Healthy Baby Mila

Look at those thick thighs!  I love baby thighs the best - so much to squeeze and so many rolls!  This is Mila hanging out on the changing table looking up at her favorite mobile.

This expressions cracks me up.  Every so often she will do this sort scared wide eyed look - almost like a cross between she's really impressed and a little worried about you.

Here she is in my favorite hoodie that Avi wore as a baby.  So glad I got to see her wear it!

Chunky thigh!

Super-baby pose! Both my girls did this pose and both always stuck out their right arm and kept the left one bent.  

The advantages of a homebirth!

After much research, reading, and visiting hospitals and interviewing midwives and their practices, I decided on trying to have a homebirth with midwives attendants.  Many factors led me to this decision, including: safety, less medical/drug interventions, calm environment, cost, and Michael's encouragement and my own trust in the amazing female body.  My brother's comment also put a lot of confidence in me; he'd say, "Maren, don't worry, women have been having babies for over a 100 years now."  Obviously, he was being silly (that's his job as my older brother), but he was also making a point: women instinctively know how to birth - all of our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and so on have birthed successfully or we wouldn't be here - so each of us come from a great line of successful births!

Here's a little excerpt from a book that I thought hit home on the safety of home births (which seems to be the biggest and most obvious concern): 

"A study done... with researchers at Stanford University, compared the safety of home birth with hospital birth. The results showed that morbidity outcomes were identical. The study also showed that only 5% of the mothers birthing at home received medication, whereas 75% of the in-hospital births received medication. Even more revealing, 3 times as many cesearean sections were performed on the mother in hospital births as there were in the planned home births that required transfer to a hospital. Babies born in hospitals suffered more fetal distress, newborn infection, and birth injuries than did those born in homes... when women are relaxed in the comfort of their own homes and are allowed to birth normally, what is looked upon as a medical incident can evolve into something quite natural and safe."

If you're interested in learning more about home birth, there's a fascinating documentary called, The Business of Being Born- click HERE

Aveah birthed in a birthing tub.  This is about 20 minutes before she came out.  The wonderful midwives gave me water with electolites to keep me comfortable and energized.  I loved how they served me with a straw!

Two minutes after she was born!  She is still a little gray, but pinking up nicely.  She was placed on my chest immediately after birth - not whisked off to be cleaned and given shots.  She stayed with me the entire time (except when grandmas and daddy wanted to hold her).  

Daddy helped with everything (except the pushing - my body did that with even my help!)  Daddy set up the tub, filled it with water, called the midwife when I was ready for her to come, and most importantly stayed with me when I wanted his presence.

Edana Hall, the certified midwife, holds Aveah for her Apgar test (which she scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on!).  I have the luxury of relaxing in the comfort of my own bed.  The other midwives were making me whatever I wanted to eat from my fridge (my craving was for raisin bread, peaches, and ramen noodles).

Earth angel.

About 6 weeks ago, Michael and I took a little trip down to Venice Beach in Southern California.  We walked the famous (infamous?) sidewalk, eyeing all the interesting people and their wares for sale.  After about 1 mile of walking in my flip-flops, my feet were KILLING me! Even worse was we had to walk all the way back.  My feet basically didn't recover for weeks.  That is until my mom bought me a new pair of flip-flops: enter Earth Exer-Fit divine-creations-from-heaven.  I admit, they aren't the coolest looking shoes in the world, but that hasn't stopped me from wearing them EVERY day!  I even wore them to a wedding we shot last weekend.  (Normally, I wouldn't do this, but since the groom was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, I felt at ease expressing my own comfortable-sensibilities.)  Here's to Earth shoes, my new love!  (I wonder if I can get sponsored by them?  Would the sponsorship run out when I cease to be pregnant?)

7.5 month update

I continue to feel great!  My back doesn't ache, I am able to sleep fairly well, I feel rested, I'm not grumpy, I'm eating well, I don't have to pee every 20 minutes, and I can still see my toes!  I don't even know I am pregnant except for when I feel a little kick on my bladder or some other internal organ!  She is moving around a lot, and now that she is bigger, when she kicks it hurts sometimes!  That is my biggest complaint, the jabs her growing body is able to perform on my insides.  It is really fun being able to see her move from the outside though.  Sometimes, I will find myself just staring at my own belly, totally entertained, watching her make shapes and deform the round circle of my abdomen. 

