Because everyone I know online is pregnant I have been hearing a lot about their labors.  Some were hospital births, some were at home, and many were even VBACs.  Luckily, most of my friends are pretty informed about pregnancy, labor, and delivery.  This meant that most of them waited for the baby to come when the baby was ready.  Many of these babies decided they wanted to wait until after their “due date.”

This is what I noticed.  These “overdue” babies gave their mamas a short labor.  All labors, whether they are an hour or 20, hurt.  If I were given a choice, I would rather have a relatively quick and intense labor like the one I had with my second son, than the 20 hour slow starting, induced labor of my first.

Everett was born at home at 41 weeks and 3 days.  My labor was 4 hours and 45 minutes including 20 minutes of pushing.

Friend A was 41 weeks and 3 days with her third baby (her second HBAC), and her labor was 6 hours.

Jill from Baby Rabies recently gave birth to her second baby at 41 weeks.  She walked into the hospital at a 7 and delivered 2 hours after checking in after an intense and fast labor. Her birth story.

We were all “overdue,” very large, uncomfortable, and ready to have a baby.  We waited a long time

One of my theories is that my babies need to bake longer than the “40 week” mark.  Every woman is different, every pregnancy is different.  Why is there so much importance placed on this magic 40 week mark?  The reason I say this is because of the differences I saw in my first son after birth compared to my second.

My first son was induced when I was 39 weeks 3 days.  To most pregnant people they would assume this is plenty of time to bake a baby.  My OB decided to induce me because I had Gestational Diabetes and was told going 1 day over 40 wasn’t an option (pshaw… wish I had known) and because at my growth scans they noticed my baby’s abdomen was measuring small (but consistently small, why worry?).  The day we went in for a follow up scan they told me to pack my bags and come in the next day because, and I quote, “the baby has baked long enough.”

I had a pitocin induced labor which took over 20 hours from start to finish.  I couldn’t take the humpback contractions and opted for the epidural.  To this day I am amazed I ended up with a vaginal birth now that I know the statistics for inductions and long labors.

Fletcher was 7 lbs 2 0z and 19.5 inches long.  He was coated with thick vernix.  Why do I mention this?  Typically, full term babies have already sloughed off most or all of their vernix.

A very cheesey newborn

Fletcher was very drowsy and we had an insanely difficult time with nursing.  He didn’t latch properly and would fall asleep at the breast in minutes.  Instead of cuddling my new baby I was forced to torture him to stay awake in order to eat.  I undressed him, flicked his feet, blew on his face, all to get food in his belly by order of the nurses.

He was also fairly small and rag dollish.  He became jaundiced but not severe enough to need lights.  He looked like a stick figure baby when I look back at photos.

In comparison, my “overdue” baby, Everett, was born at 41 weeks 3 days (2 full weeks more than Fletcher).  He weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

He also had vernix, but a much lighter coating.

He was alert and ready to nurse.

He had the head control of a 1 month old and could lift his head off my chest at a few minutes old.

His latch was perfect (but he was tongue tied which we had clipped, more on that here)

He also slept great from day 1 (at night that is)

I am not saying every problem I had with my first son was related to him being born too early, nor am I saying every thing right with my second has to do with him being born overdue.  My boys both also had very different birth experiences.  Fletcher was induced, put through a long labor and a very long pushing phase (3 hours) and was born while I was on an Epidural.  Everett came when he was ready, he had a calm labor lasting less than 5 hours with a 20 minute push phase.  Part of their difference in labor is probably because second labors are typically faster as well, so I can’t blame everything on being induced.

