Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hightop sneakers and sailor tattoos

Me and my mom
My two favorite daddys - my daddy, and my baby daddy
My little fashionista. How do you like the snow boots with the sundress :)


What can I say, even cowgirls get the blues.

Hey internet family, what's up? Well, as I inadvertently twittered a few nights ago, the rumors are true. I am pregnant. I pretty much feel like crap. At all times. Which is supposed to be a good sign. So mostly, if I'm not at work, I've been sleeping. I went to the doc a few weeks to get a blood test, just to make sure things were okay. She thought some of my levels were low so she put me on some hormones for the first trimester to help strengthen my uterus or something, to help this baby along. Actually, since I got them, I've been feeling much better. Still just really, really tired. Only a few more weeks of this. Brian has been wonderful. He cooks supper (frozen tatter tots and frozen chicken strips, but still) and lets me get quick naps in. Which is nice cause we barely get to see each other. I've been heading to bed around ten every night. I remember from Ash though, that I felt really great by the fourth month, so I'm really looking forward to that. The really fun thing is, I'm in Robb and Katies wedding in October, which means, pretty pregnant, in that really form fitting dress. I won't even tell you what size I ordered it in! Good thing I have a good seamstress down here. She can work wonders, I'm confident.

It's been a bit introspective around here lately. Ashley will turn five this summer. So I'm remembering five years ago, pregnant with her. How different life is now. I never saw this for me, back then, but I love it. It's amazing what hard work and a few years can bring you. I am eternally sad to have left Mpls, but somehow, I feel freer down here. I'm not sure what it is. I miss so many things bout my old home so dearly, but I'm discovering so many wonderful things about KC, too. Our new neighborhood is fabulous, and I know that you don't need a house to build a life, but I feel a real stability in having one. Like I don't have to worry about leases, and moving and getting something bigger and better. We can just get on with the business of our lives. So it's super exciting to be planning to have a baby, to decorate a real nursery (red wall and band posters), to plan ahead and save. To have my husband be really, really, excited to have his baby.

When I was pregnant with Ash, I lived in that little apartment on Franklin. That summer, me and my sister would go to Hidden Beach all the time. I was huge! And I had my little bikini and I'm sure people stared, but it was hot and the water felt great on my big 'ol body. We'd get Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream on our way home. We stated the tradition of Sushi Sunday because of the great happy hour 12-5 at Sushi Tangos. The chefs there knew as much about my pregnancy as my mom did! I was laying behind Angela on her bed one day, talking to her and the baby kicked her back. She was the first one other than me to feel Ash kick. And then I went into labor and headed to the hospital. Then people stared showing up. Probb, Shorty, Jim, Kyja. Ryan, I had like 15 people at the hospital just waiting. And they stayed the whole 22 hours! Jim played his guitar for me at 4 am, Robb did his best to tick me off and Shorty and Kyja gave me back rubs. It was wonderful.

So I'm thinking I really want to do a home birth with this baby. Brian is not convinced, but I'm working on him. Last time, I really wanted a midwife, but my mom talked me out of it and I've really regretted it. Dr Agee was great, but I was on and iv and pitosen and heart monitors and all this crap that I didn't want. Granted, my refusal to take drugs and the size of Ash (10 lbs!) made for a really rough labor and a lot of the was necessary, still, I hated it. So this time around, I'm sticking to my guns and doing it my way. I know Brian is just worried about me and the baby. I've already set up appointments to meet with midwives that specialize in home births. And I talked to my folks about doing it at their house. They have a double jacuzzi bathtub in their bathroom. It's be perfect. Both of my parents are nurses and you can believe that their first interest will be our safety. I think we'll be just fine. And Ash can be there for the whole thing, I won't have to find alternate care for her. She can go sleep in her bed if she wants to and she'll just be a room away. There's plenty of bed for mom-in-law and anyone else that wants to be there. And after the baby is born, Brian and I can sleep in a bed together, a nice big comfortable bed. People can come visit us there, not some clinical hospital. And hospitals are breading ground for nasty bacteria and virus, especially anti-biotic resistant strains. Our baby will be much safer at our home. People treat pregnancy and labor as a problem that needs to be drugged and fixed. It's actually a wonderful experience that I want to have in a happy, warm, comfortable environment. So if we don't do a home birth, we will defiantly do a birthing center somewhere, with a hospital the very last thing we have to do, if things go poorly. I really thought my mom would be against this (she loves modern medicine) but she's totally on board! She told me that after seeing how well I did with my first one, I'll do great at home. It's nice to have her support. And I don't think my dad is loving the idea of a baby being born in his bathtub, but hey, we'll clean it!

So that's most of the news for now. I'm gonna go pass out.

(Follow my inane daily updates at https://twitter.com/Lotus_and_Otis)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Thr rumors are true

I just never could keep a secret. Especially when people start to wonder why I'm giving up coffee and eating all healthy and stuff. So, baby on the way. Due late February. So far things are going well, I'm feeling really good, just really tired. I've been going to bed at ten just about every night. So keep us in your prayers, keep this baby strong, keep me strong and that things continue to go well.

We went to a concert the other night. Our baby's first official concert :) We're calling him/her Deuce until we get to meet him/her and pick a real name.

So... Meet Deuce...