Alexander's Beautiful Birth

All last week I was into eating spicy foods and increasing my walking. Claire and I would walk about 2 miles everyday. She would walk about a mile, and ride the rest in the stroller...not all in a row. I really didn't want to have to be induced with this pregnancy like with Claire, so I started drinking lots of red raspberry leaf tea and using primrose oil which help the body get ready for labor, although they don't actually start contractions.



I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions the whole last trimester. As a matter of fact, I was having so many, I thought he was going to be early, but he was 3 days late! When I went up to Valpo for Holly's baby shower I thought that I maybe should bring the infant carseat in case he was born in Valpo! HA!



Well some of the foods I ate to "help" induce labor included eggplant, pineapple, spicy pad Thai, spicy tacos, jambayla, and buffalo wings that whole week. Surprisingly, none of this gave me heartburn. I must say I do feel very blessed that with both Claire and Alex's pregnancies, they were overall very easy, although I do have to say at the end, I was ready to be done. Especially with Alex's pregnancy I felt very tired/exhausted the last trimester. I can't even remember the last time I watched a show/movie/TV of any kind. After I put Claire to bed I usually take a shower and then go to bed...ok...maybe the computer has taken place of TV time for me. There is just nothing of interest on TV anymore. I am sick of reality shows and repeated plots.



So Sunday, before Alex was born we walked the big loop around our neighborhood which is 1 mile. I was actually having some contractions hard enough that I stopped walking about 4 times, but I'd been having those for a good 2 weeks where they would be so hard, I would have to stop. But these were a little more intense! So anyways, I decided to go to bed early that night because I had a feeling! Oh, but I did engage in another activity that evening that required Josh's participation. It's another one of those labor inducing tricks. And apparently it got the ball rolling.



Sure enough, I woke up at 4 am on Monday, April 19th with some really sharp and painful contractions. They were different than the BH because I could feel them wrapping around into my lower back. BUT, I thought they might be more practice ones, so I drank some water and went pee, and tried to go back to sleep, but they were coming about every 10 minutes. I decided to stay and rest in bed as long as possible...AKA...until Claire woke up! So she woke up about 7:30ish and at that point I was really starting to watch the clock because I felt like the contractions were getting intense. Josh leaves for work at this time. I didn't say anything to him. LOL. I felt kind of bad that he had to go all the way in but I didn't want to jinx myself, but I also didn't know how fast things would move along.



So Claire and I went downstairs. I heated her up some leftover pancakes for breakfast, one of her favorites, and tried to eat some myself, but I had NO appetite. Nothing sounded good. I just felt really sick to my stomach and felt like puking. I kept going to the bathroom because I was drinking a lot of water, which seemed to settle my stomach a little. I was trying to drink lots of water because I knew once I got to the hospital, they would cut me off. At this point I went to the bathroom again, and as I sat down, my water broke into the pot. How handy! With Claire it broke all over the bed, which was a mess. So I called the OB and they said to come on in to the OB floor, and they'd get a room ready for me. I also kept going to the bathroom to go #2, which is another sign you're in labor! So if you think that statement is gross, stop reading now. You've been warned...this is after all, about birth. ;)



I was actually having some trouble thinking and trying to organize things. It seemed like I had so much to do all of a sudden. I had to find one of my friends to watch Claire first off. Luckily, my friend Christy was going to be home all day! She has a 23 month old girl, Catrece, for Claire to play with, so that works out well! Then I had to call Josh's work and put in a message for him to come home. It was 8:30ish now. Then I called my mom and told her not to go to work. It was 7:30 her time and she goes to work at this time, so it was perfect!

Next up, I called my doula. I had hired Angie Barkwill, but she was at her full-time job. She doulas part time. So we decided to wait until I got to the hospital to call and give her an update and then we'd call the back-up doula.

Josh got home about 9, loaded the car with the hospital stuff, and we were off. We dropped off Claire at Christy's on the way to the hospital. I could feel "leaking" down my leg as we went back to the car. Yeah, my water was totally broken.

When we got to the hospital parking lot, Josh asked if he should park pretty far out so I could have contractions as we walked in. What a smart man! This totally worked, and I had to stop walking to have a contraction. HAHA! Then the little parking lot tram zipped over and the lady insisted we get in. She asked if we were here to have a baby, and I said yes. So then I heard her radio me a wheelchair as she drove us to the front door.

I did feel rather silly being pushed up to the OB floor in a wheelchair, but I guess it makes the hospital volunteers feel like they are doing something? Anyways, they had me put on the gown. She checked me to see if I was dilated and did a test on the amniotic fluid to see if it was really the water. She said it smelled like it...apparently it smells like hay. Plus I was sitting on a chuck pad, and every time, I had a contraction, water would come out. (Last warning...this is a gooey gross birth story. ;) LOL!) It was about 10 am. I was at 4 cm already. She said I could get an epidural if I wanted one at this time. I wasn't even in any pain...the contractions were just "uncomfortable" even though they were sharp.

At my last OB appointment the previous Thursday, April 15th, I was at 1cm and 30% effaced. He said the cervix was very, very soft and felt kind of weird. Haha. All that primrose oil, but I didn't say anything because he didn't ask.

So at this time, I decided to just call the back-up doula to come on over. She was there within 10 minutes as she lives locally. Her name is Carla Abbott. She was awesome! More about her later!

The nurse came back and said that the amniotic fluid test was positive. So of course they would admit me and we'd be having a baby today!!! I was of course getting really excited! So she hooked me up to my IV because I had to have antibiotics since my 36-week Group B strep came back positive. This is something that 30% of women have. Lucky me. Oh, and only about 10% of the time does one have their water break before labor really starts...I'm 2 for 2 in that area as well. Maybe I should start playing the lotto?

They hooked me up to the monitors to see where my contractions were at. The baby was doing good, and the contractions were coming at 5-8 minutes apart. At this time, I decided Josh should go eat some lunch in the cafeteria or wherever before things got really intense. My mom was driving down, which would take about 3 hours, but Carla was there. So Josh left to do a couple quick errands, eat, and get my phone charger.

I couldn't eat anything really solid but throughout the labor I had some chicken broth, Jello, Popsicles, as well as all the water, ice chips, and Sprite I wanted. I'm not sure why they didn't care this time? With Claire it was only ice chips. Or maybe the doula just knew what to ask for me to have!

So for the next few hours, we walked figure-8s and circles around the loops on the OB floor alternating with being in the bed on the monitors for 30 minutes. So 30 minutes on, 30 off. They checked my cervix again, and I was at 5. The next time 6. It was like...perfect! It's supposed to be about 1 cm/hour. The walking totally helped. Carla suggest trying squats and lunges in the halls too.

Josh had of course come back by this time too, and he walked with us. They have nice rails on the walls at the hospital, so I did some squats on those and they felt really good! The next time I was checked, I was still at 6. She suggested starting some pit, but Carla asked if we could walk again. So we were allowed to walk about again for 30 minutes, but I was then still at 6. It was about 3ish (?).

