Not in Labor Yet

I'm about to post some oh so flattering pics of myself. Please keep in mind that I am 800 years pregnant and overdue! Ha! After meeting with Julie yesterday, she graciously let me borrow her birthing ball to sit on and roll around on to get baby boy in position. M thought this was pretty cool, so she got out her beach ball and did the same. It was funny and happened more than once today.


Tonight I've been taking it easy and having some contractions. Nothing new mind you except that I haven't really had any contractions to speak of lately, so at least they are back. I intend on going with that and trying to coax them into actual real labor.

That would be primo wouldn't it seeing as my mom just went back out of town today. That would be pretty right on for the way things happen in my family! Who knows. I certainly am not getting my hopes up. Still, I made another of my fave chocolate cakes today. I asked the doula if eating my fave chocolate cake would make my body release oxytocin (if you don't know about this hormone, you'll need to look it up so I don't have to explain it and possibly get some weird lurkers...). She said chocolate cake=oxytocin! So sweet! haha...



Great day. M and her dad played in the "pool" on the porch and managed to make it into a pseudo bathtime. It was fun to watch and take pics. We shall see what tonight holds...

Scattegories

SCATTERGORIES - it's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into a new email. When you have answered all the SCATTERGORIES, send it on to friends but DON'T FORGET to return it to the person who sent it to you.
Use the first letter of your first name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things - nothing made up. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same first initial - which by the way is hard if you already have read their answers! You cannot use your own name for the boy/girl names.

1. What is your first name: Gini
2. A 4 letter word: good
3. A vehicle: galant

4. A city: greenville

5. A boy's name: George

6. A girl's name: Gail

7. A Drink: GC Cola (sold at ALDI)

8. An occupation: Golfer
9. Something you wear: Gown
10. A celebrity: Gwyneth Paltrow
11. A food: Goolash
12. Something found in a bathroom: gel
13. Reason for being late: got tied up

14. Something you shout: Go! Go! Go!
15. An animal: gorilla

16. A body part: gall bladder
17. Word to describe yourself: goofy
Good luck to the next person!

"...with my God I can scale a wall" 2 Samuel 22:30 (NIV)

Is this getting old?

I'm o.k. really. A little bored maybe cause I didn't plan to be pregnant at this point, but I'm not miserable, or anxious really, or desperate. After being with one of the doulas today I have a great peace. She was so positive and encouraging. Thanks Jules.

I did stair walking...didn't really know that it was supposed to be particularly helpful, but it makes sense. I had steak n shake for lunch with the family (minus hubs who had to be at work). That was good, but man do they skimp on the meat! But I can't complain cause the shake was amazing.

One thing I enjoy about being OH SO pregnant is the stares, laughs, head turns...Seriously. People are amazed or something...I don't know. But I find it somewhat amusing and kind of cool.

I ate dominoes pizza tonight (seriously) because I'll try anything of course...and in talking today it was brought up that there are supposedly prosteglandins in the cheese that dominoes pizza uses, so there was some type of study done about women who go into labor and some type of correlation to dominoes pizza! Ha! why not! so I had that for supper. The doula let me borrow a birthing ball (big exercise ball) for trying to get this boy in place and ready. That'll be pretty cool too.

I did do something that was kind of interesting. I took M swimming at the big pool tonight after sup. I'm not a water person, so this was a deal for me...not to mention that someone as pregnant as I am should NEVER don a big red one piece maternity bathing suit! Ha! Talk about feeling sexy! I sexy walked to the doorway and did my sexiest pose leaning up against the frame and told J "I bet you've never wanted me more!" To which he replied that I looked like a very large cherry! That was funny. Needless to say I wore my oversized shirt and shorts the entire time.

But I'm wondering if it was actually a good idea or not? It did certainly feel different taking a good bit of the weight off of me, and boy when I got out could I feel the heaviness! But seems like baby boy may have moved up a bit in the process of floating around. That certainly wouldn't be the goal. Well, so I cleaned up and did a little bit of stairs at mom's house before I came home again.

Still no more news than that. I suppose he'll come when he is ready. I'll do my part as best I can, but the rest is up to him. And so we wait...

Cream of Whatever Soup

Since I'm not laboring...I thought I'd post about something I meant to post about a while ago.

2 times of late, I have gotten into the middle of cooking something and found that I had run out of cream of mushroom/chicken soup. Now, really I can't stand Cream of Chicken soup. Personal distaste for it. But I use cream of mushroom alot. I usually just keep a bunch on hand, but occasionally I run out and forget to put it on the list.

Well, I decided to see if I could do a substitute and this is what I found.

