Tick, tick, tick

The following blog was saved as a draft a few days before the BIG event. I thought it would be nice to still post it.

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So as those of you who have been following our blog know time is short.
I mean REALLY short.
Phenomenally short really.

But surprisingly things are actually coming together.

I was able to (with the wife’s help) finish a shelving unit for the bedroom. It holds a college-sized fridge and all the accessories necessary for the daily tasks involving the little one.

I built it with ¾ inch MDF, which I’ve never used before, but I’m a bit of a fan of now.
Then we headed off to the new Menards to buy some paint and the wife picked out a nice light green. So that evening we put it together in the bedroom and while I was building the feet for the unit she started painting.
I like the way it came out. Now if only the cradle would go as smoothly.

Now that I've completed this project I'm starting to feel a bit more prepared for what's to come.
Oh, I know one can't be REALLY prepared, but you do the best you can and move on.

So let's go down the list.
1. Bags are packed.
2. Car seat bought (need to install it).
3. Bed set up.
4. Baby gear, storage done.
5. Baby classes finished.
6. iPod music, set.
7. The Oh-God-I-forgot-something panic. Started.

Good.. I think we have everything.

HikerDad

sale? baby stuff sale? huh? where?

Today I went to my first mom-2-mom sale. It was nice. Indoor garage saleing. Life is good. I spent about 35.00 that would have been about 80.00 in a store. (super dad-2-b thought about 100.00)

Super dad-2-b caught you up on our second shower with my family. I couldn't believe how many people came! I mean, the weather was HORRIBLE! such dedication I tell you. The food was good, but to put your life on the line like that! just kidding. I love my family and couldn't have been happier to see everyone! My sister and mom put on a WONDERFUL shower.
I must admit I was nervous to let mom: 'Queen of planning' and sister: 'Queen of accessorizing' work on something together. But, it turned out spectacular! (of course we still have jungle animal balloons bouncing around our living room, and parts of a jungle cookie bouquet in the kitchen, and jungle toys on the coffee table, and a jungle rug in the baby stuff room, and a blown up monkey and tiger hanging out in my bedroom, I'm not even going to mention anything about the palm tree, need I say more?)

Then on Friday Feb. 9 I had a party given by great friends at work. It was fabulous as well. I think I stayed too long though, people were starting to think my tiredness was grouchiness! I got some more wonderful gifts. Some that even super dad-2-b got excited about! (this was the only shower that super dad-2-b didn't go to, so I got to have fun showing him all the cool stuff when I got home!)

Tuesday Feb. 13 was my last shower. This one was given by all the staff at the school I work at. It was a dual shower with another lady from work who is due 2 days before I am. Both of our husbands came, but mind you, they only came because the other husband did.
Again, got some really cute things. The staff collected money so I could go online and ORDER THE CO-SLEEPER!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! It arrives on Tuesday!

So, I think I am almost ready! well, not me, ready, getting the things I need ready. The car seat is set in super dad-2-b's car, (not properly installed yet, but we're waiting for a call back from the state trooper who is "PROPERLY TRAINED" to install it) The room is ready for the co-sleeper. The hospital bag is packed, baby clothes are being washed as we speak!

Now I just have to accept the fact that this is real, and soon we'll be responsible for a little bundle that makes poo. (you do know that is their only superpower until it changes to a new superpower, SCREAMING!)

OH, I am so tired lately too! I just can't keep my eyes open. time to go nap.

Sunny with a chance of showers

So we've just finished up two showers. The first was (as you've read below) put on as a male/female party.
We live several hours away from the location of the party that everything had to be done by our friends who were setting it up. And boy did they do a nice job!
We had a pool table, foosball, air hockey, food, root beer, friends... and oh yeah, baby stuff.
But really it was food and pool that most interested me.

.... Oh give me a break, yes the baby stuff was important and cool too. Shesh.. I'm not that shallow... but it really is a nice pool table.

Here is a list of all the little people we need to thank.. I've encoded their names to protect their identity.
fefyej, bream, raky, bojan, dancea, nala, nicval, nad, oje, byobb, lelchime, bro, cillechor, sejes, nanaibr, nadrami, and also the 'rents of all the above who helped as well. especially those of you who made food because as we've already established I really enjoyed the food.
Oh, and Todd you suck so I'm not encoding your name. Ok, what the hell, dotd.. I can't help myself, it's just so much fun.

