Category Archives: Family

Aug 31 2015

And Then There Were Four: B’s Birth Story

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And Then There Were Four: B’s Birth Story

The induction was scheduled for 6 AM.

6 AM. Clearly the medical profession had lost its fool mind. They said the maternity ward might be full — because, you know, births are unpredictable like that — so I was supposed to call the hospital an hour prior to check if there was space for me. The night of my due date, I finally finished packing my hospital bag, spent some special family time with Peaches, and set my alarm for 4:57.

Well, births are unpredictable, all right. I never made it to 6 AM. Or 4:57, for that matter. Continue reading →

Aug 5 2015

The Waiting Around Game

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The Waiting Around Game

Because of what happened with Peaches, I kind of assumed I was just a 37-weeks-of-pregnancy sort of girl. She was due in February but was born in January. This one is due in August, so I figured he’d arrive in July. But nope…here we are! August it is. At 39 weeks, I’m more pregnant than I’ve ever been in my life, and here I am waiting for baby.

It seems totally strange to just WAIT for something so life-alteringly important. I mean, this could really happen at any time, and in a million different ways, and it’s unsettling (and kind of exciting? Maybe? Sort of?) to not have any control over any of it. It might take forty-five minutes from start to finish, or I might have to endure a days-long labor. I might eventually have to get induced, or my water could break during dinner tonight. What time will everything happen? Who will be around to help me? Will I be able to get an epidural this time? Will I give birth on the side of the road? Continue reading →

Jul 31 2015

My Strange (Pregnancy) Addiction

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My Strange (Pregnancy) Addiction

Now that the baby is occupying every last square millimeter of available abdomen space, food cravings have gone by the wayside these last few weeks. I ate my weight in Busch’s pico de gallo early on; but recently, nothing sounds all that delicious, and I know that even something mild will cause serious heartburn at this point. I eat because I know I have to. It’s sort of disappointing, since identifying exactly what you want and then satisfying that craving is one of the great joys of pregnancy. Oh and plus, I can actually use my kitchen now! More on that later.

Instead, my human-growing body has submitted to a different sort of craving, and it is BIZARRE. I want the scent of cleaning — specifically things that contain tea tree oil — ALL. THE. TIME. Like most certified germophobes, I’ve long appreciated a good bleachy smell every now and again because it means something has been recently sanitized. But this is bordering on a strange addiction. Continue reading →

Jul 22 2015

P’s Birth Story

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P’s Birth Story

I’m 37 weeks today, which is impossible for me to believe. Things went CRAZY FAST this time around. I know that every birth will be different, but 37 weeks feels significant because that’s when Peaches was born. Do we have a name yet for our second child? No — we literally have not even discussed it. Have we put sheets on the bassinet? Why, no. Have I washed my nursing tanks? Is our newborn car seat installed? Is my hospital bag fully packed? No, no, and no. However, I HAVE found time to start feeling just a wee bit concerned about the whole birth thing. It’s happening, and soon. I will have to get this child out of me somehow.

I did this already? And survived it? Are you sure? I’m skeptical at best. It is such a hazy, two-and-a-half-year-old fog in my mind that I’ve recently tried to force myself to relive it so I’ll have a better idea of what to expect.

As part of that process, I’ve started to reread snippets of the private blog I kept while I was pregnant with Peaches. For my memory’s sake — and because it’s only fair, since our son’s birth story is (probably?) coming soon — I’ll share her birth story just as I wrote it right after she was born, minus the real-names thing (and a few personal details).
Continue reading →

Jul 12 2015

My Mommy Must-Haves, Part II: The Newborn Phase

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My Mommy Must-Haves, Part II: The Newborn Phase

People will have you believe that you need a whole lot of GEAR to sustain that eight-pound being you just brought home from the hospital. And it was secretly a lot of fun to fill a multi-page baby registry with novelties and trinkets and doodads. When we owned our home in Michigan, we stocked the nursery with everything we thought she’d need until she was, like, five years old. But since we’re now renting a temporary house in California, there’s no pressure to paint and get all fancy for Baby Number Two. We don’t even know if we’ll still be here for his first birthday, so it seems pretty pointless to think beyond the first few months of babydom.

Unfortunately, “people” are semi-right. You kinda do need a lot of gear — just not nearly as much as we thought the first time around. So what do we ACTUALLY need to pull out of storage? What REALLY needs to be washed, cleaned, and prepared before we leave for the hospital? Again, not an expert — but feel free to listen in (and contribute) while I think through this list and try to get organized because OMG WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

I was able to narrow down my pregnancy comfort items to three, but had to expand my newborn must-haves to ten. The first five are obvious, but I think it’s a safe bet that most parents will need these: Continue reading →