Week 28: The Baby Floats out on a Cloud, Right?

This past weekend I finished reading The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp.  It's was about how to soothe a colicky baby.  Reading it taught me a lot about how to calm a baby, but also made me realize how much more goes into taking care of a baby that I don't know.  Kyle told his friend on the phone last night, "Yeah, we've got no idea what to do with it when it gets here."  The Happiest Baby on the Block even mentioned how parents think they will instinctively know what to do with their new baby, but in reality, that's not how it works.  Uh-oh!  Must keep reading....

I guess we're getting ahead of ourselves though, I mean, the baby has to come out first, right?  The doctor brought this up on Friday when she showed me a piece of paper on which I could write my 'birth wishes.'  Oh crap, I guess I have to think about actually giving birth now.  Naturally, I turned to my girl Ricki Lake for advice; Ellen was busy.  

Ricki Lake had a lot to say on the topic of giving birth, so much so that she made a movie about it in 2008 called The Business of Being Born.  This movie was a documentary about the birthing system in the United States.   It shared good information and gave me a lot to think about when it comes to my birth experience. The births in this video were beautiful.  I had to bite my lip each time the baby came out because you could feel the mother's joy; I wanted to cry each time.  Seriously- these hormones are ridiculous!  I didn't realize how naked the whole birthing experience is.  I thought you wore a gown and lifted it up when the baby was about to come out, but evidently, you bear it all when you're having a kid.  So, sorry mom, dad, cousins, neighbors, Buster; you will not be in the room with me while I'm giving birth.  (Did I just hear a sigh of relief?)  Instead, I plan on finding a doula and/or a midwife.  I must thank Ricki Lake for all the insight into giving birth and let you know that you too can watch the movie; it's on Netflix streaming!

I am also reading a stellar book on birthing called Ina May's Guide to Child Birth.

source

In the forward, Ina May, an experienced midwife, discusses how telling birth horror stories has become a regular thing to do, so much so that women go into the whole birthing experience frightened and expecting it to be an awful experience. To counteract the horror stories, this book starts out with about 70 positive, real, natural birth stories.  The second part of the book informs the reader what happens in labor, giving birth, common medical interventions, and much more.  I'm hoping to learn a lot from this book; I'm sure it will help guide my birth plan.  However, the main useable ideas I've gotten from it and the movie so far are to move around a lot during labor and to take my time going to the hospital.  Who knows what information I'll actually use from the book and movie, but I feel much more informed now and will feel even more so when I've finished the book. 

The third trimester starts today!  I can't believe I'm 2/3 of the way through my pregnancy, and my little boy will be born in less than three months!  Actually, three months exactly would give him a pretty cool birthday- 11/1/11.  : )

The doctor's office should call back with the result of my glucose test any day now.

Am I weird for thinking the glucose drink tasted good?  I actually heard myself say, "Yum!" and "I wonder if I can get another one of these" while I was drinking it!  It reminded me of those barrel drinks my mom would buy for us when we were kids.  The flavors were either grape, blue raspberry, orange, or fruit punch.  I LOVED drinking them as a kid and would often take them to school in my Animaniacs lunch box!  Coincidentally, barrel drinks are exactly the kind of drinks I will try keep away from my child- full of sugar and devoid of nutritional value! 

As I mentioned last week, my lower back has been bothering me while I sleep.  There are no comfortable sleeping positions!  I feel like I've put up with the back pain for long enough (7 days is like forever when you wake up with a sore back!) so I sucked it up and bought a Snoogle.  The price on the pillow was ridiculous, but I've tried rearranging all of the pillows we already have- under my stomach? between my knees? against my back? I still wake up sore.  Here's to hoping the Snoogle is the miracle pillow all the reviews claim!

Time to go enjoy my last two weeks of summer!

Week 26: Why are Baby Clothes so Freakin' Cute!?

