3 weeks old

Well, these last 3 weeks have been pretty eventful. Elliott is now over 8lbs 6oz. And I am only 10 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Which makes me pretty happy! Unfortunatly I still wont be in a bakini any time soon. For only gaining 40 lbs I sure gained a lot of stretch marks. Not so happy about those.

For the first time in 3 weeks I am all alone with my daughter. Dad was going to come up and stay a few days with us, but ended up having to leave shortly after he got here, and he took Holly and Gabe with him. Tomorrow will be interesting. I havn't quite got use to doing everything one handed yet. We'll see how much actually gets done.

Elliott is amazing. She gets at least one 4-hour stretch of sleep at night, then wakes up every 2 hours. So that's not too bad. Well now she's awake so I have to go. =)

The Birth of My Child

I don't have much of a birth story, but I'll tell you what I do have.


Elliott decided that she was going to be breech and nothing we did would change that. And trust me we tried everything! I didn't consent to the c-section until my 39th week. Matt and I decided at that time that we thought it would be safer for our little one to come on a schedule, rather than in an emergancy since it was very apparent that she was not going to flip. and my doctor didn't feel comfortable trying to deliver her naturally while breech. And I trust my doctor. We scheduled the c-section for her due date, June 9th.

We got to the hospital at 6 am on June 9th. They hooked me up to everything and monitered baby for quite some time while I just laid there. Rather boring actually =). They took me back to the OR at about 8:20 (20 minutes late, but that wasn't as late as we expected.) After they got the spinal and the cathetor in,l Matt was allowed in. I watched the whole thing in a reflection in the light. =) I mentioned I could see what was happening and they asked if I wanted them to move the light. I didn't. I quite enjoyed the show oddly enough. lol I couldn't see detail very well, but it gave me something to do and look at rather then just lie there feeling to them tugging me around. Matt was there by my head the whole time. Once they transfered me to a gurney, they put Elliott in my arms and rolled me back to my room. Elliott was only seperated from me for a bath (Matt went with her), at night for a few hours, and when I took a shower. We weren't sepereated for anything else, I was quite happy about this. =)

Elliott Morgan Tabbert was born at 9 am. 7 lbs 14 oz. 20 inches long. As soon as the doc sewed me up she leaned over the curtain and informed me that I would be a perfect candidate for a VBAC if I were to have another child. =)

37 weeks-Breech

A couple of weeks ago we found out Elliott was breech (head up, butt down...not the way she's supposed to be) Well, as of today she is still breech. And doctors will not allow a vaginal delivery of a breech baby. Especially since this is my first child, to many things could go wrong. Elliott still has time to flip, but as we get closer to my due date she gets bigger and it's less likely for her to turn. I am not consenting to a c-section until the last possible moment. When I go into labor, if she is still breech...well then I have no choice.


But between now and labor time I am doing what I can to encourage little Ellie to flip. There's the yoga position- the downward dog....which is on my knees, with my shoulders and head on the floor, my butt up in the air. There's taking a warm bath with a bag of frozen pees on the top of my belly (like anyone, babys will try and get away from the cold and go towards the warm.) I will be making an appointment with an acupuncturist tomorrow for a "moxibustion" treatment. My dr. recommended it. It's painless, and is supposed to be pretty affective.


I really really really hope Elliott decides to flip. I don't want a c-section. I feel like we talked about "what if she's breech" to much early on in the pregnancy and we jinxed it...sigh...whatever.




37 week update:
Total weight gain/loss: somewhere between 25-30 lbs.




Maternity clothes? oh yes...and I've recently started raiding Matt's clothes.




Stretch marks? sigh...yes






Sleep: I think I get some between bathroom breaks, but can't be to sure.






Movement: Of course. She likes to take an hour or more at night just before bedtime to practice ballet.






Food cravings: none really, I just eat whats there.






Gender: Girl!






Labor Signs: I've been having some Braxton Hicks...but nothing painful yet.






Belly Button in or out? niether...it's just flat.






What I miss: sleeping on my belly, or just sleeping at all...yeah I definatly miss that






What I am looking forward to: June, I want to see her already.






Weekly Wisdom: i'm too tired to share wisdom.






Milestones: Labor! I reach full term tomorrow, so the only milestone left is labor and delivery!!

