Summer Haircut

We finally broke down and took D.L.F. in for a real haircut (as opposed to my clueless and haphazard scissor-lopping).

Before

 

After

 

 

11 PM and Finally Cooling Off

We attended a lovely outdoor wedding today. D.L.F. and Cupcake did pretty well, although D.L.F. started to get cranky toward the end for lack of a nap (plus the heat--it was 100 degrees today with 50% humidity--and neither our car nor our home has air conditioning!). Also, since we moved into our home over a year ago, we had been storing a queen-size bed in D.L.F.'s room. He played on it, it was where we changed his diaper, it was where we sat and sang songs and read books before nap and bed times. Some friends of ours are getting married soon and needed a bed for their new home together, so we were happy to give the bed to them, but it was kind of traumatic for my little buddy. His room looks so empty now! Change is so hard on kids, but they are also resilient, so I know D.L.F. will get used to his room's new look soon. We were able to move some of his larger toys out of the living room and into his bedroom, since there is more room in there now.

I've been expressing to T a lot lately that I need to get serious about losing the weight that I put on when I was pregnant with Cupcake. T tells me he likes the way I look, but he also understands that losing weight is something I want to do--not just to look better, but also for my health and comfort (I've been having back problems). So tonight he showed his support by surprising me with an MP3 player that I can use while exercising, and he said that he wants to help me do what it takes. He and I still need to talk about options, but I'll probably be joining a gym and/or getting some exercise equipment soon. Oh, and, uh, cutting back on the chocolate. That will actually be extremely difficult for me, because I really like chocolate and eat it pretty much every day and get headaches if I don't. Anyway, I love my hubby and appreciate his thoughtfulness and support so much.

My favorite use of tax dollars

I walked to the library this morning with the kids (hooray for the Ergo! It's so much easier to deal with than the double stroller, and Cupcake likes it much better). We signed up for the summer reading program. I did it last year with D.L.F., and it was a lot of fun. For every 15 minutes (or whatever parents decide for their own children) of reading, you mark one space on the path of the child's game board (like Candy Land). There are several check-in points, where you take the gameboard back to the library and pick out a prize. When all the spaces are filled, the child gets to choose either a T-shirt or a gift certificate to a book store. I remember doing summer reading programs when I was a kid, and they were fun, but all we ever got were stickers to cover the spaces on the game board. I was always jealous of my friends who lived within city limits and got to participate in the city's summer reading program that had actual prizes. :-) I'm over it now.

Anyhow, we also unintentionally showed up just in time for storytime. We had never attended storytime before at this library, and D.L.F. had a great time. The librarian read books, sang songs, did fingerplays, blew bubbles, and handed out shakers for the kids to dance around with. The funniest part to me was when all the kids joined hands and walked around in a circle and sang "Ring Around the Rosie." D.L.F. sort of just stood there and allowed himself to be pulled along, but he didn't get that he was supposed to pick up his feet and go around in a circle. It was cute. :-) Cupcake seemed to enjoy watching all the big kids (it was a multi-age storytime for kids 0-6) . Pretty soon she'll be right in there with them!

Eggs are a few of his favorite things

Last night T asked D.L.F., "What did you have for breakfast?"

D.L.F.: "Eggs!"

T: "What did you have for lunch?"

D.L.F.: "Eggs!"

T: "What did you have for dinner?"

D.L.F.: "Eggs!"

T: "What did you have for dessert?"

D.L.F.: "Lasagna!"

He did have eggs for lunch, but his other answers were made up. :-)

Contemplating Her Navel

We're back from a whirlwind trip to visit my parents and grandma for Father's Day. D.L.F. and Cupcake were pretty good travelers. We took Cupcake in to my midwife today to have her belly button looked at. She had this weird bubble-like thing, about a quarter-inch in diameter, growing inside her belly button. My midwife said it was a little piece of leftover artery from the umbilical cord and just snipped it off. Also, Cupcake has an umbilical hernia, which basically just means that her belly button bulges out. According to my midwife, it will resolve itself when she starts walking, and she'll probably end up with an "outie" belly button.

Melt My Heart, Why Dontcha?

This afternoon after I had put D.L.F. in his crib and told him I loved him, he said (for the first time), "I yuv you, Mama." AWWWWWW! That made my day!

I haven't blogged lately because, although I have two laptops, they both only work on their terms, not mine. The "good" laptop has been overheating lately and shutting itself down, and only T knows how to fix it (it involves taking off the keyboard with a butter knife and carefully resetting something inside the laptop...if you don't do it right, you risk permanently ruining the...something...I don't remember...but anyway, I let T do it because I'm too chicken and don't want to be responsible for killing a perfectly good--okay, not perfectly good--laptop). So the laptop I'm using right now is a behemoth that has keyboard issues. The shift key only works about one time in ten, and letters often repeat like ttthhiiiiiiiiss. So I don't enjoy typing on this laptop. I'll blog more when my other laptop gets fixed.

Pants Dance

Here is a song (made up by T) that we often sing to D.L.F. as we are getting him dressed. It is sung to the tune of that song that people always sing, "Can, can, can you do the Can Can?" (What is the name of that song, anyway? I played it for a piano recital once--and no, I am not good at piano).

Pants dance
Can you do the pants dance
In your little [insert D.L.F.'s pants color here] pants
Can you do the dance
Dance dance dance dance dance dance dance

[Repeat]

I Like This Papa Guy

 

Cheese

 

 

 

 

The Dress Code, According to D.L.F.

D.L.F. came into the bathroom just as I was stepping out of the shower. He took one look at me and said, "Mama needs socks!"

Well, that's an understatement, I thought.

Cupcake is 1 Month Old!

She had a check-up today and is 10 pounds, 6 oz. She has gained two pounds in the last two weeks! My arms can tell it when I carry her. And her cheeks are getting so cute and chubby. She is a great sleeper. I don't know if that's thanks to the advice in Babywise or if it's just her temperament, but either way, I'm not complaining! :-) She is so mellow and sweet, and is just learning how to smile. Her first month went by so fast! Before I know it, she'll be a year old. Hard to believe....

Time for a Trim

This morning D.L.F. was watching me use kitchen scissors to snip small pieces off strips of bacon. He said, "Bacon...haircut!"

Precious Girl

 

Here are Cupcake and I right before we went out the door last night to a tea party/baby dedication in her honor. :-)

I was so blessed and encouraged by the support of the women who came, most of whom are part of our house church. I'm glad Cupcake in growing up in a community with godly women to be examples for her.

4 Things Meme

Oops...I just realized that my friend Lani tagged me almost a month ago to do this meme. Sorry I'm just getting around to it now, Lani!

4 jobs i've had:
1. occasional babysitter
2. sheet music organizer at a band teachers' workshop
3. full-time nanny
4. college cafeteria cashier


4 movies i've watched more than once:
1. The Sound of Music
2. Pride and Prejudice (BBC version)
3. The Man from Snowy River
4. a video of myself reading books and singing songs to D.L.F....he requests it almost every day (it's getting old!)


4 places i've lived:

1. a house
2. another house
3. a dorm
4. an apartment

(What, I'm supposed to be more specific than that?)


4 TV shows i watch:

We don't have a T.V., but if we did, I would watch:

1. The Waltons
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. What Not to Wear (I've seen it several times at my parents', and it's addicting)
4. I heard about a reality show where a family has to go build their own home in the wilderness and "rough it"...I don't remember the name, but it sounded interesting.

4 places i've been:

1. Germany (on tour with the Continental Singers)
2. Ohio (a year of college)
3. Alaska (choir tour)
4. Hawaii (a couple times as a kid and then with T for our honeymoon)

4 people who email me regularly:

Eh...I dunno. A handful of people, including T and my mom, E-mail me occasionally, but I wouldn't say "regularly." I pass on this question.

