/2011 at 6lbs 9.5 oz and 19 inches.

I woke up with contractions and lots of blood at 2:34am, water broke at 4am and she was here by 7:10am! I was successful in fulfilling my hopes for a natural, medication free birth and we're all back home now just loving it up!

I'll post a more detailed birth story in the days to come :) Thanks everyone for your support and wonderful encouragement. It was the hardest and most fulfilling thing I've ever done.

Friday, October 7, 2011

The power of the full moon

So.... there's supposed to be a full moon on Wednesday...

Source
You know what they say about full moons right?

Sunday, October 2, 2011

On timeliness

I live by the old saying, "If you're early you're on time; If you're on time you're late; If you're late you're fired." I start getting nervous if I'm not to my destination by fifteen minutes of the decided time, and this causes me to be usually fifteen minutes early for everything. Since apparently no one else lives by this rule and is always late to everything, I end up waiting by myself for a good half an hour. I'm usually frustrated an annoyed that the other person can't be responsible or manage their time well enough by 15 minutes into my waiting - so even if they truly were right on time I'd still be pissed that they didn't find our meeting to be important enough to be a few minutes early for.

You can see how this may present a problem as I wait for this labor show to get on the road. Going into labor at 38 weeks is my "on time," 40 weeks is "late" and 42 weeks is "I'm going to shoot myself." Right now I've been at the destination for a week already and the person I'm waiting on has not yet arrived. They still have another week until they're technically still "on time" but I'm already starting to tap my toe and wonder what the hell is keeping them.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

No such luck

12 days to go and still pregnant. While I've been having contractions, they're no where close to the consistency the ones on Saturday night and into Sunday morning were.

I have been experiencing some really strange pains all day, though. They only last for 1-2 seconds but feel exactly like the peak of a contraction. When I called about them I was told that it may just be the baby moving and hitting a nerve - sending a shooting pain. Either way, I'm just ready for it to be over. I know I'm only 38 weeks and therefore still possibly have another 4 weeks to go... but I don't want to think about that part.

That being said, I'm starting doses of Evening Primrose Oil in the form of capsules tonight. They say past 38 weeks it's safe to insert up to 4 a day, but I think to cut down on oily discharge during the day, I'll stick to one when I get home from work and one when I'm ready for bed.

We'll see how it works and I'll report back in a few days!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Still here, still pregnant

38 weeks! With 5 days left in the month of September I'm giving up my dreams for having a September baby and deleting all the beautiful sapphire birth stone jewelry I had bookmarked. Sorry kid, but it looks like you're going to have an ugly birthstone. (No offense to those born in October, opal just isn't my personal favorite).

We did have an interesting night last night, though. I started having contractions around 1:15am at 3-5 minutes apart. I fell asleep and they woke me up again around 4:45 - more intense and at 2-3 minutes apart. While I was contemplating calling the midwife / doula I fell asleep again, so it's safe to say I wasn't in labor. Throughout the day today I've been having mild contractions with no real consistency, so we'll see what comes of it.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Foodie!

We went to BJ's a few weeks ago, and while perusing the bakery / food section I came across this:

Go ahead an say it. Holy hell. Yeah, I know, doesn't it look delicious. I promise, it tastes 4589734593789 times better than it looks. It's called a  "veggie crunch mix" and what I like the most about it is that the green beans look like green beans, the squash looks like squash, the carrots look like carrots, and the schnoz berries taste like schnoz berries. 

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Full Term - Submit your guess!

Want to submit a guess of when baby girl will arrive? There's a prize for the winner! Scroll down to the end of the post for instructions!


37 weeks. As of today, if I go into labor I can go to the birth center rather than the hospital. As of today she is guaranteed to be here within 5 weeks...and we still don't have our bags packed. I'm quite large and I'm quite grumpy about it. When people ask when I'm due I tell them "Not soon enough." But I don't really mean it! While this is all uncomfortable, knowing that at the end there's another person I'm going to be responsible for is intimidating. But under all the cynicism (that passed spell check!) and sarcasm - I can't wait. I can't wait to feel her helping me and working with my body to come into this world, I can't wait to see what a pro she'll be at everything. I can't wait to see how much she's going to teach us, and I can't wait to see who she looks like. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

On being sick for two

I am going to type this out. And I bet that at least one obnoxious person will think, "Oh, it's going to be worth it in the end!" Let me tell you something: throwing up while snot is dripping out of your nose and simultaneously pissing yourself because - well, you can't control it - is not worth it. For anything.

OK, I lie. That's passive aggressive and will probably put my kid in therapy forever if she finds out I said that. But seriously, it sucks.

Just thought I'd share that lovely mental picture with you. The end.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Using a TENS unit during labor

Straight from Wikipedia: "Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (acronym TENS) is the use of electric current produced by a device to stimulate the nerves for therapeutic purposes."
TENS unit
Back when I was a swimmer I had some really bad rotator cuff issues. I was able to obtain a TENS unit and using it along with the physical therapy, I was able repair all the damaged tissues in my shoulder and it really helped with the pain. 

Last night our Bradley instructor randomly brought up the use of a TENS unit to help with back labor / any other pain during labor. I immediately asked what the cons of using the device during labor are and she said that there's a lot of controversy regarding it. Obviously, this was not the answer I wanted and so I chose to do my own research. I was able to find that while certain uses of the TENS unit could be considered unsafe (like placed over your uterus), using it for other areas (feet, legs, back) is considered safe (read: there are no adverse side effects). 

