Ultrasound

Yesterday I had another ultrasound. It was 3d, and really cool! (I know the effects of high-power 3d ultrasounds havent been tested, but it was free & I'm selfish & want to see my baby in real-time). The ultrasound tech said she had really long fingers/toes/neck- so maybe she will be a ballerina and/or pianist!! :-) So here are some pictures

her face, it was either completely buried, or partially buried like this, the whole time.

arm/hand/elbow

back of her head/shoulder

face again

little toesies!!! foot/leg/knee

Update

Me, today, at 26 weeks.   ignore my face. 

This wrap skirt took about 3 hours to make and was really easy.  The pattern is from this book

This picture is dark, but you can see how it fits & the length

Current status of the cross-stitch... not even halfway done. (some of it is getting cut off here)

I have another ultrasound, a week from today.  I can hardly wait!  And we start our Bradley Childbirth class next Monday!  

My belly button is looking like a corn kernel in a shallow crater (I had an innie/outtie, so its basically disappearing).  And I get braxton-hicks contractions a lot if I: sit down for too long, stand up for too long,  don't drink enough water, or don't pee like every hour or 2.  

Yesterday, this conversation happened:  

       Michael:  how are you cleaning the bathtub?

        me:   uhh... I don't clean it.

      Michael:  ok, well, its gross now.

        me:  yeah, I used to clean it and it never got any better, so I stopped.  

        me:  how are you supposed to clean a bathtub?

      Michael:  with ajax or something.

So, that is pretty sad.  I do clean the bathrooms, I just hate cleaning the tub.  We have seperate bathrooms (kind of, I have my stuff in both though) so I never use that shower.  But, today I cleaned it, after I found some bathroom cleaner I didn't even know I had, and it looks 100% better.   And I made some liquid dish soap!  And found out there is a leak under our kitchen sink.

23 weeks

This is me today, at 23 weeks!  Is this picture kind of big? I think it is, and I clicked "small", oh well.  

Today I kind of rough-drafted my birth plan for fun and since we have to have the birth in a hospital birth center, I feel I need to be as prepared as possible.  I also plan to labor at home as long as possible.  Here are some highlights (lol)

• freedom to change positions, walk, go to the bathroom, do yoga, or labor in the tub as long as possible
• No IV & limited electronic fetal monitoring & vaginal exams
• freedom to be in any position, including off the bed, during 2nd stage of labor
• prefer to tear rather than have an episiotomy
• don't offer pain medication
• freedom to wear my own clothes (... maybe)
• no eye ointment, vit k, or hep b
• defer PKU test for 2 days to establish breastfeeding for more accurate results
• B/F immediately after birth
• no bottles, pacifiers, water or formula
• delay cord cutting for at least 2 hours or not at all (haven't decided about this 'lotus birth' thing)
• no bathing of baby... will rub in vernix
  
• Baby is to ALWAYS be accompanied by myself or Michael when not in my room.

We went on a tour of the hospital on Sunday, it was nice... everything is brand new (they just built the hospital in 2007).  The only thing really 'hospitalish' about the rooms are the beds (so narrow!), they had tv/dvd player/cd player in all the rooms & a jacuzzi tub in most of the bathrooms, and you can adjust the temp/lights.  I had a breakdown about a week ago over how I didn't want to go to the hospital to have the baby... but I think it will be ok.  Its better than the alternatives-  either drive an hour away to a free-standing birth center the last 2 months of pregnancy for prenatals, the last month being an appointment every week which michael wouldn't be able to take off work for, so I'd have to drive by myself!  Or pay a homebirth midwife out of pocket, like $2,000, which we can't justify (since our insurance pays 100% for the midwife in the hospital).  I'm just worried one thing will go wrong & then everything will crumble to the ground... maybe I shouldn't have such high expectations.  I should probably prepare myself for when something doesn't go the way I want it to...

I'm going to try to stop eating sugar... or at least I'm going to think about it and stop once the baby is born.  lol.  I just really don't want to be feeding my kids sugar!  And its so bad for you, but I just love it so much, its hard.  :-)  And I just bought 4 bags (1lb each) of sour patch kids from the store bec. they were on sale from christmas- 64cents a bag!!!  Who could resist such a deal?  lol

I love amazon so much!!  I have a baby registry on there, its fun.  Its amazing to me how stores convinces us of how much stuff we need for a baby, when actually you don't need very much at all!  Its pretty crazy how much stuff we have cut off our "things to buy for baby" list, like a crib and changing table... well thats actually all I can think of, but those are pretty major necessities to most people, and pretty expensive, and take up a lot of space!