My mom had picked up Claire from Christy's and brought Claire back to our house for a bit. Then I said to come on up and visit me on the floor. I was really happy to see Claire and it was a good distraction. I was still tolerating the contractions amazingly well. I was able to visit with Claire and hold/snuggle/nurse her for a bit. Claire was actually not that interested in nursing, but I've heard some gals say that their toddler nursing really helped move things along in labor. So I wanted to try it!

Claire had been promised the park by my mom. She quickly got bored and wanted to "GO TO THE PARK!" This was fine, as the nurse had started the pit by this time since I was still stuck at 6. Normally, there would not have been a concern, but the problem was the Group B Strep (GBS). They like to deliver as quickly as possible really after the membranes have ruptured, or within 12 hours with this, I was told. It can infect the fluid/baby/placenta or something? She started me at 1, then upped it to 2 about 20 minutes later. Then she upped it to 4 and that's all I needed. I was on the pit for the hour or so while Claire was there and that when labor got hard.

Like up until that point I was like...this is easy! :) But then since I was in the hospital, and I do tend to be a baby, I asked for an epidural. :) BUT I didn't get one. Carla talked me out of it by just saying, well, just as the anesthesiologist some questions when he comes in. So I felt like a bit of an ass making him come in there. He said that I couldn't get one between 4:30 and 6 since he would be in a C-section. It was about 4. I said, OK!

I felt really proud of myself not having broken down and gotten one at all by the way. Then my friend/neighbor Diane came. That was nice to have a fresh face/distraction there, too. See, we had planned that she would watch Claire at the hospital during the delivery, then if I felt up to it, Claire was allowed to watch the delivery. This however, did not happen. I decided I wanted to be able to yell/scream/etc. :) LOL!

So at this point, I had also been drinking lots and going to the bathroom lots...about every hour as encouraged by Carla. Josh had to help me at this time, though because I was starting to feel really shaky. It was really intense, but I was able to control them still pretty well. Now that I was on the pit, I had to stay on the monitors to make sure Alex was tolerating the pit, because some babies don't. Even though it was only a very very low dose, or what the nurse called a "wiff", we had to be sure.

So then I sat in the rocking chair a bit, on the birth ball, and in the bed. I really liked the rocking chair. The birth ball was too small. I am 6'1" and we have a big birth ball or exercise ball at home, but I didn't feel like bringing it. The rocking chair was nice because I had full back support and was able to keep my feet flat on the floor and rock really hard with the harder contractions.

Carla was awesome. She was rubbing my shoulders/back and doing pressure points on my hands which really helped. She was also telling me like the contraction is at the peak, it's going away, you can do it, you're almost there, etc, along with other encouraging words.

Then, she suggest to get down and do some cat stretches/let my belly hang down. She had a bag full of doula tricks like music/etc. and a foam squishy mat I got down on. That felt really good to stretch out like that!

Ok, so then I felt a ton of pressure like I had to poop big time. I said I wanted to go to the toilet one more time. I did and had a couple super duper intense contractions. I like "KNEW" I was in transition at this point. Josh was in the bathroom with me and that good old IV pole...it also took me awhile to get back to the bed because I kept having super hard contractions.

When I sat down on the bed, I could feel the "ring of fire"! I was like "HE'S COMING OUT!" They were like, no, you were just at 6. I was like "HE COMING OUT! I CAN FEEL IT!" I was screaming for my mom to get there...she barely made it! LOL! Diane called her in the parking lot and she ran in with Claire, passed Claire off to Diane in the hall, and made it in just in time!

But then things got crazy and I know I got a little out of control at this point, but it went from like just me and Carla and Josh to like 42 people. They were getting the bed broken down. But long story short...I went from 6-10 in about 10 minutes. The doctor checked me and said I was fully ready to push and she could see baby's head!

I only pushed 4 times! It was less than 10 minutes of pushing! And he was born. The placenta was born really fast too! Josh cut the cord! It was amazing! Alex was born at 5:36 PM on Monday, April 19th, 2010! All natural...minus the pit!

Oh, but one thing I wanted to add...I said if I had to have pit this time, I might get an epidural, since pit is not natural, may as well get the epidural if contractions are abnormally strong. At about the point right after I talked to the doctor about getting the epidural, Angie stopped in to see me too, and said "Don't be afraid of the pit!" So that's what I realized...I had been afraid of the pit!

But I did it! And I am stinking proud! :) Alexander Gabriel Starr was 22 1/2 inches long and weighed 9.14.6 oz. BIG BOY!

Claire and Diane were able to come in right away and see baby brother! They of course, put Alex on my chest right away...before the cord was cut, even! I tried nursing him right away, too of course. His APGAR scores were 8 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes. They let me hold him for about 15? minutes before doing the weighing/measuring/diapering. They had to do eye drops because of the GBS. I wanted the Vitamin K shot too, because of the blood clotting gene issue that runs in our family, but we didn't do the HEP-B in the hospital. We also chose not to circumcise him. If you follow me on Facebook and have read some of the stuff I post on there, you'll know why!

Josh held Alex. Then Claire held her! She was in love! Meanwhile, I did require some stitches...but not nearly as many as with Claire. Basically, I had started to tear up towards my urethrae, so she did a very tiny episiotomy down at an angle. So I needed 3 stitches up, and 6 down. I was actually very glad that she did an episiotomy rather than using a vacuum like my other OB had done with Claire. I'd rather have the injury than my baby! But he had a really big head (14.25 inches!) so I'm glad she did the episoiotmy rather than letting me tear up and having issues there!

I felt great though all evening. I had to stay in the labor/delivery room to recover. I was in there about 2 hours. Carla stayed with me while I nursed and even timed his nursings! He nursed really good...about 20 minutes on each side. The craziness had disappeared by this time!

My mom took Claire home for bed since she didn't have a nap that day! Diane went to pick up Culvers for dinner for Josh and I...yummo! :) And of course, I was able to eat right away. And I WAS HUNGRY! That was hard work.

So then they took Alex to the nursery to give him a bath/get him dressed. Josh and Carla went with to take pictures while I was able to take the 2nd best shower of my life (the first being the one after Claire was born!) They had of course taken my IV off right after delivery pretty much.

I had to pee once then she took my IV needle out and I showered. I hate hospital showers...and most hotels. They are not made for someone who is 6'1" like me. I can't imagine my brothers who are taller than me trying to bend their knees in a shower like that to get their head under the shower head! NONETHELESS...great shower!!! Carla waited until we were settled in our room before leaving. She was awesome!

I might say this...if you are having a hospital birth and want it to be as natural as possible...do your research and HIRE A DOULA! They drop your chance of a C-Section by 50%. Not only that, I get a great scrapbook and pictures from her at her next post-partum visit. I'm not sure if they all do the scrapbook/birthstory thing, but mine does. ;) I would actually love to pay for a doula for a baby gift for any of my friends or family having babies...IF I had the money!!!

So then we moved our stuff to my room where I would sleep with Alex that night. Josh went home in case Claire woke up, it wouldn't just be my mom if she freaked out or something!