The second party was held a week later by her family. They decorated like crazy and the balloons really entertained me. It was a bit more traditional so alas I was the only guy there. Yep, it was just me in a sea of estrogen.
whee.
Ok, it wasn't really that bad. I had a lot of fun and oh yes they had really good food there as well so I was set. They had a pool table, too, but sadly it was under the food. I tried to eat my way to it, but the all the meatballs stumped me. There was an unmanned bar there as well (VFW hall) and though I'm not a drinker, when the ladies started to compare birth stories the vodka started looking mighty tempting.
I was really happy about how many people showed up as they had to drive through a blizzard to get there.. -30 wind chill, whiteout conditions, drifting snow, llamas dropping dead on the side of the road (just checking if you were paying attention).

The midwife says the baby is doing well and the wife agrees. I'll have to take their word for it as I don't have the inside information that they seem to have. From my perspective the baby kicks a lot and makes Mom-2-be yelp in pain once in a while. It's pretty interesting really, to be talking to your wife and all of a sudden she yelps like someone just stepped on her tail.
Oh, and for those of you who aren't women. It's a good idea not to laugh when your wife yelps in pain. You might get away with it ONCE, but after that you are taking your life in your own hands. Trust me on this one.

As for my part, I've got my bag packed for the hospital, and I'm starting to get some of the necessary supplies together as well. The iPod has some birthing music on it, the tennis balls are packed, survival snacks are ready, and I found my swimsuit.
Now I know what you are thinking.. but trust me on this one I actually need these things. I'll explain it all later, but I'm telling you everything here is essential.

Ok I think I've bored you enough for today.
More later,

HikerDad

the first shower

We had our first baby shower on Saturday, January 27.

It was a couples shower, thrown by great friends of ours. They put so much work into it! The husband friend says that he didn't do anything, so let me rephrase. Our friend did so much work on our shower it was great! Her husband on the other hand.... (just kidding) the work he did taping up some insulation was phenomenal.

We received so many wonderful things. When I returned to work on Monday people asked, "did you get a lot of this.. or that?" I could honestly answer "No." I received so many unique and thoughtful gifts, it was just perfect!

The length was good too. Our friend was the party hostess QUEEN! She made sure that we didn't dawdle between presents, and that everything ran smoothly! It sure did.

I received a few homemade things. One blanket and burp cloths from a cousin, a blanket from a friend. The most shocking one, was from my husband. He made me a quilt. He took our Scottish tartan and quilted it. I just about fell off my chair. He had spent some nights "staying after" at work, and was working on it. Isn't he great!

Oh yeah, my mom made me something too.. *tee hee* just kidding mom.
I have always told super-dad-2-B that I always wanted my baby to have a blankie that Grandma made. Thank you.

All in all it was a great party. I don't think I will ever forget it. We truly are blessed with a great group of friends and family, and I don't think this baby will ever be in want of needing to feel loved.

-the mom (oh wow, that's weird)

a big help

My sister came over this past weekend and WOW was she a HUGE help!

Our task was to get the basement ready to hold more storage from the upstairs closet in the spare 'oom. This closet was an unorganized "chuck it" area, that is now going to hold baby storage/clothes/stuff/etc. You get the idea.

She was awesome I stood there beside her and pointed and she lifted, then we worked on where this tub should go, where that tub should go.. I cannot express how thankful I am she was here.

She has mentioned how sore she is, and that she is going to punish me for it. but, ahhh, she forgets how much we helped with her kid.. so WE'RE EVEN SIS!!!

but, I don't think she'll forgive me for the spiders!

Super dad-2-be got some shelves up in the shed so we could take some more things out there!

The hard part now is the sorting, and reorganizing of boxes so they fit back into the basement!

I also picked up my rocking chair. Very excited. The first thing I did was put the blanket I made for baby on the back. It looks like it belongs. Super dad-2-be reminds me, "You got a sewing maching for christmas so you can make a cushion for it!"

oooohh, that means shopping at JoAnn's!

time for a nap.

33 weeks

Thank you so much to all who saw and appreciated the picture of super-dad-2-b and I in front of our Christmas tree!

Today was another doctor appointment. I lost 4 lbs. I don't know how.. but I did. The doctor says its allright as long as I am still eating a good balanced diet. (does Ben balance Jerry out?)
Total weight gain so far: 12 lbs.
33 weeks: feeling fine. baby likes to camp out in my hip and make my leg go numb, VERY active baby!
cravings: Oranges, orange juice (I can finish off a gallon in 2 days)
still NO NAMES!!!!

