I haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks, so I think this is a bullet post so I don't forget anything.
-Last night, New Year's Eve, Justin and I enjoyed our tradition of staying home together and eating oriental food. We played Wii (Justin got Wii Sports Resort for Christmas - or rather, he traded in one of two copies of Lost that he received for Christmas and got Sports Resort instead), watched Lost, read books, and just hung out together. It was awesome. I didn't think we would stay up until midnight, but since we were still awake at 11 I figured it was worth it. We were watching the show from Time's Square, and at 11:51 I was tired and decided to close my eyes until the ball dropped. Suddenly Justin kissed me out of my sleep and said "Happy New Year." That's right. I fell asleep about 2 minutes before that flippin ball dropped. And I love watching the ball drop!
-It is now 2010, or, as we call it, the Year of Bambino. So much is going to happen this year. I want the next 12 weeks to fly by, but then after that I would like things to slow down to a crawl. I want to enjoy every second with our new baby, and not have him grow up too fast.
-I went for my glucose tolerance test a few days ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had heard such horror stories about the drink they make you have, but it was totally fine. I wish I had known. My friend had told me not to go on an empty stomach because the drink made her throw up. So I ate beforehand. But I found out afterward that you have better results if you don't eat beforehand (even though I asked the lab if I had to fast and they said no). If I fail this test because of that I will be very upset. I don't want to do the 3 hour test!
-The baby doesn't kick as much as he used to. I think he's just getting too big. Instead of kicking he's just constantly moving around. Last night (New Year's Eve) was the first time he's kicked me and actually caused pain. It was only mild pain/strong discomfort, but before this the only "discomfort" he had caused by kicking was when he uses my bladder as a punching bag. That's always fantastic.
-Bambino is getting so big that I can almost always touch him through my abdomen. I can push his little limbs and feet around - and then he kicks me back! It's such an amazing feeling.
-As a Happy New Year to me my uterus has given me a lovely gift of at least 40 contractions so far today. I am really hoping that my overactive uterus means I will give birth easier... and earlier.
-Our kitten, Lexie, went into heat for a good week over the holidays. I didn't even know a 7 month old cat could go into heat. I felt so bad for her. She would just writh around on the ground, rubbing her face against things, wanting to be petted. While we were petting her she made cute little purr-meow sounds nonstop. She seemed so confused over what was happening to her. It was awful!! If we weren't petting her, she meowed nonstop. She also peed in inappropriate places at least twice a day - something I did not know came along with being in heat. Everytime we would get home and everytime we woke up in the morning we would go hunting for where she peed. For some reason every night she peed on the counter. Usually on a dish cloth, but one time there was no dish cloth, so she peed right on the stove. We've had to wash every comforter in our house. She peed on our bed twice! That comforter is extremely difficult to wash, and has now been washed 4 times in about 1 year. That's not right. Her final peeing escapade was 3 nights ago. She seemed like she was going to pee on the bed, so I kicked her off. She then went over to my only pair of maternity jeans and peed on them. I guess that's better than peeing on the carpet!
-In two more days I have to go back to work, and then work for the next 10 weeks before my maternity leave starts. I am dreading this. In some ways it feels like the baby is coming so soon (12 weeks!), but when I think about working 10 more weeks it suddenly feels very far away.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Pregnancy at 26 Weeks
How far along: 26 weeks
Total weight gain: 20lbs? I wish I knew what I weighed at the OB before I was pregnant so that I could say for sure. But I guess it doesn't matter all that much. Although my OB gave me a tiny lecture at my last appointment because I gained 5 lbs in 4.5 weeks... it was only half a pound more than I was supposed to gain, and that could be due to anything - water retention, heavy clothes, not having gone "number 2" that day... I was kind of ticked off at him.
Stretch marks?: None yet, thank goodness.
Sleep: Not great. My massage therapist informed me that I have bursitis in both of my hips, which explains the excruciating pain I get all night from lying on my sides. I also still spend 2+ hours lying awake most nights. But I'm not going insane from all this, like I would have before I was pregnant. I'm just very tired.
Best moments this week: Well, it was really over a week ago, but buying our glider, stroller, pack and play, and high chair was a big highlight. Our nursery is now 100% finished!
Food cravings: I still crave sweets and pop. The pop I still have not partaken of. The sweets I occasionally succumb to.
Sex: A little boy
Labor signs?: At least 20 Braxton-Hicks a day... yesterday it was at least 40. I've been researching natural childbirth though, and since I've been completely relaxing everything during my BH, they aren't nearly as uncomfortable and none of them have been painful (whereas some were before).
Belly Button: 90% of the way popped.
What I miss the most: Sleeping on my back.
