Last Minute Thoughts

The last week or so has brought on some crazy emotions regarding the mega change about to happen in our lives. I think it has finally hit me that this baby will be here soon. Very soon. As in, any minute soon. While it opens a whole new chapter in our lives it also means we are closing the Madelyn's chapter as my only baby. I am over the moon excited to meet this new baby and having Madelyn makes it that much more exciting. I have already seen how much you just fall for these little ones and how much they bring to your life and I can't wait to do that again.

On the other hand, I am sad that I won't be able to devote all of my time and attention to Miss. M anymore. I have been reading up on bringing new babies home and at some point Madelyn is going to feel unhappy (for lack of a better word) about the situation. Having siblings is awesome. I love being able to call my brother or sister up and chat. It is someone that knows exactly what you mean when you need to vent about your parents. (Sorry Mom and Dad) And growing up, it's basically a partner in crime! But I know the adjustment period is going to be tough on my little girl and that makes me sad.

Nick and I have been soaking up every possible moment with Miss. M and I get a little weepy thinking this could have been our last weekend, just the 3 of us. I have spent more time reading books, stacking blocks and dancing around the livingroom. Nick spent 3 hours just laying on the couch Saturday afternoon while Madelyn snoozed on his chest. We've been walking to get ice cream, bringing her into bed with us first thing in the morning, and chasing the dog outside.

At the end of the day, I know she will be fine and will be a fantastic big sister. She has recently gotten obessed with her dolls and brings them to me to wrap them in blankets and then she takes them for "walks" around the house in her doll stroller. I've caught her rocking them giving kisses the same way I do with her which is the cutest stinking thing ever. She even pulled out the baby's cloth diapers so I could put one on her baby. My latest mission is to find a baby cradle because I see her mimicking me when it comes to this baby. I guess we will see in a few weeks!

Nursery Reveal!

There are still a few more details to finish up but #2's nursery is mostly ready to go! We kept it pretty simple and I love it!!

This is just a general look at the room - the glider will go to the left side of the crib in the corner. I am still looking for a yellow pillow to go with the glider.

I spent hours on Etsy looking for "You Are My Sunshine" word art and couldn't find anything resonably priced that I loved. Or I would find parts of the song but not the whole thing. I ended up convincing Nick to create the artwork and I love love love how it turned out. At the end of the day it cost $4.00 to print the 4 pages and I scored each frame on clearance at Michael's for $3.99. Not bad considering the average Etsy price was $20-$30 for 2 prints, without frames!

My mom made all the bedding! We spent forever trying to find fabric and she ended up having to order it online. I found organic cotton gray sheets at Target and bought a queen size set that my mom is going to convert into crib sheets and possibly a changing pad cover. The crib is from Target and is the Graco Somerset. I ended up getting $70.00 off the price of the crib because the first one arrived broken and the second one also had some damage (that Nick was able to fix). The rug is from JcPenney and we were able to purchase it with gift cards we've accumulated over the years.

The dresser is from Target. Everything else is Babies R Us. Pretty basic set up here.

If you remember, this used to be a built in desk. Nick tore out the desk and built in some shelving. I found the containers on clearance at Target for $5 each. I was planning on DIYing some bins since they are some pricey but I wouldn't have been able to do it for 5 bucks so I bought these instead. The side is dry erase and I can label what is in each bin. Hi Madelyn!

My mom made the window treatment - love! The rods are going to be fabric book pockets once my mom gets the project done. I wanted to keep the books low in here so that Madelyn has something to do when I am taking care of the baby. I liked the look of the pockets over shelves and am hoping it will stay a little neater that way.

We are ready for you little one - come out whenever you're ready!!

37 weeks!

**I have a picture but am too lazy to get it off my phone. I'll add it later but I figured I should publish this post before it is outdated!

Full term! Only 5 more weeks to go! (or less)

I am beginning weekly visits with my midwife. We finished birth class and have met with our doula. Next doula visit is on Monday.

Group B strep test was negative! yay! My midwife recommended I take evening primrose oil a couple times a day and drink oodles of red raspberry tea. I have been drinking "pregnancy tea" for the past couple months which includes red raspberry leaf and nettles so we are good there. I submitted my birth plan and she said everything looked good. The only two potential issues are intermittent monitoring vs. continuous. Basically, it is up to the midwife on duty based on the initial 20 min strip in triage. Provided the strip comes out well, intermittent monitoring shouldn't be an issue. The second is having my doula present in the event of a c-section. I guess this one is up to the doctor.

