When it comes to food I just can’t catch a break.  While pregnant I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes around 28 weeks.  This meant I couldn’t have many carbs and had to control my blood sugars by eating on a schedule and spacing out the carbs I was allowed in small bits.

After having Everett I ate whatever I wanted and it was awesome!  Cakes, cookies, ice cream, and lots of Starbucks!  I noticed that Ev was a very cranky baby in the evenings and he could not be consoled.  He wouldn’t comfort nurse, rocking did nothing, and he looked like he was in pain.  Anytime he was awake he was crying unless he was eating, but the evenings were pure Hell.  I spent hours a day bouncing him on a Yoga Ball.  This was the only thing that could stop his crying, but even that wasn’t 100%.

After deciding this just wasn’t normal I looked at possible causes. Could it be reflux?  Cluster feeding with usual fussiness?  Dairy allergy or sensitivity?  Gas?

The only thing I could really do was eliminate Dairy and see if that helped.  At least it would narrow things down.  I was hoping it would show no improvement because I really didn’t want to have to give up dairy.  After a week with no dairy I was bummed that he was less fussy.  To test this I then added dairy back in to see if he would get fussy again.  Guess what?  He totally did.  Ugh.

So, I went 13.5 weeks carbless, and for the forseeable future, I am now dairyless.

Why me?

I realize this is for a great cause, as was cutting carbs for my GD.  Still, the fact that a gigantic dessert with milk in it arrived ON MY DOOR STEP as a gift from a friend doesn’t make it easier.

Now, I am going to admit to everyone that I don’t really cook.  And I suck at making a grocery list.  Usually we run out of something twice a week, and we never have any meals planned.  I have no idea what to eat for breakfast besides pop tarts and bananas (and we are out of both currently).  I can survive on PB&J and Ramen but I know I should eat healthier than that.

So……. I know many of you have had to live the dairy free lifestyle.  Luckily he doesn’t have a protein allergy (we did have his stool tested for blood to be safe) so he is just senstive to lactose.  I am only cutting straight milk, yogurt, cheese, and things with obvious dairy like creamy soups etc.  He has shown improvement though he is still fussy at night.  He is able to be calmed though and it doesn’t last hours like before.  Newborns are fussy, I can live with this level of it and I’m sure it is normal.

I’d love to hear advice from those of you in the same boat.  What kind of meals did you make (especially breakfast, but no eggs… I only like them with cheese!)?  What did you use to satisfy your craving for cookies and milk?  Is there any way to disguise the nuttiness of soy milk in a latte?!  Will anything that is meant to taste like milk ever actually taste good?!

Image Credit: Flickr User Cindy Funk using the Creative Common License

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.

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!

Today is THE day on the calendar that has a little heart on it.  It is 10-10-10 which has been my due date since my first ultrasound all those months ago!

Let me tell you, I have been in denial about having a baby.  Today was the day I was REALLY hoping to have my son so that he could have an awesome birthday.  It doesn’t look like that is going to happen.  I have had contractions today since 12:45, every 15 minutes apart.  No pain, just tightness.  And they don’t seem to be getting any closer together.  Being that it is almost 4 pm it is unlikely things are going to get going fast enough to have this kid by midnight.

In my head I am suffering from the mainstream medical notion that I should have had a baby by now.  Logically, I know this is not the case.  It is an “estimated due date” and not an “expiration date.”  I don’t need an induction or a C Section because baby isn’t here yet.  He is working on things so hopefully I meet him soon.  Still, I can’t help wishing he were here! (and as I type that I get another contraction, woo hoo!)

I will be sure to let you know how things progress.  We might have a baby by tomorrow.  Or maybe this will all evaporate and he will come later.

Full frontal, stretch marks and all!

Side View: Shirt is working hard!

Taken Today: 40 Weeks!

As my due date approaches I decided it would be fun to take guesses on when Shrimpy will make his appearance!  I have set up an ExpectNet.com Poll where you can play the game to guess the weight, gender (boy, you already know!), and Delivery Day.  Sounds like fun, right?