What I am looking forward to the most: I just want time to fly so we can officially meet our little guy. I can't wait for him to be a real part of our lives.
Milestones: I am now in the third trimester!! Also, last night was the first time that Bambino woke me up by kicking me. He often keeps me awake once I'm already awake, but last night he actually woke me up because he was kicking so hard. For awhile his kicking was part of my dream (like when you hear a ringing telephone and the ringing is in your dream), but he eventually woke me right up.
Total weight gain: 20lbs? I wish I knew what I weighed at the OB before I was pregnant so that I could say for sure. But I guess it doesn't matter all that much. Although my OB gave me a tiny lecture at my last appointment because I gained 5 lbs in 4.5 weeks... it was only half a pound more than I was supposed to gain, and that could be due to anything - water retention, heavy clothes, not having gone "number 2" that day... I was kind of ticked off at him.
Stretch marks?: None yet, thank goodness.
Sleep: Not great. My massage therapist informed me that I have bursitis in both of my hips, which explains the excruciating pain I get all night from lying on my sides. I also still spend 2+ hours lying awake most nights. But I'm not going insane from all this, like I would have before I was pregnant. I'm just very tired.
Best moments this week: Well, it was really over a week ago, but buying our glider, stroller, pack and play, and high chair was a big highlight. Our nursery is now 100% finished!
Food cravings: I still crave sweets and pop. The pop I still have not partaken of. The sweets I occasionally succumb to.
Sex: A little boy
Labor signs?: At least 20 Braxton-Hicks a day... yesterday it was at least 40. I've been researching natural childbirth though, and since I've been completely relaxing everything during my BH, they aren't nearly as uncomfortable and none of them have been painful (whereas some were before).
Belly Button: 90% of the way popped.
What I miss the most: Sleeping on my back.
What I am looking forward to the most: I just want time to fly so we can officially meet our little guy. I can't wait for him to be a real part of our lives.
Milestones: I am now in the third trimester!! Also, last night was the first time that Bambino woke me up by kicking me. He often keeps me awake once I'm already awake, but last night he actually woke me up because he was kicking so hard. For awhile his kicking was part of my dream (like when you hear a ringing telephone and the ringing is in your dream), but he eventually woke me right up.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Homebirth Update
All is not completely lost. After talking to the midwives' office and finding out they can't fit me in, I emailed a friend/acquaintance who works part-time in that office (her mom started it years ago). She was so sweet and said she would love for me to have the homebirth I want (she had a homebirth about a year and a half ago). She said she can't make any promises, but she will try to get me in.
I'm really hoping she can do something about this. As much as I love my OB, the more I read about hospital births and the unnecessary interventions they use, the more and more I want a home birth. There are so many things I don't like about birthing in a hospital:
-You have to give birth lying down in a bed (probably on a delivery table with your legs in stirrups), which is the most inefficient and difficult way to push.
-Many hospitals make you get an IV, just as a routine procedure.
-The doctors tell the nurses not to page them until they can see the head. By then you're dying to push, but you have to wait until the doctor gets there (20 minutes+). There's nothing good about that.
-Most doctors perform episiotomies whether you need them or not, and whether you want them or not, because they're too impatient to wait for things to work naturally.
-Many doctors use forceps and vaccuum extraction in almost every situation, which often necessitates an episiotomy or else you will tear. I don't want my baby ripped out of me.
-Most doctors cut the umbilical cord right away, when really they should wait until it stops pulsating before cutting it. Some doctors even try to force the cord blood into the baby more quickly by milking the cord, which can cause heart problems because it's forcing the tiny baby's heart to handle too much blood more quickly than it should.
-Many doctors freak out and make you stop pushing if the baby comes out with the cord around his neck, even if the baby isn't in distress. They immediately cut the cord, which forces the baby to breathe while he's still mostly inside of you. Meanwhile, they could just slip the cord over the baby's head and wait for the appropriate time to cut the cord.
-Many doctors are too impatient to wait for you to deliver the placenta on your own, so they give you a shot of pitocin, which is completely unnecessary. What they should do is let you nurse right away to cause your uterus to contract and expell the placenta naturally.
-You only get to hold your baby for a few minutes before the nurses take him to check him out and clean him up. I don't want to be seperated from my brand new baby. I want to hold him and nurse him for as long as I want. A midwife checks the baby out while he's in your arms, and waits until you are ready to hand him over before she weighs him.
-My husband can't be with me 24/7 after the baby is born. There are visiting hours and non-visiting hours.
Those are only the problems I can think of right now. There are many others.