My doula recommended I see a chiropractor since Miss. M was posterior and although this little one is anterior his/her butt is on the right side which could cause him/her to go posterior during labor. I am trying a new one since the last one I saw was unimpressive. My appointment is scheduled for Monday morning.

Nursery details - everything is done! (almost) My mom is working on the bedding and we are waiting on the glider but other than that, we are done! Once I get the bedding, I will do a reveal.

31 weeks

Ummm....what the bleep!!?!?!?!

We are 11 weeks from meeting this baby - how did that happen?

Here are some thoughts on second pregnancies, VBACing, childbirth class, and a nursery preview.

Second pregnancies are no joke! The good thing is that time flies because you are so busy running after your older child. The bad thing is you are tiiiirreeeddd and there is no rest for the weary because you are running after your older child. Now that I'm getting to the tougher parts of pregnancy, I am realizing how hard my body is working at keeping these kids happy and healthy. I told Nick that I am carrying an extra 50lbs around most of the day - no wonder my back hurts!

I also can't get over how different this pregnancy is from Madelyn's. I am hoping I can say the same about the birth! Anyway, with Madelyn I expanded sideways and this baby is all out in front and way lower than she ever was. My boobs literally sat on my belly the entire time I was pregnant with her. The good part about carrying lower is it is a lot easier to breathe this time around which I will take. The bummer is there seems to be a lot more stretching an expanding going on down below that never happened last time. Another major difference - braxton hicks. I never had one with Madelyn. I also never had a "normal" contraction. ie: starts in back and spreads to the front and tightening in your belly. She was all back labor, all the time. I would say I am having braxton hicks at least 1-2 times every couple of hours. Feeling my belly tighten like that is just crazy. I am hopeful that it is just things lining up to a successful VBAC.

This time around, I knew going in how long a pregnancy lasts. Obviously, I knew before but you just can't help yourself with preparing and I was ready to go 2 months before my due date with Madelyn. This time, HA! I have purchased a rug, hangers and a mattress. Seriously. Random purchases, I know but I got deals on all of them which is why I have bought anything at all. Not a onesie. No crib. Dresser, what? I told Nick, my goal is to buy one bigger item each week until showtime. With 11 weeks to go, we should be good, right?

Oh and can I just say there is not enough chocolate in the world to satisfy me these days! Weird, considering I normally don't have a sweet tooth.

Alright - onto a nursery preview! I am in love!!
Here is a reminder of what it looked like as Ben's room (which I will post a reveal of his new room later)

And the work in progress -

We (nick) tore out the desk and are installing shelving

Paint - after

I am in love with the colors! In.Love.

We tore the carpet out and replaced the window when Ben was still in the room. As a result, the work for this project was pretty minimal and Nick knocked it out in a week. I don't have any pictures of the rug or the shelving so that will come later. We also found fabric for bedding and my mom is going to make that.

Prenatal appointment went well. Heartrate was in the 140's - the baby actually punched the doppler off of my belly while we were trying to get a read. Blood pressure was 114/60 which I guess is good. Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

First night of childbirth class went well also. There are only 4 other couples in the class so that is nice. And we get to sit on comfy couches - yay! The closest due date to mine is July 7 so I don't know if that means we are way behind (surprise surprise) or everyone else is head of schedule but whatev's. We went over nutrition during pregnancy and the instructor gave us some pregnancy tea which was pretty good. I've got an iced tea obsession going on right now anyway so I might as well use her recipe and make it work to my advantage. We also went over some yoga stretches that can help with the aches and pains of pregnancy. All in all, pretty good class so far.

I also found a 1 day VBAC specific class in Ann Arbor that Nick and I plan on attending so I am excited about that.

28 weeks!

Officially in the third trimester - yikes! Still don't have a name or a nursery but we are making progress towards both. I was able to score a new stroller on craigslist so we can cross that off the list and Nick is finishing up Ben's room this week so we can move him next week. This means we can start #2's room after that. We found fabric and my mom ordered it and will be making the bedding and window treatments - so excited!!!