4 of my favorite foods:

1. omelets
2. dark chocolate
3. cheddar cheese
4. natural crunchy peanut butter

4 places i would love to visit:

1. The United Kingdom
2. Hawaii (again)
3. T's parents who live in a different state
4. a family-owned farm to observe their daily operations


4 things i'm looking forward to in the coming year:

1. hanging out with T's parents when they visit us this summer
2. watching my kids as they learn and grow
3. losing some (okay, a lot) of baby weight
4. seeing what God will do in and through the house church we are a part of


4 friends i'm tagging:

Hmm...I'll cheat and make it simple. If you're reading this and you would like to do this meme in the comments here or on your own blog, consider yourself tagged!

WANTED For Being Too Cute!

 

 

A lady from the church I grew up in recently gave us several outfits for D.L.F. and Cupcake. This is one of D.L.F.'s...the shirt has a cowboy on it and reads, "WANTED for being too cute!"

Too Busy

I have been too busy to blog. Everything is going well around here, though. Cupcake was up to 8 lbs., 7 oz. at her 2-week checkup, so she has regained her birth weight and then some. Dear Little Fellow is doing really well now with having a little sister. He is getting better at entertaining himself while I take care of Cupcake. She still sleeps a lot, but my midwives say that's fine--since she's gaining plenty of weight--and that I should enjoy it while it lasts!

Some friends of ours (who just got engaged--yay!) brought dinner over to share with us last night, and we had such a nice time together.

I took both kids out by myself for the first time on Monday. Wow! It took so much preparation...getting myself ready, getting D.L.F. and Cupcake dressed, nursing Cupcake, figuring out the double stroller, packing everything required for a trip out with a baby and toddler, and then hauling everything down a flight of stairs! Oh, and Cupcake spit up all over me right before we were ready to go out the door! I figured, since we were only going to the park, no one would really get that close to me, so I just wiped it off as well as I could, and we were on our way. Five years ago, the thought of doing that probably would have disgusted me to no end, but...things change when you become a mom. :-) It's been too rainy the past couple of days to go anywhere, but if the weather clears up today, I would like try to take the kids to the library. We'll see.

One of Life's Little Mysteries

How is it that, by adding one child to our family, our dirty laundry has quadrupled?

The First Week

I am not as utterly, totally exhausted after Cupcake’s quick birth than I was after my long, very difficult labor with D.L.F. Aside from the normal discomforts of the early days of nursing, I physically feel pretty good. Cupcake is proving to be a good nurser, but she is quite the sleepyhead. I sometimes have to tickle her or pat a cool, damp washcloth on her face to get her to wake up enough to nurse. I am working really hard to get her to nurse eight times a day, which is the minimum number of times recommended. She seems to be getting plenty of milk, though, based on her, uh, diaper output. I am starting to get Cupcake on a routine (more about that later), which is helpful for her and the whole family. In general, she is so far a pretty “easy” baby and not very fussy.

D.L.F. is adjusting to being a big brother. I try to spend lots of time with him while Cupcake is sleeping. It is obvious that he is craving attention from T and me. He loves for me to rock him in the rocking chair and sing to him (he often requests particular songs and helps with the words!). Today he went grocery shopping with T in the morning, and this afternoon, he and T went to church, which met tonight at the home of a family who has a trampoline in their backyard. D.L.F. was excited to hear that he would get to bounce on the trampoline.

Now, about the “routine” we are working on for Cupcake: in the first days of D.L.F.’s life, I refused to even read Babywise, by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam. I had heard of the controversy surrounding the book and the Ezzo’s ministry, and I had read so many “attachment parenting” books that I was quite biased against the concept of putting a young baby on a routine. But then I read about how Jess and Gretchen had successfully implemented Babywise with their children, and I decided it couldn’t hurt to read the book and see if I could glean at least a scrap of useful information from it.

I was surprised to find that the advice in Babywise is very practical, and not cruel or extreme as some reviewers on the internet would make it out to be. The most helpful thing I learned from the book was to make sure that baby is really getting a full feeding, and not just "snacking" here and there. Gretchen does a great job of explaining the basic tenets of the Babywise philosophy, so I will not repeat what she has written, but will direct you to her article here. (Also, it seems that at least some of the negative things said about the Ezzos and Babywise have been proven false. See this web site.)

We have started applying the Babywise concepts with Cupcake, and I am hopeful that they will help her become a content, well-rested, happy baby who understands that we love her dearly and will meet her needs.

Cupcake with Her Papa

 

A Man in the Kitchen

 

Hubby, whom I have decided to refer to as "T" on this blog because I feel goofy always calling him "Hubby," came up with a creative solution to a problem the other night. My parents were over, and Mom had made some shortcakes and sugared some strawberries, and all that was left to do was whip up some whipping cream. She didn't know when she bought all the ingredients for strawberry shortcake that I had burned up the motor in my electric mixer a while back trying to mix a batch of peanut butter cookie dough. Mom and T took turns trying to whip the cream by hand with a whisk, but after several minutes of doing that with no apparent progress, T went and got his electric drill, inserted a whisk, and voila! Whipped cream in moments! (By the way, T bought me a new mixer, as well as three different kinds of dark chocolate, for Mother's Day!)

3 Days Old

My Cupcake

 

I Have Two Children Now!

 

Cupcake with Her Grandma (My Mom)

 

The Birth of Our Daughter

 

Here is the birth story of our daughter, who will henceforth be referred to on this blog as "Cupcake," because she's cute, little, and sweet. :-)

I woke up at 12:30 A.M. having some moderate contractions. They weren’t extremely painful, but I thought they seemed stronger than Braxton-Hicks. After a while, I started timing them, and they were about ten minutes apart. I lay awake for several hours and then managed to doze a bit between the contractions, which had slowed down.

I continued to have light to moderate contractions throughout the morning and early afternoon. I wasn’t very diligent to time them, because they weren’t even requiring my full concentration at that point—I was able to continue doing whatever I was doing through them.

I managed to take a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, which I guess meant that I didn’t have contractions during that time, or they were so light they were unnoticeable.

After I woke up, I decided to take a walk to see if that would help the contractions become more intense. I walked briskly around the neighborhood for about twenty or twenty-five minutes and had four fairly strong contractions during that time. When I got home, I started to make dinner. I had all the ingredients for potato-broccoli-bacon soup, and I wanted to use them up before they spoiled, so I started making the soup, even though the temperature was in the seventies and I already felt hot. I started chopping up vegetables and realized that my contractions were getting closer together and stronger. My water broke at with a gush at 5:00 P.M. while I was standing at the kitchen sink peeling potatoes. I found a contraction timer on the internet and started using that every time I had a contraction. Within forty-five minutes or so, the contractions went from moderate intensity and about five minutes apart to extremely strong and about three-and-a-half minutes apart. My water gushed a couple more times during contractions. By this time, Hubby had called my mom, who was staying nearby, and she said she would be right over. I guess I should have realized how close I was to having a baby at that point, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up of having a short labor, so I continued trying to make the soup. I told myself all these contractions were probably a false alarm, and the baby probably wouldn’t actually come for a couple more days. Finally, Hubby told me to stop making soup and come pack my bag! He had already put in a lot of my things for me, but I tossed in a few more things between contractions, which had me yelling and pounding on the wall. My mom arrived and took charge of D.L.F., who was becoming a little upset about seeing Mama acting so strangely (at first, he thought it was just a game and tried to imitate the sounds I was making, but after a while, he realized I wasn’t playing around). As we were heading out the door, I was giving my mom instructions on how to finish the soup! She said she would figure it out just fine, and I should go get in the car.

We made it down the stairs and about halfway out to the car when a big contraction hit. I was a bit embarrassed to have to moan so loudly while there were other people in the parking lot of our apartment complex, but I couldn’t help it.

We left our house around 6:30 P.M. and got to the birth center at 6:50. During the ride, I sat in the backseat and clenched the handle grip above the door with all my might during contractions, which were getting closer and closer together. The breeze from the open windows felt great. My method of distracting myself during contractions at this time was to slowly sing the ABC song in my head and mentally write the letters in swirly cursive.