Thursday is our last baby class. I am a little sad. Happy to be getting our Thursdays back though.

My mom and sister have been offering to come up and help work on the house. Oh, am I going to have a list or two for them!

We figured out the cause of our "global warming meltdown" the other day. I apparently am needing to "nest" and haven't been able to. But this past weekend we got a lot done, and my 'nest' has a few more feathers in it.

Time for bed.
-the mom-2-b

Tears and Fears

So, if you don't know yet, pregnant women are just a teeny bit emotional, at times.
We had a small meltdown last night ("small" as in, "Uh, where'd that glacier go that was here last year?")

It was a bit difficult to translate through the high pitched, dogs-can-only-hear speak and nose blowing fest, but I was able to ascertain that we have a lot to do and only 2 months to get it done by. Which means, for all of you who have yet to experiences this blissful time of life, "GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR OR I'M GOING TO SHOVE THAT... ". Well you get the idea.

Anyway, I've been helping Mom-2-be to get the rooms cleaned, shelves up, and generally just being there for her when she calls. This, by the way is the best way to succeed in a relationship. Ignore all that Dr. Phil, "You need to be sensitive." crap and just be sure to never to be out of earshot for more than a few minutes.
During this "blissful time" the amount of time she has to wait for you is in inverse proportion to how happy she will be when you do finally show up to help her with something.

We took apart an old futon we had and I'll be using the wood from that for some future projects. Mom-2-be will be out today doing a little shopping (nesting) while I finally get back to work on the cradle, which at my current pace will be done sometime around when the kid goes away to college.

Good news is I'll be headed to HomeDepot today which for me is sort of like a hardware Nirvana. I think spending the afternoon there better explains why women spend so much time in scrap booking stores.
Oh, and the amount of time you get to spend in HomeDepot is also a direct reflection on how much time she had to wait for your help with that last task.

As for baby news, everything is going well.
We've had several classes and only one to go. Last week we met with students from the last class and it was very informative. Two of the couples actually had the same birth team we have so we were able to interrogate them a bit and we did find out the name of one nurse to be on the watch for. Cool beans.
Mom-2-be is doing well. The baby is getting very active and the Braxton hicks contractions are getting more prominent.
The other night we tried something different. We read somewhere that the baby might react to a flashlight placed on the mothers stomach.
WOW, did it ever. I mean this thing was kicking, moving, and pushing. We didn't do it for long as we can't tell if it liked it or not. My luck I'll end up with a child who is afraid of the light.

On a sad note though, I've had to give up my membership to the He-Man Woman Haters Club as I was caught using the phrase, "I just read this article in Mothering Magazine". In my defence though the article was about a legal issue. Ok, yes the issue was about breastfeeding in public, but still it WAS a legal issues.

Anyway, that's my post for the day.

HikerDad

growing days

Today is the last day of 2006.

Tomorrow starts 2007, the year we become parents.

quite humbling really
We are both very excited.

I have begun to realize how different the days become. Last week about December 22, 23, on through Christmas the baby decided to settle in my hip, not a bad thing, until he/she used a nerve for a pillow. He/she would lay on this nerve, make my leg go numb and send shooting pains through my right leg. My left leg felt nothing. ( I think it was jealous)

But then around the 26th or so, no more pain since then.

Yesterday was an exercise day. Kicking, flipping, moving, rolling, punching. It was pretty much like a UFC fight inside me. Baby VS Uterus. Baby won.

Today is a growing day. Not alot of kicking, punching, just moving and trying to come out "Alien" style. (remember the movie "Alien" when the thing came out the stomach)

But I feel so good. A lot more Braxton Hicks. My uterus is going to be the most fit uterus ever. Between the Pride Fights with the baby and the workouts the Braxton Hicks give it......

Anyway,
time to go party - It's New Years Eve!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Can't wait to meet you baby!

Back from the Amazon

So it looks like the wife and I have been a bit neglectful of our Blog.
Rest assured everything "baby wise" is going smoothly. We've been continuing our Bradley classes and I'm beginning to make a list of things I'll need for the hospital.
In one of our classes the husband instructor gave a talk about his experiences with his first time and what he would have done different, lots of stuff to think about. So as strange as it sounds (and my future sister in-law found it HILARIOUS) I'm going through my hiking gear to find just the things I'll need. No I won't be packing a Swiss Army knife "just in case" but much of the clothing I have is made for comfort while wearing it for long periods, that combined with some trail type snacks and I should be good to go. Besides if this takes too long I know of some nice hiking trails near the hospital I can sneak off to.