Pregnancy news - I passed my 1 hour glucose test! Yay! Blood pressure was 118/60 which is where it has been all along. Weight gain - I honestly don't know how much I gained since my last appointment because I can't keep track of where I was at the last appointment. Overall, I am up 20ish lbs and still 20 lbs less than I was when I had Madelyn. Baby's heartrate was 140 and my midwife thinks he/she is head down which is good. I still feel pretty good but definitely am tired once Madelyn goes to bed.

I have been doing yoga and walking when weather permits (which is often this winter - thank you weather man!). I have also been doing some of the exercises from spinning babies. My midwife showed me an excercise to do with Nick that can help ensure this little one stays anterior. She also recommended we take a childbirth class since we didn't with Madelyn. I am researching all the local options and will hopefully find one by the end of the week.

22 weeks

20 more to go!

I had a prenatal appointment with my midwife this morning. Everything is looking good! Blood pressure was 118/68 which I guess I good. I have no idea what is a good blood pressure but I would consistently get higher readings when I was younger which was always attributed to white coat syndrome. Anyway, I always make sure to ask if I am where I should be.

I only gained 2lbs this month. I was definitely dreading the weigh in. Aside from no booze another Christmas pregnancy bummer is having to get on that scale right after the holidays. Good fun for all. I was shocked it was only 2lbs but I'll take it!

Baby's heartrate was in the 150s for those who use the heartrate to predict gender.

I am trying to figure out how to incorporate some cardio into my day - I'm thinking some mall walking with Miss. M will be my game plan for awhile.

Other than that, nothing exciting to report. I have my 1 hour gestational diabetes test next time I go. I can't believe I am already to the point in this pregnancy that these tests start. Next thing you know it will be time for the Strep B test and then it's go time!

21 weeks

#2 is half baked!! Madness! This pregnancy seems to be flying by which is both good and bad. The good - we are that much closer to seeing the next member of the Barish crew. The bad - we haven't even started getting ready for this baby. Yikes! Nick and I are taking this winter to buckle down and begin "Operation Get Ready for a Baby".

Big projects ahead include:

• remodeling the former "ebay room" in the basement into Ben's new bedroom. This involves putting in a drop ceiling, drywall, new windows and flooring. It also involves a closet project since the closet that is there now is taking up most of the room. We always pay for these projects by putting the balance on our Lowe's card since it is no interest for a year but I swear, everytime we pay off that card another project comes up that we put back on it. I think I have been paying Lowe's $100 a month for close to 3 years now. Ugh!

• Turn Ben's current room into Baby #2's nursery. I have started pulling some ideas and am loving yellow and gray! Check out my Pinterest board! I keep toying with delegating this project to my mom. She does an awesome job with designing interior spaces and I know she would love the project but it would mean I have to give up some control - not my strong suit! This also means we need to buy all new nursery furniture. Ugh! (Turns out second babies cost more than the first around here!) We didn't buy a glider for Madelyn's room but instead used one I had gotten from my parent's a few years earlier. It wasn't the most comfortable thing and as a result we hardly used it. We decided to splurge on a nice glider for #2's room. I made the mistake of sitting in one at Pottery Barn Kids and fell in love - the problem is the $1000 price tag. We won't be buying that one but I now know the style I want.

• Find a stroller. The other big purchase we need to make is a double stroller. Sometime this winter we are going to hit up some stores and play around with them. I don't want a giant, clunky thing but I also want to make sure both kids are going to fit comfortably in whatever we choose. The stroller that is leading the way right now is the City Mini Select. I love the stadium seating and all the seating options but again - that stinkin' price tag (starts at $500)

• Then there's the small matter of naming this child. Still nothing.

19 weeks

I think it's fair to say we wouldn't have made it to Christmas before revealing this pregnancy - my body is giving me away! For some reason, I am carrying really high so I am still able to wear my own jeans but they are definitely getting uncomfortable - I am just too lazy to go dig out my maternity clothes.

We had our anatomy scan last week and the baby is looking good! My placenta placement also looks good so that is one more hurdle cleared on the way to a VBAC. C-section moms have a much higher chance of developing placenta previa and although it self corrects a lot of the time, it was something I didn't want to worry about. We didn't find out the gender so that is still a surprise. The tech said she couldn't tell anyway because the baby kept tucking up his/her feet to hide the goods. I don't know if I believe her because with Madelyn's ultrasound the tech said they did have to make sure there was something there and they just mark "Yes" on the sheet rather than "male or female". It makes sense since the whole point of that ultrasound is to make sure everything is forming correctly. Oh well - point is, we still don't know.