Cream of whatever Soup
2T butter
2 T canola oil
1/4 c flour
1/4 t salt
add in whatever you are going for (I use mushrooms, chopped)
10 ounces of milk (1 1/4cups)

Heat the butter and oil till it all melts. Add flour and salt. Stir to make roux. Add mushrooms, cook for at least 4 minutes (stirring). Add milk and stir until thick.

I used this again tonight in my Broccoli Rice/chicken casserole.

In making sup, I knew that I had leftover chicken that needed to be used or it'd be wasted. I had broccoli that needed cooking so that it didn't go bad. i had a whole thing of generic ALDI "velveeta" which was just sitting there in my cabinet with no purpose for its future. And rice is something we generally keep stocked. So that is how we came up with dinner. Come to find out in the middle of prepping, we were out of Cream of mushroom soup again...so I made the above recipe.

One of the perks here is that the sodium level is nill and there are no MSG's as opposed to most canned soups. It did take a bit longer, but not bad all in all.

Baby Boy's Room while we wait...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

If you're wondering...

"He" is not here yet. There are signs that he is coming soon. Lost the plug (sorry to those of you who could care less or whatever), so the time is drawing near. I feel VERY tired and emotional. I appreciate all the calls and prayers. Sorry if I haven't called or answered my phone, I'm a bit hormonal right now. I just wanted you all to know that it means a lot to me even when I don't answer.

You know when you go overdue the phone seems to go overdue and you have to keep telling the same news (news that you're not too thrilled with anyway) over and over again. So, I'm going to go and rest. Could be news tomorrow...or not...only God knows.

I'll keep you posted. And yes, as soon as I actually know I'm in labor, I'll sit down and this computer and let you know that "he" is on his way, only I'll use his real name! Fun times ahead.

Due Date Came and Went

Well, still no boy...

I had acupuncture yesterday, but that was interesting and hasn't sent me quickly into labor. I can not say that it wasn't effective. At my visit today, I had the midwife do an exam and she said that I was "ripe" and baby boy's head was low...pushing a station 1. So, it could be anytime, but that doesn't mean much. I'm doing what I can to speed things along.

I've been drinking red raspberry leaf tea, taking some evening primrose capsules with all my other vitamins, and doing acupressure on all the labor inducing points. Walking doesn't seem to help so far, but there are a few other things to make this happen, so, we'll see.

Ah acupuncture. I told J, my hubs, that I'd try almost anything once, and so I did. I didn't really like it. I don't like needles...I'm not super phobic, but they make me uncomfortable. I chose not to look but it was still a mind over matter game in order for me to "relax." It did hurt actually when she would basically thump each needle in place and then twist. Once the needles were there you really didn't feel them, only a warmth or something that my body interpreted as increased blood flow to the area where the needles were. But then she came and "tweaked" or twisted the needles again. I don't believe in all that Chi business either, but I'm sure there is some value in the whole increase of circulation to problematic areas...I don't think I'll do it again. I did really like the lady though.

And that was that. So now I'm waiting. I'll keep you posted.

Still Going

Had Braxton Hicks ALL DAY yesterday! And I mean all day...and yet nothing. Oh so fun. Well, I have an accupuncture appt. set for tomorrow at 9:30a.m. Now, I don't know how I feel about this all, but I figure it's worth a try. I have a cousin who gave it a try and was in labor within 12 hours or so.

Apparently, if you are ready, then your body is to go into labor within 48hrs. So, we shall see and I'll keep you posted for sure.

I've never done this type of thing before, but after talking to Cousin Suzanne, she says if it works great, if it doesn't I'll just feel like I went to the spa! I'm for that!

Wading through Immunizations

I contacted my fave pediatrician, Dr Hales, in New Orleans for his latest and greatest Shot Record. This is what he's chosing to do now.

2 months--Pc, Comvax (Hep B/Hib)
3 months--DPTa, IVP (polio)
4 months--same as 2 months
5 months--same as 3 months
6 months--Pc
7 months--DPTa
12 months--Pc, PPD (that's just the TB test), Comvax
15 months--Varicella (chicken pox), DPTa
18 months--MMR, IVP

Now I'm not sure why he does or doesn't do Rotavirus, but I think I'm going to call and check into that and the MMR. I think it has to do with the fact that Rotavirus is so common and that kids get over it fairly easily. And how does he get by with postponing it to 18months when the AAP recommends it be done no later than 15 months? Personally I'm thrilled that he delays the MMR as it is in combined form.

