An Inconvenience? No, A Treasure!

Humbled? Yes, very.  I feel like I posted that last blog post it has just been floating around in space, weighing on my mind and causing me lots and lots of regret.  It was  a bad day, I should have written those thoughts on a piece of notebook paper and then threw it away!  But, I didn't.  Actually, I'm kind of glad that I didn't because I feel like it was a way for Heavenly Father to really help me see and correct my bad attitude.

Do you ever get the feeling that everything in the world is trying to teach you the same lesson?  I do.  The very next day after posting my frustrations with motherhood and pregnancy I found this quote,

"Remember, you are not raising an inconvenience but a human being."

I hope I'm not the only mom who can say that many times I have treated my sweet little girl as an inconvenience.  "Mommy needs to get dinner on the table,  I can't dance right now!"  How much longer will my sweet little girl want to dance with Mommy?  Not much longer.  A fancy dinner is much less important than those few precious moments spent with my little one.  

Or how about this, "pregnancy is so uncomfortable.  I don't like being pregnant!"  All the while forgetting how I mourned when the Dr. told us that it would likely be a very difficult and long process before we could have another child, and yet, here we are!  It's a miracle!  

Sweet baby, if you read those words, I hope you will remember that your mommy is not perfect (which clearly you will already know) but, I am SO grateful to have the chance to be a Mom!  We are very excited for you to join our family!

In the past, whenever I read about Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon, I used to wonder how they could be so hard hearted.  They seriously witnessed SO many miracles and yet, every opportunity they had, they hardened their hearts and turned against God and their family.   I don't wonder anymore.  I see myself in them.  It's so, so easy to forget.  It's easier to complain, than to be grateful.  

Because of that, I'm grateful for the Lord's infinite mercy in providing the atonement.  So that imperfect complainers (like me!) can repent and keep trying to do better and be better everyday. 

And finally, a quote that I stumbled across shortly after the first one.  The entire talk really stung me and caused me to contemplate my poor attitude and the real value of the things (or rather, people) that I seemingly regarded with disdain.

"When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out.... Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value....The baby you hold in your arms will grow as quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days." -Gordon B. Hinkley

Those words of wisdom have caused me lots of contemplation lately.  I'm feeling especially sensitive to the rush of time since the arrival of Kylea's second birthday. When did she get so big? Wasn't it just yesterday that I held her in my arms for the very first time? More on that, very soon.

24 Weeks???

When life gets busy something bizarre happens to me. I lose track of all time. Before I went back into school I vigilantly tracked my pregnancy, I could tell you to the week and day how far along I was.

A requirement of pregnancy seems to be sharing your brain with unborn baby. (Maybe a better description is, it’s like having your brain hijacked by said infant because sharing sounds voluntary and pleasant, which it is not) I say this because lately I feel about as sharp as a sack of wet mice. The once seemingly simple task of tracking classes and what to do has become so complex to me that it has taken over my mind, there’s no room in there for any other information.

Such as, did I take my pre-natal vitamin this morning, or did I call that place that Kevin politely reminds me to every single day. I’m not intentionally being dull it just happened, things aren’t sticking well. Fortunately I’ve devised a way around my forgetfulness. I’ve resorted to carrying around a pen and paper with a list of necessary items and tasks for the day and keeping checklists around the house, I’ve always been a list maker but usually the lists were a way for me to feel that I could organize things on paper and then store the info in my brain. It’s strange being totally dependent on a piece of paper; it’s become an addendum to my brain.

The point is, in this chaos I have completely lost track of how pregnant I actually am. My sense of time is skewed so suddenly (in my mind) I was sailing through the weeks. Just yesterday I was thinking, “I’ve got to be getting close to 30 weeks!” When I did the calculations I am actually only 24 weeks along.

Hey, 24 weeks is great! But when you are starting to feel uncomfortable, back aches, frequent potty trips, mild swelling, and overheating when the temp gets anywhere above 71 degrees it’s a bit disheartening to lose weeks, even if they never existed in the first place.

The good news is I love being a mommy. I’ve been trying to drink in every last moment thinking things like, I should write down what times of day she’s most active so that I can tell her when she’s old enough to understand (like something like that will be interesting to her) We spend the nights before I fall asleep giving my belly little pokes to which her response is to rush to the spot and poke back. I call it the poking game and it makes me smile, these are our first interactions with the little girl. As much as the amazing human body fascinated me before it has exponentially increased my fascination. The birth of every child really is a MIRACLE. And it’s an honor to get to be such an important part of it.