That being said, we are having a tough time with boy names. If Madelyn had been a boy, her name would have been Jonathan Michael. I consider that name to still be Madelyn's name - she was either Jonathan or Madelyn. I don't want to use it again so we are back to the drawing board. We both have a pretty strong feeling that this is a boy so I made a deal with Nick. When (not if) we get past this baby's due date and start doing the NST's (which include an ultrasound) and we still don't have a boy name, we will find out the gender at that point to see if it is in fact a boy. At that point, we will be pulling all nighters to name this little guy. My pregnancy brain has convinced me that this baby won't want to be born until we have a name.

Other news - Nick met with my midwife and really liked her. She gave my a referral for a chiropractor and is getting it submitted with my insurance company so I should be able to start that in a few weeks. She also suggested buying a prenatal yoga dvd and doing it on a regular basis to keep myself stretched out and moving. My doula suggested reading as many VBAC success stories as I can get my hands on to help me envision how this birth can go. Fortunately The Bump has a VBAC board and a lot of the women post their success stories so I have been checking that out as well.

Around the beginning on 18 weeks, I started feeling the baby move. I forgot what an awesome feeling that is and love that I am feeling this little bean on a regular basis now.

Weight gain - I gained 4lbs. So much for trying not to gain anything between those appointments. Oh well, I have surrendered to the weight gain at this point. I could gain another 32lbs and still weigh less than I did when I had Madelyn. I don't intend to gain another 32lbs so I figure no matter what, I will be ahead of where I was with her. Thankfully, I was able to get about 10lbs below my prepregnancy weight before getting pregnant again.

14 weeks!

14 weeks! Eep! I am officially out of my own version of the first trimester! (42 weeks/3 trimesters = 14 weeks)

No big news to report. The prematernity clothes are still holding and I actually just bought a size smaller jeans the other day which was exciting. I needed new jeans since every pair I owned had patches somewhere. Lovely.

Anyway, my brother called me out this week but hopefully I dodged a bullet. He said he knew I was pregnant because I was drinking a McDonald's iced tea. I drank iced tea all the time when I was pregnant with Madelyn and I am shocked he remembered this. The funny thing is tha*t I never stopped drinking the tea once she was born so it isn't really a pregnancy craving this time around, just more of a habit.

I told him I still hadn't gotten a period since Madelyn was born (which technically isn't a lie) and I think I entered TMI zone for him and he dropped it.

Still holding steady on the weight gain and I am hoping to have gained zero lbs by my next appointment. We shall see.

That's all for now, folks! Stay tuned...

*Last prewritten post! Big ultrasound is today!

12 weeks

12 weeks down - 30 to go! I am still continuing to believe that this baby will be 2 weeks late. I am also planning on a 4 day labor. I figure, I will plan for the longest possible scenario and then I can be estatic when that isn't what happens.

Well it's been awhile so let's update.

We still haven't gone public with this pregnancy. I want to let some friends soak up their glory of new babies and pregnancies before announcing. Also, we went public fairly early with Madelyn and it is a loooooong time to wait for the little one's debut so we are going to spare everyone the waiting period as much as possible. Lastly, Madelyn isn't even 1 yet and I want her to get her first year all to herself and not have to share the spotlight at all. Not that she cares but oh well. We are hoping to make it to Christmas before the big reveal but that would put me at 20 weeks and I don't know if my body can hold out. Which brings me to my next topic....

Weight gain. I've gained about 5lbs so far with this pregnancy. Not too bad but I don't remember where that is in comparison to Madelyn. I am still in my normal clothes and I think I can stay in them for a bit longer.

Birth plans - we met me with another homebirth midwife but didn't really click with her. I had high hopes because she is a VBAC mom herself but this woman is about to be all up in my jazz and if I don't feel immediately comfortable, I would rather not go that route.  I also had my first appointment with a midwife through UofM which is where I am getting my prenatal care until we make a decision. I really liked her! She had already reviewed my operative report from Madelyn's c-section and the first thing she told me when she came in was that because I was able to dialate to a 10 and ultimately the c-section was a result of fetal distress my chances of a VBAC are over 80% and my scenario tends to be her best VBAC scenario in terms of results. She also recommended another midwife through UofM that practices accupuncture and suggested I see her closer to the birth to help ensure optimal positioning and help prime my body for labor since induction is not an option in a VBAC scenario. I asked about chiropractic care and she agreed that it can help align my pelvis and again, help to ensure optimal positioning and gave me a referral. The best news for me - she "lets" her VBAC patients go to 42 weeks before scheduling a repeat c-section. One of the biggset issues women come across with providers that claim to be "VBAC friendly" is that they only "let" the mom go to 39 weeks and if you don't go into labor before then they will push scheduling a repeat c-section.

