Granola momma

I am a babywearing, breastfeeding, cloth diapering momma, effectively earning me the title of being a 'granola momma.' In case you're not familiar with that term, wikipedia says granola is used as slang "describing a person who is hippie-like."

The babywearing is mostly out of necessity. When she gets bored or is fighting sleep I can put her in one of the carriers (usually the wrap because it's more stretchy & comfortable for us both) and do some housework, which usually lulls her to sleep.

The breastfeeding is because...

1. It's the best thing for her nutritionally
2. It's cheaper than formula
3. It's more convenient (mostly) than formula - I say mostly because while I don't have to worry about bottles for now, when I go back to work I will be pumping & sending bottles with her to daycare - wish I didn't have to go back.
4. I enjoy being able to do it - it means I get an 'excuse' to stop, sit down & cuddle her multiple times a day
5. And, I almost forgot...makes it really easy to lose that pregnancy weight (at least for me it has both times)
   

The cloth diapering is because...

1. It's better for the environment
2. It's better for my wallet (besides how much I'll save with just Ella, if I have another child I can diaper him/her for free {except for the cost of washing them}. If I don't have another one, I can re-sell the diapers I have and probably recover at least half what I have spent on them)
   
3. They're almost as easy as disposables - the laundering, figuring out how they work, etc. wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be
4. My friend Sunny was instrumental in bringing me over to the dark side of CDing (short for cloth diapering). If you are at all interested in what 'modern' cloth diapers look like, how they work, etc., I encourage you to click here & take a look at her online store.
5. And, if those aren't reason enough, they are way cuter than disposables - I can match her diaper to her outfit :)

And, what's a blog post without pictures...

Ella in her first cloth diaper (a Bum genius 3.0 pocket diaper in Blossom - these are one size, meaning they adjust from newborn size up to toddler)

Ella in a prefold & Thirsties cover in Celery

And, Ella in a Swaddlebees - which she has already outgrown (her little buddha belly won't squeeze into it anymore) (don't have a link to these in Sunny's store), sporting an expression that makes her look very much like her Daddy :)

Edited to add: I don't believe parenting is a 'one-size-fits-all' type of thing & I hope this post didn't come off that way. I think all parents should make the choices they believe are the best ones for their family.

"Enough equipment for two babies..."

That's what Anthony says about all the baby 'stuff,' but if it helps keep her happy & occupied so I can say, take a shower or cook a meal then it's worth it.
What it takes to keep Ella happy...

The swing...The bouncy seat...

The play gym...

And, you've already seen the babyhawk (see post below). We also have an exersaucer in storage that she can use once she's able to kind of sit up on her own.

Snow day

We had a nice snowstorm here a few weekends ago that the three of us took advantage of and went outside to play in. We put the baby monitor to good use & left Ella asleep in the bassinet for a few minutes.

Our pitiful snowman (can you see the eyes, nose & mouth that we poked in his face? :)

Wesley's snow angel

Anything to keep a fussy girl happy

My one splurge as far as baby equipment goes was this Babyhawk Mei Tai that I bought used off Ebay. She'll usually calm down after I put her in this & start bouncing up & down while I do housework. (More Ella pictures to follow in the next couple days - I was reminded by a friend that I have a blog that needs to be updated :) I added a link to her babysite over to the right.

She's Here!

Introducing...[drumroll please]

Ella Grace M.

She was born Tuesday, February 26th at 3:10 P.M. She weighed 8 lbs. 0 ozs. & was 20 1/4" long.

Mom is doing fine, Ella had some trouble breathing at first but seems to be doing fine now. Hopefully they will get to come home Saturday.

Enter Our Baby Pool

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Her room...

Clockwise from walking in the door of her room (what used to be our dining room - it has french doors on the north & south end, a door on the west side that opens into the room we have our pool table in and a door on the east side that opens into our room)...

On the west wall, the changing table &...

the guest bed (with our packed bags, diaper bag & car set ready to be taken to the hospital).
On the north wall, one set of french doors (with almost-finished curtains that my mom helped me alter - to block out all the light).
These are two prints I'm going to hang above her crib on the east wall.
Her crib.
Also on the east wall, her swing & bouncy seat.
On the south wall, the armoire, her toy basket & the other set of french doors.
What's in the armoire... lots of pink!And, back to the west wall where we started, the glider rocker & boppy pillow.It's quite cozy in there (read: cramped) with all the furniture & equipment, but it's pretty much ready for her to make her appearance.

35 weeks...

From the newsletter: "Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight."

