Why ... am I in such a rush to have this baby?
I'm uncomfortable -- well, my lower back is, trying to carry this boulder in the front -- but I'm definitely not in any pain...
I'm told i don't look nearly as swollen as I did this time last pregnancy. Walking this time is more of a challenge but no biggie....
And no signs of trouble at the doctor's office!
Still, i was soo excited to tell the doctor today, that the baby had dropped waaay low in my pelvic region -- thinking the doctor would say I'd be due to give birth sooner rather than later......
"Nah. It doesn't mean anything," the doctor said, barely looking up from my charts and measurements on his computer.
Darn.
The only difference for the docs -- i have to see them every week for regular visits, until delivery day.
Sounds easy enough.
Now, if I could just find a way to not feel so sleepy throughout the day!
It's the funniest thing -- hits me all day long.
I want to sleep when my alarm goes off for work in the morning.. and then right after the morning newscasts ... anytime after I eat... or if I'm stationary for too long...
It's actually fascinating.
And even after I've gotten a good nap / night's sleep, I'm good for a couple of hours -- then I'm sleepy again!
The nesting process has begun (not a fan of that word, but that's what we're doing...again. lol!)
We got Alexandra's big girl bed -- YAY! Just need to get a mattress for it -- which, at the rate we're going, could take another week.... ugh!
And NOW hubby wants to paint Alex's new big girl room ..... yes, now -- the month before baby's due. Oy. He doesn't like the pale yellow that's already in there. I think it's fine, but ... whatevs.
Here's something else my husband and I disagree on.
He thinks we don't need to get a double stroller to cart around baby and Alexandra. But I think we do!
I mean, we're not always going to leave the house together -- what the heck are we supposed to do, with a child that can't walk yet and one that doesn't always feel like it?!?
I've started searching for one -- they're awfully expensive!
The only other thing I'd like to have but can't -- yet -- is clothes.
Problemo -- are we having a boy or girl ?!?!?
The suspense is now killing me! Don't know how hubby can stand it!!
Ok, this is slowing becoming a fiasco during dinner conversations... lol!
When we named Alexandra, my husband, stepdaughter and I literally waited until the last possible minute (i think i was already in the hospital waiting to give birth) ... opened a book of baby names ... and chose the first name we all agreed on.
This time -- we're trying to start the discussion a little earlier ... ish (i'm due next month!)
Since we don't know the sex of the baby, we have to come up with boy and girl names.
Girl names seem to be much easier.
We'd like it to start with an A, since my stepdaughter's and toddler's names both do ... but my creative husband thinks every name my stepdaughter and I come up with -- sounds like a stripper's name.
HAHAHAHAH!
Yeah -- it was funny at first. Now -- we're running out of choices.
Here's how the conversation sounds:
I say, "Oh! What about April! That's a pretty na---"
Hubby cuts me off. "Nope. Stripper."
My stepdaughter says, "Hey.. what about Aliyah?"
Hubby: "Stripper."
"Angel?"
"Nope."
"Amber?"
"Nah."
Unreal. lol...
And with the boy's names, the conversation's no better.
My stepdaughter and I like modern names, like Aiden.
My husband, likes the name Roy.
ROY ?!?!?!?!?!?!!?
Maybe we'd be better off waiting until the last minute to pick a name!
Yeah. I'm a little blissfully nervous.
I say blissfully, because the end of my pregnancy is nothing like what happend my first go-'round.
With Alexandra, I had to have an emergency c-section.
Back then at 37+ weeks, I went to a regular doctor's appointment for a checkup during my work break.
We all knew I'd have to have a c-section because Alex was breech; her butt was situated where he head should have been. :)
However, the nurse & doctor noticed during that checkup, that all my amniotic fluid had disappeared.
Not good.
I was told to go straight to the hospital because I was having the baby that day!
