30 weeks

30 weeks pregnant (4/15/12)

Jacob and I believe in preparing for and having as natural a childbirth as possible. Because this is our belief and our goal, I thought I'd break down why.

As it is with most young couples, there was a time when we didn't know much about birth or have any opinions. We were getting closer to wanting a baby and found ourselves watching The Business of Being Born one night when we lived in Seattle. The documentary explores the history of birth, specifically in America, and raises some very valid questions: i.e. why are our Cesarean rates so high and why has birth in our country changed so much in the last 50-100 years? The underlying premise of the documentary is that birth has become, unnecessarily and not to our advantage, overmedicalized.

When we were pregnant with Jack, this movie plus some subsequent reading on my part led us to the Bradley Method childbirth classes. The Bradley Method, also called Husband Coached Childbirth, espouses viewing pregnancy and birth as normal events (not sicknesses or illnesses to treat), the importance of good nutrition and exercise during pregnancy, and using relaxation and coaching during labor as opposed to medications for pain relief, and the primacy of the woman and the husband as the key players during a birth.

We went to 12 classes, read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, and entered my labor intellectually prepared for a non-medicated birth. We felt strongly that this was the best choice for us and this conviction and mindset is what I attribute to my successful natural childbirth. My labor with Jack was long (27 hours) and pretty hard the last 5 hours or so. At some point on the afternoon of December 3, 2009, I was no longer thinking clearly, but I had Jacob with me throughout to keep me focused and doing the things we learned help bring a baby along (walking, changing positions, trying to relax, etc.) We also had clearly communicated our birth plan and our desire to have a natural childbirth to the hospital/nurses and they all were supportive as well. I specifically remember my third labor nurse arriving a little after 7pm (Jack was born at 8:38pm) and I remember begging her to help me and she just kept telling me to listen to Jacob and what he was telling me to do, which in hindsight I very much appreciate her honoring our wishes.

I want to have a second natural childbirth for 3 reasons. First, I believe that birth is a normal event and that the body has an amazing process in place to bring a baby into the world. I think that once you start altering that process (with any of a long list of possible interventions), then you are actually getting in your own way and hindering the body's ability to bring out the baby in the most efficient and least painful way. Second, I think that an unmedicated birth positions both the mother and the baby to be in the best possible places to bond, start breastfeeding, and just to in general start motherhood after the birth. Lastly, I found it to be an empowering experience and something I feel really good about.

In the effort of full disclosure, let me be clear that I don't think I handled my first birth gracefully AT ALL! I repeatedly was asking to die (in all seriousness), along with begging for all kinds of help. I don't think I was particularly brave and I give a lot of credit to Jacob for making sure we didn't veer way off of our plan. My goal this time is to not fight the contractions because I think that makes them more painful (tensing up as opposed to relaxing). I also think I'll be going in with more perspective since the scariest thing last time was that I didn't know how the whole experience was going to play out and I couldn't imagine the pain ending. This time I know that labor does lead to a birth and the pain pretty much goes away instantaneously when the baby is born. I also think I've had some life experiences that will make me be braver and I hope that I will remember those during this birth.

Now I know you get THIS at the end!!

I will definitely let you know how it all turns out! In the meantime, I do highly recommend the Bradley Method courses as they really do educate you and your partner A LOT about the whole spectrum of pregnancy, birth, and early parenting!

Week Thirty Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 30 weeks: Feeling pretty good still - backache has not come back; have leveled off to about 20 contractions a day, so they are not too disruptive. I did feel pretty tired this week, but I also ran out of iron pills, so hopefully now that I'm back on them, I won't feel so wiped out.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (Yes!)

2) Read four chapters in Bradley book and continue reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (Yes!)

3) Cook 4 healthy meals for my family and don't forget to take my iron pills (More like 3 and I was out of iron for several days)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Midwifery appointment on Wednesday

2) Keep reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days this week

3) Do one practice relaxation exercise with Jacob from Bradley book

4) Finish up the requirements of my La Leche League Leader certification

29 weeks

29 weeks pregnant (4/8/12)

Happy Easter to all! This week has given me the chance to do a lot of reflecting. Jacob and I were so lucky to stumble immediately upon Rayne United Methodist Church when we moved to New Orleans almost 3 years ago. It was the first church we visited and we both really liked it.

Over the past few years we have truly loved our pastor, Callie Crawford, and both her messages from the pulpit (she's one of the few ministers who can keep my mind from wandering!!) and the way she ministers to her church family. This past year especially has really cemented Rayne as our church family.

Having attended one church in one city as a child, I know it is a special thing to grow up with this type of extended family. I love going home and visiting my church now. My parents have been part of the same Sunday School class since I was a child. Jacob and I are now part of a small Sunday School class that we helped start last fall and it has been such a blessing. We are 7 couples with similar age children so we have a lot in common and it is SO helpful to be reading and discussing the topic of grace-based parenting and exploring our own spirituality.

I also am doing a year long bible study led by our minister that has me reading scripture daily to get a broad survey of the Bible. I was initially unsure how good I'd be about this, but now I'm finding I love doing it and am also getting so much out these readings!

There are four families that I know of - some well, some not so well that are going through very challenging situations right now. They have been on my mind a lot and in my prayers and I hope they are getting the same peace I have gotten from this Easter week - that there is a world beyond this one, without pain and suffering.

As I'm reminded frequently, parenting is NOT an easy job in any sense of the word, but it is such a blessing and I hope that I will always turn to God for guidance and renewal. I also pray that I am mindful daily of the example I am setting for Jack and that I will know how to teach him about God's love for him. I am truly grateful that I have found a church family to help me with this responsibility.

