The Last Post Form Georgia

Wow, moving has really taken a toll on the blog! Between a last minuet house hunting expedition, going away celebrations (complete with a surprise baby shower!) and now packing, I haven't had much time to sit and reflect.... So, this is it. The movers are here packing everything up and I am hiding out across the street at the Booth's. I can't believe the day is finally here. We are leaving Georgia.

By Thursday we will be in Kansas for a week, and then it is off to our new life on the West Coast. California here we come!

I don't have much to say right now. I am too overwhelmed. I can't say this has been an entirely stress free event. Nor can I say that I have managed it all as well as I would have liked. At least we are nearly home free. I just hope my little bun-in-the-oven hasn't suffered too many ill effects from my stress. It is so hard leaving everyone we know and love to start a new life on the opposite end of the country. For all the reasons it is thrilling it is also sad. I am going to desperately miss being a days drive from my family, next door from the most INCREDIBLE neighbors a person could wish for, and all of the great friends who I have been close to over the last few years.

Surely, an adventure awaits. Watching Jacob navigate his new career will be fascinating and the baby will be here before we know it! I will hit the ground running in CA looking for a health care provider who will support my desire to have a 100% natural childbirth. Wish me luck! The only hospital in Fremont, CA doesn’t allow midwives to deliver babies, so there is the first obstacle. I will also be looking in to joining a local breach of La Leche League, and possibly interviewing for a Doula, so I will have plenty to write about...once I get the computer unpacked! Until then faithful readers, (Mom and Dad!) I bid you farewell!

Good-Bye Georgia!

My Last OB/GYN Visit

Today was my last visit with my OB/GYN. Hopefully, new insurance permitting, my last visit with an OB/GYN. I am determined to find a nurse-midwife to take us through the last four months of this pregnancy. That simply was not an option here in this rural community. However, hubby and I are relocating (SOON! I will post confirmation and specifics by the end of the week!) and hopefully our new more metropolitan home will have more alternatives for prenatal care and child birth.

Before I go further, I have to say that for the most part, I have had a WONDERFUL experience with my OB/GYN, Dr. W. She is intelligent, caring, and obviously experienced. I respect her, and believe she has given me excellent care throughout my pregnancy. Dr. W always has the time for and the answers to my questions, which is what I've needed most through this stage of my pregnancy. However, I have never asked her about her philosophies on Cesarean Sections, pain control, or labor induction. She made a comment today that leads me to believe that she and I may have some fundamental differences when it comes to the way we view child birth.

We were saying our good-byes on what was to be our last visit together when she said, "Just remember when you're lying on the delivery table, there is only one thing you need to remember: EPIDURAL." I was so taken back all I could do is laugh and make some non-committal comment, but that is the last thing I wanted to hear from my caregiver. Admittedly she has delivered HUNDREDS of babies, where as I am completely inexperienced...but I want to know from the get-go that the person delivering my baby believes not only that labor pains are perfectly acceptable, but has the utmost faith that I have the strength, like all women do, to endure them.

Her comment today really solidified for me that I am committed to having a natural childbirth. My mom delivered three babies naturally (Zach at home!) and I had always just assumed that I would do the same, without giving it much thought. Well, now that I am pregnant I have been doing research on epidurals, Oxytocin, and other commonly administered pain drugs, and I have decided that I want no part of it. I know tons of women who have used these methods, and all of them have healthy wonderful babies. However, I also know there are risks. Epidurals increase the risk of delivering by C-Section because the women, numb from the waist down, can't push effectively. To compensate the OB/GYN administers Pitocin, which puts stress on the baby, who then can go into distress. Oxytocin, or Pitocin, commonly given to induce labor or along with an epidural, causes more intense contractions with shorter intervals, which can bee too stressful for the baby. At least that is what I have understood based on my limited reading.

I realize I am no expert, I really don't understand the whole argument for and against all the various medical procedures. However, I DO understand that childbirth is a natural process and the female body has evolved to be a competent baby delivering machine! It seems that standard hospital delivery procedures have become far more medicalized than need be. OB/GYN's are trained as surgeons first. Therefore, some feel more comfortable and in control while using scalpels and drugs to moderate the body. Then there is the fact that hospitals and doctors make more money when epidurals and C-Sections are administered. I read a statistic today that one in five women currently deliver with a C-Section. That just seems crazy. I KNOW C-Sections sometimes save babies lives, but doesn’t 20% seem a little excessive?