But this makes me wonder - is using a TENS unit during labor still considered having a natural birth?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

True Life: I'm a Control Freak

The main reason I chose to go the natural / midwifery / out of hospital birth is because simply put - I want to be in control. I did my research of local hospitals to see what they "allowed" when it came to labor and birth and it scared the crap out of me! I know assumption is the biggest error trap but I know that feeling out of control would make me tense and stressed, causing "failure to progress" which would ultimately lead to a c-section in our local hospital where the c-section rate is nearly 40%. 

Truth be told: I'd rather lock myself in our bathroom and come out when the kid gets here than be surrounded by a bunch of people telling me what's best and what to do and putting their fingers / hands in places they would normally never be. But I don't think that's an option for us - as both first time parents and rational humans that realize something may just go horribly wrong with no warning. 

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Sometimes I forget...

Sometimes I forget that there's things I can no longer do now that I'm pregnant. I'm not talking about forgetting the important things like not smoking or drinking, etc. But the SMALL things that I physically cannot do anymore. Like lay on my back for extended periods of time - which gives me awful back pain and makes me feel like I'm drowning, or move my legs too fast - which sends a shooting pain straight into my uterus. Even every day simple things you don't think twice about - like bending over to get dinner out of the oven. Yeah, you heard me right. Apparently I forgot just HOW humongous I really am and burned my belly on the oven while getting dinner out.

Monday, August 29, 2011

These are not your grandmother's cloth diapers.

My mother: "So - I've been stocking up on diapers, when do you want to start taking some home?"
Me: "Actually, Nick and I have decided to invest in cloth diapering."
My mother: "Oh.................................................................................... well you're going to need waterproof pants and bloomers and pins and -"
MOM! Stop.
This is the reaction we get from most people who have no idea what they're talking about when we tell them of our decision to invest in cloth diapering. Most people think of the piece of white cloth that isn't much bigger than a dinner napkin (or thicker, for that matter), wrapping your kid in it, sticking a few pins in for good measure, and praying there isn't a poo-splosion.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

DIY Dresser: The Tutorial

Continued from this post, it's time to go step by step of what it took to refinish this amazing piece of furniture. With the help of my DIY savvy mother and my wonderful husband we turned this:


Into this:

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Being uncomfortable (33 week picture included!)

Pregnancy will be uncomfortable. No matter WHAT you do - your pregnancy will make you uncomfortable in at least one way at some point. However - I have made what I think is a direct correlation between diet and level of comfort. Before I start my lecture I want to say that I am in no way a doctor or a dietitian; nor do I know what is best for you and your baby. These are observations I have made that have been working best for me during my pregnancy and thought it might be helpful if you're to that point of un-comfort where you're willing to try something new.

This weekend I splurged. Nick wanted to go to a burger joint, and being that it was almost noon and I hadn't yet eaten I was ravenous. I got a burger. A huge burger. And I ate the.whole.thing. I went to sleep at 11pm and was still burping up onion. Around 8am I started to get these shooting pains from my stomach to my brain. It felt like that pain you get when wait WAY too long to eat - you know, how any pressure you put on your stomach gives you the worst headache ever? Usually food makes it better, so I ate. 3 hours later it hadn't gone away. It was to the point that I wasn't able to concentrate. Everyone kept telling me to call the midwife, it could be a sign of this or that or oh ya know, death. I decided that if I woke up this morning and still felt it I would call. I woke up this morning feeling great. I'm convinced it was that burger.

For the past couple months I've been sticking to a mainly "clean" diet. Not because "it's good for me" or "good for the baby" but because I literally crave plates upon plates of cooked vegetables and fresh fruit. Do I also crave and consume things like cosmic brownies and sour patch kids? Of course! But I have found that what works best for me is eating mainly things that grow from the ground. Due to not really eating much outside that diet for the past few months I didn't realize how much of an impact "straying" from it would have. There are a lot of pretty common pregnancy symptoms I haven't experienced yet and I'm wondering if my diet may having something to do with it. To list a few:

Monday, August 22, 2011

T-48 days

I used to laugh at people who talked about nesting. I thought, "duh... everyone needs to create space and buy shit for a new person, why give it a name and description that makes it sound like we're losing our minds?" Well my friends... I've recently learned that the name and description are 100% for real and spot on. Sure, I went on a few cleaning and organizing and "get rid of this crap we haven't touched since we moved in two years ago" kicks and I thought "wow, my nesting is kicking in early! I'm smart to do this now so that there's less to do later when my huge belly won't let me fit in this small space anymore!" Well, that was nature's way of tricking me into thinking I was getting ahead of the game. Because today, I turned into this:

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Book Review: Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth

Amazon Link
As you can see, this book didn't take NEARLY as long for me to read. Not that that means one is any better - Ina May's was a little longer but was written in an experience based manner, making it read like one adventure after another. It also helped that the first half of the book was nothing but birth stories told by all different mothers who all had different experiences. The first half took me less than a day to get through and the rest of the chapters took about 3 (week) days to finish.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

The magnificent H2O

Source
Why didn't I discover this miracle element sooner? Water is the greatest thing to happen to pregnant women. EVER. Why do I say this you ask? Well dear readers, mainly because of it's versatility.

