What's in a name?

Joe informed me last week that he is not as enthused about the boy's name we had picked out as he was a couple of months ago...which is fine, because upon thinking about it, I don't think I am either. So we are now, once again, without a boy's name. I think we'll probably just let it go until the baby is born, and if we have a boy, we'll just do what we did with Dom. Which was to not pick a name until he was 36 hours old.

I blew up the birth pool today, to see how much room we had left in the birthing room. I absolutely love the pool, and will reiterate how happy I am that I spent the extra money to get the LaBassine. The bottom is nice and soft, and the sides are higher so I will get deeper water. We currently have two bookcases in the birthing room that I will have to pack up (right now a bunch of small stuff is stored in them) and they will have to be moved, but that's not too big of a deal...especially since Joe will be the one doing the heavy lifting. ;o)

The baby has been very active lately, which has been a combination of fun and annoying. We watched Dom's birth video last night, and the boys were fascinated, and puzzled by the fact that Mommie was in a swimming pool, sounding really unhappy, and then a baby appeared...which they were then told was baby Dominic. We tried to explain to them that Mommie had another baby in her tummy that would be coming out soon, although we're not sure if they "got" the concept. We're trying to prepare them in case they wind up being present at the birth. I've found in my research that siblings tend to be more receptive to new babies if they realize that "this came from Mommie, so it must be okay," versus "Mommie just showed up with the weird little creature, and I don't think it belongs here." I guess it will all depend on timing. If they're awake and interested in being there, they probably will be, but I don't think we'll wake them up or anything.

Here is a 32 week belly picture:

And here is the quilt in progress:

I don't know how well you can see the quiting on the squares, so here is a close-up of what that looks like, I hadn't erased the lines from the blue square yet:

The white stuff sticking out the sides is the batting (the stuff that makes the quilt puffy). I've gotten 19 out of the 25 squares quilted with the double star design...only six left!! Yes, I intentionally rotated the stars they they weren't all going the same direction. I'm just going to stitch "in the ditch" on the two green borders, which means I'll just be quilting along the seams. There will be a pattern of some sort to the outermost border, but at this point I have no idea what that's going to be. That's all for now...thanks for checking in!

I get computer time!

Joe is in Wisconsin for work for the next three days, so I get the computer to myself! I used to be able to get on a few times a day, but with him working from home now, I don't get on very often at all. Did I mention he's working from home now? Probably not...well, he is. He's working for the engineering firm in Wauwatosa that he will be at after we move. It's been an adjustment for everyone having him home all the time, but I think we're managing pretty well. The boys have finally figured out that when he says he "has to go to work" he won't be getting in his car and driving away, so they don't run to the window to watch him leave anymore.

It just occured to me that I probably didn't mention that I am not working right now. I've been working from home doing exhibit design for about three years, but for a variety of reasons have decided to stop. The biggest reasons being that with a newborn, and a state to state move, I just need to clear my plate of a few things, and reduce my stress level as much as possible. I've yet to decide if I want to continue working when the baby gets a little older, we'll just have to see how things work out once we're moved. At any rate, my work computer is back with my employer, since I don't need it right now, and they do...which is why getting online is hard...we're down to one computer.

I thought I'd write an update on my last midwife appointment. I had an appointment on Friday, and everything was great. She commented that the baby isn't huge and since after two pregnancies (and a c-section) my stomach muscles aren't as tight as they used to be, the baby has a lot of room to move around. This came up because she wanted to let me know that since I've already HBAC'd, she's not worried about me birthing a breech. I told her I'm not worried about breech either, but for some reason I've had this niggling concern about the baby being acyclinic. (I've had people ask me what that means, so please forgive the brief definition:)

Acyclinic is the term used to describe a baby whose head is engaged in the pelivis turned at an angle. So instead of the back top of the head (the narrowest part) going through the pelvis first, the area above an ear, for example, is trying to fit through first. Presenting in this fashion makes the head too wide to fit through. The only way these babies can get out is via c-section. Many women are c-sectioned for acyclinic babies, but are told "baby was too big", or "your pelvis is too small," etc...

