I have been blessed many times. These beads symbolize the many blessings given to me by dear friends as I complete this journey of pregnancy on my way to a new phase of woman/motherhood.
Thank you!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wearing baby
I've been a ring-sling mama for almost eight years. I started wearing M in a Maya Wrap when she was five months old. Both of my kids have spent as much time in a sling as a stroller (we are equipment hogs). I've even become a distributor for several sling companies, so that I could pay for my own slings through the small profit made by selling them when someone notices the ones I have worn.
When E was a baby, there were ring slings, rebozos and Moby wraps. Now with babe #3 soon to appear, I have been introduced to the myriad of baby slings, wraps, carriers and packs. I am still too intimidated by Babywearer.com to delve into that abyss, but I have peeked over the edge and have seen where it could lead me... and where it has led my friend, JB (shout out to your collection!).
So I have pulled together a little bit of a collection myself--from remnant inventory, requests from family traveling abroad, gifts from friends and one recent purchase.
Here's what I have so far:
My original, first Maya Wrap (in #15 blue chambray)
A FancyBabySling lavender/gold Asian-print ring sling (I think this company is no longer in business)
A Taylormade wine silk ring sling
A Taylormade batik royal blue ring sling
A homemade Mei Tai, have no idea who made it.
A Placid Baby Mei Tai
A Sleepy Wrap in light blue
Two rainbow-on-black rebozos from a street vendor in Guerrero, Mexico
A blue and aqua rebozo from a street vendor in Guatemala.
What I don't have links to here, I will have to take pictures of or show you in person. You'll probably see them in person. Don't hold your breath for me to post pics.
In closing, I am sharing these pictures I took from our vacation to Southern California last summer. We spent the day at Venice Beach, and I was very excited to spot a Latin American family fishing in the jetty, with the mom carrying the youngest on her back. To preserve her privacy, I didn't take pictures of her face (well, actually, she wouldn't turn around at the moment I was snapping these), but I did see that the rebozo she was wearing was knotted in the front near her right shoulder. Notice that the baby is not wearing shoes--he didn't need to, as he was not put down the entire time that I was watching them (a good hour or so we were in the same vicinity).
(NB: I don't plan on wearing my baby in quite that position.)
When E was a baby, there were ring slings, rebozos and Moby wraps. Now with babe #3 soon to appear, I have been introduced to the myriad of baby slings, wraps, carriers and packs. I am still too intimidated by Babywearer.com to delve into that abyss, but I have peeked over the edge and have seen where it could lead me... and where it has led my friend, JB (shout out to your collection!).
So I have pulled together a little bit of a collection myself--from remnant inventory, requests from family traveling abroad, gifts from friends and one recent purchase.
Here's what I have so far:
My original, first Maya Wrap (in #15 blue chambray)
A FancyBabySling lavender/gold Asian-print ring sling (I think this company is no longer in business)
A Taylormade wine silk ring sling
A Taylormade batik royal blue ring sling
A homemade Mei Tai, have no idea who made it.
A Placid Baby Mei Tai
A Sleepy Wrap in light blue
Two rainbow-on-black rebozos from a street vendor in Guerrero, Mexico
A blue and aqua rebozo from a street vendor in Guatemala.
What I don't have links to here, I will have to take pictures of or show you in person. You'll probably see them in person. Don't hold your breath for me to post pics.
In closing, I am sharing these pictures I took from our vacation to Southern California last summer. We spent the day at Venice Beach, and I was very excited to spot a Latin American family fishing in the jetty, with the mom carrying the youngest on her back. To preserve her privacy, I didn't take pictures of her face (well, actually, she wouldn't turn around at the moment I was snapping these), but I did see that the rebozo she was wearing was knotted in the front near her right shoulder. Notice that the baby is not wearing shoes--he didn't need to, as he was not put down the entire time that I was watching them (a good hour or so we were in the same vicinity).
(NB: I don't plan on wearing my baby in quite that position.)
My little doulas...
