9/15 Pics

Daddy & Saoirse

9/12 Pics

w/ Aunt Cyndie

w/ Grandma Becky

w/ Grandpa Tooley

First Doctor's Appt.

Just got back from taking Saoirse on her first outing! She did really well and didn't scream the entire time like I thought she might. lol. The nurses and doctor were pretty impressed at her mega newborn strength and wigglyness. She's small, but action packed! :D

We're heading out in a few minutes on a quest for a nursing bra so that should be exciting. I'm so tired, and I'm the only one not napping right now, lol.

What's funny is that the birth was WAY easier than I anticipated, but this part is harder. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that we actually have a baby now. And I'm totally hormonal which is not so fun on top of being exhausted. But we have lots of good help and that's what keeps me from totally freaking out.

Thanks for sending so much love our way people! :D

Saoirse Gets Weighed

Little One

Hello Baby!

Saoirse Royse Tooley
September 11, 2008
9:32 pm
6.7 lbs, 17 1/2 inches
Born @ Home in Water
Labor start to finish - 5 hours

Let's Do This!

The birthing tub is ready to go!

Yay!

Had an appt. with Suzanne and Sarah tonite. Dilated to 2cm, 80% effaced, 0 station! woo hoooo! Baby still in awesome position! Hope we have a baby by the end of the week!

Labor Please!

Spent all day yesterday cleaning (okay, mostly mark and his mom did the cleaning and i crankily hobbled around feeling useless), the home is now ready for a birth! Spent last nite from 1-4am sitting on the couch. I watched an infomercial about ice cream i think (or maybe that was a dream), and then somehow slept for 2 hours still sitting straight up. lol.

Please send me "labor vibes" people! All I can think about is having this baby, and each day is getting harder and harder to make it through without crying from frustration!

Baby Doctor

Today we finally picked a pediatrician for baby! I think we were procrastinating a little on this final decision. I never really got around to reading about vaccines so I wanted to make sure we went with someone who could be at least somewhat flexible with us on them if we were to later decide to not go along with the status quo vaccine schedule. It's not that we aren't going to do them at all, but we definitely want to feel like we have a choice.

Had another appt. at the OB's office today as well. Everything still looking good! Blood pressure is back to normal, the Nettles must have worked!

Happy 33rd Birthday Mooty

Soapbox

So normally I try to stay away from talking about my personal political and religious views since this isn't that kind of blog. But...since I'm about to have a baby, I feel like this is "kind of" on topic. lol.

Is anyone else freaked out by the fact that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has a five month old baby? It doesn't bother me that other candidates have school age children, but an infant? Seriously, being VP or even possibly stepping into the presidency with an infant (with special needs no less) to care for seems really weird to me.

Why is no one in the media talking about this? I could care less that her 17 year old daughter is knocked up! I'm tired of hearing about it frankly. What I want to to know is : what kind of attention this woman can possibly pay to both her job and her baby. Being Vice-President is kind of a big deal job it seems. Not the kind you can just "leave at the office" at 5pm. I can't imagine how much time away from a very needy little being it would require.

I'm starting to think that people might be afraid to bring it up lest they be labled "sexist." But it would be nice just to hear that maybe her husband is the main caregiver and she's just not "that kind of mom" or something. It's just weird for me that it doesn't even seem to be an issue.

Anyway, we've been watching both the Democratic and Republican conventions and I've got politics on the brain. Trying to distract myself from my seemingly (up untill today) endless pregnancy. lol. :D

I see the LIGHT!

I had just started to reach the point of "omg, I'm going to be pregnant FOREVER, I can't take this any longer" when lo and behold...I think something is happening ! I don't really want to go into details or anything, and I doubt we'll have a baby before next week at the least, but it makes me feel better to know I'm heading in that direction. Yay! :D

Baby Drop

Had a great appt. with Suzanne and Sarah today! It looks like the baby has dropped! Yay! And she's still in the perfect position! Yay! :D

My blood pressure was up a teeny bit on Friday at the Dr's office and also today, so Suzanne suggested taking Nettles (herbal supplement) which is supposed to help with that.

Other than that, not much else to tell. I'm trying some different things to help get us in a good place to start labor. I sit on the exercise ball alot, walk, drink alot of Pregnancy tea and Raspberry Leaf tea, and take Evening Primrose Oil. So I guess if nothing else gets this started, I can hold out some hope that the full moon will work it's magic on the 15th. lol.

Oh, and I've kinda switched over to the midwife's calender as far as how far along I am. We'll just say at this point that on Thurs. I'll be 39 weeks.

Finished Nursery 360

Belly du Jour

No Sleep

So all of a sudden, sleep is becoming a big problem. Last nite I went to bed around 12 and was up at 2. The night before, down at 11:30 and up at 3. Phoebe is sort of a pregnant, sick and sleep-deprived zombie at this point. I guess I'm supposed to get used to this right? lol.

