pregnancy FAQ

Everyone asks me all the time how things are going with my pregnancy, so here is all you could ever want to know.... FAQ style

1. where will you deliver? Today I had my 15 week check up with my AWESOME doctor. Everything looks great - heart tones, vital signs, measurements, all that good stuff. She is our family doctor who also specializes in obstetrics. The office is a birth center, and she also attends home births. That is my dream, but, Jason, uhm, not so much. So we plan to use the birth center for the final act, but labor at home as long as possible. Jen (our doctor) will be with us at home for the labor and then travel with us to the birth center - or she will meet us at the birth center, whatever we choose. My good friend Deb will be there to act as my doula, providing continuous emotional labor support to me so that Jason is free to just be the anticipatory daddy. I pray and hope with every fiber of my body that this will be an intervention-free natural labor, just as we intended with Maddy. Jen has been attending births for over ten years and teaches obstetrics at the local midwifery college. She is extremely capable and I have absolute faith and trust in her ability to guide us during our next baby's birth. She also can take a peek in Maddy's ears during my visits and diagnose a raging ear infection -- so convenient. Or I can listen to the baby's heartbeat at a well child check - nice! Jason has even come around and genuinely likes my hippie doctor's ways.

2. how are you feeling? GREAT! I stopped feeling awful this week. Hallelujah!

3. are you having a boy or a girl? one or the other, and we'll find out in November

4. what is your due date? November 15th, but I am not tied to that because babies tend to come when they are ready. Maddy was one week "late". I bet November sometime, though, since we have two weeks either way and are still in the same month.

5. are you excited/ready/scared for having two? I try not to think, wonder or worry about it but I am sure it will be life-changing. We are very excited to meet our new baby and for Maddy to be a big sister, of course, but so much will depend on who the new baby is and where Maddy's needs are in another 25 weeks. My parents will have retired two hours south by that time, so that is better than the current 3 1/2, I'm sure their help will be wonderful. At this point i am just trying to savor my one on one time with Maddy and soak up this fabulous stage of her life, her dwindling babyhood as she becomes more and more the independent toddler (of course except for right now she is kind of a feverish ear achey lump on my lap, but you get the drift).

Okay, that is usually all the questions people have, so stay tuned as more happens each month!

Ready for Combat

What happens when Maddy picks out her own outfit.....We get a hat, diaper and combat boots - she is ready for anything!

My Little Pony

I am so incredibly proud of this little ponytail!!!

Lately Maddy always asks for a clip or a pony in her hair and she is actually leaving them in. I think she sees me messing with my hair in the morning, and like in everything else, wants to be just like mommy! I think she looks totally adorable.... even though it isn't the fullest, fluffiest ponytail around, and we will take what we can get. At twenty months we are *finally* starting to get some hair to play with, and this makes the girly girl in me quite happy to have something new to accessorize.

Gardening

We planted our garden yesterday and Maddy was of course instrumental in our success. She was very very helpful and even uncovered two rows of beans just to have the sheer joy of planting them all over again. She is like her mama and loves to dig in the dirt. We also uncovered her sand box this week since the sun came out (hallelujah!!) and she has really been enjoying that as well. Now the trick is to keep her out of the garden while our seeds are germinating....

Broccoli Fiend and Cute Pic's

Maddy loves broccoli. She loves to bite the heads off of the stalk. Tonight at dinner she went through about 20 florets and was looking for more, but she ate every bit that I had prepared. This kid eats like a goat, anything and everything, pickles, broccoli, liver, peas, you name it and she'll consume it. I know that we are incredibly lucky to have such a good eater and she has to eat such an enormous amount because she never, ever stops moving. She is like a miniature triathlete fueling her body all the time. She eats so much that her "innie" bellybutton often becomes an "outie".....

Buckle Mania

Maddy's newest hobby is buckling and unbuckling things. She loves snaps, buttons and zippers too, but is especially fond of carseat and booster seat and high chair buckles. She screams at us to undo them so she can click them over and over and over and over and over and over...... when oh when will she "master" this and move onto something new??? She is incredibly determined and oh so very proud of herself when she clicks it into place.

Monkeys at the Zoo

We went to the zoo this morning and Maddy had a really great time. She kept signing "more more more more more" and "go" to the next exhibit, wanting to see more animals! She seemed especially intrigued by the giraffes and the monkeys. She is kind of a monkey herself, here are some shots of her climbing on us and also into her stroller.

Our Brave Brave Special Ed

Our new king bed arrived today and oh my goodness it has rocked Edward's world. First, he got kicked out from under the guest bed (which found a new family literally two seconds after I posted in on craigslist's free section). He was then booted out from under our former master bedroom queen bed as we moved that into the guest room. Left with nowhere to hide, he simply did what all brave special needs kitties would do, he sought security on the heating vent and cleverly disguised himself as a blue curtain. (oh and pay no attention to the gobs of white cat hair on the right panel... I really do clean my house every once in a while, really I do, usually that panel is hidden behind our headboard.... shoot now that I can reach it I have to clean it. Sigh.)

I can do it myself!

Getting dressed and undressed has taken on a whole new meaning lately. Maddy loves to change clothes, socks, shoes and hats all day long. She insists on doing it herself, much to our delight *and sometimes chagrin if we are in a hurry*. Here are some shots of Maddy demonstrating the delightfully persistent and determined side of her personality.

She gets herself into the most contorted positions and it is downright hysterical, we try so hard not to laugh because this is serious work, people. She is so pleased with herself when her neckhole becomes the new armhole and both legs are in one pantleg, mermaid style. Look what I can do, Mommy!

Quality Sit Time

Maddy seems to take after her daddy a lot lately. She has been spending quality time with her potty. Sometimes she will actually hit the potty when she pees, but mostly it is a nice place to catch up on her reading and to try her socks and shoes on. Daddy's girl for sure!