Week Twenty-Nine Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 29 weeks: Feeling pretty good right now, although BIG (see evidence below). I could write a whole post on pregnancy dreams, but let's just say that sleep continues to be interrupted and not all that comfortable. Thanks to Jacob for calming me down after particularly disturbing dreams :) I guess this is nature's way of preparing you (and your husband) for baby nights!

Both shots at 29 weeks with Baby Cora

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (did okay with this)

2) Read three more chapters in my Bradley book (yes)

3) Midwife check-up (we went to every 2 weeks which I will continue since I'm now in the 3rd trimester) (yes - things are good with the exception that my blood work showed I am anemic, so I'm now on twice daily iron supplements)

4) Cook 3-4 healthy meals for my family (yes!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week

2) Read four chapters in Bradley book and continue reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

3) Cook 4 healthy meals for my family and don't forget to take my iron pills

28 weeks

28 weeks pregnant (4/1/12)

Time for a little update on how things are going getting our house together/getting ready for baby! I made this to-do list in early February, so 2 months later, here's where we stand:

To-Do List Before Baby
1) Jack's Room: Buy big boy furniture and move Jack from nursery to big boy bed in his room - Jack is sleeping in a big boy bed in his room now! I still want to buy a new dresser, hang curtains, and put artwork up, which may or may not happen before baby!

Initial set-up pre-big boy bed

New set-up with big boy bed

2) Nursery: Decorate nursery to welcome new baby - I'm way ahead on this one. I knew what I wanted, so I bought bedding, moved our downstairs rug upstairs, purchased/hung 3 canvas prints of flower photos Jacob took, painted Jacob's childhood dresser green, and painted C-O-R-A letters to hang. I still need to get curtains (I'm thinking two long green panels), buy a lamp, and fill the dresser up with baby girl things :)

Initial nursery set-up when Jack was in here in crib

Nursery set-up for Baby Cora

3) Dining Room: Finish decorating - we need bar stools, at least one piece of furniture to sit on, and to hang pictures - We bought bar stools and a new rug to replace the one we moved upstairs. We still need to decide if we want furniture for our empty wall and hang pictures.

That is the wall that could use furniture/pictures, but we like the stools/rug progress!

4) Our bedroom: Find places for this pile and turn this corner into a nursing/reading/relaxing nook with a glider + ottoman


Pile is gone, but now we've got our old changing table there which we need to sell on Craigslist. I really do want to get a roomy, plush chair/ottoman but brand new these are about $1,000 and there are competing projects!

5) Porch: Clean off our porch and start using it - meaning buy some porch furniture


It's definitely cleaner! Our April project is going to be to hire someone to stain the entire porch so it will have a nice finished look. We then need to decide on furniture. If money were no object, this would be easy, but the challenge is deciding exactly how much we want to invest in our porch furniture. This is our priority project bc Jack loves being out here and I want to get some comfy furniture so that me and baby will love being out here too!

6) Backyard: Test our backyard for lead, remediate if need be, landscape, possibly put up a back fence, and make it a place that will be fun for Jack to play outside this summer.

Jacob has spent hours working in the backyard (check out before and after pictures!). He sent soil samples off for testing so we're waiting on results. He is working with a friend landscape architect to design what our outdoor spaces will look like, but plans include a chicken coop (which Jacob built), a large garden, fruit trees, and a playyard for Jack.

Before

Now

The "coop"

7) Baby Supplies: We only NEED new cloth diapers, upgraded changing table, a toilet bowl sprayer, a double stroller, and some girl clothes.

We upgraded the changing table! Nadeau had beautiful wooden changing tables and since our particle board shelf old one kept breaking, we went ahead and bought this one. It's so big and roomy - it's like the Cadillac of changing tables! We also were given a toilet bowl sprayer though it is not installed yet. My mom and I have added a few cute things to Cora's wardrobe and we've gotten 8 diapers so far (probably need closer to 25 total).

The Cadillac changing table

Week Twenty-Eight Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 28 weeks: Overall, I'm feeling better than last week. My backache has been coming and going throughout the week so I alternate between feeling pretty good and wincing when I move. Same for contractions: most days they've been very infrequent (like 15 across the day) whereas Wednesday and Thursday they picked up, especially during parts of the day (had about 35 total each day). I have a sense this baby is long because I feel lots of jabs simultaneously on opposite sides of my body (and I think she's head down).

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Start reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way to get a refresher on what we learned the first go-round (yes! Read chapter 1)

2) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (Yes!)

3) Get my glucose screening and my shot of Rhogam since I'm RH-negative (Yes! Will probably get results this next week)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week

2) Read three more chapters in my Bradley book

3) Midwife check-up (we went to every 2 weeks which I will continue since I'm now in the 3rd trimester)

4) Cook 3-4 healthy meals for my family

A Good Anniversary to Forget - Part II

...continued

The day before his surgery (March 23, 2010), we went to the hospital for pre-op procedures. Jacob and I were taken to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) where Jack would recover and saw the babies there, with their many machines. It was impossible though to envision our healthy, big baby in this setting; these babies looked so small and sick. The most helpful part of this day was sitting with Jack's cardiologist and looking at Jack's heart on the ultrasound machine together. The thick muscle bands were so obvious (even for me, someone who has a hard time making sense of anything on an ultrasound) that it helped to be able to SEE the problem and know that this surgery was going to hopefully fix it.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:00 am, and Jack wasn't supposed to eat after 3:00 am. I set my alarm so that I could nurse him right before 3:00. It was a sweet moment; I was pretty calm that morning and able to just look at him and love him and feel at peace. I clearly remember putting him in our bed next to Jacob so I could go ahead and get ready and just looking at them together, sleeping sweetly. I hope I always keep that memory.