Even if I can get my OB to agree to a 100% natural childbirth (ie. no drugs or interventions whatsoever), there's no guarantee that I'd actually end up with my OB delivering the baby. I really hope I can get a midwife. Even if it's not a homebirth, at least I would know that all the problems I just named (minus visiting hours) wouldn't happen.
I'm really hoping she can do something about this. As much as I love my OB, the more I read about hospital births and the unnecessary interventions they use, the more and more I want a home birth. There are so many things I don't like about birthing in a hospital:
-You have to give birth lying down in a bed (probably on a delivery table with your legs in stirrups), which is the most inefficient and difficult way to push.
-Many hospitals make you get an IV, just as a routine procedure.
-The doctors tell the nurses not to page them until they can see the head. By then you're dying to push, but you have to wait until the doctor gets there (20 minutes+). There's nothing good about that.
-Most doctors perform episiotomies whether you need them or not, and whether you want them or not, because they're too impatient to wait for things to work naturally.
-Many doctors use forceps and vaccuum extraction in almost every situation, which often necessitates an episiotomy or else you will tear. I don't want my baby ripped out of me.
-Most doctors cut the umbilical cord right away, when really they should wait until it stops pulsating before cutting it. Some doctors even try to force the cord blood into the baby more quickly by milking the cord, which can cause heart problems because it's forcing the tiny baby's heart to handle too much blood more quickly than it should.
-Many doctors freak out and make you stop pushing if the baby comes out with the cord around his neck, even if the baby isn't in distress. They immediately cut the cord, which forces the baby to breathe while he's still mostly inside of you. Meanwhile, they could just slip the cord over the baby's head and wait for the appropriate time to cut the cord.
-Many doctors are too impatient to wait for you to deliver the placenta on your own, so they give you a shot of pitocin, which is completely unnecessary. What they should do is let you nurse right away to cause your uterus to contract and expell the placenta naturally.
-You only get to hold your baby for a few minutes before the nurses take him to check him out and clean him up. I don't want to be seperated from my brand new baby. I want to hold him and nurse him for as long as I want. A midwife checks the baby out while he's in your arms, and waits until you are ready to hand him over before she weighs him.
-My husband can't be with me 24/7 after the baby is born. There are visiting hours and non-visiting hours.
Those are only the problems I can think of right now. There are many others.
Even if I can get my OB to agree to a 100% natural childbirth (ie. no drugs or interventions whatsoever), there's no guarantee that I'd actually end up with my OB delivering the baby. I really hope I can get a midwife. Even if it's not a homebirth, at least I would know that all the problems I just named (minus visiting hours) wouldn't happen.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
So Bummed
I just called the midwife offices to book an appointment and was told that they are completely full for March and can't accept any more patients unless somebody moves out of the area. I am so disappointed. I hadn't realized how much I really wanted to do a home birth until I was told that I couldn't. My heart sank.
I'm on the waiting list, but I'm really not anticipating getting a call back from them. I had no idea that they would be full during this time. Their website made it sound like I could call them at any point during my pregnancy if I decided I want midwifery care.
Bummer:(
I'm on the waiting list, but I'm really not anticipating getting a call back from them. I had no idea that they would be full during this time. Their website made it sound like I could call them at any point during my pregnancy if I decided I want midwifery care.
Bummer:(
Home Birth?
(Just for the record, Bambino has shifted a bit and is moving around move frequently than he was for most of yesterday)
I am now seriously considering a home birth. I had considered it in the past, but not really since I've been pregnant. However, last night I was reading this magazine from my chiropractor's office and there were articles on home births and also on things hospitals do automatically that are completely ridiculous. So I started to rethink the whole "giving birth in a hospital" thing.
This morning I said to my husband, "I think I want a home birth." He immediately replied, "No. Absolutely not," which I was kind of expecting. So I said "Just read the articles before you say no, okay?" And he agreed.
He read the articles, and now HE wants a home birth! I actually think that's what he would prefer now.
I think what I'm going to do is make an appointment with a midwife to see how we like her and ask her some questions. I don't want to cut ties with my OB right now, but I do want to seriously look into this whole thing.
I am now seriously considering a home birth. I had considered it in the past, but not really since I've been pregnant. However, last night I was reading this magazine from my chiropractor's office and there were articles on home births and also on things hospitals do automatically that are completely ridiculous. So I started to rethink the whole "giving birth in a hospital" thing.
This morning I said to my husband, "I think I want a home birth." He immediately replied, "No. Absolutely not," which I was kind of expecting. So I said "Just read the articles before you say no, okay?" And he agreed.
He read the articles, and now HE wants a home birth! I actually think that's what he would prefer now.