How water has helped me -

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

"Your Best Birth" - A Book Review

Source
Remember this post?  Where I said I was going to read that book and write a review? Well.... I read it. I read it all the way up to the last 10 pages. Then, somehow, I lost it. Yeah. Last ten pages, I put it down and forgot where it was. I blame it on the parasite that's currently sucking the life out of me. Well anyways, I lost it back in June and being naive, I thought I would find it again and finish it so I delayed writing this post. Truth: I never really looked for it. It's not in any obvious places and I can't bend over anymore without assistance so I'm just going to pretend I made a valiant effort to find it before I gave up my search and decided to write my review.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Dreaded Pregnancy Weight Gain

Source
This is a subject no one wants to talk about. So far, I personally have gained 10 pounds during this pregnancy. Weight gain during pregnancy is inevitable and healthy but it's a really touchy subject. No matter which end of the spectrum you're on people are going to have something negative to say and therefore no one talks about it. However, I think it's extremely important to inform people how much weight a pregnant woman is supposed to gain - because many people just don't know. When you throw out that you've gained 30 pounds and you're met with shock and surprise it's not because people think you're fat it's because people don't know any better. My husband thought 10 pounds of weight gain was too much! So the average pregnant woman is supposed to gain 25-35 pounds steadily over her 40 week pregnancy. Let's break it down:

Saturday, July 30, 2011

How to save a ton of money: DIY dresser

I had a really specific look in mind for the nursery furniture. My in-laws were gracious enough to offer to pay for the nursery furniture (love you two!) and so I was thankful I was able to find the crib and changer online that matched my vision for a "reasonable" price. However, the matching dresser that was supposed to go with the "set" was NOT my vision and nothing I came across really hit the spot either. So I decided to start scouring local thrift stores, antique shops, and even the local classifieds. I looked at dozens of dressers trying to find the right one and started freaking out that it was so late in the game and I didn't have one yet. And then... I found it.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

My iron story - a follow up

So, I refused to mention the iron again after posting about it initially because I didn't want to write about how well it was going, only to have it be immediately jinxed. So, since I knew it was going to happen one way or another I just figured I'd wait until after my overly dramatic "I'm throwing up so hard all of my insides are going to come up and I'm going to die right here on the bathroom floor" moment was over.
                                               

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

(Almost!) 29 weeks with a picture!

Since I'm almost 29 weeks, I'm also getting excitied because that means I'm almost 30 weeks! Which means I almost only have 10(ish) weeks left! Oh, how the weeks have flown by. As we get into the final stretch, I've noticed some things becoming more prominent than before.

I am completely exhausted. I literally look like someone has punched me in the face every morning when I wake up. I fall asleep around 830 or 9 each night because I can no longer keep my eyes open and I wake up at 550 each morning. Yeah, that's like 9+ hours of sleep everynight. And I'm still exhausted. I wish the kid would just get here already so at least I had a reason to be tired. This could also be a combination of my thyroid going crazy (Again) or my low iron. I'm hoping after a week of taking the iron supplements I'll start to see a difference.

Monday, July 18, 2011

My love hate relationship with iron.

I have been a die hard blood donor since I was 17. Every 58 days I donate blood - I even have a donor card! This is something I feel really strongly about, and when I found out I was pregnant and (foolishly) tried to continue to donate they shot me down. I was shocked! "But, I'm PREGNANT! I'm making even more blood now... more of a reason for you to want to take it - right?" The woman looked at me in the eye with such...confusion?... and said, "Sweetie, you're donating your blood to a much better candidate now. We'll see you again in December." Due to constantly giving blood, I had always closely monitored my iron - taking supplements when needed. So when I got pregnant I didn't think it would be a big deal. Turns out my prenatal vitamin had 256% of my daily value of iron. JUST THE VITAMIN. Not to mention the iron I was absorbing already from my daily diet. I was receiving WAY too much iron and I believe that's what caused a lot of my first trimester sickness. When I told my midwife that's what I believed the issue was she told me to stop taking it and if I needed to, we would resume taking iron supplements later on.

I went for a few weeks of my first trimester and all of my second trimester not having to go back on the iron. And I felt great! I wasn't feeling deprived or depleted. Then today... I got the call.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

My addiction to all things V8

I have a confession. v8 products have taken over my fridge, my pantry, and my heart. It started with making sure I was getting all my servings of fruits and veggies and has turned into a monster. Between Bolthouse farms protein shakes for breakfast and v8 continuously throughout the day I'm amazed that I'm only running to the bathroom once an hour. Seriously my day goes something like this:

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Third Trimester

I have read that the third trimester ends the "comfortable" stage in pregnancy and kick starts the "crap the kid is almost here" stage in pregnancy. I didn't think it would be so much like flipping a switch. I woke up the day I switched from the 2nd to the 3rd trimester feeling awful. I was nauseous, sweating, swollen, and even threw up. I haven't been able to sleep in any other position but a 90 degree angle due to the awful heartburn and it feels like I can only eat 1/10 of the amount of food I used to before I feel like I'm about to vomit everywhere.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mommy’s little helper

Dear little girl,
You know how I know you love me? You’re already such a big helper.  Just a few examples of how you help me…

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Talking about our feelings: The Bradley Method

There are SO many different birth classes that it can be really over-whelming. However, it was not even an option in my mind to go with anything other than the Bradley method. For those that aren't familiar, in a nut shell Mr. Bradley grew up on an animal farm, assisting the farm animals and watching them give birth. When he stepped into the field of obstetrics and saw how birth was handled in the medical field, it sickened him. He had grown up knowing birth to be completely natural and at a pace that was decided by the baby alone; whether it took 3 hours or 3 days. So he set out to revolutionize the way birth was handled.