Alex slept great! They came to check my vitals hourly until midnight. They took Alex for a weight check again at midnight and since he was sleeping, they did his hearing check as well, which he passed. They have to be asleep for the 30 minute hearing screen.

They brought him back at one. I woke him up to nurse him. Then we slept soundly until they came to get my blood right at 5. I tried to nurse Alex, but he was too sleepy. I was able to fall back asleep until 6:30, when he was then ready to eat. So was I so I ordered breakfast and started the day. The peds dr. came right at 7 and checked him while I ate my hospital breakfast! :)

I was able to check out that same day. My mom came with Claire about 8. How I had missed my little girly! I was so glad that we were able to check out and go home. We did have to wait for the doctor to make her rounds and discharge me. Alex was discharged before me! The ped dr. is the same one I have for Claire. She said she has no problem discharging babies to 2nd time moms even with something like GBS, which we don't have to worry about at this point anyways!

I talked with my Dr. for a bit. I had actually been hoping for Dr. J but got Dr. N and turned out really liking her, despite having only met her one time! Maybe cause she's a woman? Who knows. We were all home by 2pm. It was so nice to have the afternoon at home to settle in and get adjusted. I hate hospitals!!!!!

My mom was with us from Sunday-Thursday to help cook/clean/take care of my babies! Alex is off to a great start nursing. Josh, Claire, and I took him on Friday, April 23rd to get his PKU test and a weight check. He lost exactly 10% or 1 pound which is normal. We go in for our first peds appt. tomorrow.

So that's Alex's beautiful birth story! I can walk/sit fine, unlike with Claire. I FEEL GREAT! I'm a little tired of course, but that's due to the night wakings, and not lack of sleep.

Honestly, Alex's birth was really very healing for me. With Claire, things didn't go how I wanted and I felt very out of control. I credit Carla for keeping me in control and helping me. Josh was great and was totally there for me, too, but Carla is a woman who has been at several other births and knew exactly what to do/say in order to support me how I needed. I mean, she was anticipating my needs before I asked. I asked for a sip of water, and she offered me the chap stick too! :)

I don't want to say Claire's birth wasn't beautiful, because it was too, I am just going to be forever pissed that the doctor used a vacuum on her poor little baby head because I think it made nursing hard for us. I couldn't hold her on that side. She would just cry.

I can't belive that I have 2 babies now. It seems like just yesterday I was peeing on stick finding out I was prego with Claire!

My milk supply is great. Alex pooped about 5 times before we left the hospital and has been having beautiful yellow breastfed stools for a good 3 days already. He is so happy. He is such an easy baby! He sleeps great. I've been waking him up to nurse him! I'm not sure what kind of sleep patterns will hold in the future, but I do thank the Lord for giving me a good sleeper with him so I can catch some sleep to recover myself.

I guess I couldn't have asked for things to go any better than they did. Everything just fell into place and worked out perfectly! I didn't lose any sleep having a baby in the middle of the night like with Claire, and nobody had their schedules messed up to help us out that day!

HE IS HERE!

LOOK WHO IS HERE! Alexander Gabriel was born on this past Monday. Here he is at home with big sister Claire. She is so in love. She keeps asking, "We get to keep him forever and ever?" Then I say yes and she says, "YAY!" and jumps up and down!
Alex at 3 days old at home, trying to get some good newborn shots:

Alex not even 24 hrs old in the hospital still:

Was 9 lbs 14.6oz. He was 22.5 inches long. Head was 14.25.

I HATE how the newborns work their hands up to their face and scratch it!

Hopefully I will find time to write up his birth story soon!

My bag is packed!

Well I finally got my hospital bag packed today. Ha. I was hoping that NOT being ready would make things happen sooner. So much for that idea! I've had a bag packed for Claire and the little guy for like...4 weeks. I figured it's easier to tell someone what to find for me...and really...what do I "need" in there...jammies vs. a hospital gown is about it. Something to wear home that's nursing friendly...oh wait...everything I own is! :) Perfect!

We went to our last story time session this morning until June. I guess they are having a very long "spring" break or something. ;)

The Waiting Game

Well today is my first EDD (estimated due date) according to the dating ultrasound that they did back in August. Apparently, they didn't believe me that I knew my ovulation date and did an ultrasound anyways. According to my LMP (last menstral period) I am not due until this Friday, the 16th, which is what I've been telling everyone.

Anyways, he will be here soon! Today was absolutely gorgeous outside! Yesterday wasn't bad, but it was cooler. Today was about 73 and perfect! We went and got a new patio umbrella yesterday for our table since the other one blew off and broke. We also took Claire to the park and went to get ice cream together. That was fun! Kids are so easy to please at this age.

Then for dinner, I said we needed to go get some spicy Mexican food to get my labor going. Cilantro is supposed to help too, so I had a lot of salsa with that in it. Apparently, my labor didn't get the message, although on Tuesday I was at 1 and 30% so at least that's some progress. Tonight I'm planning on starting some Evening Primrose Oil. It may not do anything, but otherwise it's just harmless.

I've posted another new video on Facebook and a bunch of photos today.

At church, the pastor is doing a sermon series on "Fear" -- the challenge was to write down three things that you fear. So I challenge you to do the same. It's hard to decide what the "biggest" three are. So in no particular order I would say my three fears are (1) Fear of the Unknown (2) Fear of Death, and (3) Fear of forced Separation from my children. I don't know what else...even those are kind of vague. But the fear of death is basically the same as the unknown. Like, I'm afraid of HOW or WHO will die in my friends/family next. Or I'm afraid of dying myself now because that would mean my kids wouldn't really "know" me...which leads me into the separation from them. But this could also be some other wacky situation. Like did you hear about the parents who got their kids taken away for naked bath pictures. And the kids were young too, under 4. I mean who would think that your kids would get taken away for some bath pictures! Ridiculous. Ok...so that's pretty much it...what are your fears?

LOTION DRAMA

Easter Sunday was great! Monday wasn't. I was sick! I haven't ever really been sick sick like that before...knock on wood! I thought maybe I overdid it on Sunday, but I didn't really DO anything major at all! Then I thought I was going into early labor. But it turns out, it was really just a 24 hour stomach bug...which I've apparently never had one before, because this was awful. Really the only times in my adult life where I've thrown up were when I've tried to take Vicodin after a car accident. Painkillers do not sit well in my stomach.

Anyways, thankfully, I woke up Tuesday feeling 100% better. Thank God. I seriously thought I was going to die. I actually had Josh come home from work so I could sleep all day and rest. I've never had him come home from work. Ever. You can parent when you're tired, even when you have a cold...but not so well when you have a stomach bug affecting you at both ends. Ugh.

Anyways, I've managed to completely catch up on laundry at the moment INCLUDING having the machines and hampers empty. That's like a first. EVER. Usually there is at least something dirty. Now my goal is to do a load every day and keep up on things so it won't be this massive pile up with a new baby. Ha. Fat chance with that. ;)

My latest struggle with Claire is her increasing potty independence. She wants to go into the "onesie bathrooms" alone...you know where it's just one potty with a solid door. Well, I'm afraid she would lock herself in and not be able to get out. Since she couldn't crawl under the door, then we'd have to call the fire department or something. Ah! So like today when we went to story time, I turn and face the door so she can have privacy. Seriously? Where did she pick this term up? She goes, "GO AWAY! I want my own privacy." Yet she's content to streak around the house naked before and after baths...even if there are other people around. It must be something about the actual act of going potty?