I think what I'm going to do is make an appointment with a midwife to see how we like her and ask her some questions. I don't want to cut ties with my OB right now, but I do want to seriously look into this whole thing.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Quiet Baby and My Shrinking Stress List
You'd think at 25.5 weeks, the stress of worrying about something happening to your baby would go away. Especially because the baby moves around like crazy, kicking nonstop. And that's my baby. Yesterday I just finished saying how I was worried that when Bambino was born he would be really hyper and fussy, because he never seems to sleep inside of me.
It appears he overheard me say that, and decided to prove me wrong. Last night I didn't feel him move once overnight. Usually everytime I change positions or go to the bathroom he starts squirming around. It didn't happen once last night. He also didn't move all morning while I was getting ready.
He eventually has given me the tiniest, slightest movements. But absolutely nothing like his constant hard kicking that he was doing for the past 5 weeks.
I think he must be facing my back. I wish he would turn around again. It's disconcerting for my baby to be this quiet. It's completely out of character for him. Of course it has me worried that he's in distress.
On another note, it is now Wednesday and many things are being crossed off my stress list:
-I'm in charge of the Christmas assembly on Wednesday - DONE
-I have a staff meeting after work on Monday - DONE
-We have to find time to return that elliptical - DONE
-I have 4 after school appointments this week - ONE (almost 2) DONE
-DH has a department party after work on Friday that I have to rush home for - I'm pretty sure we're not going, and I made a massage appointment instead!
-I have to go out of town to visit with friends next Monday - this may be cancelled
These things I cannot avoid:
-We have a wedding on Saturday
-I'm in the nursery at church on Sunday after being out late on Saturday for the wedding
-I'm still not done my Christmas shopping
Finally, my dad went in for surgery on Tuesday and I have to try and visit him everyday after work. But I live 25 minutes from the hospital, so it's easier said than done. The surgery itself went fine and I visited him yesterday and am going again today. But he did have a horrible day yesterday. For some reason his pain got absolutely out of control and he went into shock. He whole body was shivering and sweating, his muscles were so clenched that needles were bouncing back out of his skin, and he was crying uncontrollably. Now, you don't know my dad, but he is as tough as nails. He is in intense pain 24/7 from rheumatoid arthritis all over his body. Normally his reaction to pain is to get miserable. I have never seen him cry in my life. My mom has only seen him cry once before (when the doctors told my parents that they thought my little brother had cancer - which he didn't end up having). So the fact that he was crying breaks my heart.
He didn't want any visitors because he was in such bad shape (however, my sister and I went anyway). The nurses maxed him out on percosets, demerol, and morphine. He stopped shivering and crying, but he was still in major pain and could only lie there with his eyes closed grimacing. They were shocked that he wasn't in a coma from everything they gave him, and he definitely shouldn't have still been in pain. But the pain was so far out of control that they couldn't get it back to a manageable level. They then maxed him out on celebrex and another drug that I can't remember the name of right now. I'm hoping he'll be feeling better when I go to see him this evening. Poor guy. It kills me to see him like that.
(During the writing of this post the baby started to squirm a bit more... but it's still nothing like before. This kid needs to smarten up and quit worrying his mom.)
It appears he overheard me say that, and decided to prove me wrong. Last night I didn't feel him move once overnight. Usually everytime I change positions or go to the bathroom he starts squirming around. It didn't happen once last night. He also didn't move all morning while I was getting ready.
He eventually has given me the tiniest, slightest movements. But absolutely nothing like his constant hard kicking that he was doing for the past 5 weeks.
I think he must be facing my back. I wish he would turn around again. It's disconcerting for my baby to be this quiet. It's completely out of character for him. Of course it has me worried that he's in distress.
On another note, it is now Wednesday and many things are being crossed off my stress list:
-I'm in charge of the Christmas assembly on Wednesday - DONE
-I have a staff meeting after work on Monday - DONE
-We have to find time to return that elliptical - DONE
-I have 4 after school appointments this week - ONE (almost 2) DONE
-DH has a department party after work on Friday that I have to rush home for - I'm pretty sure we're not going, and I made a massage appointment instead!
-I have to go out of town to visit with friends next Monday - this may be cancelled
These things I cannot avoid:
-We have a wedding on Saturday
-I'm in the nursery at church on Sunday after being out late on Saturday for the wedding
-I'm still not done my Christmas shopping
Finally, my dad went in for surgery on Tuesday and I have to try and visit him everyday after work. But I live 25 minutes from the hospital, so it's easier said than done. The surgery itself went fine and I visited him yesterday and am going again today. But he did have a horrible day yesterday. For some reason his pain got absolutely out of control and he went into shock. He whole body was shivering and sweating, his muscles were so clenched that needles were bouncing back out of his skin, and he was crying uncontrollably. Now, you don't know my dad, but he is as tough as nails. He is in intense pain 24/7 from rheumatoid arthritis all over his body. Normally his reaction to pain is to get miserable. I have never seen him cry in my life. My mom has only seen him cry once before (when the doctors told my parents that they thought my little brother had cancer - which he didn't end up having). So the fact that he was crying breaks my heart.
