Family Musings

Here's some random meme I found about remembering how my first born child came to exist in this world... well, just the part about my pregnancy and her birth, not the stuff at the very beginning of her existence. :) 1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes 2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes 3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Excitement 4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 29 5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Home pregnancy test on the 1st day I could possibly know 6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My husband 7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Nope. I like surprises 8. WHAT WAS YOUR DUE DATE? August 13, 2007 9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? No. I did have heart burn though at the end. 10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Ice cold fountain beverages or Slurpees. 11.. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? I don't think anything did. I was the happiest pregnant woman I've ever known. 12.. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S GENDER? Charlotte is a girl. Thank goodness too because that name w...

I did try to dig out whatever photos I could find of me during my 2 pregnancies, just because I thought it would be fun to compare. But before I show them to you, just remember, we are only comparing the size of my belly... nothing else. I already know it is all bigger! :) It really struck me as sad the limited number of pictures of myself I have to show you. I guess that is what happens when I am always the one behind the camera. So, here are two sets to compare. 31 weeks with Charlotte and 31 weeks with Babin 37 weeks with Charlotte (in red top) 39 weeks with Babin (in floral top) I think I am about the same belly-wise for both pregnancies. What do you think?

I think I talked on my cell phone several times a day when I was pregnant last year... should I worry ? A giant study, which surveyed more than 13,000 children, found that using the handsets just two or three times a day was enough to raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and difficulties with conduct, emotions and relationships by the time they reached school age.

Charlotte Moon Sabin has been born Aug 8, 2007 at 3:49pm, weighing 7lbs 15 onces with a length of 20 inches. If you're wondering how we came up with the name Charlotte Moon, she was named after someone whose brief biography you can read here .

Today was another ObGyn appointment. I finally met with Dr. Salamon again. She did a pelvic exam and announced that I am 70-80% effaced and 1-2 cm dilated. She thinks I might have the baby this week, but we've still scheduled an appointment for next Monday. We also set-up an ultrasound so they can check on the amniotic fluid. Remember when I said I didn't think I was having contractions... I was wrong. I found out today that I have been having them, but since they didn't hurt I hadn't really noticed them. It turns out that all those times my belly got that rock-hard feeling, I was having a practice contraction. I never knew. I just thought it was kind of cool how hard my belly was. How naive of me. :-) Dr. Salamon said that if I hadn't gone into labor my next appointment, on 8/13, she wanted to schedule an induction. Well, regular readers of my blog know that is not high on my list of ways to begin labor and delivery. I came home and looked into it some more and...

Baby Sabin isn't even officially here and I am beat. Now, today was a busy and active day for me, but I'm exhausted and hope a good night's rest will take care of me a little bit. Tomorrow I will try to be a little easier on myself though. We started off the day bright and early to do some work in the yard. It was a great day for yard work as it stayed fairly cool until 10:00 or so. Have you ever tried to do yard work with a bowling bowl hanging off your stomach??? That is the best way I can describe what it was like to pull weeds and shape some plants today. I couldn't just bend over, so most of my morning consisted of plopping down, pulling all the weeds within arms reach, then scooting or crab crawling to the next patch of earth and pulling more weeds. I was terribly slow, but got the most important areas done. Bruce did a ton as well, pulling up many of the dead annuals we planted 18 months ago along with laying some new landscaping timbers and cleaning up his fish ...

38.1 - That is the number on my chart today for how far along this pregnancy is. 38 weeks and 1 day. I have one maybe two more appointments with the ObGyn before I will meet her (or him depending on who is on call) at the hospital to help welcome Baby Sabin into the great big world. Today I met with Dr. Gatto and I must admit he was my least favorite of all the doctors in the practice. I can't say there was anything specifically wrong with him, but we just didn't click. If he was the doctor to show up for delivery, I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't choose him. I think I was primarily turned off by his approach to pain management during L&D. He mostly talked about epidurals and how he likes to see women enjoying themselves during labor. He said recently that one woman actually asked him recently, "am I having a contraction now?" She didn't know because she couldn't feel anything! Somehow he thought this was a good thing. I don't want to know I am ...

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. John 16.21 I love this verse. I am claiming it as I prepare for my labor and delivery experience. I know it won't be free of discomfort and pain, yet I also know it is all part of the blessing I will experience once I am able to look into the eyes of our child. I finally got myself packed for the hospital. There are still a couple of things that I need to put in the bag (I ordered them online and they haven't arrived yet), but it is all by the door now. Below is a list of items I packed (or will pack once I have). Let me know if you think I've forgotten anything that would be useful. Copy of my birth plan/preferences Sign with the above verse to hang in the delivery room Clothes for Baby Sabin to wear home (inc. socks and cap) Receiving blanket "Baby On Board" sign for the car Labor aids (loti...

