Baby Books

I have already read a lot of books about pregnancy and labor/delivery because of my love for midwifery. Now I am reading even more, including books about babies too. I just read "the amazing newborn" and it was so interesting! I'm glad I got to read it before the baby is born, as it talks about the amazing things that a newborn can do...even within the first few hours of birth. Now I'm reading "the happiest baby on the block". I have heard things about the book and am curious to see what the big fuss is about. Of course I have no idea what having a new baby is really like, and of course I am SURE that our baby is going to be perfect and never cry or have a hard time with anything...but I still want to be prepared =) I am also reading several week by week types of books about the baby and me and how we are growing etc. And to add to it I am also studying for my own childbirth educators practice and training...so am learning a lot about the process and how birth is normal etc...
My FAVORITE birthing book is "birthing from within" by Pam England. I'm reading it now for the second time to help me with my own labor. I'm so overwhelmed with books and info, but at least it keeps me busy.

26 weeks along

Antho's house in Washington

Yesterday afternoon we went up to Washington and spent some time with our really good friends at one of their friends amazing houses. It was my dream house. Only about 40 minutes from here, but on the river with so many trees, birds, fish and nature everywhere. The air smelled good, the water was fresh. We tried out luck at fishing. Everyone barbecued and it was a really good time. I would love to live in a place like that. It was so relaxing. These pictures will not do it justice.

Notepad

The C word

It started on Wednesday morning, but somehow I made it through the day...and had to call in sick on Thursday. I wasn't sure what was wrong at first, just that I was in some serious pain and couldn't sit, stand, walk nor lay down. I later figured out that the problem was the pregnant woman's good ol' buddy Constipation. Apparently I had never known the meaning of that word before, but let me assure you I know it now. I was quite surprised, as I have been eating great, plenty of fruit, lots of water.... but somewhere something must have gone wrong. The cure that I am trying now is a few prunes a day, and psyllium seed. My midwifes recommended psyllium seed earlier on, but warned me that it's really gross and hard to drink. I went to New Seasons and got a big can of the husks and I basically mix a tablespoon in some water and drink it down. It's really not bad at all, and I think it might be working! I'm feeling a little better, but have noticed that it makes me feel a little dehydrated, so I'm making sure to drink lots of extra water as well. That's not as hard to do now that I have my fancy Swiss steel drinking bottle!

24 weeks and a day

It's summer time and the weather here has been perfect. I have to say I have been feeling really good lately. I'm hungry all of the time, and usually sore when I wake up...but I'm happy and feel like I have enough energy most of the time. I have been having issues with my pelvis (or my pubis symphasys??). Falling asleep isn't as easy as it used to be. I feel like I wake refreshed however, which is not usual for me. The pre-natal vitamins make me sick, so I have only been taking my fish oil pills, Iron, Folic Acid and Calcium. I love eating at this point and stick to a great diet, however am loving ice cream almost every night =) I haven't had any coffee since being prego, however I've been craving it and might have to get a decaff latte here soon.
I wish I had a pool to swim in because I love swimming and know it would make me feel better. I try and do yoga once a week if I can. It always makes me feel much much better. I'm so glad to be over the first few months when I was SO SICK all of the time. It was a hard thing to get through but I made it!!
I can't wait to meet this little one inside of me. We have no idea what we are going to call him or her so far... but have some ideas. I wish we had family closer, and more friends with children. I just love it here too much to go anywhere else =)

21 Weeks - I'm a hippy =)

18 weeks and finally some Sunshine!

I am still HUNGRY!

Food it such a new world now that I am pregnant. For the first few months everything was gross. I didn't really want to eat anything, and nothing tasted normal at all. I could smell everything yet nothing smelled normal either, so it was a sad place to be. I was so sick, I have no idea how I made it through that.
Now that I am well into my second Trimester I am hungry all of the time. The best part about it is that food that would normally taste good, or even okay, now tastes AMAZING! I am loving fruit and smoothies, taco's, and especially ice cream and chocolate =). The problem is that I am not creative enough to come up with so many little meals and snacks everyday. I keep dried fruit, granola bars and nuts at my desk, but I always feel better if I can eat a full meal every few hours. I need to have a giant burrito, and then a big bowl of pasta a few hours later. I can't seem to get enough food. My friend Todd bought me a giant box of granola bars at Costco, and those have helped me many times. I even eat tons of meat now, even though we led a pretty much vegetarian lifestyle before I was pregnant. I love Ribs.

20 Weeks!!

Alkaline Trio

On Sunday we went to see Alkaline Trio play at the Skate park on 82nd. It was so much fun! The park there is amazing. There is so much grass to run around on, and the skatepark even has a real pool that they have built into it. It's amazing! This was the baby's first concert! I don't think it can hear quite yet, but Myles thinks it could feel the vibrations. It's nice to be able to hang out at a show outside with our friends. Mike and Led being cool

Myles and I with A3 in the back ground!!
Led and Jones with their rad jackets and cute butts.

Organics to You

Every other Monday we have Organic Produce delivered to our door by a company called "organics to you". Most of the produce is grown locally, and all is organic. Here is what we got this week. We pay $30 for this, which seems like a lot, and I'm thinking of canceling now that the farmers markets are back. I think we can get more than this for $30 on our own, although it's fun because we get to try new things that we would never try normally.