Today, I talked to my midwife at Blessed Births about all this immunization stuff. She is also the mother of 7 and a grandmother and she said after much prayer and research they chose not to do any immunizations, but that that is indeed a personal choice. I told her that I was interested in doing immunizations as they are required, but not necessarily in that order and such. Breaking them up so as not to overload the infants system. She said that was smart. She also said that you do have a choice and you can pick and chose, you just have to have a pediatrician that will work with you. DHEC is not necessarily the most accomodating in this respect. So, I got some names.

I also got the heads up from Jill T. in my mom to mom group that Upstatemoms.com has a whole story on this with suggestions for peds. in this area. It should give a starting point if you are looking to find someone that can work with you on an alternate vaccine schedule.

Here are the names and such that my midwife suggested: The only heads up she gave was if you have an infant, get an early appt. so your wait doesn't get too long. They do spend a good bit of time with you in the office with the doctor once it is your turn, so they can get behind. (North Hills)

Dr. Gamble
3904 S Highway 14
North Hills Medical Center
Greenville, SC 29615-6138
864-987-9990

and

Holly Tree Family
Dr. Berglind
1338 Highway 14
Simpsonville, SC 29681
8642977091

More M-Antics!

Make a Smilebox photobook

No news is no news!

Haha. I had my appt. today and they said that it sounds like "he" is getting ready. But that's all they said. I actually lost weight and my blood pressure was back up to 120/70 something...which is of course fine. I'm measuring right on and they suspect him to be about 8 pounds. Other than that...no news.

Today is the full moon...so we'll see if that really matters. Also, I'm pretty tired so it has been a day of rest. I enjoyed a very nice, long nap, as did m. Now it's what's for dinner and what not? Since J is at Tech after 5.

M is thoroughly enjoying summer camp! I'm thrilled. They do art "class" and music "class". They play outside on the playground and so forth! And she did get to be in Cuz' class! I'm thrilled about that cause at least she'll know someone she's very comfortable with!

She is a little sad about not getting to "be" something or someone else every minute! But I have a few pics. I did pic her up a "Raggedy the Ann" wig to go with her dress we found a few weeks ago. Check out my next post about M-Antics!

A Perfect Day

Today was a perfect day. I think the catch is having had a really great night's sleep. Not too many contractions since Friday/Saturday a.m. I've had some off and on, but not consistently.

So, today is the first day in about a week that I woke with renewed energy. Thus, I've been cooking and cleaning since before 8 a.m. My feet are tired, but I feel pretty good otherwise. Working on laundry with J's help. Mom came by and we worked on readying baby boy's room a bit more. I get so far and then can't do much else...but little by little...

Tonight was official "Everyone Pitch in and Clean M's Room" night. Ha. We actually have these periodically. Her room gets like any almost 3 yr old's would. But I don't think I've ever seen it quite like this! Usually if there is a mess, it's at least somewhat organized...but this was total mayhem. But, not anymore! I probably spent well over an hour cleaning. She helped of course, and J helped. Then while they were doing the bath thing, I continued to clean, straighten, organize, get rid of broken toys, items we never use, fix some things that had come apart temporarily, sift through shoes that no longer fit. And lastly, I packed her a little bag in the event that I labor and she needs to go with someone overnite or even all day. So, she is officially ready for the event. AND I clipped her toenails! Seriously! I just about feel like supermom!

The kitchen is a mess though cause of all the cooking I've been doing. Made a huge batch of bran muffins and froze for after the boy. Made honey croissants for b'fast, with sausage for J and M. Made my homemade favorite decaf, sugar free, cold coffee beverage as my own morning treat. I did dishes only to dirty them again! Ha! Did the leftover thing for lunch, but made b'fast casserole for sup since I needed to use the rest of the sausage before it went bad. I paired that with a few of the bran muffins that wouldn't fit in the fridge. I cleaned out the fridge and freezer to make room for some cooking I'm hoping to do tomorrow (for after the boy). That's about all so far, but I'm not sure I'm done yet. I'll give myself maybe another hour or hour and a half, but then it's off to bed.

I'll need my sleep as my mom says these next several days are reserved for walking the boy out. Meaning I suppose I'll do a lot of walking in the hopes that he'll decide he's ready to join us! We are shooting for Wednesday! Ha! as if that matters. Cause my sis can't really come till Wednesday after work, and one of my fave midwife's is on call, and its a full moon. We shall see. With all this anticipation, murphey's law would have me be almost 2 weeks late! Only God truly knows! But I do wait with excitement and anticipation.

No Boy Yet!

Well, it was a really rough night. I did have contractions off and on all night. At one point, I had significant back aches so much that I couldn't get comfortable laying down. So at 3:30am I'm up eating peanut butter crackers, doing exercises to relieve the pain, and finally ended up in the recliner end of the couch for an hour sleeping. Then back to bed again once the back pain had ended.