I had my 37-week appointment today with Dr. Gabriel. He is one of the doctor's in the Bond Clinic practice and I am making my rounds through them since I don't know who might be on call when I go into labor. I really liked him and his sense of humor. It's not that he told jokes or anything like that, but he seemed to be quick with a smile and encouragement. That's a good thing because I found out today that my body is colonized with group b strep (GBS). Now, before your go and get all alarmed like I did, let me tell you a little about GBS. Anywhere from 30-40% of all adults carry this bacteria. For the average adult, this means nothing. Everyone has all sorts of bacteria crawling around their bodies. This is why skin to skin contact with a baby is so beneficial, it helps to colonate the baby's body with the mother's bacteria and develop resistance for the baby early on. However when GBS is found in the birth canal some medical precautions are needed. Modern medi...

I hope that if it is necessary for my ObGyn to intercede on my body's behalf during L&D, she is as careful and thoughtful as this doctor. Midwife with a Knife: A Tale of Two Births [part 1/2] I'm really looking forward to reading part 2!

I had a very relaxing week in Ft. Lauderdale. I was able to wake up and at my leisure make my way down to the pool at the Lago Mar Resort . There, I read a novel, Daughters of Silk (click here for a pdf sample of the story), and enjoyed the cool pool and the warm sun. By lunch time I would head back up to our suite, have a small meal, then get to work on some continuing education. It was all very soothing and productive. I am actually all caught up on my Reading Competency II course and should be working on it some more right now, but thought I'd catch you up on Baby Sabin's progress. Come Monday I will be in my 37th week of pregnancy which means there are 3-4 weeks left until we all get to meet Baby Sabin in person and find out if "it" is a he or a she. Here is what BabyCenter.com says about the 37th week: Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb,...

Yesterday was a long day. Bruce and I went to the prepared childbirth class at the Regency. The class was from 9 am - 5 pm with a 1-hour lunch break. I thought it might be information overload to try and absorb everything in one day instead of going to the 5-week session (1 night a week for 5 weeks), but it really wasn't. Suzzane was the instructor this time and she did a great job of keeping the class moving forward and covering information quickly enough that we didn't get bored. For those of you who don't know, I have decided to try and experience childbirth without any medical intervention. This means that, barring a medical emergency, I do not want anyone doing anything to my body other than providing comfort measures (like massage). I have read about the many different interventions that are possible (breaking the water, medication to induce or speed up labor, medication to reduce pain, constant fetal monitoring, c-sections, etc...) and it seems to me that once you de...

We have a new name for Baby Sabin - Belly Monster. I'm not sure where it came from, but it is Bruce's new fun name for the one who makes my belly move in weird ways without notice. Many people thought they'd be sneaky this past weekend and try to trick me into revealing the top real names for Baby Sabin, but I didn't just roll off the turnip truck. I knew what they were up to. I remain steadfast... you will all get to meet Baby Sabin properly at the right time. I promise. I was very blessed to have a third baby shower this past weekend. It was hosted at Beverly Tiller's house along with my mom, Debbie Suit, and Michelle Roun. Several old and new friends were present and I had a lot of fun hanging out with all of them. So many people were generous beyond belief in their gifts for Baby Sabin and Bruce and I are very appreciative. I am not sure there is much left for us to buy! There are several pictures to share this week. I hope you enjoy them all! Bruce and I are fa...

There, I said it - I love being pregnant! I love feeling my baby kick around inside of me. I love watching my belly move around like a martian is crawling under my skin. I love having my husband come up from behind me and put his hands on my belly. I love listening to him talk to Baby Sabin. I love having a ready excuse for a nap anytime I want one. I love knowing that God is growing a miracle inside of me and that I get to be a part of that experience. I know I will miss being pregnant. But that is okay... everything I love about being pregnant will be replaced with something I love about having a baby to take care of. I know that my occasional worries about the baby's movement will be replaced by worries about whether or not the baby is breathing at night. I know that my love of watching Bruce take care of me will be replaced with my love of watching him take care of Baby Sabin. I know that my love of seeing my belly move around like an ocean will be replaced by my love of watchi...