When we arrived, Hubby opened my car door for me and extended his hand to help me out, but I was in the middle of having a contraction, so he stood there waiting until the contraction finished. Then I got out of the car and had another contraction. There were three men talking together on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairway up to the birth center. I tried to ignore them, but was again embarrassed to be making such animalistic noises. We made it up the stairs and into the birth center. I saw my midwives, but couldn’t bring myself to even greet them, as the contractions were right on top of each other and were all I could concentrate on. I requested the room D.L.F. was born in. I collapsed on my side on the bed, and Midwife L. did a quick exam and said I was at ten centimeters and ready to push. Wow! What a different experience from the hours and hours and hours we spent at the birth center awaiting the birth of D.L.F.

Someone asked if I wanted the tub filled. I said sure, but I was beyond caring where the baby would be born. I was just ready to get her out. While the tub was being filled, I sat on a horseshoe-shaped wooden birth stool, gripped the handles, and pushed. Hubby was right behind me rubbing my back the whole time. I didn’t need the back massage this time in the same way I needed it with D.L.F., who was posterior, but it was still nice to feel Hubby’s touch and know he was there supporting me. He kept telling me what a great job I was doing and reminding me that we would see our baby very soon.

I started pushing at 7:07. At first, I was yelling a low “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” every time I pushed, but Midwife L. suggested changing to a more grunty yell, which would help get the baby out more easily. And it did—Cupcake was born at 7:27 P.M., weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and measuring 20 ¼ inches long. It was only thirty-seven minutes from the time we walked in the door of the birth center until she was in my arms. Whew! Her APGAR scores were 9 and 10.

I bled quite a bit, approximately 450 milliliters, and so one of the midwives gave me a shot of pitocin in my right thigh to help control the bleeding.

I pushed the placenta out at 7:36. It was large, healthy-looking, and complete. Cupcake’s cord was extremely long—“Enough cord for two babies,” as one of the midwives put it. Hubby cut the cord at 7:41. I got into the tub and cleaned up a bit.

I started nursing Cupcake at 8:00. She was more interested in trying to get her fingers in her mouth than in nursing, but she did manage to latch on and suck for about forty-five minutes.

Midwife D. brought us take-out from a Thai restaurant. I had cashew chicken, and Hubby had teriyaki chicken. We were hungry, as we never had gotten to eat our soup! Hubby fed my dinner to me, as my hands were busy with Cupcake.

After we ate, Midwife L. examined me and found that I had a small first-degree tear which did not require stitches. I was so grateful for that, as getting my third-degree tear after D.L.F.’s birth stitched up was physically and emotionally as hard or harder on me than the actual birth.

We left the birth center at 10:50 P.M.—exactly four hours after our arrival. Midwife D. said, “What a great way to spend an evening. It only took the same amount of time as going out for dinner and a movie, but you got a baby!”

Hubby and I thank God for our precious, sweet baby daughter. It was a blessing to have such a quick, natural, peaceful, beautiful, relatively easy birth. Mama and Baby are both doing great.

 

 

 

More Weekend Fun

My mom and I took D.L.F. to the zoo this morning. It was his first time to go, and he enjoyed it. I think his favorite exhibit was the sea otters. He kept calling them doggies....they did kind of look that way. We also saw elephants, tigers, bears, and various types of monkeys, birds, and sea life.

My parents are coming back later tonight and bringing Thai food from our favorite local joint. I asked them to make mine mild, but now that I think about it, maybe I should have said to get hot, as I've heard spicy foods can help a woman go into labor! Still no progress in that department....

Hubby and my dad stayed at our house and worked on organizing and clearing excess "stuff" out of our "stuff room"--basically, a room that up until this point, has been used exclusively for storage, but we now want to use it for the baby's room. They made some good progress.

Family Weekend

My parents are in town. Mom and I took D.L.F. to the park this morning to see the ducks, and now Mom and Dad are on their way over and should be here in a few minutes. It surely would be handy if I would just go into labor tonight or tomorrow, since my parents are already here!

A May Baby

Well, considering that today is the last day of April, and I still have no signs of going into labor, it looks like we will be getting a May baby. Now at least I can stitch the month of Baby Girl's birth onto the sampler I am making for her room. At least, she'd better not stay in me until June! :-)

A Fun and Busy Day

Until Baby Girl decides to make an appearance, I am trying to keep busy and do some fun things so I don't feel like I'm just sitting around waiting. Today D.L.F. and I took Hubby to work so that we could have the car. We went to a children's museum. D.L.F. had a blast, but he played so hard there that he was exhausted and kind of cranky for the rest of the day, even though he took a good nap when we got home. Later, when it was time to pick Hubby up from work, we toured his office and said hi to all his co-workers, and then picked up a take-and-bake pizza on the way home.

I am so weary tonight. I wonder why (perhaps carrying around a full-term baby has something to do with it?). :-) I am just going to take it easy for a while and probably go to bed early. I am reading a book called Deafening, by Frances Itani. It is very good so far.

Not that I really have any choice in the matter (I was just reading the other day that a hormone is secreted by the baby's brain when he or she is ready to be born), but I was thinking that May Day (May 1) would be a nice birthday for Baby Girl. I have fond childhood memories of making May Day baskets and dropping them off anonymously on my friends' doorsteps. Maybe I will continue that tradition with my children when they are a bit older.

No Baby Yet

But here are two random thoughts:

1) The tree outside my bedroom window burst into full bloom today. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but it is pretty. It has white flowers now that look almost like cherry blossoms, but in the winter it had red berries.

2) What is it with the word verification letters you have to type when you want to comment on someone's Blogger blog? Is it just me, or are they getting even harder to read? Sometimes it takes me half-a-dozen tries to get it right!

Come Back, Contractions!

The contractions I was having stopped as soon as I laid down in bed (that doesn't look right...I never did figure out all those rules about "lay" vs. "lie"). As soon as I lay down in bed? Anyone? How am I ever going to homeschool my children? :-)

Anyhow, I'm doing lots of laundry today, so Baby, you can come out now.

Yay! Pain!

I am currently having some contractions that are stronger than any I have experienced so far this pregnancy. They don't hurt too badly, but I wouldn't call them "painless." I'm not getting excited yet, though. I'm going to bed. I'll post again if I determine that I'm really in labor.... I kinda doubt I am. Besides, I need to do laundry before I can have a baby. :-)

Gotta Get 'Em Clean Somehow

D.L.F. had been wearing navy blue socks that had left lint all over his feet. I wiped the lint off with a damp cloth and let him run around while I searched for another pair of socks. By the time I was ready to put the new socks on, the soles of his feet were dirty again (guess it's time to vacuum?). I told him, "Your feet are dirty." He thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Dustbuster!" "You want me to use the dustbuster on your feet?" I asked. "Yeah!" he replied enthusiastically.

39 Weeks Pregnant--Almost There!

 

I had an appointment today with my midwives. Everything is perfectly normal--baby's heart rate, my blood pressure, baby's position (still L.O.A.). I have Braxton-Hicks contractions occasionally, but nothing painful or regular yet. Every night when I go to bed, I wonder, Will tonight be the night contractions start? Obviously, contractions could start during the day, too, but I always think of them as starting at night (maybe because that's how it happened with D.L.F.).

I think we have everything we need for the birth, which isn't a lot. If we were having a home birth, we would be responsible to purchase a lot of birth supplies ourselves, but since we are going to a birth center, they have pretty much everything on hand there, and the supplies are just included in the regular fee. We did get eight bottles of Recharge (an all-natural sports drink...like Gatorade, but healthier), so that should help keep me (and Hubby) hydrated. I think I drank about five bottles by myself last time I was in labor! I am preparing a gift basket with snacks inside for each of our three midwives to give them when we get to the birth center...after all, they will be working hard (and round-the-clock) and need nourishment, too! We have a special very pink and girly "first outfit" to bring Baby Girl home in, although I think I will pack a boy outfit, too, just in case! You never know; ultrasounds are not 100% reliable.

We decided our bedroom is too crowded to fit Baby's crib (we will put the crib in our "office"--office being in quotes because it's more of a junk room at present--for her naps), so we're hoping to purchase a small bassinet off Craigslist before Baby comes. Haven't found a good one yet, but we'll keep looking. We have all the diapering things we will need, and people have been very kind in giving us lots of girl clothes, so that's pretty much it!