Oh, and Mark is sick now too. fun times in the Tooley house! :)

Cuuuuuutttteee

Birth Playlist

Simple Things (Album) - Zero 7
When It Falls (Album) - Zero 7
Shepherd Moons (Album) - Enya
Watermark (Album) - Enya
Memory of Trees (Album) - Enya
A Day Without Rain (Album) - Enya

Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright
All I Want Is You -U2
All Is Full Of Love - Björk
Angels - Wax Poetic Feat. Norah Jones
Besame Mucho - Diana Krall
Climb - Mos Def
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Daylight - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay
E Horo - Mary Jane Lamond
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay
Heroine - The Edge & Sinéad O'Connor
Honey Honey - Feist
Hunter - Björk
I Go to Sleep - Sia
I Love You - Sarah McLachlan
Into Dust - Mazzy Star
Kissing You - Des'ree
Protection - Massive Attack
Soon We'll Be Found - Sia
Sparks - Coldplay
Swayambhu - Solar Twins
The Sweetest Gift - Sade
Theme From Harry's Game - Clannad
Unravel - Björk
Veni Creator Spiritus - Paul Schwartz
When I Look In Your Eyes - Diana Krall
Wild Horses - The Sundays
Yellow - Rockabye Baby! Coldplay

Sick Again

I'm two days into a summer cold that is going around, which I already went through once back in June. This really sucks. I feel awful. :(

On the bright side, Doula Sarah dropped by today with our birth kit! It's really neat to see almost everything we need to have a baby, all together in a storage bin, just sitting in the nursery ready to be used!

We also have the inflatable birthing pool now which I can't wait to blow up! We're going to do a test run of the "hose maneuver" this week, which involves running a hose down the laundry chute and Mark seeing how fast he can get it hooked up to the spout in the basement.

It's starting to feel like we are really ready for this birth! We are so very EXCITED to meet this baby!

Dr. Appt. (8/22 - 37 weeks)

Nothing too interesting to report. Everything looking good! We are OFFICIALLY Ok'd to have a baby any day now!

Week 39

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

He Farted in our General Direction...

Actually, he farted RIGHT ON US!

Tonite was Borders nite.
We Love Borders nite.
It's free.
We catch up on all our magazines and graphic novels.
Sometimes the other customers are annoying.
They talk to loud.
They have annoying whispered conversations.
They talk with their mouths full of cookie and smack their lips.
and sometimes....just sometimes...
They stand with their buttocks level with your FACE, 2 feet away,
rip the biggest fart of ALL TIME...
and then they just WALK AWAY!!!

LOL.

Sweet Dream

Yesterday at work Mark was watching some particularly monotonous training videos at his desk when he nodded off for a minute. He had a dream that he was kissing me and woke himself up puckering his lips! lol. Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard?

Fantastic!

The nurse just called to let me know that I'm negative for the group B strep! yay! no anitbiotics for me!

This week is vacation so I'm spending it getting caught up on my "To Do" list. Mark's mom has volunteered to come over practically everyday and help me. Thank you Becky! :D Over the weekend we worked on the nursery and yesterday did 9 million loads of baby laundry. It's pretty awesome to have help since I wouldn't accomplish much by myself. It takes alot of effort just to get up off a chair and walk from one room to another. Forget carrying anything or picking anything up off the floor. lol.

Speaking of discomfort, I'm pretty much there. Sleeping is a challenge and I'm almost becoming used to being in pain in any position. Walking sucks too. But it's really not that bad, just annoying. So, message to baby: "anytime now sweet-bear! come on down!"

Dr. Appt. (8/15)

This was our big 36 week appt. at the doctor's office, which really didn't mean much except it lasted a little longer. Everything looked good and I hope to hear back next week on the Group B Strep tests. If you are positive (which 50% of women are) it just means they want to give you a round or two of antibiotics while in labor. My weight and blood pressure are doing great and I'm not swollen which is awesome. It doesn't look like the baby is coming early either because I'm not dilated at all. I was somewhat disappointed at this news because although I still have stuff to do to prepare for baby, I'm ready to get this birthing show on the road already. The thought of being pregnant for up to 5 more weeks makes me want to punch Mark! lol. :)

Week 38

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Note: According to MY calender, I'm 37 weeks, entering week 38. According to actual measurements and the 9/11 due date, I'm a little over 36 weeks. Very confusing. :(

Birth News

So I feel like I can finally talk about our big change in plans at last! Over the last couple of weeks, some drama has gone down between our OB/midwife team and the hospital. It came to our attention that for the moment at least, we might want to figure out a backup plan. I started talking to our doula Sarah about the possibility of doing a homebirth with Suzanne, the midwife she is apprenticing with. Once I got over the initial shock of having to think about a change in plans this late in the game, I totally threw myself into the idea of making this happen, whether or not the hospital worked out it's issues with our OB.

