Henry’s (and Halia’s!) World

“Life is tough enough without having someone kick
you from the inside.”
~ Rita Rudner

This time around, shopping for this surprise baby feels harder; 1) I’m a much more mature mom with three young one’s and 2) the amount of information out there to new and expectant parent’s is overwhelming.

Seven months into this pregnancy, getting ready has been on my mind a lot more with barely thirteen weeks to go to D-Day, and while some items like a high chair, and even a crib can wait till the baby is older, a car seat is the one item a hospital or birth center will not discharge you and your newborn without it.

So my method to finding affordable yet safe baby gear this time around starts with;
a. browsing the inventory available online, then sorting them by ratings (highest to lowest),
b. going to the store if possible to view the item as it pictures don’t always tell the story.
c. concentrating on those within my price range,
d. reading the available reviews written by other parent’s,
e. and finally visiting the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission to investigate any recalls or possible problems.

So today is co-sleepers and stroller systems day yeah!

With my previous pregnancies, I had always wondered how I would deal with the “side-effects” of pregnacy and this time around I am experiencing every single one of them!

From morning sickness to extreme fatigue, and now hip pain so bad, the pain actually keeps me up at night. Warm showers, and compresses have done nothing to help, taking any kind of pain medication is out of the question (have had the pain since week 14, and worry about the long term effects on baby), but disgustingly every single chiropractor I’ve contacted wants me to pay an additional $75 plus what they charge my insurance?!?!

So I sit here longingly eying my bed knowing that getting into it means instant pain, but on a happier note, I am officially 25 weeks today, 2 weeks till the start of the third trimester, and 15 weeks till this little bundle of joy is ready to emerge and revel his/her self!

One of the forums that I frequently read had a discussion about natural childbirth and the movie “The Business of Being Born” with Ricki Lake as a real interesting movie to watch about the business of child birth in the United States.

At the time of its release in 2007, there were plenty of free copies that could be viewed online (and another reason I dislike this small town in NC, the closest Blockbuster is a hour away grrrr), so two nights ago switching through channels imagine my delight when the guide featured “The Business of Being Born!”

I was just in time for the credits, but if you are DirecTV customer Show Time is showing this film over the month with the very next showing at 8pm tonight. So my early weekend treat is a bowl of plain popcorn and movie night tonight; about any pregnancy related show is on my favorite list right now, and its just for another three months and it will be out of my system.

I am so excited, my last monthly appointment is tomorrow morning, and then its every two weeks thereafter! A big reason for my excitement is that I’ll get to talk to my midwife about some problems I’ve noticed since my last visit.

Without knowing that I was pregnant at the time, I got a prescription for reading glasses, forgetting that as with everything pregnancy related, the eyes get thrown out of sync, so even when I use my glasses, I still have blurred vision occasionally. I don’t believe it has to do with my eyes being overtired, as I take plenty of breaks throughout the day, but I guess I just need the reassurance that it is nothing more serious.

Looking over the records from my previous pregnancies, the pattern I saw was that by 30-weeks I was 3 cm dilated, and I have been experiencing erratic contractions (one’s I have been unable to talk through or walk) with no one activity starting them. Thankfully my CNM is aware of my history of pre-term labor, and they seem confident that I won’t need to be transferred to a perinatologist for the duration of my pregnancy.

While I loved the doctor that delivered my three children, the idea of bed rest, terbutaline, and weekly checks is no cake walk, so here is to an uneventful appointment tomorrow!