It’s fun to see Kevin getting excited too, he has little talks with her about how she needs to keep kicking mommy because he wants her to be shooting free-throws by the time she’s 30 minutes old. He also likes to play her Billy Packer’s version of, “One Shining Moment.” and the Notre Dame fight song.  I think she will come out a little irish fan because she dances up a storm in belly when we play it for her.

So this little baby becomes an even bigger part of our lives already. And if it takes a few months of forgetfulness and some less than welcome changes to my body I say bring it on, because it’s already been worth it!

Nursery

Today was momentous occasion, the day we got our crib in! Through some sort of miracle were able to fit the ridiculously huge box in the Murano and made it home. We decided that the pile o' baby stuff in our dining room was getting out of control so we re-organized our room to make room for the baby's crib.

Yes, the baby will be sleeping in our room. Our lease isn't up until October if it's not working after a month then we can re-evaluate our living arrangements but 'til then, why waste the money?

Fortunately the crib was REALLY easy to put together, probably the easiest to assemble piece of furniture that we have ever purchased. I may even leave a review on the website, which I never do because I am so happy.

It did get a little tight in places but "daddy" was able to use his handy-man skills and figure it out and I have to say it looks fantastic.

Of course Tekoa had to jump in and "help." Here are some more pictures of Tekoa helping Kevin.

And finally the finished product. Voila it's beautiful, now we just need bedding (the kind I want isn't sold at Babies r' Us in store so I have to order online....boo!) The crib instantly became a storage location for all baby's things that currently don't have a home, so you'll have to ignore all the things in it and focus on how cute the crib is.

Ah, feels good to get one more big purchase out of the way. Oh, we also bought this adorable outfit while we were out and about.....I can't help it, they make too many adorable things for little girls.

Comes with little flap of fabric which folds over to act as mittens...awww

hat with bunny ears+ onesie with little bunny+ pants with little bunny feet=Cutest thing I have ever seen!!

I would say overall this has been an amazingly, happy, productive and tiring day for everyone. Which can only mean one thing, it was a success.

Natural vs Medicated

Question of the day, natural or medicated childbirth? The decision time has come, it’s time to sign up for childbirthing classes and it has left me with the tough decision of which one to sign up for. Should I do the regular childbirth class for mothers who will most likely choose a medicated labor, the natural birth option which covers several different options for coping with natural childbirth, or the hypnobirth class which focuses on the specific technique of hypnobirthing to cope with childbirth.

I had never even considered natural childbirth prior to getting pregnant, I always just thought why suffer in pain when there are medications that can make it painless? But as I have learned more facts and gained some more insight I’m beginning to see the benefit of having this baby naturally.

Here is a short list of some benefits of natural childbirth that I have found;

1. Mothers who labor naturally can move freely, go to the bathroom, walk and change positions throughout labor. According to the Cochrane Review, recent studies have shown that getting medication makes changing positions even after birth more difficult.

2. Since you can feel your body's reflexes in natural childbirth, mothers can push better and generally faster. In fact studies show that getting an epidural prolongs your pushing time.

3. The pain during labor serves a purpose by guiding the mother to seek certain positions. For example, if her back hurts, she will naturally seek positions off her back which can help to turn her baby. Having back pain is one sign that the baby might be posterior and needs to rotate.

4. Mothers often describe that their recovery after a natural childbirth was faster and easier since they could get right up and walk and shower. Usually they eat right away and their appetite is normal. (a plus since the pain killers for my wisdom teeth made me violently ill)

5. Endorphins secreted during a natural childbirth have been found in the placenta and umbilical cord. This may serve a purpose to help the baby adjust to life outside as well as make the journey more comfortable for baby.

6. Research has shown that in mothers who have natural childbirth, babies are more alert and show more interest in pre-breast feeding behaviors such as sucking, as well as the actual length of time they spend nursing within the first 90 minutes.

That is a pretty convincing list of arguments! All of which I had never previously considered.

Here’s a list of reasons to have a medicated labor;

1. Mothers who are having a very long labor can benefit from using pain medication to get some rest before the pushing stage.

2. If the mother is tensing up during contractions, pain medication can help her relax so that her body is not fighting against the labor.

3. If the mother has a lot of fear about birth or issues from her past, it may affect the progress of her labor. At times, medication may help to ease her anxiety.

Also, a good reasons to have a medicated labor. But it seems that the evidence supports opting for a natural childbirth initially and if it carries on for to long to resort to medication.

So that decision is made now, which method do I use to cope with the labor? It’s a very difficult decision. I had no idea how many options there are out there associated with everything related to children and babies. And there seems to be no right answer, it’s simply a matter of preference. So I suppose I’ll just have to put my mind to work on this problem and search out which method fits me and my needs the best.