Homebirth was something that I was interested in from the get go, but was under the impression that #1-it was illegal on the Missouri side and #2-it was definitely NOT covered by insurance at all. But apparently I was mistaken, Suzanne is a CNM (certified nurse midwife) so I guess that makes it legal, as opposed to a "lay midwife", and our insurance will cover some of the cost, probably not alot, but it's worth it to us to make it work financially.

The third reason we didn't seriously consider homebirth at first was that Mark didn't feel comfortable with the idea at the time. After receiving a great deal of childbirth education, and seeing how well the pregnancy has gone, he's now all for it and I think we're both feeling some anxiety lifted from our shoulders. There were so many things about going to the hospital that we were uncomfortable with (despite trying to convince ourselves otherwise) and, if everything goes well, we don't have to deal with all that now.

If something were to happen that required us to go to the hospital, we'll still head over to Olathe. I'm going to continue to go to my weekly appts. at the doctor's office as well as seeing Suzanne, so that if I needed to transfer from the homebirth, it will look as if that was my plan all along. It's very confusing actually.

I'm so excited about the changes that this decision brings. My goal is to actually birth in the water which I'm REALLY looking forward to. Suzanne brings a birthing pool that we set up and connect to hoses running from the washer. It sounds fantastic. Mark is looking forward to being able to be even MORE involved at home than he would have been able to be in the hospital. It will just be more intimate and comfortable for us, and hopefully making the birth safer and less traumatic for me and baby.

We had our first appt. with Suzanne tonite at home. She was very pleased to find that baby is now in the "perfect" position and down quite low. She gave us a list of things to gather for the birth like vinyl tablecloths to protect the floor and bed, towels, baby supplies, snacks, etc. She brings the rest! We'll see her again the 25th for another check.

I've got a doctor's appt. tomorrow that is our big "36 week appt." at which some more tests will be done. Will update on how that goes this weekend. :)

Suzanne's Website

Pre-Baby Celebration

Thanks so much to Becky & Cyndie (and also to Jenni W!) for hosting our celebration on Sat. nite! They really went all out!

We felt so grateful that so many supportive friends and family were able come out and hang out with us for a few hours in a hot art gallery and eat pink cupcakes. It was a really good time!

And thanks to everyone's incredible generosity, Baby Saoirse will definately not go naked! lol! You guys rock! THANK YOU! :D

Correction

I think the way I've been posting our weekly baby growth updates is a little confusing. I'm posting the update for the week we are IN, not the week we've just completed. That's the way my pregnancy planner is set up so it made sense to me. But now it's saying I'm full term and that is sort of misleading. Yes, i WILL be full term next weekend, just to clarify. Right now we are just a day short of 36 weeks according to the first due date (Sept. 7).

Also, there is a big change of plans in the works. I can't spill the beans yet...but I will as soon as it's confirmed.

Week 37 (Begins Sun.)

See the big picture
How your baby's growing:Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Power Down

Yesterday was an interesting day. We had already nixed plans to work outside because of the stifling heat, and then nixed plans to work INSIDE because of power brown outs. It took all afternoon for KCP&L to fix the problem. In the meantime, our neighbor Abby went and got a blow up pool, we made limeade and then we all had a pool party in our shared driveway! Afterwards the dogs got baths which they weren't very happy about. lol.

Pre-Natal Massage

that...was....AWESOME! thanks to Mark for the best present EVAR! Just got back from my 60 min. massage and I'm all floppy and loopy. :)

Dr. Appt. (8/1)

Another great visit! Baby is measuring between 34 & 35 weeks which is right in line with both of our due dates. (9/7 & 9/11) The midwife seemed to think that she might be a little bit posterior
(head down but facing front instead of back) and suggested keeping up with doing pelvic tilts on hands & knees to try to turn her. She didn't seem too terribly concerned about it though.

I actually lost 1/2 lb. since last visit, so I guess that 4 lb. gain evened out. sweet!

Next visit is Aug. 15 and after that every week until baby's birthday!

Week 36/Month 9 + Belly Pic

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Week 35

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Natural Childbirth Class

Our class last nite was awesome. It was just us and the other couple "PP#1". Our teacher Sally, was amazing, she basically just let us ask questions almost the whole time. We also did some role playing for labor that was super helpfull. Mark learned alot about helpfull responses to my pain, and we talked alot about the different comfort measures that I would prefer. This class was definately the most helpfull of any of them. Sally made us feel really secure in that Dr. Michele and our midwife Kelly were the best in KC for the kind of birth we want, and that we had done a really good job of preparing. She was so excited that we had a great doula (Sarah), and that we had really taken advantage of all the resouces available to us. It's really what we needed to hear. The closer we get, the more freaked out and unsure we are, so it's nice to know we've got a professional support system who are completely 100% behind us and enthusiastic about our birth. We feel really lucky.