Christmas Rant

When Michael and I were engaged the topic of holiday traditions came up... and he said that we didn't need to have a Christmas tree, which basically turned into this huge argument about me needing to have a Christmas tree and him saying that it was stupid and no one even knows why they put up a tree besides that its tradition.   Now I couldn't agree with him more.  My family always has a tree (and still puts it up, even if they wait until Christmas Eve to put it up & Valentines Day to take it down..).  What is the significance of the tree anyways?  

 We either buy a fake one & have to store it for 11 months a year or buy a fresh one every year.     We decorate it... who knows why?  

   We give presents to it... ok, ok, under it.  

    Put it in the most visible place of the house.  

     Sing songs to it... does anyone know "Oh, Christmas Tree"?

 Did you know the pilgrims weren't allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter, because it isn't commanded in scripture (man made tradition is not looked upon highly in scripture).  It wasn't even a national holiday until late 1800.  Sure, remembering Christ's birth is good intentioned, but why do we remember it with a Christmas tree & presents & santa clause (at least Catholics go to mass on Christmas day!).  I'm sick of commercials on tv talking about the economy and this year we need to make sure every child has a toy for Christmas...  it just rubs me the wrong way I guess.   I won't even start on the origins of Christmas (and Easter too!!).  I think some of my strong opinions on this come from my childhood- being raise in a Christian home, but on Christmas it really was just about the presents (and we got A LOT of presents!!!).  Everyone is out to make a profit... Christmas tree farms, ornaments, outdoor Christmas lights, stores, stores, stores...  if there is anything they convince the general population of needing to make Christmas better, they'll buy it.  Because who doesn't want the best?  And those that can't afford it, or can't afford a lot of gifts for their children are made to feel inadequate so then they get credit cards to pay for it!!  materialism is rampant.  

Even if you don't agree with me, just question why you do things... anything.  So that if you decide to continue doing them, at least if someone asks you 'why?', you will have an answer.   Like, why do we use shampoo and conditioner and face wash??  because we are told we need it, which we don't... my hair is looking great after 2 weeks (I think thats how longs its been...) washing every couple days with 1T b.s. & 1T apple cider vinegar.  And, my face looks better just rinsing with water than it did when I used proactiv!

Why do we go to the hospital to have babies?  Bec. we are told we our bodies need help & we need to be relieved of the "pain" (I put that in quotes bec. pain means something is wrong... labor is not wrong) because our bodies aren't able to do what they were made by God to do... hmmmm.  Now I understand sometimes (most of the time not) emergencies happen & things can go wrong so it is a good thing that we have such advanced medical science so that a baby can be born at 6 months gestation & still survive.  

Ok, I'm done, I got way off track I think... 

It's a GIRL

We are having a girl!!! ssssooooo excited. Here are some picture from the ultrasound... we even got to have a 3d one (and we will have another one at 28 weeks) because the office where the midwife is at has the machine! And its free!! yea!!! And we have no idea about names yet- we could only decide on boys names, so I'm excited to go name hunting again! And I'm excited to start getting some clothes!!!

I spend too much time on here... seriously. Especially today because I have to post pictures everywhere! Send emails to our families, facebook, myspace, blogger... its ridiculous. Then I get side tracked and start learning about something new and next thing I know its 3 hours later! Well, I'll just turn my ADD into something positive- today I learned about:
no 'poo-ing (http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html), elimination communication (or infant potty training), & http://www.thebabywearer.com

And, I started no poo! I didn't shampoo that often anyways- like 2x a week, because especially since I've been pregnant- it doesn't get oily. So, today I just washed with water & let it air dry (and when I air dry I don't brush it, bec. its wavy if I leave it alone)... I'll keep you updated on how it is going, but I'm hopeful.

19 weeks

Tomorrow is 19 weeks!!! Almost half way, I can hardly believe it. Its going by so fast. This picture was from 18 weeks though. Tomorrow we have an ultrasound and will hopefully be able to find out the sex! Oh my, I am so anxious to find out! I'm pretty sure I have been feeling the baby kick now, I think I have been feeling it for a little while but wasn't exactly sure what it was. And, actually I think we felt it on the outside of my belly yesterday. We were watching the Steelers game and throughout the whole second half I could put my hand on my stomach and feel movements (and the steelers won)... and this went on (not constantly, just every once in a while) until I went to sleep last night. I thought I wouldn't be able to feel anything on the outside for a long time, but I was reading online (where all intelligent people get their reliable information, lol) & apparently that is not the case (especially since I'm thinner). So, I am pretty sure thats what it was- Michael got to feel it once too, but he is unconvinced.