My wish for all women is that they not have to even deal with the pressure to be induced.  With the staggering rate of C-Sections, babies born too soon thanks to being induced before the baby was ready (you can read a recent article in Time magazine to that effect, which is ironic since I wrote this a week ago, good timing!), and the high rate of Maternal deaths in the US, women need to educate themselves and possibly prepare to butt heads with their care provider.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled about being 41 weeks and 3 days pregnant but I trusted my body and my baby. I had a very routine (and easy) pregnancy other than my gestational diabetes, which was well under control.  My baby made a grand entrance into the world and kept us all anxiously waiting.  I’m so thankful for our supportive midwives and the internet for informing me that I am in charge of my body, not my OB GYN.

A few weeks ago my son was watching DOORA, as he likes to call it, and I was doing my thing around the house while he was entertained.  Don’t judge me….. Nick Jr. is a lifesaver some days…. and he has learned a lot too! Of course I could hear what was going on in the show, and I started listening in towards the end of the show.  That is when things got interesting.

Dora was heading to her own home.  I started watching because I had never seen her parents. Frankly, they appear to be pretty neglectful since their daughter is off on adventures with a monkey every day.  Does she even go to school?  I was curious to see her folks.

She walks in and there is a group of family members gathered in the living area with pins on, it looked like some sort of baby shower.  Dora was a Big Sister!  Her mother had just had a baby.  Dora and Boots were pretty stoked and wanted to see the baby.

I was actually getting confused.  Her mother just gave birth but she was visiting her at home.  How could this be?!  Does her country have an expedited hospital release policy of 10 minutes after birth?!

Dora and Boots went into her parent’s bedroom and Dora was excited to see the baby.  The mom and dad said there was a surprise.  Dora peeks in the cradle and finds that there are twins, a boy and girl.  She also woke the babies up.  Her mother and father didn’t seem upset, which is totally unrealistic.  In my house, “You wake ‘em, you take ‘em!”

They rock and sing to the babies and put them back in the cradle together.

Now, was this a Homebirth?!

I had not seen the entire episode.  Maybe she had the babies earlier than I thought, although I got the distinct impression she literally just had the babies, which is why Dora was there.  But, I went back and found clips of the show on Youtube (poor quality) and rewatched it.  Yes, her mommy gave birth to TWINS at HOME!  Go Dora’s Mom!

While it is never stated, you can tell they never left home and the babies came there.  Of course this is a cartoon.  There are no doctors or midwives present, although it could be assumed that out of the family in the living room maybe the grandmother helped in the process.  Or maybe the midwife already left?  I don’t think the writers are wanting you to assume she had a UC (unassisted childbirth) but you never know.  My own homebirth midwife had just delivered a set of twins for a mother at her home 2 weeks before my birth.  People do it, and can do it!  And before hospitals, you had to!  Twins certainly existed before births moved to hospitals.

Will children pick up on this? My son is too young to understand babies and birth.  One day he will know he was born in a hospital and his brother was born at home.  Maybe he will see this again and ask if those babies were born at home.  Maybe older kids will see it and wonder why the mommy isn’t in the hospital?  And if those kids have been exposed to homebirth, they might automatically assume she had those babies at home!

I don’t know if Nick Jr. is meaning to expose kids to an alternative method of having babies (doubtful) or if they are just avoiding any mention of “birth” by having the parents at home versus a hospital, where births take place for most people.

The babies are given bottles; you can’t win all the battles.  However, while browsing for the episode I found a Dora doll where she wears both babies in a sling.  It was small victory since the babies are a. facing out and b. being fed a bottle.

If you want to see for yourself you can view the crummy YouTube videos, you only need to watch part 2 (begin around 3:40) and part 3.

If you want to own the episode there is actually a DVD called Dora the Explorer – Big Sister Dora on Amazon.com (aff link) with this episode and a couple of others.

A few weeks ago I was in downright denial that I would be bringing another human being into this world.  Perhaps because he delayed his arrival for so long that I didn’t feel it was ever going to happen.  Or maybe because my pregnancy was so easy I often forgot I was, even at 30+ weeks.

I couldn’t deny labor when it started with a bang, and on October 20, 2010 I gave birth at home to my second son, Everett.  It was amazing!

