Shortly before our baby arrived, we did a giant purge of the apartment and sent all the things over to a friend's house for their garage sale/auction. Hubby's district manager said that for sure we would be moving sometime this year, so on our road trip we discussed purging. I used the words "getting organized" also... but did use the word "purging" multiple times as well, clearly (or so I thought) implying that we would be getting rid of some things.
Well, hubby is on this kick of getting up at 6:30 and wanting ME to get up with him at that time, no matter how late I'd been up trying to get baby to sleep the night before or how often I was awake with her. He doesn't have to leave for work until 9:30 or so. This morning he did get up at 6:30 and I got up at just after 9, and he hadn't gotten anything ready for work yet. During the morning, he had been "organizing" some of the cabinets and the refrigerator... but nothing was purged. The cabinets all have their stuff right at the beginning now and nothing towards the back (like the spices and baking things, mostly). The items that were in the cabinet are now in stacks out on the countertop.
What I meant by organizing is more of a purge, of random papers and things that we haven't used since we've been here, and going through our box of miscellaneous electronic items and sorting those out, and matching up the CD's with their cases and getting rid of duplicates, etc. I really didn't mean for our organization to be just a big moving-around of the same stuff we already have. I'm still sortof unpacking from our trip today but will start the purge today and have a stack for hubby to go through tonight.
He does mean well, though, and definitely has good intentions, and he is totally convinced that he did a good thing. And he did say that I could put it back if I wanted to, so that's something I'll be doing today too. So much to do before church tonight.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
new year so different from last year
Wow, I can't believe I've had this blog for a whole year already! I haven't written in it as regularly as I would have liked to, but maybe that'll change this year. :)
Lydia is doing well. It's FINALLY starting to sink in that I'm a mommy. She is a month old today and still tiny. She still fits in newborn diapers and newborn clothes, and the 0-3 month clothes are still so big on her. We had a nice visit last week with my family. Mom kept wanting me to give her a pacifyer all week though saying that I would regret it if I didn't ever give her one. But so far Lydia is quite content chewing on her hands occasionally and her frequent spitups seem to have lessened in quantity and frequency, so I'm not giving her a pacifyer yet. Our nursing relationship is going too well for me to potentially mess it up by giving her one of those.
The visit with my family went well too. All of my mom's side (her sis and bro and her parents) were there at some point during the week, so they all got to meet Lydia. Two of my dad's aunts were also in town so they got to see her too... although one of them mentioned that some peanut butter would make her fists taste better while she chewed on them. My grandmother also had pics of my own birth 28 years ago, and my parents drove home from the hospital just holding me in their arms. I'm not sure that I ever had a carseat b/c of some other early memories I have. It's always interesting how things change from generation to generation.
The first night we were at my parents, Lydia would NOT go to sleep. Turns out that she was cold, so hubby and I took her into bed with us, and she went right to sleep. :) Later in the week, I was taking a nap and co-sleeping again since I had just fed her and didn't really want to get ALL the way up to do that, and my mom came into the room and tried to steal her from me for some more guests that had come over. Since Lydia was right there, I was able to keep my arm protectively over her and reassure my mom that I would bring Lydia out in a little bit.
Right now we still haven't quite made it home yet. Father in law had to have some unexpected surgery so we are staying with his parents for a few more days and hope to be back home on Monday. While we're in town, hubby is working at a store that's about 2 hours away from here. The current manager at THAT store is not doing well at all, and has 6 weeks to get the store in shape or he's gone. Hubby is working there today and tomorrow to help that store arrange the products the way they're supposed to be arranged, and try to help the manager stay there... but in the meantime he and I both are possibly hoping to move there and hubby can manage that store. Then we will be only 4 hours from my family and 2 hours from hubby's instead of 10 and 6, respectively. So anyone reading out there, keep your fingers crossed for us. In May we will have been where we're at for 2 years, and that is the timeframe that the previous district manager had expected us to stay here. The store that hubby is at is in a small-ish town, there's a wonderful church there, and the housing cost is nice and low, so it would definitely be a place we wouldn't mind settling permanently. We would very much miss where we're at, though.
Lydia is doing well. It's FINALLY starting to sink in that I'm a mommy. She is a month old today and still tiny. She still fits in newborn diapers and newborn clothes, and the 0-3 month clothes are still so big on her. We had a nice visit last week with my family. Mom kept wanting me to give her a pacifyer all week though saying that I would regret it if I didn't ever give her one. But so far Lydia is quite content chewing on her hands occasionally and her frequent spitups seem to have lessened in quantity and frequency, so I'm not giving her a pacifyer yet. Our nursing relationship is going too well for me to potentially mess it up by giving her one of those.
The visit with my family went well too. All of my mom's side (her sis and bro and her parents) were there at some point during the week, so they all got to meet Lydia. Two of my dad's aunts were also in town so they got to see her too... although one of them mentioned that some peanut butter would make her fists taste better while she chewed on them. My grandmother also had pics of my own birth 28 years ago, and my parents drove home from the hospital just holding me in their arms. I'm not sure that I ever had a carseat b/c of some other early memories I have. It's always interesting how things change from generation to generation.