This time around, the baby is head down and has already 'dropped'... Funny- i happened to notice this week i could walk from my bedroom to the kitchen without becoming winded because the baby was no longer wedged up super high into my ribs. lol...
So now -- i guess i just wait, and enjoy being able to breathe normally for the first time in a few months.
The doctor told me I don't have to have another c-section, but there is a 1-percent chance of the old c-section cut ripping during labor. It's not a big percentage, but if it were to happen ... it could be deadly due to the loss of blood, among other things.
So, I think i'm opting for another "c"... but i'm not so sure what happens if i'm already in labor when i arrive at the hospital..
Gotta write that question down for the doctor. Next appointment- next week!
We have started the process, and just as i though -- Alexandra still hates her survival swim lessons. lol!
I have noticed some changes though.
The biggest change even surprised the instructor Ms. Suzi -- Alex can talk.
So accompanying Alex's screams and crying comes, "NO SWIM!!! I GET OUT!!!"
The up side- this time around Alex is understanding directions more ... and she's calming down the louder my cheers and praises to her are.
Alex seems to remember the flipping-onto-her-back.. and grabbing-the-wall routines... though she looks a little awkward now that she's a little bigger and stronger, fighting some of the moves more.
And as soon as the short lesson was over, she was totally fine -- 'talking' to Ms. Suzi like they were old friends, and watching the next student (victim) fussing during his lesson.
Poor thing- Alex's first refresher lesson wore her out. She fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Overall, I think she did very well. One lesson down, at least a dozen more to go!
I've gotten 2, totally different pieces of advice from friends about the same topic.
Do I warn Alexandra beforehand, what breast feeding is?
One friend of mine was adamant.
With her eyes opened as wide as someone just scared by a ghost during a funeral, Kim warned me -- "YES!! You NEED to tell Alex what breastfeeding is all about!!!"
Apparently, when her 2nd child was born, her older (but still very young) son FREAKED out when mom suddenly whipped out a breast and let baby #2 start suckling away.
Scarred him for a few months, actually.
Not sure how old her son was at the time ... but my best friend Karen just had her 2nd baby -- and gave me the opposite advice.
Karen has a 2-year-old daughter who saw, for the first time, her mother breastfeed over the weekend.
"What's that?" little Madison asked.
Karen said, referring to her own breasts, "There's milk in there for the baby."
Madison was satisfied with that answer, and went about her day ... until a little later, when Madison wanted some milk.
Karen caught Madison squeezing her own chest.
"What are you doing, Madison?"
"I want some milk."
"You don't have milk in there," Karen said while trying soo hard not to laugh out loud.
"Yes I do!" Madison insisted.
"Well, you only have milk in there if you have a baby in your tummy. Do you have a baby in your tummy?"
.........................pause............................
"No."
"Well then you don't have milk in there, Maddie."
And that was that. LOL... too freakin' funny.
So. Which piece of advice do I go with? Explain to Alexandra beforehand what breastfeeding is, or just wait for the questions to roll in?
I'm going to have to find a new pet name for Alexandra. lol....
Until yesterday, I never noticed how often I call Alex, "baby" .. or "my baby" --
"Are you all done eating, my baby?"
"Time to take a bath, my baby!"
Yesterday, as I was waiting for the other baby to move so Alex could feel it in my tummy, I said, "We need to find a name for the baby!"
Alexandra looked at me, and without missing a beat she said, "My name Alex."
Ooooooh, yeeeeeaaaaah...... about that........
And then -- during the same conversation, I asked Alex if she knew where the baby was.
I meant, on my body.
She says to me, "I right here, mama!"
Sooooo-- a little deprogramming is in order, though it sure will be hard to break the habit --
Ahem....
"HEAR YE, HEAR YE! I SHALL NOW ... HENCE-FORTH AND HERE WITHIN AND SO FORTH ... REFER TO ALEXANDRA AS MY 'BIG GIRL', AND THE NEW BABY AS 'BABY #2'!"
Wish me luck!
