Alive..alive...yes we are alive....

I am now 27 weeks. Sorry for missing the updates for 25 and 26 weeks. They were busy weeks trust me. Here is a pic from today of Henry getting ready for a walk. I figured since I have been holed up for a day and a half in bed w/ an ear infection/sinus infection that some fresh air would do me some good. Henry agreed! :)

Here is a pic of the lake in our neighborhood. We did 2 laps around the lake (2 miles) and I felt great after the first but half way through the second I wished I had stopped at one. LOL! What a wuss!

This is a pic from last weekend at an 80's themed birthday party for a co-worker. I do realize I am posting blackmail material here. Enjoy! I know you're giggling. If you look closely you will see the 'crimped' hair w/ top pulled into side ponytail...accentuated by the off-the-shoulders teal sweatshirt w/ contrasting hot pink tank under it...accompanied by leggings and bangles (the arm not pictured actually had about 10 rubber ones on it). I was the designated driver and was exhausted by the end of the night and feeling the beginnings of the approaching ear ache when I hit the hay.

The next 2 pics are my feeble attempts at self-portraits before my OB appt today.

This last one was done by the professional...aka Papa Bear....Much better quality, don't cha think? (p.s. the square belly is because of the belly band on my maternity jeans! LOL!)

Update on the Impending Boy: He is supposed to be about the size of a head of cauliflower, weighing in at over 2 lbs and more than 14.5 inches long! He is waking and sleeping, sucking fingers and toes, opening and closing his eyes and continuing to 'practice' breathing by moving amniotic fluid in and out of his lungs. As of this week, the Impending Boy could live outside the womb (w/ lots of medical intervention) if need be! Big step! I have also felt what I think must be baby hiccups as of this week. Cute but annoying! LOL!

Meanwhile back at the uterus, I have been having lots of leg cramps at night (but hey I'm already up peeing so I might as well jump around clutching my calves right?). And Brad has developed sympathetic ones for me, too. Poor guy! I swear we are both drinking plenty of fluids and I eat at least 1 banana a week and plenty of dairy (potassium and calcium deficits can cause muscle cramping). My ribs pain is less frequent in the last few days so maybe baby thinks he has enough room for now and can stop stretching my innards for a little while. :) I think that if I wasn't sick then I'd be enjoying my last week of the second trimester a little more.

Last Saturday, Brad and I attended our one day Lamaze class (9-530...long day...followed by that 80's party...yawn). It was a lot of info in one day but I think it was very helpful (and Brad thought so too) and we LOVED our instructor. Our instructor's name was Petu and she is from Finland..she was a hoot! To see a 60-something year old Finnish lady roll around on the floor and talk about pregnancy, and anatomy, and sex and labor was very entertaining. Best case scenario for an 8 hr class on those subjects. I think we got a lot of practical info for the labor and delivery. Brad is trying to convince me to 'just take the drugs' for labor and delivery. I still want to try w/o them and if I absolutely can't handle it then I will agree to use them. Mostly I really don't want to be induced and hope that the baby can make an appearance w/o help before the end of the year (how cynical are we for pushing him out for a tax deduction??).

During our Lamaze class, we also took a tour of the Labor and Delivery unit at the hospital where the impending boy will enter the world. They have a hydrotherapy room w/ a giant tub and a rocking chair which I plan to take advantage of....additionally they have feng shui (sp?) birthing rooms which I plan to point and laugh at until at some point in my labor crystals, water features, and fire all seem like feasible means of redirecting the 'energy' of child birth. LOL! We were paired w/ a couple who is also from our side of the river (that would be the Ohio River...and by that I mean the Kentucky side of it). They are due 1 month exactly before us, use our same OB group, and got pg w/ IVF w/ the same infertility doc! Pretty neat, huh? In fact, I ran into them today at the OB bc they had an appt w/ the same doc at the same time! And we are taking our baby care basics class w/ them on Oct 2nd! While we missed the opportunity to exchange info w/ them at the last class, I traded numbers w/ her (Amy) today. So at least I will be able to share first time mom jitters w/ someone in this area and may pick her brain for child care options in this town when I next see her. We are back to square one on that subject......

Ok. That was a lot of 'updating'. Can't promise a time frame for the next one.... In the mean time, I am feeling grateful for my loving husband, my impending boy, my family and home, and all the blessings of life in the U.S. Even when we've got it bad (economy in the crapper, natural disasters, war, bad foreign relations..etc)...we've got it good.