They got really upset last night when they had to go to bed without helping me in the birth tub. Doulamadre was here to give me a pampering session and it was getting late. I was in the tub, let them do some massage and water splashing, but they both cried when they got put to bed before helping me get out. I felt so bad. Tonight, I will get in and relax earlier!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My little doulas
My girls are natural doulas. The last two evenings, while I was relaxing in the rental birth tub with the jets on, they have attended me every second. They were scooping water over my back, rubbing my shoulders, stroking my hair, kissing me, suggesting that I flip over, adjusting the towel I was leaning on, checking the thermostat every 10 seconds, and basically loving me to death in that tub.
They cannot wait for the big day.
I love them so much.
They cannot wait for the big day.
I love them so much.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The $90 Dell Laptop
Hooray for extended warranties!
Our Dell laptop freaked out and died a couple weeks ago. After a tech replaced much of the internal parts, and after I spent about 12 cumulative hours on the phone with the help desk, they decided it will be better to send us a whole new laptop instead of fussing with more parts expense and tech hours. Oh, and I told the tech today that I'm due to give birth any day and would like to get this taken care of before then. He commented that his wife is expecting their second in July, so he must have felt empathetic towards me and talked his boss into the replacement option... I didn't realize how well that would work! I just thought that the birth card would just get me a tech sent out here to finish diagnosing the problem. Instead, it got me a brand-new laptop!
I highly recommend buying your next computer from Dell, with the extended warranty, and wait until you're due to give birth for it to break.
I swear, I didn't plan it this way!
Our Dell laptop freaked out and died a couple weeks ago. After a tech replaced much of the internal parts, and after I spent about 12 cumulative hours on the phone with the help desk, they decided it will be better to send us a whole new laptop instead of fussing with more parts expense and tech hours. Oh, and I told the tech today that I'm due to give birth any day and would like to get this taken care of before then. He commented that his wife is expecting their second in July, so he must have felt empathetic towards me and talked his boss into the replacement option... I didn't realize how well that would work! I just thought that the birth card would just get me a tech sent out here to finish diagnosing the problem. Instead, it got me a brand-new laptop!
I highly recommend buying your next computer from Dell, with the extended warranty, and wait until you're due to give birth for it to break.
I swear, I didn't plan it this way!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
38 weeks
We are ready.
March is almost over. All the events I was waiting for have passed. The checklist is pretty much done or discarded. The kitchen is full of food. Hubby's grandma is here to stay through the end of April, helping out with whatever is needed. The birth tub was delivered, filled and turned on to heat up today. My supplies are ready. Everyone has their instructions. My sister has directions to get here from California. My good friend H had her baby and now I have permission to go ahead (she was so worried that I would go first even though she was due earlier... I desperately didn't want to disappoint her!). I've been blessed many times with ceremonies and beads. I got my henna and belly cast. We took family and maternity portraits. All of these things meant so much to me that I almost couldn't breathe until each one was checked off. Check. Check. Check.
Now it's time to wait. Relax. Practice Optimal Fetal Positioning (babe is hanging out OT or OP most of the time now). Tomorrow, start soaking in the tub to enjoy it. Think about maybe making some more freezer meals, if I feel compelled. Try to get the laptop fixed. Cruise through the daily stuff, kids' school and activities. No more events to attend, parties to plan, promises to fret over. Just time to chill and enjoy our last few days as a family of four.
In the last week I gained three pounds. My midwives were visibly pleased (me too!). BP still low and normal. Baby is guesstimated around 7 pounds. Lots of movement and forward kicks, with a big ol' foot often sticking out next to my belly button. More mucous. More contractions some days, fewer others. Sleeping is spotty. Naps are coveted. Ankles are swelling in the evenings. Heartburn is here. It all adds up to being near the end.
Tomorrow, chiro. Grocery shopping. A long soak. The last day of March.
I feel good. I am ready.
March is almost over. All the events I was waiting for have passed. The checklist is pretty much done or discarded. The kitchen is full of food. Hubby's grandma is here to stay through the end of April, helping out with whatever is needed. The birth tub was delivered, filled and turned on to heat up today. My supplies are ready. Everyone has their instructions. My sister has directions to get here from California. My good friend H had her baby and now I have permission to go ahead (she was so worried that I would go first even though she was due earlier... I desperately didn't want to disappoint her!). I've been blessed many times with ceremonies and beads. I got my henna and belly cast. We took family and maternity portraits. All of these things meant so much to me that I almost couldn't breathe until each one was checked off. Check. Check. Check.
