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Apr 6, 2007

Breech

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This morning I had it confirmed that my second daughter is following in her big sister’s footsteps by being turned the wrong way. I think I can say for certain that we won’t be having a third child, simply because I see a tradition starting, and it’s one that I don’t want to continue.

The ultrasound tech found her head right away, well above my belly button, and like her earlier ultrasound months ago, she still has her feet up by her face most of the time. She flexed one leg a few times during the ultrasound, just to give me a kick, but then brought it right back to her head, demonstrating her Cirque du Soleil worthy flexibility.

We also know from this ultrasound that she’s likely to be a big kid. She’s estimated to be 5.5 pounds and 19.8″ long already, and I still have 7 weeks left. The tech asked if there was any way my due date could be off – no, I remember that cycle pretty clearly, and it was a perfect 28 day cycle. Of course, these kinds of estimates can be off by a lot, so I’m not putting a lot of faith in those numbers.

It was noted, however, that there is still plenty of space in there to give this baby a chance to turn. And the tech recommended a chiropractor she had heard of that has amazing success in convincing breech babies to turn head down using something known as the Webster technique. She said she has sent several of her clients to this doctor, and most have had success. That’s a good enough recommendation for me at this point.

I was relieved to get a glimpse at this baby and see that she is healthy and growing well. And that was what I tried to focus on when leaving the ultrasound office, because knowing she’s breech was really disappointing. I had wanted and planned for a natural birth with my first, but for her safety had to choose the c-section route. And now baby #2 is also breech and putting a damper on my hopes for a VBAC. Seriously, a 3% or less chance each time – with my ability to beat the odds, I can’t decide if that means I should try my luck in Vegas or not.

I feel like my body is faulty and I’m unable to carry a baby in the proper position. Hundreds of thousands of years of evolution perfected how our babies are carried in our bodies and born, and somehow my body is the throwback. Sure, I probably shouldn’t blame my body, but it’s no less crazy than blaming the baby for not following the plan, or blaming my husband for bad genetics, since he was breech also.

There’s still time, and I’m planning on trying any safe measure to get her turned. At this point I think I’ll start offering her a car when she’s 16, or maybe a pony, if she’d just turn around.

Here are two pictures from the ultrasound today. The uneven area near her mouth on the left is the umbilical cord floating in front of her face.

Hey, how’s it going?

Rubbing her eye
Filed Under: fate laughing at me, pregnancy ·


Apr 4, 2007

Interview Time

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After a week, I’ve finally managed to make time to answer the interview questions Mrs. Chicky sent to me. The rules of the game are simple: if you haven’t played yet and want to be interviewed, make sure I have your e-mail address and let me know you want to play, and I’ll send you five questions of your very own to answer.

Without further ado:

1. What is your dream job?
Oh, this is a tough one. I’ve worked a lot of different jobs in my life: fast food, retail, library aide, graduate assistant teacher, daycare worker, web designer, online course developer, student advisor, writer, etc. And now I’m back in school for nursing. I think my dream job would be something where I’m constantly learning new things.

Clearly I’ve made several job changes over the years, many of which required new skill sets. I think I will be happy with nursing, because there are so many different fields within it to pursue – clinical nursing (and the variety of specialties therein), research nurse, community nurse, insurance nurse, home health nurse, etc. I could even go on for more school to become a nurse practitioner. For now, I think I’d like to pursue labor and delivery nursing.

2. What is the one thing that makes you the most angry?
People who intentionally hurt others, especially the ones who do it for fun and remain anonymous. I’ve never understood that darker side of human nature that drives some people to derive pleasure from hurting someone else. These people are completely lacking in compassion and have no ability to see beyond themselves and their own feelings, which is sad, because they are missing out on so much in life. And in return they bring so much pain to others, sometimes affecting the entire life of a person all in the name of “fun”.

It’s like they think life is one big video game created just for them, and everyone else on the planet is simply a lifeless being here for their amusement. It’s people like that who make me wish I had the power to touch them and make them suddenly feel the pain of everyone they’ve ever hurt, all at once.

3. Who do you think is Anna Nicole’s Baby Daddy?
The baby is totally a clone, with no father at all. Or possibly an alien baby. Or maybe an alien clone…yeah, that could work.

4. Finish this sentence: “Thank God I’m ________” (and elaborate)
…nearly finished with this pregnancy! Seriously, I’m thrilled to be welcoming another little person into the family, but I want my body back! I want a nice big glass of wine, and no restrictions on how much tuna salad I can eat. I want to roll over in bed at night without it requiring a 5 point turn taking longer than 15 seconds. I want to sleep with only one pillow again, instead of three at my head for heartburn and one giant body pillow slowly pushing Aaron out of the bed. And I want to play with Cordy again without having to constantly tell her, “No, you can’t lean on mommy’s belly like that. No, you can’t push mommy there.”

5. If you had your choice for your children, would you send them to public school or private school?
It would depend on where we’re living. If we’re at our current house, I’d prefer private school, because our public school system is one of the worst in the area. If we move to one of several places we have considered, I’d probably be all for public school, since the school systems are pretty good. Although the lure of a Montessori school is a strong one, too. However, we’re poor, so unless the school sucks, public school is always the first choice!

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Many of you noticed the new blog design – is it not fantabulous? All praise Izzy and her magical design prowess for the new look!

Filed Under: meme time ·


Apr 3, 2007

Your Banner – Don’t Delete

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Filed Under: Uncategorized ·


Apr 3, 2007

Where’d She Go?

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Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It’s been a week since my last confession post.

What have I been up to? Well, last week was a busy week for me work-wise, and ended with Aaron leaving on Thursday morning for a trip to a stage combat workshop in Virginia Beach. He didn’t get back until very late last night. Four days, one hyperactive toddler, and one eight-months-pregnant mom who was parenting solo.