 I bought the first piece of clothing for this child when I was 14.  I was browsing the clearance rack of Baby Gap when I came across the above little number.  I was going through a goat phase at the time (okay, I still am), so I just had to buy the jacket and onesie.  Some Most people think it's weird that I bought clothes for my future children when I was still in high school.  Somehow, I find it normal.  I just won't be able to use the  collection below for a while.

  

This weekend, my obsession with baby clothes was rekindled at none other than a rummage sale.  Kyle, Caitlin, and I stopped by the sale on our way to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.  The table piled high with baby clothes was like a magnet.  I headed straight towards it and began digging.  Whenever I found something cute, I handed it to Kyle for quality control.  He's quickly becoming an expert stain-checker!  Although he could have a better attitude about it.  I repeatedly asked him, "Did I force you into having this baby?"  To which he replied, "No, but you forced me to go to this garage sale."  Oh, true.  Anyhow, as we were scouring the table for clothing I heard one of the ladies in charge of the sale say, "Our baby clothes are 5 for a $1."  WHAT?!  AH-MAZING!  We ended up buying three dollars worth of adorable clothing ranging in size from 3 to 18 months.  Who knows how fast the babe will grow or if he'll be able to wear half the clothes, but it was so fun buying them!  But my favorite part of the baby clothes?  Washing them and putting them away.  Love, love, love doing this.

 

So far the baby clothes have been contained to a dresser in the nursery.   This dresser has a ton of drawers- there are four small drawers- one for bibs, one for socks, another for hats, and still another for small blankets.  The four large drawers are storage for a lot of baby randomness right now, but the ones full of clothes are organized by size.  Why are baby clothes so much more fun to put away than my clothes? 

As you can tell from the above picture, the nursery is a work in progress right now, but I have an interior decorator coming this week to help me out with it. 

Okay, so my BFF Jessica's not a professional interior decorator, but she was an interior design major for one semester of college which is good enough for me!  I'm hoping she'll either affirm the ideas I already have for the space or give me some new ideas.  She also likes to paint, so I was thinking about hiding her car keys until the room is completely redone.   Even I'm surprised at how immature brilliant that idea sounds! : )

Here's a little bit about the baby this week.  He's really growing!

"Your baby might be developing an adorable habit this week: thumb-sucking. While the baby's hands remain clenched most of the day, he/she might unclench and stick out his/her thumb every now and then. If the baby likes the comfort from sucking, it might just be a well-established habit way before a pacifier is ever seen"  source

"He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days." source

For an update on how I'm feeling, the only word that comes to mind is: okay.  I had a bout of nausea this weekend- the morning after a massive decadent meal followed by Sparky's ice cream with Kyle's family.  After suffering for about an hour, I took a Zantac 75 and instantly felt better.  It was the acid reflux/heartburn acting up that made me feel yuck.  I'm trying to take the minimal approach with medicines even though the doctor says I can take up to two Zantac 150s a day.  So for now, I am taking the Zantac as needed, trying to eat smaller meals, and stopping my eating for the day well before bedtime.  Additionally, I need to cut back on fatty  as well as acidic foods.  I wonder if the heartburn explains why I've had an aversion to processed tomato products, most recently tomato sauce and tomato soup.  They've both just tasted gross, but fresh tomatoes have still been FABULOUS.  I'm still obsessed with the tomato, cucumber, and red onion salad.

My mood swings were ridiculous last week. I asked Kyle repeatedly if there were an 'undo button.'  He kept answering no.  Really, I was just feeling overwhelmed and totally freaked out.  This week I'm in 'learn everything I possibly can about taking care of a baby' mode.  I've signed up for a childbirth class and a breastfeeding class.  I've also started reading The Happiest Baby on the Block.  The book is fascinating, and I'm learning a ton!  My goal is to have the book finished by the end of the week.  Then it's Kyle's turn!  I want us to read the same baby books so that we're on the same page with the child-rearing!