He didn't want any visitors because he was in such bad shape (however, my sister and I went anyway). The nurses maxed him out on percosets, demerol, and morphine. He stopped shivering and crying, but he was still in major pain and could only lie there with his eyes closed grimacing. They were shocked that he wasn't in a coma from everything they gave him, and he definitely shouldn't have still been in pain. But the pain was so far out of control that they couldn't get it back to a manageable level. They then maxed him out on celebrex and another drug that I can't remember the name of right now. I'm hoping he'll be feeling better when I go to see him this evening. Poor guy. It kills me to see him like that.
(During the writing of this post the baby started to squirm a bit more... but it's still nothing like before. This kid needs to smarten up and quit worrying his mom.)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Bad Ending to a Good Weekend
A bunch of lame things happened at the end of the weekend that have me frustrated.
-We bought Justin a new winter coat (he didn't have one) that I plan on wearing for yard duty. We looked for sales and went into Sears during the hours that all men's outerwear was 50% off. Good thing, since the coat he wanted was originally $230. Anyway, when we got home with the lovely new coat (home being 25 minutes away from the store where we got it) we discovered that the store neglected to remove the magnetic anti-theft tag. Which meant I needed to make another trip to the store to get it removed (it was the ink-explosion kind).
-We bought an elliptical trainer off of Kijiji. I was pretty excited about the idea because we planned to put it in the bedroom in front of the TV, and I could work out while watching TV (I know, so lame) instead of going into our freezing cold garage gym. When we got the elliptical home we discovered that the tension settings don't work (and it's currently set to the hardest setting) and the computer isn't connected to the pedals, so it doesn't count calories or speed or distance or time or ANYTHING. We took it apart, and discovered that it is impossible to connect the tension cords because they're too short, and the cable that connects the computer to the pedals is completely missing. $75 wasted. DH and I are trying to bring it back to them and get our money back, because they said it was in great shape and it's not. I'm so mad at myself for this. We can't afford to waste $75 on a piece of crap. I hate that we even have to deal with this situation.
-This morning Lexie peed on our bed. It soaked through our king sized comforter (which barely fits in the washing machine, by the way), through all of the sheets to the mattress pad. I'm not going to be home until like 7 tonight, so I don't know what we'll be sleeping on tonight. I don't know if there's enough time to get everything washed before my 9 o'clock bedtime. I might have to stay up late, which SUCKS. Unfortunately for me, I don't have any clean sheets lying around because I like to wash sheets and put them immediately on the bed so that it smells all fresh for a few days. Therefore, we have 3 sets of dirty sheets lying around and no clean ones. And also unfortunately for me, our comforter takes about 2 hours to dry.
Those are the things that happened to ruin the weekend. Now here are my other complaints (because sometimes you just need to complain):
-Last night I was in excruciating hip pain all night long. I HATE lying on my side. It hurts so bad. I just want to lie on my back.
-I have to go pay the chiropractor $650 today to cover all the care I'm going to need through the rest of my pregnancy. I will only get about half of this back from my benefits, which really bothers me. I don't want to spend that money. But after 2 days in a row of chiro, my hips went through a whole night without pain. Then they started hurting again. I'm hoping it's related, otherwise I'll be pissed that I spent all this money.
This week is absolutely insane:
-I'm in charge of the Christmas assembly on Wednesday
-I have a staff meeting after work today
-I have 4 after school appointments this week
-My dad is going in for surgery and I have to try and visit him everyday after work. But I live 25 minutes from the hospital, so it's easier said than done.
-DH has a department party after work on Friday hat I have to rush home for
-We have a wedding on Saturday
-I'm in the nursery at church on Sunday after being out late on Saturday for the wedding
-I have to go out of town to visit with friends next Monday
-I'm still not done my Christmas shopping
-We have to find time to return that elliptical
BAH! I can't wait until it's over!
-We bought Justin a new winter coat (he didn't have one) that I plan on wearing for yard duty. We looked for sales and went into Sears during the hours that all men's outerwear was 50% off. Good thing, since the coat he wanted was originally $230. Anyway, when we got home with the lovely new coat (home being 25 minutes away from the store where we got it) we discovered that the store neglected to remove the magnetic anti-theft tag. Which meant I needed to make another trip to the store to get it removed (it was the ink-explosion kind).