The first night we were at my parents, Lydia would NOT go to sleep. Turns out that she was cold, so hubby and I took her into bed with us, and she went right to sleep. :) Later in the week, I was taking a nap and co-sleeping again since I had just fed her and didn't really want to get ALL the way up to do that, and my mom came into the room and tried to steal her from me for some more guests that had come over. Since Lydia was right there, I was able to keep my arm protectively over her and reassure my mom that I would bring Lydia out in a little bit.
Right now we still haven't quite made it home yet. Father in law had to have some unexpected surgery so we are staying with his parents for a few more days and hope to be back home on Monday. While we're in town, hubby is working at a store that's about 2 hours away from here. The current manager at THAT store is not doing well at all, and has 6 weeks to get the store in shape or he's gone. Hubby is working there today and tomorrow to help that store arrange the products the way they're supposed to be arranged, and try to help the manager stay there... but in the meantime he and I both are possibly hoping to move there and hubby can manage that store. Then we will be only 4 hours from my family and 2 hours from hubby's instead of 10 and 6, respectively. So anyone reading out there, keep your fingers crossed for us. In May we will have been where we're at for 2 years, and that is the timeframe that the previous district manager had expected us to stay here. The store that hubby is at is in a small-ish town, there's a wonderful church there, and the housing cost is nice and low, so it would definitely be a place we wouldn't mind settling permanently. We would very much miss where we're at, though.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
my first truly sleep deprived night
Our baby is HERE!!!! Cliff Notes version: Baby girl Lydia Celeste born Tuesday night, December 5th. 12 hours of labor, entirely unmedicated. We had her 3 hours after we got to the hospital. Weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was about 21 inches long. :)
Here is the full version of my birth story, with a link to pictures.
Lydia is 18 days old today and I wonder if she may be starting her 3-week growth spurt early. From about noon yesterday all the way through 5:00 this morning, she was wanting to eat every hour to hour and a half. I really wanted to bring her into bed with us so I could sleep and nurse at the same time, but I haven't quite learned how to feed her while lying down yet. I barely had time to eat, and could only take a few bites in between nursing sessions. I was able to get her to nap in the sling and I was excited about that, because previously whenever I'd put her in the sling while she was awake, she would get mad. She did get mad yesterday too, but I was standing with her and swayed back and forth about twice, and then all of a sudden she was asleep. That didn't help MY sleep situation any, but at least Lydia was able to take a nap.
After 5 am, she did let me sleep all the way to 10, so that was my sleep for the night. Now I'm up for the day and we'll do it all again. I had wanted to do some of my work at home stuff today but don't know if I'll be able to or not. We'll have to wait and see if Lydia will sleep later, and also if there happens to be work available while she is sleeping. I am going to put her swing together and see how she likes that. I haven't "needed" it yet and was wondering if we would. I hope she finds it calming.
Here is the full version of my birth story, with a link to pictures.
Lydia is 18 days old today and I wonder if she may be starting her 3-week growth spurt early. From about noon yesterday all the way through 5:00 this morning, she was wanting to eat every hour to hour and a half. I really wanted to bring her into bed with us so I could sleep and nurse at the same time, but I haven't quite learned how to feed her while lying down yet. I barely had time to eat, and could only take a few bites in between nursing sessions. I was able to get her to nap in the sling and I was excited about that, because previously whenever I'd put her in the sling while she was awake, she would get mad. She did get mad yesterday too, but I was standing with her and swayed back and forth about twice, and then all of a sudden she was asleep. That didn't help MY sleep situation any, but at least Lydia was able to take a nap.
After 5 am, she did let me sleep all the way to 10, so that was my sleep for the night. Now I'm up for the day and we'll do it all again. I had wanted to do some of my work at home stuff today but don't know if I'll be able to or not. We'll have to wait and see if Lydia will sleep later, and also if there happens to be work available while she is sleeping. I am going to put her swing together and see how she likes that. I haven't "needed" it yet and was wondering if we would. I hope she finds it calming.