Yesterday was the first class of our twelve week Bradley course. Unfortunately my husband was unable to attend. I walked in and there was only one other couple. I asked if the class started at 5 and where the other couples were. The instructor gave me a confused look and said that their classes only accept two couples per course. A twelve week, couple focused birth class. I am spoiled.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

25 weeks and a picture

I have had GI issues for my entire life. GI issues + pregnancy are never a good combination and when I started waking up in the morning with a "tightness" in my abdomen I didn't think much of it. The other morning I realized - holy moly! They're contractions! Nick was up and in the shower already so when I walked into the bathroom and announced I was having contractions he freaked. I explained to him they were only Braxton - Hicks, but still! My body is practicing; gearing up already for the big day!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Keeping up with life when all you can do is waddle

The past two weeks have been crazy. So many things happened at once and I feel like I'm still stuck going, "WHAAAA?" I was offered another position at work which is fantastic and I love it but it meant different hours to allow for the training and so my schedule was thrown off (ever try to switch your sleep schedule at 6 months pregnant? Yeah, not pretty). We started the home buying process; getting pre-approved, looking at a few different choices, putting in our first offer, and then being outbid. Since I got another position at my full-time job I made the decision to quit my weekend job (pregnant me can't work 7 days a week anymore) which is a huge weight off my back but also felt like a huge weight until my two weeks were actually up.

Friday, June 17, 2011

How pregnancy can read like a prescription drug commercial

If you've ever watched television I guarantee you've seen at least one prescription drug commercial. Why they have these commercials I will never know; you either have the specific condition the medicine treats or not... but I digress.

You know how towards the end - right before the actor/actress says his/her, "talk to your doctor about (insert Rx here) and make the switch" line, there's that whole "talk to your doctor before taking (Rx) if you have a,b,c...z. (Rx) may cause a,b,c....z. If these develop, stop taking Rx and talk to your doctor right away." Well, I always thought it was funny because they usually start off with simple, expected, basic symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, blurry vision, dry mouth, rash, etc. but then...as the list goes on the symptoms get worse. So it goes something like, "headaches, blurry vision, some memory loss, numbness, and sometimes even death." And you're sitting there going "WAIT . WHAT?! DEATH?! WHY IS MY ALLERGY MEDICINE GOING TO CAUSE DEATH?!" Even though we all know the company has to put it in their commercial to cover their ass in case someone actually does just happen to die after taking the medicine, we start the mental freak and then calm down to the more rational, "yeah right... like ALLERGY MEDICINE really causes DEATH."

Saturday, June 11, 2011

We're (more than) half way there!

At 22 weeks pregnant I can officially say that I have been pregnant for longer than I will remain pregnant...even if I go over by the max amount of time they let you (2 weeks)! That's scary! These past 22 weeks have gone by so fast and to think I don't have that much longer to be "child-free" so to speak is bewildering. After I came to this realization I started coping with the anxiety it left me with by some good, old fashioned, retail therapy. In the past two weeks I have spent more money on home and baby centered things than I'd care to admit. Where did this come from?!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Friday, June 3, 2011

Expectations vs Reality

When I first found out I was pregnant there were several things I automatically assumed/expected.

Just to name a few:
Hospital birth with an OB
I'd look like this at 6 months along:
I would no longer be able to sleep comfortably
The relationship between my husband and I would change
I'd crave really crazy things (common example and the ever so infamous being pickles and ice cream)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

An optical illusion

Because I was being a brat and wouldn't take pictures yesterday I woke up feeling extremely guilty and therefore was forced by my guilt to take a picture against my will. OK, so I woke feeling 100x cuter and smaller and decided I wanted to show off my bump... but that doesn't sound as good.

Look, look! I still look "normal!"
Okay, maybe not.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Chuck Norris kicks to the bladder (read: how I stay awake at work)

As many of you know I went from a position where I was able to sleep in most days and got my necessary 8+ hours of sleep just about every day to a position where I'm at work by 5:30 in the morning. I swear, if I didn't have such an immense aversion to the smell/taste/look of coffee I'd be chugging it at this point. However, due to this I have to manage staying awake at my desk the way all the other pregnant women do:

Source

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Father to a beautiful daughter...

Well, I had a feeling.  My feeling was correct.

In 4/5 months, I will become the father of a beautiful baby girl.  The feeling is still so surreal; the more I look at the pictures we got yesterday, the more it is starting to set in.

The feeling that I can't get out of my head is being able to go to my first father/daughter dance with her.  It's such an exciting time, and yet there's so much to do between now and then.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support - Kaitlin and I could not do this without you.  To our parents and grandparents reading - we're excited you're along with us on our journey, and we hope that we can be the parents to her that you were to us.

(note from Kaitlin: Sorry sweetie, I read your original post and took out the name... not ready to share it with the internet world yet)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Our Baby Girl

As I'm sure you've noticed everything has been switched from yellow/green to PINK! Although Nick and I wanted a boy so very badly, we both had an inkling from the beginning that she was going to be a girl. I'm not going to lie; I was mad. I was more than mad. I don't think I smiled once for the rest of the scan after the tech told us it was a girl. I cried. I cried like a selfish little bitch. But you know what; I'm allowed. And now that I'm over it I can think of all the wonderful things- like what a good Hooters girl she'll make one day. (KIDDING)

Without further adieu:
Our baby girl's profile

Today is the day!

This Yellow is Ugly.


This yellow is ugly.
Why is yellow ugly?
Big bird is yellow
Bird Bird is Ugly.
Gender Neutral is yellow
Gender Neutral is Ugly.
By the laws of Synecdoche;
Yellow is Ugly.

Today we go in for our anomaly scan. We were told yesterday at our appointment there's a high chance I'm carrying twins that they missed (wtf?) at our other two sonograms. I guess today we get to find out the sex of our baby(ies)! What a deal :) I  will report back later tonight and can't wait to change the background to blue or pink.... or maybe both!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I LOVE FOOD

I have always loved food. Heck, just a few weeks ago I modeled off my big ass double chicken patty homemade sandwich to all of you. In a public blog. On the internet. That takes balls. This was me a few weeks ago:
NOMNOMNOM

Saturday, May 14, 2011

A Whale Tale

Once Upon A Time there was a humpback whale.