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands,
because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have
we will not be happy -- because we will always
want to have something else or something more.

-----Brother David Steindl-Rast

13 weeks: Baby Peach

Welcome to week 13! Our baby is the size of a peach! Incredible! What's more I have been eating peaches and nectarines this week....so baby is a bit of a cannibal. LOL. The consensus amongst my readings is that Baby Peach is around 3 inches long and weighs between 1/2 and 3/4 ounces. The growth of Baby's giant melon has slowed down. He or she could be booked by the police as fingerprints are formed on those tiny fingers by this point. I can definitely feel my uterus above my pelvic bone if I palpate my lower abdomen. I am glad my OB taught me how to find it via hand over hand palpation at out first visit. He made me feel very relaxed (ok except the ridiculous pilgrim collar/poncho paper breast exam get-up) and basically said their office takes a very hands-off, minimum exam approach w/ only 1 u/s at around 20 for diagnostics and no undressing at the office again until 30 something weeks!

I am going to start discussing birthing options at next weeks appt. I know I am only 13 weeks but I need to know what I can and can not do during labor at the hospital. I have concerns about whether I will be allowed to walk around the birthing room and avoid internal fetal monitoring and IV's unless absolutely necessary. I have real issues w/ the idea of an epidural and labor induction. Mostly because of complications that may be caused by those 2 things as well as my inherent fear of feeling "trapped". LMAO. Jen W if your are reading this...."You're trapping me....you're trapping me!!". I feel sorry for anyone who has had to sleep in the bed w/ me when the sheets are left tucked in! Or perhaps witnessed me attempting to scuba dive or go spelunking (can you say 6 hours of crawling through a cave and discovering I am perhaps claustrophobic half-way through a 30 foot long, 3.5' x 3' tunnel). Let's just say I'm a bit of a control freak. And I don't think I can completely turn over my body to someone else, or a group of someones, while I am unable to feel or move my lower half. Perhaps I'll change my mind when the time comes.

I am not saying that I am completely unopen to any type of intervention. And I'm not ruling out a "walking epidural" (low dose...dulls the pain...still allows for movement of legs, pushing muscles, and, well, walking....ok maybe shuffling!). I definitely need to do more research on that one. I do have a little time to sure up that whole 'plan'. And I still want to deliver in a hospital, w/ all the 'back ups'. I work in a hospital. I have read a lot of articles portraying them as 'the devil' but I honestly believe it's all in your perception. Make a birth plan. Be up front w/ your doc and whoever is going to be in the birthing room w/ you about your wishes. Obviously, if disaster strikes....I'll be right where I need to be. And if not then the nurses can all roll their eyes about the pseudo-granola girl in room 3 who won't let them stick an internal monitor in her, who is pacing around the darkened room listening to soft music, and moaning as she leans over every available surface during contractions swaying her hips around like a crazy person. I admit that the professionals @ the hospital's birthing center have delivered a lot more babies than I have and they may have a little better insight than I do on the subject. But I also believe that women were built for this gig and may not need as much help as is readily given during most labors and births. I've been present for several "normal" hospital births...some that have gone smooth as silk and some that didn't. I guess I am a moderate to the core. I'm not quite ready for a non-hospital birth but I don't want to be completely out of it and miss the details of one of the most important days of my life. All that said, I am still pretty terrified of the whole thing! Anywho.....more on that later.

For now, I am still wearing normal clothes but I definitely have a little pooch. I am still unreasonably tired a times but now I attribute this to inactivity. 90+ degree weather does not help that cause. I am going to go for early morning walks w/ the dog to avoid that or give into the weather and do evening laps in the neighborhood pool. Plus instead of rolling around on my living room floor doing yoga poses, I am going to call my old yoga instructor and find out when she has a class appropriate for a pg gal like myself. Update Saturday morning: couldn't sleep. Got up at 6 am. Took Henry on a 2 mile walk around the lake. It was very relaxing. And quiet! Then Henry and I went out on the deck for a little outdoor yoga session which was lovely until the neighborhood starting waking up and cars started driving around. I suddenly felt a little self-conscious w/ my booty in the air for downward dog so I switched to my traditional ending pose. Although I decided that, to the neighbors, the corpse pose was probably equally disturbing......you know..."Should we check to see if that lady is ok?". LOL. Anyhow, Brad is working on landscaping and I am heading to Louisville to celebrate birthdays w/ my mom (hers was Thursday the 12th, mine Monday the 9th). Hope everyone has a good weekend!