The other major accomplishment this afternoon was putting away all my Easter decor...mostly baskets with cute eggs. And Josh has stashed the bin in the back of the closet. YAY! So now the baby is allowed to come. :) We did an Easter egg hunt with Claire on Sunday and put only 1 MnM or jelly bean in each egg. I thought she might want to eat them all at once, but she actually doesn't like most of the flavors of jelly beans. :( Little picky girl! I also took her to an egg hunt Friday but she didn't like most of the candy from that...she won't eat anything with nuts in even though she likes trail mix? Crazy. She doesn't like chocolate with carmel even though she likes the carmel apple dip you can buy next to the apples. Crazy. Something about things being mixed. I'm hoping with time, her horizons will broaden, but I'm definitely not trying to make her eat crap or candy. In other exciting food news...have I shared that she will now eat french fries and ketchup! Probably a good month now. She started just licking the ketchup off the fry. Then one day she took a bite. She spit it out, but it was progress! Now she might eat 4 or 5. America will be proud. :) I recently posted a list of foods she'll eat. It seems like a lot, but that's like ALL she will eat.

So I entitled this lotion drama because she woke up early this morning crying for lotion. Well...apparently Daddy forgot to put lotion on her last night. Our bedtime routine was messed up last night because I gave her a bath in the tub downstairs. I planted several flowers from the Easter Service at church and the baby blessingway (which I totally need to post about too...ack!) so she was dirty from that...plus Moon Sand.

She asked to play with Moon Sand outside. I figured it would be fine since we were outside. Last time I got out her little wooden table and set in the grass for her. Anything that fell went in the grass. Well apparently I was lazy. I just got the pan with the Sand in it and set it on the patio. She decided to rub it all over her legs. Yup. Apparently it's the new way to exfoliate or something. I was busy planting some flowers/weeding and not looking closely at what she was doing. It was from her toes to her hips. Not even kidding. I stripped her down to her panties outside and brushed her off, but that stuff is colored so her skin was pink!

So I had to spray her off with the shower before a bath. You know your kid needs a bath when they require a pre-wash. So anyways, I sent her to Daddy to get jammies on while I started some sandy laundry including putting her flip-flops in the wash...which they came out amazingly well!

Claire woke up at 6 this morning crying "Lotion! My skin dry!" Seriously? Does she really feel dry or does she just remember that part of a routine was missed? Anyways, she went down for a nap today. Ha...she goes, "I no need a nap. I not tired." But I told her no nummies unless we laid down. So guess what? We laid down for nummies and she fell asleep. So she had a good hour rest while I cleaned out my desk. I tried to throw away 3 things from each drawer, and I found far more. Seriously, why do I save some stuff? I like wonder why I ever thought I should hang on to some things. Because if it makes it upstairs to my desk, that means it has sat on my kitchen counter for at least a day or so before traveling upstairs!

So now I'm just going to go crazy nesting and cleaning out drawers and stuff until this baby gets here. :) I also had an OB appointment yesterday. Everything was good. Baby is measuring big still...at 43 weeks. :) Grow baby grow!

Practicing Slacking

So I'm practicing slacking off on the blog here in preparation for the new baby. Well, my biggest news is that I no longer "hate" all the boy names out there. We have come to an agreement on a handful that we both like, but we are going to wait to see his little face before we make our final selection. That's what we did with Claire, and it worked well for us. Besides, we revealed the gender, so we have to keep SOMETHING a secret. So don't ask me his name, because we REALLY don't know. And with Claire, she was a different name for about 2 months before we decided we didn't like it. Ha!

So don't ask me for our top names either because I don't want to reveal them either. Basically it's because I don't want any input. I made that mistake with Claire. People asked the top names we had and then would proceed to tell me which one to pick or what they didn't like, or how to spell them, etc. My thought on this: have a kid or another kid yourself you want to pick names. I try not to give people name advice either because it's really a very personal thing.

Let's see...in other big news...the past 3 nights I have laid down on Claire's bed with her and then she has nursed very briefly then told me, "Go in your own bed. I wanna sleep by myself." Really? This AP stuff has paid off! After 2 years and 8 months...she can fall asleep pretty much alone. :) Ha...And she's been doing great sleeping in her own bed all night AND staying dry all night! (YAY!)

What more could I ask for? Well, even though she's potty-trained, there are a lot of other "things" that go along with potty-training that we have yet to master. And I do mean WE because it's my job to teach her things like...not to use the TP if it falls on the floor. She also wants to throw the TP in those little "white houses" in the public restrooms? Why? I have no clue? Something fun? Have I mentioned she's been going into a public restroom stall by herself for about a month. Yeah...I would have never thought.

I used to stand outside the door very nervously, waiting for her to fall in our something. Well...at some point she figured out how to LOCK the door. I never "showed" her...she just figured out that's how the door will stay shut. I guess this is one good thing about her being so tall. She can get on and off alone.

And somewhere I seem to remember hearing that dresses were great for potty-training. Not true. See, they are long. This might be good for dresses three sizes too small, so they aren't long. ;) If they are too long, they are going to fall into the toilet water...eww...or she will accidentally pee on the front or back of the dress if it hangs down too far. Yeah...that's not fun.

We had the fun time of her locking herself in a stall in Valpo when I went up for Holly's shower two weekends ago. Luckily, I just told her to crawl underneath it. Then an about 8 year old came in and I told her that stall was empty, but then while we were washing hands, she couldn't get it open either, so she crawled out when she was done. Then I didn't feel so bad that Claire had gotten stuck! Things to learn...like sometimes you have to jiggles locks, etc!

Speaking or locking out, earlier this week, I went out to get the mail on a cooler day...too. I asked Claire if she wanted to come. She said no, which was unusual. She usually jumps at the chance, but she was busy playing. Well I was outside for all of 30 seconds or so, she locked me out. I had no key (obviously) and no phone with me. I was momentarily panicked. I could hear her messing with the doorknob lock and the deadbolt. Luckily, she unlocked it for me after I told her to, and the whole ordeal was over in less than 30 seconds. But it was a good lesson to me to either take her with or take my key! Also...I must remember that for the car! Sometimes I let her play in there if I unload groceries in the garage, but then my keys are with me anyways.

Another fun thing...Claire dumped an entire bag of grapes all over the floor at the grocery store. Was I supposed to pay for something like that? LOL...I stuck her in the cart and quickly walked away. I did tell the nearest employee there were grapes all over, but I didn't say it was us. And I do mean all over...I've never seen so many loose ones in a bag. Why do they even have those dang zip tops if they never shut them!?! Silly.