The winner (closest to the actual stats) will win 10 extra entries into any giveaway!  You can bank those entries for one of the super giveaways coming up in November also!  So, go take a guess.  Have fun!

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!

The trouble with adding a new member to the family, along with the adjustment period with a new baby and a toddler, is mainly: where  am I going to put all of this baby crap? I recently washed most of the baby’s new clothing and folded it (or, I should say the babysitter did it for me!) but I had no clue where it was going to go.  In my mind I am not even sure where the baby is going to be getting changed or dressed.

The plan is for the baby to sleep in bed with us at first for nights, and I will put the baby in the Hushamok hammock for naps.  And hey, if the baby really loves the hammock, I will throw him in there at night too.  It will be right next to my bed so I can get him whenever I need to nurse him .  He will need changing in the middle of the night but I won’t want to wake my son, so I am going to not only need somewhere to change him (on the bed?) I need a place to put his diapers.  I will also need a wet bag for our room.

During the day I will change the baby on the changing table in my son’s room, most likely.  Unless my older son is napping.  Then bedroom again.  I feel like a nomad of diaper changing and he isn’t even here yet.

Same goes for clothing changes, which I am sure will be frequent.  My first son had massive spit ups until he was 10 months old!  No, he did not have reflux or food/ dairy allergies.  I was just lucky I guess.  We went through gobs of outfits and burp cloths.  I feel like I need 2 wardrobes; 1 for our room and one for “playroom” bedroom.  Same for a stash of burp cloths.  ACK!

As it stands, the changing table in my older son’s room is stuffed with diapers and inserts.  I have 6 baskets, 3 full of diapers, 1 full of extra inserts and cloth wipes, 1 with the “overflow” of diapers, and one with newborn diapers and wet bags.  But I need the newborn diapers in the top basket, not the bottom one.  I have to rearrange my whole system to accommodate.  At this time my top 3 baskets are arranged, left to right: Daddy Friendly Diapers, Daddy “meh” diapers (he can use most but he doesn’t like to), and Daddy Don’t Touch (diapers I need to review or ones he sucks at putting on).  Now one needs to be Newborn Diapers. (I included my changing table tour from a few months ago)

I am also unsure where I am going to put the Mamaroo, which I am so excited to be reviewing!  Will the livingroom be good for it?  If the baby naps in it will the livingroom be too noisy or unsafe (think- toddler who likes poking eyes).  Then, should the bedroom be a good home?

None of these things were issues with my first son.  I could do whatever I pleased and I had a wonderful 9 months of nesting!  Now I don’t feel the need for any nesting.  I have no desire to wash and fold tiny baby clothes and I certainly don’t feel like rearranging furniture or drawers of clothing.  My birth kit still needs some things and I am slacking.

With Fletcher I was very excited about the “stuff” and arranging it (and of course having a new baby).  With this baby I am excited about the birth and how my son will bond with him.

As an organized person, this drives me nuts!  I need order!

Any tips on having 2 young children, 1 “bedroom,” and no storage space?!?

Since we have switched over to having a homebirth versus birthing in the hospital with this baby, I knew I should do some reading.  Pretty much everyone told me I should read “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.”
I had already heard of Ina May, who is referred to as “The World’s Most famous Midwife.”

Let me first say that I don’t think of myself as the “hippie” type.  While I certainly seem to do many crunchy things (cloth diaper, co-sleep, “extended” breastfeeding, EC, etc) to most people I seem like a regular Joe.  Outwardly, I don’t dress the part.  I do not own birkenstocks.  My clothing is fairly mainstream.  I have never been to a drum circle.  And so on.  Not to say being crunchy or a hippie or dressing in birkenstocks is bad.  It just isn’t me.