Dr. Appt. (7/18)

Everything is still looking totally normal! Kinda boring, but in a good way. :) Baby is really starting to grow big time. I've gained four pounds since last visit which was a twice what I was shooting for. gotta lay off the chocolate milk for awhile. :( sad.

Next visit: Aug. 1 @ 3:30

Childbirth Class ( Part 5)

I don't think anyone really wanted that last class to end. afterwards, most people milled about talking. We eventually took it out to the parking lot and I think we finally got out of there at 11pm, 90 minutes after the class ended. lol. My theory is that the end of the class symbolized another giant step closer to this awesome yet terrifying upcoming life change. No one really seemed in a big hurry to move on. well, except for the couple we nicknamed "the crabby people." Even the Chinese couple stayed around to talk about cloth diapers with me. And it ended up that we talked the most to "Pretty People #1" and "Pretty People #2" who ended up being not nearly as snobby as we thought they'd be. :D We'll even see PP#1 again at our natural childbirth class on tues. nite, they ended up having the same doctor as us.

Overall, that class was pretty awesome. Some of the books I had read, sort of put me off hospital sponsored childbirth classes, saying that they just wanted to teach you how to be a good patient, more than to educate you on your options. But either we got a totally kick-ass hospital, or teacher. Probably both I'm thinking. It made me feel way more comfortable with our choice of going with a hospital even though we're shooting for a natural birth. I guess there are HUGE differences in what kind of birth experience you get depending on your doctor and hospital. You'd think it would be pretty universal at this point, but surprisingly it's far from it. So if you have a specific vision of what you want your experience to be, it pays to shop around, BIG TIME.

One of the most important things I learned was that most doctor's will SAY that they are okay with natural birth but then end up jumping in as soon as they can with the interventions. And of course in the end, everyone can say "thank god for the doctor and modern technology, our baby might not have survived." People forget though that an Obstetrician is a surgeon. they aren't trained for normal birth, to sit around and wait for something to happen, they are trained for emergency situations in which they get to MAKE things happen...to medically manage the birth. And once the interventions start, they lead to other interventions, and then more, and then "poof" you just had a c-section which was entirely preventable.

I have total faith that between our OB and our midwife, and the fairly progressive policies at Olathe Medical Center, we won't have a "medically managed" birth unless it is 100% ABSOLUTELY necessary. And in an emergency situation, we welcome all that modern technology has to offer. That's why we're doing this in a hospital for the first time. But you can bet the farm that we're going to ask "why" first.

Speechable

These are so cool! Speechable

Week 34

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Everyday @ Our House

DON'T PANIC!

Had my first Braxton-Hicks (practice) contractions this morning. I think. It lasted a little over an hour on and off and then just went away, so I'm assuming that's what that was. It wasn't too bad, just made me super nervous since I didn't really know what the heck was going on.

I probably shouldn't have read my pregnancy message boards over the weekend either, because 3 people in our Sept. Expecting Group on iVillage have already had their babies and that's making me nervous. One girl lost a bunch of her amniotic fluid and is in the hospital while they try to keep her baby in till 35 weeks. Yikes. :(

Anyways, I felt like I had all this time left, and I do, if all goes well...but there's that part of me that is sort of running around and freaking out and she's not really helping. Truthfully it's all getting close to overwhelming and I'm feeling pretty vulnerable and scared. Not just because of the birth, or the pain, or any of that...but also because of what all of it means and how this changes who we are.

This whole experience is seriously blowing my mind.

Orgasmic Birth

Doula Sarah sent me home with a few more books and a dvd last week. We got around to watching the dvd "Orgasmic Birth" last nite, and I have to admit, I was a little freaked out.

There were only two women that really made me cringe with embarrassment, and all the information they presented made perfect sense, so overall it was a good documentary. I understand the concept and all so I'm not discounting any of it... but it still makes me feel sort of yucky. lol.

Here, read all about it yourself: Orgasmic Birth (beware of loud moaning on the preview, it starts automatically)

Anyway, we also got a couple of books to add to our list.