I've just been doing too much to sit down and write. I've been trying to keep up on laundry (always a challenge anyways) and keeping food stocked up...but we keep eating it, so that is a challenge too! :)

Well everyone keeps thinking he'll be here early. We are now 10 days away from my "dating" ultrasound...if that date even means anything anyways. So what are your predictions? Height? Weight? Birthdate? Email or comment. The closest one gets a prize! :) Kidding, that would require some sort of effort on my part.

Yeah, so Claire's potty-trained, sleeping pretty much on her own...and now we get to start all over...YAY. I actually just read an interesting blog post about how the best spacing between children is about 3 years. So we'll be about 3 months shy of that, but I think that's a pretty good estimate. I just don't know how people do it sooner! I really admire that! I'm actually looking forward to not having to get up to pee 42 times a night. I get up to pee, then drink some water. It's a vicious cycle because then I know I'll have to get up and pee again between my next sleep cycle, but...if I try to just take a tiny sip to wet my mouth, I end up waking up with a huge headache probably due to dehydration.

Anyways, I'm ready to bedshare again, and I am so not wasting any time with the crib crap...seriously...I value my sleep way to much to get up and down out of bed. A good night sleep like someone else said, is when my feet don't ever hit the floor! I'll have to probably roll over at first to nurse the newborn, but eventually, I can just lean over! And if Claire crawls back in bed once in awhile, that's fine! That's why there are 2 side of me to lay on. So much easier than dealing with tears or early wake-ups.

Yesterday, I went to the OB. I told Claire to have fun with Christopher when I dropped her off, and she goes, "No. No go to Dr. Go to hospital. Get baby out of tummy." That was cute. She has also informed me that it's HER baby, not mine. She will be changing all the diapers and .... get this...she will even be feeding it her nummies. Ha. Here's the really funny thing about his due date. She's picked up on it. I guess enough people have asked me that today when I was at the bank and the lady asked when I was due, Claire answered her! I was really shocked. "She goes, "About April 11th." I mean, she even got the about in there.

Well, I've got the third trimester tireds, and I am also trying to keep up on my sleep ... if that's possible, so I'm off to bed.

What a Mess!

So I spent all day today pulling out everything from our front hall closet to get out the infant carseat. Sigh. So now my project for tomorrow is to put it all back. I did get the carseat straps adjusted to the smallest height setting. Claire's baby doll, "Toby" was the model. I also got my Baby Bjorn adjusted to the smallest setting. It was sorta sad. Claire didn't remember it. She remembers my blue OTSBH but not the Bjorn. I think about this time last year was when I stopped using the Bjorn since her legs were so long, they kept hitting my knees. I stopped using the OTSBH so much since she likes to walk, but I put her in it a few weeks ago when she was teething and clingy, and I was trying to make dinner. She did remember that since I'd continued to use it.

Tonight we went to a preschool open house and got Claire enrolled for the fall. She'll do a year of Pre-3 and then a year of Pre-4 and start Kindergarten when she's 5. She'll be a fresh five, but she's so ready. She is sooo sooo social. She loves story time weekly at the library and and Children's church on Sundays. I'm not sure if we'll still be able to do story times in the fall, but we'll have to see how the story time schedules fit with her preschool calendar. We meet all the teachers she'll have tonight and feel very confident with our choice. I've been to 2 other preschools and gotten the best vibes from this place from others and just from being there tonight. Claire was great and ran off to color and play with toys with the other kids while Josh and I talked to the teachers. We are also going to do a "SUMMER CAMP!" I'm excited about this.

It's just a day camp, 2 days/week for 2 hours. I think it will be great for her to get used to in June and July. Then August will be off and school starts after labor day in September. She'll go 3 days a week for 2 hours. It's also faith based which I like. It's kind of a joke for 2 hours since they'll do a snack and potty break too. It'll be good for her though. She's always asking, "What are we gonna do today? We got story time today? Who's gonna come over? Can we go play somewhere? We going shopping? I wanna play outside!" So this will be nice for her to have something to look forward to 3 days a week.

The other preschool I really liked was 2.5 hours for 2 days/week but they don't welcome siblings on field trips...and that was really a major deciding factor for me! I don't want Claire riding in a car with someone else that I don't know so I'd want to go on field trips. And I don't know if baby boy will take a bottle. Claire never would. So anyways, this way she'll get to go on field trips (bowling, pumpkin patch, apple orchard, tour local pizza place, etc). They've got it all planned out for the year!!!

I actually looked into a 2s class last year about this time, but decided to wait awhile. I know some kids never do preschool or Kindergarten and do totally fine, but Claire is a very social creature and seems to make friends easily. I think she'll also love the crafts they do.

We've been playing outside a lot. It's great! Today it got up to 67!!! We did chalk on the driveway, then brought moonsand outside. That made for a nice and easy clean up! No sand on the kitchen floor!

So Claire did great at her open house and asked me to go potty in front of her to-be teacher. Luckily, she did not lift up her dress to show off her big girl panties, like she was doing at church on Sunday...and all around town the past week or so. We even broke out the sandals today as part of cleaning out the front hall closet.

Well wish me luck as I organize and put it all back. I've got to paper grocery sacks ready for the Goodwill. I'm a little sad to be putting away her snow pants/hats/mittens. I don't know if they'll fit at all next year and don't know if I'll have another girl. :) I don't know if baby boy would like to wear purple snow pants...but it seems silly to not let him wear a perfectly good pair of size 2T snow pants in the winter just because they are purple. Who made up these silly cultural color rules. Why can't boys wear pink, purple, and florals nowadays?

They used to put babies all in white since it's easy to bleach. Dang marketing.

My Baby Brother!

Claire loves to love on her baby brother.

If someone asks her if she's going to be a big sister soon, she'll get very excited and say, "I gonna have a baby brother! It'll be at Easter time when all the snow piles all gone and flowers come up!" And now she's added more information onto that to anyone who listens: "And I a big girl and use the potty and sleep in underpants!" (She has been napping in panties but I'm not brave enough for night time yet...she's gonna have to wake up dry at least a week straight before I'm thinking of letting her sleep in panties! Too much of a mess!) Then she'll say what princess is on her underwear. And then she'll say what color underwear I'm wearing. Geesh. She pays too much attention to these things. Yup. I'm not kidding.

"My momma's got on purple underwear. I got on my Belle underwear!" Since we're talking about these things...today she grabbed the crotch of my pants when we went into the bathroom at church and said, "Good job, Momma! You're keeping your panties dry!" Thank goodness we were in the bathroom at that point. But I guess I've been feeling her there to check to make sure she's dry because I just can't believe how well things are going. Now I do believe that they will train when ready.

She had been going in the bathroom, pulling her pants down, throwing her own diaper away, peeing on her little potty, then coming to get me to see. NOW she will wipe herself and dump her little potty into the big one. Sigh. Then she wants to rinse it like she sees me do. So she'll push her step stool to the sink, fill it up with water, and then set it on the sink counter, get down, then dump the water in the pot. I can handle this. She can't get onto our potties. They are really tall. They are the handicapped, elongated toilets in all our bathrooms. Great for adults who are taller since the are also higher up off the ground. Not so great for a toddler!

