More from the baby files

Thanks, Linda! I really enjoy writing about our travels because it is fun to relive it plus it will help me remember in the future. I'll keep Mythos in mind for whenever we do make it to Universal. Did I say already that Tony swears that we won't take our children to Disney/ Universal until the youngest is at least 4 years old. I think I can convince him to go before then though ;-)

So, lately I've just been plugging along. I was really busy this past week and I think I over did it a little bit. Monday I went to water aerobics for the first time in months. I really enjoyed it and am going to try to start going again. I did ok and didn't feel like I overexerted myself, but I was definitely ready for bed that night. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked 10 hours each which meant going in earlier than I'm used to and staying late. Thursday I drove 4+hours round trip to see one of my foster kids and ended up not getting to see her (which means I have to make that drive again before the end of the month!). Then Thursday night we had our first natural childbirth class. (more on that later) By the end of Thursday night I had a killer headache. I went to bed and it continued throughout the night. I slept some, but not a lot. When I woke up I still had the headache. I ended up staying home and finding some extra strength extended release tylenol that finally knocked the headache out. I figure that was my body telling me that enough is enough. I didn't get enough sleep this week and I ate really badly on Thursday. I think my body just refused to keep up that pace. Today we slept late and then cleaned house for a bit. Other than that I've been taking it easy. I feel fine today which is good.

So, natural childbirth class. We signed up with Belynda Enzor because our midwife, Jeri, recommended her. She teaches out of her home which is about 45 minutes from us. She only teaches for our midwife now and apparently there aren't that many couples wanting to go the natural route these days. There is only one other couple in our class. They are at 36 weeks already! I was shocked. I can't imagine being that close to my due date and just starting classes. Then during class the lady said that Jeri is considering inducing her soon because she's retaining too much water. Belynda recommended that she eat more protein. We'll see if they make it to the end of our 4 week class. Basically, we are learning the Bradley method, but Belynda doesn't keep her certification current so she is just teaching "natural childbirth". I felt like I learned a few things in the first class and most of all Tony seemed to really pick up a few things. I was watching some of the birth story shows on tv today and he was making little comments about not going to the hospital too soon etc. I was proud to see that he's getting something out of the classes. Before we went he was like "can't we just look this stuff up on the internet?" He was only half serious, but I think he sees the value now. Anyway, I really like the instructor so far and am looking forward to the rest of the classes. I have also bought the book "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" and am reading it. I've already started "The Birth Book" by Dr. and Mrs. Sears. It is pretty good and actually pretty interesting. I put it down a few weeks ago though and just haven't had a chance to pick it up again.

Things seem to be going fine with the baby. I feel him kicking and moving around several times a day. I especially feel him when I'm relaxing in the recliner in the evening. I also notice him going to town on weekend mornings when I sit and drink coffee while reading. I guess the coffee wakes him up and he gets to rolling around good in there. I don't drink a lot of coffee usually less than a full cup, but it I enjoy the coffee and the kick-fest. Tony still hasn't felt him moving yet. I think partly the kicks aren't hard enough yet and partly he's not patient enough. We have plenty of time for him to feel it though.

Mother's Day weekend was pretty relaxed for me. Tony had the guys over on Saturday so I mostly just chilled - reading and watching tv. Sunday we hung out at my grandma's for awhile. Neither of my sister's were here for Mother's Day so I gave my mom the gift we got her. We bought her a simple to use digital camera w/ a memory card. My sister gave me two necklaces for Mother's Day before she left for her trip (she went to D.C. w/ her boyfriend).

We haven't started our registries yet and I feel like I want to get started on that soon. I know some of the things I need, but I'm not really sure what I want. I would love to get "green" versions of things like cribs and mattresses, but I'm not sure if the cost is worth it. I also am planning to cloth diaper and I know that those are Expensive. I would love to get some of my diapers as gifts at showers, but I don't feel that most people will go through the effort of ordering them online and I don't know of any local stores that sell them. I did see some of the prefold diapers at Walmart the other day, but I was thinking more of getting the All in one kind that look kind of like disposables. Anyway, I guess I'll just hope that most of the other good stuff is "showered" and then my big expense can be the diapers.

I go back to see Jeri on Thursday. I will be 24 weeks. On the one hand, I can't believe we are over half way and then on the other hand I can't believe I still have so far to go! I'm excited and ready! I know we have a lot of preparations to do between now and then though. I just hope to continue to be healthy and without complications throughout.

Til next time,
Amber