PREGNANT!!!

I'm so so so so so excited! After 6 months of trying and having luteal phases of 6-7 days, 2 months of taking a b-complex, and 1 month of Vitex - I'm pregnant! As I write this, I'm 3weeks and 5 days. lol its so early! I won't be posting this until at least 6 weeks because we will be telling my family first when we go visit in a few weeks. I took a test yesterday and there was a very very very very faint line, so faint I thought for sure I was imagining it. Then I took a more sensitive test this morning and sure enough, definitely two lines! Michael had no idea, I mean he knew we were trying to get pregnant but he didn't think it was even possible based on the last 6 months, so today when I put Faith in the t-shirt *I* wore when my little sister was born that says "I'm the big sister" and told her "go show dada" he was confused and all "why would you put her in that? we can't have a baby, you're barren" uh, no honey... I'm pregnant! AHH YAY, I just can't believe it! Faith and baby brother/sister will be 32 months apart (2 years and 7 months). I'm due on/around Dec. 29. I'm SO excited to pick out names - its my favorite! I wonder how much morning sickness I'll have this time - I had it so awful last time, but I think that was due to the progesterone cream... so we'll see. I'm planning on doing some freezer cooking in the next week or two for a ton of meals just in case I'm incapacitated - last time it was ramen and boxed quick meals, I definitely want to avoid that this time around. hmmm and I need to get some prenatals.

The timing is crazy - when I found out I was pregnant with Faith we went to visit my parents around the same time, early in the pregnancy, and were able to tell them in person, like this time! And we just went to the zoo the other day, the last time we went to the local zoo was when I had just found out I was preg with Faith! So I realized that at the zoo and thought I must be pregnant this time!

Update: I'm 6 weeks now... still no morning sickness! I'm a little queasy in the morning but after I eat its ok. The past few days its been kind of painful when Faith latches on, but only lasts a few seconds. I also found the most amazing OB, and might interview a CNM when we get home too. The CNM that delivered Faith isn't delivering babies anymore and neither is the other CNM in her office that I was going to use. Such a good thing because I wouldn't have found this amazing OB and I think he's better :)

Raw Milk!

I get to pick up my first gallon of raw milk this week! I've been on the wait list for 2 months. I'm so excited to make butter & yogurt & cheese! I don't know how long we will keep it up for, I guess it depends how much we like it. I've been buying low temp pasteurized/nonhomogenized organic milk for $7/gallon (did you know almost all organic milk is ultra-pasteurized, thats worse than they do for non-organic! I've heard it called "ultra-dead" lol), but there is almost no cream AND it starts tasting weird 4 days after you open it so we end up throwing part of it out some weeks. the raw milk is $11/gallon (if I didn't have to pay for a delivery charge it would be less than $9)... ugh! it kills me!

speaking of milk...

I was pumping for about 5 weeks for a friend that adopted a baby, I've stopped now because pumping and nursing while trying to get pregnant doesn't help, plus that 4oz bottle was just an amazing day it was usually more like 2 oz max. But this organization is amazing : Human Milk for Human Babies if you have extra breastmilk, you should really consider finding your local group and donating to a mom unable to breastfeed!

Official

Yay! As of today... I know I said on pentecost, but it got moved up and they gave us like 2 weeks notice. typical. So I was confirmed and had my first holy communion :-)

AND get this: the Saint I chose, St. Gianna, I picked her because she sacrificed her life for that of her unborn child (and most saints were nuns and I find it harder to relate to them)... I've been reading her biography: she had homebirths for 3 of her 4 children IN THE '50s "it is good for children to be born at home within the family", she "nursed as long as her milk let her" and "I can't conceive of a mother slapping a child". :-D amazing.

now just some new pictures.

My baby will be 2 in just a little over a month! *tear* she's so big! some of her favorite phrases are "I do" when you ask her if she wants something, "oh no its stuck!", she loves pointing out Jesus "sheshus!". awww she is so precious to me.

New AAP car seat guidelines

Yay! Keep 'em rear-facing to the height and weight limits of the seat or at least 2.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42186101/ns/today-today_news/

"One-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. crash data. Put another way, an estimated 1,000 children injured in forward-facing seats over 15 years might not have been hurt if they had been in a car seat facing the back, said Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the recommendations and a pediatric emergency physician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia."

http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/117755/aaps_new_car_seat_guidelines

"It was believed that 1 year and 20 pounds was the benchmark for forward facing babies in car seats, despite evidence elsewhere that that was still dangerously early. Now, hopefully, with new guidelines, parents and doctors can get on board and spread the word about the safest practices for children. Here are the details.

New Rear-Facing Recommendation: Parents are to keep children rear-facing until 2 years old, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for the seat as noted in the manual.

Safe Kids agrees. Two years is a goal easily met, considering even some of the lowest cost seats now rear-face until 40 pounds. When your baby outgrows their infant carrier, that is when you buy a convertible seat that rear faces longer, not a forward-facing seat."