Saturday, December 2, 2006
already missing work a little, and "crazy" mom to be
Yesterday and today are my first two days REALLY off work. Today is of course Saturday but yesterday felt like Saturday too. I have been working for about 12.5 years, with a brief break to "try" college (but that's a story for another blog lol). I pretty much always knew that when the time came I would be a stay at home mom, but now that the time is nigh, I actually really miss working. I miss my coworkers from all 3 of the jobs I've had while here in Missouri, I miss the work, and I'll definitely be missing the pay. LOL. We are going to easily be able to live just on hubby's income, but I'll still do my LiveOps (my work at home gig) thing here and there for some extra money. I'll have a shower sometime this week (possibly tomorrow) and have asked friends who have children already what I still need, and my hostesses have asked for that list. I have registered also but most of my registry items are non-essential. I purposely left off things like socks, clothes, blankets, etc b/c in my limited experience, people will get those things for you anyway. But anyway about work. I left so far before my due date so I could have some time to "nest" and finish things up around the house before the baby comes, but for some reason even having all this time off isn't motivating me to do that. I have sewing to do and sewing supplies to organize, and a hospital bag to pack (especially with the roads still frozen... I don't want to have to send hubby home 5 times for this and that). But so far I've only been motivated to take a nap. :P I think later tonight and tomorrow and so forth I'll be a little more motivated... this afternoon I have an hour and a half shift for LiveOps and recently even the half-hour shifts tired me out, but hopefully I'll feel energized and motivated afterwards and can do some sewing after dinner tonight. Or tomorrow. :P
My mom has been calling every day wanting news... makes me wish that I had stuck to my original plan of telling people I was 2 weeks less along than I actually was. It would have been a good plan, too, if they didn't wrangle the fact that I was pregnant out of me when I was home at 5w4d for my grandfather's funeral. If they're already calling me every day now, they'll probably up it to twice a day as my due date approaches, and I just feel certain that I'll go overdue. I may just have to turn my phone off and change my outgoing message to "No, we haven't had the baby yet. We will call you back when there's news. Feel free to leave a message." But anyway Mom is asking about names, etc., and we really don't have those picked out yet. We feel this baby is a girl so we sortof have a girl's name picked, but that may change when it's born... and as for a boy's name, we haven't even talked about it for several months so we'll definitely have to have a big discussion if this baby is a boy. :P But Mom is sad that we're not sharing our names choices. She says that I'm crazy, and says it with a tone that she uses when she is really mad at me like I'm doing something wrong. Well guess what, Mom, you have no idea just how "crazy" I'm going to end up being. (with cloth diapering and planning to nurse our baby for at least a year or so). I'm sure she will have lots of words to say about that. Maybe she won't find out about the cloth diapers right off though since we'll start off using 'sposies and I have to take the baby go to see her since she won't be able to come see me. Even if we've started using cloth by then I'll probably switch back to sposies for the trip since it won't be very convenient to try and find a washing machine once a day for 10+ straight days. :P
My mom has been calling every day wanting news... makes me wish that I had stuck to my original plan of telling people I was 2 weeks less along than I actually was. It would have been a good plan, too, if they didn't wrangle the fact that I was pregnant out of me when I was home at 5w4d for my grandfather's funeral. If they're already calling me every day now, they'll probably up it to twice a day as my due date approaches, and I just feel certain that I'll go overdue. I may just have to turn my phone off and change my outgoing message to "No, we haven't had the baby yet. We will call you back when there's news. Feel free to leave a message." But anyway Mom is asking about names, etc., and we really don't have those picked out yet. We feel this baby is a girl so we sortof have a girl's name picked, but that may change when it's born... and as for a boy's name, we haven't even talked about it for several months so we'll definitely have to have a big discussion if this baby is a boy. :P But Mom is sad that we're not sharing our names choices. She says that I'm crazy, and says it with a tone that she uses when she is really mad at me like I'm doing something wrong. Well guess what, Mom, you have no idea just how "crazy" I'm going to end up being. (with cloth diapering and planning to nurse our baby for at least a year or so). I'm sure she will have lots of words to say about that. Maybe she won't find out about the cloth diapers right off though since we'll start off using 'sposies and I have to take the baby go to see her since she won't be able to come see me. Even if we've started using cloth by then I'll probably switch back to sposies for the trip since it won't be very convenient to try and find a washing machine once a day for 10+ straight days. :P
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
countdown to last day of work
Yay, only 5.5 more days of work and then I will be a full-time mommy. :) And the days will go fast, too... Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays are VERY busy (although my supervisor said that this Friday will actually be unusually slow), Tuesday I am training a new person on how to do one of my assigned tasks so that'll take up a good bit in the afternoon, and then hopefully Wednesday and Thursday will just fly by. :)
We gave Tuxedo to hubby's parents... he never did stop pooping on the floor here no matter what the litter box(es) arrangement was, plus he would always pick on Rainy, biting her to the point of bleeding, etc. Hubby's mom said that he is fitting in well there, and Rainy seems SO much happier now that she is alone. She is "lonely" too though and wants lots more attention than she used to.
I had another prenatal appointment yesterday and everything is going fine. I'm still not having any swelling or other late-pregnancy discomforts and my doctor says that the baby is still head-down. Only 2.5 weeks until my due date, so probably about 4 weeks until it's born, given my family history of going late. I'm not even going to get anxious about all the projects and things that I still want to finish before the baby arrives yet, and I'm definitely not going to get excited about an impending birth until my due date. Too much excitement will wear me out, lol.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and since I'm so far along, hubby and I aren't going out of town. No family or anyone is coming here, either, so we'll just have a "mini" Thanksgiving dinner with just the two of us. We'll have turkey, green bean casserole, pumpkin cornbread, brown'n'serve rolls, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. And hopefully tons of leftovers for the next several days. :P
We gave Tuxedo to hubby's parents... he never did stop pooping on the floor here no matter what the litter box(es) arrangement was, plus he would always pick on Rainy, biting her to the point of bleeding, etc. Hubby's mom said that he is fitting in well there, and Rainy seems SO much happier now that she is alone. She is "lonely" too though and wants lots more attention than she used to.