My parents and Jacob's mom were with us for a while and then went to the waiting room while we waited for it to be time for Jack to go to surgery. We met one of the two surgeons for the first time to sign some papers and go over the procedure and I think it made us both feel reassured. At around 8:00, we went down to the surgery holding area with Jack. We were both still calm. Two nurses came to get Jack from me and we managed to keep it together even as we kissed him and they took him. But then as we walked out of the holding area, panic hit and it felt so insane to have just let someone take my baby away. We pulled it together and went to sit with our parents in the waiting room. Jacob suggested we go get something to eat in the cafeteria so we headed that way. As we were walking, we passed the other surgeon, whose nurse gestured toward us as the parents of Jack. He nodded curtly and kept walking and that about did me in. My reassurance went away and I got so scared again that my baby was with people I didn't know. Jacob calmed me down and the rest of the waiting time was fairly calm/mundane.

Jack underwent open-heart surgery. This meant he was put on a heart-lung machine for the duration of the surgery. The surgeons' goal was to close his VSD with a patch and remove the muscle bands in his right ventricle. It ended up taking about 6.5 hours. There were two complications. First, Jack must have inherited my veins bc the doctors couldn't get an IV in his groin and so ended up having to go in his neck. (He had massive bruises on his inner thighs for months afterward as a result of their efforts.) Second, the surgeons thought they had finished and were about to close up, when the cardiologist did an echo (standard procedure) to examine the work. At that point, a second VSD was noticed and so the surgeons went back in to close it as well. Jack did great throughout the surgery.

It took an additional hour for him to be moved over to the CICU. We waited anxiously to see him. We had been prepped for how he would look but when Jacob and I finally were brought in, it was like being punched in the stomach. My eyes scanned the room and then all the sudden landed on my baby, but looking not AT ALL like him. Post open-heart surgery, patients are kept on a paralytic for several days to allow their bodies to heal; this means they need to be on a ventilator, so Jack was stretched out on the bed, not moving, with a machine breathing for him. He had three tubes coming from his chest draining blood from the surgery, a catheter in, and many lines going into the central IV in his neck. He also had wires in his chest in case the doctors needed to use them as a pacemaker. He was puffy from the fluids given during surgery. There were lots of machines around tracking his vitals. I clearly remember his heart rate was teetering around 200 (normal being 120-140). We have pictures of these early days but they still horrify us a little and we've never wanted to post them.

The initial shock quickly wore off and we spent the next several days just holding his hand and talking to him. We were able to sleep at the hospital so we were never far and I got to have frequent visits day and night as I was pumping breastmilk every 3 hours to keep up my supply while Jack couldn't eat. The CICU was closed for 2 hours each morning and night and we used the evening time to go home, eat dinner, and shower. By the second night, it started to feel really old seeing Jack paralyzed and hooked to so many machines; the happiness of the surgery's success was starting to wane and I just missed my baby. I didn't like being in our house without him.

Jack did excellently post-surgery and was a textbook recovery case. The doctors started to wean his paralytic 2 days post-surgery and we slowly watched him "wake up." This was a mixed bag as with consciousness came an awareness of pain and unfamiliar settings. The nurses actually tethered his wrists to his bed so he wouldn't be able to dislodge any tubes or lines. One of the hardest parts of the hospital stay was seeing him awake but still on the ventilator. He would periodically need his throat suctioned to remove secretions, which meant disconnecting the ventilator and nurses manually doing this. It was obviously stressful and scary for him not to be able to breathe and he would get agitated and start to cry. With the ventilator in he wasn't able to make any noise, so all he could do was silently shed tears which Absolutely Broke My Heart - Repeatedly. We would do our best to calm him down afterward.

Thankfully, by the next day he was able to be extubated and to just have a nasal oxygen cannula. He had to wait 24 hours before he could be fed and as the day waned, he became increasingly upset as I'm sure he was hungry. This was also pitiful to watch bc his voice was weak and he could only cry hoarsely. I also felt useless as my presence seemed to make matters worse since I was nursing him and seeing me only frustrated him as I wasn't offering food like I normally did.

Jack's first hospital bed - day 4

Once he was awake and crying, he got moved into a more secluded part of the CICU

On day 5, he was able to eat again, but only through a bottle since he still was connected to so many things. Jacob gave him pumped milk in a bottle which worked for the first feeding but then we gradually had to resort to a medicine dropper over the day because he was upset and not wanting to take the bottle.

At this point, he was also being weaned on his pain medications and I think he was just agitated in general as he had more pain and was dealing with some withdrawal. I was given the chance to hold him at one point which was momentarily wonderful as he did calm down but he had so many wires coming out of him that the process of getting him back in the bed (helped by multiple nurses) put him in pain and upset him and I ended up wondering if it had been worth it.



Finally on day 6, enough lines were removed that I was able to hold him more easily and was able to nurse him again - which, thank God, he took right back to! This day he experienced a good bit of withdrawal from the pain medications and some awful bloating; it was really pitiful to see him like this and not be able to make things better.

On day 7, he was discharged from the CICU to a regular room in the hospital and the next day, after a "looks great" heart echo, we were sent home.

The next few weeks were difficult as Jack seemed detached, probably from the incredibly jolting experience in an otherwise happy life, and was dealing with physical pain. He had two daily medicines he took for about a month and we couldn't pick him up under his arms for 3 months. He saw his cardiologist a week out and looked so good they said they didn't need to see him for 6 more weeks. At that appointment in May, his heart looked just as healthy as any fully formed heart and we were told we didn't need to come back for 6 MONTHS!

This was huge news bc at that point, Jack himself wasn't even 6 months old. His heart defect and surgery had defined his first 6 months of life and all the sudden we found ourselves in the clear. This end result has only gotten better - the 6 month check-up led to a "we don't need to see you for a year" and that checkup led to "we don't need to see you for TWO YEARS!" (we'll go back right before Jack's 4th birthday). Jack's heart is fully repaired and there is an extremely low likelihood that he would ever have any issues in the future. He can do anything any other child can do and the only lasting reminder of the surgery are the scars on his sweet chest (which, see picture evidence below, have GREATLY diminished with time.)

