In Conclusion...

All this to say-I love my son dearly, I am just having a hard time with the current non-napping situation, an I am starting to get cranky as the third trimester closes in on me...I am tired and achey and getting punched/kicked in the cervix or ribs on a regular basis. But Motherhood is wonderful, and I would not have it any other way....unless three hour naps could be included in there somehow.

Oh Yeah...

And in other news, yes, Baby #2 is a boy, and my Hospital DID get in a birthing tub, so if everything goes to plan, I will be pushing Baby Boy #2 out in the water :-)

Here are two recent pics-Me at 27 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and one of Kyan and Jon waking up together (pre-binky weaning):

This Bud's for You (Mom)

Mom, since you are the only one checking my blog anymore......Here is life in a nutshell.

I dislike the Two's. I find this age to be distinctly unfun. I hate the constant "no's" (me), the constant tantrums (me AND Kyan), the truly disgusting poopy diapers (Kyan), the time outs (Kyan)......and now we are dealing with naps. We weaned Kyan off the binky completely three weeks ago. Suddenly, for the last week, he has totally not been napping. Since he developed Seperation Anxiety in September, he won't nap anywhere but out bed. Now he won't even fall asleep there. So I tried switching it back to his room, tried letting him sleep on the couch, letting him sleep on the big papasan chair in the kitchen......the only thing I refuse to try is letting him fall asleep while watching TV. It may work for some kids, but Kyan will never fall asleep in front of the TV, ESPECIALLY because I am trying to limit how much he watches these days...TV is like crack to this kid. Today, as I type, Kyan is actually sleeping, though it took me a full hour and a half to get to go to sleep. But I don't have high hopes of this lasting long, as he has developed a nasty cold, and I can hear him hacking up a lung up there.....

I always knew I was in for it with Kyan......He was SUCH a calm and easy going baby, easy to get to sleep, not fussy, generally just happy and played wwell on his own......Now, as a mobile toddler, he is into everything. He is pretty tall for his age, so there is pretty much nothing out of his reach, and he definitely has a lot to say. He's still a lot more calmer than some other toddlers I know, and tantrums in public are infrequent, but when they do happen, watch out! I am continueing the time honored tradition started by my Mother where, if I am able, I just walk away. If it's in a place where it causes a big disruption to others, then we leave. I am hoping this works in the long run, since I feel tantrums are an attention getting tactic, and I do NOT want Kyan thinking he can get attention in this manner. So Kyan is not really a bad kid, just into everything, which sometimes gets.....destructive. I am starting to have a minimalist decor out of necessity, because wants to play and touch everything, and sometimes breaks things. We need to replace out DVD/VHS player because in the span of a week, Kyan managed to break the mechanisms in both sides by trying to shove stuff into the openings. So we can't watch any movies right now...

However, the brighter sie of this is that Kyan is an extremely sweet and loving little boy (as long as you don't want to change his diaper...potty training is WAY off for this kid). He loves to give hugs, still loves to be held, loves to give kisses, sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", Count to Ten, Sing the Alphabet. He is also likes watching me cook...okay, so he likes to try and get me to do something else when I need to cook, so I have tried to turn this into a positive by giving him little jobs when I make dinner....If I cut the carrots, I bring a little stool over to the counter and let him put all the carrots into a bowl. Then I give him a spoon and let him just mix them around for a while...this kept him entertained for a full half hour one night last week. He also likes to hold hands with pretty much anyone....Some of his toddler buddies go with the flow on this, some do not.

Given that Kyan has such a propensity for getting into everything, and given that he has a baby brother on the way who may also be into everything, I have tried to get rid of any and all toxic chemicals in my house. although my kitchen cabinets are baby-proofed, cleaning products are accessible in both my bathrooms, which have very little storage. but I have switched to homemade, eco-friendly anti-bacterial sprays in the kitchen, and baking soda...

And Kyan is up...20 minutes was all......I must leave it here, it seems....

LOOKING FOR SUPPORT!!!