Today I was blessed to have a second baby shower. This one was thrown by the ladies at my church . It was a lot of fun and I was definitely showered with lots of gifts for Baby Sabin! In typical baby shower fashing, we received lots of great advice too. Because I've not posted a blog in over a week, I'll give you lots of good ideas and laughs by posting all of the advice I received. I promise to come back later and give you some more updates and details about Baby Sabin! Talk to your baby about Jesus. - Dixie G. Always take some time for yourself. - Becky B. Talk to your child about everything, even if it is uncomfortable. - Cindy W. While it's too late to say run, so pray! Don't be afraid to ask others for advice and help. - Tina S. Get lots of rest, schedules are a must, and crying is okay. - Anonymous Be always loving, always consistent, always a good example. - Linda S. Be consistent with discipline. - Kori R. Rely on friends for help! - Angela T. A baby can never g...

I know it has been more than a few days since my last post, but I have a good reason. We have been very busy. You see, in just another 2 days, construction of the dome shells will begin! We were set for tomorrow, but today it got pushed back one more day until Wednesday. There were a lot of errands and last minute arrangements that we have had to work on over the last several days. Remember, you can always check for dome updates online. As for Baby Sabin, he or she is still growing very well. I asked the doctor last week about how I was growing in shape and size and she was perfectly satisfied with my progress. I think I've mentioned how there are a couple of ladies who seem to not be able to get over the fact that I don't look like how they think I should. Well, my doctor said not to worry and then just the other day I read in What to Expect When You're Expecting that there are many acceptable shapes during pregnancy and I have one of them. So no more problems there... w...

I have found a really neat site for DIY called ThreadBangers. There, I was inspired to take an oversized t-shirt (from my pre-pregnancy days) and convert it into something I could wear at 7 months pregant and not look like I was in a moo-moo. I'd much rather look pregnant than fat (trust me, I know looking fat... I was there once). Here is the result: I basically cut strips on the sides and double-tied them together. The bottom was trimmed (I'd leave a little more length next time, and I would make it more rounded), as well as the sleeves. I bunched them up and tied them off with a piece of t-shirt from the bottom. It isn't perfect but I learned some things that will make the next one even better! By the way, I started having practice contractions on Monday. They lasted for about 5 hours and came very randomly, everywhere from 5 to 15 minutes apart. Some were small but others just about stopped me mid-sentence while I tried to figre out what this new sensation was. I have ...

We are into the single digits here people! There are ~9 weeks left in my pregnancy. That is the same as one -quarter of a school year. Bruce told me saying it that way made it seem further away. But that was because we had very different teaching experiences last year. I think each 9-week period went by super fast. I have mixed feelings about this coming 9-weeks. I want it to go quickly when I am feeling uncomfortable, but I also really enjoy feeling the baby move around inside of me. Except when I can't fall asleep at night that is. :-) There isn't too much to report about changes in Baby Sabin, just continued growth. Here is what Baby.com says: Your baby weighs just over 3 pounds and is a bit more than 16 inches long. She's probably moving more than ever before, too, so you may even have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and rolls keep you up at night. If you're having this problem, comfort yourself with the knowledge that your baby is active and healthy...

I followed the link Erika sent me and the results were pretty conclusive. I am glad to know the issue is settled. You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy. The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your preganacy, so it's a girl. Boys are carried low. You are going to have a boy. Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the north indicates that you will be having a boy. Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl. You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl. Dad-to-be is gaining weight right along with Mom-to-be, which means that you'll have a boy. The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born. You didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy, so it will be a boy. You are looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a boy, because girls steal their mother's looks. Your chest development has not been very dra...

Wow, I have only 10 weeks left (roughly) until I get to meet Baby Sabin face to face. These past 30 weeks seem to have flown by. I have a surprise for those of you who are still reading my blog. I went in last Friday to have a 3-d ultrasound and have a picture to share with you. It may be hard to understand what you are seeing at first, so let me try to explain. Just imagine that our baby is wearing a hood that is casting a shadow over his or her face. There is a black spot in the middle which is where the right eye would be, except that we are looking at Baby Sabin from a funny angle. You can make out the left eye, nose, lips, and 1 little hand. I hope you like the picture. We tried hard to get a better full face shot, but again, Baby Sabin didn't want to pose for the camera. In more baby news, Bruce and I attended a Baby Care class at the Regency Medical Center, where I plan to give birth. The nurse, Karen Hall, was a great presenter and helped us understand what the he...