With this kid having that much swimming room in there, s/he being acyclinic is a definate possibility. (I've also had people ask me why that would make a difference, so here's another brief explanation:)

If a baby engages (drops into the pelvis) prior to labor on their own, the odds of them jamming themselves in there acyclinic are really quite low. It's certainly possible, but the risk is small. A baby that has lots of room to move around and get comfy up in mom's uterus is not going to be inclined to engage themselves in mom's cramped pelvis. They are going to want to stay where it is nice and roomy. So if a baby is unengaged, or "floating" prior to labor, the baby will essentially be getting forced into the pelvis via contractions. Therefore, the odds of the baby getting pushed into the pelvis with their head cockeyed are greatly increased.

All of that to say, I'm wearing the binder from my c-section most of the time now to "fake" the stomach muscles I used to have. By wearing it, I'm restricting the amount of space the baby has, and the plan is that will encourage them to engage on their own to get themselves more room. Once their head is in my pelvis, they will have more wiggle room for arms and legs. I don't really mind wearing it, except if I'm outside for long periods because it's been so hot lately, but the baby doesn't like it at all! It's really kind of funny how much the kid pushes at it!

In other news, I got my La Bassine (my birth pool) earlier this week! I can't wait to get it set up and test the 3" thick inflatable bottom! While roomy with very nice thick sides, the last pool we used had a very hard bottom, which was...well, hard on my bottom. The footprint of this pool is significantly smaller than the fishy pool we used before, which will be nice since we're birthing in a smaller room, as we've converted the downstairs bedroom into Joe's office. I'm really glad I decided to sink the extra $$ into getting this pool. The downside is we won't be able to use it as a giant ball pit/outdoor pool for the kids like we did with the last one.

Since I don't have anyone to take one right now, I plan to post a new belly picture this weekend...my kids are pretty sharp, but camera use is still a little beyond them. ;o)

Oh my it's been a while!!

I've determined that there is a specific gene encoded with a sequence to give a person the ability to keep a journal...I've also determined I completely lack this gene. Every journal I have ever tried to keep fades out of my life after about two weeks. Apparently, this phenomenon also applies to blogs. As I approach the end of this pregnancy, I will try very hard to keep current on this sucker.

Here is a new belly picture at 31 weeks...

I can't really believe that I'm already down to only 9 weeks or so! This is my favorite part of pregnancy...when the baby is always active, and I just feel happy with this big belly. I know that according to the ultrasounds we had, this kid only has two arms and two legs, but with all the movement and kicking (in multiple locations at once), I swear s/he has grown a couple more in the last few weeks!

The heat hasn't been too much of an issue, thanks to AC and tank tops, but I really hope we get a bit of a break soon. I feel bad about not being able to take the boys to the playground every morning like we used to do, but when it's over 80 degrees by 9 am, I just can't take that! Other than the discomfort of the heat from going out, I feel really good. No problems to speak of, just the usual back soreness which is vastly helped by chiropractic adjustments.

I'm on my 5th week of the Hypnobabies course, and although I'm finding it hard to get in all my practice, I really enjoy the deep relaxation I'm able to achieve with it. I think it will really help during my birth. I'm also finding it hard to listen to the CD's during the day, since it requires a half-hour of completely undisturbed time (not so easy to come by with two little ones!) So what usually happens is I only get to listen to the day's script as I go to bed...which means I get so relaxed I fall asleep halfway through. I think I'm going to have to figure out another way to get them in, because although I've been told it really won't make that big of a difference, I want to hear everything at least once!

In the last couple of weeks, I also started a quilt for the baby. Most of the fabric came from my Gramma Grace's fabric stash, but some came from Grandma Ethel's and a few pieces are from mine. The muslin for the back will be from Grandma Ethel. It makes me happy that even though neither of them is still with us, they are sort of still getting to be a part of this project. Here is a picture of the top completely pieced.

Now I have to do the actual quilting, which is where you sew all the layers (backing, batting, and the top) together and then finish the edges. The binding (the outermost border that seals off the edges) is going to be the lighter shade of green, to pull that color in again.

I suppose that's all for now, thanks for reading!