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1. Just Like My Maternity Session- But With a Better Body

Janssen (a longtime reader whose blog I love, and is also pregnant herself!) sent over the link to the photos from her sister’s maternity shoot. (Her sister and I are due about the same week I believe). I’m flattered that my shoot was used as inspiration, but extremely jealous of Merric’s darling little body. This is my first time stumbling on Molly’s blog, she does beautiful work!

2. Cord Blood Banking

I receive at least 5 advertisements a week asking me if I want my baby’s blood to end up in the trash (a reference to the way it’s done in hospitals I guess?). That Husband always knows I’ve found another one in the mail pile because I scream “IT’S THE BABY’S BLOOD!” each time another one pops up. So yeah, I’m against the idea of cord blood banking unless mom and baby have to be separated for medical reasons immediately after birth, especially the idea of paying some company to bank your blood when the chances of it ever being used are almost nill. If you’re receiving those same adverts (believe me, if you ever get pregnant you will), I’d suggest reading this post. Don’t worry, it’s not written by some crazy natural birther like myself, Elizabeth is using a CNM at a hopsital, not that uncommon these days.

3. Formspring

My friend Erin doesn’t like blogging about blogging. I’m beginning to think blogging about Formspring should be added to my dislike list (and yet I keep doing it!). As I’ve found I don’t have the time to attempt to run a photo blog, a personal blog, participate in Twitter, and answer all of the questions that come in on Formspring, I’ve decided to start answering questions that come in with names attached to them first, and get to the others later. So if you have a burning question and would like it to be answered in less than, I don’t know, three months time, I’d suggest signing up for an account or attaching a name you use to comment here on That Wife when you submit something.

For those who were following the “TH and taxes and patriotism and callousness” craziness, wasn’t it fun to see him speaking up a little bit? He got pretty worked up about it though and I think he’s going to hold off on answering things for awhile. The benefit of him gaining my account information? He’s starting deleting the rude questions before I can see them so I don’t get sad. I love him.

4. Baby Deal Sites

I’ve been collecting diapers and slings and other goodies slowly over time, mostly from the following sites:

http://www.mamabargains.com//

http://babysteals.com/

http://www.greenbabybargains.com

http://babyhalfoff.com/blog/

http://www.bumpbargains.com/

https://www.zulily.com

https://www.theminisocial.com and https://www.btrendie.com and http://www.totsy.com/ (Invite only, email me and I’ll send one your way!)

Please don’t buy all the good stuff from these sites before I can get there.

5. Blessingway

Recently I used the term “blessingway” on my blog, and I had someone on Formspring point out that there are Native American tribes that find the use of this term offensive. This sent me off into a spiral of research and googling, and I’ll be honest, I’m still not sure where I stand on the issue. This thread on mothering.com hashes the issue out pretty well, and I’m wondering if anyone else has any insight for me? I’m having a tough time with the idea that a group can “claim” a word, forbidding others from using it, especially when that word is a translation of the original term. As a member of a group with many sacred rituals I tried to place myself in their position. An example of an LDS ritual that is considered very sacred (and that we are very saddened to see mocked) is the endowment ceremony. If a group of people heard about the endowment ceremony, read that it has been described as an ordinance ”designed to give ‘a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God’ (TPJS, p. 324), ‘to prepare the disciples for their missions in the world’ (p. 274), to prevent being ‘overcome by evils’ (p. 259), to enable them to ’secure the fulness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the Firstborn’”, and then this group of people in question decided to design their own endowment in the spirit of the purpose of the ordinance and called it “endowment” just as we do, I’m not sure I would be offended. They aren’t mocking or even trying to impersonate, they are trying to re-create an experience for themselves in the same spirit as the original event, or with elements of the original event. It does not lessen or demean my own experience personally, or even the experience of the LDS members, to think that others would like to capture some of that spirit for themselves.

Also, I’m not convinced that the term blessingway belongs to the Navajo in the first place. It sounds like something many Native American tribes have incorporated into their rituals throughout time, and what rite does a specific sect have to say that a word belongs to them? What if the Catholic Church came forward and claimed the word “sacrament” as their own, forbidding everyone outside of the Christian religion to use the term?

Maybe I’m not interpreting the situation correctly. Thoughts?

Visit Elizabeth Anne Designs Living today to read the post that explains why I don’t have one of those little ticker/countdown widgets on my sidebar alerting everyone to how many days I have left until baby comes.

After some serious nudging from That Husband I finally sat down and put my birth plans together. I’m approaching the point where I could go into labor any day and he knows how important it is to me that I have him there helping to control and be a part of what is happening as much as possible. It took several hours, but after reading through a variety of birth plans from different sources around the web I was able to put together comprehensive plans for a few different scenarios we might encounter.

I think every woman should research and write out a birth plan, even if it’s just for herself to look over. Websites like this one walk mother’s through common scenarios and preferences and help you pick and choose what works best for you. If you read a term or phrase you don’t understand, look it up! It’s important to know what providers are talking about when they speak of pitocin/episiotomy/rooming-in/etc, and knowledge will only help you get the care that makes you feel the most satisfied.

Please note that these birth plans I created are not for TH and Sarah, not the hospital. I think birth plans in a hospital setting are most effective when you are working with a specific care provider the you have the ability to sit down and overview your preferences with. It wouldn’t do me any good to show up at a hospital several hours into my labor waving my sheet of paper around and declaring that anyone who approaches me should read it first. I believe that hospitals are an environment where routines are established and followed in order to maximize efficiency and effectiveness and thus not always excited about birth plans, especially from home birth mamas. The plans you see below are written out for That Husband and intended for him to read through and remember as much as possible so that he knows how to best respond in many of the common situations that happen during a birthing situation. I’ll of course be running through them with Sarah as well to make sure we are on the same page in various areas.