Ina May’s first book, “Spiritual Midwifery” was also recommended, but I was warned it had very “granola” language.  So I went with her second book.  The first part of the book is dedicated to birth stories.  I was very glad to see this because reading other homebirth and birth center stories is reassuring.  Every person had a different experience, everyone coped with the pain in different ways, but all the babies were born healthy and happy.  I picked up many useful tips from reading the stories of other women.  The most useful lesson from all of the stories was that the midwives and labor support are invaluable to helping you manage your pain.  I see how having skillful and experienced support can really change the mood of a mother from “Holy Shit I am in Pain and I Want Drugs.” to “I can do this because there is someone here telling me I can, and they know, they have seen hundreds others do it too.”

I do not believe I am the sort of human who can use the “mind over matter” techniques.  I doubt imagining a beach will erase my labor pains.  And while I really want to believe that reciting mantras about opening my cervix and making my vagina “huge” to get the baby out will do the trick, I am slightly skeptical.  Oh how I wish the power of words worked in this way.

While I was reading this book a friend of mine came from out of town to visit.  She picked it up and read a few birth stories.  Later, she commented that she would be happy to strip and lay in bed with me naked while I labored.  I politely declined her obviously joking offer.

I do plan to stay dressed while laboring, or at least wear a top while in the tub.  I have a birthing skirt from Binsi I plan to wear before I get into the tub as well.

The second half of the book is more about facts.  While I certainly enjoyed reading the birth stories, I think some of the chapters in the second half of the book were even more helpful.  Understanding how a practice of midwives can have such an amazing record of births (1.4% C-Section rate) makes you understand that your body does, and should work, as long as you have the right tools and assistance.

I recently remembered something that my mother told me when I was very young.  She told me that my pediatrician said I could never have a vaginal birth because I was “too small.”  This was a fact I was aware of in high school.  I do recall telling my high school sweetheart that if we had children I would have to have a C-Section.  The fact faded from memory and I don’t believe it even crossed my mind when I was pregnant with my first son.  I went on to have a vaginal delivery, though I was induced.

Needless to say, understanding how so many women have been convinced their bodies are not capable of birthing a child, who then go on to trust a doctor who is so obviously clueless, makes sense to me.  If I did not get information from books and online about these things, maybe I would have ended up with a different outcome.  Already, I let my OB tell me I needed to be induced because of my Gestational Diabetes, which was so in control it was ridiculous.  I didn’t realize he also probably wanted to avoid working on Thanksgiving…..

I was also happy with how Ina May differintiated between a true Emergency C-Section and one which was caused in some way by the doctor, or scheduled for no good reason.  I know many mothers who ended up with C-Sections feel as if blogs take it lightly.  I feel as strongly as ever that doctors are the main cause of C-Sections.  Not small pelvises.  When the C-Section rate is highest at 6 PM and 10PM there is a problem.

I had my home visit with my midwives yesterday and we once again talked about my son’s birth for a few minutes.  I told them after reading Ina May’s book, I am grateful I had a vaginal birth, since so many factors were against me.  They agreed, and joked about how my lying in bed with my legs pulled back was a ridiculous way to give birth, and that no wonder I pushed for 3 hours!

In the book this position is explained.  Women haven’t been giving birth this way forever.  Most were upright, on all fours, squatting, holding onto a rope, etc.  This position became popular when forceps were invented.  This was the easiest and best position for a forceps delivery.  In another book I read, it chronicled the invention of the forceps and their rise to fashion.  Pretty much everyone was using them shortly after they were made available to the public.

So why the heck do doctors tell us to lay in bed when this is the opposite of what we need?!  Granted, many women are under the influence of drugs and cannot get out of bed.

Also, the “Sphincter Law” chapter made so much sense!  I would not be able to poop with a strange and untrusted doctor watching me, and giving birth is no different.

I wish I could go on forever about how much I enjoyed reading this book and how it has helped me feel more confident in my decision to give birth at home.  As crazy as it sounds, I am looking forward to going into labor.  I want to see how I handle an unmedicated birth.  I know homebirth isn’t for everyone, but it makes so much sense to me now.  I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams doing this 2 years ago.  Now, I can’t imagine not doing this.

Bonus:  33 Weeks Pregnant