Cracks me up every time

This video will make your day. Who can resist laughing at such a cute baby?

A Trip to the Park

 

As long as he doesn't go around saying it in public

This morning, Hubby was making up silly words to the melody of the children's nursery rhyme, "Hot Cross Buns." The thing is, he didn't even realize that that was the melody he was using...but D.L.F. did! D.L.F. started saying, "Hot buns! Hot buns! Hot buns!"

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Hubby called to me.

"Yes," I replied. "You were singing the melody to 'Hot Cross Buns.'"

What made it even more hilarious was that while this took place, D.L.F. was playing in the bathroom, and Hubby had just stepped out of the shower and was drying off. He thought D.L.F. was commenting on his physique!

Thank You!

Just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU! to all who leave comments on my blog. I'm not usually great about responding to comments in the comment section, but please know that I do read and appreciate each one!

On Waiting

I remembered as I was trying to get comfortable in bed last night that, at this time in my pregnancy with D.L.F., the weather was in the 90's and 100's (it was late August). At least being sticky-sweaty-hot is not something I have had to deal with this time around! The weather has been typical spring weather around here...cloudy, rainy, warm and sunny, hailing, and today I think I even saw a bit of snow mixed in with the rain. I am happy about having a late-spring baby this time, just at the time when flowers begin blooming in earnest and the weather starts warming up. I'm planning to take it easy and rest for the first few weeks after Baby Girl is born, but after that, I'm looking forward to taking D.L.F. and Baby Girl out in our new-to-us double stroller and walking off some of this baby weight!

I keep saying I'm soooo ready to be done with this pregnancy, but this evening I read some words in a book called The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy, by Shonda Parker, that were encouraging and convicting:

"Mental, or emotional, preparation coincides with spiritual preparation. We cannot be emotionally at peace if our focus is not on trusting our Divine Creator in His wisdom and plan for this child, this pregnancy, this birth. We delight in our husband's washing us with the Word of God, allowing the Scriptures to bring us peace, comfort, and BOLDNESS in the approaching birth. Joy is found in trusting the Lord, sacrificial trusting that surrenders our own plans, even our own hopes, to the Will of God.

"As the time of our birth draws near, may our spirits be cleansed and renewed in our trust in the grace of the Lord, may our hearts be gladdened with the assurance of His mercy, may our bodies open in the fullness of time under His pillar of strength, may our hearts be turned to our babies in the perfection of His love." [emphasis is the author's]

And so I wait. It's hard not knowing exactly when I will go into labor, how long it will take, how hard it will be, or at what moment Baby Girl will take her first breath, but the Lord knows all those details and has a plan and purpose for the way things will unfold.

Question: Teaching a Foreign Language to Young Children

Hubby and I are thinking of learning Spanish. We live in an area where the population is probably at least 60% Hispanic, and one of the main reasons we and other members of our home church moved into this neighborhood was to be able to reach out to our neighbors. We are finding out that that is difficult to do when we don't know their language. I have a good Spanish program (textbook, audio and video CD-ROMs, workbook, etc.) from taking a quarter of Spanish way-back-when at community college, so Hubby and I can probably use that as a starting point.

My questions are, what if we start practicing at home in front of our toddler? Do kids get confused if they sometimes hear an object called one name in one language and another name in another language? Has anyone ever had experience with your children learning two different languages at once? Did it frustrate them and delay their language skills, or did it enhance their language abilities?

Miscellaneous

D.L.F. has been going around lately saying, "Hi, Buddy," "Hi, Honey," and "Hi, Cutie." Obviously, he picked up those phrases from me. I'm not sure if he is simply repeating them or if he is using them as names for me. Either way, it's pretty cute.

We live a few blocks away from a plant nursery, so sometimes we walk over there when we need an outing but I don't want to go too far. We went there today. D.L.F. likes to look at flowers and the fish in the pond. He is learning the names of some colors, so I point out the colors of all the flowers we see. It's cheap entertainment. :-)

I had a prenatal appointment yesterday. Baby is now in L.O.A. position, which I guess is the "ideal" position for birth, so I hope she stays that way! I mentioned that my lower back was achy, and the supervising midwife rubbed it with arnica oil for me about half an hour! It felt so good and made me extra-happy to be back with my midwives again instead of an OB/GYN.

I am reading a fairly new book called The Big Book of Birth, by Erica Lyon (I was able to get it through my local library). I'm not done yet, but I recommend it. Most books about pregnancy are 90% about getting through your three trimesters, and oh, here's a chapter about birth at the end. But as the title suggests, this entire book is about birth. It includes lots of information on non-chemical pain coping techniques, and there are women's personal stories interspersed throughout regarding every stage of labor. It's still a fairly basic book (it's not a midwifery manual or anything), but it's nice to have a concise guide to what labor can be like (I think it would be especially good for a first-time mom who wants to have some idea of what to expect).

Two Pregnancy Haikus (Updated)

1. It’s sandal season
Painting toenails--no small feat
With a large belly

2. Evening spent shopping
Results in swollen ankles
At least toes impress

Almost 38 Weeks and READY TO BE DONE!

I had a routine appointment with my midwives on Monday. Everything looks good! I was measuring right at 37 centimeters. On that day, Baby was in ROT position (right occiput transverse, which means head-down and facing my left side). I hope she will stay in a good position for birth so I won't have back labor this time around.

(Gripe warning!) I am so ready for her to come out. I am uncomfortable all the time, it's hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and when I finally do get to sleep, I wake up every hour or two to use the bathroom. Plus, my maternity shirts are all too small for me now, so anytime I go anywhere, I have to keep tugging them down to keep my tummy covered. I get fatigued really easily, especially when bending down to do something like pick up toys off the floor or unload the dishwasher. A huge blessing is that people in our church have brought us dinners every night this week, so that has been one less thing to think about.

Hurrah for Midwives

My parents are in town for a couple days, so Mom and Dear Little Fellow and I went shopping today to get a few more things for Baby. I got a call from my midwives saying they are happy to take me back as a client (YAY!). I am so thankful to the Lord, and I'm looking forward to a birth center birth (not so much to the actual pain of labor, but to the restful environment of the birth center and the support and encouragement of my midwives).

Almost Ready for Baby

We got a double stroller, a crib, and a crib mattress off Craigslist tonight. I'm starting to feel like it's really going to happen...that is, that we are going to have a daughter soon!

Wow!

At my ultrasound appointment today, we found out that the placenta is now approximately three centimeters from my cervix! The doctor said he thinks I should be able to deliver vaginally at the birth center with my midwives, and he is going to write them a letter saying so. I am rejoicing! Please pray with me that the midwives will accept me back as a client.

My Appointment, Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

As a preface to Part 2 of my rant against institutionalized maternity care, I would like to say that I do trust that the Lord is in this situation and that He loves me and my family and will take care of us all, no matter what. However, I also believe it is my responsibility to learn all I can about my options so I can make the best choice for my baby and me. I am sorry if my uncharacteristically cynical tone bothers anybody, but it is helpful to me in processing all this to be very honest with myself and others about my struggles and disappointments. Maybe writing things down will help me figure out a workable solution.

After meeting with the doctor, I asked the receptionist if it would be possible to tour the labor and delivery area. We had seen it very briefly the last time we were at the hospital, but as I had been riding in a wheelchair (it’s a big hospital to get around, and I was still on bedrest), I hadn’t really been able to poke around and see everything I wanted to—in particular, the rumored whirlpool tubs in the bathrooms.

The receptionist called over to let the staff know we were on our way, and Hubby and I made the long trek over to the maternity ward. The nurse who showed us around was actually pleasant and kind, but it was obvious she still had to bow to procedures and policies. For example, when I asked her if it was all right to labor and give birth in any position I wanted to, she hesitated and said, “Well…you’ll really have to talk to your doctor about that.” She seemed excited to show off all their new high-tech monitoring equipment. “There’s a computer right here in your room, so your nurse will be able to see how you and baby are doing at all times. Plus, of course, your information will be displayed on the screens in the nurses’ station as well.” Great, so they can monitor and analyze every blip and bleep and tell me that my baby is “in distress” if her heart rate decelerates during a contraction.