I was supposed to have an appointment yesterday, but they had to re-schedule me until Friday because my doctor has been out (she's two weeks behind me & has been having pre-term labor, too - I heard she got sent to Nashville last week & then was back in Martin at the hospital yesterday, so she might have had her baby by now) & my midwife was going to be tied up at the hospital all day. So, I don't have an update on that front, but I'm still working from home & trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. I'm ready to be able to go back to work next week. I really need to get some things wrapped up before I'm off for my maternity leave. Hoping I can make it another week & a half before she makes her entrance.

Edited to add 35 week belly pic...

Wesley story as promised...

I wanted to post pictures with the story so I had to wait until I found a USB cord to upload them from my camera. So, here's the story...

I think all the excitement of me going into labor & spending the week in Nashville left Wesley feeling a little deprived of attention. Saturday evening he came out of his room, where he had been watching a movie, and something looked different about him. I looked close & realized he had cut a chunk out of his hair in the front. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with him. Anthony & I decided his punishment would be that he would have to pay for his next haircut (he had just had one maybe two weeks ago) & he would have to wear it to school like that for the next week. Case closed.... or not. Sunday afternoon I woke up from my nap on the couch & looked up to see that he had chopped off all his bangs to within 1/4 inch of his scalp. I was irrate! I was like, "Didn't you learn your lesson yesterday? WHAT were you thinking?!" He said, "I was trying to fix it." So, his punishment remained the same & in addition, he is no longer allowed to use scissors & he got a little something else for his antics.

Since I know that this whole fiasco would be hilarious to me if it were anyone else's child, I decided to share. Enjoy...

I didn't get a shot of when he had just cut a chunk out of his hair, but here's what it looked like after the second round of hair cutting (you can see from that little piece on the right how long his bangs used to be before he scalped himself)...



And what he looked like after I buzzed his hair off Tuesday night (because they had picture day Wednesday - if only he had waited a week to chop off his hair)...

34 weeks & an update...

From my newsletter: "Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well."

I had a doctor's appointment today. The ultrasound showed that my cervix was still a good length, although it has shortened like a millimeter and a half in the last ten days. She is allowing me off strict bedrest. Now, I'm up to 'restricted activity.' I can do light-duty housework, go to a movie or make a quick trip to Wal-Mart, but no lifting anything remotely heavy or being on my feet for more than an hour or two at a time. If I make it to 36 weeks I'll be released back to normal activity. I asked if they would try to stop my labor if I went into labor today & she said they would try to stop it with the Brethane shots (which they tried before & all they did was slow it down a little), but wouldn't put me back on the magnesium (thank goodness!).

Edited to add 34 week belly pic...

Update IV...

I was released from Centennial on Friday night and came home Saturday afternoon after spending the night at my dad's in Clarksville. I'm on bedrest at least until I see my doctor on Wednesday. I don't know if she'll want me to stay on bedrest after that or not. I'll be 34 weeks then. So, baby & I are doing well. I'm still on an oral medicine to keep me from having too many contractions (Nifedipine - brand name Procardia). I still have 3 to 4 each hour, but as long as I behave myself & don't try to do too much, I don't start having too many more. Poor Anthony has had to take over all the household chores & drop off & pick up Wesley each day. Ironically, it's good preparation for when she gets here & I'm out of commission for a while :)

Funny Wesley story to come later tonight...

Update III...

They took me completely off the mag today. I feel so much better - no double vision or trouble breathing. I had some mild contractions, but they weren't too concerned with them. I'll have another ultrasound in the morning to see if there has been any change in my cervix. If there hasn't been, they're going to discharge me to go home to be on bedrest for at least another week. The doctor here seems to think that if my doctor at home sees me in another week & there still hasn't been any changes that she might let me resume normal activities. After 34 weeks they probably wouldn't try to stop labor, they would let her be born. I'm 33 weeks one day today, so that's only six more days. I'd rather her stay in there until 37 weeks so she's not born premature.

Another update...

Baby & I are still doing fine. They have me on a magnesium sulfate drip as well as oral procardia medicine to keep me from contracting too much. I still have some contractions, but not enough to be worrisome as far as throwing me into full-blown labor. They have started decreasing the magnesium sulfate (thankfully) & I'm beginning to feel more like myself. If you don't know anything about 'mag' (as it's called), it relaxes your muscles (the uterus is one big muscle), so you can't breathe as deep, can't focus your eyes (I was seeing three of everything on Sat. morning when they had me on 3 grams/hour - I'm now down to 2 grams/hour & can focus as long as I don't move my head around), can't walk (my legs felt like jello when they let me get up to go to the bathroom the first time yesterday); it's even hard to chew.