It was a long and tiring night...and it left me ragged today, but I perked up a bit after a brief nap this afternoon.

Still had contractions off and on all day, but nothing consistent like last night. Hopefully I will have a lovely restful sleep tonight and be reenergized for the cleaning that needs to take place round here tomorrow. Nesting and always preparing for #2's arrival.

Signs of the Times

There have been signs of the approaching child birth. Since about 7:26pm I have had at least 3 obvious contractions and one suspect. That's about 40 minutes apart fairly evenly spaced with the suspect one being 20 min from the previous. So...who even knows. There have been other things, and these contractions aren't painful, just very firm. So I may try to call my doula to give her the heads up. I was extremely tired today about 11:30...I could have done with out lunch in exchange for a nap. But, to no avail. I did get a good nap today and so did M, thus I won't complain.

Other signs are there but lets not gross everyone out. Some details are better left out. We shall see if we make it to Father's Day or the full moon. I don't want to jump to any conclusions. Still, I have a waterproof pad on my side of the bed and we celebrated Father's Day today...just in case.

I found a huge steak on sale at ALDI for like $5.19. It was supposed to be good till the 11th (2 days ago) but it still looked great and was marked down to $2off! So I bought the New York Strip for $3.19 and it fed all three of us very well. I paired that with a box sale box of rice pilaf, the remainder of the broccoli crowns steamed, and the bag of fresh spinach cooked Aunt Minnah style with cheese. Then I used up the way too ripe bananas with an age old box of banana cream pudding and the overstock of marshmallows that I was all to eager to use. melting butter and mixing it with the gingersnap cookie crumbs that I froze last month from some stale box sale cookies, I made a cookie crust. Then, I cut up the over ripe bananas, poured the pudding on top, then topped with marshmallows, and baked for about 15-20min. on 350 degrees. J loves banana pudding!

So he asked for steak for Father's Day and he got it. I bought the steak for 3.19 and everything else was stuff that was in desperate need of using up. M picked him out half a dozen hot pink roses from ALDI totalling 2.99 and we splurged on a fave card at CVS (across the street) for $5 i think. It made kissing sounds and had fish kissing on it. All in all, Father's Day celebration was a huge success (as I put the "Outback Alike Rub" on the steak) and didn't cost much! That's the way I like it. Only about 11 bucks and some change! And we all ate steak! Gotta love that.

I'll keep you posted on the events of this pregnancy if there are any. just had another contraction at 8:55pm. So...

But not Today...

Cuz has a little thing he likes to say that comes from the book Hop on Pop. "See you tomorrow...but not today."

Well, today was not my day. SIL and Bro offered to steal my M for awhile, and being as unintelligent as I am, I told them why don't we all go to see the free movie. Regal Cinemas does this Family Fun Fest all summer and since summer camp begins next week and runs for 6 weeks, we won't have many chances to do this. Now I know our children aren't even 3 and they don't really sit through long movies, but they often do pretty well given enough space, so I thought it might be fun. Plus, who doesn't love Veggie Tales.

Well, the actual movie part went pretty well. They got restless nearer the end, but they had enough open space to keep them occupied till the movie was up. Problem was, due to some interesting interruptions, SIL had to slip out and take the only car, so we had to wait for her return when the movie was over. Now, in grown up time, we didn't really wait long, but in kid world, this is where the meltdowns began. (Not to mention the snacks and juice that they inhaled during the movie). We all went to lunch at Panera, but by this time it was one thing after another with both children. M had had either, not enough sleep since she was up again before 7, too many snacks, or too much stimulation (or all of the above most likely), that she was neither listening, responding, or obeying. It was an uphill battle most of the morning.

We all trek to SIL's car, since it's been working only spurratically to see if maybe it would work so that they could drive it to the shop. it did, so we trekked to Nani's house to get my car. Met at my house, cause the mechanic is literally my neighbor, and it was nap time. Now, M was in no mind for a nap, but that doesn't always mean she won't settle enough to take one. So I put her down like usual and plopped into my bed. I dozed enough to call it a power nap only to hear her open my door and say that her tummy hurt and she needed to potty. So, I give her privacy on the potty at her request...help her clean up her mess (seems to make the whole wiping thing into something messy instead of something to help clean up). Then back to bed. No way has she even begun to sleep.