I’m sharing these  in hopes they help others who are attempting to write up their own plans, as I found many other personal birth plans sprinkled throughout the sites and forums I visited to be immensely helpful in ensuring I didn’t leave anything important off of the list. I’d love to have any women who’ve given birth previously comment and let me know if they think I’m leaving anything off that was important to them!

The Home Birth Plan

The Non-Emergency Hospital Transfer Plan

The Cesarean Plan

I moved to bi-weekly appointments a few weeks ago, and they’re coming so close together that I didn’t get my act together and write about appointment 5 before appointment 6 had come and gone!  Personally I miss only going in once a month, but I tend to be very chill when it comes to my healthcare and so I have to keep reminding myself that it’s important for me to visit with Sarah and have her check up on my swelling, weight gain, and measure my belly to make sure baby and I are where we need to be.

I’m making my way through my maternity photos slowly but surely. I love having the RAW files to process, but it means it’s going to take a bit more time to get through all of it. Photo by Bethany Jackman, editing by me.

Appointment 5

This was one of my shortest visits so far. I was up 6 pounds from my last visit, with a total weight gain of about 45 lbs at 31.5 weeks. My blood pressure rocked at 102/67 and baby’s heart was pumping away at 140 bpm.

I had attended the breastfeeding class offered by the birth center only two days before, so I had breastfeeding on the brain. Sarah had taught the class and mentioned the importance of showing your nipples to the midwife so I lifted my shirt and gave Sarah a little peek to make sure I don’t have flat or inverted nipples that would make breastfeeding difficult. She said everything looks great! We talked more about my breast reduction surgery and the plan regarding breastfeeding. I asked if I should purchase a supply of bottles and other formula related paraphernalia but Sarah said we wouldn’t worry about it until we had to. One of my favorite things about Sarah is her passion for helping every single mom to breastfeed and be comfortable doing so.

I told her that TH still hadn’t had a chance to get his blood tested and she gave me a test we could use to figure it out ourselves. Alright!

The last thing we talked about was Group-B Strep. She gave me a sheet that talked about the test, why it is done, etc, and told me to make a decision regarding my preference for having it done by our next appointment.

Appointment 6

Three weeks after appointment 5, I went in for appointment 6. It should have been two weeks but Sarah had a birth to attend on the day of my appointment so we pushed things back a bit. I frowned at the scale as I saw I had gained close to 8 pounds in three weeks, but my belly measured about a week behind so it looks like baby isn’t growing into a monster. Awesome blood pressure results once again, 102/58, and baby’s heart pumping away at 139 bpm.

At 34.5 weeks during this appointment it was time for Sarah to hand me the sheet containing all of the items I would need to gather for the home birth. I ordered a personalized birth kit from www.inhishands.com and put together a shopping list for things like towels/trash bags/sanitary napkins, etc. She asked that I have all of these items assembled by 36 weeks, which happens to be this coming Saturday. Crazy!

Over time Sarah has realized how strong willed I am regarding my own treatment and my desire to research things out for myself before doing them, and I really loved how she phrased her advice at this last appointment, urging me to look things up on my own and decide if I wanted to use them. She recommended Mountain Meadows Herbs Gentle Birth Formula, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and 2000 mg of evening primrose oil inserted vaginally each night beginning at 36 weeks. Primrose Oil is full of prostaglandins, thought to help ripen the cervix, and a method I’m definitely going to employ.

We talked about perineal massage, a method proven to help reduce tearing of the perineum during delivery and decrease the need for instrument assisted delivery. I believe in perineal massage because when TH does it, it forces me to relax and work on focusing through an uncomfortable event.

My calves and feet are swelling up to monster sizes lately but my blood pressure is still looking good and I don’t have swelling anywhere else so no need to transfer or worry aboutpreeclampsia yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s somewhat related to the large number of hours I spend sitting in front of the computer each day!

The last thing we discussed at this visit was Appointment 7, which will be a home visit! Sarah comes out to see her mom’s at 36 weeks to familiarize herself with the drive, know how to get in, talk to me about preparing the house, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if every appointment was a home one?

I recieved this email today:

You might not be thinking about Mother’s Day yet, but our friends at MikaRose Modest Clothing already have you covered- they just announced their “Marvelous Mother Giveaway”. You can nominate any mom to win a prize package which includes:

- Two round-trip tickets to Tampa Florida from any major city in the Continental U.S.
- A Five night Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Cruise Line.
- Round Trip transportation from Tampa International airport to the Tampa Cruise Terminal.
- A $100 MikaRose Gift Certificate.
- And more!

3 other finalists will also get a $100 MikaRose Gift Certificate (any mom will love this).

To nominate your mom, just go to http://www.mikarose.com . (And hey- if you’re a mom you’d better forward this to your hubby or someone to nominate YOU!)

Don’t forget to check out the MikaRose dresses while you’re there. Their classic, tailored modest dresses are priced as low as $36.99 and we’re not even talking about their clearance prices (which are lower)! I saw the cutest modest dresses for little girls on clearance for only $10.99 – I’ll have to grab a few of those too: http://www.MikaRose.com

Maybe I can get a nomination out of this post (TH? Mom? That Sister is too young or I would ask her…), but I thought others might like to nominate a mother they know as well!