Gig Harbor to see Callie

Oh what a fun weekend! On Friday Francis came to town and we got to hang out at Costco. At least I got to see her for a few hours! On Saturday I got up and drove to see Callie and the girls in Washington. It took me 2 and a half hours, but the drive was gorgeous! I love the Northwest. It was green and and amazing all the way up the I5. Callie lives right on the Puget Sound so there is also lots of rivers and water to see on the way, as well as trains, and I even saw a deer!

The girls have really grown since I saw them last. They are the best girls ever. So polite and so much fun to be around. We ate, shopped a little, and spent a lot of time in their amazing yard. I hope I get to see them a lot more often now that I know the drive is so quick!

15 weeks and 5 days

Help me - Baby Slings

I have been looking at the baby slings and am so overwhelmed! I think I like the moby wrap the best because it goes over both shoulders. I'm just not sure if I might like one of the Maya type ones better, or have even looked at patterns to make one. Can you ladies that have used these things let me know what you think? All of the baby stuff is so overwhelming for me!

Another Rainy Weekend

It's Memorial Day weekend and raining as usual. I was really wishing it would be nice so we could go camping or on a bike ride, but no luck there. On Saturday Myles made Pollo Assado on the barbecue with Mexican corn on the cob. It was so delicious!! I did a few projects on my sewing machine, and it felt good to sew again. On Sunday I stayed in bed until 4:30!! I am so lazy!! I just felt so tired, and it was raining outside, so I just slept and let the baby grow. Today is Myles and my 5 years anniversary of being together. I didn't even remember, but he reminded me. I can't believe I forgot a date like that! I can't believe 5 years has flown by so fast. It seems like only a year ago that I was living in Prague, or even San Diego. I can't believe I've been gone from SD for so long. I miss that beautiful sunshine!

14 Week Midwife visit

Myles met me for our third midwife visit. This time we met with Nora who is the other midwife that we may end up birthing with. She was very nice, but more serious than Catherine. The baby's heart was beating at 160 bpm which she said was good, and my blood pressure is really good as usual. The scale wasn't working correctly, so now I am depending on the scale at work which doesn't seem so reliable either! So far I think I have gained between 3 and 5 lbs, depending on where my bowels are! Gross!!

On the way home I went the wrong way and almost got lost, and Myles followed me in his car so it was kind of funny because he knew where he was going, but followed me the wrong way anyway. Now he keeps joking about my driving =) We have picked out the car seat and stroller that we like best. It's the top rated for safety on consumer reports, and we both agree it seems less "cheap" than the others. We don't want to buy it yet though in case things change in the next few months. We also found out that with our insurance we will pay $960 for the birth and pre-natal care with the midwifes, plus we have to buy a birthing kit and rent the birthing pool if we are going to use that for a water birth... Good thing we have been budgeting and will be able to handle these costs!! If I wanted to have the baby at Kaiser I wouldn't have to pay anything, but I feel this is an experience I will remember for my whole life, so feel it's worth the cost.

Poor sicky wah wah

I was hoping that once I hit the 13 week mark on my pregnancy I would feel wonderful and not be sick anymore. That is not the case =( I spent the entire weekend on the couch. I'm so tired, but the worst part is the nausea. I threw up this morning for the first time in about a week. Yuck!! I know this is all worth it and there is an end in sight... but sometimes I wish I could just stay in bed instead of coming to work and having to deal with other people's problems.

On a lighter note. Our friend Francis is planning on moving up here from San Diego and I'm so excited! She is such a sweetheart and a good friend, so I'm excited to have her around. Also, our friend Trav just got an awesome new boat, so I'm planning on spending lots of days out on the river this summer. It will also be fun when we go camping on the lake... they can haul our stuff in their boat so we don't have to worry about tipping over our stuff in the canoe! I love camping and summer time... I can't wait. It is supposed to finally warm up this week. yay!

Hot Chocolate

I was just joking with my friend Rebecca about making hot chocolate for her out of breast milk once I am able. Is that so funny...or just disgusting?! I think I am going to have to keep humor in these things. I have no idea what it will be like to have milk coming out of my body. Weird!

Anyway, I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Last weekend we rode our bikes around the neighborhood and got more veggies to plant in our tiny garden. I'm so excited for the rain to end and spring to be in full effect! Portland is so beautiful in the Spring time. There are flowers blooming everywhere. Our cherry tree has already done it's blooming for the year. We are afraid there may not be many cherries because as soon as it bloomed, the rain and snow came back so the bees weren't out. Our friend pointed out a little hole in our siding that had bees flying in and out of it. At first we panicked and tried to figure out what to do...but then I said "hey give them a chance". I keep hearing these scary things about bees disapearing and I would love to be one of the people that helps them have a safe home so they can polinate our garden and trees! I love the bumble bees.

Big boobs

Today I went to get a new bra. I have always worn a 34b. I have small boobs. 34b is perfect. Now that I'm pregnant I can see my poor bra stretched to it's limits. I wanted to wait longer to buy anything new...but a new bra couldn't wait. So I go in and try on a 36b and a 34c. You know the girl told me the cup actually gets bigger when the number is bigger, so she thought I would just need a 36b. Well I walked out of there with a 36D!!!! I can't believe it. I think it will fit a while, and hopefully my boobs have done their growing until they get the milk in there....momma friends, can you please tell me what to expect here?