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Wednesday, May 5 (18 weeks) I am now a provisional Bradley instructor. I haven't had much time to write here because I was working on my Bradley book work. Last week I spent four days in St. Louis listening to all kinds of fun stuff about medical interventions and pregnancy and childbirth issues. I am now thinking that the next baby should come out at home, not in a hospital. I can't believe I was away from these guys for four days and nights. But I was so busy I didn't have much time to miss them. Other women had their babies and kids with them. The first morning was a bit tough looking at the other little cuties. I'm sure it was hard for them to pay very close attention, though, while also keeping an eye on the little ones. Now all I have to do is find students for a class. I've put up flyers at the store, library, Dairy Queen, and hardware store in town. I called a hospital in DeKalb and health food store. There's a bit of resistance at the hospital, but no problem with the health food store. Not that I expected them to invite me down to cover the lobby in flyers, but the woman I talked to said she had never heard of Bradley. OK. Of all the things I learned at the workshop, the one that surprised me the most was about ultrasound. I had felt a little guilty about having an ultrasound with John and already one with this pregnancy. But it seems that the actually ultrasound/sonogram involves less exposure than listening to the heartbeat with a Doppler or the EFM. The ultrasound only gives off power for a small fraction of a second, while the Doppler and EFM is constant power. So, no more Doppler and no EFM. I have my first appointment with the midwife tomorrow evening and I'm curious to see what she says when I tell her this. If I can get the kind of labor and delivery I want at the hospital, I'll think more about it. But if it looks like there's no negotiating about the EFM, I'll be switching groups again to get the Homefirst Health Services group. Although I don't know where I would give birth. *sigh* They said they would come to DeKalb County, but I still don't know where we would go there. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow. Friday, May 7 (18.2 weeks) I think I've found the right care provider. She spent a lot of time with us and seemed to understand all of my concerns. She actually told me the disadvantages to having the AFP blood test if I want to avoid ultrasound. There's always the chance of a false positive which would require a detailed, long ultrasound, so I may as well just pass on it. She offered to use the fetoscope instead of the Doptone, she seemed almost enthusiastic, not a bit reluctant, when John mentioned wanting to help catch the baby, and she assumed the appointment was a consultation and asked if I wanted to move forward or needed to time to decide. She has a few kids, too. John was very cute, of course. We were all sitting down talking and he walked over to Colleen, the midwife, and put his hand on the edge of her lab coat for just a second and smiled and walked away. He did that twice. It's almost like he was tagging her - you're it. He's done that a few times at home, but this was a very nice touch, like, hi, you're okay. He didn't like the doctor office setting much when we first went into the exam room. I don't blame him. She also gave me the name of a pediatrician that she likes a lot. I'll have to see if he's on our insurance plan. I'm not taking him back to the guy in Rockford. Whattanass he was. Yesterday I also saw an ad for the perfect job for me at NIU - Admin Asst. in Legal Services. I dropped of my application before we left for Aurora and ended up talking to someone. I wasn't prepared at all and was all decked out in maternity clothes. They need a transcript which I just called Purdue about. What a hassle. Yes, I owe you money, but I can't pay you until I have a job. I would have to take a civil service exam next week which includes typing, math and grammar. She said they have to give you three hours to take it. Ugh. I'll have to ask my mom if she knows what it would be like. Today we're going to a potluck before an NIU baseball game if it doesn't rain. And Sunday is Mother's Day. I really need a job. Thursday, May 13 (19.1 weeks) We're having another baby boy! At least that's what the Lemony Snicket Special Edition Magic 8 Ball at Barnes & Noble said Tuesday. I took John there to play a little bit and look at books, yes, and to get a starbuck's white mocha. I tried it iced this time - not bad. Anyway, I found the 8 ball and asked it the big question. Am I carrying a baby girl right now? It said, "Reply Dismal, Try Again." So I asked, "Am I carrying a baby boy right now?" It said, "Unfortunately Yes." I think I'd rather have another boy first. I want John to have someone to play with before he has someone to take care of. I think another boy would be good. I wonder if he would look like John or totally different. For Mother's Day we went to the mall in Rockford to get John some shoes and me starbuck's and earrings. My mom sent us a gift certificate for Stride Rite, so the little boy now has $40 tennis shoes. I've been kidding him about them. We went to Aldi yesterday, where you have to put in a quarter for a cart, and I said here we are at Aldi and you're wearing $40 shoes. I have a civil service exam tomorrow morning. I wonder what I should eat to wake up my brain. Wish me luck! Sunday, May 23 (20.7 weeks) I got a good kick yesterday. It was the first real one. I've felt some movement in the past few weeks, but no big kicks. And now we're halfway there. It's crazy. Every once in a while it hits me that we're going to have another little baby around. Another family member. Of course I can't remember what it was like before having John. But we had no idea what he would look like, what he would be like. And now he's a permanent part of us. And there's another little one on the way. We don't know if it's a girl or boy, what its name will be, what color hair it will have. It's crazy. We went to Indy this week for a NCAA compliance conference. I didn't think John and I should go just to sit in a hotel room for three days, but we did. It wasn't bad at all. We went swimming, to a Gymboree class, and to the Children's Museum. It was a good trip. Usually I can count on something going wrong or at least being disappointed along the way by a restaurant or the hotel. But this was a pretty good trip. John saw someone who he worked with at WVU. He's been in touch with them and heard that Jen, the number 2 person there, is thinking about leaving. So she and a GA have mentioned him going back there. This was a GA he saw who just left WVU last week and she acted like he was definitely on his way back there. That would be fine with me. It feels like we've done what we were supposed to do here. Except I just got my first couple for a Bradley class that I plan to start June 1. If something happens with WVU, I'd have to figure out what to do about them. There are no Bradley teachers in WV, though. I wonder if there's any interest. Anywhere women are having babies, there's probably some interest. Friday, May 28 (21.1 weeks) I finally heard a boy's name this morning that struck me. Edison. John thinks people would call him Ed. I don't care. I gained 6 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I was worried that I wasn't gaining anything. Nothing too exciting happened ay my appointment yesterday. I measured 20.5 centimeters, just about where I should be. She had received records from Allegheny General and the Rockford doctor, and I took records that I got from the Midwife Center. She said there's no need for an ultrasound if we don't want one. John said he'd like to know the sex of the baby, but if that's the only reason for one, I said I didn't want to do it. When I was pregnant with John, I said I felt bad for women who had to work while they're pregnant because they didn't have much time to concentrate on the pregnancy and think about the baby. Jeez. How about having a toddler? I hardly have time to do anything for myself, much less think about the new one in my tummy. I feel bad, like it's going to disappear because I don't think about it much during the day. When I heard the heartbeat yesterday I was almost surprised to discover it is still in there and alive. I hope he's doing okay growing and developing without my conscience support. |
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Kris's Journal Prepregnancy June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 September 2003 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 |
John's Journal Prepregnancy June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 |