The baby is really developing fast now. His/her kicks are getting much harder and it's pretty easy for me to feel it when he/she kicks.
We found out that whenever the baby is kicking/moving, if I start to talk the baby will stop moving. It was frustrating at first because Mom-2-be would call me over to feel the baby, but as soon as I did, nothing. Now we know why. Little stinker.

Ok, that's my quick update. Hopefully more will follow soon,

HikerDad

relax and read

Well,
I was supposed to come to bed to relax and read. Yeah, um.. no

I have definately been feeling some contractions tonight and it's not so bad. Kinda freakin me out though. I thought coming upstairs and relaxing would help me with this, but nope, things just kept rackin my brain. So here I am.

Like I said before the contractions are definately just Braxton-Hicks practice contractions. Last Wednesday at our midwife appointment she said it's perfectly normal to have your uterus contract and release for "practice". "It's a good thing," she says.

So to update these past weeks. (And for my sanity) what has been happening you ask?
Middle of October: started feeling "baby/fart" (where you don't know the difference if it's the baby moving or a gas bubble)
Week 20-21 was October 18th to October 25th: I started feeling the baby at about the same time that super-dad-2-b could feel baby too. There wasn't much of a time difference. It was pretty cool it happened at about the same time.
End of October and Beginning of November: KNEW the difference between baby/fart
Middle of November: "my husbands child" kicking the heck out of my intestines
End of November: "my husbands child" playing "lets see how far I can bend OUT mommy's ribs with my head"
December 1st or so I laid in bed and put my belly against super-dad-2-b's back, and he could feel the baby. IT WAS SO COOL!

Every Thursday is our baby class. It's WONDERFUL!!! That's what I was coming upstairs to read was our required reading for class. "The Bradley Method of Childbirth-Husband Coached Childbirth" It's great. I feel so much better because it explains everything. Specifically, the why's and how's (insert appropriate joke here) that I'm incessantly asking super-dad-2-b.

Thanksgiving was torture. I ate way too much of course.

My rocking chair is in. Now where in the hell do I put it! :)

Dug out some of my neice's baby clothes, washed them. Now where in the hell do I put them?! :)

Have to go register for more baby stuff THAT I WON'T KNOW WHERE IN THE HELL TO PUT EITHER!!!!!!

sorry,
momentary lapse of sanity.

Cute story:
Every night we have been playing classical music to the baby. And he/she/it/whatever moves quite a bit when the music is on, then settles down after I turn it off. So then, one night I turn off the music and super-dad-2-be does my favorite thing and puts his hand on my belly (which ALWAYS makes the baby move around) and gets the baby all riled up. I looked at him and said "okay, now look what you've done"
So, he then started talking to the baby, and the kid STOPS moving. I couldn't believe it. One second, flipping around like crazy, the next, he's actually listening to his father! :)

enough ramblings...

gotta go eat dinner

what's next on the list?

This past weekend was a good one.

Super dad-2-b was in the basement making sure his workshop is ready to make the cradle.
I on the other hand was really busy doing organizing stuff. The bathroom shelves are maximized for space, and ready to hold baby stuff.
So many more project to do.
For our wedding we set up a white board to organize the tasks at hand, and it worked really well. The dreaded white board has made a comeback and is FULL of things to do.

My mom called this weekend to say that she found a changing table. I hated telling her that we didn't want it, cause if we were in a different house we would want it. It just won't fit here. I am kinda sad that my mom and I are so far away. I really want to just hop over to her house and go shopping for baby stuff. Instead we have to PLAN time and make time to go instead of just popping over.
*sigh*
I would love to have her here to help me organize too.
*sigh*
I could put her to work for days!!!!

We had our first baby class this past Thursday, it was very good. We are taking classes on the Bradley method. Natural Husband-coached childbirth.
I LOVED the idea of just laying in the hospital bed not thinking of anything or worrying about anything except the PAIN! It's going to be great!

That's it for now. time for bed. a snack first, grapes, with cottage cheese! YUM!!!

good night!

WHAT????? 21 WEEKS?????

Today was my first official panic day.

I rechecked how many weeks I was along, now that we know a better due date. I assumed I was around 18 weeks. Oh no... redo the math, I am 21 weeks along. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I had just begun to mentally prepare myself for the halfway mark, and within minutes I not only reached the halfway point, I passed it! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

It was amazing, the baby grew from 5 to 7 inches in moments!

