Extending breastfeeding

Extended breastfeeding...breastfeeding a baby beyond one year of age. Why would one do such a thing? I breastfed Harrison for 14 months and plan on letting Kadie determine when she wants to stop. This is actually a very common to nurse beyond age one everywhere else but the US. I stopped breasfeeding Harrison mainly due to social pressure which was silly. By the time they are one year of age, most kids get a large portion of their nutrition from solid food but breast milk still provides calories, valuable immunities, vitamins and enzymes. Studies do show that BFing toddlers get sick less than their peers.

During those toddler years your little one becomes so independent so extended BFing can be great for reassurance and emotional support. It will foster independence rather than making them clingy or overly dependent as well intended bystanders may say.

In our culture we tend to push kids to grow up to fast and do not let them be babies for long enough. If you sit in a room full of moms with babies the same age, you will observe the conversation of what all milestones your baby has reached.Why do we push these sweet little ones to grow up so fast? They are only little for such a short period of time, enjoy it, savor it, treasure it because they will be some of the fondest memories you have!

Studies show that forcing a child to wean before he/she is ready developmentally can contribute to a more clingy child.

Ok so there are also countless studies on how good breastfeeding is for you baby. I'll hi-light them:

Risk of illness lowered: diabetes, heart disease, and central nervous system degenerative disorders (such as multiple sclerosis) to name a few

The longer a baby nurses, the smarter the child is to become: the brain triples in size during the first two years of life - breast fed babies get the smart fats (DHA) which are uniqure to breast milk and cannot be duplicated.

Healthier in general over lifespan

Leaner bodies/less risk of obesity

Improved vision

Better hearing due to less ear infections

Dental health due natural suckign action which helps new teeth align properly

Breastmilk contains IGA which coats the lining of intestines and keeps germs from penetrating so it helps the immune system.

Less digestive problems

Smoother/supple skin

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially recommends mothers breastfeed until three years of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends mothers should breastfeed "at least until one year of age and then as long as baby and mother mutually want to.

Here is something cool I read in one of my Mothering magazines:

Breastfed toddlers get complete nutrition
Research shows that the fat and energy content of breastmilk actually increases after the first year.⁸ Breastmilk adapts to a toddler's developing system, providing exactly the right amount of nutrition at exactly the right time.⁹ In fact, research shows that between the ages of 12 and 24 months, 448 milliliters of a mother's milk provide these percentages of the following minimum daily requirements:

Energy 29%
Folate 76%
Protein 43%
Vitamin B12 94%
Calcium 36%
Vitamin C 60%¹⁰
Vitamin A 75%

Benefits for mama:

Emotional well being due to release of prolaction and oxytocin and endorphins

Reduces risks of ovarian, uterine and breast cancer and even diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis

I can be a natural birth control for some women due to absence of menstruation (not me!)

I've got a bunch of more info to add but my family is being needy right now

Here are some links:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBextended.html
http://www.parenting.com/article/Baby/Feeding/Ask-Dr.-Sears-Extended-Breastfeeding----Handling-the-Criticism
http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/extended-breastfeeding.html

Car Seat Safety

This post is really just for my benefit but anyone is welcome to read it and learn from it! I found this information from a group I'm in on cafemom.

Car crashers are the #2 killer of babies under 1 year of age and the #1 killer of kids 1-14.

If you are like me you turned your baby around at one year of age. I will even admit we turned Harrison around before that because he was 20 lbs, really long and his pediatrician said his neck was strong enough to forward face. Bottom line is the absolute bare minimum is 1 year and 20 lbs. The best thing to do is to keep your baby rear facing as long as possible. The AAP recomends keeping them rear facing until the weight limits of the car seat (between 30-35 lbs depending on the model). Most states have laws in place that say your baby has to be rear facing until 1 year and 20 lbs so if you doctor gives it the okay before age one, your doctor is wrong!

Why is it a big deal? Young children, no matter how strong, advanced, developed are still growing and developing. Forward facing can cause broken cervical vertebrae. Christopher Reeves is an example of someone with a C-spine injury.

Quoting source from cafemom carseat group:

"When a child is in a frontal, head on 35mph crash and their car seat is NOT tethered and they are using a 5 point harness, they will go forward 32". When their seat is tethered, a child will be thrown forward 28". It is imperative that families recognize the NEED to keep their children rear facing for as long as possible."

