Monday, February 14, 2011

Pregnancy Mantra

I have the best friends/family.  Seriously I am so grateful for all the support and love for our growing blueberry.  It really means the world to us and we are very excited to add a new little one to our home.  I especially appreciate all of the advice/answers/reaching out I have gotten about my ever-present "birth fear" as I like to call it.  I have had my mommies circle friends reach out to me and lots of close friends of mine that made me feel less freak-ish and embarrassed about my "condition" shall we say. Seriously, all the kind words and encouragement have made us feel so special and even more excited.  I love this time in my life where I am not only comfortable with who I am, but I have so many like-minded and awesome friends.

This morning, I was given a "quote to live by right now" by one of my besties, Sarah.  She is my pregnancy/baby rock.  We have babies 5 weeks apart and I pretty much tell her anything and everything since I know I won't be judged and I will always get honest advice, even if I don't agree or like it (if you don't have a "Sarah" in your life, get one.  Seriously.  She rocks.) Anyway, we are both Catholic, she more devout and well read than I.  I am more of a  fallen away Catholic, seeking spiritual peace and sense but she always knows how to bring my focus back to what is really important.  She came across this quote from St Francis de Sales (one of her favorite's), Patron Saint of Writers and thought of me and my situation. How nice is that?!  And thus my pregnancy mantra was born..... it is just too good and too perfect not to share.  I got instant tears and peace when I read it.  


"Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day.  Either he will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations and say continually: 'the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart has trusted in Him and I am helped.  He is not only with me but in me and I in him"

St. Francis de Sales

Pretty great huh?  I will read this every day and probably have it up in my birth space as well.  

Saturday, February 12, 2011

New Baby FAQ's

So I have already gotten a TON of questions about the new baby.  We told some close friends and family before posting it to the Facebook/Blogger world.  So, inevitably I got a slew of the same questions over and over again about this baby and so I thought, maybe I will just put my answers out there for everyone! I know a lot of "birthy" people, so it may be interested to share and see what responses and feedback I get. 

*** these are kinda/sorta personal questions/answers so if stuff regarding babies, birth stories, breasts etc. freak you out.... feel free to skip...... if not... read on!****

1.  When did you find out?
   
Very early.  Though not intentionally.  I took a test at 36 days and it was negative.  By 41 days I went, Hmmmmm, and took a test and it was positive in about .05 seconds.  The three after that were positive too.... and the one the next day.  (I am only paranoid cause I have gotten not ONE but TWO false positive pregnancy tests since Porter was born)

2.  Are you going to have another homebirth?

God willing YES!  I love how people though having a home birth was a phase or something.....  mostly older family members and such... got questions that sort of resembled "you doing that home thing again?" My answer "EEeeeyup!".  That is if everything goes well and I stay healthy and low risk, which I was with Porter and I am currently.  Until something happens, that is the plan.  Stephanie Soderblom will be our midwife again and Rose will be our doula, same birth team.  Though to be honest I had a hard time with the doula part, not cause of Rose (not at all she HAS to be there or I can't do it I don't think ;)  but because I know a bazillion awesome doulas and would love to have a big'ol birth party with all of them there.  (kidding...... kinda)  Anyway, rest assured, I am in the great hands of God, my husband and Stephanie.  It is all good.

3.  Are you sick?

Nope, not yet.  But I am more queasy shall we say...... I notice it when I am brushing my teeth and I get bouts of feeling like I just got off a ride or something.  Kinda blech... but not sick. But it is very infrequent.  My sense of smell is more elevated.  I cleaned something nasty outta of the fridge and that was not pretty. Or fun.  I am tired. Tired, tired, tired.  I am ready for bed round about 8:30 or 9:00.

4.  WOW.  Your kids are going to be really close.

Uh huh.  Aren't I lucky?! My P-man will be the best big brother ever.  And, he will have an instant best friend. Yes, it may be hard the first year with two babies essentially, but I have a lot of help, a lot of family and a lot of support.  I prefer the term colorful or lively or awesome.... cause that is what I think my life will be!

