Our Little Baby Blog

T-minus Eleven Days...

But who's counting?

I'm so close now and we've had so much going on that I have really neglected the blog over the last couple of weeks. Sometimes it's like I have so much to tell that I stall and can't seem to muster the strength to actually write anything down.

The baby.

Everything is going well. I'm still feeling pretty good - that's relative of course, I am carrying around a 35 pound bowling ball on my stomach after all. However, I feel better at this point in this pregnancy than I did at this point in Anna's pregnancy. I carried Anna in my rib cage rather than my uterus (yep, that's scientifically possible :-) so I couldn't breathe or move very well in the last month, but this baby is down low and out front so I can breathe and move much more easily. I am able to walk quite a bit with Anna because it's finally spring here and, despite the fact that I've done no pre-natal yoga this time, I think the walking has been better for me. I just feel a lot healthier.

Alas, I'm am pretty huge. So big that the doc actually had us do an ultrasound on Tuesday just to make sure the baby isn't too big to attempt a VBAC. Fortunately, this baby measures upper 7s or low 8s, plus or minus a pound. Essentially, this isn't a huge baby, just average and could even be tiny like Anna (6 pounds, 10 ounces) and it shouldn't interfere with my VBAC attempts.

We've been reading a lot about childbirth (remember, this will be my first because Anna was an immediate c-section) and, after much internal debate, I've decided to meet with a doula. She's coming over tonight to discuss how she can help me during the labor process. At first, we were a little gun shy because of the cost, but I do think that it will help me stay true to my goal of delivering the baby rather than caving in and having another c-section. And the more Mike read about the role of a coach, the more he got into having an extra support person there so he can have some guidance himself on how to help me. I think Mike would be great regardless, but it might be nice to have someone who has done this kinda thing before.

Due to our lack of space here, I've pulled out two separate small stacks of clothes (boys are borrowed from friends, girls are Anna's old clothes) and I've got them on the floor in Anna's room. As soon as we know which stack we'll be using, they will get inserted into Anna's dresser alongside her clothes and the rest will go back to their original owners/storage. I've got 0-3 clothes out only and I'm just going to keep doing a lot of laundry so that I can keep my supply down low. We seem to have stored our burp clothes in some secret location so I'm going to have to buy a bunch this weekend. But, other than that, just about everything is in place. Weird to think how different the preparation for this baby is... we're just popping open the pack and play this go around rather than thinking about bedding colors and wall artwork.

One new addition to our baby care-taking this time is my decision to try cloth diapering. After watching friends do it, I am taking the plunge myself. I bought a small stack of prefolds and diaper covers and researched the washing regime and I'm going to give it a go. Given everything we've got going on around here, I'm not holding myself to a 100% commitment. However, I'm going to try using cloth during the day and use some disposables at night and then see how I like it for the first few months. I have to admit, they are just adorable diapers and I can't wait to see our baby's bottom in them :-) If you haven't seen the modern day cloth diapers, they are so cute!

Right now, I'm just keeping myself occupied by eating boxes upon boxes of popsicles and sneaking McDonald's chocolate shakes. I can say that any attempts to keep my sugar cravings in check have officially flown out the window. I'm eating anything that strikes me as tasty these days, regardless of nutritional content. For me, eating can be come such a chore towards the end of a pregnancy. You know you're hungry, but the drive to haul yourself off the couch, scrounge around the cabinets and actually find something good is annoying. Even as I sit here now I'm starting to get hungry, but can't think of a single thing in the refrigerator that I'm motivated to eat. Tough life, eh?

I'm not dilated or effaced or anything, but as soon as we get this baby birthed, we'll update the blog with pics and an announcement. Until then, please keep us in your prayers. We're hoping for a quick and productive delivery that results in a healthy baby and healthy mama. I'm nervous so please send positive calming thoughts my way.

Here we go!