You can understand why blogging was not high on my priority list. Most nights I was too exhausted to even fix myself dinner. Single parents – you deserve a medal. While Cordy was thankfully well-behaved most of the weekend, the experience left me begging for Aaron to come home as soon as possible. I learned I’m officially not cut out for parenting solo.

Friday I also went to look at the one daycare in town that supposedly had an opening right away. Turns out, they didn’t – they had one day a week available, not two. But after looking at the place, I decided it wasn’t for us, anyway. They wanted to charge $485 a month for two days a week, and they didn’t even provide meals. You had to pack your own breakfasts and lunches. Plus, if the weather is bad, there is no indoor playroom, and the kids are confined to their classrooms. I also asked about naptime, and they told me if a child doesn’t nap, she has to sit on her cot quietly during nap time. I tried not to laugh at them, but I couldn’t hold back. You want my daughter to sit quietly for an hour and a half? Yeah, right.

Today was my regular OB appointment. Even though I’ve eaten my weight in doughnuts this week, I somehow lost two pounds. So I’m back to my starting weight. I had plenty of reserves to begin with, so my doctor isn’t concerned at all.

However, there was one downside to the appointment today. Somehow, in the past week, this baby has managed to do the one and only thing I didn’t want her to do:

She’s now breech.

Yes, Cordy was breech, which is why I had my c-section. The chances of two breech babies? Well, had I bet on another breech, I’d be rich.

Why must I be cursed with stubborn daughters? This one wasn’t breech last week, because I could feel the kicks up high. But today the hard lump of a head is now up high, while small feet are Irish dancing on my cervix.

I’m 33 weeks today, so there is still time and room for her to turn back. And unlike last time, I refuse to sit by and just hope she’ll turn. I’m breaking out every trick in the book. I will prop my butt up on the couch with my head on the floor twice a day. I will put frozen peas on the top of my stomach and a heating pad on the lower area to convince her my cervix is a better place for her head. If needed, I have found an acupuncture office who performs moxibustion, and I’m looking into chiropractors who are skilled in the Webster technique. I’m determined to get this kid head down, even if it means chanting some silly phrase while wearing a hula skirt and moose antlers.

So, forgive me for my absence here. It was a much needed leave of absence so that I could focus on all the things stressing me out. As penance, I’ll let you in on a secret: click here to go see the current top two baby names we have sort-of agreed on thus far. And next up I’ll be answering a series of interview questions given to me by Mrs. Chicky.

Filed Under: daily life, pregnancy · Tagged:


Mar 27, 2007

Love Your Babysitter

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A child care provider you can trust is one of the most valuable things you can have as a parent. It may be someone to provide full-time care, part-time care, or just the occasional date night. Whether you need the care for work, or just for a little time off, knowing you can leave your child with this provider without any fear is something to be thankful for every day.

Which is why I’ve been feeling a slight panic over the the past few weeks. My friend L has watched Cordy for me one or two days a week for nearly a year and a half. She and I have been friends for over 10 years, and she has a son slightly older than Cordy. I’d describe her parenting style as just as overprotective, or more so, than me, which makes me feel completely safe leaving Cordy with her. I know that my daughter is lovingly cared for in her home, with her every need covered, with plenty of attention and guidance, and with another child for company.

However, all of that is now changing. Due to some sad events, L and her long-term partner are splitting up. She has been lucky to be a stay at home mom ever since her son was born, but now she must find a new apartment, and will have to find a full-time job to support her son. Her retired mom moved up to Ohio from Arizona just a few weeks ago, and will take care of watching L’s son while she works, but it does mean Cordy is without a babysitter two days a week.

I have been helping my friend as much as possible with getting on with her life – watching her son so she could go fill out paperwork and meet with assistance counselors, finding jobs for her to apply for, helping with apartment searches, etc. And while I am happy to be there for her, I am also mourning the loss of my trusted child care provider.

L’s job hunt has been slow going, and so she is now looking at temp agencies, which means that any day now I could find out that Cordy has no one to watch her. My own search for a replacement child care provider is also going slowly, too. We don’t have any other family or friends we could turn to for this amount of childcare, and while I’m sure there are several in-home providers who are perfectly nice people, I am too paranoid to trust a stranger alone with my child.

I’ve called several daycare centers and preschools (all of the NAEYC accredited ones, of course), but most have no openings for at least 6-8 months. Of the fifteen or so that I contacted, one had an opening, and I’m touring the center on Friday. My other option is to beg Aaron’s aunt for help again. She is an asst. director for an early childhood learning center, and she was the one we turned to when Cordy was three months old and my old job suddenly cut off telecommuting for all employees. We’re hoping she might find a spot for Cordy at her center.

The other issue affecting our decision is the cost involved. The one center with the opening is asking $485 a month for care two days a week. That’s a lot more than we currently pay L, and probably more than we can afford. My mother watches Cordy during the other day I work, but for now can’t help out more than one day a week due to her work schedule. Quitting my job is not an option at this point either.

Somehow, it will all work out. This is pretty poor timing – had it been two months later, Cordy could have stayed home with me during maternity leave, and we would have more time to find more options. But L needs to get out on her own, and I understand the struggle she’s going through. I plan to keep searching out other possibilities, and I know we will find a solution eventually. I’m thankful for the year and a half that L was able to watch Cordy, and I know that Cordy benefited from that time with her.

If you have a babysitter or child care provider you like and trust, be sure to tell them thank you for all they do. Because you never know when you could find yourself without that trusted caregiver, and finding someone else you could put that much trust in is often hard to do.

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