I had another prenatal appointment yesterday and everything is going fine. I'm still not having any swelling or other late-pregnancy discomforts and my doctor says that the baby is still head-down. Only 2.5 weeks until my due date, so probably about 4 weeks until it's born, given my family history of going late. I'm not even going to get anxious about all the projects and things that I still want to finish before the baby arrives yet, and I'm definitely not going to get excited about an impending birth until my due date. Too much excitement will wear me out, lol.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and since I'm so far along, hubby and I aren't going out of town. No family or anyone is coming here, either, so we'll just have a "mini" Thanksgiving dinner with just the two of us. We'll have turkey, green bean casserole, pumpkin cornbread, brown'n'serve rolls, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. And hopefully tons of leftovers for the next several days. :P
Saturday, November 11, 2006
home stretch plus holidays equals new priorities
Wow, today I am 36 weeks. Only 4 more weeks until my due date, so baby will be here anytime from 2-6 weeks from now. I'm definitely in the home stretch, and counting the days until my last day at work. (13 working days and about 18 calendar days). Today I'm trying to get caught up on some things around the house. After I wash my sheets today, when I remake the bed, I'll put a painter's drop cloth over the mattress and mattress pad. I also want to do some more sewing. I still have that fleece coat that I want to cut out (it is one that also has an extra zip-in panel so I can wear it around just me or around me AND the baby). Plus my sewing things in general need to be organized. Then after I do that coat, I'll see what I have fabric-wise and try to make some nursing clothes.
At Thanksgiving I'll be just under 38 weeks, so we're not going very far out of town. A family from church wants to do something together with us but it might not be right on that day. Whatever we do, it hopefully will be fairly mild. In Thanksgivingses past, I would always look forward to making food and eating and having leftovers for days. But this year the food just doesn't seem that important to me. It's definitely a year to focus more on the "thanks" in Thanksgiving. And then Christmas is shortly after that, and I've done no shopping. DH and I are going to do that on Monday morning, but have already decided to get our siblings gift cards. Kindof lame, I know, but adult siblings that you hardly see or talk to are very hard to shop for. But we'll get something "real" for our parents, and also spend a little time pointing out things that we ourselves like so we can go back later and pick out gifts for each other.
Childbirth classes are going fine. Our teacher skips around in the curriculum, and last week we went over the newborn care lesson, which is the last one in the book. She said in the past that if she went through the book front to back, her couples would randomly go into labor at 36 weeks and miss the newborn care class, so she puts that one in earlier. And of course she made that comment within days of ME reaching 36 weeks. :P But it just made me excited for this little one to come. Our hospital tour is Wednesday evening. I can go to classes and read books and talk online about having a baby, but the labor and delivery tour will really be a wake-up call to me, and make this baby feel even more real.
My appointment yesterday went fine. I'm still not having a whole lot of late-pregnancy discomforts, BP is fine, weight is fine. I measured a week behind, but I have yet to have an appointment where I measure right on so that's pretty normal for me. Because of the weird schedule, I'm not having another appointment until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I did have my GBS test yesterday and she said they culture it for 48 hours and then will mail me the results. So hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday I should know those results, and start to plan for an IV or not.
Our male cat is still going #2 outside the litter box, but our in-laws want to take him. When DH goes down there in a couple of days he'll take Tuxedo with him. I think he'll do better there with the change of scenery, and when DH and I move again it'll be a lot easier to find an apartment that will let us have one cat than it would be to find one that would let us have two cats. (What the big deal is between one cat vs two I'll never know, but some apartments have a limit of one pet.) Plus now there will be half as much hair and half as much cat food and litter to buy. Going down to one income, every little bit helps.
At Thanksgiving I'll be just under 38 weeks, so we're not going very far out of town. A family from church wants to do something together with us but it might not be right on that day. Whatever we do, it hopefully will be fairly mild. In Thanksgivingses past, I would always look forward to making food and eating and having leftovers for days. But this year the food just doesn't seem that important to me. It's definitely a year to focus more on the "thanks" in Thanksgiving. And then Christmas is shortly after that, and I've done no shopping. DH and I are going to do that on Monday morning, but have already decided to get our siblings gift cards. Kindof lame, I know, but adult siblings that you hardly see or talk to are very hard to shop for. But we'll get something "real" for our parents, and also spend a little time pointing out things that we ourselves like so we can go back later and pick out gifts for each other.
Childbirth classes are going fine. Our teacher skips around in the curriculum, and last week we went over the newborn care lesson, which is the last one in the book. She said in the past that if she went through the book front to back, her couples would randomly go into labor at 36 weeks and miss the newborn care class, so she puts that one in earlier. And of course she made that comment within days of ME reaching 36 weeks. :P But it just made me excited for this little one to come. Our hospital tour is Wednesday evening. I can go to classes and read books and talk online about having a baby, but the labor and delivery tour will really be a wake-up call to me, and make this baby feel even more real.
My appointment yesterday went fine. I'm still not having a whole lot of late-pregnancy discomforts, BP is fine, weight is fine. I measured a week behind, but I have yet to have an appointment where I measure right on so that's pretty normal for me. Because of the weird schedule, I'm not having another appointment until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I did have my GBS test yesterday and she said they culture it for 48 hours and then will mail me the results. So hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday I should know those results, and start to plan for an IV or not.