I try to nap some more, but my brain is now awake even if my body is tired. I hear things...course on my street and in this old house, I always hear things, so I try to give my child the benefit of the doubt. Then there is obvious noise. I head in with Mr. Sad Swat and find her out of her bed playing and trying to take off her clothes. I give her a swat which she didn't expect. This made her sad (broken hearted cry) and she sobs "but nap time's over..." I tell her that naptime is not over if you haven't taken a nap and ask her why she is getting undressed. She says she needs to potty (surely not again, we haven't drank that much seriously). So, we do go again. Then back to bed a third time, to which I tell her that nap time will not be over until she has actually slept, knowing that even if she doesn't nap she will be out of that bed by 5 so that she will actually go to bed tonight.

I haven't heard much from her since, so maybe she actually did fall asleep. In any event, I have to wake her by 5 which should make for one cranky kid, and I'm not too great myself. Couldn't get the rest I needed. Wasn't able to turn off the mom switch at all. Don't feel like making dinner and I'm a little dizzy. Not to mention I ate to much popcorn between today's movie and last night's movie...and I'm mildly allergic to corn...You get the picture.

Hopefully, J's homecoming will be worth all the anticipation. Poor guy. That's a lot to shoulder just coming home from a long days work! But...Tomorrow is another day. We can only hope for the best.

more than 38wks.

Well, I had my appt. today and it was rather uneventful. I gained 1 pound, my blood pressure went down (it wasn't high anyway--but high for me) so now its 104/70 something. I felt better about that since it was creeping up in the 120's... Baby boy has for the most part righted himself. His back was straight on in the middle today and she told me something else I didn't know. That sometimes they find that the baby does rotate when his little back gets colt. That makes some sense cause everytime I sit at this computer for a while, he seems to show more feet. The air blows directly on me for the legs to the tummy. Now I love this! i'm burning up these days. But maybe he's getting chilly! Ha!

I did wake up this a.m. with a bloody nose. One of those kinds that comes at random when you're a kid. And seriously it may have been that long since I've had one...but it went away easily and I was headed to my appt. anyway, so I just asked them about it there. No big deal they said. it does happen in some pregnancies...all that pregnant sinus stuff. I think M was a little concerned cause she covered her head with her blanket while I made it go away. That was kind of cute.

I imagined that that is exactly what she would do if she were invited into the birthing room to see the birth. She might just cover her head with her blanket until someone told her it was over. No...we're not inviting her in there.

No real news I suppose is good news. I got to see my new favorite midwife again. She did look a little weary, and she apologized, but they have dubbed this week birthing week at blessed births cause so far they are working on 4 in the last few days. 2 at a time. She is on call monday-wednesdays so I'm mentally shooting for those days, but really...it doesn't matter, cause all of them are great! And my doula will be the same regardless.

Had a good bit of braxton hicks yesterday, which I was glad for cause I had none last time. At least I know my body is preparing for the birth. Since it was midwife visit day, I just thought I'd update. And that is all. I'm going to go out tonight with a friend! I don't do this often, just me and a gal pal, no kids...So I'm thrilled. Thanks for your prayers about baby boys position. Of course, continue to pray for his safe and healthy delivery. The time will be here soon. If it were to go exactly as M had, I'd be giving birth in the next few days! I don't anticipate this however, but none the less, reality sets in.

In Response to "Rural Doctor"

Love how he/you chose to call me "lady." Haha. Seriously, though. Your comment was certainly "heartfelt" and opinionated. I'm not at all concerned with research that as you said yourself is not definitive. I am a well educated, well informed parent of an unborn child who would like to limit the amount of little known chemical exposures and reactions that my child receives. I like to think of that as good parenting. I realize that I am not a Doctor and do not have a medical degree, but that certainly doesn't make me less suited to be this child's mother.

You obviously didn't bother to read my entire post because your "argument" had something to do with the fact that there is no definitive evidence of a link between shots and autism. Also, you mentioned something to the effect of the whole, "if no one vaccinated, then..." argument. Here are my responses to both.

I stated in my last post that I am not a die-hard no vaccines for you kinda gal. I completely understand and validate the need to vaccinate your kids. My point is to do it in an informed way instead of just assuming that one schedule is right for all children. Last time I did all this new mother stuff, I did things differently. I asked some questions, but mostly I just let healthcare professionals do whatever they wanted. Not to say that they are out to get me or my family members, but rather to say that I mindlessly did most things. The birth, the shots, mostly anything related to healthcare.

Not this time. I have a brain and two degrees. I was accepted into doctoral studies before I began growing this family. I figure its time to use my brain in parenting as well. My intent is to have my child fully vaccinated by the time he is through his third year. This may or may not go according to my plan and I'm o.k. with that. I'm pretty flexible. But I want to give my child a fighting chance at allowing his little body to metabolize and better deal with the amount of chemicals being injected into hi little body all at one time. Thus, I chose to limit his vaccines to two at a time, only one of which will be aluminum containing. Seriously, even if in 50 years they say that there finally is definitive research that suggests no harm or connection at all, what harm is there in spreading out the vaccines.