Dear Nick, you can add this to my collection of baby animals I want. 
The humpback whale knew she was graceful and beautiful and liked to come up out of the water to flaunt her stuff because, let's face it... that's pretty freakin' sweet to be able to lift your 79,000 pound body 3-5 feet out of the water.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Little Kicks

I'm tired. There will be no substance to this post as I currently have my eyelids taped open. I may not even stay up for House tonight. <---- THAT'S A BIG DEAL.

Let me introduce my best friend:

So, I knew exactly what she was trying to communicate to me when the episode "Little Kicks" came on one day last week.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Let them eat cake!

No, this post has nothing to do with whether Marie Antoinette actually said that or if it was just Rousseau trying to make an ass of her. This post is about me and cake...and all of the other scrumptious desserts I don't have in the house. Seriously, I can go to the grocery store and spend $100 on things that sound amazing, get home, unpack them all, and have them sit in the pantry because now that I have them in the house they don't seem as desirable. It seems I only want what I can't have. Like that wedding cake that is still in the freezer from December. You're surprised I haven't eaten it yet? Me too. I seriously did set it out to thaw and eat some of the icing flowers though... But really, all jokes aside, today I shooed hubby off to a baseball game and legitimately contemplated whether I had enough time to drive to the grocery store, buy a cake, eat the whole thing and hide the evidence of it before he got home. I sat on the couch, watching national geographic, crying over cake. WHO DOES THAT?!

Friday, April 29, 2011

These are a few of my favorite things

All together now! Oh, the hill's aren't alive? Well.... I'm going to tell you anyways. 

Crush Grape Soda. 
If only Willy Wonka's taste-o-vision really worked :( 
This stuff is amazing. I have no clue why... but for about 3 days I have been obsessed over this stupid grape soda. And just in case you were wondering... no- regular soda mixed with grape juice does not yield the same result. Not that I would know or anything. 



Self Explanitory. 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Simple Pleasures

There are a lot of things in life that you realize just how much you take for granted once you become pregnant. One of those things is sleeping on your back and stomach. Today marks sixteen weeks, which also marks when you're no longer allowed to sleep on your back. I haven't decided if I will actually follow through with this suggestion or not because, well frankly, sleeping on my back is the only comfortable position for me now. I have a body pillow which I can use to find more comfortable positions; but I think until I find my back uncomfortable I'll keep doing it.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Feeling the first movements

All the books and all the websites give a specific "window" of exactly when a woman will feel her baby's first kicks. Straight from the BabyCenter website: "You'll probably feel your baby move sometime between 16 and 22 weeks." Why is there this specific window? Why is a woman who thinks she felt her baby at 15 weeks told, "Oh sweetie, that was probably just gas" Well, just so you know... I've had gas since week 1 and THIS was different.


Why do other pregnant women and people in general make sharing such exciting first experiences feel like something you can't do anymore? Why, when I share a story, does EVERYONE feel like they need to put their fifty million cents in. Not two cents, if I had two cents every time someone tried to give me "advice" I'd be effing rich. Then, when I convey that to people they give me even more bull about how everyone's just trying to help and they're excited. And people wonder why I answer their questions without explanation or substance. The answer to such questions like, "How are you feeling?" Has become "fine." To which they respond, "Yeah, you are in the second trimester now you should start feeling better." Oh. Thank you. Thank you for your evaluation of the contents of my uterus. How is your uterus? Oh you don't want to talk about your uterus? Then why is it alright to talk about mine? Do NOT treat me any different and DO NOT analyze the contents of my uterus for me. That is what I have prenatal care for. And if you think I'm talking about you, don't ask me; I think you've just answered your own question. 


Yes, I felt the baby move. At 15 weeks and 5 days. So sue me.


On to a more positive subject: We had an appointment on Thursday with the midwife. I was lucky enough to be able to have the midwifery student sit in on the appointment and it was fun to see someone so fresh and new to the profession. When I asked her "How many babies have you caught?" Without hesitation she answered, "Thirteen this semester!" You could tell how excited and passionate she was about this and it really made me remember exactly why I made this decision. 


It was time to get up on the exam table to measure my fundal height and listen to the heart rate. Apparently, my fundal height is right back on the normal track; measuring 15 weeks at 15 weeks gestation. When the student pulled out the dopplar and began searching for a heart rate, she wasn't really able to find it. I started getting worried because every other time they were able to find the heart rate fairly quickly. After about 90 seconds the mid-wife looked at me (I guess she could tell I was getting worried) and told me, "you hear those loud static noises?" "Yeah..." I answered, fully expecting her to tell me that that was the sound a uterus made when a fetus had died or something, (I told you I had crazy hormones!) "That's your baby kicking the machine!" No way. NO. WAY. NO FU%$#NG WAY. She informed me that every time they found the heart beat, the fetus would kick the machine and move. After about 5 minutes of trying to count and having to find the fetus again, the midwife turned to me and said, "Well. A baby THAT active, has to have a heart beat."  Positive end to a frustrating day. 

Friday, April 22, 2011

Dad time again!

There comes a time, I suppose, in the course of a pregnancy when things go from "Yeah, I'm going to be a Dad" to "Ummmm....I'm REALLY going to be a Dad!"  That experience happened to me over this past week on two separate occasions.  Let me explain.