Calm Birth w/ cd
The Breastfeeding Book
The Birth Partner

Week 33

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Making Plans

So we've been talking about how this whole birth thang is gonna go down. At the beginning I thought I wanted EVERYONE there, and that the whole thing should be videotaped. After alot of reading and some serious contemplation about my relaxation and pain relief techniques, I decided that it probably would be best if we had as much privacy as possible during labor and birth. If you picture me serenely laying in a hospital bed hooked up to an iv and chatting with guests, you FAIL. lol. :D

I will possibly be naked, mooing, hanging from the furniture and extremely hostile by the time we mosey over to the hospital, and I don't think you want any part of that. I don't plan on being a "good" laboring woman just so everyone else can be comfortable and we can have a big birthing tea party. NOT happening. Since I'm not opting for drugs of any kind, I'm going to have to be concentrating VERY hard on my relaxation and visualization. Not only is this going to make me want to punch in the face anyone who utters a peep, but I won't be confined to my bed...and therefore actually able to walk over and do the punching. lol. :D

But seriously, Cyndie is going to be in charge of guest relations and will have a list of family to call for labor/birth updates. I might end up giving her access to this blog and she can update here as well. And don't worry, we won't call anybody in the middle of the night unless it's big news. :)

After baby is born and I am ready, I'm sure we'll be glad to have a couple of visitors. And of course, when we get home, if you want to come over we'd love to see everyone. Especially if you bring us a casserole and some brownies. lol.

Anyway, it might seem kind of early for this kind of talk, but remember... 37 weeks is considered full term and I'm at about 32.

Here's some links for hospital information:

The Birth Place @ Olathe Medical Center

Olathe Medical Center Visitor Information

Childbirth Class (Part 4)

Last nite's class was super fun time! It seemed like all the guys were turbo-channeling their uncomfortableness with the situation into a mega Joke-Off. lol. we discussed more breathing techniques, toured the birthing suite (our second time), went over pushing positions, and talked about post-partem care.

Next week is Infant Care which we already have sat through in a stand alone class. But it'll be a nice refresher since that seems like it was eons ago. Then we are done with this class. We're going to add on a Natural Childbirth class that is being offered through our doctor's office. That will be like the 22nd I think.

anyhoo, i'm off for my fancy salon pedicure! I'm finally cashing in the gift certificate that cyndie gave me for christmas. excitement!

One high chair to rule them all...

I finally scored a wooden high chair on Craigslist! And it's better than the first! Our baby is going to totally reign supreme in this mofo right here!

Our cats LOVE sheet changing night!

Can you see Pete in the background? Ear flying and eyeball all aglow?

Soak up the healing powers of PURRRRRR...

Mark! You can't CUSS while I'm videotaping!!

After cat time, it's PETE TIME!

Dr. Appt. (7/7)

Had a good appt. on monday. the midwife said that my hemoglobin was the best she had ever seen! whoo hoo! apparently that means that baby is getting awesome oxygen from my blood. They seem to be perplexed that I keep passing sugar but yet my diabetes blood test came back with wayyy normal numbers. and for once in my life, I'm not having any weight issues! yay! it seems like pregnant women are getting yelled at by their doctors right and left for weight gain, but not me! still not up to where I was before first trimester. but baby needs to double in weight over the next two months so i expect to be expanding rapidly, very soon. kinda scary all of sudden since I feel VERY pregnant this week. I'm starting to really waddle around and it feels awful if I attempt to bend over. Bending over at all will soon become totally impossible. And i'm not sure if this baby just took up kung fu or what, but she is beating me silly from the inside. lol.

Next appt. 7/18@3:30

Childbirth Class (Part 3)

So this is where things got a little heavy. We talked about interventions in this week's class. Yuck. Me no likey. Yes, I've educated myself about ALL my options from all different viewpoints, not just the ones I prefer...but I still can rather not study in detail, over and over, the ones that freak me out. I've seen a cesarean birth before several times on Discovery Health like forever ago, but during the video in class I seriously had to turn my head which isn't like me. I just can't let myself get into a panic about things that might be out of my control. I'm trying to stay on a positive path of doing everything possible to help prevent unnecessary interventions.

I let my inner "hippy" out in class again this week by mentioning that isn't it funny that they can show these major surgeries on television, yet not a full on vaginal birth. God forbid our eyes behold a vagina doing what it was made to do!! One guy said he'd rather people see his wife's intestines than her vagina! whhhhaaaaaattttt????? you'd rather your wife be sliced open and her innards spilling out everywhere than for someone to see a baby coming out of her naturally? Okay, I'm now officially convinced that there is too much violence in the media and not enough total female nudity. Are you Freaking Serious?? what is WRONG with you people???? So I just had to respond that it definitely wouldn't be the vagina that he knew, it was going to look totally different during birth anyway. it's an organ that has two different purposes and I'm pretty sure mature adults can make the separation without much trouble.

I was saying "vagina" alot i guess, which seemed to make people squirm. *rolls eyes* Come on people, we're not 12 years old here. It's an actual medical term, not a cuss word! and for god's sake we're in a hospital in a childbirth class!! lol.

Week 32/ Month 8

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Happy 4th!!!

We're (Mark is actually) cleaning out our gross basement today. FUN! Later we'll give our dog a sedative and try to help him not have a giant nervous breakdown when the fireworks start and it sounds like a war just broke out in the city.