Ok, so I said I wasn't going to blog about this but too late. Haha. Nothing gross though. Now the battle is sleeping in a diaper. She doesn't want to. She gets mad. I don't like to confuse her with this message either, but I also don't want to deal with a wet bed during the night. I also won't want to deal with that in a few weeks with a newborn. I'm not sure what to do. I don't really trust her in the bathroom alone, especially at night. Our light switches are also really high, which is bad. She can barely reach them when she's on the step stool. I've notice that at other houses, like my parents, that she has no problem reaching the lights from standing on the floor. It's strange how high they are here. Last night she slept 12 hours and woke up dry, but I'm wondering how many days/nights of this success will it take to be 100% potty trained. Will she regress? Will she regress when the new baby comes? It's hard to say. Sigh. Like is it safe to say that she's potty-trained now? How many accident free days are needed to say this?

Ok, so this post was going to be about how in love Claire is with the idea of her baby brother, but we digressed, per usual.

What a cute pregnant person!

Today someone said to me, "What a cute pregnant person!" I didn't know if I should slap them or say thank you?

I have been having a ton of Braxton Hicks. A TON TON! That means the end is indeed near. I had an OB appt. this week. Went normal! You know, try not to pee on your hand as you pee in a tiny cup...get your BP taken, etc. My BP has been measuring at 110/70 which they always say is low, but if you look on the charts, it's still normal. I think it's the fish oil I take...that and chasing around Claire.

Anyways, I have a "feeling" that he'll be early. I was always thinking with Claire that she would be late, and she was. I have a ticker at the top of my blog page if you want to see my due date and how close I am as the event approaches. If I fall off the face of the earth and the face of Facebook, you'll know what's up! I am hoping he stays in until Easter though! :) That is my goal...

New Baby to-do List

To Do list:
Move dresser from master closet into kids’ playroom/clothing storage room
Wash, fold, put away baby boy clothes
Move Claire’s play kitchen from Living room into breakfast nook
Move dollhouse bookcase into Game room to make room for dresser
Order picture prints
Scrapbook!
Set up pack n play with bassinet feature
Get out swing, bouncer, check batteries
Pack hospital bag, new baby bag, snacks/gum/Gatorade!
Pack day-away bag for Claire, fav. Dry Snacks/juice/clothes/jammies/emergency phone list/guardian info
Update will with new baby info
Make a list of Claire’s favorite foods!
BIRTHPLAN!
Get out infant carseat, adjust straps, install
Move Claire’s carseat to side
Pick a freaking name

BUY:
Another hamper
Rubbing alcohol, peroxide
Size 1 & 2 diapers
Postpartum supplies

Stock up on household supplies:
TP, papertowels, laundry soap, baby wipes, etc

DO NOW:
Oil change

WHAT AM I MISSING?

Ultrasound Check

I'm behind on blogging, as, well, everything else. And, as I mentioned, I fell on the ice and went in for a standard OB check. The ultrasound tech wasn't there, but they scheduled me to come in and have an ultrasound just to check everything. Apparently sudden falls can tear the placenta away from the uterine lining and/or cause leaks in the amniotic sac, causing low fluid. So I went in and had an ultrasound. Everything looked great, so that was a relief. I'm still sore, but I guess that's to be expected after hitting the driveway.

I turned 30 yesterday at 30 weeks pregnant. Today I'm 31 weeks according to my LMP. However, the baby is measuring a full 3 weeks early buy ultrasound. They measure the head, belly, and legs, and somehow average them together to determine how big baby is. They estimate him at 5 lbs already, which put me at 34 weeks and 3 days....so who knows when he'll come. He just might weigh in at 10.15 like I did. Oh, and my GD test was totally normal. Apparently baby boy just likes the Bradley/Brewer's diet I've been following, although I've only managed 2 baked potatoes with skins this week.

Today, Josh is 30. Why do people make a big deal about 30? Seriously...not a big deal, but I guess I could care less about age. They say there are no milestone birthdays after 21 until you turn 55 and can get senior discounts. Things to look forward to!

Josh's mom flew in last night from FL to be here for his 30th. So she'll be here a week. I plan on taking full advantage of free babysitting. I already was able to do several things today while they played!

Last Friday morning when we woke up, there was no snow on the ground. Then we got a big dumping from Fri.-Sat. Then more came on Monday. We've gotten a total of 10 inches! That is more snow than this town has had since 1977. Ha! That's before I was born. ;) It's not supposed to warm up in the 10 day forecast, either, so this snow is going to stick around for awhile.

Slippity-Do-Dah!

Slippity-Yay! Ok, so late afternoon on Saturday I slipped on ice in the driveway while taking Claire out to play. Josh was shoveling the porch off since the Bobcat won't fit there to clear the snow. :) Don't know what the heck I'm talking about? Well, check out the pictures on facebook! Our neighbor clears the snow with his Bobcat in about 2 seconds. It's great.

Luckily Claire was in the grass so I didn't land on her/drop her while carrying her or something. BUT being you know, 30 weeks pregnant, falling is the last thing that is good.

So I got paranoid and ended up going to the OB after all. Everything checked out fine. I'd rather be safe than sorry! I am pretty sore though. I didn't catch myself. I couldn't. Ice is NASTY! It's not like when you trip or stumble on a toy or something out of place. Ice makes you move in ways you never knew possible. I was on the ground before I knew I had slipped. Yikes! I landed on my left side...leg/hip/arm. Not so fun.

SNOWING LIKE CRAZY!

This morning we barely had any snow on the ground...just a patch or pile here or there. WELL...NOW we have a ton! Claire started asking to play in the snow ALL day. I told we would wait until Daddy came home. Well, so we finally went out about 5 and BRR! It was really really wet, heavy, sticky snow. PLUS it was windy, so it was blowing sideways. I started freezing my face/eyes off after about 5 minutes. And she didn't want to come in! But I told her we could go out again tomorrow. So hopefully it will stop coming down. It's not so fun to play in when it's falling because then it melts on your face and makes your face all cold and wet and freezing. Maybe I should invest in some ski masks and goggles? :)

And I figured out why her boots get full of snow. Her snowpants are only a 2T. Yeah...they were a tad big on her last year, but this year, too small. I could barely get them zipped on her today. Her jammies that she sleeps in, you know the footed ones...they are a 5t and a 6T...insane. This girl is freaking tall...like me I guess. I'm just glad she's slender enough to still fit into the 2T snowpants, even if they are like floodpants. :)

Today I did a "deep clean" vacuum of our bedroom which involved pulling out furniture and cleaning under things...something I've never done since we've moved in. AND YIKES!!! Well, in my defense, we've never lived in once place as long as we have here! In May it will be 5 years. That's a lot of dust, let me tell you! And Claire had a blast, too. For Christmas, she got a gift card from her Glama Lynn and Grandpa Jason, so I ordered her among other things, a toy vacuum, which finally arrived. Who knew toy vacuums would get back-ordered?!!? But our neighbor Christopher has one that she loves to play with so I thought she'd enjoy it.