(I think I use parentheses too much)

Since I have my appointment tomorrow & weigh the same as I did at my last appointment (4 weeks ago)... I'm really going to have to pack on the pounds today & tomorrow, I don't know why I am having such a hard time gaining weight, now that I need to and am trying to! Thanksgiving night I was up all night throwing up, basically once an hour, & then the next day (which was my birthday) I couldn't eat anything or get off the couch. But then the next day I was back to normal. It was very strange, maybe it was some 24 hour flu thing. And I refuse to get a flu shot this year- my midwife suggested I get one and I asked her if it had thimerosal/mercury in it and she didn't think they made them with that anymore, but she checked and sure enough it did, but she was very understand of why I wouldn't want it. But I'm supposed to get a rhogam shot again here pretty soon (bec. apparently michael and I are the 13% of the population he has positive & I have negative RH), so I need to do some more research on that.

Today is my dad's 59th birthday! And he still has 2 teenage girls at home... ahh, they'll keep him young lol. happy birthday daddy!

15.5 weeks

This is 15 weeks & 5 days I think... yay for a little bump & still being able to wear normal clothes! Tomorrow is 16 weeks!

2nd Trimester

So, I'm 14 weeks pregnant now.  Yea!!!  I'm having trouble gaining weight and weigh about 2 lbs less than before I got pregnant and the scale doesn't budge.   Its frustrating.  And I'm not showing yet.  I have my next prenatal appointment next week.  And the next appointment after that, we will be able to find out the sex!!!  I really like my midwife, but I wish she did homebirths.  She only delivers at a hospital near our house, but she is very pro-natural birth & is the only place approved by military insurance (meaning we don't hardly have to pay anything)... all the midwives around here that do homebirths aren't covered by most insurance and cost a few thousand dollars.

Michael and I also found this really awesome church just a few miles off base.  Its a family-integrated church, so they don't have sunday school or childrens church or youth groups.  And they have a time during the service when the husbands lead their families in prayer & give them communion.  Then after they have a meal every sunday.  Everyone is super nice & friendly.   I think all the families homeschool.  Its so nice to be in fellowship with people of like-minds.   

Pregnant!!!

So- 2 people have commented on this.  So cool!!  How do people find this anyway? 

Michael and I found out on September 1st that we are going to have a baby!!!  So exciting!  I'm 9 weeks this week.  I can't even believe it!  My first real appointment is on October 23.  

I suspected I had low progesterone (because we use NFP & I'm aware of things) so I went to the doctor & she wouldn't test me!!!  Which really made me mad because I have 5 symptoms that are all associated with having low prog.  But she said even if I did- they can't do anything about it- which is NOT TRUE.  So, I started using this natural progesterone cream & got pregnant the first month I used it!  so haha Dr. lady...  But now I ran out & had to buy a different kind from wal-mart ("menopause formula"- ha) that says do not use if pregnant but I'm afraid if I quit using it abruptly I will have a miscarriage.  I can't imagine what affect more progesterone would have on a pregnancy... I think it would be good for it...?  

Anyways- at 6 weeks I had to go to the army hospital because I was having some spotting & the clinic here on base sends everyone to the hospital because they can't handle anything!  So Michael and I spent the ENTIRE day at the hospital- all they did was take blood & when I finally got to see a doctor he did an ultrasound, so that made it all worth it!  We saw the heartbeat & got to keep a picture :).  Everything was fine.  I started feeling nauseous at 6 weeks & it got really bad this past week.  And I had to go to the hospital again because the clinic here thought I might be dehydrated & I lost 3 lbs (I'm apparently underweight already) so they took more blood & 3 hours later I got a prescription for Zophran to help with the nausea.  I feel SO much better and I can eat now & get off the couch!  But, I have been watching seasons of Friends, because I still lay on the couch a lot because I get tired really easy.  I'm on season 7 now.  

Last weekend we went to Erin & Cameron's wedding- it was really beautiful!!!  I got to be Erin's matron of honor.   it was a lot of fun.  It makes me want to have another wedding lol.