I have had over 6 weeks to get used to life with two children.  And my son has also had time to adjust to being a big brother.  I think some kids were born to be siblings and Fletcher is one.  He is the most caring, loving, attentive big brother.  When he hears Everett cry he says “baby” and wants to run over to help.  His helping consists of patting, rubbing, kissing, or saying “awww.”  It makes my heart melt every time.

Somehow, having a brother has also made my toddler a better behaved boy.  He naps easier and for longer stretches.  He sleeps all night again (mostly).  He plays alone more often.  Of course, he gets into trouble, but this is to be expected of a 2 year old!

There was a part of me that was terrified of having another baby.  In the planning stages it seemed like a wonderful idea and I could think of nothing more than getting pregnant, having that growing baby inside me, and giving birth, then breastfeeding another little human.  But the closer I got to delivery, the more hesitations arose.  I still felt like my toddler needed me so much.  He nursed until I was 20 weeks pregnant and weaned at around 18 months.  He took it very well which made me sad.  Still, he was my little baby.  I soaked up the final weeks with him and cuddled him every chance I got.

I also had a weird fear that I wouldn’t want to nurse this baby.  This baby was foreign to me.  I loved my nursing time with Fletcher.  I especially loved co-sleeping with him.  With the new baby coming we had to get him in his own bed.  It was a struggle for us both.  I still want to have him sleep with us.  If I had a king size bed I would.

The new baby was changing the dynamics of our entire family in ways I didn’t anticipate so early on.  It is hard to imagine when your baby is still so young when you become pregnant again what they will be doing in 9 months.  Will they be eating independently with utensils?  Will they walk alongside you?  Will they sleep all night by then?  Will they still be nursing?

As far as the new baby, Everett, he has shown me many things.  First of all, he has proved to me that no two babies are the same, even if they do look a LOT alike.

Fletcher had a terrible latch and had to be taught to nurse.  He was 3 months old when I decided we had things down pat.  Everett was tongue tied but as soon as his tongue was clipped he was a pro.  We had it down pat at 1.5 weeks, and only due to the clipping.  Had he not been tongue tied I think we would have had it on day 1.

But even though he is a great latcher, he only nurses for food.  He does not nurse to sleep very often at all.  Fletcher HAD to be nursed to sleep 90% of the time and was still getting nursed to sleep until the day he weaned.  Suddenly he decided rocking was enough, and that was that.  Everett will fall asleep in my arms, but also after being laid down under the right conditions.

Everett will take a bottle of expressed breast milk!  This is a joyous discovery.  Fletcher never took one and I never left his side for over a year.  I only felt comfortable leaving him for 1, maybe 2 hours, if I did leave.  We have a babysitter come for 4 hours every Friday to let me run errands and now I know I can leave Everett with her when I need to and when I feel comfortable.

Also, Everett began smiling very early, at 3 weeks and 2 days, and now smiles a lot!  Fletcher didn’t start until he was almost 3 months.  Fletcher is still a serious child, maybe Everett will be a little more fun loving?

As for life with two, I think I have adjusted very well.  I assumed I would be stressed and super busy all the time, which is kinda of true, but not in a “I can’t handle this” sort of way.  There are days when Everett is screaming and Fletcher is whining and I want to crawl in a hole and disappear.  But, most days, I enjoy having both very much and think it is better than just one.  I change a lot more diapers and clean a lot more puke, wash a lot more clothes, and have way less time for myself than before.  My house is also never as clean as I want it to be and it drives me nuts.

So yeah, I have created two little humans.  Crazy!

When my sons took a 3.5 hour nap I managed to edit a video compiling the photos from my homebirth.  There are no graphic images, in case you wondering.

This pregnancy I decided to take more belly pictures since I took virtually none the first time around.  I managed to remember almost every single week unless we were out of town. The first photo I took I had my hair towel in, and was in underwear.  That sort of became the trend to keep it consistent.  The quality of the photos in’t that great since I used my iPhone.  This was probably my last pregnancy so I am glad I will have a special way to remember it.