So, I am fully vaccinating my child, just on a slightly longer schedule...and I say slightly because by the time he is ready for school, he'll have had all the same shots as the other children. Also, about that whole "no definitive link" argument...the problem with that is that there is no definitive studies and research to suggest that there is definitively NOT a link. And that is my gripe. Certainly, we are exposed to enough chemicals in our daily life that are unnecessary, why should I encourage injecting them into a child so small that his little body really can't deal with processing all that yet. What will that do to my child? Who knows...apparently no one, not even dr's and research know as of yet. So, I will protect my child as I see fit. I can't protect him from everyone and everything all the time, but this is something I can do, so I will.

Instead of ruffling your feathers, it should make you feel encouraged that someone actually educated themselves to make wise parenting choices for their family. I'm sure you see many of people in your practice that don't think for themselves. Whether you enjoy that or not, I am not in your practice, nor am I one of those that doesn't think for themselves. Good luck to you in dealing graciously with someone like me who may or may not seek out your services.

Vaccines

A friend and fellow blogger recently asked me my view and thoughts on vaccines for this upcoming addition to my family. And how did she know that indeed I have been doing a lot of thinking and reading up on this very subject.

She and I have a lot of things in common family wise. She has an older daughter about 3 years old who is "advanced" for her age. She did vaccines in the way suggested by their doctor. Now she has a brand new baby boy, with whom she is considering doing vaccines a bit differently for many reasons.

I, too, have a daughter who will be 3 in less than a month, and will soon have a brand new baby boy with whom I am considering (and will certainly make a valiant effort to)doing vaccines differently with him.

I started out with M in New Orleans (barely pre-Katrina), and I took her to the pediatrician for whom I worked. I loved the practice then, but I can appreciate it even more as I learn and grow more as a parent. Miss them alot. I trusted them in a big way! Their vaccine schedule was different. It involved the infant coming in every month starting at 2 months up to about 7months for 2 vaccines. And it went on from there at about 9 months and then 12 months. And then I don't really remember.

When we evacuated, M was due for her first shots, and so we went to the Children's Hospital Clinic in B'ham, AL and they attempted to give her 4 shots while we were there. Well, I wasn't having it. I wanted to stick to the schedule that I was familiar with. Can I tell you it was almost like a marketing scheme with them sending in 3 different people to run through the schpiel with me...trying to convince me that their way was best. I am the mom, so I win! Aces!

Seriously, that's how it was...but I caved eventually and did it in line with the new pediatrician, and really never thought about it again. HOWEVER...with the recent attention on vaccines and autism and such, AND the fact that I'm having a boy, I have done a lot more research this time around. I'm no longer an ignorant parent, just doing whatever someone tells me. AND it makes me appreciate Hales Pediatrics so much more. I realize after research, that they practice an alternative shot schedule that was both safe and effective and got most of the shots that children need at the appropriate times, but they also didn't try to overdue the amount of shots in a visit, and thus expose a child to too many chemicals all at once. I never asked why they did it that way, but I have a feeling that Dr. Hales did his research! He is extremely intelligent and was often keeping up to date. I'm quite sure that I under-appreciated him.

Having said all that...I read The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. This is the best one I have found so far. I did not find it to be particularly biased. I felt comforted that it was written by a practicing pediatrician, whose specialty happens to be on vaccine study. He gave a break down of every vaccine and the disease it was intended for. It told how it worked, what was in each one, and I mean down to the differences in doses and manufacturers... The book gave evidence of studies and even warnings that have not yet been proven but can't be disproven. All in all, "Dr. Bob" leaves the whole mess up to you to figure out, but gives a few suggestions on schedules.

I see the value in vaccinating...if we all just quit vaccinating our kids, we'd have a huge problem on our hands in years to come. Still, I don't see the point in over vaccinating or exposing them to too many unknown chemicals all at once, so I am adopting the Alternative Vaccine Schedule. Now this is trickier cause I'll most likely have to pay a little bit more and go to the Dept. of Health to get some of them, but it is worth it, to reduce the risk of ill effects to my child. Here is my choice:

