I am Buddha.

Yes, friends. As my belly gets bigger, it also gets touched more than I ever imagined it would be. I am considering painting myself gold, plastering a huge smile on my face, and charging people a quarter.

Resolutions

Apparently I have this bad habit of posting stories, dilemmas, etc. and then never resolving them. I give you the plot and the characters and the setting all ensconced in the climax of what I write, but never resolve all the issues! My deepest apologies for this gross oversight!

First off, I may, at some point, start an Etsy.com business. Right now, we really don't have the space, and quite frankly, I have other things on my mind.

Second, I did decide to cut my hair (as evidenced by the last post). Overall I like it, but have decided to let it grow again and, as an experiment, keep it thinned out as it grows. If I don't like it, I will most definitely cut it again. It's a lot easier in a lot of ways. Also, I'm still undecided about the hairstyle featured in the previous post. At this point, I believe that I will occasionally do that hairstyle, but I will mix it in with other things.

Third, I ditched my doctor. I found a midwife clinic that I like a lot better. They have several people bustling around... on the day of my appointment, one of the girls had a birthday, and so someone had brought in Rice Krispie treats. They were sharing jokes and gossiping and generally having a good time. The nurse who asked me all the necessary medical questions was way friendly. We talked and laughed for 20 minutes! The way the clinic works is pretty cool. They have 3 midwives, and I'll get to meet all of them before I deliver. Then, whoever happens to be on call when I go into labor will be my midwife. I'll give birth in the Orem Community Hospital, which I've heard warm fuzzy things about. I'm excited. They told me upfront that they require immediate IV access, which just means they'll stick a needle in my hand and cap it off so that if they do need to give me drugs, they won't have to waste time looking for the vein. They also said there will be a band around my waist to monitor the baby's heartrate, but that I'll still be able to move, use the birthing ball, get into the jacuzzi, whatever. (There's gonna be a jacuzzi. How cool is that?) Plus, people have told me that the rooms are quite large there, and it's a smaller hospital than Utah Valley, so things should be more personal... I hope. Oh, I hope this all goes well! Oh! They avoid episiotomies if at all possible (and rarely have to do them), but do induce if I go more than a week overdue. Oh, well. That seems to be a fairly widespread policy, and the only way to avoid it would be to give birth at home, which I'm not quite ready to do yet. Pray for me and my baby, that we'll be on time!

The End
The End
The E... well, I guess it's really still the beginning. :)

Pictures

Okay, I'm going to try this picture thing again. (I apologize if I'm blogging faster than people can read.)

First, as mentioned a few days ago, I am apparently not looking terribly pregnant. Really, a big part of it depends on what I wear, I think. Although, the girl at the pool couldn't tell I was pregnant even in a swimsuit, so... let me know what you think!

Second, as mentioned in one previous post, I got pampered this weekend. The girl who cut my hair was completely enamored with my curls and wanted to show them off. I gave her permission. The end result was, I thought, a cross between bedhead/a rat's nest and cool/funky/modern. I spent all day getting used to it, then tried to re-create it this morning. I think today's attempt looks better, overall, than yesterday's, but the curl in the back isn't quite as cute. Something about trying to do your hair backwards and upside-down, I think. :) Anyway, I'm still undecided as to whether I like it. What do you think?

Pampered

Wow. I have a fantastic Mother-in-law. (or out-law...) She is so kind, and sweet, and wants nothing more than to help those around her. She's one of those cute ladies who just loves babies and wants to spoil and help everyone. She's a lot of fun.

She and her husband came down from Idaho yesterday, and it was a wonderful day. First, she took me to Evans' beauty college where we spent 3 1/2 hours getting completely spoiled. Nails, toes, facials, hair... it was awesome. We both almost fell asleep during the facials... and the pedicures! Oh, my, I'd forgotten how much I love having my feet massaged. Jetted tubs, warm water, epsom salts... it was amazing.

Then, we made and ate lunch. It was a simple affair, but fun to have everybody sitting around our kitchen table. I was glad they let us provide the food. :)

They brought materials down for us to make 72-hour kits, with the coolest little camping stove you've ever seen! We actually made it right there in our living room. It's a paint can filled with toilet paper and alcohol poured into it and soaked into the toilet paper. It burns clean, lights easy, and costs less than any propane stove. Plus, you can take a larger paint can, put holes around the bottom, turn it upside-down over the flame and that makes the stove. Coolest thing ever! Ryan and I were way excited about it.

Ooh... and she got us baby clothes! Several little outfits, and blankets, and a nursing cover... so fun!