3.5 months

5.5. months

7.5 months

Week 31

For those of you who don't click on the baby countdown (in the right side column) to see how she is growing, here's an excerpt from this week (week 31):

"From this week on, your baby will continue to gain around ½ pound a week until
shortly before birth (even though it may feel like a whole lot more with every
step you take). Other highlights this week: Due to increasing space constraints,
your baby's arms and legs stay drawn up close to the body now, known as the
fetal position (oh, so that's where that name came from!). Plus, your baby can
now process information from all five senses..."

Isn't that cool?!? Well, the gaining a half a pound a week is a little scary, but the 5 senses thing is awesome!

Six Month Update

The new comment is "Wow!  You've really popped out recently!"  I guess it is like seeing your little niece who you haven't seen for 1 year, and being amazed at how much she's grown.  The growth is gradual and steady for me, but it must be weird for people who don't see me on a daily basis. 

I've gained about 25-30 pounds, depending on what scale I'm on - or what I had for dinner the night before!  I feel great - only had a pinched muscle in my lower back/butt region which made me limp for a week or so, but that has gotten better!  Sleeping is getting tougher, only my sides feel comfortable.

5.5 month update

2.5 months

3.5 months

4.5 months

5.5 month

 

Well, I weigh in now at 139 pounds - a mere 23 pounds heavier than my unpregnant body.  All that weight for a baby who weighs a little more than a pound right now!  I feel healthy and the leg cramps only visited me that one night!  I have no real complaints - so far!  I can still sleep on my back and sides (though belly sleeping is totally out of the question).  No swelling in my feet and ankles, so that's good!  I am starting to get random "tightenings" in my belly every day or so.  It feels like a muscle is turning to stone in my stomach.  They don't hurt, just feel strange.  I guess these are the beginning of braxton-hicks?  

Cord Blood Banking

You might notice a new button on the right side of our blog - this is to donate to help us afford to bank our babies cord blood. The cost is about$2,000 upfront and then about $100/year to keep the blood banked. That sounds like a lot of money - and it is - but it is totally worth it when you learn a little about all that cord blood can do.

We are going to go with http://www.cordblood.com/ Here's some info I stole from their website:

Cord blood is the blood that remains in your baby's umbilical cord after the cord has been cut. Doctors have discovered that cord blood can be used in medical treatments. It can be used to regenerate healthy blood and immune cells in cancer patients and cure the following diseases: Leukemias, Lymphomas, other Blood Cancers, tumors, Inherited Immune System Disorders, Inherited Metabolic Disorders, Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Disorders, and Histiocytic Disorders.

Cord blood banking is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for parents to collect and preserve the stem cells from their baby's umbilical cord blood for potential medical uses. By saving your baby's stem cells with CBR, your child and family can have access to better medical treatment options or cures for cancers, as well as potential treatments for conditions such as brain injury and juvenile diabetes.

What's really cool is that if we are able to afford to bank our first babies cord blood, the cells in that one baby's blood can be used on all of her siblings!

If you decide to donate, I want to thank you right now. Having cute clothes and a nice high-chair for the baby is cool, but being able to save a life someday is really awesome! Thank you.

Leg Cramps

Okay, some pregnancy surprises aren't quite as great as feeling the baby move. Take this morning at 5:00am when I was suddenly awoken by sharp, intense pain in my calves. Did I have a bad dream where I was running for hours?, I thought. What could have caused these sharp pains? Well, I found out that this is a normal symptom to pregnancy!

I would love to hear what other women have done to help with these cramps. I hope I don't have more, but if I do, I want to be armed and ready!