A little over a week post surgery

1 year post surgery

2 years post-surgery

So it was incredibly refreshing to be able to forget the surgery anniversary after having Jack's heart be the focal point for the first 25% of his life. He is now such a healthy, active, inquisitive, charming little boy that it's easy to forget he ever had any health challenges. WHAT A BLESSING - we are so thankful to God for the medical advances that have given our little boy a normal life in a healthy body!

2 years post surgery

A Good Anniversary to Forget - Part I

(disclaimer: I can't talk about this topic and be brief!!)

Many of you know Jack had open heart surgery when he was a baby. The two year anniversary of his surgery was last weekend, but it passed unnoticed at our house. I realized it a few days later and it's had me doing some reflecting.

We didn't know about Jack's heart defect when he was born. There was nothing abnormal detected in his ultrasounds and when that big 8 lb, 10 oz baby came out, he seemed the picture of health. (I have to say I even wanted to pat myself on the back when he got a 9 and 10 on his Apgar scores at birth, as in I may not have done it at all gracefully, but I did just birth a healthy baby!)

The next morning, the pediatrician visited while I was taking a shower. Jacob said she heard a murmur when listening to his heart, that it was probably nothing serious, but they'd like to do a heart echo (ultrasound) to make sure. I took his recount at face value and we continued to celebrate our healthy baby. But then the doctor came back that afternoon and I could tell from her face when she walked in that we were about to get unsettling news. In a kind twist of fate, her own son had been born with a similar heart defect, so she had a lot of empathy as she told us that Jack had a medium sized hole in between his ventricles (Ventricular Septal Defect). Even with just the initial ultrasound, she warned that while many VSDs close on their own, the placement and size of Jack's made him a likely candidate for needing it closed surgically. I remember looking over at Jack and feeling so sad all of the sudden (such a shift from the emotions of the previous 24 hrs). He was so small and helpless and I felt sad and even guilty that he hadn't been born fully healthy. I also was scared. I knew nothing about heart defects and it just seemed so frightening to think of his little heart not being formed right. How was this going to affect him?

The pediatrician set us up with a cardiologist visit a few days later and had us come into the pediatrician's office weekly for Jack's first month. We quickly became educated and learned that Jack would be closely monitored to see how the VSD affected him as his lungs and heart started to work together in his first weeks of life. They would be most interested in his ability to gain weight - i.e. would the "exercise" of both eating and breathing tire him out?

After a scare at the one week mark (a night in the ER and at the Children's Hospital bc of Jack's really rapid breathing rate), we were thrilled to watch Jack turn into a very chunky baby. After a month of being seen frequently by the pediatrician and the cardiologist, everyone seemed to breathe easier and feel like Jack was doing excellently and not showing any adverse signs of his VSD. As long as he was doing well, the doctors would give his heart time to see if it could heal on its own.

It was this mindset that we went in to a check-up with the cardiologist when Jack was 2.5 months old. We were so in love with this precious child and were starting to feel really good about his health. At his cardiologist visits, he would have a heart echo done, vital signs taken, and then the doctor would review the ultrasound and then come and chat with us. We took this picture while we were waiting.


And then WHAM, when the cardiologist came in, he explained that in Jack's first ultrasound, some slight muscle growth had been noticed in his right ventricle (we knew about this, but the amount of it was not something we were told should be concerning). At this ultrasound, a dramatic growth in the muscle was seen, nearly dividing Jack's right ventricle into two chambers (leaving him with a "double chambered right ventricle".) This muscle was growing because of the inefficient way Jack's heart was pumping bc of his VSD. The cardiologist felt like surgery was necessary and probably needed soon, but he wanted to confer with the surgeons in his practice.

I made it to the car before the tears came. It was news that felt like it came out of nowhere;we had been told all along that Jack's VSD would most likely not close on its own and would need to be closed surgically, but he had just seemed SO healthy and everyone had been so positive in the last month that we were just not expecting to leave that appointment with surgery on the horizon.

A few days later we got confirmation that the cardiology group was in consensus that Jack needed surgery and that it should happen within the next month. The nurse got on the phone with me to schedule the surgery and to walk me through what to expect. I quietly cried through the call as everything she described just seemed so foreign and scary.

It was about 3 weeks between learning about the surgery and the actual day, which allowed us to prepare for the experience, both logistically, spiritually, and mentally. So many families that have to go through scary health experiences don't get that luxury and we realized we were lucky. My parents flew down to take care of us so we could take care of Jack. Jacob's mom made plans to be in town. Jack's surgery was to be at Children's Hospital, only 10 minutes from our house, and they were excellent in providing information in advance.


At times I felt calm and at peace, but a lot of other times I felt incredibly scared. I couldn't imagine handing my child over to a team of people I didn't know and literally trusting them with his life. It hurt me to know that Jack would hurt through this experience. And it was all just so unknown, it was hard to wrap my mind around it.

to be continued...

27 weeks

27 weeks pregnant (3/25/12)

Because what I really want to say is:

This pregnancy is hard! How can it be possible that I was exactly 3 months from my due date this week?! My belly is so big, how can I have 3 more months? My back feels like it is broken. My abdomen is sore and I have shooting pains. It hurts to walk, stand, sit, and lay down in most positions. And I've now been having daily contractions for a month!

I'm actually going to make myself respond to this question: What do I like about being pregnant?

I like feeling baby Cora move even though even after multiple ultrasounds I still have no clue what body parts I'm feeling. I like the anticipation of her arrival and imagining what she'll look like and how it will feel to have a baby again. I like imagining what it will be like when Jack meets her and how their relationship will grow over the years. I like thinking about my maternity leave and the simpler life we'll be able to lead when I won't have as many competing priorities.