Are We There Yet?

34 weeks down, 6 to go. 6 weeks has never looked so long, and unreachable. I don't even have much to do to get ready for her. We found some cute little plastic dressers at Target (only 11 dollars each!!) Unfortunatly it is not allowing me to upload a picture to show you. So I will just have to tell you that the frame of each is white, while each have different colored drawers. Blue, Green, and a purpleish-pinkish color. =) And right now all of her clothes are folded and put away in them. We will be getting baby hangers to hang up most of her outfit and using the drawers for blankets, bibs, socks, shoes, etc.

Oh! My wonderful mama has bought Elliott the cutest little bassinet! Here's the picture off the internet. (it hasn't gotten here yet, so I can't take a picture of ours. But ours will be exacty the same.) Ok nevermind! This stupid thing wont let me upload ANY of the pictures I intended on showing you! Gah! Now I am mad. I was going to show you my poor little belly button, thats as flat as can be and slightly poking out. I was also going to show you my pretty 34 week belly. But nope, you can't see it now!

So apart from being highly cranky with this stupid thing that wont let me show you the pictures...I'm bored. I would show you the pictures and doodles I've been drawing...but again my computer is retarded.

 I almost cried today because I asked Matt to pick up Taco Bell for lunch (mmm!!) and I thought he had misunderstood and wasn't coming home for lunch and only buying for himself. He showed up with my burrito shortly after I started getting hormonal. =)

I've had little feet in my ribs aaaaalllll day today! And the owner of those little feet has already had the hiccups 3 times. Which is actually less than normal. She usually has hiccups 5-6 times a day. But it's only 3:06 pm...she's got time to catch up. Oh and she likes pushing her little bum out, I got a picture of it. You can see a bump at the top of my belly. But I'm not going to even try and upload it, only to have it tell me that it failed to upload. Stupid computer!

Speaking of her bum...I'm pretty sure she is heads down. I feel her hiccups pretty low and there are other reasons why I think she's heads down. But anyway...at my last appointment the doctor was feeling my belly to see if she could tell how Elliott is postioned. She said that she couldn't tell, and she'd try again at my next appointment, and if she can't tell again she'll get an ultra sound. I'm kind of hoping that she can't tell, and she does an ultra sound, then I can ask her to confirm that Elliott is in fact a girl. (I'm paranoid!) My next appt. is May 4th, the same day I get on the train for K-Falls. Exciting! Thankfully I'll only be gone a week because I'm going to weekly appointments after this next one. Oh and mama is planning  baby shower for while I'm down there! I didn't think I was going to get one. I'm so excited!!

My record for this last week is 6. I woke up to pee 6 times in one night. SIX! It's rediculous! I'm going to do my best to NOT beat that record.  I also managed to eat 6 cupcakes in 2 days...yeah it was yummy but I sent the rest with Matt to work, because I didn't want end up gaining 6 pounds in one week. =) I managed to drink 6 cups of water yesterday, which is pretty good for me. And of course I only have 6 weeks until my due date. 6 days until I leave for K-Falls. Oh and I got 6 stars on Mario Party last night. =) lol I wonder how many other 6's I can find. Wow..I'm bored.

8 Months

8 months (32 weeks)

Ok so I've got about 5-10 weeks left. (Since "full term" is 37 to 42 weeks) I'm hoping to hit her due date, give her enough time to cook. But I'm bored. Don't get me wrong, I love feeling her move, her hiccups, and all that. But I'm in that part of pregnancy where nothing seems to be going on. I'm used to her kicks, I'm passed all the "big" appoitments. The next big thing to look forword to is labor and delivery, which feel like forever away. I've finally got TONS of clothes (mostly from craigslist) but  have to wait until next Tuesday to wash them (I want to soak the used clothes in oxyclean to get out any stains and dingy-ness.) Tuesday will also be the day we buy little baby hangers to hang up all her little outfits, and some plastic storage dresser thingy's to put her onsies, towels, lotion and other assortated baby items. That at least will give me something to do for a day or two. I was hoping to have Elliott's bed (a pack-n-play that has a bassinet top someone is giving us) last week, but it was decided that it would come up next month. I'm not sure why and I wish it where different considering I have no idea when next month and Elliott could easily come anytime next month, and it'd be nice if she had a bed.

