and so the madness begins...

Today I had my first real appointment with the midwives and it was wonderful! I met with Kelly and she was so attentive, concerned, interested, and respectful! Not to mention, she made me feel better about gaining more weight than I had wanted to this month (6 lbs.) and she spent 40 minutes with me! At my last practice, the doctors would be in the office with me for 5-10 minutes max. I am sad that I wasted so much of my pregnancy in a place I wasn't comfortable.

Tonight Dave and I start our HypnoBirthing (http://www.hypnobirthing.com/default.htm) class and we are excited but also nervous. I am not exactly sure what to expect - but I think it will be some meditation and breathing exercises. And with the extra stress recently, it may be just what we need.

We closed on our new (to us) house on Friday and we are SO excited but extremely overwhelmed with all the work we have ahead of us. The house was built in 1879 and has been beautifully restored but still needs some work here and there - though luckily, nothing major! Dave and I are packing and bringing boxes over slowly until Jen (my sister), her boyfriend, my brother, Sean, and his fiance come to help with the "official" move on April 18th. The very next weekend, I fly to Florida for my sister's graduation. And then begins May: in which I have to somehow have two baby showers, graduate, finish packing, and get as far into nursery set-up as we possibly can before the fatigue and discomfort of that last month starts! I need a nap just thinking about it.

In funny news, Dave was in a mustache contest at work and I have never seen him look more frightening. Really! Take a gander at the facial hair nightmare below!

Braxton Who?

As our two faithful readers know, I am at 26 weeks now and so I was more than a little surprised to learn today that I am already having Braxton Hicks contractions. The doctor says my cervix is high, thick and closed - which is all good but that I should refrain from da love making. I was really surprised that I was having contractions because it didn't hurt AT ALL!! But my sister has informed me not to get my hopes up because the real thing will hurt like a mutha. OH well. At least I sorta know what a contraction is now. I just thought that I wouldn't feel one for at least another ten weeks or something.

Oh and as of 3pm tomorrow, Dave and I will officially be homeowners! Hurray! Here's a picture of our new pad.

26 Weeks

School is crap when you're pregnant. Sitting in those horrible desks for four and a half hours is ridiculous. In one of my classes, the desks are so small that I already barely fit into it. Today, I am grouchy. Mostly because I was uncomfortable all day in school, I am sick - AGAIN, and because I couldn't sleep last night. The good news that we got this week is that the USDA finally got their act together and have our money. We are hopefully closing on Friday! Yay! Here's my 26 week picture, taken only moments ago. Don't let that smile fool you - I am Crabby McCranky Pants today!

25 Weeks!

Oh my, I didn't know my belly had gotten quite so big until I saw this picture! :) I feel so great though. I don't sleep so well and I have been getting indigestion but I really love being pregnant right now! I am trying to enjoy every minute left of my second trimester and hoping that all of the terrible things I've heard about the third are lies. I watched a birth video last night, and it actually had a "graphic material" warning at the beginning. It kind of scared the crap out of me! It seems impossible, amazing, disturbing, and ridiculously painful to push such an enormous thing through such a small thing. This is gonna hurt, isn't it?

Mama and Babbu?

So, I've been trying to decide how I wanted to be referred to by Padma when she pops out. Amy settled on Mama early, and wished I had settled too. But, because I'm a pain in the ass, I didn't want to go by just Dad.

Well, I just did some Googling for possibilities and I've found it: Babbu.

Yes! BABBU!

I've got no idea of it's context but I love the sound and a little toddler saying Babbu will melt your ice cold heart. Here's what the interweb says:

* Sardinian (Limba Sarda Unificada) : babu
* Sardinian Campidanesu : babbu
* Sardinian Logudoresu : babbu

Babbu! It is done.

This is what the web tells me a Babbu looks like:







and I believe everything the web tells me...

Cloth or Disposable??

I am having the most difficult time making the decision between cloth and disposable diapers. I thought that I was going to be using the gDiapers (gDiapers.com) but have read so many terrible reviews that I have decided against it. That leaves me wondering what is the more environmentally friendly choice? Cloth diapers that must be washed, which will probably mean a load of diapers to wash everyday, or "green" disposable diapers? I found a cloth diaper called bumGenius (bumgenius.com) that's highly rated and a disposable called Nature Babycare (natyusa.com) that is also highly rated and claims to be almost entirely biodegradable. If anyone knows anything about these brands or has something else to suggest, please fill me in. My brain hurts from the decision making. :)

24 weeks

My computer is still being a punk so I am on Dave's to try and post some of the recent baby bump pics... Not much to report. Everything's great. Padma's moving around a lot more now and has a much stronger right hook.

23 weeks:


24 weeks:

23 Weeks

Dave and I finally switched doctors. We met with a midwife at St. Mary's Hospital and we fell completely in love with her and the whole midwife practice. There are four midwives and they deliver at a birthing center within the hospital. We have wanted to switch since we found out we were pregnant but didn't know where to go because we weren't entirely sure of our birth plan yet. But now we know that we want to deliver in a hospital so that I will be less scared but we did not want to deliver with a doctor unless there was an actual need for it. Our problem is that we felt we couldn't trust that our original OB would only push Pitocin and/or Cesarian if it became medically necessary rather than simply more convenient. I also really want a water birth and though the hospital offered that, my doctor refused. She made it clear to us that she was not much interested in what we wanted and she simply did not hear me when I tried to explain to her what was important to us. The midwives can and want to give us everything we want. They offer both water labor and delivery, the rooms are enormous and I can have as many or as few people in the room as I wish, they can turn the lights down for me and put on any music I want, they offer birthing balls - they will not step in unless I want them to or they need to, and Padma will stay in my room until we leave the hospital - she won't have to be sent to sent to the nursery. I feel so much better about everything now. I recognize that I cannot pin my hopes on my birth plan working out - I know that things happen - but it is nice that I can trust the midwives to adhere to my plan unless it is medically necessary to do otherwise.

My internet is being nuisance and so pictures will have to wait until next time...