After today's appointment I started reading The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer, and she definitely thinks the national C-Section rate is over the top. I won't lie, this woman writes with serious bias in favor of all natural childbirth when possible. However, it's obvious she has done her homework, and I am finding it a fascinating read. I have only read through chapter IV, yet at this point I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn some information your OB/GYN probably isn't going to tell you. The book explores all of the options available to women with various conditions under different circumstances. She gives solid pros and cons for the medical vs. the natural approaches to childbirth. So there's my plug for the day.

I will be probably be looking for a good nurse-midwife in the Bay Area VERY soon, so if anyone has any recommendations or tips on choosing let me know!

See the Amazing Expanding Tummy!

Here we go! At long last a new belly picture. Today officially makes me 22 weeks pregnant. Unbelievable. I am FINALLY starting to look pregnant instead of like I've been drinking too much beer! What's better, I truly feel pregnant at last. My son is such a wiggler. What a reassuring, blessed feeling. I drank a cup of coffee this morning and I thought the little guy was going to kick a hole in my stomach. And no, for the record I feel no guilt over my morning cup of Joe! Studies at the Mayo Clinic have proven moderate doses of caffeine have no detrimental effects on unborn babies. Moderate doses being defined as under 200 mg of caffeine per day. Besides, after giving up rare steaks, sushi, swordfish, not to mention alcohol and cigarettes, I feel OK about my less than moderate caffeine intake. Of course this all sounds like justification... so I'll just move on.

What I can't get enough lately is the simple, joyful, food that we eat as children. I want peanut butter & jelly for lunch and tomato soup swimming with Goldfish crackers for dinner day after day! OOOO or hot dogs in Macaroni & Cheese and bologna sandwiches! But, I wonder what is causing my taste buds to regress? Sitting here I am envisioning fluffernut sandwiches, Twinkies, and chocolate milk with crushed up gram crackers in it! Ymmm! GRAM CRACKERS!

The good news is I haven't gone overboard with weight gain. Thank God, because it certainly hasn't been because thanks to exercise or will power. I've put on about 17 lbs total, which is probably a smidge more than I should have. I eat plenty of fruits and veggies, and take my vitamin every day... But, I get plenty of pizza and ice cream too. What's a girl to do? My biggest goal for the remaining 18 weeks is to continue with the fruits and veggies and try to beef up my fiber intake. I am terrified of constipation. Thankfully I adore oatmeal and it is still chilly in the mornings here in GA. ;-)

Tums seem to be another staple of my diet. I never experienced heartburn before pregnancy. Man, that can be a doozie! Just extra calcium, right? All and all I am loving pregnancy. Never did I ever feel that bigger was better, but my tune has changed. I love my pregnant body. I feel more like a woman than I have ever felt before. The boobs definitely go along way in that regard! But, seriously pregnant bellies are beautiful! And now that the pregnancy acne is under control, I feel great looking in the mirror.

OK, here is my plug... I had GREAT skin pre-pregnancy. Then all of a sudden, at about 2 months pregnant I got the WORST acne of my life. Worse than middle school, worse than high school. I felt like one giant zit. My OB/GYN suggested Proactiv. I was a little hesitant; there is no place in a 50 mile radius of my home to purchase it, and though not outrageous, it's not cheep. But, eventually my desperation won out and I ordered their basic package via the internet. Two weeks after I started using it started to clear up, and now a month into it I couldn't be happier. I still get a zit or two, but it is no longer a full chin strap of the little red fuckers. I swear I have no affiliation with their company, other than the fact I am truly happy with my purchase! With all the other screw ball changes happening to pregnant body, the last thing I could handle was zits!

PS: My hubby just called as he drove over the Golden Gate Bridge! I am so jealous!

Sex and the City

Yesterday, after sleeping in LATE, even for me, I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching all of Season One of Sex and the City. I was sorta' disappointed. Does the show get better in later seasons? Specifically, I hated their portrayal of marriage and pregnancy.

