Friday, January 25, 2008

Go Pats!!

We went to Applebee's to watch the Patriots beat San Diego last Sunday. It was fun and the kids actually lasted the whole game!

We went to breakfast before bringing my mom to the airport...and got a good shot of my belly at 34 weeks 4 days. :) I hit 35 weeks yesterday, woohoo!!

We did a test run on the birthing pool a few days ago, and it went very well. (We got the Birth Pool in a Box.) I can't believe how long the water stayed warm...almost 3 hours!!! That means it will be no problem to siphon out a little water here and there and replace it with hot water to keep it warm enough. I plan on filling it up as soon as labor begins to be safe, in case it goes quicker than last time. It takes over an hour to actually fill, so I'd rather have to warm it up every now and then than risk it not being filled at all when I need it! The kids, by the way, LOVED the pool. We had it all filled and warm and figured why waste it? The kids and I played in it for a while, then Lilli stayed in the pool and watched Aquamarine so she could act out being a mermaid while she watched...she was in complete heaven. It was so cute! I tried to take a picture but of course that was when the batteries decided to die.

Baby Shower!




This past Saturday, my friend Melissa threw me a wonderful baby shower. It was so much fun!! I never had one with Lilli because we were busy evacuating hurricanes, and my mom couldn't make it all the way to CA for my shower with Mickade, so it was extra special because she was able to attend. We played some great games, ate yummy food, and I was given some great stuff for the new baby! It was a lovely morning. :)

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Homeschool Update

It's official: we have a reader!!!! Mickade is SO excited. Last week, he attempted to read a real book, Green Eggs and Ham and was a complete success. He was SO proud of himself, we wound up staying up late so he could also read Go Dog Go and Snow. He's been reading a new book every day now. It's so cool to see him blossom right before my eyes, to see it all really click for him. He's been reading his readers for a long time now, and Dick and Jane, but this is the first time he really read a 'regular' book. He wants to read every book with the Cat in the Hat logo on it now LOL.

Our homeschool group has also started back up again, meeting weekly. Last week we did some walking in the woods and observing of nature using all 5 senses, then had fun learning how to make our own sushi rolls! Tomorrow we plan to go back to the woods and clean up the trash we saw out there, then make our own sourdough rolls and fresh butter.

Editing in: Lunch preparation isn't necessarily directly related to our outdoor time!!!

Monday, January 21, 2008

I Met Mario Lopez!!!


We went to the theatre Thursday night to see A Chorus Line. On the way in, who was about 2 people in front of me but MARIO LOPEZ!!!! I couldn't believe it, here I am 5 feet from Slater from Saved By the Bell! I didn't want to bother him though, I hate it when people bug stars who are just out trying to be normal. However, after the show, he was very gracious and signing autographs...so I figured why not? He was so kind...and GORGEOUS!! I have to say, it's not makeup or TV lighting making him look so perfect...he just IS. His skin is perfect, his hair, his body...oh my! So I've now had Mario Lopez's arm around me. :)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Wanna See Some Hiccups?

I happened to lay the remote on my belly this morning just as the baby got some nice big hiccups...I lucked out and seem to have placed it directly on his or her bottom...you'll love this!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Photos have been requested....

Today, 33 weeks pregnant!!

The midwife checks Lilli's baby's heartbeat. ;)

This weekend we're all going to attend a Sibling class to prepare them for the new baby...it should be fantastic!

This one's interesting. She fell asleep on Daddy's watch at 4pm for an hour. At 11pm, I climbed in bed and turned on the tv for her, I was DONE!!! She fell asleep at...get this...1am!!!! This why naps have been banned!!! LOL
Ah, the joys of boys! He thought he'd look cool if he colored his face with magic marker! Thank goodness it wasn't a permanent one!!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Help Save Waterbirth

Well, you all know what a big advocate I am of safe, gentle birth...I've been referred to by friends as their "midwife", "sensa", "doula"...and I'm about to have my second homebirth. Not just a homebirth, a home waterbirth. There is something very special about this. First of all, having a birth at home is an amazing experience in and of itself. When a woman is in labor, the comfort of her own, safe home is incomparable. The cold and sterile setting of a hospital with its harsh lighting and unfamiliar smells and sounds can actually hinder labor. Our bodies are equipped with a 'fight or flight' response to danger...and hospitals can actually trigger this response, slowing down labor. I had Mickade in a hospital, and while it was a fairly mom and baby friendly hospital, I still wound up scared into having an IV and internal fetal monitor (yes, they actually screwed a wire into my baby's scalp to monitor his heartbeat) by my supposedly natural-birth friendly midwife and the other hospital staff. Don't even get me started on how recent studies indicate that any kind of continuous fetal monitoring has NO effect on fetal or maternal outcome, and appears to only increase c-section rates...therefore putting moms and babies at MORE risk, not less, in the end. But this is neither here nor there and I'll save my rants for another time.

What I really wanted to get to, in relation to birth, is how much WATER can play an active role. When I was in labor with Mickade, I was not lucky enough to get a birthing room with a tub but I did have a shower...and wow was it Heavenly!!! It's still amazing to me that hot water can offer so much pain relief that it can keep a woman from screaming for an epidural. I was tired, and wanting a break, yes, and considered some drugs just so I could sleep a little...but I didn't get any, and it's ONLY because of that shower. Lillian's labor was different, and I account a lot of that to being at home, and with her being my second, I knew what to expect and could prepare myself better. I labored for a little while in a tub, then in the shower for transition...and once again...could not have made it without that shower!!! I moved to the birthing tub to birth Lillian, and I honestly barely had to push...everything was so relaxing, I was able to let my body do most of the work without any conscious effort of my own. I had no tears, no soreness...I climbed out of the tub with my beautiful new baby and right into my own, comfy bed. I think no one was more surprised at the difference a home and water birth makes than my own father...he was so shocked to see me 30 minutes after birth looking and feeling so good!!! I think it erased all the doubts and worries he had about me birthing at home.

Waterbirth International has played a key role in the US over the years in getting the word out about natural birth, and water birth, and helping mothers, midwives, and even OB's see that birth CAN be natural...and how beautiful is when it IS natural. The medical model proliferates the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth, treating women like ticking time bombs during pregnancy...even though we have been birthing our children this way for thousands of years. (In fact, the current model of care for women with them being flat on their backs and attended by men is very, very new...perhaps only in the past 100-150 years or so). And yet, our neonatal mortality rate continues to rise, from 10 births per 100,000 in 2000 to over 13 per 100,000 in 2006. (I find it interesting to note that the US was part of a WHO initiative to lower these rates to about 4 per 100,000 by 2010...and we are going in the opposite direction.) Incidentally, we are one of the only developed nations where midwives don't attend the majority of births. Most nations leave OB's to care for the high-risk women, and midwives to care for the rest...which makes sense for our health and our pocketbooks!

Waterbirth International is in trouble. If you think you can help in anyway, by donating money or purchasing products from them or even just adding a link to your blog...please do!!!! The women in our country need all the help they can get to learn that they do have choices in birth...choices that are often safer and healthier than the ones their care providers may openly offer.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Quick Belly Update....

Here's a quick shot of me at 31 weeks!!





















And...here we are in our matching pj's on Christmas Eve...how cute are we????