In hindsight, Jack's pregnancy was definitely easy compared to this one + I think your subsequent pregnancies will always seem a little harder bc you don't have as much freedom and flexibility to rest and relax when you are tired or not feeling well. I think this week will be easier bc the backache did start to ease today, so here's hoping the next 3 months won't feel like the last 3 days!

Week Twenty-Seven Stats:

Weight Gain: 15 lbs

Baby Size: I got the slightly frightening insight that Cora continues to measure big - (based on her ultrasound she was 2.5 weeks further along than my due date; but she can't actually be, so it means she's just big.) The ultrasound calculated her weight as 2 lbs 13 oz, making her in the 97th percentile of babies at this gestational age. So it looks like she got the Owen height genes like her brother!

Contractions Update: I met with the different fetal medicine specialist and he affirmed what I think is common sense at this point - since it's been 4 weeks and there has been no change in my cervix, I shouldn't be overly concerned about the contractions bc we have clear evidence they aren't actually doing anything (except bothering me!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Do all four of my Bradley exercises at least 2 days. Right now I'm only doing the pelvic tilts. Yes!

2) Cook 4 healthy meals. No, it really was a hard week with a lot of pain, so I just cooked twice early in the week and then we did take out.

3) Attend 1 day of the La Leche League Gold Standard conference here in New Orleans as I pursue accreditation as a LLL leader and prepare to breastfeed another baby. Yes! I'm hoping to actually be accredited by the time Cora is born, so I'm going to try to complete the remaining steps in the next month or so.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Start reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way to get a refresher on what we learned the first go-round

2) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week

3) Get my glucose screening and my shot of Rhogam since I'm RH-negative

26 weeks

26 weeks pregnant (3/17/12)

So baby girl is baby Cora :) I've liked this name all along and Jack and I've been calling my belly "baby Cora" since pretty early on. Jacob wanted to wait till we knew whether we were having a girl or boy to talk about names. We then knew she would be Hana (our girl name for Jack) or Cora and we gave it a few weeks to marinate. During this time, Jack, who has inherited his dad's joking gene, would alternately call the baby Hana or Cora and laugh bc he knew it was funny to be indecisive. He would also say "we have to pick one name" echoing what we were saying.

The idea for Cora came from seeing an uptown street named Coralie back a year or so ago. Coralie was a little too different for me, but it gave me the idea of Cora and I like how it's a little old fashioned, which, to me, makes it timeless and classy. And I love how Jack says it: "Baby Co-wa."

Middle name TBD, though we have some ideas.

I've still been having contractions, but possibly a little bit less (though I don't want to jinx myself). I saw my midwife on Tuesday and there was no change or dilation so the contractions are continuing NOT to cause labor. I'll see her again next week along with a follow-up visit to a new fetal medicine specialist.

Week Twenty-Six Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: this week brought together several discomforts making me feel very pregnant and a little overwhelmed that I'm not due for 3 more months. I definitely want her to stay in until June, but I'm starting to get worried about how pregnant in May and June is going to feel in New Orleans!

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Continue to make conscious effort not to overdo it (yes - to the point that I was getting a little stir crazy at times)

2) Go to bed before 10 since I'm having trouble sleeping (yes - am now noticing a few contractions in the night + backache + full bladder = interrupted sleep)

3) Let my parents spoil me/us during their visit next weekend and take advantage of some extra couch time :) (Yes! We are having a great visit. We went out to dinner on Friday night, to the zoo on Saturday, Jacob and I went out on a nice date Saturday night, and we went to church/brunch today. Jack is having a blast and I've not done any baths, minimal lifting, no cooking, etc.)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Do all four of my Bradley exercises at least 2 days. Right now I'm only doing the pelvic tilts.

2) Cook 4 healthy meals.

3) Attend 1 day of the La Leche League Gold Standard conference here in New Orleans as I pursue accreditation as a LLL leader and prepare to breastfeed another baby.

Some pictures from this weekend:

Jacob and me after a fabulous date at Sweet Olive

Updated Landry family photo in front of the new house

Jack with his Big Papa and Grammy

25 weeks

25 weeks pregnant (3/10/12)

Well I didn't get my wish that these contractions would just go away. I thought they were fading away last weekend, but they picked right back up Monday. They definitely are more frequent at some points in the day (though not necessarily at any consistent time of day) coming 5-7 an hour, but most of the time I just have about 2-4 an hour. There have been a few that have been a little painful, but mostly they are just uncomfortable.

I saw a fetal medicine specialist on Monday but she didn't offer any insight as to why I was having them. My cervix is still closed so they are not causing me to go into labor. I met with my midwife on Tuesday and mapped out a plan that I feel good about. I'm going to be checked weekly by them, rather than their covering doctor (since I'm not going into labor, I'm not high risk, just need to have closer surveillance to make sure things don't change.) I'm also going to switch to seeing a different fetal medicine specialist that is less interventionist (the other one wanted me to come in weekly and start medicine right away.) This new doctor didn't have an opening until next week, but I feel fine with that.

I'm definitely making an effort to take it easier. It's hard to say if that helps with the contractions since I honestly feel them the most when I am sitting/laying down. Jacob continues to be really helpful and supportive, which makes things a lot easier with caring for Jack. I still feel unsure what to expect, but without a crystal ball, I guess we just take it one day at a time and watch for any changes in the frequency/intensity of contractions.

Comparison Pics

25 weeks pregnant with Jack

25 weeks pregnant with baby girl

It's official - I am bigger this go-round as this shirt wasn't really covering my belly today and I was wearing it a while past this point last time.