2 months--DTaP, Rotavirus
3 months--Pc, HIB
4 months--DTaP, Rotavirus
5 months--Pc, HIB
6 months--DTaP, Rotavirus
7 months--Pc, HIB
9 months--Polio, Flu (if it is flu season and ONLY if you can get this mercury free)
12 months--Mumps, Polio
15 months--Pc, HIB
18 months--DTaP, Chickenpox
21 months--Flu
2 years--Rubella, Polio
2 1/2 yrs--Hep B, Hep A
3 years--Hep B, Measles, Flu
3 1/2 yrs--Hep B, Hep A
4 years--DTaP, Polio, Flu
5 years--MMR, Flu
6 years--Chickenpox
12 years--Tdap, HPV
12 yrs and 2 months--HPV
13 yrs--HPV, Meningococcal

For more info on this, check out the book at your local library AND go to www.TheVaccineBook.com

A Quiet Moment

It is Sunday...our weekly Shabbat! Yesterday was far to "full" for my taste in Saturdays, but today is not to be that way. J is still sleeping (of course!) and so is M actually! The latter is the most amazing. The fact that I am not sleeping in is also amazing seeing as the quietness is so rare around here. Still, I was awake. I had to potty. I was hungry...you get the picture. So I am blogging.

All I really have to say is an update on the pregnancy since we are almost done here. As of this coming Tuesday, we will have only two weeks left till due date, which is supposedly accurate within 1-2 days as it was officially dated by an ultrasound. I have been pretty good as far as handling the mental and physical toll that pregnancy can rend on a person's body...at least up until recently.

I would love to officially thank my SIL for telling me to go get some generic Zantac because here at the end I have had just about unbearable acid reflux, AND NOW I DON'T! That makes me feel significantly more human! I don't know that my midwife would be real thrilled, but it got so bad that I didn't care! Unfortunately, last night I noticed my first sign of swelling! Yikes! They always ask that question when I go..."any swelling?" And I always get to say no, but not this Wednesday. And that's o.k. I think I remember a little swelling at the end of my pregnancy with M. Still, there are so many things I could do that would keep me on my feel that it'll be hard to control the urge to go, go, go (and I don't mean to the bathroom). My brain left a bit more than a week ago and seems to have taken an extended vacation! Seriously! It never came back. That is sometimes a bit embarrassing and very often frustrating.

I also have the usual back pain issues, that often lead to leg and knee pain (knee stuff goes way back) for me, but the bath seems to help a lot with that. Also the hands and knees position (which helps my back but doesn't do much for the knees of course). I have to be on the hands and knees a bit more these days anyway...AND HERE IS WHERE I COULD REALLY USE YOUR PRAYERS...because baby boy is trying desperately to present "occiput posterior". Meaning, his head is down (hallelujah) but he is facing the wrong direction. He should be anterior with his head down and curled up so that all you really feel is his back when you touch my belly. But I have felt knees, legs, and feet a good bit. On the side is o.k., but it seems to be getting worse toward the front even with my efforts (positions, exercises, etc) to convince him to turn back.

I won't give up though and what I'm really praying for is a good report from the midwife at my appt. Wednesday. I'll do what I can do and the rest is up to God. Now this is no tragedy and certainly many baby's have been born this way, but seeing as this will by my first experience at doing this the natural way, I'd really love to avoid the added pain (especially in the back) of pushing baby out in this position. So, pray with me for this if you will.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: We have officially named the boy (no, we are not telling yet), but we had decided on his first name a while back and had a prospective middle name, but neither J nor I were set on the middle yet for various reasons. Now we have solidified it and we are thrilled. So when he begins to alert me to his coming...I'll post it here and you can begin praying for that process...laboring and delivering.

Update on Diapering Choice

So, you know how I'm doing the whole cost effectiveness and eco-friendly diaper thing. Well, last night I attended a baby wearing group that meets at the library at least once a month. Check it out...it spawns from this group. Anyway, many of these moms cloth diaper and one of the main "instructors" is a doula from the Upstate Childbirth Services, my doula service of choice. We talked cloth diapering as well while I was there and it was great. She said that most of the gals they deal with that start with the gdiaper, eventually move to no longer purchasing the disposable refills, but use prefolds or other soakers in them instead. So, I was relieved that my idea of creating my own reusable liner things will indeed work.

Also, yesterday, I was alerted by coincidence (which I don't really believe in...more like providence) of a promotional discount code for Diapers.com if you order $49 or more...to recieve $10 off. This is due to a membership I have elsewhere online. So, I figure that's as close to a coupon as I'm gonna get AND they sell gDiapers and the refills! AND if you buy the case of 160 refills at $52 before the discount, supposedly you qualify for free shipping. Thank you Lord! And if YOU are also a member of Facebook, then you too can get this promotional discount. Just comment and I'll get you the info.

