Because I'm A Super Dork

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Refreshing My Memory

I spent some time during the last 24 hours reading back to the days leading up to, as well as the first month after, Maggie's birth. I had forgotten a lot. The complete lack of sleep for the first few weeks. The extreme of the psychological turmoil I suffered. The constant poopy diapers. LOL! I was also reminded that it was on May 25, 2005 that we lost my great-grandmother. I had completely forgotten the date and had no idea the irony involved in that being my due date this time.

In any case, it was good to go back and refresh my memory. Made me realize just how far we really have come since Maggie was born, as well as remind me of what's to come in very short time.

19 days to go per my ticker, but we all know babies come on their own timelines.

Random Thoughts from a Random Brain

As long as I deliver within the next 5 weeks, I can now use the birth center. Exciting, eh? I still don't feel a kinship with my midwives, though... I half-jokingly keep saying I'm just going to stay home. Hey, you know, if the baby comes too fast, there's nothing to be done about that, right? Sigh.

In any case, we're "physically" ready. Baby clothes are washed and put away. Snugtuck pillow is installed for co-sleeping. Arms Reach mini co-sleeper is also set up (as a changing station in our room). I have my breast pump (though I haven't opened it yet) and a couple glass bottles, just in case. My bag is mostly packed. I met with our pediatrician today and completed the last of the paperwork required by the birth center. I have my post-partum supplies. I stocked up the pantry a bit...

But I'm not ready mentally or emotionally. I need another week or two. I don't want to be induced, so I'd rather not get close to 42 weeks. But I'm only 37 weeks today... I still have time.

I'm a little annoyed right now. Some of you may already be familiar with my baby carrier addiction. In the past, I never worried about buying new carriers to try because I was able to resell the ones I didn't like for very little loss in value. But lately, I can't seem to sell anything. I buy something new, it doesn't work for me (or I just don't like the way it looks upon arrival) and I get stuck with it because I can't seem to resell it in the normal networks that I use. So now I'm out money and stuck with something I don't like. :( It's very frustrating! Or on the flip side of that, I have *1* carrier that is HTF because they are not made anymore. People are clamoring to buy them, they're selling for 2-4x as much as I paid, and there are all sorts of wonderful offers of trades of currently available carriers that I would like to try but can't afford. However, even though I swore I would never part with mine, I offered it up to 3 different mamas (2 who were looking to trade for one of them, 1 who wanted to buy and I gave her a VERY fair price, considering market value) - NONE of them wanted it. :( Combine that with preggo hormones and you get a pscyho mama who feels the world is out to get her. There apparently are no guarantees in life.

I have a confession: I skipped my bellydancing class this week. I really didn't feel like going and I needed to get to the grocery store, so I went there instead. Good thing, too - I was exhausted afterwards and it took me 1.5 hours just to get through the typical shopping trip. I'll go next week, I promise!

Maggie and I went to a lovely park playgroup yesterday. It's a 45 minute drive but it's worth it to hang out with like-minded mamas and their kiddos. She had a blast! We were there for nearly 4 hours and she played almost the entire time, only stopping for a few moments at a time for a snack. This is a weekly get-together that I would very much like to participate in frequently but with the recent hike in gas prices, I'm not sure how often we can afford to go. What a shame.

Supplements

I swear, I take more supplements than food!

• Rainbow Light prenatal vitamin/mineral - 1/day
• Nettle Leaf - 950mg/day
• Green Pastures Cod Liver Oil - 2 capsules/day
• HMF Forte (probiotic) - 1 capsule/day
• Grapefruit Seed Extract - 7 drops/day
• Vitamin K Tonic - 3 dropperfuls/day
• Evening Primrose Oil (started this week) - 1 capsule/day (will increase weekly)
  
• 1 clove garlic/day swallowed whole with milk
• Apple Cider Vinegar - 1 Tbsp/day

The last (ACV) was added after my midwife appointment on Monday to help with the GBS. All I can say is YUCK! Even adding the 1 Tbsp to a full glass of water, it still tastes awful! Not that the Vitamin K tincture tastes all that great, seeing as it's preserved in a grain alcohol mixture, but at least it's not a lingering taste. I take the ACV first, then Vitamin K, then finish up with Grapefruit Seed Extract (which is quite bitter) in a little bit of orange juice, and I can still taste the ACV afterwards.

But it's worth it... it's all for the health of our baby.

Results Are In...

....GBS+ again. So I won't be discharged early after all. I'm a bit disappointed. I'm not fond of the maternity wing of this hospital (which is where I would have to be transferred after birth in order to have a "normal" stay) and I hated feeling like I was trapped last time. I felt like my life was on hold until we were able to escape those doors... Plus hospitals are terrible places to stay. You're more likely to get sick there than anywhere else! But I agreed to stay for observation if I was GBS+ in lieu of receiving prophylactic antibiotics. End of story. I just have to live with it now.