The nurse also seemed proud of the “warming unit” for the baby right in the room. Yeah, right, I thought. As if that plastic box could do a better job keeping my baby warm than I could, with her on my chest and covered with blankets.

We peeked in the bathroom and saw that the whirlpool tub looks half decent. It’s not as big as the tubs at the birth center, but it is deeper than a normal tub. I asked if it was permitted to give birth in the water. “Oh, no,” the nurse said. “If everything is going normally, you can labor in the tub, but you have to get out toward the end.” Why? I thought. It was so nice to be in the water when I was on my hands and knees pushing out D.L.F., and I can’t imagine not having the option, at least. If midwives can kneel beside the tub and catch the baby from behind, why can’t a doctor?

The only real bed in the room is an insanely uncomfortable twin bed with rails on both sides and a crack in the middle so the head can be raised or lowered. Oh, yes, and fold-out stirrups at the foot. When Hubby and I got out to the parking lot, I told him, “There is no way I will be on my back for one second during labor, and if they think I’m going to stick my feet in stirrups for the doctor’s convenience, they’d better think again.”

I hate being treated like a high-risk patient when I don’t feel like one. I still trust my body to birth naturally. If I had to give birth in a hospital, I would feel like I constantly have to be on top of things to the point where I wouldn’t be able to relax or get halfway comfortable (No, I don’t want anything for the pain.... Okay, that’s enough monitoring. Baby and I are fine. I’m taking off these straps now…. No, I don’t want you to check my cervix again.... No, I am not going to sit up in bed to push…. DO NOT put my baby in that warmer…. DO NOT give my baby a hepatitis B shot or eye ointment….on and on and on.) In addition, I just don’t feel like doctors are as committed to the well-being of the women in the care as midwives. For example, in my readings about C-sections lately, I came across a statistic showing that teaching hospitals, which have obstetricians and anesthesiologists on duty 24/7, have a lower C-section rate than regular community hospitals with doctors typically on-duty during daylight hours, indicating that if a woman’s labor is progressing too slowly, a doctor in a regular hospital just might be quicker to tell her she needs a C-section, so he can get home.

I’ve already called my midwives to ask how far away my placenta would have to get from my cervix for them to take me back on as a client. The supervising midwife is out of town right now, but she’s supposed to get back to me by the beginning of next week. I have another ultrasound tomorrow, so I’ll find out the status of the placenta then.

My Appointment, Part 1

I don’t think I can give birth in a hospital. After meeting with the OB/GYN again yesterday, touring the labor and delivery area, and asking lots of questions, I was disappointed, discouraged, and even angry. A prenatal appointment at the hospital is so hurried, impersonal, and intimidating compared to a visit with my midwives.

When I went to the desk to check in, the receptionist was on the phone. Finally, she hung up, looked at me without a smile, and waited for me to say something. I told her my name, and she handed me a label. I must have looked puzzled, because she said, “For the bathroom.” I was still confused. “I’ve only been here once before….” I said. Then she explained that every time I come for an appointment, I am supposed to get a label, go to the bathroom, and leave a urine sample with the label affixed to it. So I did, but it bothered me to not know the results. At the birth center, the midwives trust their clients to test their own urine. You’re only supposed to show them the test stick if anything looks abnormal when you hold it up to the chart on the container that the sticks come in.

After waiting several minutes in the waiting room, a nurse came for Hubby and me, and took me to a scale. I stepped on and the scale registered my weight. I made some comment about “numbers that I don’t want to see,” and the nurse just looked at me. With my midwives, if I ever made a joke or comment about my pregnancy weight gain, they were quick to assure me that it’s normal and healthy to gain more than the doctor-recommended 20-30 pounds, that weight gain is necessary for a healthy baby, that I am gaining the right amount for my baby, etc.

Then the nurse led us to the (tiny) appointment room. There were only two places to sit—a wooden chair next to the door for Hubby, and the hospital bed with the roll of white paper on it for me. Compare this with the birth center, where we had our choice of seats—chairs, a cushy loveseat, a queen-sized bed with half-a-dozen pillows on it. Another indication of being a “patient” rather than a “client.” The nurse took my blood pressure. Then she made me lay down on my back on the bed (ouchouchouch! Where are my half-dozen pillows?) and listened to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. She started to hand me a paper drape and told me I could undress from the waist down so the doctor could perform a Group B Strep test (which I had requested last time I was there, simply for the reason that I didn’t want anyone to look at my chart while I was in labor and say, “Oh, you never had a GBS test? We’ll have to pump you with antibiotics just in case”).

“Can I do the test myself?” I asked. When I was pregnant with D.L.F., I had done the test myself, and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of any good reason why the doctor was more qualified than I to stick a cotton swab in my private areas. The nurse looked a little surprised, but she agreed and handed me a tube with the swab in it. She said the doctor would be in shortly.

After a wait of fifteen or twenty minutes, the doctor arrived. I don’t remember him asking me how I was feeling. My midwives took time to find out how I was doing, both physically and emotionally. They would ask how various body parts were feeling and how various systems were functioning. They would ask me things like what I’d been doing lately, what I’d been eating, how I was doing with taking care of D.L.F., if I was dealing with anything stressful in my life. We would just chat for a while. Sometimes they would tell me stories about their own children or funny or interesting things about being a midwife. And they always gave me a back massage or foot rub with lotions or oils. The doctor, on the other hand, just asked if I’ve had any more bleeding (which I have not). Then he said he needed to get his schedule, left the room, and returned with a clipboard. He said something about it being convenient for him if I would go into labor on April 18, because he wouldn’t have much going on that day. I know he was joking, and I chuckled politely, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Then he said, “Well, if you haven’t gone into labor by 39 weeks, we’ll probably have you come in and induce you to get things started. If your placenta has moved any more, I might be okay with letting you go even a week after your due date—but probably none of my colleagues would do that.” It irritated me to hear him talk so casually about inducing, and a week before the baby is even due! Doesn’t he care that using pitocin almost always necessitates other interventions? And what if my baby isn’t ready to come out when it’s convenient for the doctor? He said himself that if my placenta gets two or more centimeters away from my cervix (it was 1.5 centimeters away when we had an ultrasound almost two weeks ago), then the risk of bleeding will be very minimal.

And to hear him say the words “I might let you…” really made me seethe, although outwardly I maintained a pleasant smile. I figured we’d better wait and see what the ultrasound shows this Thursday before I start getting assertive. The thing is, he and everyone in his office have the mentality that HE is in charge of getting this baby out of me, and I feel that it is MY responsibility. I don’t worship doctors. In fact, I don’t even trust them, as a group. I haven’t known this particular OB/GYN to long enough to find out if I trust him or not, but I’m leaning toward “not really.” I guess I would trust him to keep my baby and me alive in a dire emergency, but I don’t trust that he really cares about my long-term emotional and mental health or that how he treats me in this pregnancy (including whether or not he recommends a C-section) will affect any future pregnancies and births I may have.

A Happy Boy

 

 

 

Sunday

We stayed at home all morning and afternoon today until it was time to go to church. Sometimes I still feel weird being home on Sunday mornings because I grew up attending a church that met on Sunday mornings. It was good to go to church this evening and talk and share a meal with everyone. I don't think I had been out of the house for over a week, except maybe to check the mail once or twice.

I have an appointment tomorrow--just a regular prenatal visit. Then I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday to see if the placenta has moved up at all. I am getting excited to meet Baby Girl, but I don't feel like it's time yet. I think she'll still be in there for a few more weeks. I am hoping to avoid inducing labor at all costs unless it becomes an absolute necessity for some reason. I want Baby Girl to come out when she's ready.

The hospital we've chosen to go to is almost half an hour away from our house--longer, if we had to get there during rush hour. We're trying to schedule all our appointments in the middle of the day so as to not have to deal with rush hour traffic, and I'm hoping that when I'm actually in labor, we'll be able to make the drive quickly. Dealing with contractions while sitting in the car is not my idea of a good time. In case of an emergency, there are closer hospitals we could go to, but hopefully, we'll be able to make it to the hospital we like. Blech...not that I really like any hospital, but if I have to be in one, at least this one has several nice features and amenities that other local hospitals don't have.