Everett made his way into the world on October 20, 2010 at 6:44 am.  This is how it went down.

At around 1:30 in the morning my son, Fletcher, who is 23 months old, was yelling for “Mama” from his bed.  I went in to give him a cuddle and get him back to sleep.  I had mild contractions which were more uncomfortable with 25 pounds on my lap but I had those often at night.  He went to sleep right away and I crawled back in bed.  I may have dozed off, or may not have.  I remember feeling a contraction with a little pain at 2 am.  I laid in bed and waited for more but I had a feeling this was it.  I had 2 more that felt around 5-7 minutes apart so I got up to begin timing.  I sat on my birth ball, turned on a DVRed soap from over a week ago and used my iPhone App to time.  I was getting them every 6 minutes, and they lasted for 1 minute.  Some came closer.  Then very quickly they went to 4 minutes apart and I was already having to breathe through them.  I went back into my bedroom and told my husband I thought this was it!  I wanted to take a shower to relieve the pain and also see if they slowed down at all before calling the midwife.  A few nights prior I had irregular, but painful contractions, for a few hours.  The shower seemed to slow them back down so I wanted to test that.

They kept up through the shower which made “showering” more difficult.  I wanted to shave my legs but I gave that up.  I did try to do a little personal grooming since I knew there would be an audience seeing my goods soon.  That was a joke too since I couldn’t see a thing.   I did my best, as I always tried to do.

I called my doula from the bathroom and told her to come over since things were moving quickly.  I still kept saying I “think” this is it.

I got dressed, did my makeup, dried my hair, and went back to my birth ball.  By then I was really feeling things and told my husband to call the midwife.  She asked a few questions.  My husband answered as best he could but honestly I gave up timing a while ago so I had no clue where we were.  She could hear me breathing through in the background and she knew it was the real deal.  We called her at around 3:45 am.  She had a 1.5 hour drive to our house.  Directly after Steven called our other midwife, who was 50 minutes away, and she left as well.

Next, Steven had to bring the birth tub upstairs and begin filling it.  At this stage I was trying to find my rthym.  I was past the point of simply breathing through.  I began vocalizing but hadn’t really found the right tone or movements to cope with the pain.  Steven put pressure on my back when he could.  Shortly after my doula arrived.  I hardly noticed her.  I was pacing the bedroom and moaning through the contractions, which at this point felt around 3 minutes apart.  I did get nauseous and had to vomit.  I knew this was a good sign.  It felt nice to throw up.  My doula helped by getting me water and making sure I was drinking, and rubbed my back through a few more contractions while I leaned on the bed.

Sue, the closest midwife, arrived at 4:55 am.  I also hardly noticed.  I think I may have been vomiting again when she came in.  At this point I was just expelling water.  She started setting up the supplies we had gathered beforehand for our birth kit and her own safety equipment.  She was very concerned with the temperature of the water and wanted it to be cooler.

I felt bad because I was ignorning everyone in the room.  Pacing and moaning were doing the most good to get through each contraction.  They were close together and very strong.  My legs were getting tired from the pacing.  My other midwife arrived and everyone was busy getting things prepped.  I had my blood pressure checked and the doppler was used a few times to check on the baby’s heart rate.  He was doing great and stayed in the 130′s.

Soon the tub was full and I was ready to get in.  My husband helped me into a swim suit.  I was irratated that he couldn’t get it figured out and had no patience to help him.  After getting in the tub a contraction hit and I was again nauseous.  A bowl was soon in front of me.  I started out sitting but realized this wasn’t working.  Every time a contraction came I curled up then stretched and writhed around, almost having my body under the water completely.  I had to again find a way to handle the contractions in this new environment.  The water felt nice and warm and seemed to help.