First, I spent a few days on spring break this week visiting my grandparents, who live in South Carolina.  Not long after I arrived, my grandmother brought out the baby blanket that she made by hand.  When she brought it to me, it took me a minute to realize/figure out what it was.  This blanket...is for my child!  It's amazing to know that we have such a wonderful support system - it means so much!

Yesterday was our regular appointment with the midwife.  Everything went well (though I suppose I'll let MomG tell you about all that!)  During the visit, as always, we were able to use the dopplar machine (I think that's what it's called) to listen for a heartbeat.  We couldn't get the count of the baby's heartbeat.....because he/she was moving around all over the place.  When the midwife told us that the "static-y" sounds we were hearing was the baby moving, I just couldn't believe it.  We were both so excited leaving the office.  It's really happening, and it's starting to set in.

There's lots to do over the next few months, and we're so glad you're along for the ride!

Monday, April 18, 2011

I should be studying...

Compared to the drama of last week, this week has started out pretty drama free. I may or may not have felt the baby kick, it's hard to tell until the movements pick up and I start feeling things to compare it to.
Baby G is now the size of a naval orange, or an apple... seems like everyone says something different. The second trimester isn't as great for me as it has been for some people, apparently. I'm just now starting to suffer from the tell tale nasal congestion (then again it IS allergy season) and now my gums bleed any chance they get. Brushing my teeth and eating lunch have become daily blood baths, but apparently this is normal? They say to just make sure I keep flossing/brushing like I'm supposed to and it's something that will disappear over time I guess. 

Every day it seems my belly gets fuller and fuller as the baby shifts up into my abdomen. I guess next week it's picture time already!

Measurements:
154 pounds
35"
15 weeks

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Update: An Unexpected Visit

I've officially gone into crazy hormonal pregnancy googling mode. I'm really worried about something I saw on the sonogram. Below is our 9 week ultrasound and then underneath of it is our 14 week u/s. I've drawn along the outside of the baby's amniotic fluid in each of the photos with yellow.

9 week u/s. Amniotic fluid seems to be held in a round shape in the uterus; seen by the outlining in yellow. Keep in mind that black on an u/s= liquid. Gray= tissue
Then we look at the most recent u/s from yesterday, seen above. I've outlined the lining of the sac in yellow and there is a distinct difference in shape. The uterine lining comes down to a pointed "v" shape right below the baby's neck. And you can see it there in all of the pictures she gave us and it was consistently there the whole time the tech was performing the u/s. It's not like this is just how it looked from a certain angle. 

Being a crazy preggo woman I googled other u/s pictures to see if anything looked similar. Nothing. My CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) said nothing about the "V" being an issue and neither did the tech. It really bothered me that the fetus wasn't moving as much as we saw it moving in the first u/s and it honestly is scary. I can't say we saw the baby's arms or legs move once during the 10 minutes we were watching it. But the heart is still beating strong, and that's what matters. 

I haven't called the CNM back because if she hasn't called me yet then I can only assume they didn't find anything further since yesterday when I spoke with her. 

I'll keep everyone updated as I get more answers. Thanks for the love and concern!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

An Unexpected Visit

Today has been the scariest day of all the days I have lived so far. When there is another human life growing inside of you that only you can protect, everything is dramafied times 100000000. The past few weeks I've been feeling uncomfortable. I use that term loosely because there is nothing about growing a human that isn't uncomfortable. But this was different. This was a sort of feeling I had. I started having pain in my lower abdomen at about 10 weeks but didn't think anything of it because every one I talked to said they had experienced the same thing and not to think about it as anything other than "normal." 


The past few days the pain and intensity got worse. I chalked it up to my uterus rising into my abdomen because, well... that's what everyone else said it was. I would urinate and the pain would stop. This morning I went to work and no matter how often I used the restroom the pain would not stop. It got to the point where I had to stop what I was doing as the pain was taking my breath away. I called my midwife after 3 hours of this pain and she told me to come in immediately. She told me to hold my urine because she needed a sample. The thing about this pain is that it is made worse by any kind of pressure- including the pressure of a full bladder. The ride from Waldorf to Alexandria took no more than 30 minutes. We hit every.single.red.light and at one point I told Nick to let me go with the police officer that was stopped at the light with us because "he could turn on his sirens and have me there in 10 minutes." We finally got to the midwife and I was in tears. I managed to get out, "In a lot of pain. Have to pee now. She needs a sample." I peed for 5 minutes straight. No lie. I felt so much better. I almost fell asleep in the waiting room. 


We got back into the appointment room and she measured my uterus. She found it was twice the size of what it should be. 
I am currently 14 weeks. My uterus is measuring above my belly button, at over 20 weeks. 

I was also having a lot of pain when she pushed on my lower belly. Pain that brought me to tears and I couldn't talk through. I'm not talking dull, achy pain. I'm talking someone is stabbing me. She sent me over for an emergency sonogram to check for fibroids, cysts, or another baby and told me to call if I hadn't been contacted by the end of the day. 

We went for the sonogram right away and were able to be seen pretty quickly. The tech saw only one fetus, measuring at 15 weeks. No cysts or fibroids. Everything looked perfect. We left feeling frustrated that we weren't getting any answers but got these to make us feel better:

I called my midwife back after I hadn't heard anything by the end of the day and she told me that the summary she got from the hospital looked normal and the only thing she "worried about" was that my ovaries were also "measuring big" which could indicate cysts that we mysteriously couldn't see on the sonogram. (hmmmm doesn't sound right...). So for now I have no answers, just an update and cute sonogram pictures. I'm hoping to get more answers tomorrow when the hospital sends over the final report of the sonogram. 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Second Trimester

Well, I can officially report that we are in the second trimester. However, the wonderful energy and life you're supposed to get back in this trimester seems to be slacking. All I have to show for this trimester so far is a bloated belly and face and sore insides. I can no longer bend over without feeling an unpleasant pressure where the fetus is and quite frankly I'm annoyed with everything. Which puts me in a bad mood. Which makes my husband's life miserable- which puts me in an even worse mood. It's a vicious cycle. 

