New Years Eve

I am home with Cedric tonight, and Tim is at Pete's house (a late 30s, co-leader with Tim at the youth group) and his family, Aaron (youth pastor), and who knows who else to celebrate New Years. It didn't bother me at all staying home this year. Due to the circumstances, I'd rather sleep anyway, no matter how much fun it would have been to go. :)

Today I had my first brush with morning sickness. Of course it wasn't sickness in the morning. I felt queasy throughout the day, and tonight I was making sirloin steak for a special dinner, but it just did not sound good. Steak rarely sounded good when I was pregnant with Cedric either. Other times, though, I always love steak! So it begins. I have a much better attitude about it this time, and thank God I am not working full time in a cold working environment. For the record, being nauseous and cold at the same time for long periods of time is the worst.

Tim got me a treadmill for Christmas! I have been wanting one for a long time, and now I can stay in great shape for this pregnancy. Because I was working full time during the last pregnancy, I rarely felt up to working out when I got home. Since my current occupation is not as physically intense as working at Havillah Road or an espresso stand was, I plan to be in good shape throughout this pregnancy. I gained 70 pounds with Cedric, and I am determined not to do that again!

Well, I'm off to read a good book and be asleep by midnight. :) Now if those darned fireworks will not wake Cedric up everything will be just dandy.

Bear with me

I am enjoying being pregnant again. That is probably because I have not hit the morning-sickness stage yet. :) I had much more cramping during implantation than I did with Cedric. No spotting though. I will soon need to switch to maternity pants as I already need to unbutton my pants when I sit for long periods of time. I am enjoying noticing all the differences between this pregnancy and Cedric's. I just can't wait to know this little one personally. What fun it's uniqueness will be!

I am going to do what I can to have a homebirth, but that depends on insurances, Tim's comfort levels, an uncomplicated pregnancy, and if I can find a midwife I like in this sparsley-populated area.

If I must have another hospital birth, I have a list of things I would like to be different. For one, I will insist on using the commode in the delivery room when the contractions get stong rather than waddling 30 feet through the hall (hoping you won't have a knee-weakening contraction on the way) to get to a bathroom with a toilet that has rails on either side so close together that you must put your knees together to even get your bum on the toilet. Yes, sitting with your knees together is a great way to start a very painful contraction(s). 8-/ I will also refuse to go another 18 hours after delivery before taking a shower. What a lovely, quaint hospital that offers you no shower (not even a sponge bath) and expects you to sit waiting for 2 extra hours while people get off lunch to sign discharge papers. It may freak them out, but I am going to leave with or without their discharge papers when we've gotten a clean bill of health. I'll sign a waver if it'll make them feel better.

This may be TMI (too much info), but another reason that I do not trust this hospital and staff is because after Cedric was born, the doctor told me to have a nurse with me the first time I used the bathroom after giving birth, probably because I was light-headed. Well, when I called a nurse, she acted confused and not sure why she should be there. I had dripped several drops of blood on the bathroom floor and toilet seat in the process of getting on and off the toilet. The nurse saw and I assumed she would clean it up because that's her job and I was light-headed and weak. Well, the next time I went to use the bathroom, the floor and seat were still messy. What's really disgusting and scary is that we were sharing the bathroom with the lady next door! Thank goodness I don't think she had used it yet! 8-o This hospital has been known for a large share of staph infections, and I'm not surprised with those kinds of health hazards going on. I'm thinking that this hospital is not an ideal place for a newborn.

I am much more inclined to trust a licensed midwife to deal with emergencies during delivery than my doctor because my doctor is a Family Practioner (there is only 1 OB/GYN this side of Wenatchee). She deals with everything from ulcers, asthma, eczema, ear infections, arthritis, parasites, and newborns to the oldest aged. There is no way, unless perhaps she is a genious (though I didn't get that feeling about her), that she could do all that and also know all she needs to know about delivering babies. I think this is perhaps why the Okanogan County has one of the highest c-section rates in the PNW. The doctors don't know what to do with complicated deliveries so they quickly opt for c-sections. There is so much you can do to help a complicated delivery along, but these overworked doctors don't have the time or mental space to learn these techniques. Perhaps if I need to have another hospital birth, I will at least find an experienced doula. They know a lot of these techniques and could mediate between us and the nurses.