Week Twenty-Five Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: obviously the contractions, the large belly, and the increasing feeling of fatigue/heft, where I notice the extra weight (person) I'm carrying around

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Continue to monitor how I'm feeling and how many contractions I'm having; I know what to watch for, so I just want to be aware (yes, still writing them down)

2) Gradually get back to my normal routines but pay attention to how my body is responding (yep, plan to take same approach this week)

3) Not disregard my need to feel comfortable with my doctors and bring this up at my midwife appointment on Tuesday (had this conversation, which went well, and had Jacob there to make sure I covered everything)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Continue to make conscious effort not to overdo it

2) Go to bed before 10 since I'm having trouble sleeping

3) Let my parents spoil me/us during their visit next weekend and take advantage of some extra couch time :)

24 weeks

24 weeks pregnant (3-4-12)

Well this week wasn't expected. Those contractions I mentioned casually last week? They had been coming pretty infrequently, resulting in the occasional "Jake, I think I just had a contraction." Well then last Sunday, that happened about 4 times in 30 minutes, so I laid down to see if they'd stop and they didn't. So, feeling silly, I called my midwife who said if they didn't stop soon to come in to the hospital. That left me feeling a mix of silly and nervous, so I laid down drinking water and I felt like my abdomen was pretty much staying tight. I was no longer sure what I was feeling, but when it wouldn't go away, Jacob and I decided we should err on the cautious side and go to the hospital.

So the two of us + Jack traipse over to Touro in the rain. I was put on the monitor and since I was indeed having contractions, the situation started to feel more serious since I was only 23 weeks. My midwife (who was there) turned me over to their covering physician and my cervix was checked (not dilating) and some tests were run to see if I had an infection and whether my body was showing signs that I would deliver soon. It took a while for the test results to come back, so I ended up sending Jacob home with Jack. Around midnight, I found out the tests all came back clear, but that the covering doctor wanted to keep me overnight for observation. A resident did an ultrasound to check the baby's size since they have a policy of not resuscitating babies less than 500 g (baby girl was 700+ grams). Throughout all this, I had the feeling that everything was going to be okay and was feeling calm. I finally got admitted at 1:00 a.m. and they kept me till the next afternoon.

I was sent home on bedrest with a checkup for Friday. I had mixed feelings about whether this was serious or not but felt like that I just had to wait and see. I ended up taking it easy all week, but still went in to a few meetings for work, worked from home, and obviously wasn't on bedrest the whole week because I have a 2 year old. Jacob was great though and took Jack to school every morning, came home early, and really did most of the Jack care so I wasn't having to pick him up.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a little unnerving because I continued to have pretty continuous contractions and what I'm calling "tightening" in my abdomen throughout the day. Thursday - Sunday has showed a decrease in these. I also went in to the covering doctor on Friday and still show no signs of dilation which means that these contractions are not causing me to go into labor, so they may just be something that I will experience with no adverse effect. I was referred to a maternal fetal medicine specialist next week just to delve a little deeper since no cause for the contractions has been determined.

The hard part about this week has just been the mental exhaustion of trying to figure out if this is serious or not. I definitely am hearing that some women do experience contractions and that they go full term; I'm also hearing that you never know and that these contractions may not be causing me to go into labor now, but they might ultimately. I'm hoping they stop completely so that I can feel more confident that everything is fine.

The other hard part is that I chose to go to the midwifery practice because I believe pregnancy is a natural condition, not an illness to be treated. To all the sudden be seeing a doctor I did not choose and do not know is disconcerting because I don't know if our philosophies line up. Assuming the contractions continue to lessen, I plan to see if I can just do my follow-up with the midwifery practice since they can do the checks just as easily as a doctor could and I know that we both see pregnancy in the same light.

I am thankful that nothing bad happened this week and feel pretty confident everything is going to be fine with this pregnancy. For this next week, I want to:

1) Continue to monitor how I'm feeling and how many contractions I'm having; I know what to watch for, so I just want to be aware

2) Gradually get back to my normal routines but pay attention to how my body is responding

3) Not disregard my need to feel comfortable with my doctors and bring this up at my midwife appointment on Tuesday

Lastly, if you are looking for a meaningful charity to support, please consider donating to the March of Dimes, whose mission is to reduce the prevalence of prematurity and birth defects. We were already fundraising over here, but this last week has made this feel more important!

http://www.marchforbabies.org/LandryFamily

23 weeks

23 weeks pregnant - 2/25/12

Ahh time off :) It has been so nice to have the whole week off from work and not to have any travel plans, something that rarely happens. Jack and I have stayed home a lot this week and it's been nice (though not as relaxing as you might think - have I mentioned that having a 2 year old is exhausting?)

We are eagerly awaiting Jack's big boy bed, due to arrive on Monday. He knows the "mailman" is bringing it and he's seen his trucks quilt that goes on top of it. Quite a hefty price tag to get the child set up in big boy surroundings! First there was the bed and bedding (thanks Grammy and Big Papa - we REALLY appreciate the housewarming gift as it allowed me to get what I wanted!), then the twin mattress, the toddler rails (two bc the bed won't be flat against a wall), and mattress pads (two bc we are entering potty training land). Jacob doesn't want to hear this, but we also need at least another set of twin sheets and then I want eventually to get a new dresser and some pictures for the wall to go with the transportation theme. Pictures to come!

So if Jack is getting new bedding, of course baby needs some too. I have a vision for her nursery that revolves around the rug we currently have in our dining room (think orange, red, green, and aqua flowers) and a picture Jacob took of an orange flower from our time in Hawaii that we blew up on canvas. 95% of girls' bedding seems to be pink, but I've fallen in love with a lime/mimosa floral set (aren't those just awesome color names?) and I'm itching to go ahead and get it. We also plan to paint Jacob's own dresser from when he was a baby to match whatever we go with. No pictures until I actually buy something, but I think this little one is going to have the sweetest nursery!