To Diaper or not to Diaper

O.K. not really, cause obviously we will definitely diaper, but the choice was cloth or disposables? The dilemma was more of an environmental friendliness or a cost effectiveness choice. Some have been concerned with the ease and convenience of the choices, but that's not my main concern. I've done the diapering thing before with M and have done them both. With only a few exceptions like traveling, the convenience wasn't much of an issue.

I think I have decided...I'm going to do both! What a novel concept. There will definitely be times when disposables will be necessary. Probably on the one day he goes to Parent's Day Out, and over night or trips....babysitters maybe. Anyway.

On cost effectiveness, I have figured out the way to make them even more cost effective...I will alternate, use the disposable refill liners half the time or less depending on how it goes, and when I'm home and find it rather easy, I'll use cloth doubler/liners. The great thing about the cloth ones is that I can make them myself using the disposable samples as my pattern and filling them with common absorbent materials such as extra towels and/or flannel receiving blankets. They can be used again and again and washed very easily and I can make as many as I need at very little cost.

The only test will be that of diaper rash!

I will use regular disposable diapers whenever I have too, but the gDiaper with varying liners will be my main form of diapering. We shall see how it goes. One good thing? They will resell easily if it doesn't work out. I think this could work...we shall see.

To Buy or not to Buy

Some of you may know that when M was about 1 yr. old I got into reading all the Tightwad Gazette compilations. This led to me choosing to do cloth diapers...to give it a try. I found people online that made them, I did a whole lot of research, and eventually I made my own as well, and this was fun. But I must say that diaper rash, was no fun. I washed them just like you are supposed to and I hung them to dry...and still. They never smelled cause I would do baking soda and vinegar, never bleach, never fabric softener.

I never could use them overnight even with special overnite ones. That just wouldn't cut it. So we did use disposables for overnight and for when we would leave M with someone or at church etc. Traveling as well proved interesting...that leads to a whole other story about making a new carseat cover at my grandmother's house! Me, sis, Aunt Kathy, and Mamaw. Too many seamstresses in one sewing room! Ha! But Oh the memories!

Well, so I donated just about all my cloth diapers to Blessed Births, for the more gung-ho moms that really get into that. And now I have come upon a version that is basically half cloth and half disposable! And I think I really like them. Here is the dilemma.

I'd like to introduce you to the gDiapers. I'm totally fascinated with the quality of the design here, and figure if any cloth diaper is going to work about as good as a disposable, this one is it. Of course, I haven't tested it yet, but I have purchased the getting started kit to see if I'll like it. These diapers involve a breathable cloth outer diaper (colorful too I might add), a snap in liner, that is basically like plastic, although I swear it isn't. This liner is the key to leak stoppage cause it is elasticized all around and is to hug in the crease of the legs like underwear or the inside of the disposables. Then they have these lovely disposable refill things that you can flush (although I wouldn't cause this is an old rental house that is also on septic). But even if you throw it away it involves no plastic, so it breaks down in 50-150 days in a landfill as opposed to like the 500 years that disposables take. The stinch on these is that the financial benefit from using cloth diapers is basically gone, cause you will be buying these refills at the same rate as you would by regular diapers. The price is slightly higher...not too bad really, but you know how specialty items go, you can rarely find a sale or coupon as I could with regular disposable diapers.

Now, I just said that today I purchased the starter kit and an extra, regular count refill pack. I'm gonna check it out, make a decision, and go from there. I put the receipt in the box of the starter kit and haven't opened any plastic. After sup, I'm sitting checking out the sale adds for the week and low and behold, diapers are a very hot item right now. If I had been couponing as avidly as I have in the past, I could really rack up. Rite Aid has pampers with a $2 rebate right now and combine that with a coupon you could get them for as little as $6 a small pack. Then there are Pampers Swaddlers on sale at Bloom for less then $10, though I don't remember the size of the pack. Still, if you have a coupon...then you're talking even less. So, this week is the week to buy if I'm gonna stock up for the boy who is coming in a few weeks. So do I contribute to the landfill in order to save some money (which ya'll know how I am about my budget), or do I do this new gDiapers thing...costs just a bit more, but you don't get the benefit of sales and coupons...?

Better Brains and Bods

O.K. not sure about my brains really, whether they were actually better today, but my physical exhaustion was a bit better. Still a good bit tired though and I allowed my hubs to do lots for me. He graciously obliged. He is such a good dad and hubs. I have been really blessed.

Did alot of taking it easy this weekend. Felt a bit guilty about not being able to be full on mom for my M, but her dad was great! Thank goodness for that. Not too much longer to go though. I just pray that our whole family adjustment goes smoothly. Gotta get some rest.