Our male cat is still going #2 outside the litter box, but our in-laws want to take him. When DH goes down there in a couple of days he'll take Tuxedo with him. I think he'll do better there with the change of scenery, and when DH and I move again it'll be a lot easier to find an apartment that will let us have one cat than it would be to find one that would let us have two cats. (What the big deal is between one cat vs two I'll never know, but some apartments have a limit of one pet.) Plus now there will be half as much hair and half as much cat food and litter to buy. Going down to one income, every little bit helps.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
birth plan, version 1.1
Well, I wrote up our birth plan and took it to our prenatal appointment yesterday. And can I just say I love my doctor? She really should have been a midwife because on SO many things she just has more of a midwifey attitude than a medical attitude. She totally sees birth as the natural event that unfolds in its own time and own way than the medical event that should be managed into a standard mold to fit all women.
Anyway here is the birth plan:
Throughout labor and delivery of the baby, Tim (lastname) (baby's father) and J_____ ____ (doula) will remain with me. I have faith that my care providers during this birth will allow me and Tim to make informed decisions regarding all procedures. outlined below are our preferences for labor and delivery. We expect a normal, uncomplicated, vaginal delivery, but understand that things may happen beyond our control. If complications arise, we would like to try the least invasive intervention first, if possible.
Here are our preferences should the birth procede normally:
First stage of labor:
- I prefer a heplock and oral hydration instead of an IV.
- I would liked to be hooked up to a fetal monitor as infrequently as possible and would like a telemetry unit if one is available.
- I would like to move around freely, use a birthing ball, and change positions for comfort.
- I realize that there are several options for pain relief available to me. We are planning a drug-free birth, though, so I do not wish to have drugs offered to me.
- I would like infrequent vaginal exams, and I don't want to be told each time how dilated I am unless I ask. If I seem "stalled" at a particular measurement and I and baby are still doing fine, I wish to give my body time to finish laboring on its own before discussing augmentation or a surgical birth.
Second stage of labor:
- To help my perineum stretch gradually, I would like warm compresses, perineal massage, and slow pushing. I wish to avoid an episiotomy and would rather tear than be cut.
- I would like to push with my body's own urges, taking a new breath as necessary, instead of holding my breath and pushing to a count.
- We did not find out the gender prenatally and would like to see for ourselves what our "surprise" is instead of having it announced.
After birth of baby:
- Baby's father would like to cut the cord, after delivery of the placenta.
- I would like to breastfeed immediately after delivery, to help contract the uterus and deliver the placenta. Please no shots of pitocin or uterine massage without discussing first.
- I wish to keep my baby skin to skin immediately after delivery, with assessments and tests delayed for bonding time or done while baby is in mother's arms.
- We want to room in with our baby for our entire hospital stay.
- We have chosen to decline antibiotic drops in baby's eyes.
- We have also chosen to decline a hepatitis B vaccine. Baby will receive that vaccine at a later well-baby visit.
- If baby is a boy, we do not want him circumcised while in the hospital.
- Baby's father would like to give the baby its first bath.
I do have to revise a couple of things on here but they are VERY minor and I'll post the updated version after my next appointment in a couple of weeks. :)
Anyway here is the birth plan:
Throughout labor and delivery of the baby, Tim (lastname) (baby's father) and J_____ ____ (doula) will remain with me. I have faith that my care providers during this birth will allow me and Tim to make informed decisions regarding all procedures. outlined below are our preferences for labor and delivery. We expect a normal, uncomplicated, vaginal delivery, but understand that things may happen beyond our control. If complications arise, we would like to try the least invasive intervention first, if possible.
Here are our preferences should the birth procede normally:
First stage of labor:
- I prefer a heplock and oral hydration instead of an IV.
- I would liked to be hooked up to a fetal monitor as infrequently as possible and would like a telemetry unit if one is available.
- I would like to move around freely, use a birthing ball, and change positions for comfort.
- I realize that there are several options for pain relief available to me. We are planning a drug-free birth, though, so I do not wish to have drugs offered to me.
- I would like infrequent vaginal exams, and I don't want to be told each time how dilated I am unless I ask. If I seem "stalled" at a particular measurement and I and baby are still doing fine, I wish to give my body time to finish laboring on its own before discussing augmentation or a surgical birth.
Second stage of labor:
- To help my perineum stretch gradually, I would like warm compresses, perineal massage, and slow pushing. I wish to avoid an episiotomy and would rather tear than be cut.
- I would like to push with my body's own urges, taking a new breath as necessary, instead of holding my breath and pushing to a count.
- We did not find out the gender prenatally and would like to see for ourselves what our "surprise" is instead of having it announced.
After birth of baby:
- Baby's father would like to cut the cord, after delivery of the placenta.
- I would like to breastfeed immediately after delivery, to help contract the uterus and deliver the placenta. Please no shots of pitocin or uterine massage without discussing first.
- I wish to keep my baby skin to skin immediately after delivery, with assessments and tests delayed for bonding time or done while baby is in mother's arms.
- We want to room in with our baby for our entire hospital stay.