With doula, Michelle

I only had a few contractions before I started to feel pressure.  There were a few contractions with longer breaks.  I remember enjoying this time and trying to relax my body as completely as possible while I had the chance.  I drank water and my doula and husband switch places.  Now my husband was in front of me holding my hand.  I was draped over the side of the tub and kneeling for the pushing stage.

Husband taking over

I remember being in shock and disbelief that the pushing stage was here.  My body knew what to do.  My midwife told me to let a few contractions work to push the baby down for me.  I made it through those first few without the intense urge to bear down.  Then for the next few pushes I couldn’t have held back if I had wanted to.  Every contraction I was bearing down hard and felt a very intense urge to push in my bottom.  Luckily my body had already cleaned itself out during active labor so when doing so I didn’t have a bowel movement.

The gallery behind me

The midwives had placed a hand mirror at the bottom of the pool and were keeping an eye on the progress.  I was gripping my husband’s hand tightly each time I pushed.  My leaning over the pool was making a lot of water come out so hubby asked me to lean on him.

This marked the head coming out.  It was a perfect time to change positions.  I was more upright.  My legs were extremely weak from the walking earlier, and shaking from the pain of the contractions.  I was worried I would collapse.  At any time if my bottom touched the floor of the pool I hated the feeling and recoiled in pain.

Feeling the head

My midwife announced that she could see dark hair.  I asked how many more pushes.  I was getting tired.  She estimated 4-5.  I worked with each contraction and pushed the head out.  My water never broke and when I reached to feel the head I was touching the membranes.  It finally broke when the head was almost out.  It took 3-4 pushes for the head to come out completely.  He played a mean game of peek-a-boo.  I remember making a remark about it and my midwife assured me I wouldn’t lose ground and to let it go in.  Between pushes I relaxed despite the lovely burning sensation.  I believe as the nose was coming I felt the most pain and knew I did tear.  Then, another push and the body was out!

I think the midwives were behind me helping guide him out but I couldn’t see.  I moved to a sitting position and took my baby to my chest.  It was a weird timeless moment.  I knew things were going on around but I was oblivious to it all.  The moment I saw him and held him I was escatic and was saying “Oh my god!  He is here!”  The entire pushing phase I envisioned him slipping out and grabbing him as the ultimate reward and goal, and there he was!  He was wrapped up in the cord and by putting him to my chest it was tugging at my insides.  We all worked to unwrap his leg, then his abdomen.  He then stayed on my chest while my husband and I stared at him.  My husband gave me a kiss and told me he loved me and he had tears in his eyes.

Grabbing the baby

It didn’t take very long for the placenta to come out.  Another contraction, a quick push, and it was finished.  My husband cut the cord at this point.  Everett stayed on my chest and was very content.  He settled down after that initial cry and just laid there.  I inspected his features and knew he was bigger than my first son.

After a good 10 minutes I was ready to get out of the tub and into bed.  Before the birth I was concerned about after the delivery and laying in a pool of what was surely a mix of urine, blood, and possibly feces.  Let me tell you, you don’t care!

And I couldn’t have planned the timing better, because right after the baby was born my son woke up and walked into the room!  I was so happy to see him and have him meet his little brother.  He was drowsy and a little disoriented.  Seeing a room full of people at 7 am had to have been confusing, but he came over and met the baby.

The midwives had laid a trail of chux pads from the tub to my bed.  They took Everett and gave him to my husband, and he had removed his shirt to keep the baby warm.  They replaced his wet hat and blanket with a fresh set.  I was guided to the bed and I crawled in on hands and knees.  I was shivering badly.  A top was given to me, and then I got Everett back so that I could nurse him.  He latched on right away and was able to nurse on both sides.  In the meantime, I was examined and it was determined that I had a small tear that needed stitches.  A topical numbing spray (that burns!) was applied and I had 2 internal stitches and 2 external.  The external ones were a little ouchy.