Here are several links to support keeping your child rear facing for as long as possible.

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/c...trics;109/3/550
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/633.pdf
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx
http://www.car-safety.org/rearface.html
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum.aspx
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/re...cing_seats.html
http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html
http://momtoaliandshae.tripod.com/keepingkidssafeinthecar/
http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm
http://www.aap.org/family/1to2yrs.htm
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/travelsafetytips.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRP7ynNI8mI
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868
http://www.carseatsite.com/rear-face_article.htm

Here's an article reinforcing WHY Rear facing is BEST
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4144421a10.html

Here are a few crash test links to show you the difference in rear facing vs forward facing:

http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/...icosipriori.mpg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rsqE-uOtMM4&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62Ea8Fs4ng...related&search=

Here is a crash test of a 12 month old RFing
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view¤t=video06A_MGA_213_RearFace-Convertib.flv

Then, here is the SAME 12 month old FFing
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v163/jen_nah/carseats/?action=view¤t=video06B_MGA_213_ForwardFace-Conver.flv

So you may be reading this and thinking - my baby is uncomfortable rear facing. We can't see them or they can't see anything. If your baby is still rearfacing, he/she doesn't know any different! And kids that are extended rear facing are comfortable and do not complain about bending their legs. It is only uncomfortable for any adult. In fact most kids are more uncomfortable with their legs dangling over the edge of a forward facing seat. A child is too tall to rear face when their head is 1" below the top of the shell of the seat in most seats. Research also shows no documented cases of a child's legs being broken in a crash where he/she was extended rearfacing but their is a ton of documentation showing spinal injuries in kids who were forward facing.

42% of accidents occur in rural settings. 25% of them occur within 5 minutes of your home.

Autopsy reports have shown that children under 2 years old are at 4 times the risk of Internal Decapitation when forward facing. What is Internal Decapitation??

Wikipedia says this:
Internal decapitation, atlantooccipital dislocation, describes the rare process by which the skull separates from the spinal column during severe head injury. This injury is nearly always fatal, since it usually involves nerve damage or severance of the spinal cord. Hanging relies on allowing the subject to break their neck under their own weight.


Here is a lady that actually survived Internal Decapitation http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWmJ1m3Jvhc&mode=related&search=

So, as you can tell, it has ZERO to do with neck STRENGTH.

Did you know that if YOU are in a 30mph, one vehicle accident and your child weighs 20lbs, they turn into 600lbs of force. THAT is a LOT of force for a child.

Consider this: A car going 40mph would hit a tree with the same force as hitting the ground after falling off a 50 foot cliff. A person inside the car would hit the windshield (unrestrained, of course) with the same force as hitting the ground after a fall from a five-story building.

Another thing to know is that when a child is RFing, the BACK of their carseat--the part that goes behind their back and head--take the brunt of the crash force. In a FF car seat, the CHILD takes the brunt of the crash force.

This shows spine development. You can see how the spine doesn't fuse together until they are quite older.



This diagram shows you how "top heavy" children are and how disproportioned they are.


So what does this mean to me? My baby will be extending rear facing. She will NOT be turned around at one year of age. My son is back in a 5 point harness (I had stupidly put him in a lap positioner booster for a few months) and will likely continue harnessing beyond 4 years of age.

Please take a minute to read about Joel if you haven't heard of him
http://www.joelsjourney.org/index.html

I know some people may think...well we haven't had a car accident or haven't had one in a long time so my child will be safe. Or may think nothing like this could happen to you. Maybe you will never be in an accident while your kids are small but isn't it worth the extra precaution to keep them safe?I know for me it is worth it knowing that I'm doing everything in my power to keep my kids safe!

I'm a swimming guy

he has spiderman slippers on in case you can't see them - this was his own "costune" idea!