So I panicked! I looked at super dad-2-B and said "WE ARE NOT READY!!" I haven't picked out anything!! the car seat, the co-sleeper, the diapers, the breast pump (a very important item!), the stroller, which sling I want, the diaper bag!!!!

Super dad-2-B calmly said, "we have plenty of time" then sat me down, let me fret and search through some books, some reports, and decided on the car seat after some talk with super dad-2-B.

I also talked to a good friend and she suggested which sling I should use, and I told her, that's PERFECT!! She even said she would buy it as a gift for me, WHAT A GREAT FRIEND!!

so.. there is still some panic, but I think we are doing better. I say "we" but I mean, "me"! Super dad-2-B spent today cooking stuff for baby, and things easy to cook when baby gets here, as well as getting his shop ready to make the best bassinet ever.

I feel good, except McPickle decided to set up camp in my right hip, and I think he's playing jump rope with one of my nerves. So I step, then stop, step then stop. Super dad-2-B thinks it's hilarious. *sigh*

Time for bed

A womb with a view.

So as I sit watching the Wizard of Oz for the umpteenth time I think now would be a good chance for me to reflect back on the events of yesterday.
As we headed out for our appointment we really couldn't think about what to expect. I mean we both had seen ultrasound pictures before, but this one was understandably different. It was OUR ultrasound, and we were about to get a view of OUR future. Would everything be alright? Would we get a view of its arms, legs, hands?

Well now that it's over I can officiously say we did see all of this and more. And also, I think it's safe to say we aren't looking at a potential alien here. Though he/she did have a small body and large head... hmmm.

For those of you who haven't been through an ultrasound I can say for the most part the Dad just sits there and tries to guess what he is looking at. Personally I did pretty well at this game.
The wife, on the other hand, has a bit more important task to perform. She has to hold in about a gallon of pee while the ultrasound tech presses on her bladder. Apparently this isn't as easy as it may sound.
Oh, and that reminds me of the other task the Dad needs to do. You must refrain from making any comments about water or any jokes that will get your wife giggling. They don't like that.
This too isn't as easy as it sounds.

The entire visit was about an hour. The tech said that this was a bit more difficult of a procedure as our baby wouldn't cooperate and kept flipping over just as the tech was about to take a picture. The tech said, "This is a very active baby.". I'm guessing that's a good thing.
Then as we were looking at a cross section of the babies chest the wife spoke up and said, "Was that a hiccup?"
The tech wasn't sure so we looked again and sure enough our baby had the hiccups.

So that's it for now.. and without further ado here is the first image of the little one.

-HikerDad

flutter... um.. that was no flutter

I am so sick of that word.

I am pretty sure I have asked every woman I have come in contact with who has had a child what it is supposed to feel like when you first feel the baby. Many people have used the word "flutter".

Well, bullshit!

I haven't felt a flutter yet.

What I have felt is: "Ow, that's my rib", or "Get your foot off of that" " I don't know what you are standing on, but it hurts, GET OFF!!"

Most of the time it's just a pressure thing and doesn't really hurt, but tonight apparently when the baby decided to "explore" my ribs (meaning, treating my ribs as a xylophone) super dad-2-B thought it was side-splitting hilarious. no wait, he said, amongst his wheezing laughter, you have GOT to blog this.

The other day at the store I felt something hard in the front of my belly. I put super dad-2-B's hand on it, and he quickly labels the hard spot, "that's the head."
I said, "how do you know?"
He replies, "it's round, and bigger than his butt"

I have held my hand on my belly for several minutes before trying to figure out what the bumps are, and so far, I have found.... bumps.... and other bumps..... and baby bumps....

I have read in many places that women who were heavier, as I am, feel the baby later than thin women do, I have come to accept this, and realize I probibly won't feel the famed "flutter". But, I sure am enjoying what I do feel. As super dad-2-B said before, this is one of the best feelings of my life.

I think I saw this in a movie once.

So all of the guys I've talked to have agreed, we couldn't ever be pregnant. No I don't mean giving birth, I won't get into the argument about whether guys could take the pain or not. But rather the being pregnant part. You see as I understand it there is a LIVING BEING INSIDE OF HER. I mean think about it, this little creature is feeding off of her, breathing what she breathes, it's even peeing inside of her. Kind of like a tapeworm really.
Maybe I've seen too many SciFi shows but the thought of someone crawling around inside of me just gives me the willies.
Anyway, this week we've officially felt the baby move and I have to say it was one of the most exciting moments I've ever experienced. No, it wasn't a jump around and scream moment. I was simply holding my hand on my wife's stomach and I felt the baby slowly turn away. More of an "Oh, wow!" that's what life is moment.
So yes, even though I've just compared my future child to an alien and a tapeworm I'm more in awe of what's going on now than I have ever been about anything before.