Mark isn't a big fan of loud noises and stupid drunk people with guns and firecrackers, so this isn't his favorite holiday. lol. I myself like a good fireworks display but it's just too much of a pain to go find parking and deal with all the people. So we'll stay home, hug our dog and each other and celebrate our country's independence by playing Uno on the porch and eating ice cream.

Growl Tiger

Oh boy, I'm a crabby pregnant lady this week for sure. I've done alot of crying, some hysterical crazy laughing for no reason, and TONS of being a cranky mommy bear. If you talked to me at the beginning and thought I was snappy...oh nelly that was NOTHING! If you come around now...put your thick skin on! lol. I skipped La Leche League last nite I was so crabby. Basically, everything anyone does or says makes me mad. lol.

Honestly, probably no one I've talked to has really noticed except Mark. Poor poor Mark. I've done a good job of only really communicating through blog and email with most people. But oh boy I've been in Mr. Tooley's FACE this week. I'm sorry Mr. Tooley. *pat pat pat*

And no, i'm not physically miserable yet. I feel great actually. I finally feel like I've got a respectable pregnant belly going on and I looooove it. The heat isn't bothering me at all, and I doubt it will. What people forget when they make comments about how it's going to suck for me when it gets hot is....I'm already fat!! LOL. I'm miserable EVERY summer! This summer is going to be no different at all.

Well, I'm going to go take some anger out on my knitting now. Freaking never ending baby blanket!!

Tres Cosas

1. I've got two weeks of vacation! wheeeee! Not sure what I'm going to spend it doing...but I'm sure it'll be baby/nesting related somehow.

2. Friday is our ELEVEN year anniversary! Can you believe it? We met July 4th, 1997 and have been inseparable ever since! I'm still totally crazy about my Mark, and he's mega-bonkers for me. :D lol.

3. The wooden high chair guy from Craigslist totally flaked out on me on Sun. I'm pretty irritated about it. I WANT that high chair.

They Really Think It's All For Them...

Right now as I type, there is a cat on the changing pad, one in the crib, and Frannie (our ultimate cat-baby) here asleep in the papasan. lol. I don't have the heart to chase them away, it's too cute. I'll just have to wash everything again later. :)

Childbirth Class (Part 2)

Thursday nite was our second childbirth class. It was pretty fun actually. We got to do a bunch of relaxation exercises and massage techniques. Mark found another equally immature father-to-be and they tried to outdo each other from across the room with inappropriate motions while they were suppose to be massaging their wives. That particular couple turned out to be very nice and we had a good chat about both of our goals of a natural birth. They told us about friends of theirs who had awesome natural birth experiences at Olathe Medical Center, so that was cool, and very reassuring to us.

Can't wait till next Thurs! That class is a good time!

I Heart My Belly!

I also heart my stretch marks!! This is probably the first time in my life that I'm totally in love with my stomach area. lol. Being pregnant is so amazing and mind blowing. I feel sad on a daily basis that Mark can't experience it on the same level that I do. Even all the aches and pains are interesting because there is a purpose to it all. And I'll never be ashamed of any way that my body changes because of pregnancy. Maybe because it's that I wasn't too attached to the way it looked beforehand, but I'd also like to think that it's because I totally embrace the transition from maiden to mother and everything that comes with it. Like Mark says, it's all about non-attachment right? Change is good!

Check out my funny looking belly button!

Week 31

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How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Sweet Baby Papasan

Got a great deal on this Fisher Price Baby Papasan from Sandy's cousin. It's so freaking cute!

We're also going to go on Sun. to look at a beautiful wooden high chair I found on craigslist. Excited about that, hope we come home with it! :)

Healthy Mommy; Sick Phoebe

My bloodwork from last doctor's appt. came back today and all is well. I think they were convinced that I was going to get gestational diabetes, but that hasn't been the case. I'm a healthy fat mommy! lol.

However, I caught an awful cold over the weekend I guess and felt like I was dying yesterday. I had a fever of 101 at one point and was in contact with the nurse several times throughout the day. I called Mark crying I was so frustrated. Being sick and not being able to take anything but Tylenol really sucks. He told me later it made him want to throw his desk out the window like Hulk and speed over to me even though there was nothing he could do. :) so sweet.

anyway, feeling much better today, fever broke overnight and now i'm just stuck with blowing my nose every 30 seconds and sneezing 500 bazillion times a minute. lol. I'm daydreaming about a nice big dose of dayquil right now.

Childbirth Class (Part 1)

We had our first childbirth class at the hospital on Thurs. nite. I really love our teacher, she's a hoot. lol. I tried to keep my questions to a minimum as to not embarrass Mark and come off like a "know-it-all." But even so, no one knew what the heck I was talking about anyway except the teacher. I didn't care really, I figure if there's anything in your life you should attempt to be a know-it-all about, it's your babies. The most important thing I'll ever do in my life will be to become a parent, and I'm going to use all the information and every resource available to me to help me do it better.

