Sleepy Time

We've been co-sleeping since M was born. I read a book on it and we follow all the safety guidelines, but even I was amazed by my natural instinct to sleep perfectly still. I used to roll around and flop side to side, but now I wake up in exactly the same position I fell asleep in. It's rather uncomfortable at times, but worth it. She sleeps awesome. When she was a newborn, we'd get her to sleep and then bring her to bed with us and she would sleep through the whole night except for dream feedings. Now she goes down between 7-8pm and is out for the night, but she still wakes a few times to nurse.
She's in the most fabulous mood when she first wakes up in the morning. We have sleepy "conversations" where she tells us about her dreams and gives us lots of goofy grins. This morning, she woke up and scooted herself halfway across the bed from me over to Kevin before we were even fully alert. Kevin woke up to a wide-eyed baby in his face and she babbled a greeting as soon as he opened his eyes. He thinks we can officially call it crawling; it's really more of a scoot, but it won't be long now. I love the time we spend with her this way and I hate to think of what we would have missed if she'd been sitting awake alone in a crib in a different room (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Good Stuff.

A promised post of a topic unrelated to baby. I give you two modern day conveniences I cannot live without. First, 3M Purple Scrubby Sponges™. I love them. They get grime off dishes in no time and then you just hold it under the faucet and it literally slides right off. No more sticky goo imbedded in sponges. Second, Citrus Magic. I've tried both Orange and Lime, they both work equally awesome. One little squirt and the bathroom is safe from the likes of Ace Ventura. Enjoy!

She is.

Okay, so I'm not pregnant anymore obviously. We are now plus one healthy girl. I wish I'd had a chance to post more in the last few months, but looking back, they are kind of a blur. Not surprising since, as it turns out, caring for offspring is unbelievably time consuming. Even more so when you don't let them cry alone in a dark room - which I don't. If I did, I might have more spare time and although that would be swell, it wouldn't be worth it. She was quite fussy for the first two and a half months and it was rough, but she has been doing much better lately. I think it's funny how everyone asks if she's sleeping through the night. With the exception of feedings (and those don't count anyway right?), she has slept through the night from day one. Such a blessing. Although, I'm sure it has everything to do with the fact that we co-sleep (more about that later).

I don't plan to post a birth story here because frankly, it was traumatic. I am still processing parts of it these days and trying to accept the experience as it was. Though, I can at least remember the moment of her birth as an amazing experience and focus on that one snapshot in my mind. The postpartum experience has been pretty awful. I am still dealing with some issues that require lots of trips to various doctors that haven't, yet, really helped much.

We are still in awe of her everyday. She is so beautiful and we can't wait to get to know her personality. I will try to keep updating more regularly, but for now I have to keep it short. There's a sleeping baby in the next room and she's about to wake up for a snack. :)

Still Pregnant...

I had my first non-stress test (NST) and a follow-up ultrasound to check for size today.

The NST was really interesting! She was moving a little bit at the beginning of it, but not enough (probably dozing) so they gave me a glass of cold water and she really got moving so I passed. The coolest part was the contraction monitor. After a few minutes of monitoring, the nurse asked me if I was feeling any tightening sensation. I said yes and she told me it was a little contraction. Holy crap! I thought it was the baby pushing up against my stomach. I'd been having this 'feeling' on and off for weeks now and I had no idea. The entire time I thought it was just the baby stretching and rolling about. I kinda felt like a dork for not realizing it sooner. For the duration of the test, they were very regular, but obviously mild since they didn't hurt at all. They are real contractions, but are not true labor. They continued all the rest of today and are still going even now. So at least now I know that 'something' is happening and I will recognize them when they become stronger.

The ultrasound also went really well. Her head is still down, but I forgot to ask if she was anterior or posterior. The amniotic fluid level was great and her weight was estimated at between 8 and 8 and a half pounds. With the margin of error and inaccuracy of those things, I'd say she's doing just perfect. So, no induction for me yet. Yay! I have to get another NST on Saturday and another one on Tuesday. If I still haven't gone into labor by then, we're going to have the induction discussion.

Past the Due Date

My estimated due date was November 9th and I'm still pregnant. I've had cramps, contractions, and weird little spasms, but nothing substantial. Every time I feel a new sensation, I get really excited, but then they subside and I have to remind myself that the baby can't stay in there forever. I'll post when something interesting happens..like ya know, a baby comes or something.

Okay, I'm ready

At my appointment last week, my OB, who is a woman by the way, was hinting around at an induction even though she knows I am against them. She threw in some subtle scare tactics for good measure and got me all confuzzled during the week. It really got on my nerves so I decided to bring in Kevin with me this week as a backup for arguments.

So, yesterday, I show up for my appointment, Kevin in tow. When my Dr. gets in the room, I'm convinced she's been taken over by aliens for there is no mention of induction or complications or anything. In fact, the first words out of her mouth were what she would do if I went overdue by a week and that was simply a non-stress test and ultrasound to check for growth at 41 weeks. Last week, she had me convinced that my baby might be getting too large to go full term and that she'd need to scan for growth this week. The only difference between last week and this one was a silent man in the corner nodding his head at the appropriate times. He never said a word and apparently didn't have to. I think it was the quickest appointment I've had since I started going to her. I kept hearing her say things like, "Everything looks great! Hang in there!'" as we're getting herded out the door. Hang in there?! !@#&#@! Kevin will be making an appearance at every appointment from now on. I could go on about what this says about the medical community and feminism and blah blah blah, but pbblllt. I'm too tired and I don't really care. (Okay, to be fair, I'll mention here that it was Halloween after all and they were going to close early, but that was still hours away yet.)

It's November 1st and I didn't have an October baby. Darn! Maybe if I had let them induce me? ha! I'm getting really tired and cranky so now it's official...I'm ready. I'm sure I can handle the pain, the ick-factors, and the sleep deprivation so bring it on! I still don't want an induction, but I can understand a little more now why most women don't resist them. They imagine having their little baby to put in the cute clothes and just go with it. Can't really blame them for that. I have a bunch of boring medical reasons for not scheduling the birth, but I have some non-medical ones too. I think it's exciting not knowing when or where my labor will start, but I'm ready. Really. I am. *looks at clock*

No News is Good News

As predicted, September came and went relatively quickly. My nice, round, pregnancy belly finally arrived sometime in the last month. Kevin noted the other day that it appears in doorways and around corners before I do. It's not really enormous though so it's not too uncomfortable. Bending over isn't as easy as it used to be, but I'm bothered more by other things. In fact, I think I'll miss it when it's gone.

The classes went well. Kevin is now prepared to be a labor coach and giver of first aid and CPR. I'm prepared to um...breastfeed. The labor part for me is a little bit more tricky. So long as I manage to escape an induction, I'm not planning to take any narcotics or get an epidural so my outlook on the whole thing is that I'm going to get through it one contraction at a time. I'll let you know how that turns out.

I have a little less than 4 weeks remaining until the estimated due date of November 9th. The ultrasound last month was excellent. The baby looked great and she was measuring right on time. I'm officially in the safe zone where if I went into labor right now, they wouldn't try to stop it because the baby should be ready. The keyword there is baby. We are supposed to be ready too, but I'm not sure anyone is ever completely ready. Maybe after I finish washing and folding all my nifty cloth diapers. Or after I finish packing my hospital bag(s). When there are a few frozen meals in the freezer so we don't have to cook much when we get home from the hospital? In any case, there's plenty left for us to do.