- We have chosen to decline antibiotic drops in baby's eyes.
- We have also chosen to decline a hepatitis B vaccine. Baby will receive that vaccine at a later well-baby visit.
- If baby is a boy, we do not want him circumcised while in the hospital.
- Baby's father would like to give the baby its first bath.
I do have to revise a couple of things on here but they are VERY minor and I'll post the updated version after my next appointment in a couple of weeks. :)
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
still pregnant with #1, but already worrying about the birth of #2
Guess I'd better get an entry in here before October leaves us since I haven't done anything for this month yet. :P
I am now 32 and a half weeks pregnant with baby #1. December is just around the corner, and I have faith in God and my body that the birth will be fine and I will be able to push him/her out with few interventions from the hospital. My doctor and I are so far in agreement of the few "major" items I've mentioned on my birth plan. I'm going to take a rough draft to her this Friday to discuss the rest of the options I'd like to have available to me while I am in labor.
We searched for a doula and I interviewed 3 of them who do it professionally, but didn't really click with any of them as much as I would have liked to. A close friend of mine had a home birth this past June, after having a C-section in June of '05, and early in my pregnancy I thought of asking her to be at the birth, but didn't know if she could make it since she had two young children who would need looking after. But it turns out that all this time she had been wanting to offer to be at the birth but didn't want to make herself seem too pushy or anything. :P So she will come over sometime in early (but active) labor and help me stay at home as long as possible, then help hubby to be an advocate for me at the hospital and keep the nurses away during a contraction and help me to not be overcome with a bunch of interventions.
When I think about the upcoming birth, I don't really know how it will turn out (like with how long it will last and will it happen at night or at day, etc.). But I do feel peaceful about the whole thing. That is the feeling I have most, above even excitement and anticipation.
Now for our second birth, hubby and I will probably try for a home birth, or at the very least a birth center birth. We will probably be living in a different state by then so I won't be able to take my hospital experience with me, even if it is a good one. Just before my last appointment, I got a copy of my medical records and noticed that my dr had accidently put "does want antibiotic eyedrops" instead of "does not want antibiotic eyedrops." I got them b/c I was going out of town the next day and if something should happen I wanted the records with me. Well I happened to be talking to my mom and let it slip that there was that error on my chart. She went ballistic. I told her why we weren't doing it and later she talked about it to my dad. I called her again today, just to say hi and stuff, and she said that my dad wasn't going to say anything but that if we didn't get the drops and there was something wrong w/ the baby's eyes then he was going to sue our doctor! Um, wouldn't that be MINE and HUBBY's decision as the baby's parents?
Before hubby and I started trying to get pregnant, he let slip at a family gathering that we would try for a homebirth. I'm sure my parents are just ecstatic that we are going to a hospital this time. We WILL do a homebirth or birth center birth next time, but I am already worried about the reaction my parents will have and the discussions we would have over the 9 months of that pregnancy. I mean, if they get THAT ballistic (threating to sue my doctor??? how meddlesome can you be, really) over just eye drops, then they would surely completely flip out over an entire BIRTH at home. At my last prenatal appointment, my doctor HERSELF even said that she is supportive of home birth (but wouldn't do it herself b/c she has seen everything that can go wrong). I would hate to cut ties with my family for the duration of the pregnancy, but I just have a feeling that is what I might have to do because I doubt they would do the reading and research and everything to have a rational discussion, and instead try to use scare tactics to get me to change my mind.
Well guess what mom and dad, I'm an adult; I'm my own person; I really do have a good thinking head on my shoulders; and I am your stubborn daughter and I will not let you "scare" me into going to the hospital. Please, just accept that, and let's be friends again, ok?
I am now 32 and a half weeks pregnant with baby #1. December is just around the corner, and I have faith in God and my body that the birth will be fine and I will be able to push him/her out with few interventions from the hospital. My doctor and I are so far in agreement of the few "major" items I've mentioned on my birth plan. I'm going to take a rough draft to her this Friday to discuss the rest of the options I'd like to have available to me while I am in labor.
We searched for a doula and I interviewed 3 of them who do it professionally, but didn't really click with any of them as much as I would have liked to. A close friend of mine had a home birth this past June, after having a C-section in June of '05, and early in my pregnancy I thought of asking her to be at the birth, but didn't know if she could make it since she had two young children who would need looking after. But it turns out that all this time she had been wanting to offer to be at the birth but didn't want to make herself seem too pushy or anything. :P So she will come over sometime in early (but active) labor and help me stay at home as long as possible, then help hubby to be an advocate for me at the hospital and keep the nurses away during a contraction and help me to not be overcome with a bunch of interventions.
When I think about the upcoming birth, I don't really know how it will turn out (like with how long it will last and will it happen at night or at day, etc.). But I do feel peaceful about the whole thing. That is the feeling I have most, above even excitement and anticipation.