My silly boy

The room was cleaned up, my husband got to use the pump he assembled to drain the birth tub.  This was a crazy time because my son was roaming around trying to get into the numerous things he shouldn’t.  Luckily my doula and the photographer kept him busy.  My doula grabbed food for me and made sure I was getting food!  That was lovely!

Everett was weighed and measured.  He was 8 pounds, 8 ounces and 20.5 inches long!

Weighing baby

Hubby brought in a few glasses of Champagne and we toasted to baby Everett.

Cheers!

Soon everything was gone, the people left, and it was just the 4 of us!  My labor had only lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes.  I couldn’t have done it without the support team I had in place.  Even though I kept to myself for most of my labor, just hearing someone telling me how great it was going, or how wonderful I was doing, made all the difference.  I am especially proud of my husband, who is very squeamish normally.  He was a trooper!

Immediately after delivery.

Snuggling mommy after our first nursing session

First diaper ever at 4 hours old, cloth of course

Happy Birthday to Everett!  Born at home at 6:45 am after 4 hours and 45 minutes of labor.  41 weeks and 3 days pregnant.  He weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  Worth every minute!  I tweeted my birth, you can read my stream on twitter.com/kimrosas.  Can’t wait to tell you more!

I am patiently (mostly) waiting to go into labor.  As of now I am 5 days “overdue” if my due date is to be trusted.  The thing is, my baby takes directions pretty well.  Here is why:

First, my in-laws, who are going to drive here from North Carolina (12 hours), couldn’t come until after the 8th.  I waited until the 8th and felt relief when that date passed.  It will be nice to have them here to play with Fletcher.

Then, my main midwife was going to be out of town the 8th through the 11th.  I have been seeing 2 midwives but she is the CNM.  The evening of the 11th arrived and the baby was still baking.  Midwife called and said she was back in town, all systems go.  Sweet.

Around this time my husband had a nasty cold and was acting like the biggest baby on the planet.  Here I am waddling around, with a giant thing inside me, and he is being pitiful and absolutely NO HELP around the house.  Also, bringing a newborn into cold infested air sucks.  Now he is over it.

My husband has also been super busy at work with a big project.  He goes in early, he comes home late, and he works in the evening from home.  Seems like this is going to be done after this week so he can be off of work without working from home as much and stressing about this.  That is good news.

The biggest worry has been that my toddler has regressed in his sleeping habits.  For the past 3 weeks he has been waking at night.  He screams and won’t go back to his bed, when normally I can just give him a cuddle and he will go back to sleep in his bed.  So he started sleeping with us at least half of the night again.  2 nights ago I decided it had to end before the baby arrived.  He woke twice that night and I managed to get him back to sleep in his bed both times.  Last night he slept all night in his bed again!  Please say he is over this!  What a wonderful thing that would be!  The great thing is that I actually just talked to him and told him he was a big boy and needed to sleep in his bed.  He nodded and said “yeah” and let me put him in bed that night.  Amazing!  He is growing up so fast!

The last thing on my list I wanted to do was see Jackass 3D.  I am going to try and see it today.  My hope is I will laugh until my water breaks!

Do you think my little tummy baby is really listening for the perfect time to come out? I do, because anytime before today would have been less than perfect.  He is welcome to come any day now!

After some thought I did decide that I will be live tweeting my homebirth! Due to the unpredictable nature of labor I don’t know when/ how often I will update.  I have told my husband what I want done and he will take over updates once I get to a point where I would rather not be tweeting.

So, here are the details:

Follow me on Twitter if you aren’t already. @KimRosas

Watch my updates.  When I do go into labor, I will begin tweeting with the #twitterbirth hashtag.  If I am lucky, no one else will be tweeting their birth with this hashtag as well.  This way, you could search for it (or just read my stream) to see all of my updates.