They gave me steriod shots Friday & Saturday night to help the baby's lungs develop in case they can't stop my contractions & she comes early. They did an ultrasound on Sunday (TMI warning: if you can't deal with childbirth talk you might want to skip to the next paragraph) to check my cervix & it had closed back up (was 2 cm dialated Friday night & Sat. morning) & was a good length. The doctor thinks that is an excellent indication that as long as we keep the contractions under control I will make it to 34 weeks or later & will likely be able to get moved back to Martin after next week.

They also looked at the baby on the ultrasound - all her organs, measurements, fluid levels, etc. & everything looked good. The tech estimated her weight at 5 lbs. 9 ozs. (I've read that ultrasounds can be off by as much as 1 lb., but if the tech was right, she would be in the 76th percentile for her gestational age.) Translation: I grow big babies :) Wesley was 8 lbs. 9 ozs. at full-term. If I were to carry her to term (40 weeks) and she gained the 1/2 lb. per week that they estimate, she could be around 9 lbs. The tech went on about her chubby cheeks & even printed out a couple pictures of her face for us.

Looks like it's going to be an exciting night here in Tennessee with some severe weather rolling through. Hope you and yours are safe and sound.

UPDATE

This is Anthony, posting for Mindy. She wanted to let anyone that didn't know already what is going on with us. She went to the hospital Friday night to be monitored for contractions. They tried everything they could to get them to stop and decided Saturday morning to transport her to Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, TN. Centennial has tertiary care neonatal ICU that is equipped to handle a 32 week baby where as Martin cannot. They have her contractions stabilized and are hoping to hold off the delivery for at least two more weeks, at which point she might be able to go back to Martin to have the baby. Other than the pre-term labor, Baby and Mindy are doing fine. The doctors do not know what caused the pre-term labor. We'll try to post an update every couple of days.

Pregnancy Complaint 112

I should start a series of these since it seems there are so many. One thing you get a lot more of when you are pregnant is attention. For the most part it's not a bad thing. A lot of people you barely now all of a sudden ask you all kinds of things about the baby & how much longer you have, etc. Of course, strangers do double takes when they see your belly. And, It is really funny to watch people I don't see very often at work checking out my belly discreetly, trying to figure out if I'm pregnant or not (this doesn't happen much anymore because it's obvious now) before they ask.

But the subject of this particular rant (which I feel entitled to since I've made it seven whole months without ingesting someone's head in a hormonal rage) is the never-ending "How are you doing/feeling?" questions. I know most people are just being nice/making conversation. Some are genuinely interested in how I am & how the pregnancy is going & others really do want to hear that I'm uncomfortable as all get out most of the time (those people enjoy others' pain/difficulties). But, when you get asked at least twenty times a day (I promise I'm not exaggerating) "How are you feeling?" "How much longer do you have?" "Are you to the uncomfortable stage yet?" "How's the pregnancy going?" it gets old pretty fast. The biggest reason this starts to grate on my nerves is because I know most of them don't really want to hear my litany of complaints - they just want to hear that I'm doing fine.

Still, I'm sometimes tempted to give them an honest rundown of all the miraculous changes my body is going through making this baby. "Well, actually I can't sleep very well because it feels like I have someone sitting on my lungs, another person using my bladder as a stress ball and a very heavy bowling ball strapped to my abdomen which crushes me if lay on my back or causes me roll over on it if I try to lay on my side. When I do finally get some sleep I wake up to leg & foot cramps every time I try to stretch. Oh, and the very fun kicks/punches in the ribs & feeling like an alien is doing gymnastics in your stomach while you're trying to eat are loads of fun, too. Or, one of my favorites, the sensation that you've just consumed the biggest Thanksgiving meal ever & the skin on your belly is at its absolute breaking point & if you take one more teeny bite you will simply explode - except you have this sensation for hours on end - not just when you eat." I could keep going, but I'll stop there before I get into some of the more gruesome & unpleasant gems of pregnancy.

So, the next time you see a pregnant acquaintance, instead of asking her a pregnancy/baby related question, assume she's already been asked 10 times that day & just tell her she's the most beautiful pregnant woman you've ever seen. :) If you're related to said pregnant lady or she is a close friend, feel free to ask genuine questions of her condition... but only if you want the ugly truth. Rant over with... :)

In other news, Anthony survived our second and final childbirth class this last week & actually said he learned some useful information. As of today, I have only two months left until my due date - hard to believe she's going to be here soon.

Lil' sack of navel oranges...

From my 31 week newsletter: "This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out..."