-We bought an elliptical trainer off of Kijiji. I was pretty excited about the idea because we planned to put it in the bedroom in front of the TV, and I could work out while watching TV (I know, so lame) instead of going into our freezing cold garage gym. When we got the elliptical home we discovered that the tension settings don't work (and it's currently set to the hardest setting) and the computer isn't connected to the pedals, so it doesn't count calories or speed or distance or time or ANYTHING. We took it apart, and discovered that it is impossible to connect the tension cords because they're too short, and the cable that connects the computer to the pedals is completely missing. $75 wasted. DH and I are trying to bring it back to them and get our money back, because they said it was in great shape and it's not. I'm so mad at myself for this. We can't afford to waste $75 on a piece of crap. I hate that we even have to deal with this situation.
-This morning Lexie peed on our bed. It soaked through our king sized comforter (which barely fits in the washing machine, by the way), through all of the sheets to the mattress pad. I'm not going to be home until like 7 tonight, so I don't know what we'll be sleeping on tonight. I don't know if there's enough time to get everything washed before my 9 o'clock bedtime. I might have to stay up late, which SUCKS. Unfortunately for me, I don't have any clean sheets lying around because I like to wash sheets and put them immediately on the bed so that it smells all fresh for a few days. Therefore, we have 3 sets of dirty sheets lying around and no clean ones. And also unfortunately for me, our comforter takes about 2 hours to dry.
Those are the things that happened to ruin the weekend. Now here are my other complaints (because sometimes you just need to complain):
-Last night I was in excruciating hip pain all night long. I HATE lying on my side. It hurts so bad. I just want to lie on my back.
-I have to go pay the chiropractor $650 today to cover all the care I'm going to need through the rest of my pregnancy. I will only get about half of this back from my benefits, which really bothers me. I don't want to spend that money. But after 2 days in a row of chiro, my hips went through a whole night without pain. Then they started hurting again. I'm hoping it's related, otherwise I'll be pissed that I spent all this money.
This week is absolutely insane:
-I'm in charge of the Christmas assembly on Wednesday
-I have a staff meeting after work today
-I have 4 after school appointments this week
-My dad is going in for surgery and I have to try and visit him everyday after work. But I live 25 minutes from the hospital, so it's easier said than done.
-DH has a department party after work on Friday hat I have to rush home for
-We have a wedding on Saturday
-I'm in the nursery at church on Sunday after being out late on Saturday for the wedding
-I have to go out of town to visit with friends next Monday
-I'm still not done my Christmas shopping
-We have to find time to return that elliptical
BAH! I can't wait until it's over!
Good Weekend - Bad Ending
I had an excellent weekend - for the most part (I'll get into the other part in another post). Like I mentioned, on Friday there was a big sale at Babies R Us, and when I checked it out I saw that every one of our big registry items was on major sale.
So Friday night DH and I went to Babies R Us and spent a pile of money. We didn't get every single big item we registered for, but we did get a bunch. We got:
I couldn't believe that all our stuff was on sale! Seriously, what were the odds?
Certain things we didn't get, like the convertible carseat we wanted, because we don't need that for awhile. But besides that, the only big-ticket items that are left are our monitors and exercaucer (which were both on sale but I wasn't too concerned about needing them at this point).
Then on Saturday we went over the border to exchange my bridesmaid's dress for the size smaller... here's hoping my boobs don't blow up like balloons and are way too big for the dress come May. The rest of the dress will be fine, and I do have a bit of room left in the boobs... I'm hoping they'll fit in the dress while I'm nursing. I just really didn't want the size I had. It was WAY too big and there was no way I would every be large enough to fit into it, especially not a month and a half after I give birth.
While we were over there we bought some more cute baby clothes. I'm close to having all the clothes I'll need for the first 3 months.
The baby's room is 100% ready now! It's painted, we have every piece of furniture (including the glider), the bedding is on, and we got blinds up in there finally. It's so wonderful in there. It's like walking into a room of dreams come true. That room had gotten so painful to have in our house after trying so long to get pregnant. When we were buying the house (it's brand new) that was the room we called "the baby room" right away. Then it just sat there, empty and bland. Eventually I kept the door closed so I wouldn't have to look at it. But now it's beautiful and calming and wonderful. I love it!
So Friday night DH and I went to Babies R Us and spent a pile of money. We didn't get every single big item we registered for, but we did get a bunch. We got:
Our glider and ottoman
Our pack and play
Our stroller (so now we have a whole travel system)
And our high chair
I couldn't believe that all our stuff was on sale! Seriously, what were the odds?
Certain things we didn't get, like the convertible carseat we wanted, because we don't need that for awhile. But besides that, the only big-ticket items that are left are our monitors and exercaucer (which were both on sale but I wasn't too concerned about needing them at this point).