Movie Night and Monkey Mix

Well all of us in this house are Jon and Kate plus 8 fans...we tivo it. So the movie night and the monkey mix were not my ideas. We had our first official Family Movie Night and I made some Monkey Mix. Chris and I really enjoyed the Monkey Mix. I enjoyed my two beers after the snack even more. We watched The Clone Wars and it was pretty cool. I could see my dear husband's eyes lighting up thinking of when Harrison starts getting into all of the Star Wars toys. They each have their own light saber (the cheap ones) so I imagine the next time we watch this they will fight. Kadie enjoyed it after she had her booby fix. She sat in my lap while sucking her 2 favorite fingers and kept looking up and smiling at me. It really is a precious face too...a little upside down face looking up and smiling around her fingers. Ooh, I love that face. Did I mention that Chris built a fire so that we could enjoy a nice fire while watching our movie. I really think this will be a fun tradition to start. Harrison and I had to run to the store between dinner and the movie to get the stuff to make the Monkey Mix. I'm already looking forward to next Friday. I'm thinking we will end up with Kung Fu Panda or Wall-E. Maybe Chris will stay awake for the entire movie next time!

Monkey Mix
Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:15 min
Makes:18 servings (1/2 cup each)


Ingredients:
9 cups Chex® cereal (any variety)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar


Preparation Directions:
1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, stir together chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Stove-Top Directions: Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. In 1-quart saucepan, heat chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

One funny little dude

I've compiled a list of all of the most recent funny things my son says or does. Here goes....

We tivoed Madagascar back in August for H-Dawg. It was on ABC (channel 9). There is a little promo/jingle thing at the beginning and the guys sings in a whiny annoying voice "On news channel 9 dot cooom"). So one day Harrison is sitting down to watching it and I'm sitting there enjoying my coffee and the peace that comes when he first gets engrossed in a movie and he sings in the whiniest, raspiest/growliest voice..."in news channel dot coooom") I'm fairly certain I spit out my coffee. Now it may not seem that funny while reading this but come to our house, watch the jingle I'm talking about and then listen to my son. You will laugh your butt off.

Every day I hear "The dog is looking at me". Up until like 2 days ago, Harrison's seat at our kitchen table had a direct view of where we keep Gracie's dog food. And being a bag of dog food, there is a picture of this perky golden retriever on the bag. Well this dog really bothers Harrison. Every day when he sits down for a meal he makes a comment about how he wants this dog to stop staring at him and asks me to make it go away. I'll distract him and he will start chomping down on his meal and then halfway into it he will freak out about this stupid dog again. And as I'm typing this out, I think I figured out why he suddenly took over his Daddy's chair. Ah yes, it all makes perfect sense now. Oh yeah and just in case you decide to offer advice about turning the bag of dog food around so the dog doesn't look at him - it has dogs on both sides. I bought a new brand tonight...I think we've got a dog less side now.

Harrison and Chris love to talk about cool guys (like robots, guys with swords, super heroes, etc). Well Harrison has coined a phrase and we all do it now. Whenever he sees one of these aforementioned cool things he will say in a really deep surfer dude voice "Check these guys out." and sometimes following will be "Cool huh?" He especially loves to find pictures in sales ads to show Chris so he can say it. Now with all of the Christmas toy ads in the papers he is going crazy. This past Sunday I think I heard "check this guy out" about 53 times. It brings a smile to my face every time he says it.

Harrison has somewhat of a photographic memory. The kid really is a genius but that is another blog in itself. He has memorized by the book "are you my mother?" only he says "are you my mudder?" Freakin' hilarious! Are you my mudder the baby bird said. No, I am not your mudder said the cow. The book says mother a lot. I'm thinking at least 20 times and each time he says "mudder"

Indecent Exposure. My son is still mastering the fine art of going to the potty. A couple of weeks ago we were at the library and he tells me that he needs to pee. Well we are in the children's section of the Cleveland Public Library which is in the front left of the building and the bathrooms are in the back right side of the building. Now at home when he needs to potty, he will whip "it" out in whatever room he is standing and start walking to the potty all aimed and ready to go. And believe me...that is an improvement. He used to pull down his pants to his ankles wherever he was standing and waddle to the bathroom with his pants around his knees. So back to the library...we are hurrying as fast as we can. I have Kadie hanging in front of me in my Moby Wrap and we are doing that fast walk/run thing and it really isn't any faster than walking but it makes you feel like you are hurrying. I look down as we are passing the front desk and he has "it" whipped out. I'm mortified. I tell him to pull up his pants. He argues with me, "No, I have to use the potty". I advise him that he can't pull his pants down until we get into the stall as I'm trying to cover his "thing" and I'm looking around to see how many people have noticed. Of course there are about 4 people looking at us. I finally get him covered and we make a mad dash for the potty and the whole time he is trying to whip "it" back out. *sigh*

Expletives!