23 weeks

Belly Comparisons

23 weeks pregnant with Jack

23 weeks pregnant with baby girl

Week Twenty-Three Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: really tired this week even though I've gotten good rest; stronger kicks; noticeable contractions - first noticed these on Valentine's day and assume they are Braxton Hicks and harmless but will definitely mention them at next appointment - they aren't painful, but are uncomfortable and sometimes I'll have multiple ones over like an hour spread - anyone else had these this early on?

Diet: Cooked 3 dinners again: falafel repeat, scallops with orange scented quinoa (thanks Food Network), and grilled pimento cheese (that I made); also made granola and cinnamon rolls from scratch; add to that a delicious $13 dinner at American Sector (including tip!) and Indian food on Friday night

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Exercise: walk, go to gym 1x, go to prenatal yoga (check, check, check)

2) One sweet a day goal! (yes for half the days, no for the other half)

3) Relish the week off with Jack and get some good R&R. (yes! I've read probably a hundred books, done many puzzles, built a lego farm complete with animal pasture, farmhouse, and mushroom field, and crawled in and out of the dollhouse many times)

4) Potty train Jack! (That has nothing to do with pregnancy but I see it being VERY helpful when the baby arrives.) (We're making progress - I'm a little nervous how things will go once he is back in school, but I'm happy with our progression as of day 4)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Plan for healthy dinners, cooking at least 3x

2) Pack healthy morning snack and ignore unhealthy snacks at work

3) Exercise most days

Jack at 2 1/4 years

Up till his second birthday, I was writing in a journal every month to keep track of Jack's growth. Quarter years seem more doable, so here goes his 2 1/4 year update:

Jack's Lovable Quirks
- Jackisms: still says "nummy" for another; says "cordaboys" for curdoroys and "jeanuhs" for jeans

Jack in his "cordaboys"

- He has so much to say these days that a lot of times his thoughts come out in a hyperventilated-sounding rush. For example: "Gasp, gasp, Momma, gasp, we gonna go in daddy's car, gasp, and listen to Mickey?"
- In what could have been a very dramatic evening, we were able to convince Jack to throw away his moldy looking "old" green bop (pacifier) in exchange for a "new green bop" that we happened to have been given for the new baby. (There was a brief effort at just throwing away the old pacifier, but 1 hour of crying later, we ripped open the new package.) He now refers to it consistently as his "new green bop." Jacob only half jokingly calls him a bop addict.
- He loves to play "I Spy" which comes out "Play ispywithmylileye Mommy"
- He LOVES to listen to children's songs - daddy's car is "Mickey" songs and mommy's car is "Wheels on the Bus" - he will yell "UP!" if he isn't satisfied with the volume and lets you know when to skip songs. I'm more indulgent than Jake with him :) (i.e. we listen to tracks 1,4,5, and 6 most days).

Less Lovable Quirks
- He generally cries like I've just betrayed him to the core anytime I leave him somewhere, though he stops within a minute of me being gone.
- He loves the word "No!"
- Transitioning anywhere is a battle (upstairs to down, one room to another, leaving the house, etc.)

Growing Up
- I'm realizing as I write this that he really isn't hitting much lately, which was our first big 2 year old battle. (He would hit you when he got mad.)
- We are working on potty training. If we figure it out, that will be its own post, but he's definitely making some progress.
- He is sleeping in a big boy bed for the first time tonight!

Big Brother Jack
- He giggles whenever we talk about the baby "giving me a kick". He knows the baby can hear us, he talks to her, and he asks occasionally about holding her when she's born. The baby (as yet not officially named) is "Baby Co-wa" (Cora) to Jack.

Schedule
- Up at 6:30 most mornings, sometimes sleeps till 7
- Likes to come "snuggle" in our bed when he wakes up - he has a tendency to get up right after I get up, but I'm always up for snuggle time which usually means I get back in bed and then I end up running late.
- Breakfast is almost always oatmeal, usually with raisins (his favorite snack lately), strawberries, walnuts, and plain yogurt. We've started letting him have watered down OJ.
- We endure the getting dressed battle and then are off to school
- He cries about half the time we leave him, but always seems to be having a blast when I pick him up after lunch.
- We play a little after school (usually in the dollhouse - his favorite play spot) or run an errand, then read books, have our snuggle time, and then he naps for usually 3 hours!

Dollhouse play - a doctor having tea

- He wakes up between 4-5, so a little late, but then we play on the porch and usually go on a walk.

Porch time: "Hi mom"

Cruising in his fire truck

Then he plays downstairs with his trucks and fire trucks while we make dinner. More playing with one of us upstairs and then bath time with Daddy, more books and bed around 8:30.
- He seems to lie awake for a while before he falls asleep. If he wakes at night, Jacob goes in since Jack usually cries if I go in and then leave.

You are a precocious, persistent, stubborn, creative, smart, adorable, loving little boy - YEAH that you are ours!

22 weeks

22 weeks pregnant (2/18/12)

It's a girl! Momma's intuition + big brother's prediction proved right. We had our ultrasound on Thursday and "saw" (ultrasounds are hard for my spatially disadvantaged mind to process) a big, healthy girl. The tech and the perinatologist spent extra time examining her heart and saw no evidence of any heart defects. Our risk factors for having a second baby with a heart defect were small (3-5%) but obviously we were relieved to know that not only her heart, but all her parts are looking good!

If you've been following the blog, you may have noticed that I just skipped a week of pregnancy. Talk about a productive doctor's visit! Our original due date was June 30th which was an estimate since we chose not to have an early ultrasound. The doctor said the baby was measuring as a June 14th due date, so since the discrepancy was so large, he adjusted my due date to June 23rd, which still makes sense based on what we know about this baby's beginnings :)

We were already planing a Mardi Gras/housewarming party on Friday night, so we decided to share the sex at the party. I wrapped a few clues and let Jack open the present. The first thing he unwrapped was a little lego girl. He had once been looking for his lego "garbageman" (a role he assigned) and I held up a long eyelashed lego person and he looked at me disparagingly and said, "No, mommy, that's a girl." We'll work on his gender bias later, but it made for a good way to share the news, since, when he saw the lego person, he said "It's a girl" (or rather "gur-rul"). Also in the bag were a little newborn onesie and the framed ultrasound picture for Jack's room.