Now it's time to wait. Relax. Practice Optimal Fetal Positioning (babe is hanging out OT or OP most of the time now). Tomorrow, start soaking in the tub to enjoy it. Think about maybe making some more freezer meals, if I feel compelled. Try to get the laptop fixed. Cruise through the daily stuff, kids' school and activities. No more events to attend, parties to plan, promises to fret over. Just time to chill and enjoy our last few days as a family of four.
In the last week I gained three pounds. My midwives were visibly pleased (me too!). BP still low and normal. Baby is guesstimated around 7 pounds. Lots of movement and forward kicks, with a big ol' foot often sticking out next to my belly button. More mucous. More contractions some days, fewer others. Sleeping is spotty. Naps are coveted. Ankles are swelling in the evenings. Heartburn is here. It all adds up to being near the end.
Tomorrow, chiro. Grocery shopping. A long soak. The last day of March.
I feel good. I am ready.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
My non-accent accent
I found this on a friend's blog, thought I would share.
I'm not surprised by the result, considering that I *am* from SoCal (though not a surfer, but my niece is). I'm mostly interested to see the results my friends get, since many of us in Central Arizona are from all over the country.
Let me know if you check it out!
I'm not surprised by the result, considering that I *am* from SoCal (though not a surfer, but my niece is). I'm mostly interested to see the results my friends get, since many of us in Central Arizona are from all over the country.
Let me know if you check it out!
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta. | |
| The Midland | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| The Inland North | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The South | |
| The Northeast | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Sunday, March 23, 2008
37 Weeks
This week is brought to you by the letters "B" and "H" -- When you think of B&H, think of "Braxton-Hicks."
My uterus is up to something. Taking it's time. But, something is goin' on.
I've been having interesting contractions for a few days now. The Braxton-Hicks are not new, I've been experiencing those since 19 weeks. The new and interesting ones make me hold my breath for a moment--they don't hurt, but they demand attention and make everything inside scooch down and push up at the same time. Then I remember to not hold my breath and I just breathe slowly while waiting for the whole thing to relax itself and be over. Interesting. A little tiring too. I feel lame, too, like "oh, no big deal, just keep going, why are you stopping, why are you going so slow, you're acting like you're in labor already, silly." (Ok, so explain the gobs of mucous, eh?)
It's too early. We/me/baby are not ready yet. But five of these an hour sure make it seem like three weeks to my due date is a realllllllly long time. (I'm not counting/timing these contrax... that's an estimate, that's what it feels like at the most frequent.)
Aside from that, I am feeling really good. The pain and discomfort in my back from the accident is gone. The congestion from the head/chest cold is almost gone. I have enough energy to get through the day--tomorrow will be a test of that, with the girls going back to school after two weeks of spring break. The weather is GORGEOUS and the citrus is blooming. My yard is full of the fragrance of grapefruit blossoms and the windows are open in the house all day. Spring is a beautiful time to birth a baby.
Oh yeah. Birth a baby.
It comes out. I am starting to remember how that feels.
Ah, back to thinking about spring and blossoms...
My uterus is up to something. Taking it's time. But, something is goin' on.
I've been having interesting contractions for a few days now. The Braxton-Hicks are not new, I've been experiencing those since 19 weeks. The new and interesting ones make me hold my breath for a moment--they don't hurt, but they demand attention and make everything inside scooch down and push up at the same time. Then I remember to not hold my breath and I just breathe slowly while waiting for the whole thing to relax itself and be over. Interesting. A little tiring too. I feel lame, too, like "oh, no big deal, just keep going, why are you stopping, why are you going so slow, you're acting like you're in labor already, silly." (Ok, so explain the gobs of mucous, eh?)
It's too early. We/me/baby are not ready yet. But five of these an hour sure make it seem like three weeks to my due date is a realllllllly long time. (I'm not counting/timing these contrax... that's an estimate, that's what it feels like at the most frequent.)
Aside from that, I am feeling really good. The pain and discomfort in my back from the accident is gone. The congestion from the head/chest cold is almost gone. I have enough energy to get through the day--tomorrow will be a test of that, with the girls going back to school after two weeks of spring break. The weather is GORGEOUS and the citrus is blooming. My yard is full of the fragrance of grapefruit blossoms and the windows are open in the house all day. Spring is a beautiful time to birth a baby.