Poly Canyon hike

Everyone is telling me how important it is to walk and get moderate exercise during my pregnancy.  This is hard for me because my idea of exercise is snowboarding, surfing, rollerblading, etc.  - which are all out of the picture during a pregnancy (unless you are my mother who was trying to get up on the water ski while 8 months pregnant!).  So, Michael and I take hikes with our dogs - it is fun and still constitutes as exercise.  This weekend we hike Poly Canyon on the Cal Poly acreage.  This "canyon" is the home to various art and architecture students' projects.  The dogs loved roaming the open hills, catching squirrels and getting muddy.  Soon, we will be bringing  a little one here to explore!

Michael climbing on one of the projects - a geodesic dome.  Soon we will have another little monkey that will climb with him!

Cravings

Today the craving was pomegranate seeds.  Last month it was milk.  Tonight it was steak, but then once it was in front of me I wasn't so hungry for it.  No, no cravings for pickles and ice cream yet (at least not together).  

Another funny thing is when I will be having a conversation with someone and they say a word that is also food.  Like last night, my husband was talking about his cousin, Caesar, and I had a strong desire to eat a Caesar salad!  Be careful what you say around me!

The pregnant body is picky and particular.  But, I must admit, it is fun having an excuse to eat ANYTHING at ANYTIME without having to worry about people questioning it!

I've always loved the ruby red color of pomegranate seeds.  While eating some this afternoon, I had to test out our macro lens and take a picture.  18 seconds after this picture was taken, the seeds were in my mouth.  Yummy.

It's a girl!

We had our ultrasound on Monday to see if our baby was healthy and find out if we can be calling our belly a "she" or a "he"; I personally don't like calling it "it"! We were in Fresno and were able to get served by Michael's step-dad, James, at his radiology clinic! It was really nice and quick. I can't believe how skilled the tech was a following our little swimmer around and checking on all her organs and vitals. She is healthy and everything seems to be growing normally - yeah! It was really a cool experience to see her for the VERY FIRST TIME! My grandma, Michael's mom, Michael and my mom attended the "viewing". My mom kept commenting, "You really have a baby in there!" I guess, she is still in a bit of denial or shock.

This picture is for my brother, the chiropractor. How's her spine look, Brant? Not bad for only 17 weeks old!

This is the image that the tech used to determine she's a "she"! To interpret for those not familiar with reading ultrasounds, you are looking at her little butt and the bottom of her thighs (she's going to kill me for this when she's a teenager, huh?). If you look at the space where her two little legs meet, you will notice something (the male organ) is missing. You can even see the little slit right in the middle. She's definitely a she!



Here's a good profile shot. It was amazing how you could see the profile along with the spine and even the little heart pumping (it was like a flashing light in her chest).

Baby's little heartbeat

Here is a video of my last check-up appointment. The baby's heart is strong and healthy sounding! This is my second time hearing it. The first time I heard it, I cried. Silly, I know, but only a mother can understand! Geez, I can't believe how sentimental I am getting...

"So, how do you feel?"

Since almost everyday I get asked this question, I will go into the nitty-gritty detail of exactly how a newly-pregnant woman feels. I must admit, every one's journey is different; for example, I never had to vomit. In fact, I feel a little cheated by that. The movies always show the new mom indiscreetly hovered over some trash can. I thought it was a rite of passage. Guess I was wrong. In contrast, I have been very hungry and holding all my food down. The biggest (literally) pain of pregnancy for me thus far is my swelling breasts. They are painful! When I hug someone, roll over in bed, or just stretch the wrong way they ache with sharp pains. I also have been breaking out like I was in high school again - so much for that "glowing, radiant skin" everyone talks about in pregnancy. I have been tired, but not exhausted. A recent hike and photo shoot later in the afternoon did send me to bed at 8:00, but that's not normal. One disturbing thing about being pregnant is loosing your mind. I feel just plain stupid sometimes. I forget things, loose my train of thought, am oblivious to obvious situations, etc. The good news is I haven't been too "hormonal" (at least that's what I think, ask Michael and he may have another answer.) In fact, the first 5-6 weeks of my pregnancy I was sort of in this totally relaxed la-la-land where nothing fazed me! Recently, I have been getting more opinionated and speaking my mind more adamantly about anything from work, to my dogs, to getting our broken dishwasher replaced! But no major "fits" yet. Let's hope it stays that way!