From 30 weeks (because I forgot to take a picture & post last week - sorry bout' that): "Your baby's having a ball in there! Now that her senses are fully developed, she can taste, touch, hear, see, and smell everything that's going on around her. She continues to practice breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which may mean she gets the hiccups more frequently now -- sending your uterus into funny, twitchy spasms!"

She certainly does get the hiccups a lot - at least two or three times a day. I can also start making out body parts that are poking me & play with her feet sometimes when she pushes them outward.

31 week belly pic

Totally hosed...

Anthony has sort of left the baby item shopping/baby room preparation up to me & hasn't wanted to be real involved - which I totally understand. It's a woman's thing to get all excited about teeny lil' socks and sleepers. I do occasionally subject him to the "Isn't this soooo cute!?" comments (while holding up a little flowered dress). He obliges and says, "Sure," but to him I could just as well be holding up a plain paper towel. Again, I understand that all things baby just doesn't float his boat like it does mine. Anyways, there is a point to all this chatter. One of the blogs I check out daily is a mainly scrapbooking one by Erin Lincoln (who works for Creating Keepsakes - which if you don't know anything scrapbooking won't really matter to you). But, she is also expecting, and get this, she is also due on March 26th. So, occasionally she posts about baby-related topics. Well, she posted the video below of her & her husband shopping for baby stuff - had me totally cracking up (mostly because I can see Anthony feeling the same way as her husband about all these gadgets that you 'need' for baby). So, I thought I would share... (can't get the video to embed in my post right, so click here to watch it on YouTube).

We had our first of two (3 hour) childbirth classes last night. I went to them when I was expecting Wesley & certainly haven't forgotten what labor is like, but a lot of things have changed at the hospital I'm going to deliver in over the last seven years so I thought I should take it as a refresher & Anthony should have to go with me as a beginner. Good news! He survived the first one (graphic photographs & all) - although he (jokingly - or at least I hope so) tried to get one of his buddies to go in his place as we were driving there. During one of our breaks he said, "I know what I'm doing when I get home. I'm playing a ball game." Me: "On the playstation?" Him: "Yes!" Me: (laughing) "Why?" Him: "Because I need to do something manly." He cracks me up.

She's Here!

Introducing...[drumroll please]

Ella Grace M.

She was born Tuesday, February 26th at 3:10 P.M. She weighed 8 lbs. 0 ozs. & was 20 1/4" long.

Mom is doing fine, Ella had some trouble breathing at first but seems to be doing fine now. Hopefully they will get to come home tomorrow.

Lil' Butternut Squash...

From my newsletter – “This week your baby's eyes will finally open and she'll begin blinking, even though it's pitch black in there. She's also on a regular sleep-wake schedule, although she's only getting about 20-30 minutes of shut-eye at a time. Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel.”

I’m starting to get the oh-so-lovely comments about ‘waddling’ & ‘growing’. It’s like being a kid again when your aunts & uncles who didn’t see you very often would say, “My how you’ve grown!” Except now it’s a little harder to feel proud about that fact. Practically all of my co-workers did a double take when they saw me after our week & a half long Christmas break & several of them felt compelled to tell me that I had gotten bigger (as if I hadn't noticed). Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling self-conscious of my size at all. In fact, I feel like I'm not gaining enough weight & have started doing things that my younger brother did in high school when he was trying to put on weight for sports - drinking milk & eating ice cream right before bed, eating lots of carbs & peanut butter. I'm still not gaining the suggested one pound a week. Any other time I could just look at food & gain weight. Anyways, back to what I was saying... it's not that my getting bigger bothers me in any way, I just don't understand why everyone feels the need to point out the obvious, especially when they do it in not-so-nice ways. For instance, you can see in the very bottom picture (29 weeks) that I'm wearing a polo shirt. This is one of the many non-maternity shirts I have from work that have always been too big for me (because they insist on ordering in men's sizes, so I can't get one small enough to fit). Well, this morning one of my co-workers comes in my office, glances at my bulging belly and says (I'm totally not making this up or changing her words in any way {yes, it was a woman - one who has had two children herself}), "So, that works as a fat shirt?" I thought, "Excuse me! I'm not FAT, I'm PREGNANT!" I've read horror stories on the pregnancy message board I frequent of the stuff rude people say to pregnant women, and I thought when people started making those types of comments to me that I would let them know in no uncertain terms how rude they were being, but really, it's better just to act like it's no big deal & move on. So, that's my pregnant woman rant for the day. :)

Christmas Day - 26 weeks, 6 days - might as well call it 27 weeks

Didn't feel like taking one for 28 weeks last week...

Today - 29 weeks - somehow I look bigger in the first one, but I think it was just the clothes

24 & 25 week belly pics

24 weeks

25 weeks (big change)