If it weren't for germs, it would make sense

I was sitting up in bed this afternoon, and Dear Little Fellow walked into the room. I saw that he had a runny nose, so I asked him if he needed a tissue. He said, "Yeah," so I handed one to him. He wiped his nose with it and then proceeded to "dust" my dresser, the door, and the bed with the same tissue.

Creativity at Home

It's kind of nice to know the gender of our soon-to-be-born little one (assuming the ultrasound technician was correct!). Now we always call her by name (when we're by ourselves--we are keeping her name secret until she's born). Today I had some time to start working on a picture for her room. It's been a while since I did anything crafty, and I enjoyed it.

I used some scrapbooking cardstock to make a mat to fit an 8x10 frame. It took a lot of calculating just to cut out one rectangle and two ovals! This is what I ended up with:

 

If you can't tell from the picture, the mat is light pink and the oval frames are light yellow. In the rectangle, I will cross-stitch the letters of Baby Girl's name using a lettering set from 2001 Cross Stitch Designs. Here's a picture out of the book of a couple letters from the set. Sorry it is kind of blurry.

 

In the left oval, I will put a picture of Baby Girl. In the right oval, I will cross-stitch a picture of two pastel butterflies (from the same book) near the top, and under that, I will record her birthday, weight, and length.

For dinner tonight, I made hot pockets. I made one recipe of this pizza dough, divided it into eight pieces, and rolled each into a circle (approximately 8-9 inches in diameter). Then I plopped on some shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, ground beef cooked with onions and garlic, and some of this pizza sauce. I folded each circle in half, pinched the edges together, and topped each with a little more sauce and a couple slices of mozzarella. I baked the hot pockets at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Yum!

Could I get any bigger? Almost 36 weeks!

 

Unfailing Love

But as for me,
I will sing about your power.

I will shout with joy each morning
because of your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety in the day of distress.

O my Strength,
to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.

~Psalm 59:16-17

He's a big boy while he's awake, but when he sleeps, he's still my baby

Warm sun on his face, a comfy bed...

 

Soft classical music playing in the background...

 

...How could he resist a little catnap?

How We're Getting Along

Hubby bought a little step stool for Dear Little Fellow to use to get up on things, so I don't need to lift him. It is plastic and lightweight, so I can move it around from place to place easily. He uses it to get up in his high chair, onto the queen-size bed in his room where we change his diaper (he sleeps in a crib, but we don't have anywhere else to put the queen bed, so we're storing it in there), etc. Hubby has rearranged his schedule so that he can work 6 6-1/2 hour days a week and come home for lunch. This way, he can play with D.L.F. a bit mid-day, get him into and out of the high chair, change his diaper, put him down for a nap, and then go back to work.

Today was challenging for me. D.L.F. was up by 6:15. Hubby went to work before 7, and didn't come home until noon, and it was hard for me to come up with things for D.L.F. to do for five hours that didn't involve me lifting anything or bending over (my back and legs are really hurting). We read books, sang songs, and D.L.F. played with toys for a while on his own. Around 10, I took him outside for a walk because we were both getting stir-crazy being cooped up inside. He always wants me to carry him down the stairs, but I made him hold my hand and walk down out of sheer necessity today. He wasn't very happy about it, but then he was glad when we got outside. We just walked a couple blocks and back again, but at least it filled up half an hour. I had very noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions the whole time we were walking. They stopped right away, though, when we got back inside and I was able to sit down for a minute and drink some water.

I have to admit that I am feeling kind of discouraged. It's hard to think about every day from now until Baby Girl is born being as long and hard and physically challenging as today. I'm super-emotional, too, just with regular pregnancy hormones, plus the craziness of trying to get used to having a baby in a hospital instead of my peaceful, familiar birth center. However, I am extremely grateful for all of Hubby's help and tender care. I just wish I could fast-forward several weeks to when I'm not pregnant anymore and I have a sweet baby girl to snuggle.

On a more positive note, I just ordered a cute and very reasonably-priced ($15.99, with $2.50 shipping) nursing cover off Ebay from the seller mariuszjoanna. Because of the ever-changing nature of Ebay, I don't think I can really link to it, but if you are interested, do a search on Ebay for "Joanna Design nursing cover," and it should come up. I ordered print number 141, which is a sage green fabric with a brown vintage print of children playing. Hopefully, I can get Baby Girl used to nursing under this nursing cover at home, so I will be able to nurse her during church without having to leave the room. I was never really able to discreetly nurse D.L.F. in public, because I didn't practice at home, so he wouldn't stand for a blanket covering his face if I ever did try to nurse away from home. I like the design of this nursing cover. It has boning along the top edge, which holds the cover out a bit so you can peek in and see how baby is doing. It's really similar to other nursing covers, e.g. Bebe au Lait, which cost upwards of $40. It should come pretty soon. I'll try to remember to post about how I like it when I get it in the mail.

What We Found Out

We had another ultrasound today which showed that Baby is head-down (not breech any more), and the placenta is not covering the cervix. It is currently 1.5 centimeters away, which is very close, but it could potentially "move" away a bit more as the uterus continues to grow. If the placenta reaches 2 or more centimeters away from the cervix, I may be able to try a natural birth rather than a C-section, but it would have to be at the hospital, not at the birth center, because there is still a risk of hemorrhage.

While I have been instructed to take things easy and not exert myself, I am not on complete bedrest any more.

Oh, and one more thing--we found out today that we are having a GIRL! We are so excited!

Home...and Bedrest

Hubby and I finally got to come home today around 2 P.M. My mom got into town and picked D.L.F. up from our friends' house, and we all got to our house at almost the same time. Then Hubby, D.L.F., and I took long naps and Mom went grocery shopping for us. We are so grateful for her being here. She will be able to stay and help out until the end of the week.

I am on complete bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy. This means I can get up to use the bathroom, take a shower, and walk to the table for meals, but the rest of the time I need to be sitting or laying in bed. No going for walks, no cooking, no housework, no lifting anything. This all feels so foreign and unnatural to me. I admit, a day or two of resting in bed will be nice, but I have a feeling it will get old really fast. It will be difficult to be on bedrest when I have a sweet but very active toddler who likes to get into things.

We will hopefully be able to get another ultrasound appointment scheduled for later this week. Most likely it will need to be a transvaginal ultrasound so we can really get a good look at the placenta.

There's still a chance that I could give birth naturally, but that chance is pretty slim. Also, because of the risk of hemmoraging, the doctors probably will not let me go to 40 weeks. A C-section will probably be scheduled around 37 weeks. This is all still up in the air until I can get another ultrasound.

Updated to add: I forgot to mention that Baby is also still in a breech position. From what the doctors said, because of my low-lying placenta/potential placenta previa, Baby is a lot less likely to go head-down.

Still Waiting to Find Out More...

Even with the "good" ultrasound machine, the ultrasound technician and the doctor couldn't tell much about the position of the placenta.

A nurse just came in and said that the doctor on staff this morning wants to have a conference at 10 A.M. regarding my care for the rest of this pregnancy. Hubby is taking care of D.L.F. right now and will be dropping him off at a friend's house, so Hubby should be able to be back by 10, and my supervising midwife will also be here.

I had some blood work done this morning, and it showed that I am anemic, so I will be upping my iron intake.

I really want to go home. A hospital is pretty far down on my list of places I'd like to be. I was hoping this pregnancy would be easy and uneventful, so naturally I am disappointed about these complications and especially about the potential for a C-section. Please pray....

Updated to add: The doctors had my blood re-tested because the bloodwork had shown I was severely anemic, but I didn't look anemic or have any symptoms of anemia. It turns out that there was some kind of lab error with the first test--I'm really not anemic. So that is good news, although I have to admit I have a little less faith in the hospital's labs now!

Guess Where I Am?

No, not in my bed at home, even though it is 12:57 A.M. I am sitting in a hospital bed, and Hubby is resting on a couch near me.