Other, slightly not baby related, stuff we have to get done...We are looking for a hide-a-bed couch, so that when mom and Holly get back up here they will have somewhere they can sleep that we can easily put away during the day. Our apartment is so small that once I get all the baby stuff organized there will be no room for guests to sleep (hence the hide-a-bed couch.) We've got to get rid of some stuff (my keyboard, and random nick-nacks, and hopefully Peggie's hope chest) so that we have the room to actually walk around in the apartment.

I've got other things to keep me busy until Mom and Holly come back. We just bought Zelda (used) for the Wii. Holly dropped off 3 books and a couple of Wii games when they were here, and then there are 2 more books that Matt and I bought not to long ago. But I can easily finish one book in a day if I let myself. But I sit at home alone all the time so even reading isn't helping with that.

I've made a friend. We met a while ago, and she just had a little boy on Easter. We might get together this weekend to hang out and so I can see the baby (which will more than likely just make me want mine even more.)

Doctor appointments are every 2 weeks now. But they seem so pointless! We'll sit there for over half an hour and only talk to the doctor for about 5 min. They check weight, ask how the baby is moving, take a urine sample, listen to baby's heart beat, measure my belly and send us on our merry way. It's tireing. The only good thing about the days I have appointments is Matt gets half the day off of work.
Ok now I'm just rambling because I'm bored and lonely. =P

Update

So as you all may have read, I was on the search for a midwife that would allow me to have an all natural homebirth. After much talk and a few cancelled consultations, Matt and I have decided that we can not do a homebirth right now. With our living situation, (if you've seen how small my apartment is you would understand that it's not fit for a homebirth.) and money situation (we would have to pay out of pocket up to 4500 dollars before Elliott is even born, which would take away from things that we need to buy for her.) we just can't do a home birth.

But that is NOT going to stop me from going natural or doing a water birth. The hospital I will be delivering at has birthing tubs in each room, and I will be writing up a detailed birth plan. (yes I know it's diffuclt to plan a birth because you don't know what will happen) But the nurses and doctors attending the birth of my daughter will all know not to even offer pain meds.

Matt and I will be researching different relaxing techniques that he can help me with. We will be prepared as we possibly can by the time Elliott makes her appearence.

Oh and we came to this conclusion on a non-cranky day with a clear head. Hormones had no role in making this decision. I'm relieved. It was getting quite stressfull thinking of money, trying to find a midwife that didn't have a full patient load, and all of that. I don't think I'm making the wrong choice. If we decide to have another child than we'll know from the beginning what we want and what to expect and we can plan for a homebirth then. Now I can concentrate on things like what she's going to wear home, and which car seat to buy. Rather than how we are going to pay the midwives, were the tub is going to go and what if the tub breaks and gallons and gallons of water spread throughout our tiny little home(and since we dont have renters insurance...that could be a BIG problem.)

Meanwhile.

BELLY!!

28 weeks. I am officianlly in my third trimester. This is the homestretch! WooHoo!!

All Natural

When I first found out I was pregnant I knew I wanted to have a non-medicated labor and delivery (No epidural for me.) Not long after that I heard the benefits of birthing in a tub of nice warm water, and I knew that's how I was going to bring my little girl into the world. I was excited to hear that the hospital has birthing tubs, and allows not only labor but delivery in them as well. (Yay!)

But I want more! I've come to the conclusion that I want to do this ALL natural. I don't want to go to a hospital where the temptation for drugs is just too high. I don't want to be asked ever contraction if I want that epi now. I want to be comfortable.I want to wear what I want (if anything) and I don't want to be parted from my daughter at anytime after delivery.

I am currently looking for a midwife that will assist in a home/water birth. I want to have my baby girl in the comfort of my own home. The fact that we live in an apartment should be no problem. Unfortunatly I have to wait until Monday to see if I can actually have this kind of birth.

Oh for any who think I'm crazy, I'm not. There is no harm in having a home birth. Midwifes are certified and know what they are doing. If something goes wrong they will know and will make sure that we are sent to the hospital, which is only 10 minutes away (at most...there's one or two that are even closer) I'm really excited about this and I hope everyone will trust my decision and support me. =)