Important things I learned in class this week: 1) I can wear my own clothes, or no clothes!, during labor & birth! 2) I can labor in the tub even after my water has broken, but if I try to be sneaky and attempt a water birth, they will drain the water when I start pushing. 3) I really want to become a birth educator!

Oh, and we had a doctor's appt. yesterday. It wasn't very exciting. They did the 1-hr glucose test again, results next week sometime. I guess they were testing my blood for a couple of other things too. From now on we go every two weeks. Next appt.: July 7th @ 9:30am.

Cat nursery?

"But the sign says we can sleep here!"

"I was trying to blend in"

I Heart Garage Sales

We just happened to stop by a couple of garage sales on our way home from the store this morning and lucked out on some awesome deals.

Mark has been looking for a cheap drawing table on Craigslist for months without any luck. He found a practically brand new one this morning for 20 bucks! great deal considering they retail for several hundred dollars.

I picked up a Bumbo Baby Seat, which retails for $40, for an amazing FIVE dollars. awesome! and even better, a $140 Bumble Bags diaper bag (slightly worn) for $5. ridiculous!

Week 30

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

SPF Bucket

Ahhh, the memories.... It seems like just yesterday that I was 16 months old just like Ilena here. We would put on our SPF buckets, head out to the pool and taste test any moths that happened to dive bomb into our water table. Those were the days! :D

That moth had an "earthy bouquet" yet a disappointing finish.

Dreams

My dreams have become steadily more weird with a really creepy tone to them. I wake up all irritated at them usually. I don't think I've gone a night in a week or so with out feeling like I dreamed ALL nite, which is sort of exhausting.

Anyway, last night was as weird as ever, but there was one part that was sort of sweet, in a weird, creepy kind of way. lol.

Background: Alot of my dreams have been about Mark and I owning a house yet somehow I was still living at my parents and I can't seem to escape. The rest are usually about going back to high school, at 30, and everyone I went to high school with is there too. It's been like a mini-series about how our high school somehow convinced us all to come back for an adult education class, but we end up going through all of high school again. I try to start a rebellion against the school but no one listens to me. I keep trying to get away, but always end up back at the high school.

So this dream last nite starts off with me at high school cleaning out my lockers (apparently I had many). I'm filing trash bag after trash bag with stuff and wondering "how could they not have ever gotten rid of this stuff after 12 years? this is so weird! Didn't other people use these lockers?" Later, I run into my old friend Haley and we start talking about our pregnancies. Some other people are milling around when suddenly someone shouts "I can see something!" and points at my belly. I look down to see the shape of my baby's head and face through my skin. Then the whole baby is out, only still connected to me by a thin layer of skin covering it like plastic wrap or something. My perspective changes from looking down on my belly to facing my baby somehow. People are playing with the baby, it's holding their fingers and stuff. Then everyone sort of fades away and my baby says "What is your name?" I reply "My name is Phoebe, but you can call me Mommy" Then I think I started crying and blabbering "i love you" and hugging my baby. Then I get worried and tell my baby that she better get back in there, that she's not "done" yet. lol. The End.

Ya, these hormones are really something.

Diapering 101

Just found this on Happybottomus's website. It's got explanation AND pictures, which is really helpfull.

http://www.happybottomus.com/parentinginfo/CDinfo/Diapering101.htm

Yes, it is rather bright...

So, I know everyone is like "wtf?" about the paint color in the baby's room. I had to explain it to my dad last night which made me think I should just tell the story here as well.

We both agreed that green was a good color to go with, but our opinions on which shade turned out to be VERY different. Mark, who never has had a strong opinion on decorating in his life, made a stand in the middle of Home Depot for a seizure inducing neon green color (yes, more seizure inducing than the one we ended up with). I was going for a more natural color and so to end the dispute quickly we chose a green in between. Once it was up, it was clear to me that this was still a very scary green but Mark was in denial and proclaimed that he wasn't painting over it, EVAR.

So we worked with it. And it's growing on us. It's going to be okay....I promise. *pets your eyeballs*

Another Nursery Pic

We hit a Linens n' Things closeout sale yesterday and I bagged these sweet curtains for the nursery. It's really coming together now!

Cloth Diaper Registry

We are now registered for all of our cloth diapers/supplies at Happybottomus.

You can check it out here: (scroll to the bottom for ours)
http://www.happybottomus.com/registries.htm

Week 29

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Lactating Armpits & other awesome stories....

We jumped the gun yet again and went to our breastfeeding class last nite at the hospital like 2 months earlier than everyone else apparently. oh well, we like to be super prepared in advance i guess.