I had some spotting yesterday at about 3:30 P.M. I already had an appointment scheduled with my midwives for 5:00, so I went in then. They were concerned and sent me to a nearby hospital to get an ultrasound. One of the midwives came with me and stayed with me as we waited and waited and waited for the good ultrasound machine to come available. Around 9 P.M. a doctor came in with a very basic ultrasound machine for a preliminary scan to look at the position of the placenta. He said he couldn't tell for sure with that machine, but there was a chance of placenta previa. At that point, my wonderful midwife A. had to go home to her own family. She and I had a lot of time together this evening and got to know each other much better and found out that we have a lot in common.

She strongly recommended that I have someone come be with me at the hospital, so Hubby made arrangements with a friend to come over and stay with D.L.F. at our house so Hubby could be with me. The "good" ultrasound machine finally arrived around 10:30, along with the ultrasound technician, who performed what seemed like a very long procedure (it probably felt like that because I had to be on my back the whole time--ouch!). We wanted to find out Baby's gender, but his or her little legs were curled up tightly the whole time the technician was doing the scan, so we couldn't tell.

Anyway, the ultrasound technician wasn't allowed to tell us anything other than that the Baby's heart rate is normal, so we are waiting for someone to come and interpret the test for us. If I have a true placenta previa at the time of labor, I would have to have a C-section, but if the placenta is only partially covering the cervix now, there is a possibility it could move out of the way by the time I actually go into labor. Either way, there is a good chance I might have to be on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy.

I want to do things as naturally as possible. I especially do not want to have a C-section. It is in the Lord's hands, though. I am grateful that Baby appears to be healthy.

Catch-Up

Here's what's been going on around here:

-Hubby stayed home from work a couple days this week with a cold. Dear Little Fellow had a runny nose, too, but they both seem to be doing better now.

-D.L.F. is down to one nap a day now; I think for good this time. I am adjusting to this new schedule. I used to have my quiet time with the Lord during D.L.F.'s first nap time, which is now non-existent, so I haven't been very faithful about spending time in the Word this past week or so. By the time D.L.F. does go down for a nap at 1 P.M., I crash, too. The upside of him taking only one nap a day is that he seems to sleep in a little later in the morning.

-Tonight Hubby and I both participated in an inter-house-church worship gathering. I sang and Hubby helped with sound and played the djembe (JEM-bay, a type of drum).

-Tomorrow we are bringing dinner for our church family. I will be making oven-fried chicken drumsticks, green salad, some kind of bread (I haven't decided yet), and either chocolate chip cookies or triple-chocolate brownies (haven't decided that yet, either).

-I am now 34 weeks pregnant! I'm getting closer to feeling ready. The only thing we need to do before Baby comes is get another car seat. I'd like to buy and set up a crib, too, in the next few weeks, but that's not crucial, as I'm sure the baby will end up mostly sleeping in bed with us for the first while at least, anyway. We have a few dozen newborn cloth diapers that I need to "break in" by washing them in hot water several times, but that can wait, too. We will probably use disposables for the first week or so anyway, because of the handy cut-out for the umbilical cord stump and also because I don't want to deal with scrubbing out meconium from cloth diapers.

Does This Statement Bother You?

However, California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. -from a California court ruling that would make it illegal for parents to homeschool their own children

The Home School Legal Defense Agency is (of course) protesting this ruling. You can sign a petition on their site here (you do not have to be a resident of California).

Pregnancy Update

I had my 32-week appointment with my midwives yesterday. Baby is doing great. He or she is in a breech position right now, but that’s not a big concern at this point. Midwife L. tried to manually rotate Baby, but Baby would not turn easily, so L. just left him or her alone for now. She said if Baby is still breech at my next appointment (34 weeks), she will give me some ideas about getting him or her to turn.

Baby’s heart rate has consistently been around 122-130 beats per minute, which according to the old wives’ tale, could indicate that Baby is a boy (boys’ fetal heart rates often fall between 120 and 140, and girls’ between 140 and 160; however, this is not always the case).

While we would love to have a sweet little girl this time around, it would also be great for Dear Little Fellow to have a brother so close in age to himself. I don’t really know what would be best, but God does, and He’s the one knitting this little one together in my womb. Plus, we hope to have more children in the future, so in all likelihood, we will end up with a mix of boys and girls anyway. We have had both a boy’s name and a girl’s name picked out almost from the time we found out I was pregnant, so we are prepared either way. :-)

Physically, this pregnancy is a lot more uncomfortable for me than my first pregnancy. My back hurts pretty much all the time, and my legs and an area on my belly are also often sore. I just keep telling myself there are only about eight weeks left! Maybe fewer, which would be nice. Who knows, though? I guess the baby will come when he or she is good and ready.

My $38/Week Food Experiment

I am trying an experiment. Can I get all of our food and household items for $38 a week? My “official” food and household budget is $75 a week. This includes Hubby eating out one lunch a week with a friend. They always go to the same cheap Mexican restaurant, and Hubby only spends around $4, so I am left with $71.

I get most of our toiletries and household products for free or for pennies at Walgreens and Rite Aid by using coupons and rebates, but the one expensive household product I am brand-loyal to is Tide with Bleach detergent in a particular scent (clean breeze). I usually buy the 142 oz. box at Target for around $12. I haven’t kept track of exactly how long it lasts, but I know it’s over a month (I only use about ½ the recommended amount). I have decided to set aside $3 a week to save up for detergent and any other larger household products that won’t fit into my regular weekly budget.

I have also decided to set aside another $3 a week to save for Christmas portraits. That way, by the time we get them taken in early November or so, we will have around $100, which should get a decent small package.

Now, for the tricky part. Our family is growing, and it would be handy (almost necessary, especially when hauling luggage and gear for two young children on trips) to have a minivan rather than our compact car. I am going to try to set aside $30 a week out of the food budget to save for a minivan. Yes, it would take a long time on $30 a week, but if we combine that with the small amount we could get for selling our car, plus perhaps the economy-stimulus check that is supposed to be coming in May, there could be a used minivan in our future within the next couple of years (hopefully before we have a third child, because it would be next-to-impossible to squeeze three car seats in the back of our car!).

So, $75 - $4 for Hubby eating out - $3 for portraits - $30 for the minivan fund = $38 a week. Take out $3 for the detergent fund, and I’m left with $35 a week. Now, I am not starting from absolutely nothing. In the pantry, I have quite a few cans of tomato products and tuna, a couple bags of flour, a supply of oats and rice, some brown rice pasta (easier for us to digest than wheat), peanut butter, applesauce, etc. In the freezer, I have several pounds of frozen hamburger. I also stocked up on cheddar cheese and grapefruits last week when I found a sale.

We like meat around here, and I rarely make meatless dinners. I am going to try to buy chicken one week and hamburger the next, and freeze some of each so we can have a combination of both every week.

Yesterday, I went to two stores—a Kroger-chain store and a discount food store. Here’s what I bought for this week:

2 large packages chicken drumsticks $8.49
2 baking potatoes $.53
2 small heads of broccoli $.54
1 bunch grapes $1.43
1 large tomato $.50
1 bunch celery $.37
1 qt. plain yogurt $2.34
1 package raisins $3.98
1 roll plastic cling wrap $1.73
4-pack lightbulbs (to replace the fluorescent bulbs in our floor lamps) $.88
2 dozen omega-3 eggs $4.10
1 gallon organic milk (I used a $1 off coupon) $3.99
1 large bunch organic bananas (we like the taste way better than regular bananas) $2.34

Total for these two stores: $31.22

Today I went to the produce market and bought:

1 huge head romaine lettuce $1.39
2 oranges $.43
1 large bulb garlic $.50
1 large onion $.41
5 red delicious apples $1.20

I spent $3.93 at the produce market—only five cents over my budget, for a total of $38.05.

Here’s what we will be eating this week:

Breakfasts: Hubby likes the same thing every morning—toast with peanut butter and applesauce. Dear Little Fellow and I usually have scrambled or fried eggs along with some fruit, muffins, or oatmeal.

Lunches: Hubby gets lunch for free at his work cafeteria. Dear Little Fellow and I usually have leftovers and fruit.