Oh yeah. Birth a baby.
It comes out. I am starting to remember how that feels.
Ah, back to thinking about spring and blossoms...
Check. Check. Check.
An update on the To-Do List:
Four birthday parties. (Three down, one to go.)
School carnival.
Donation committee. (I've been flaking this one. Oh well.)
Dentist appointment. (Survived yet another one.)
Haircuts.
School. (Daily)
Catechism. (Weekly)
Gymnastics. (Weekly)
Dance. (Weekly)
Swim lessons. (Weekly)
Field trips. (I don't have to attend the next one.)
Chiropractor. (Weekly)
Prenatals. (Weekly)
Board meetings. (To be rescheduled, I guess?)
Birth Circle. (This Thursday.)
Easter. (It was nice and low-key.)
Jury duty. (Didn't have to report, woo hoo!)
Cook & freeze meals. (Still need to do this.)
Sew burp cloths, changing pad covers, receiving blankets. (Forget it, we have been given what we need.)
Find and wash missing newborn diapers, baby sling, rebozos. (DONE!)
Scrub shower and replace curtain. (DONE!)
Wash new sheets. (DONE!)
Put together birth supplies basket. (DONE!)
Assemble bassinette. (DONE!)
Clean house. (Uhhhhh, this is never ever finished... I am almost beyond caring now.)
Wow, it feels so nice to be almost done with March...
Donation committee. (I've been flaking this one. Oh well.)
School. (Daily)
Catechism. (Weekly)
Gymnastics. (Weekly)
Dance. (Weekly)
Swim lessons. (Weekly)
Chiropractor. (Weekly)
Prenatals. (Weekly)
Board meetings. (To be rescheduled, I guess?)
Birth Circle. (This Thursday.)
Cook & freeze meals. (Still need to do this.)
Clean house. (Uhhhhh, this is never ever finished... I am almost beyond caring now.)
Wow, it feels so nice to be almost done with March...
Friday, March 14, 2008
11
This is not a gripe, complaint, brag or boast. It's just a fact that I am trying to process.
For the first time in my life, I am concerned with not gaining weight. I gained healthy, normal amounts with both of my kids--26 and 24 pounds, respectively. Starting this pregnancy at the weight I ended the last one (having actively worked off then passively put back on the same stubborn 30), I expected to tip over 200 for the first time in my life. No big deal, just my expectation.
I never expected to be at 36 weeks with only 11 extra pounds on my body. Actually, on my belly. It doesn't seem to have landed anywhere else. Did my metabolism magically speed up when I got pregnant at 35? Or is this baby growing so voraciously that it is sucking all the nutrition out of everything that enters my mouth?
I think about all those women in the 1950s that were told to keep their weight gain to no more than 15 pounds. They did that by smoking and drinking a glass of wine every night. At least I'm not doing that. Seriously, not even the wine.
The baby is growing fine, my midwives aren't worried, so I guess I shouldn't be either. But hey, I'm pregnant. I'm supposed to worry and obsess and be a loony basket-case, right? No?
Oh. Okay. I think I'll go relax with a glass of soy milk and a doughnut.
For the first time in my life, I am concerned with not gaining weight. I gained healthy, normal amounts with both of my kids--26 and 24 pounds, respectively. Starting this pregnancy at the weight I ended the last one (having actively worked off then passively put back on the same stubborn 30), I expected to tip over 200 for the first time in my life. No big deal, just my expectation.
I never expected to be at 36 weeks with only 11 extra pounds on my body. Actually, on my belly. It doesn't seem to have landed anywhere else. Did my metabolism magically speed up when I got pregnant at 35? Or is this baby growing so voraciously that it is sucking all the nutrition out of everything that enters my mouth?
I think about all those women in the 1950s that were told to keep their weight gain to no more than 15 pounds. They did that by smoking and drinking a glass of wine every night. At least I'm not doing that. Seriously, not even the wine.
The baby is growing fine, my midwives aren't worried, so I guess I shouldn't be either. But hey, I'm pregnant. I'm supposed to worry and obsess and be a loony basket-case, right? No?
Oh. Okay. I think I'll go relax with a glass of soy milk and a doughnut.
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