5.  Were you guys trying?

Er.... no/yes.  We weren't not trying.  Kind of a lose natural family planning type thing (which doesn't work when you ovulate on day 20!) but nothing super set in stone.  We actually thought if we didn't get pregnant in January that we would wait until this summer to try.  But Neil has wanted another for a LONG time and I don't have any close siblings.  So I wanted that for my kids and we kind of left this one up the big Guy upstairs.  Whenever he wanted to give us this blessing, we would gladly take it! In the grand scheme of life, what is 6 months?

6. Will you breast feed again?

Yes.  Not sure how long.  As long as it works for our family. 

7. Are you going to find out what gender the baby is?

NO!  We are gonna try not to.  We found out with Porter so we feel like not finding out will be something that this baby can have.  The greatest surprise in the world.  Plus, being a second time mommy, I know better.  For the first two weeks babies only need a boob, some blankets, a baby wearing device, diapers and some onsies.  After that, if it is a girl, we can go SHOP!

8. Do you wanna a girl or boy and do you have names?

Ummmmm.  We want health first and foremost.  10 fingers, 10 toes.  A girl would be nice but I love having a boy too.  So I am pretty torn.  I like the idea of close brothers.  So I dunno.  If we have a girl, some par of her name will be Sinclaire.  Neil lost his father when I was pregnant with Porter and Sinclair (no E) was Neil's fathers middle name.  It has been passed down for generations.  And Neil's father ALWAYS wanted a little girl of his own, but they had 2 boys, so I had the idea to put an 'e' on the end to make it feminine and name her Sinclaire and call her Claire.  But we may do Sinclaire as a middle name too.  My current favorite is Gabriella Sinclaire.  Boys names are harder.  Neil says I like strange names so we will have to see!  I like Samuel and Benjamin so far.

9.  Anything different this time?

One thing sticks out and I am curious what my mama's of mulitple kids and my birthy friends say.  I have MUCH more birth fear.  Like bad.  Sometimes it makes me panic.  Don't misunderstand me at all.  I am completely confident in my home birth/midwife choice.  That is not it at all.  But my labor was intense with Porter.  Really intense.  I felt like I fought it a lot, though I didn't mean too.  It is like I KNOW now and therefore I am scared.  Out of nowhere.  And I know this one will be shorter.  I know I will not push for 2 hours.  My brain knows that.  My body goes "Holy hell not that again" and I don't know why.  But it bothers me.  I love pregancy and all that surrounds it.  Most the ladies I know live and breathe labor and delivery.  I believe women were built for this.  Our bodies can do it.  Each sensation is custom built for us for a reason.  So why the hell am I so scared? I don't get it at all.  I gotta pray and meditate and get advice from other people because I have NO idea where it came from.  I want to use this birth as an opportunity to use my knowledge and strength to make it as magical as it was with P... but how do I get there??


to be continued, lemme know if there are any others! I am an open book!

Roses Are Red, Violets are Blue, the Smith family has a Surprise for YOU!

OK..... we are finally ready to share our BIG news!  Neil and I are expecting our second baby this October!!!  We are really, really, really excited.  Being parents has been the greatest blessing for each of us and we cherish every second we spend with P-man. I am about seven weeks along, baby is approximately the size of a blueberry currently  So, our babies will be close, about 21 months apart, but that is just fine by us.  October is my favorite month, although I am not looking forward to be pregnant in the Arizona summer.  A couple California summer trips may be needed to cool down!  We also wanted to wait till we could send out Valentines from Porter to our close family and friends before we went "cyber" with our news so we waited until now...... but phone calls are rolling in that people received their Valentines and so it is safe to share now. We are so happy to announce our growing blueberry and will continue with updates.  We are one very blessed little family! Here is Porter's Big Brother Valentine. 


The Caption is blurry. 
"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue,
 In Early Oct. I'll still be way cute, but I will be a BIG brother too!"