3 posts tagged “newborn”
Well I'm 21 weeks along now. getting fat and uncomfortable. but I should know better than to claim that at a mere 5 months! if I'm uncomfortable now, I will be miserable by 8 months!
this baby kicks more at 5 months than the other two. it will be quiet... so very quiet for hours. and I will actually think "wow that baby is quite right now". and then it hits 9pm and kaboom! I'm being kicked every bit as hard as when I was 8 months along with my others.
Sean calls the baby "the twins". not b/c I'm having twins, but b/c it freaks me out. having twins isn't a bad thing, surely. but it's just too much of a good thing I think heh. I would love any amount of babies i get, but it's my sincere wish to only have 1 at a time. I told Sean if I had two, one is going to be completely his. heh. he can mother that one, b/c mothering one newborn at a time is hard enough work! ;)
I'm finally off of most of my meds but I still take dandelion root everyday. I tried weaning off but my stomach was NOT happy. I have reflux as all sorts of other nasty symptoms. ick. so back on that I went. but that's ok. it's really the unisom that bothers me. I mean it is a sleeping medicine, so it has that pesky side effects of making you sleeping. 3 times a day? and then I have the personality of a cardboard box, really. but now I just take it like every other night or so. this is the longest I've ever been on meds. I was off by 15 weeks with both of the other two.
it's hard for me to realize this baby will actually be born. with Eli and Eva everything was exciting and new and "wow I'm going to have a baby". but this time I'm busy with mothering the two I have that I tend to think of pregnancy as some kinda permanent condition, often not thinking I only have 4-ish months left until I'm a mother of 3. 3! now this is no biggie for someone who is already a mother of 3... but it's my first time, so excuse me while I adjust to it a bit. am I excited? yes! am I looking fwd to meeting this new one? yep! am I totally loving every single second of being a mom of two until this ne one comes? certainly am! I remember after havign Eva I realized i should have enjoyed being a mother of 1 while it was that way... but i was so excited about the new one coming it's all I could think of. now? I'm just taking it day by day.
my mom got the baby a ton of clothes from the thrift store. some brand new! boys and girls clothing b/c I don't know what I'm having. total score! I've been working on washing them and setting them aside. this baby wont have a nursery, atleast not at first, just a cradle and crib in our bedroom. and probably a dresser. so i don't have much set up there! I need a carseat, and dresser, and a few other things. ok actually a lot of things. I need a swing too (one baby gadget I don't want to live without!), a baby carrier (ergo, perhaps?) cloth diapers (probably prefolds and fuzzi bunz), spit up rags (cheapo gerber prefolds work well), crib for our room, more baby clothing, baby bunting/light coat/swaddling wrap, etc etc etc. is it wrong to have a baby shower with your 3rd child? tacky? well I'm hoping someone out there doesn't think so! b/c it's been 4.5 years since my last and we don't have a thing left from that except a 4.5 yr old girl =P
ok this is the part where i get a little panicky realizing i have a lot to do and aquire before this baby comes. lol. but luckily I don't have to worry about anything hospital related. no registrations or packing a duffle bag, or OB appointments. nope none of that. because we're having this one at home. ahhh what relief! takes a lot of your mind. worrying about making it to the hospital in time. and frankly riding in the car when you're contracting every 3 minutes is a nightmare! I'm looking fwd to labouring and birthing at home. no annoying nurses to hook me up to stupid monitors that go "PING". (sorry- that was a monty python reference there...) no IVs. no person telling me I'm labouring incorrectly (as if there is such a thing!) and nobody to bother me. love it! my eyes were opened when I started attending hospital births and homebirths. the difference!! the baby comes out so calm and attentive at home. healthy looking. like they just are like "hey mom and day. nice to meet ya". no one to poke them with a hep vax in their first hour of life. (I mean freaking, really... how is an hr old newborn going to contract Hep B!?) and no one to threaten you with cesareans when you "take too long". really? too long? how about I'll tell you when it's been too long and we'll take it from there? sheesh!