Admittedly I have the mouth of a sailor. And yes, I know it is not the nicest trait for a lady to have, especially a Christian lady. It all started about 11 years ago when I tried to play golf. During the summer of 1997 I attempted to play golf. I was horrible...absolutely horrible. I do not have the patience for that game. My last time playing golf, I took it as a sign from God I was not supposed to play because as I was standing somewhere on the green someone forgot to yell "Fore" and I got pelted in the shoulder with a golf ball. Then as I sat down in the golf cart to recover I sat on a bee and it stung my butt. Needless to say, I stopped playing. During the process of learning this game I became a potty mouth. The potty mouth thing continued beyond my golfing days.

So when I'm pregnant with my first baby I know that I have to improve but thankfully they don't notice the words you say for a while. And believe me when I say that I have come a REALLY long way since my babies have entered this world. I still catch myself and when I get mad (usually at poor Chris) they still tend to roll out. But God has given me a cure for this - a 3 1/2 year old sponge that repeats absolutely everything that I say at the most inappropriate times. And some words that don't seem so bad when I say them just don't sound the same when they come out of his mouth.



Harrison's current list of banned words - stupid (compliments of most Disney/Pixar movies), crap (probably both of us), damn (Daddy), dump (Daddy), kill (not sure), frigging (my sister), freakin' (me), dad gum (me), dumb (not sure), butt, pissin' off/tickin' off


The face of innocence

During our first month visiting our current church home (OUMC) Harrison tried out one of his words - damn. He was sitting with us on the pew and the pastor was coming to the close of his message - you know where he gets quiet to make a point - and Harrison dropped his crayon - out it pours - "DAMN". I was mortified! My best friend and her husband were sitting next to us and she is about to fall out of the pew laughing. Only my son....

And you are probably thinking "kill" shouldn't be on the list. Well when your son says that he is going to kill his baby sister or kill the dog you start to understand why this word was added to the list. And I tried not to add it to the list but here's how the conversation went.
Harrison - "I'm going to kill Kadie"
Mommy - "Harrison don't say that word it isn't nice and you really don't understand what it means"
Harrison - "But it is and I do"
Mommy - "Just please stop saying it"
Harrison - "But I want to"
Mommy - "Harrison, it makes God sad when people kill"
Harrison - "But David killed Goliath and that didn't make God sad"
Mommy - (thinking, OK good point) "It is a bad word. Don't say it anymore"

When it comes to this subject, I'm a work in progress. Obviously my son is a constant reminder that others and most importantly my young children see everything I do and hear everything I say. So as funny as it is...and it is funny it - is also a lesson that what we say and do really does matter!

Random thoughts in my head

First of all I think technologically stupid when I got married. Actually I think it was a gradual progression and 7 1/2 years later, I am officially stupid when it comes to technology. That also applies to putting things together. For example, in my pre-marriage days I could put together any boxed furniture piece, hook up any computer or electronic appliance, mainly T.V. ones. I'm not really sure how it happened. As I sit here and ponder on it, I guess I just let my hubby do those things because he was good at it. Now that he has done it all, I don't have a flippin' clue how to do it anymore. Example - Harrison needs his weekly Disney/Pixar fix so I'm trying to play Monsters Inc. Well of course my dear husband does not think it is a priority during our recent move to hook up our DVD player. Now let me back up, it took me at least 6 months to be able to play the stupid DVD player without calling him and getting detailed instructions (because it was hooked up through the surround sound and something else). So Harrison is whining about wanting to watch his movie and I'm at the breaking point of a mental break down. Normally I'm laid back but when I get to this point I tend to get a bit irrational. So I pop the DVD in and put the TV on "input 2" and the surround sound on "DVD" and nothing..just a black screen. Are you freakin' kidding me? I go through every possible combination and nothing. Meanwhile Harrison is growing more impatient with every grumble under my breath. Finally the call to my husband while he is at work and lucky for him that he answers. So he tells me that it isn't even hooked up...what?!? UGH, so now I have to hook the stupid thing up. I'm fairly certain I just hung up on him and hooked it up in the most elementary way possible. 25 minutes later, he is watching Monsters Inc...come to think of it I believe it was The Incredibles. So back to the point, half the time I can't figure out how to use this new laptop or my camera. I find that incredibly irritating about myself, but not irritating enough that I will actually do something about it.