Then on Saturday we went over the border to exchange my bridesmaid's dress for the size smaller... here's hoping my boobs don't blow up like balloons and are way too big for the dress come May. The rest of the dress will be fine, and I do have a bit of room left in the boobs... I'm hoping they'll fit in the dress while I'm nursing. I just really didn't want the size I had. It was WAY too big and there was no way I would every be large enough to fit into it, especially not a month and a half after I give birth.
While we were over there we bought some more cute baby clothes. I'm close to having all the clothes I'll need for the first 3 months.
The baby's room is 100% ready now! It's painted, we have every piece of furniture (including the glider), the bedding is on, and we got blinds up in there finally. It's so wonderful in there. It's like walking into a room of dreams come true. That room had gotten so painful to have in our house after trying so long to get pregnant. When we were buying the house (it's brand new) that was the room we called "the baby room" right away. Then it just sat there, empty and bland. Eventually I kept the door closed so I wouldn't have to look at it. But now it's beautiful and calming and wonderful. I love it!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Baby Stuff on Sale!
Everyday I've been checking the Babies R Us website to watch for special deals. I'm really not counting on people buying everything for us, and Justin and I have been saving all the money he makes from training clients for this specific purpose.
Today a whole pile of new deals came out, and I was very excited to see what was on sale. When I started scrolling through, I saw that almost every big item on our registry was on sale! Our high chair is $50 off, our playpen is $80 off, our stroller is $80 off, our convertible carseat is $50 off, the base for our infant car seat is $20 off, the original infant car seat we wanted (that matches the stroller) is $50 off... unfortunately I recently bought a different carseat because it was even further on sale, and I can't seem to find the stroller that goes with it at any of the stores, nor is it available to order online... although that stroller is on sale too!
So I think we're going to go buy a pile of baby stuff this weekend. I'm very excited. Add up all those savings plus tax and we have the potential to save $372!!
We're not getting everything, of course. I'm not sure whether we should buy an extra infant carseat (the one that will match our stroller) or an extra base. The carseat comes with a base, so instead of buying an extra base, we'd only be spending an extra $100 to get the carseat as well and it would match our stroller. But that seems a bit silly to me, seeing as the current carseat we have will snap into our stroller. The only problem is that it's not the same colour style. I should just suck it up.
Also, I'm not sure that we're going to get the convertible carseat we had originally registered for. Our reasoning has changed now that we already have an infant carseat that goes up to 30 lbs.
My mom was trying to convince me that we will hate our high chair because it's not one solid piece and it has a cushion... but that's what ALL high chairs are like now! How am I supposed to avoid that? I'm not buying a $400 wooden one piece high chair. That's ridiculous. Plus, our high chair matches our playpen, and it's all on sale! How can I resist?
I know we are for sure getting the playpen, which I'm so pumped for because that's what Bambino is going to sleep in next to our bed for the first few months (the basinette part). And since we're getting that, we'll probably get the matching high chair. And we may get the stroller as well... my only issue with it is that it doesn't match. But nothing will, so I should just bite the bullet and get the $80 savings.
Today a whole pile of new deals came out, and I was very excited to see what was on sale. When I started scrolling through, I saw that almost every big item on our registry was on sale! Our high chair is $50 off, our playpen is $80 off, our stroller is $80 off, our convertible carseat is $50 off, the base for our infant car seat is $20 off, the original infant car seat we wanted (that matches the stroller) is $50 off... unfortunately I recently bought a different carseat because it was even further on sale, and I can't seem to find the stroller that goes with it at any of the stores, nor is it available to order online... although that stroller is on sale too!
So I think we're going to go buy a pile of baby stuff this weekend. I'm very excited. Add up all those savings plus tax and we have the potential to save $372!!
We're not getting everything, of course. I'm not sure whether we should buy an extra infant carseat (the one that will match our stroller) or an extra base. The carseat comes with a base, so instead of buying an extra base, we'd only be spending an extra $100 to get the carseat as well and it would match our stroller. But that seems a bit silly to me, seeing as the current carseat we have will snap into our stroller. The only problem is that it's not the same colour style. I should just suck it up.
Also, I'm not sure that we're going to get the convertible carseat we had originally registered for. Our reasoning has changed now that we already have an infant carseat that goes up to 30 lbs.
My mom was trying to convince me that we will hate our high chair because it's not one solid piece and it has a cushion... but that's what ALL high chairs are like now! How am I supposed to avoid that? I'm not buying a $400 wooden one piece high chair. That's ridiculous. Plus, our high chair matches our playpen, and it's all on sale! How can I resist?