It's rather annoying also how you spend 9 months developing a relationship with your doctor but you only see her for delivery. Throughout all those other hours, you are checked up on by a strange nurse who you've never met before, who doesn't know your philosophy, doesn't know what you know, doesn't know you from the neurotic kook she had to deal with last week. Another reason why I like the midwife idea.

Oh, man, there are just so many reasons I want to be at home to give birth. Home = Comfort, intimacy, rest, trust, a beautiful beginning. Hospital = Stress, defensiveness, bright and stiff, sleeplessness, dirty, inconvenient, still a beautiful beginning but one that could be so much sweeter!

Ok, enough ranting. Thanks for listening, I feel better now. :)

Chrismas Gift

Guess what we got for Christmas this year? Here's a hint:

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

We're pregnant!!!!!

Our due date is August 28, 2008. Just 2 weeks after Baby Nelson! :D How awesome is that?

New baby niece or nephew :)

I am so excited about Holly being pregnant! I don't know if it has really hit me yet that my little sister is going to have a baby. I can't wait until Tim and Holly are here and I can hug them and pat her belly and watch it grow. :) I can't wait to hold this little baby in my arms... *sigh* A Nelson baby. It's just unspeakably wonderful. :)

Newsy stuff

Two days ago it snowed all day and we got about 6 inches of wet snow. The best kind for snowmen and snowball fights. Today it is 37 degrees though so it is quickly melting. It's still got a ways to go though. Hopefully it'll be around for Christmas.

Just a half hour ago our neighbor, Gene (a nurse at the hospital), came over with 2 plates of hot Christmas cookies. They are delicious, and I found the gesture so sweet since he's a middle-aged bachelor. Not really the baking type you'd think. :)

It was so funny the other day.... I've given Hemi a bath while I was taking a shower before, it seems the easiest way and I don't end up needing a shower when I'm done. :) Well, I was taking a shower and Cedric and Hemi were hanging out in the bathroom with me, and Hemi jumps in the shower and works his way to the middle of the downpour and stays there, licking his lips and obviously enjoying himself. He eventually jumped out again, but only after he was completely soaked. It was so silly! I've never known a dog who likes the shower so much that he actually chooses to get in on his own accord.

I found the most delicious and natural/non-candle way to make the whole house smell like Christmas!

2 juicy oranges
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves

Quarter the oranges and place all ingredients in a saucepan and covered with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. When the water runs out, just add more. They say this mixture can last about 2 days. Enjoy!

1:15am

Cedric has been up for the past hour and a half. He woke up pretty upset asking for Daddy and Hemi. He is in his crib right now playing. He just won't go back to sleep! I've tried all our tricks. Of course, I am very tired. I just hope that he sleeps in to make up for it. But then, that won't be good either because an early day and nap would work better for tomorrow's schedule since we're going shopping around lunch time. And we have so much shopping to do! Ah well. I just hope he can get through it alright without that nap. Well, he is staying surprisingly quiet in there. I wonder if he has put himself back to sleep. I think I'll wait a while longer though before I check on him. *sigh* My warm bed sounds so good right now.

Poem he likes

Well, this is Lindy again. That was Tim with the last blog. I rarely get in that goofy of a mood. :)

Here is a poem that Cedric really seems to like. He usually sticks with a poem for only about 4 lines and then is ready to turn the page, but he'll sit through this one every time and will often ask to have it read "'gain" and "'gain." :)

Windy Nights
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by.
Late in the night when the fires are out,
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying aloud,
And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud,
By at the gallop goes he.
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again.