OK, so my next train of thought...my weight. Anyone that knows me well, knows how badly I've struggled with my weight pretty much my whole life but especially after college. So much so that I had the lap-band surgery in May 2006. I did great with the surgery and lost almost 90 lbs and actually starting getting into some size 10s and then I got pregnant. My horribly cruel lap-band surgeon made me get my band unfilled when I got pregnant and something like 55 disgusting pounds later, out comes a 10 lb baby. Now with my first 10 lb baby, I was back to pre-prego weight and then some by the time he was 6 weeks old. Granted I was 90ish lbs heavier but nonetheless I lost the weight fast. I assumed it was because I breastfed him. So I'm expecting to lose it just as fast this time around because I had another 10 pounder that I was breastfeeding plus I have the lap-band. Fast forward 6 months later, I still have 20 lbs left. But here is the crazy thing, I lost like 30 of it within the first 2 weeks and then gained 10 of it back. I've been struggling losing it despite my efforts of eating in moderation, starving, continuously breastfeeding, one lap-band fill and walking. Ok so for the past 2 weeks I've been consuming my body weight in Brach's pumpkins and other assorted Halloween candy and I've lost 7 lbs. What the heck? So evidently the Halloween candy diet works for me. What really irks me is that I have to weigh in on Friday for my husband's insurance physical and our weight determines our deductible. Unless they use my pre-prego weight I'm up a creek without a paddle. GRR! Why couldn't I have discovered this Halloween candy diet prior to the end of October? Seriously....

So we took a spiritual gifts class today..well yesterday. I was quite surprised by my results. I scored highest in mercy (so poo on you Chris and Rachel). My second highest was words of wisdom (huh?) And I tied on third place with helps, hospitality, intercession, and discernment. By definition they are as follows:
Mercy - empathizes with hurting people; patiently and compassionately walks with people through painful experiences; helps those generally regarded as undeserving or beyond help. (OK, so I can see that one)
Words of Wisdom - Sees simple, practical solutions in the midst of conflict or confusion; gives helpful advice to others facing complicated life situations; helps people take practical action to solve real problems.
Helps - works behind the scenes to support the work of others; finds small things that need to be done and does them without being asked; helps wherever needed, even with routine or mundane tasks.
Hospitality - Meets new people and helps them to feel welcome; entertains guests; opens his or her home to others who need a safe, supportive environment; puts people at ease in unfamiliar surroundings.
Intercession - Continually offers to pray for others; has confidence in the Lord's protection; spends a lot of time praying; is convinced that God moves in direct response to prayer.
Discernment - distinguishes between truth and error, good and evil; accurately judges character; sees through phoniness and deceit; helps others to see rightness or wrongness in life situations.

Now I'm not really sure what I am supposed to do with these gifts yet but there you have them.

I really need to go to bed, but one last group of thoughts. I do believe I have the funniest son on earth. The kid cracks me up. He says and does the most hilarious things without even trying. Of course I can't think of any specific examples right now but I'll try to write about them. Also, I do believe I have the most dramatic children on earth. I mean really - they have secured a future in the performing arts. I'm so NOT a dramatic person and I have not just one, but two of them. *sigh*

The epitomy of parenthood

Enjoy. This is what it is all about.

weekly update

So I forgot to update after my 39 week pre-natal check up. Basically nothing...I'm 1cm dilated and my cervix is soft. Next appt is tomorrow. I guess tomorrow will be the deciding factor in whether or not another c/s is scheduled depending on how my body is progressing. We thought I was in labor Monday. I had contractions on and off all day that were anywhere from 7-20 minutes apart. They fizzled out though. I'm hoping they dilated me more. We'll see.....