Week 14 is a lemon; perhaps that's why I've been in such a sour mood lately.

Things that make me happy so far: yankee candle electric warmer and assortment of smell good burning tarts. Instant smile and wash of all bad emotions. Good books, new clothes (notice these are all material things). I am usually such a saver when it comes to money. I swear before I was pregnant I hadn't spent a penny on "fun" (non-work related) clothes since high school. And even then, it was really only for Christmas or my birthday. However, in the past 2 weeks alone I have bought over $250 in new clothes and not to mention the money I spend on food and things that smell good (see Yankee Candle reference above). It's sad because I should be saving this money for the baby, but at the same time I feel like I need these things for myself. NOW. Is it some sort of "prize" or bribery that I'm giving to myself? "Oh self, you're doing so well. If you can get through this week I'll buy you a new book to read!" Or maybe it's just that I feel the need to focus my attention on something non-baby related and that's the only way I can escape it?

Speaking of new books, my newest book just came in from Amazon! 
Review to come as soon as I'm finished!


Measurements:
Nothing new from last week. 
155 pounds
14 weeks
35"

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Wedding Cake Woes

So I got asked by a friend yesterday, "Have you had any strange cravings?!" Now let me make myself clear. Unless wanting to rip the top layer of your wedding cake out of the freezer, wanting to try to stuff it into the disgusting microwave to thaw it and then fantasize about eating the whole thing by yourself when your husband is at work.... no. No I have not had any strange cravings. I seriously laid in bed last night wondering if Isabel Williams would re-make me just one layer of our wedding cake and how much it would cost. "Now, the whole cake was $375. So just one tier of that would only be like... $125? Maybe. Yeah, I can totally justify that." *Sigh* So much for my dead pregnancy sweet tooth.

More exciting news? I have officially spent over $400 on maternity clothes. To explain: I started buying maternity clothes a few years back as they went on clearance. I figured if something happened and hubby and I couldn't have children I could always just gift them to someone else. Well, I spent 2 hours last night looking for good deals on loose, flowing, or even maternity tops and spent just under $150. I'm really excited to receive the goods and can't wait to stop feeling fat and start feeling pregnant. I figured I'm good on pants because I just lost 40+ pounds since the wedding and so all of my pants should fit with a belly band throughout the pregnancy.

For when you're too cheap to buy real maternity pants, just put it on over your normal pants. 

Today, I also bring exciting news! We are sort of kind of technically out of the first trimester! I only say that because everything I read is saying something different. So maybe we'll wait until next week to make that 100% official.
In other news: our little one is now the size of a peach! It's vocal cords are forming, it's sucking it's thumb and making fists, too. 

Measurements:
13 weeks
155 pounds
35"

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Peer Pressure

Two posts? On two consecutive days? You guys must be pretty special or somethin'.


Today, I come with a more controversial topic. Today I come with society's view on natural birth. I will be the first to admit that I imagined myself "giving birth the way God intended- strapped to the table, numbed from the neck down" as Blanche Devereaux states from the Golden Girls (Secretly my husband's favorite show).

However, as I did my research and scoped out my options, I realized that maybe that wasn't what I wanted. I realized I wanted something far less scary than a hospital. I made up my mind that we were going to have a natural birth in an out-of-hospital setting. Enter the critics and nay-sayers (AKA the hospital staff and everyone else) who looked at me wide-eyed and confused when I told them I needed my medical records because I was going to see a Midwife. I didn't think it was too strange at the time, because that's the profession they were in and anything else just didn't seem to make sense to them. 

Fast forward to this morning. This morning I was able to make it to Nick's school's regional competition for MESA. At this competition, I was able to meet a few parents and his co-worker. Nick mentioned in conversation to one of the parents that we were expecting and planned to have a natural birth. The woman, I SHIT you not, covered her mouth in horror. No lie. You can't make this stuff up. She started making remarks like, "Oh my gosh, more power to you! That's great but, you're doing it in the hospital, right?" Now, I could have said yes, and ended it there; but I decided I wanted to see how far her foot could go down her throat. I explained there was a beautiful birth center in our area and we planned to go there for the birth. For some reason she could not understand why someone would want to do this. "But, to me... that's what hospitals are for..." I wanted to scream to her "NO hospitals are for people who have been impaled or shot or NEED medical intervention! Nothing about a normal pregnancy needs medical intervention!" But I bit my tongue and told her to rest easy and that it was choice we made for several different PERSONAL reasons. This woman was really sweet and wonderful to talk to, just this...I could not believe. I chuckled to myself about the conversation for the rest of the day but then it hit me like an eighteen-wheeler at about 8 pm how much it really bothered me. 

Why had society took something so wonderful and precious and beautiful and turned it into something that women dread and are terrified of? Why did America feel the need to bring in doctors and hospitals to the equation when the way it had been done for centuries was perfectly fine? And then it clicked: the almighty dollar. If hospitals and doctors could find a way to get everyone into the hospital, that's more money for the insurance companies and more money for the doctors. So how did they convince 98% of the population that birthing was the only way to go? They scared women shit-less of childbirth. With a 40% C-section rate and a 50% epidural rate, the numbers speak for themselves. What do people think of when they think of giving birth? Blood, screaming, pain, tearing. Why? Because that's what TV and the industry has fed to us over the years. I'm not here to try to persuade anyone into or out of the hospital, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of society's outlook on natural birth. 