It's really cute watching her pretend to vacuum. I watched Christopher all day yesterday, and boy, I don't think he put that vacuum down for more than 10 minutes!!!

She also has recent fascination with this Strawberry Shortcake puzzle. It's 15 pieces and says ages 4-7 on it. She LOVES it. She seriously will sit and do it 10 times in a row and still want to do it some more. It was actually one of my puzzles when I was little so it's extra cute! I think I want to shoot myself in the foot if she wants me to "help" her with it again. I guess she just wants me to "play" with her because she can do it by herself! Today I had to laugh when I saw her doing it UPSIDE DOWN! Like, she flipped all the pieces over so they were the brown cardboard and put it together that way, with no help from the picture! I was actually really impressed!

While cleaning up our bedroom she wanted to get in the pack-and-play. I plan on setting up the bassinet feature for the new baby. Yeah...gotta find all the parts! But Claire climbed in and can't even lay down sideways in it anymore! She still said "MY PACK-AND-PLAY!" I told her we were cleaning it up for her brother. I also shoved her bed (aka mattress) on the OTHER side of ours. I had it by Josh's side. But then she kept rolling off. So I put her mattress against the far wall today. Hopefully that will keep her in it better. I wedged the Pack-and-Play against it since it has soft mesh sides. I think it will work and we won't have to buy another baby-gate-fence thingy for the bed.

I need to make a to-do list of things I need to do before the new baby comes. I feel like we are down to crunch time. And like I said before, I am feeling exceptionally huge. So I think I'll try to get all the big moving and stuff done. Then if I have time, I really need to get scrapbooking and organizing print pictures!!!

There is just so much to do. It seems like just normal daily things take longer. I want to have Claire help me with daily routines instead of parking in front of the TV. And she loves it. The other night I made red potatoes. She helped me wash potatoes! She'll go get her footstool anytime that she gets to help. She basically had a blast "scrubbing" the potatoes and playing in water for awhile. Then she wanted to help me cut them. This is where helping is bad sometimes because, um, she so cannot use a sharp knife yet.

So I got out her playdough and told her to cut up "playdough" potatoes, which she was really pleased with since I gave her a real butter knife to use. She was begging me though, "PLEASE MOMMY! PLEASE LET ME CUT A REAL POTATO!" She'll also get really mad if I start the dryer. She wants to press the button! Luckily that's an easy fix!

So while it's snowing like crazy out there, we're trying to get a lot done in here because, well, once the new one comes along, there will be like, oh, say a year of slacking again. ;)

How am I feeling?

I've been feeling fine...other than the fact that I feel like, well, as big as a freaking house. I swear I am as big now at 30 weeks as I was at 40 weeks with Claire. I know they say that you get bigger sooner with the 2nd plus, but DANG. I think they say boys are bigger and second babies are bigger too.

Some things I've done because I forget I have a big baby belly:

Spit while brushing my teeth and gotten the spit all over my belly.

Have to fold in the mirrors to walk between our 2 cars in the garage. Can't squeeze through sideways anymore.

Hit my belly on various doors/doorjambs/counters. No bruises yet. I did bruise my belly one time with Claire in a parking lot. I turned sideways and smacked into a rearview mirror. Dang that one hurt.

Given up sleeping on my back in the past few weeks. I am a huge back sleeper. :(

Glucose Test Already

I am in the homestretch now! I had my glucose test yesterday as part of the standard OB care. It was fine, or they would have called me today. The test really wasn't THAT bad...I think that there are much worse tests. I drank an orange pop type drink that tasted pretty flat. Then I had my regular OB appointment. Everything was fine. I had to wait a full hour, then they did a simple blood draw and took two vials. Baby's doing well, and he is growing on schedule. I'm going to the OB every 2 weeks now! AHH! That little boy will be here before we know it. Time to start getting some baby boy names together! I didn't have GD or any other problems with Claire's pregnancy either. Knock on wood!!!

I have been following the Brewer's Pregnancy Diet which is the same one the Bradley Classes advise following. It's basically a standard healthy eating plan incorporating a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. My breakfast is usually 2 hardboiled eggs and a large orange. Claire loves oranges as well. I would say that's the only thing "unique" about the diet is that they want you to have citrus daily and 2 eggs daily. I can't stand eggs most ways restaurants make them, unless they are poached extra hard, then it's like hard boiled eggs! Ha! But we maybe make it out to breakfast once/month! I find the one thing hard about the diet is to eat 3 baked potatoes a week. That seems like a lot. I am very into rice and pasta more than potatoes. I also like to make soups with bread for sides. Once a week we usually do breakfast for dinner since it's easy. Another easy dinner is soup/sandwiches which of course wouldn't include potatoes either! Monday I cracked out my breadmaker and made some homemade bread as well as some "Sunday Roast Chicken" in the crockpot. I love crockpotting! (Is that a word?) My goal is to not gain any more weight than I did with Claire's pregnancy and so far I'm on track. If anything, I've gained less so far, but that's subject to change...lol!

One thing I have noticed this pregnancy is some back pain, but honestly I think it's from carrying Claire around way too much...still. She still asks to be carried a lot and I pick her up without thinking. I've been trying to have her walk more, but I honestly enjoy it when she lets me carry her because I know that her carrying days will be ending soon! So it's hard to say what the back pain is from...maybe from when Claire was born? Who knows. It could also be from a lot more nesting and working around the house. With Claire's pregnancy I was teaching full time, and I did not do a lot of nesting...plus we hadn't been in this house that long...so there wasn't a lot to do to nest! Now I feel like everything is always a mess! (BLAME THE TODDLER!)

Everytime I get down on the floor to do exercises or stretches Claire wants to climb all over me and/or play horsey. Sigh. Today I was on the exercise ball, and she goes, "Me take a nap on the big ball?" HA. She can't even sit on it alone, and she wants to take a nap on it? LOL! Yesterday we got to go outside and play in the dusting of snow. She had a ball, but I froze. I need snowpants! I don't think they make maternity snowpants! HA! I also refuse to buy maternity nylons. And since I'm 6'1 it's hard to buy nylons long enough anyways. That was always my other trick. I'd just put nylons on under my pants. I have a pair of "snow pants" that I wore sledding/skiing in high school, but they are only a large. So. Not. Fitting. at 29 weeks prego! FAIL! I tried them on and had to laugh.

26 weeks!

I am 26 weeks pregnant today!!! YAY! And I haven't mentioned, but I am gonna be an Auntie for the first time in July!!! YAY! My sister Holly is preggers! I have added a ticker above with her EDD info, so check it out in my header.

I met with Dr. L today who is the guy who delivered Claire and despite the way things turned out with her birth, he is my "favorite" OB in the practice of four. The least of the evils. :)

I go EVERY TWO WEEKS NOW! AHHHHHH!!! That means the end is quickly coming near and at my next appointment, I do my glucose screen, which should be fine since it was fine with Claire. It's not a fasting test, although he said not to have a coke and donut for breakfast before I come. (YUCK!)