The show seemed to suggest was that people only married once they finally "caved in" to growing up and settling down. Usually women settled for less than perfect mates for money and security, thereby sacrificing something of their selves. Then they only got pregnant to validate their self worth. However, through pregnancy they actually end up forsaking every shred of their individuality and become part of some society mandated mass-think organization. It was a very bleak portrayal. For example, it appeared rather degrading to women to illustrate the pregnant mom, one-time party-girl and extrovert, suddenly having a massive breakdown after seeing her "city friends" again at her baby shower. The women became so dissatisfied with her changed life, and apparent loss of identity, that in a fit she takes a cab to NY. Here she crashes a party where she makes an ass of herself by trying to take her clothes off for a come-back peep-show and is ready to start hammering drinks. As though pregnancy was not only a "cult" she had fallen victim to (as Miranda proposes) but it also some how shut down her ability to think logically and act sanely. Of course I am particularly sensitive about this topic! :-)

It just kinda made me sad to watch a show that was supposed to be an innovation in portraying women as strong and intelligent beings, in every way equal to men... mock the very parts of our femininity that truly make us amazing creatures. The women on the show were only seen as equal and powerful when they were preforming high powered careers and having casual sex. And of course women can do these things with equal zeal and proficiency as men. And I certainly DO NOT want to suggest that for a women to become self-actualized she must get married and bare children, because of course that is nonsense. It just disturbed me that Sex and the City seemed to suggest that if a women married and had children she suddenly became less of a person. I noticed that the only one of the characters that longed for marriage and pregnancy was Charlotte, who is also portrayed as being naive and very much a traditionalist.

Any way, I haven't given up on the series. Of course it is fun to live vicariously through these women with successful careers and wild if capricious sex lives. And I realised that the portrayal of marriage and children is through THEIR eyes. Through the perspective of women who either do not want to have committed relationships or by other reasons never had successful committed relationships. Of course they seem bitter and sceptical of marriage and family. I am interested to see how the show progresses. I know Miranda eventually gets pregnant and becomes a mother. I wonder how the show depicts that? All and all , it was a fun way to waist an afternoon, and now a morning in contemplation.

Wednsday Night

Wednesday night and all's well. Not terribly exciting, but well. I just returned from dinner at the neighbor's (God, I am going to miss the Booth's) and I am currently listening to my dogs growl and play with a squeaky toy. Maybe not as thrilling as a night on the town, but fairly entertaining in it's own right. My mom gave them this toy for Christmas, and it's their favorite. It's a stuffed animal that resembles a wiener dog with a long springy accordion like body that will stretch out over a foot. Jack will grab one end and Scooter the other, and doggie tug-of-war commences. The two of them will pull and tug their way through out the house...Jack most often dragging Scooter around. This can be a particularly noisy affair. The sound of doggie toes tapping on the laminate flooring, the vicious growl of a Chihuahua with a Napoleon Complex, and of course the infernal, endless squeak squeak squeak of the tortured and stretched stuffed toy. Their favorite time to play this game is while someone is trying to watch a movie or have a phone conversation. They also enjoy a good go-round under the kitchen table if guests are over for a meal.

Where am I going with this? Well, sometimes their antics with this stuffed dog are something of an annoyance. Not tonight however. Tonight they are my main source of entertainment. Really. There was just this hilarious moment when they managed to wrap the stuffy around the table leg, each still yanking, neither grasping why they weren't going anywhere. Not only have I got a good chuckle out of watching the doggy show, but I've also now killed sometime writing about it. (Can you tell I am home alone? Jacob is gone for three days of interviewing first in California then Arizona.)

It's been said that pets can prolong your life. I agree. There is nothing like a wagging tail greeting you at the door day after day, or a fuzzy little buddy who ALWAYS wants to be in your lap or constantly follows you around the house. My dogs know when I am sad and know just what to do. They don't say a word and let me cry into their furry necks. A perfect friend.

But really, the best, most life prolonging effect of pet ownership has to be the laughs. I can't count how many side-splitting moments have been spent watching one of my dogs chase after a toy thrown in the house, especially when he puts on the breaks too late and slides into a wall. Or opening the sliding glass door to let one of them out only to have him walk straight into the still closed screen. Ah, good times. The pups always take it so well too. They don't get bent out of shape like some friends do when you giggle at their slap-stick misfortune.

So here's to my wonderful dogs. Jack who can catch a piece of popcorn thrown a velocity speeds, three feet from his mouth. And my beloved Scooter, who misses every time. More often than not, Scooter will get beaned in the head with any treat thrown his way. He now has salt in his eyebrows where he got hit with a piece of popcorn just moments ago! I love you guys!