Next week we will be having our first Sonogram and we'll finally see if it's really a baby or that alien thing I'm worried about.

-HikerDad

Little things

So it's my turn to Blog something.
The wife has been hoping I'd blog for a while now so here it goes.
Now where to start.

I haven't read many of the wife's blogs. I did that on purposes so I wouldn't feel like I needed to answer hers or worry about making sure I wrote something different, so if I cover something she's already talked about I apologize.

When we got married we talked about starting our family in two years so we are a year off, but I think that's pretty good.
Truthfully I had hoped to feel like we were in a more stable situation financially. It's not like I wanted to have a six figure salary, but I would have liked to be out of this rental home. Then again if I did we might have never had children.

So here we are, expecting our first child, baby, kid, little one, etc.
For me things are a lot different then they are for her. I know she is pregnant, I can see it, I hear her make comments about it. But for me my realization of her pregnancy comes in waves. First there was the pee stick, the first Dr. appointment, then the heartbeat. I don't feel it like she does. For her every moments she pregnant, every time she turns around something reminds her of it..
So strange.

Anyway.. that's my start. I know it's not very good, but I'm tired and I just figured I'd get something down so I'd be more apt to write more later.

-HikerDad

Cheez-its

Super-great dad-2-b is officially involved in this pregnancy.

Last night he had his first craving.

Whilst walking through the store for more kleenex, orange juice, etc., (I am sick with a sinus infection) he grabs a box of cheez-its and tosses it into the cart. I said, did we need these?
He replies, "I don't know why but today at work I saw someone eating some, and I decided I must have them."

I giggled, and said, "Yay! It's your first craving!"

He denies it wholeheartedly, but I know this man has never craved anything in his life.

Before we could put any other groceries away, including the refrigerator items, he had the box open and was eating them by the fistfulls!!!!

now, if only I had a craving......

who else

so, we told my grandma, I am expecting phone calls any minute. I knew once we told her, the proverbial "ball" was rolling. I found out that a cousin is pregnant too, with her second. so I should call and say congrats.

We told my Aunt, my mom's sister, she seemed happy.

My brother-in-law got engaged. SO that's exciting.

How am I? Very good. Cold. I know, believe it or not, I am cold all the time. My hands and feet, freezing. If you knew me, you would know that I am NEVER cold. Normally, I would wear sandals in the snow. It's so weird. My husband just smiles, then comes and hugs me to try to warm me up.

*sigh*

Damn kid.

I have to be careful saying that all the time now. People will think I'm some hateful person who doesn't appreciate being pregnant. I am.... really.

OH yeah, that's another thing. I am SO goofy.

Last night driving around town, the windows were down, so I just started whistling at the hot chicks on the corner cause hubby was driving. He was mortified.
It rocked.

another day

well, another day of being pregnant.

So far we have told quite a few more people that we thought we would have this early.

I told some more coworkers, as did my husband.

We had our first baby visit, we are not going to go to that obgyn. She was too clinical, not friendly at all. We want someone who will be hands off, and let things go as time flows. She talked about using the vacuum to suck the baby out who was taking too long. I don't want someone who even thinks about something like that. When we say we want a natural birth, we mean a NATURAL birth. No constant monitoring, no epidural, no episiotomy, nothing but my husband, me, family, and a midwife who will check me with a stethoscope, her ears, and her eyes.

well, we will just have to pick the place before we pick the doctor to make sure it's hospital policy to do what we want.

there is one place near us, a freestanding birth center that I would LOVE to go to, but it is over an hour away. I don't know, maybe it's worth it. It encompases everything we value, want, need. But husband is worried that it is not near enough to a hospital for emergencies. I understand his need, and worry as well. I just wish we could figure all this out.

friends

We called the friend who introduced my husband and I way back 10 years ago. We told her that we were pregnant, and her cell signal cut out! we called back and forth trying to get ahold of each other. Finally she called when we were upstairs watching tV and missed her call, finally called her back at 10:00! it sure was great to talk to a friend who means so much to me! I wish we could be closer.