Dinners:

Friday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Saturday: Baked Chicken
Sunday (lunch): Chicken Soup; (dinner): eat at church
Monday: Hamburger-Broccoli Quiche
Tuesday: Fried Rice with Chicken
Wednesday: Tuna-Veggie Casserole
Thursday: Mexican Rice Bake

For side dishes with our dinners, I usually make either a green salad or a fruit/yogurt salad, or we just have fruit slices.

I am excited to try this experiment this month and see if I will be able to make it work on a long-term basis!

Fluorescent Lightbulbs

If you use fluorescent lightbulbs, you need to read this article for the safety of the people in your home, especially if you are pregnant or have young children.

Here's an excerpt:

The study recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house.

After reading the article, Hubby and I have decided not to use fluorescent bulbs in freestanding lamps that could tip over or other places where the bulbs might easily be broken.

Pregnancy Brain Strikes Again

Chalk it up to the hormones, the interrupted sleep, the many details whirling around in my head, or what have you, but I have been known to say some pretty silly things while pregnant. Last night, I went into the bedroom to get something. When Hubby asked if I would be coming to bed soon, I said, "I think I was doing something; I have to go see what I was doing." Hubby laughed and laughed.

By the way, here's another quote from last time around when I was pregnant with Dear Little Fellow. Hubby and I were out shopping together; you have to understand that what I was trying to say was that while I would be needing a restroom soon, I wasn't desperate yet. How it came out was, "I could stand to use the bathroom."

"Really?" he asked skeptically, with an amused smile.

Dear Little Fellow's newest words: chips, cocoa, grin

Nice...

I was munching on some trail mix at the kitchen table while making a couple tweaks to the blog. I knew a chocolate chip escaped, but I couldn't tell where it went. I looked all over the table, under the table, on my chair, under the chair, and couldn't find it, so I concluded that it must have fallen back into the bag.

Then I decided I would be more comfortable on the couch, so I took my laptop over and sat down and did a few more things on the computer. As I was setting my laptop aside to stand up, I discovered that the chocolate chip had melted onto my laptop and my lap-top. :-) Khaki pants and chocolate don't go together so well.

Random Ramblings

-When Dear Little Fellow was in the womb, he was very active, and kicked, and kicked, and kicked; this baby seems to be more mellow, making mainly gentle movements. I wonder... is behavior in the womb is at all a predictor of future personality?

-I have had a lot of colds this pregnancy. It seems that as soon as I get over one, I'm getting a new one. I have a feeling I only have myself to blame. Although I generally eat pretty healthy (lots of protein, lots of fruits and veggies, almost no processed foods), I have been craving chocolate and eating a lot of it. At least it's been good-quality semi-sweet chocolate, which has less sugar than milk chocolate, but still, it's chocolate, and I think the sugar it does contain has been weakening my immune system. Also, when I got blood work done a few weeks ago, everything was fine, except I was low in B vitamins. I did a little research and found out that caffeine (which is present in small amounts in chocolate) can deplete B vitamins. I'm not ready to swear off chocolate completely, but I am trying to cut back. By the way, Dear Little Fellow and I both currently have colds. I usually read and sing to him a lot throughout the day, but my throat is scratchy and my voice keeps cracking, so I can't do much of that at present. I'm trying to find things to keep him occupied that don't require much talking on my part!

-I don't read a ton of fiction (not that I don't love it--I do--but I try to use my reading time wisely, and that often means reading "practical" non-fiction books instead), but lately I have been enjoying the works of a Christian author named Jamie Langston Turner. I've finished her books Suncatchers , No Dark Valley, Some Wildflower in My Heart, and I'm almost done with By the Light of a Thousand Stars. I have a couple of her other books on my shelf, waiting to be read (yay for my public library system that lets me renew books indefinitely unless someone places a hold on them!). Her quality of writing is a couple notches above most Christian fiction...it's obvious that Turner is intelligent and well-read. Her characters are quirky, which to me, makes them enjoyable. Quite a few of her protagonists are bitter middle-aged women, which is a change from the typical naive 17-year-old female main characters readily found in the "Christian fiction" genre. All of Turner's books I've read so far have been challenging and thought-provoking. Her most hardened, worldly characters come to know the Lord as a result of the kindness and perseverance of everyday people...usually their neighbors or co-workers. Although the books are all stand-alone novels as far as I know, a lot of the characters live in the same town and end up interacting with each other. Turner does deal (not explicitly) with some mature subject matter, so I'd recommend her books for those over eighteen.

Valentine's Day Banquet

Tonight was our church's 2nd annual Valentine's Day Banquet. This is not your typical "couples"/romantic banquet...it is only for the ladies of the church, and it is put on by the men. We all sat at a beautifully-decorated long table (that was one of Hubby's tasks, along with childcare). There was live music. Mostly we ladies just talked, but we also played a game and ate lots of chocolate! We had our choice of steak or fettuccine alfredo, salad or mixed grilled vegetables, broccoli or pear soup, and apple or chocolate cream pie. I had steak, and it was magnificent, probably the best steak I've ever had. Mmmmm....

The dress was semi-formal. I wore this dress from Motherhood Maternity with a black cardigan.

It was a very special time. I appreciate the way my brothers in Christ take this opportunity each year to serve and bless the ladies of the church.

Dear Little Fellow

I have decided that 1-year-old will henceforth be referred to as "Dear Little Fellow" on this blog. It's one of the nicknames we've called him since he was little, and it's better than calling him 1-year-old all the time (I'm still working on a better moniker for Hubby).

One of the things Hubby and I most love about Dear Little Fellow is watching him learn and grow. He is walking and talking now, and he's not much of a baby anymore! He literally says new words every day, but here is a list of some that I can think of, somewhat in order of when he learned them:

By 14 months: Yum-yum, Papa, Mama, Yeah, Clock, Ham, Nana (banana), Didee (diaper), Cat, Meow, Roooo! (elephant noise), Grrr/roar (bear/lion noise), Brrr (bird), Hat, Hot, Hi, Help/Helper, Mat (that his highchair is on)

15/16 months: Home, Snack, Neigh (horse noise), Baa (sheep noise), No, his own name, Caw (bird noise), Blocks, Box, Hmm… (sometimes he will look in the refrigerator and say that; Hubby says he got it from me!), Din-din (dinner)

16/17 months: Dizzy (when he wants Hubby to spin him around), Out, Squirt (referring to his bath toys), Yap/Wow-wow (dog noises), Wow!, Ring, Bed, Bath, Hoo (owl noise), Book, Milk, Walk, Burp (bupp), Cack (quack, duck noise), Bawk (chicken noise), Peep (chick noise), Baby, Maybe, Good, Box (for mailbox, when he wants to get the mail), Read, Door, Key, Eat

Updated to add: Honk, Beep, Goin' (going), Doin' (doing), Red (the color...it is the only color he knows, but he says "red" pretty consistently for red things), In, Dry (as in, to dry off with a towel), Ride, Tree, Water, Library

Mama Burped :-)

1-year-old is walking now on his own. It's fun to hear the "pitter-patter of little feet" as he toddles around the house. I've been taking him outside for lots of walks lately. He enjoys patting trees and bushes and posts, and with all the exercise, he has been sleeping a ton! He is also talking up a storm. I used to try to write down all his words, but I've given that up, because he literally learns new words every day! He mostly says single words, but there is one consistent phrase he says. He loves to point out if he or anyone else burps. If I burp, he says "Mama bupp" (burped). If he burps, he says it about himself, using his own name. Now if only he will get "Excuse me" down....

The more independent 1-year-old gets, the more I look forward to having a newborn around the house again. I went over last night to visit my friend, who has a darling 2-month-old baby. She nursed him while I was there, and I went ga-ga over the sweetness of it all...the desperate little searching mouth, the cute sucking noises, and then the inevitable contented, milk-induced coma afterward. Nursing will be more challenging this time around, since I have a busy toddler to keep track of, but I am still looking forward to it. I nursed 1-year-old exclusively for 6 1/2 months before introducing solid foods, and I am planning to exclusively nurse this baby even longer. This page explains several good reasons to delay introducing solids.