Latest Baby Update -38 week check up

I had my 38 week check up yesterday. It was uneventful as usual. The baby is still looking to be in the upper 8 pound range. My BP was 110/78 and no weight gain. Next week I will get another pelvic exam to see if my cervix is softening, ripening, dilating, etc. Send dilation and effacement vibes my way please!

The only day I don't want her to come is 4/14 but that is our wedding anniversary. With my luck, she will come that day. My mom wants her to come on 4/16 and my brother in law wants 4/17 - both of their birthdays.

There is a full moon 4/20....maybe that will be the magical day? I had a pep talk with her this morning telling her I'd really appreciate it if she'd make her appearance over this next week since it would be harder to convince my doctor to let me continue with a VBAC if she stays too much longer. I explained that mommy could take better care of both her and Harrison if I don't have to have her cut out of me. I'm hoping the pep talk did her some good.

I was picking up some things at the store yesterday and the cashier told me that she drank an entire bottle of castor oil mixed with OJ and had her son the next day. Hmm.....

Last night I actually felt like I might have been going into labor. My back just started killing me out of the blue. I had to go lay down with a heating back it hurt so bad. I was having BH contractions pretty consistently for an hour or so but then they went away. I was pretty uncomfortable all night last night. I had lots of pressure in my pelvis and had to pee every hour. Obviously I did not go into labor since it is noon the next day and I'm blogging about it.

Lastly, Harrison was quite a handful yesterday. He was napping when I got home and I woke him up. We played and watched Cars until Chris got home and dinner was ready. From that point forward he was a holy terror. He refused to eat, was super whiny and argumentative. It took forever for him to go to sleep (and he got put to bed during dinner because of his behavior). Then the little stinker got up at 4:30 this morning and played in our bed for nearly 2 hours until he decided to fall back asleep. He actually said some really cute and sweet things during all of that but I can't remember any of them now to save my life. Needless to say he was grouchy when it was time to get ready for school. I'm a ZOMBIE today!

Update on pregnancy # 2 and other stuff

So much for keeping up with this blog..

It was drama trying to recover my password but low and behold, I have access again.

I will be 38 weeks pregnant as of tomorrow. Well Dr Shull has my due date as 4/24 but he isn't right :) Anyway, she is due between 4/22-4/24 but a due date really means nothing right?

Anyway, I'm still pregnant - very pregnant. My belly is hard as a rock and stretched as tight as it will go.

My dr's appts have been uneventful. At my 36 week check up I was tested for Group B Step and my OB did an internal exam. My cervix was still high up and closed at that appointment.

My 37 week check up my Group B Strep came back negative. No more pelvic exams until my 39 week check up. My BP was up a little bit but there was a student nurse who took my BP and she didn't do the cuff right so I don't think it was accurate and my doctor wasn't concerned. Nothing really to report.

I thought she seemed in a hurry to get here but she seems to be changing her mind. I'm still working, albeit miserable, I'm working. I'm over it and pretty useless but I am sitting my desk breathing at work. I look forward to lunch breaks and pee breaks (which are frequent). I thought I might have lost my mucus plug yesterday which doesn't really mean anything if I did.

Nesting comes and goes. I got a lot done last night. Finally got caught up on laundry - just about 2 more loads and I'll be done. Harrison had a pukey stomach bug this weekend so that added about 4 loads of laundry to my already heaping stacks. Our room is ready, we moved our old bedroom suite to storage and rearranged our room. There is a lot more space now and it accommodates Kadie's bassinett much better. Harrison loves it. I think he feels like a king on our bed now. I'm not sure why but he sits in the center of it and just smiles. I've pretty much washed all the baby clothes I'm going to wash at this point since I don't know how big she will be and if she is really a she. I mean our u/s scans show that she is a girl but you never really know until you see them in real life. I think this week I will work on projects like cleaning baseboards and carpets to keep me busy then I will feel like our house is clean enough for a baby. I desparately want to organize my tupperware cabinet and hallway storage but with this giant belly, it really isn't practical. Anyway, I guess I'm at the point where I don't want to go far from home. In fact, I'm content with staying at home until I go into labor, except going to stupid work. Maybe if I look miserable enough on Thursday, he will take me out of work. I think my short term disability will pick up 2 weeks prior to your due date just because. Well, it is time for my lunch break at work. I'll try to update this blog after my next appointment. Peace out.