Now for our second birth, hubby and I will probably try for a home birth, or at the very least a birth center birth. We will probably be living in a different state by then so I won't be able to take my hospital experience with me, even if it is a good one. Just before my last appointment, I got a copy of my medical records and noticed that my dr had accidently put "does want antibiotic eyedrops" instead of "does not want antibiotic eyedrops." I got them b/c I was going out of town the next day and if something should happen I wanted the records with me. Well I happened to be talking to my mom and let it slip that there was that error on my chart. She went ballistic. I told her why we weren't doing it and later she talked about it to my dad. I called her again today, just to say hi and stuff, and she said that my dad wasn't going to say anything but that if we didn't get the drops and there was something wrong w/ the baby's eyes then he was going to sue our doctor! Um, wouldn't that be MINE and HUBBY's decision as the baby's parents?
Before hubby and I started trying to get pregnant, he let slip at a family gathering that we would try for a homebirth. I'm sure my parents are just ecstatic that we are going to a hospital this time. We WILL do a homebirth or birth center birth next time, but I am already worried about the reaction my parents will have and the discussions we would have over the 9 months of that pregnancy. I mean, if they get THAT ballistic (threating to sue my doctor??? how meddlesome can you be, really) over just eye drops, then they would surely completely flip out over an entire BIRTH at home. At my last prenatal appointment, my doctor HERSELF even said that she is supportive of home birth (but wouldn't do it herself b/c she has seen everything that can go wrong). I would hate to cut ties with my family for the duration of the pregnancy, but I just have a feeling that is what I might have to do because I doubt they would do the reading and research and everything to have a rational discussion, and instead try to use scare tactics to get me to change my mind.
Well guess what mom and dad, I'm an adult; I'm my own person; I really do have a good thinking head on my shoulders; and I am your stubborn daughter and I will not let you "scare" me into going to the hospital. Please, just accept that, and let's be friends again, ok?
Friday, September 29, 2006
parents' visit and more work on nursery
My parents came to visit all this week, and we had a good time. :) Hubby and I live close to a tourist town, so we went down there for shopping and shows early in the week, then when hubby had to go back to work, Mom and I started our marathon shopping sessions here in town for baby things. I definitely have a good start in supplies now, but she will probably be sending me some burp cloths, towels, and washcloths later on.
While they were here, Dad and hubby put together all the nursery furniture. I still have a few tiny things to sew (a couple of sheets, and re-doing the tabs on the bumper b/c I ended up not liking the way they turned out once installed on the crib), but the nursery bedding is pretty much done. Then I can sew my fleece coat that will have a zip-in baby panel so I can wear the coat over me AND the baby when it comes, and also I can make some nursing clothes too. But for a few days, I need a REST from sewing. :P I've been go go go the past few weeks and am taking a break. Plus Mom was helping me organize the nursery, and piled a bunch of my sewing stuff together so I need to go through it and really see what all I have, and what fabric can be used to make something and what fabric is just scraps. And there is the big box of CD's and tapes and miscellaneous electronic wires that I need to go through too. It is all out of the way in the closet right now, but I need to go through it so it's not piled quite so high as to be blocking the hanging bars. I want to hang up some of the cute li'l baby clothes when I get them. :)
Anyway Mom of course got to feel the baby kick several times this week and is still convinced that this one "needs" to be a girl. She gets frustrated b/c we didn't find out, AND also b/c we are keeping any names a secret until the baby comes. She doesn't know if she will be able to come up right after the birth or not but since I'll be staying at home then, I'll be able to come up in January sometime. She said she wanted to wait and see what hubby's parents were going to do, since they're closer, etc.
But back to the nursery. Now that all the furniture is put together and I can go in there and sit and rock and look at everything that is just ready and waiting for the baby, it is SO real to me. This baby is COMING! I'm really starting to get excited. :) I think my cats knew something was up all week, but now that Mom and Dad have left and the house is quiet again, they probably think everything is normal again. :P They are in for a big surprise in a few months.
Our childbirth classes are still going fine. I was going to take Mom to the class with us this week but our teacher ended up being sick and had to cancel class. Mom was kindof sad too, which was surprising b/c when I first "invited" her, she wasn't interested in coming since she went to classes w/ my sister already.
Also while Mom and Dad were here, I showed them the LiveOps thing. Dad thought it was cool and wanted to do it, but changed his mind when I told him that the phone line to use had to be free of call-waiting, etc. I need to start that back up but will probably wait until tomorrow or Sunday and try to "recover" from my vacation today. Mom said that if I lived in her town then she could hook me up with some freelance transcription work so I sortof wish that I did, but maybe someday we'll be closer.
While they were here, Dad and hubby put together all the nursery furniture. I still have a few tiny things to sew (a couple of sheets, and re-doing the tabs on the bumper b/c I ended up not liking the way they turned out once installed on the crib), but the nursery bedding is pretty much done. Then I can sew my fleece coat that will have a zip-in baby panel so I can wear the coat over me AND the baby when it comes, and also I can make some nursing clothes too. But for a few days, I need a REST from sewing. :P I've been go go go the past few weeks and am taking a break. Plus Mom was helping me organize the nursery, and piled a bunch of my sewing stuff together so I need to go through it and really see what all I have, and what fabric can be used to make something and what fabric is just scraps. And there is the big box of CD's and tapes and miscellaneous electronic wires that I need to go through too. It is all out of the way in the closet right now, but I need to go through it so it's not piled quite so high as to be blocking the hanging bars. I want to hang up some of the cute li'l baby clothes when I get them. :)
Anyway Mom of course got to feel the baby kick several times this week and is still convinced that this one "needs" to be a girl. She gets frustrated b/c we didn't find out, AND also b/c we are keeping any names a secret until the baby comes. She doesn't know if she will be able to come up right after the birth or not but since I'll be staying at home then, I'll be able to come up in January sometime. She said she wanted to wait and see what hubby's parents were going to do, since they're closer, etc.