Not on Twitter and you don’t want to join?  I will be choosing some updates to also be shared on my Facebook Fan Page (Facebook.com/dirtydiaperlaundry). If we update with less frequency I may share them all.  I just don’t want to overtake anyone’s feed!

In addition, I will post to the blog once I go into labor (a pre-written blog post will go up just reminding you to follow Twitter/Facebook for the updates.)

I will be signing my updates as -K, my husband will be -S, and if my doula gets in on the action she will be -M.

You are welcome to root me on by tweeting back at me or by commenting on a facebook update.  I will keep Tweetgrid open to view replies for a good morale boost if I need it!

Less than 2 weeks until my due date, so let’s just say I should definitely have a baby within the next 4 weeks!

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant.  I am full term.  The baby *should* be fully developed, lungs mature, ready to meet me whenever he is ready.  I am hoping for later rather than sooner.  He seems pretty cozy in there for now.  I had to reach 37 weeks in order for me to give birth at home and today is the day.  Holy Crap.

Hi Belly!

I am stressing because now my house has to stay clean.  Try telling that to my husband and son!  While I am going to admit that I feel pretty darn good for 37 weeks, picking toys up off the floor, constantly washing, drying, folding, putting away clothes, and washing dishes is not as easy as it was a few months ago.  I tried to convey this to my husband but I still see a sink full of dishes.  I tried to tell my son and he still threw a bunch of books on the floor.  *sigh*

My back up birth tub will arrive tomorrow according to UPS.  I am aiming to rent an AquaDoula but if the mother currently renting it doesn’t deliver in time before me then I have a back-up Fishy Pool.  My birth kit is pretty much stocked except for paper towels (we don’t use them anymore so I have to remember to buy them!) and a naturally sweetened Gatorade alternative since I cannot have the real stuff with Gestational Diabetes.  My tiny diapers are laid out along with a tiny t-shirt and a tiny blanket and a tiny hat.

The funny thing is, I have NO CLUE what this kid is going to look like.  I dreamed about my first son.  We had a few 4D ultrasounds and could tell he had pouty lips and a tiny chin like me.  This boy hasn’t even let us see a profile when we had ultrasounds.  I can’t even guess what nose and chin he has.  Will he have dark hair like Daddy, or will he have my blonde hair like my son?

I can’t say I am feeling excited, or nervous, or dread.  I am trying to relish the time I have left as a mother of one.  I am giving extra cuddles to my boy and loving on him like there is no tomorrow.  I keep telling him about the baby in my belly, which he likes to blow raspberries on, roll his toy cars over, and lift his shirt to bump his belly against.  Sometimes, he points to his belly and says “baby.”  He might be a little confused.  Hey, he is only 22 months!

I keep trying to imagine what the birth is going to be like.  I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing.  In my mind, I will go to 40 weeks or later.  I will have a long labor, but I will have a lot of support.  But what if I go next week?  And what if my labor isn’t that long?  I kind of want a somewhat long labor since I have to get my midwife here (1.5 hour commute).  I need time to make sure my house is ready in case it wasn’t before.  I need time to mentally prepare myself to give birth again!  This time, drug free!

Then what?  I will have a new nursling and a rambunctious and lovable toddler.  I want to think this is my last baby.  I feel like it is.  We will see.

In case you are wondering, I do plan on Tweeting and Facebooking during my labor.  My husband or doula will likely take over as things progress and I want to throw things.  I will use a #twitterbirth hashtag.  If it is me tweeting I will sign “-K” and if it is hubby, he will be “-S.”  If my doula decides to take a turn expect an “M.”  There may or may not be non graphic photos involved.  I might tweet often, I might only tweet every hour or longer.  I don’t know how this whole thing is going down!  If you aren’t already, follow me on Twitter- @KimRosas- and “like” me on Facebook – Dirty Diaper Laundry Fan Page- so you will get an update as I go into labor.

If you read everything on this page, congratulations, you just read a stream of consciousness, unedited blog post from the brain of a pregnant lady!