Apparently, at my last appointment, Dr. N noted something on my chart about me nursing as Dr. L asked about it...but guess what...he actually asked me how often and how long. See. Men are smarter than women. ;) Sometimes...but I just think he has more experience than the other OB who is new to the practice. I said she basically only nurses before nap and bed which is true like today. We laid down for about 20 minutes to "nap" but she didn't fall asleep so we got up...and then she was bathed and asleep by 7:30 tonight. Glorious!!!

I don't even care which OB is on-call...there are 4 so it's like a 25% chance of having the "one I want"...but really there is just one I don't want, who is Dr. S because he's more likely to drape and cut episiotomies. I'll have my doula on him though if that's who we end up with. Actually, I'd like to labor in the car until the baby is like, um, crowning. Hmm. I wonder if you actually deliver your baby in the car, do you still get charged for the labor/delivery fee, or can you just go home!?!

Funny side story...Claire was using the bath crayons tonight, and I had to do a double take. She had colored a big yellow patch on the bottom of the tub while I was reading a magazine. I glanced over and thought she had peed in there because it was super yellow. LOL! Luckily it was just the crayon though! Bath crayons rock. The only place I've found them is at Babies R Us; they are the ones by Crayola.

Silly, Silly OB.

I just got back from my OB appt. I am supposed to be 22 weeks, but baby boy is measuring 24 weeks. I HATE THE OBs. At my last visit, 4 weeks ago, I met with Dr. S. who already was mentioning induction because I was measuring big. GOOD GRIEF! Can we at least wait until APRIL to start mentioning inductions.

THIS TIME, I left ticked again, because I happened to mention I was still nursing. I didn't meant to. Really. I know you're not "supposed to breastfeed past 12 months." (Please not the dripping sarcasm.) The reason I'm ticked was because the silly OB, Dr. N, said "You're still nursing while you're pregnant?" Yup. "You're really not supposed to." Oh really? "There is a concern about the baby getting enough nutrients." Really.

So guess what I said. I said she could jot down on her little chart that she informed me of that, but I've read otherwise and plan on continuing. Ha. I felt her bristle a little at this point. She's like, well, legally we have to inform you to stop nursing in case the baby inside you isn't growing enough.

WHAT. THE. HELL.

Women have tandem nursed for THOUSANDS OF YEARS. I am beyond pissed right now.

I said I was in La Leche League. I dropped that "L bomb" ha. And I have read otherwise. I turned out fine and my older brother David nursed while my mom was pregnant with me...and for 9 more months alongside me!!! GEEZ!!!

ME.ANGRY=TRUE!

So then I got all bitchy. Yes I did. I said I would like to see what she had read otherwise. That caught her off guard. I asked where she had read that. Couldn't really remember. MAYBE BECAUSE THAT'S A LOT OF SHIT. Pardon my French.

Anyways, baby boy was fine. Did the normal pee in a cup, let them take my blood pressure, etc. Sometimes they want to take it twice because it tends to run low. I swear it's the fish oil vitamins I've been taking daily since trying to get pregnant with Claire.

His heart beat was strong and measured at 150. (If you follow old wives's tales, girls are supposed to have a higher heart beat, so that was wrong.)

UGH. WHY AM I SO ANGRY.

I am so mad that the back of my neck feels hot.

At least Claire was GREAT at the neighbors. She was a perfect angel and didn't hit over a toy once. And didn't cry when I left or when she realized I'd left!!! She loves playing with Christopher since they are about the same age. He just turned 2 mid-November, so about 3ish months apart...

I've got frozen pizza in the oven. I'm too mad to make dinner. I had to blog instead. ;)

WHY AM I SO PISSED?

BECAUSE I'M RIGHT?

Oh, and she also mentioned the whole contraction crap from nipple stimulation but that is crap too because contractions without dilation is fine!

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I don't know his name!

Today Claire wanted to know her baby brother's name. She asked, "What baby brother's name? I don't know his name!" TOO CUTE! Well, we don't know it either. We are completely clueless. Ha...we didn't name Claire until less than 2 weeks before I was due, and even then, we weren't entirely sure.

I don't really like specific name suggests from family members like, "You should name the baby XXXXXXXXXX because so-and-so was named that." That is a complete and 100% total turn-off for me. Those names will go on a "Definitely will not name list." I want something semi-original, yet classic. I want something that people will recognize, but it's not like in the top 10. I like traditional spellings. Plus we can't please everyone by picking a name one family member liked. So in order to keep things fair, we will just avoid all of those types of suggestions.

I also don't like names that have overly unique spellings or are trendy. Super-trendy spellings just make the parents look like they can't spell. For example, Jackson should be spelled Jackson, not "Jaxsin." I was a teacher. I've seen it. It just makes the parents look like they didn't know how to spell the name. Trendy names are just plain stupid IMHO. I don't think a name like "Blade" would look good on his job resume in about 20 years.

I've read the entire boys name section of our baby name book over and there is not one single solitary name in there that I like. NOT ONE. Not even one that I USED to like but then some student with that name came and ruined it. I just don't LOVE any boy's names like I do girl's names. I also hate city names like Austin or Dallas or whatever. Those fall under the lines of trendy. A hot new girl name is "London." Really. City names are for cities. People names are for people. It also drives me nuts when people name pets real people names instead of something animal-appropriate like Spot or Fluffy. So this is sort of turning into a rant. DANG IT. WHY ISN'T THERE A SINGLE BOY NAME THAT I LIKE!!! I'm sure we'll think of something in the next few months...

But as a teacher, I don't want a name that people haven't seen before or won't know how to pronounce. I don't want him to have to spell his name every time he gives it. I also don't want people to say "What's his name?" with a funny look when I tell them his name. I've seen moms do this to other moms and it's so terrible. I also don't like anything that could be gender-neutral like "Sam" or "Pat." It makes me think of that Pat character that used to be on SNL.

I guess I'm pretty opinionated. I don't like "job" names like Mason because of the meanings behind them. Are all the poor Masons in the world destined to lay bricks? Probably not because most people don't really look into the meanings of names. I generally don't like last names as first names, although there are a few that work well as first names.

So what do I like? I do like most biblical names, but not the funky, hard-to-spell ones that nobody knows how to read. I like Josh, but I don't like the Jr. thing. I think the baby needs to be his own, original person, not version 2.0.

Claire has suggest Oscar and Elmo for the baby. Ha. Nope. She also likes Falcor which is from the movie Labyrinth, but again, nope! I like a lot of German names like Johann, but would never do that to my kid, living in the US. It would never get spelled or pronounced right.

Any suggestions that go well with Starr? Watch out for initials. Don't want to be spelling PMS or ASS or GAS. geesh...

Baby Boy Ultrasound

I had my Ultrasound yesterday, marking the 'half-way' point in the pregnancy! Unreal. HERE HE IS:
Bascially think of the boy sitting on a glass table top. Do not ask for more of an explanation. You'll either see it, or you won't.

Another profile shot:

Mouth open, yawning in this one!

My Readers are Rewarded

And you shall be among the first to know! IT IS A BOY! DUE APRIL 16! :)