The woman who taught it was hilarious and I'm looking forward to having her as our Childbirth Class teacher (starts next thurs!5 weeks long). One of the stories she told was about a woman who had like 5 fully functional nipples, two of which were in her armpits! gross! but sort of awesome too. you'd have like built in armpit milk cannons! and no one could get mad at you for exposing yourself in public when you fed your baby! LOL.

I kind of felt like a couple of hippies when we went around the room for intros. we were supposed to tell who our doctor was and where we were "delivering". all of the other girls said "dr. soandso is delivering our baby here" I wanted to say "uh, no one is "delivering" anybody here! I'm giving birth and my husband here is going to "receive" our baby and there will be a doctor or midwife to oversee the birth and a doula to assist." I think instead I just listed our "team" and skipped to the next question. then again, I was the only person in the class who admitted to knowing anything about breastfeeding, which was weird to me considering they were all about to give birth. I guess breastfeeding is a last minute or even an afterthought for alot of women.

but i guess i promised "other awesome stories" in the post title, so now I have to think of something.....

Baby's kicks are getting increasingly more powerful! Sometimes my belly actually "jumps" a little bit. I've been watching it carefully and I bet in a week or so I could get a video of it moving! Half the time though, she's kicking/punching straight down into what feels like the uh..."exit", if you will. lol. :D that's a pretty weird sensation. She also is doing some "rolls" or something, and if i were a more slender gal, you'd probably be able to see it. but seeing as there's several extra layers of "fluff" or "padding" between her and us, it's not as obvious. I was sort of bummed about it but I mentioned it to Mark, who thought that was kind of creepy, and was happy he didn't have to see the baby rolling about in my tummy. lol. I think he's content to feel a kick or two every once in a while.

Nursery Almost Done!

Week 28, Month 7, 3rd Trimester

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How your baby's growing:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Milk , Milk , Lemonade

I kept assuring Mark that it was just fine if he went with me to this La Leche League (breastfeeding support) meeting, which is was...technically. lol. we showed up a few minutes late and Mark felt like a pervy alien right off the bat. Apparently the other mens don't really go to these things and some women MIGHT feel uncomfortable, even though we were assured that the majority of them didn't care. anyway, Mark lasted about 3 minutes and then slunk off to the car. I was bummed that it was weird for him. Although afterwards several women commented that they thought it was great that he was supportive and coming with me to all our baby-related events. Everyone was very nice and I got to hold a very very little baby that spent our time together working on a very impressive poo. Other small children, mostly babies and toddlers, played in the middle of our circle which was super cute. One little boy kept toddling over to me and poking me in the butt through the back of my chair. it was adorable. lol.

So I'm definitely going to join and go at least to the monthly meetings for now. I think our next baby related thing is a Holistic Parents meeting next week. I talked to a girl at La Leche about an Attachment Parenting meeting too, so I need to find out when that is. It's super cool that we're able to find these little groups in Kansas City. The internets are cool and all, but having some real life social time is pretty awesome too. :D

Disturbing Dream

I dreamed last night that I had twins, very very large twin babies. They could practically sit up on their own already right after birth. lol. So then I realize that I don't have any diapers for them or any other supplies except for car seats. I send Mark out to buy a boppy pillow and diapers and proceed to try to nurse them. I'm trying to hold them like they suggest in my breastfeeding DVD but I end up bending them all around in impossible positions. that part was scary. Then all of a sudden, my babies have been replaced and I'm trying to nurse two stuffed animals. lol. I keep complaining that "it's not the same" and wondering where my babies are. Then they are back. I'm starting to freak out and trying to keep track of them because they keep moving around somehow. At some point there's a party outside and some lady is trying to feed my newborn baby food. I freak out and scream at everyone for awhile. No one is helping me and for some reason this whole time, I'm at my parents' house. I woke up all weirded out. :(

Unexpected Trip to Midwife

Having never been pregnant before, some of these sensations are a mystery to me. So I look alot of stuff up on the internets, and call the Nurse at my OB/Midwife's office for the rest. Yesterday morning I was having my subtle on and off again crampy feelings again so I called the nurse, basically just wanting her to tell me "it's normal, no biggie." Instead I was asked to come into the office to check for a UTI and then see the midwife to examine my uterus. wow, didn't see THAT coming.

Chuck was nice enough to come home a little early and Mark and I scampered off to our appt. I thought the midwife was going to give me an award for "the best urine sample EVAR!" or something, I think it really made her day. lol. Everything else checked out great too and then we did some stretches and things to help my back and pelvis. I got a card to help me remember the symptoms of pre-term labor and a lesson in how to feel my uterus through my belly to see if it was contracting. I'm still not sure on that one though. But I am sure that I need to do my yoga stretches TWICE a day now and make sure I go use that massage gift certificate soon. The midwife practically ordered me to go get a bunch of massages. :D sweet.