To cap it off, we went to Babies R Us, where we looked at strollers. We ended up getting one that was soooo cute! It's brown/gray with light green plaid, which will work very well for our little girl now and any boys (or girls) that might come in the future. It has all the latest features... storage, sippy cup holder, cup holders for mom, wheel locks (both brakes and turn locks), a car seat/baby carrier, one hand fold and unfold capabilities, and a very cool button on the top that tells the time and the temperature! How awesomely cool is that?!? I love it. We don't have the baby yet. Heck, I haven't even had my baby shower yet (so, technically, I don't know the stroller exists because it is a gift for the baby shower), but we got it set up last night and it's sitting in our back room and I'm just so excited!

Thank you Susan and Rod!!! We love you!

I swear I'm pregnant!!!

So, on a normal, day-to day basis, I wear loose clothes and, if you didn't know any better, you might just think I'm chubby. I've been there before; it's not fun, but whatever. In 2 1/2 months I'll lose a lot of weight really fast.

But last night, I was at the gym swimming with my hubby. I was sitting on the edge of the pool in my swimsuit and talking to the nice girl who teaches water aerobics. I mentioned some interest in the "fit-to-be-mothers" water aerobics class, and she asked me if I'm expecting. When I said yes, she told me she couldn't tell. Wow. I'll be at 30 weeks on Monday. That's 3/4 of the way through this thing. On the one hand, I'm excited that I don't show very much. On the other hand, there is something going on in there! I swear it!

Baby Talk

First for the cuteness:  A few nights ago I was laying down and started talking to my baby.  I told her about myself, and about Ryan, and about some of the good things in this world, and about what it means to be a fairy princess.  I talked for several minutes, and, when I stopped, she kicked me.  I laughed and started talking again, and, again, when I stopped, she kicked me.  This happened four or five times, and finally I called Ryan in, told him what was happening, and asked him to talk to her.  Same thing.  He put his hand on my belly and could feel her kicking whenever one of us stopped talking.  It was so cute!  "Hey!  Keep talking!" she seemed to be saying.  "I like hearing your voice."  I'll bet she's smart.  I'm excited to meet her for real.

And now for the more serious stuff that's been on my mind for the last few days:  Tuesday was my Doctor's appointment.  After last month's post about liking my doctor, I've been doing a little bit of research and trying to figure out what type of things I want in a doctor.  I intended to go ask him about some of these issues before push came to shove (literally) and he was doing things that I didn't necessarily want done in the delivery room.  I quite naturally had questions about inducing labor, episiotomies, and his philosophies in general.

The appointment took 2 hours.  Granted, he was off delivering babies, and I opted to wait for him, but that's a long time to wait to interrogate your doctor.  :)  He did his quick little checkup, and then I asked him questions.  His basic philosophies are these:

After being one week overdue, we will talk about the dangers of your baby being stillborn and growing too big.  (Read: I'll put pressure on you to induce labor.)  After two weeks, if you still don't want to induce, then we will part ways and you'll have to find another doctor.

An episiotomy?  If you need one, you'll get one.  Chances are you'll get one because it's your first baby.  

And by the way, don't let other people's bad experiences determine what you do and don't do. I see the mistakes made by midwives and those who don't have the medical training, and it's sad. It really is.  Stick with me.  Everything will be okay if you stick with me.

I asked him about not having an episiotomy if I didn't want one.  He painted horrific pictures for me.  I went home and did research and discovered that those horrific pictures don't occur in 90% of cases.  Throughout the interview, I felt that he was (probably unintentionally) trying to bully and scare me into putting myself unquestioningly into his care.  He wants to cut me!  Ew!  I came home quite upset and wanting to be completely put under for the entire experience.  (For those of you who don't know, I really don't like the idea of being put under.  I had local anesthesia to get my wisdom teeth taken out, thank you very much!)  And I really don't want to be put under, but neither do I want to put myself in the care of a doctor who is so eager to tear me up and who doesn't seem to really care what I want for this birth.  But I'm afraid that all doctors will have the same sort of mentalities.  Really, my two biggest issues are the inducement and episiotomy things, and it seems like the attitudes he held are pretty widespread.

At this point, I want to check into seeing if their are midwives who deliver at the hospital.  (I would like to be there just in case something goes wrong.)  Or, perhaps there is a general practitioner somewhere around who would be more relaxed and more willing to work with me.  Regardless, I am the one paying for this care, and for the insurance, and I have the right to stick up for myself and what I want from this experience, right?  Even though it flies in the face of all medical expertise, at least I am taking responsibility for what happens to me in that terrifying room.  Both my mom and my mother-in-law support me in this, but it's still weird to stick up for myself in that sort of an environment!