I am trying to get my local hospital (Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA) to put in a waterbirth tub and adopt a waterbirth policy. Despite the fact that funding is available for this, there is strong resistance from some hospital executives, as well as some of the local area OB's. I want this option not only for myself, but for all local women who choose to birth at CDH-it has been shown to reduce the need for drugs and episiotomies by a significant percentage, and enables women to feel more empowered by their birth by giving them choices.

Even if CDH is not your hospital of choice, please sign this petition if you believe in giving women more choices in how they birth!

My goal is 1,000 signatures over the next few weeks-Signing is easy-just click on the link, fill in your info, click submit, and make sure to opt out of the 2 newletters you will otherwise be sent.

I appreciate any and all support on this issue!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/include-birthing-tubs-at-cooley-dickinson-hospitals-childbirth-center

Whoops...

And I am a naughty monkey for not updating after my appt....Appointment went fine, they pulled out the doppler, and couldn't find a heartbeat. My midwife admitted she wouldn't try very hard, cause she know I have been a bit anxious of late, and if they couldn't "find" the heartbeat, I would score another ultrasound and get to see the baby again (and possibly gender??), otherwise, my next ultrasound is the anatomy ultrasound at 20 weeks (it seems so so far away right now..)

So I was promptly booked for an ultrasound early in the afternoon, and was fairly unworried since Jon had found the heartbeat just 2 days before with our rented doppler. So the ultrasound went fine-Baby's heartrate was 167 (Kyan's was usually in the 140's, If I remember correctly), and I got to marvel at the miracle that is pregnancy and growing a life inside you....Even having had a successful pregnancy before, it still amazes me at the changes that take place over a span of weeks....I had an ultrasound at 8.5 weeks, and everything looked SO different....you couldn't see a spine and really defined arms and legs...the baby looked kind of like a gummy bear then.....Baby would not show off the goods in it's nether regions-it wasn't in the right position, the ultrasound tech said, but none-the-less, I was so happy to see my little baby moving and squirming and it's little heart beating away...how incredible to think: The tech said the heart is like the size of a green pea right now....How crazy is that??

Anyway, all remains well....I am still waiting for first trimester exhaustion to go away, but I am sure that will happen in the next couple weeks.....But I am just happy to be in the 2nd trimester now (14 weeks, 2 days!)

If I can ever sit at the computer without Kyan attacking me or falling asleep first, I will try and get the latest ultrasound pics up!

Update Tomorrow

I will have an update tomorrow-I have my regularly scheduled, non-freak out anxiety Midwifery appointment tomorrow....Hopefully they will at least make the APPOINTMENT for my ananotomy ultrasound.....Cause I am DYING to know whether this kid has a hamburger or a hot dog, and at least if I know when the DATE is, I'll have a date to look forward to and focus on...

So, more to come....

Anxiety

Well, I am have been feeling really anxious lately about this pregnancy...why? I don't know. My pregnancy with Kyan seemed much more unstable at first-I spotted thru my whole first trimester. But this time around, everything is going fine. But I am SO ANXIOUS.

I called my Midwife's office today to see if they would move up my appointment (it was for a week from now) because I was feeling nervous. They happily ageed to fit me in today, which I was SO grateful for.

So I got to the office and promptly burst into tears. The Midwife I saw today (Pam) was really nice and attentive to my neurotic anxiety. So she got out the doppler to find the baby's heartbeat to reassure me. So she kept trying....and trying for about 12 minutes. The words "we need to schedule an ultrasound to check on everything then" had just left her mouth when she tried one more time....and this time she was able to find it! Thank God, cause I was having a heart attack, thinking my worst fears were coming true. Apparently, she says this little baby must be very active, and as my uterus is still low (and tilted), this baby has the perfect place to hide from the doppler.

So glad I heard the heartbeat again though...it did help ease my mind some.....I think I mentioned before that I rented a doppler, and it came yesterday, and I was not finding a heartbeat for love or money.

So that is the news for now.....baby is okay!