ok call me a little cynical. (or a lot). but I am so done with hospitals. would I go if something were medically wrong? sure I would! but pregnany and birthing are not medical conditions. and they aren't even illnesses. ;) Believe it or not, I'm pretty well educated on it. working as a doula, childbirth educator and instructer of a birthing circle for several years - I've managed to learn a thing or two about pregnancy, birth, and post partum periods. but you know what's help me learn the most valuable stuff? just being a human being. female. yep. just realizing God created me a woman and He's pretty smart. knowing that God is in control of every single life. the author of every book. that knowledge - as simple as it sounds - has more value to it then any degree I could put behind my name. go figure! that little simplistic knowledge could save us all lots of money and worry.
***disclaimer, I have nothing against people choosing hospital births! to each their own!! I stand behind anyone's educated decision. but my educated decisions is not a hospital. I've tried it twice and didn't like it either time. it got a fair shake from me. for what it's worth I also don't like the state of Ohio, but if you wanna live there, be my guest! more power to ya =P
****secondary disclaimer. if you're thinking "but don't you know
babies die at home!?" or "that is a very dangerous idea..." or "I knew
a lady and her baby turned our brain dead b/c she was born at home..."
or any other such thing. please, before you comment or jump to that
conclusion take into consideration three things:
2. perhaps you should look at the hospital vs. homebirth infant and maternal mortality rates before jumping to the conclusion that before hospitals, lots of babies and mothers died at home. you might be very surprised to see what you find! if you look further into the statistics/rates of babies born at hospital contracting diseases, RSV and other deadly illnesses in their first few days of life vs ones born at home you might be in shock.
3. birth is a spiritual event.
If you love my new banner even half as much as I do... feel free to go give the compliments to my husband who so kindly made it for me. Why yes it is convient to have a husband who's a pro with photoshop!
but that's enough bragging on my guy for now!
In doula news, I was able to witness the birth of another beautiful baby 2 days ago. Now you may be asking "Surely after seeing baby after baby born, it must become less exciting for you, right Laura?" nope. I love it more and more. it's a treat every time. a new baby. a new face. new possibilities. birth never ever gets old. it's always amazing and beautiful.
This birth was a long one for mom. She laboured for 32 hrs but was able to push the baby out in only two. she was very proud of herself as doctors did try to not-so-gently persuade her into interventions every step of the way. But she made her own decisions and at the end she was please with how it all went down. Breastfeeding was a bit of a rough start as baby was recovering a bit from a rude awakening... she was in a sac very very full of meconium and required some assistance with clearing out so she could really start breathing. But the baby girl was very responsive once her mom got a hold of her - she totally changed her expression and took in the sight of her mother. when Dad spoke she looked at him as if to say "so that's what you look like! nice to meet you". she got very serious calm look on her face as she clearly recognized them both. When I held her for a minute while mom got herself comfortable the baby gave me quite a look of total annoyance. she clearly did not recognize me and was anxious to get back into her mother's arms.
it things like these that are amaze me. Many professionals will tell you that newborn baby's don't know anything. that they are primal and unlearned. and that they don't really know who their parents are any more than a houseplant... but I'm telling you it simply is not true. Babies are unbelievably intuitive and smart. they know so much more than we accredit them. Babies are purely amazing individuals!
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a little update on the National Pork Board vs the Lactivist for those interested
as suggested by my husband, I have started a vox account. I'm a die hard xanga fan... but in the interest of keeping business a bit seperate, I gave in! and so far so good. Vox is a totally different feel - rather edgy.
a bit about me - I am a labour and birth doula in Maryland. I have 2 kids who I unschool. I'm into green living, local foods, nourishing traditions (traditional foods) and general other boring housewifey stuff, and of course - a "birth junkie".
In the near future I hope to make this a blog for all things birth related - including pregnancy, labour, birth and newborn care.