I know we are for sure getting the playpen, which I'm so pumped for because that's what Bambino is going to sleep in next to our bed for the first few months (the basinette part). And since we're getting that, we'll probably get the matching high chair. And we may get the stroller as well... my only issue with it is that it doesn't match. But nothing will, so I should just bite the bullet and get the $80 savings.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Midwife or OB?
Right now I'm struggling with the decision of whether I should start pursuing a midwife. I've always had very positive thoughts about midwives, but I didn't look into getting one when I got pregnant because I had already been seeing an OB before I went to our RE, and I just went straight back to him. We already had a relationship, and I figured it would be best for me to just stick with him.
Lately I've been having second thoughts. It's nothing against my OB, specifically. I have a bunch of reasons:
-Because of where I live, I'm forced to do natural childbirth. No epidurals. A midwife has much better tools to help me deal with labour than my OB. My OB would show up for the last 20 minutes just to catch the baby. He wouldn't even be around besides that.
-It's quite possible that my OB wouldn't even be the one to deliver my baby. Because we have public health care here, there's a rotating on-call schedule for the 4 OBs in my city. Whoever is on-call when I'm about to push is the one who comes. Which might mean that I end up with my student's father staring at my vagina. (Yes, my student's father is one of the four OBs here. I know, I know, a million people have seen my vagina because of IF. But it's a little weird to have several parent-teacher interviews with a man, and then have that man staring at your vagina).
-A midwife gives much more thorough and frequent care. Visits are 30-45 minutes long, as opposed to 10-15 minutes at the OB. She'll also come visit me 3 times just in the week following birth, to make sure everything is going well and breastfeeding is happening and whatnot.
-A midwife will deliver the baby in a way that works for me. Lying on your back to push is the most inefficient way to deliver a baby. The only reason anyone does it is because it's most convenient for the doctor, and most doctors don't accept any other position. I've always thought I'd rather sit on a birthing stool or something while I'm pushing, since that would help things along. A midwife would let me do that! My OB would not.
The only problem is that I don't want to burn any bridges with my OB. While he doesn't know much about getting pregnant, he has been accommodating for me. He ran tests on us before the year of trying was up. He referred us to two different fertility clinics, because I changed my mind on which one I wanted. He performed my HSG for me, even though he doesn't usually do them, because I had to get one done and didn't want to do it in a city an hour away. He also prescribed clomid for me before I went to the RE, which helped me know that Clomid didn't work. So I didn't waste an entire other month while at the RE.
There are only 4 OBs in town, and out of the four he's the only one I ever want to see. I'm afraid that if I switch to a midwife I'll insult him.
I'm not really sure what to do.
Lately I've been having second thoughts. It's nothing against my OB, specifically. I have a bunch of reasons:
-Because of where I live, I'm forced to do natural childbirth. No epidurals. A midwife has much better tools to help me deal with labour than my OB. My OB would show up for the last 20 minutes just to catch the baby. He wouldn't even be around besides that.
-It's quite possible that my OB wouldn't even be the one to deliver my baby. Because we have public health care here, there's a rotating on-call schedule for the 4 OBs in my city. Whoever is on-call when I'm about to push is the one who comes. Which might mean that I end up with my student's father staring at my vagina. (Yes, my student's father is one of the four OBs here. I know, I know, a million people have seen my vagina because of IF. But it's a little weird to have several parent-teacher interviews with a man, and then have that man staring at your vagina).
-A midwife gives much more thorough and frequent care. Visits are 30-45 minutes long, as opposed to 10-15 minutes at the OB. She'll also come visit me 3 times just in the week following birth, to make sure everything is going well and breastfeeding is happening and whatnot.
-A midwife will deliver the baby in a way that works for me. Lying on your back to push is the most inefficient way to deliver a baby. The only reason anyone does it is because it's most convenient for the doctor, and most doctors don't accept any other position. I've always thought I'd rather sit on a birthing stool or something while I'm pushing, since that would help things along. A midwife would let me do that! My OB would not.
The only problem is that I don't want to burn any bridges with my OB. While he doesn't know much about getting pregnant, he has been accommodating for me. He ran tests on us before the year of trying was up. He referred us to two different fertility clinics, because I changed my mind on which one I wanted. He performed my HSG for me, even though he doesn't usually do them, because I had to get one done and didn't want to do it in a city an hour away. He also prescribed clomid for me before I went to the RE, which helped me know that Clomid didn't work. So I didn't waste an entire other month while at the RE.
There are only 4 OBs in town, and out of the four he's the only one I ever want to see. I'm afraid that if I switch to a midwife I'll insult him.
I'm not really sure what to do.
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