It makes me sad that so many women have not been able to experience this and I really hope that books like Your Best Birth  and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth  can get the word out; because America's view on Childbirth is unlike that of ANY other country in the world. And it's really sad. 

Although I know this is common sense and should be inferred, I'll put a disclaimer:
I am aware that not everyone has the chance to experience natural birth due to several medical conditions and unforeseen complications that may arise. For these high-risk pregnancies and unforeseen circumstances, thank God we have OB's and the technology to measure fetal distress and C-sections. 

Back Pain (read: why yoga saved my life)

At about 10 o'clock each night, after Nick and the puggle go to sleep, our living room turns into a pitch black cave. Furniture is moved to accommodate my yoga mat and large wingspan. Sarah Ivanhoe comes into my living room and I am removed from the physical world. Rhythmic breathing and challenging poses put me into a trance like no other. I go into the practice with a heavy heart, back pain, and sour attitude from the day and after an hour of practice feel ready for bed and completely cured from everything. I had always been a strong yoga follower and practiced each morning with the sun, however, the knowledge of another being inside of me makes it even more special to me somehow. Like I'm doing my little one a favor. Perhaps the fact that it washes away the stress of the day makes it better for the pregnancy? Who knows, it just makes me feel more strong about practicing consistently than ever. 


Speaking of yoga, I have the crusty picture I promised everyone.I just need to warn you before scrolling any further that (to my defense) it was taken after an hour of hardcore yoga. 
Now, let me show you something else in an attempt to make myself feel better. There is this "double bump" thing that apparently happens to us preggos right before we're going to explode from all of our normal clothes and feed the economy by buying maternity clothes for $100 bucks per pair of pants. Since our uterus shifts from the lower abdomen up to the mid-section during this time (relieving stress off the bladder, thank you Lord!) we get this weird double bump. Let me show you what I mean:
Yeah... now you see it. Moving on!
Our little one is now a plum! D'awww :) The morning sickness had subsided but I have also found that eating dinner and anything past it doesn't sit well. Also, back pain and dizziness have made their entrance as well as daily round ligament pain. 
Until next time!

Measurements: 
157 lbs
34.5 inches

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

When Life Gives You Limes...

Make Guacamole! Okay so maybe that didn't work as perfectly as "limeade" would have, but it seems that lately I cannot get enough avocado. I put it on sandwiches, in salads, on crackers, and most definitely guacamole. Bringing us to our update for this week.
Our little one has officially graduated to a fruit that this lady can visualize. Hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago he/she was only the size of an olive. 

Other than that, there's really nothing new to the equation. My morning sickness has seemed to calm down leading my body to think that eating popcorn for breakfast is acceptable... however in place of it have come some other not so attractive pregnancy ailments such as severe back pain all.the.time., swollen everything, round ligament pain, and the "obviously pregnant but just looks like I had one too many beers to strangers" belly. Yes, what I thought may have been just bloat is the beginning of 28 more weeks of a growing belly. With that said, I promise a picture on Sunday.

Measurements:
157 lbs
35"

Thursday, March 17, 2011

OB vs Midwife Decision

If you remember from my last post we were struggling with the pros and cons of an OB delivery in the hospital vs a midwife delivery in our local birth center. Both seemed to have their fair share of positives and negatives. Here are the lists I was able to come up with for both:


First for the Hospital's list:
Many Cons, not a good deal of Pros. For the BC list:
What do we see here? (Besides a hormonal pregnant woman trying to rationalize what society makes seem wrong) We see MANY more pros than cons. I knew when I walked in to the Birth Center today and they told me to "empty your bladder for comfort" instead of "provide a urine specimen" that I was sold. Not only was I spared having to piss in a cup for once, but I was handed my own medical folder and a pen and told to weight MYSELF, with no one else around. They trusted that I knew how to get on a scale and read numbers and to be honest as I wrote it down on my chart. In my own hand-writing with MY own terms. Then, get this! I was even trusted to take my own blood pressure (GASP!) and record that for them too. My folder's content wasn't a secret from me. In fact, it was written by me. All of the content had been written on my chart by me. They treated me like a grown woman who knew how to handle simple tasks and I was thrilled. 


Look at me, gushing about this place and we hadn't even been taken back by the midwife yet. You know how in the OB/GYN office you sort of just "pick" a doctor. You see that doctor every single visit and maybe even develop a relationship with him/her. You go through your pregnancy thinking how wonderful it will be to have doctor so-and-so deliver your child because he/she knows you and is willing to stick to your birth plan. Then, you go into labor and your doctor isn't on call. You end up meeting a stranger for the 2 hours or so that you push, and then they disappear. Never to be heard from again. In the Birth Center we're using, you see a different midwife each week. This way by the time you give birth you know each Midwife, no matter which one is on call at the time, and no one is uncomfortable with each other. 


Naturally, Nick and I went into this appointment not knowing what to expect and had lots of questions. We saw Jessica for this appointment and her answers to our questions made us feel so much better. It was also comforting to us that our hour and a half long appointment wasn't rushed and that most of our appointments would take about that long, if not longer. Midwifery is more than just childbirth. It's about mentally and physically training yourself to get there. Call them therapy sessions if you will.


Baby's heartbeat today was at a strong 160 bpm, up from the 150's on Monday. But my blood pressure and pulse were also up from 98/44 on Monday to 129/64 today. Probably just nervous/excited.