Jacob and I have begun name negotiations ;)

Week Twenty-Two Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: this is meant to be an honest blog, so still constipated :) Continued CRAZY pregnancy dreams and I notice I get winded easily - I'm either less in shape than last pregnancy or I just notice the windedness bc we now have stairs and having a 2 yr old is a physical job

Diet: Cooked 3 dinners again: falafels, zucchini "crab" cakes, and homemade salsa tacos; struggled with the 1 sweet a day rule

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) 20 week ultrasound!! (YES)

2) Go to the gym 1x and walk most other days. (YES)

3) Keep on top of my back exercises as I think this has helped keep the backache minimal. (YES)

4) Keep working on the one sweet a day goal despite the Mardi Gras temptations. (Um, no - I probably averaged 1.5 sweets, and maybe more, so need to try again next week)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Exercise: walk, go to gym 1x, go to prenatal yoga

2) One sweet a day goal!

3) Relish the week off with Jack and get some good R&R.

4) Potty train Jack! (That has nothing to do with pregnancy but I see it being VERY helpful when the baby arrives.)

20 weeks

20 weeks pregnant (2/12/12)

This week was a much better one at the Landry household. That whole "the definition of insanity ...." clicked for me this week, so I took a different approach to Jack's naptime. More play time and attention before nap + a later start + a willingness to "lay down with me Momma" served me well most days and I just handled things better this week in general.

Time is a-passing! I'm officially on the second half of my pregnancy. I feel really good right now and am looking forward to starting a fun Mardi Gras season and the BIG excitement of this week which is our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday!

Jack became the first person to feel the baby kick this week, which was really sweet. He is totally into this baby and I'd say he "gets it" pretty well. He's always asking if the baby is "awake" and now that he got a kick he wants to feel for another one. Jacob also felt some kicks for the first time last night.

Week Twenty Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: well if I'm being honest, constipation; there has been a definite increase in the strength of the kicks this week

Diet: I've been better about my sweets (though man I do love them) and I cooked 3 healthy dinners again, so pat on my back

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Midwife appointment on Tuesday (my BP was a little low, but otherwise everything was good - have gained 9.5 lbs. I continue to tell anyone who will listen that I think this baby is a girl so it's now even written in my chart "thinks its a girl" :) )

2) Start prenatal yoga on Thursday (yes!)

3) Eat no more than 1 dessert a day (yes, I normally eat two) (I really worked on this and nearly all days I ate either just one or one and a bite)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) 20 week ultrasound!! I am so excited to see this baby. We haven't had any ultrasounds so it will be our first glimpse of our baby. I'm also so excited to know the sex and get a little bit more of our future colored in. I'm also anxious to know that this baby is healthy. I know that most babies are born healthy and I pray that this baby is blessed with great health.

2) Go to the gym 1x and walk most other days.

3) Keep on top of my back exercises as I think this has helped keep the backache minimal.

4) Keep working on the one sweet a day goal despite the Mardi Gras temptations.

19 weeks

19 weeks pregnant (2/4/12)

This was not my best week. There were some definite bright spots, but overall I did not handle well the fact that Jack didn't nap 4 out of 5 days. The only day he went down was when Jacob was home to put him down. The other days, he called for me on and off the whole time he was in his room. Since he both climbed to sit on the rail of his crib and was doing headstands in his crib, we had to shift to the big boy bed...which he can get out of....which leads to multiple trips up and down the stairs for me. Hopefully next week will be better.

In other news, I've started thinking about the things I want to accomplish before the baby arrives, and so I thought I'd post a list and then see where I'm at at the start of March, April, May, and June (wow - still a ways to the due date, but we are in no rush!)

To-Do List Before Baby
1) Jack's Room: Buy big boy furniture and move Jack from nursery to big boy bed in his room
2) Nursery: Decorate nursery to welcome new baby (who I still think is a girl, so I'm imagining flower pictures, red and orange colors, and a colorful dresser)
3) Dining Room: Finish decorating - we need bar stools, at least one piece of furniture to sit on, and to hang pictures
4) Our bedroom: Find places for this pile and turn this corner into a nursing/reading/relaxing nook with a glider + ottoman

5) Porch: Clean off our porch and start using it - meaning buy some porch furniture
6) Backyard: Test our backyard for lead, remediate if need be, landscape, possibly put up a back fence, and make it a place that will be fun for Jack to play outside this summer
7) Baby Supplies: We only NEED new cloth diapers, upgraded changing table, a toilet bowl sprayer, a double stroller, and some summer newborn clothes since Jack was born in December. I'm sure we'll pick up other things for fun.

We'll see if any of this gets knocked out in the next month!

19 weeks pregnant with Baby # 2 (Thanks for the shirt Julie!)

19 weeks pregnant with Jack

Week Nineteen Stats:

How I know I'm pregnant: BAD backache that thankfully went away this weekend and stronger movements

Diet: There is a definite need to lay off the sweets! Otherwise, I've eaten lots of oatmeal, fruit, cheese, and bread - those are my staples in addition to whatever is for dinner.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Go to the gym 1-2x. (1x - yep; other days went on long walks with Jack)

2) Take time throughout the day to do my pelvic tilts to try to stay on top of the backache. (most days, yes)

3) Plan out meals for the week that involve COOKING and healthy food. (I cooked 3 nights in a row - I was really proud of myself for this!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Midwife appointment on Tuesday

2) Start prenatal yoga on Thursday

3) Eat no more than 1 dessert a day (yes, I normally eat two)