But back to the nursery. Now that all the furniture is put together and I can go in there and sit and rock and look at everything that is just ready and waiting for the baby, it is SO real to me. This baby is COMING! I'm really starting to get excited. :) I think my cats knew something was up all week, but now that Mom and Dad have left and the house is quiet again, they probably think everything is normal again. :P They are in for a big surprise in a few months.
Our childbirth classes are still going fine. I was going to take Mom to the class with us this week but our teacher ended up being sick and had to cancel class. Mom was kindof sad too, which was surprising b/c when I first "invited" her, she wasn't interested in coming since she went to classes w/ my sister already.
Also while Mom and Dad were here, I showed them the LiveOps thing. Dad thought it was cool and wanted to do it, but changed his mind when I told him that the phone line to use had to be free of call-waiting, etc. I need to start that back up but will probably wait until tomorrow or Sunday and try to "recover" from my vacation today. Mom said that if I lived in her town then she could hook me up with some freelance transcription work so I sortof wish that I did, but maybe someday we'll be closer.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
nursery bedding makes baby feel more real
I'm about 40% of the way done w/ sewing the nursery bedding as of this morning. I've completed both curtains (though eventually I may re-do the sheers b/c I'm not sure if the look of them will "grow" on me or not... I'll post a picture early next month), and just have the tiniest bit of hand sewing left on the blanket and the crib bumper. The 4 sheets and the crib skirt and the wall hanging and the diaper organizer are still not started yet, but based on how fast these other projects are coming together I think that I will be able to finish at least the sewing before my parents visit in 2 weeks. I originally wanted to have the nursery completely assembled by then, but maybe they can help me assemble everything when they come. :) I am skipping sewing maternity clothes though until the nursery bedding is finished and the random boxes in the nursery are moved out of the way.
Anyway, this past weekend I went to visit Tim's extended family (cousins, etc). This is the family that we go see every Thanksgiving, too, but I had to miss last year b/c of work, and will have to see how I feel this year since I'll be 38 weeks along. During the visit, I had brought the bumper ties with me so I could finish the hand sewing on those. While I was sewing, I was talking to the baby since he/she can hear me now. I said "I'm making this for you, baby. I hope you like it." Then it sortof "sunk in" more that yes, I am going to be a mother in about 3 months. Yesterday I kept telling the baby "I hope you like it" as I worked on its quilt. I showed Tim the quilt when he came home and he thought it was just fabulous the way it turned out so far. He looked at the rough color drawing that I had made early in the bedding planning process and was amazed that the "real thing" looked so much better. I can hardly wait for the baby to come and actually use these things I'm sewing. :) Speaking of sewing, I have a bunch of fabric to make a wrap maternity dress, but am thinking now that I will use it to make a nursing top and a matching baby outfit. The fabric is yellow and red so that is gender neutral enough. Mom has sent over a few random cute sleepers and onesies but it'll be neat to have something for the baby that I made, too.
We had our first Bradley class this week. I think the relaxation methods and other excercises will definitely come in handy. I'm looking forward to Tuesday nights. Part of the class is about nutrition, so for the duration of the class, I have to write down everything I eat and count the protein in it. Guess my days of snacking on endless bags of chips are over. :P
Anyway, this past weekend I went to visit Tim's extended family (cousins, etc). This is the family that we go see every Thanksgiving, too, but I had to miss last year b/c of work, and will have to see how I feel this year since I'll be 38 weeks along. During the visit, I had brought the bumper ties with me so I could finish the hand sewing on those. While I was sewing, I was talking to the baby since he/she can hear me now. I said "I'm making this for you, baby. I hope you like it." Then it sortof "sunk in" more that yes, I am going to be a mother in about 3 months. Yesterday I kept telling the baby "I hope you like it" as I worked on its quilt. I showed Tim the quilt when he came home and he thought it was just fabulous the way it turned out so far. He looked at the rough color drawing that I had made early in the bedding planning process and was amazed that the "real thing" looked so much better. I can hardly wait for the baby to come and actually use these things I'm sewing. :) Speaking of sewing, I have a bunch of fabric to make a wrap maternity dress, but am thinking now that I will use it to make a nursing top and a matching baby outfit. The fabric is yellow and red so that is gender neutral enough. Mom has sent over a few random cute sleepers and onesies but it'll be neat to have something for the baby that I made, too.
We had our first Bradley class this week. I think the relaxation methods and other excercises will definitely come in handy. I'm looking forward to Tuesday nights. Part of the class is about nutrition, so for the duration of the class, I have to write down everything I eat and count the protein in it. Guess my days of snacking on endless bags of chips are over. :P
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