A man following me around in Michaels Arts & Crafts yesterday was making me really nervous. I would intentionally skip aisles, only to have him skip them, too, and end up in the same one. Finally, I reached an aisle I needed to stop and look at the products ... fortunately, a store employee was there, too. As soon as the store employee left, though, the guy turned to me and said, "How much longer do you have?" I was a little surprised by the question... and even more so by his response when I told him 1 month: "Wow, you look really uncomfortable!" Nice, eh? I'm still freaked out a bit by the whole situation... is he some kind of sicko preggo-perv? Why was he following me? After our conversation, he left me alone... but I still felt weird about it. Maybe it's just that men don't normally ask pregnant women about their pregnancies? I don't know... weird...

So place your bets... when is Sprout going to arrive? MIL will be away May 18-21 (and she's our primary caregiver for Maggie while I'm in the hospital), and my whole family will be at a wedding on May 27th. I'm thinking it will be either of those time slots. Hopefully not too late... Hubby's birthday is June 10th, and Maggie's is June 16th. The latest they'll let me go is 42 weeks, which falls on June 8th. June could become a very complicated month...

No signs of labor. Sleeping pretty well, surprisingly. And I'm mostly ache and pain free at the moment. Can't really complain! I'm ready to be done, don't get me wrong. But fortunately I'm not impatient. It will be over soon enough... and then the real fun begins! In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my sleep!

Where Is The Time Going?

How can it already be over a week since my last post?

I accomplished a lot over the last week. Had my phone consult with the on-call pediatrician, took my GBS test, got the Recharge (natural version of Gatorade) for labor and recovery, got a storage system for Sprout's clothes and filled it up, set up the changing area in our bedroom, did some stocking up at Trader Joe's, ordered the Snug Tuck Pillow for co-sleeping, met the last of the midwives in the group I switched to, and I even made it to a playgroup this week for Maggie! Plus we firmed up plans a bit for where Maggie will be when I go into labor, just need to figure out notification (since my MIL does not have a cell phone and may be living 1 hour away at the time).

Still on the to-do list:

• get post-partum pads
• get newborn diapers
• make & freeze (or buy pre-made) meals to cover at least the first week
• finish packing my labor bag (it's half-packed)
• tidy up the house a bit more
• make up the call list of who needs to be notified after Sprout's birth

There also may be a change in plans. Depending on the results of my GBS test, I may be staying for 24 hours for observation instead of 12 or less. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I should have the results at my appointment Monday.

3 weeks 6 days to go... It really could be any day now. Heck, my belly dance teacher was freaking out during our whole class about how she didn't want the baby being born that night - she wouldn't let me do anything! I felt fine following along, but she always made sure I had less reps to do than everyone else, even though I assured her that Sprout definitely would not make an appearance that night.

Which means it's probably time for another belly shot soon. I feel as big as a house. I will be doing a belly cast in the next week or two as a memento, mainly because we're not sure if we'll be having any more children after this.

Better go... Maggie's calling!

35/35

I didn't notice this last time around, but it's pretty cool (in a dorky kind of way). 35 weeks today, with 35 days to go. :)

Pelvic pain is increasing. Sitting makes it worse, as does stacking my knees when I lay on my side (even with a pillow between them). Fatigue is increasing. It's hard to believe I have 5 weeks left, both as too long as well as not enough time. I've been trying to prepare, but it's not easy when you don't have a lot of space.

The gender neutral clothes are washed and folded. The mini co-sleeper is set up (more as a changing table and nap area than anything else, as we'll be co-sleeping this time). I have 1 box of size 1 Swaddlers. I have LOTS of baby carriers. :) I ordered some of my early discharge supplies (I'm supposed to have certain things on hand since I'll be leaving the birth center within 12 hours instead of the standard 2 day hospital stay). We completed our in-home doula-led childbirth refresher class. I've made the consultation appointment with our pediatrician (May 1st) during which he has to fill out paperwork for the birth center. I called the on-call pediatrician for the birth center, but he still hasn't gotten back to me for my phone consult. I have homecoming outfits for both a girl and a boy (with an outfit for Maggie that matches the girl one). I'm taking the GBS test Monday. :(

I still have to:

• get post-partum pads
• get newborn diapers
• do a big stock up grocery shopping trip for snacks and paper goods
• get some Recharge for during labor (natural version of Gatorade)
• make & freeze (or buy pre-made) meals to cover at least the first week
• finish packing my labor bag (it's half-packed)
• find some sort of storage system for the baby's clothes (no room for furniture on the floor so it has to be something I can stack on my low dresser)
• tidy up the house a bit more
• plan for Maggie's care during labor and delivery (I think she's going with my MIL, but I'm not sure yet how long she'll stay with her)
• make up the call list of who needs to be notified after Sprout's birth
  

I'm sure I'm forgetting something...