With regard to UofM and laboring as a VBAC candidate, they do require continous fetal monitoring. She did say they will let you come off the machines for short periods of time but because that is the best way to detect rupture, they do prefer you being monitored most of the time. Thankfully, UofM has telemetry monitoring available which is basically a wireless fetal monitor. This means I can labor while walking, standing or even in the tub!!  She also said their staff prefers women labor with as little intervention as possible and are trained to help women labor med free. Music to my ears!!

At this time, I am feeling very comfortable with staying at UofM in the care of the midwives and hiring Stacia as a doula. I don't want to make a final decision until Nick gets a chance to meet my midwife through UofM though. My next appointment is scheduled for December 7th with the anatomy scan right before. Nick will have a chance to meet her then.

Final thought, I am way more chill with this pregnancy than I was with Madelyn. I actually will go through the entire day and forget that I'm pregnant. I was an absolute basketcase with Madelyn and would freak out before every appointment that we wouldn't hear a heartbeat. I have faith in my body this time around and know that it is capable of growing an amazing and perfect little human and as a result it has allowed me to be much more relaxed. Madelyn also serves as a great distraction.

*almost there - one more prewritten post after this!

9 weeks!

That's right folks! We've got a due date. May 9, 2012! Now, I am planning on a June baby. Not because there is anyway I would actually have this baby in June but because I drove myself nuts last time around and the little stinker decided to really make me work for it by coming a week late. This way, I will be happy when this one makes a debut in May.

I had my first ultrasound today for dating purposes and got to see the little bean's heartbeat - 167. I have to say the whole thing is even more exciting this time around because I already have a glimpse of what I get in the end of this whole process - another sweet face to squish!!

Still getting a little queasy here and there and mega tired but other than that, life is good. Per my home scale, I am actually losing weight and really would like to keep my weight gain to a minimum this time around. I gained about 30lbs with Madelyn and lost it all plus 5 more after she was born but I still have a few extra pounds I could stand to lose so if I could keep my weight gain around the 20lb mark I would be a happy mama.

Still in my regular clothes but they are getting a little tighter at the end of the night.

On the VBAC front - I am signed up with the CNM through UofM and intend to go that route until I make a decision. Nick and I are meeting with another homebirth midwife later this month for another perspective and I have my first appointment with the hospital midwife this month as well.

Financially, it is actually cheaper for me to deliver in the hospital versus home birth because Nick just enrolled in awesome insurance through work. We have $10 co pays and pay $0 for delivery. In a home birth scenario, we would be responsible for 100% which is in the $2000-$3000 range. I really don't want money to be a deciding factor in this but it is something to consider.

I also can't seem to shake the "what if" factor. What if something goes wrong? I know if I can't get over this, it will be hard for me to trust my body to do what it needs to do to get this baby here safely. I am now thinking about laboring at home as long as possible and then heading to the hospital for the actual delivery. Plus, if I'm being honest - the couple days in the hospital doing nothing but love on this new baby is a pretty nice thing. I can see me pushing myself to do too much too soon if I am at home. Still, and I know I've mentioned this before, my concern is that most ruptures occur before the pushing stage of labor. Ruptures are typically detected through fetal monitoring. If I can find a doula that is willing to do fetal monitoring as well I would feel more comfortable with this scenario. A lot of midwives are also doulas and you can hire them in either capacity but I don't know if they will mix the roles and provide some midwifery care when acting as a doula.

Ugh - so much to think about!

**only 2 more backdated posts to go!

?? + 1 Weeks

We met with Stacia with Trillium Birth Services to discuss both her midwifery services if we elect a home birth and her doula services if we elect a hospital birth. She has been a part of close to 200 births, 50 of which for her doula services. She has also participated in 20 VBACs which is comforting.  She gave us all the facts we were looking for and didn't push us in one direction or another which I really liked. I also liked that she still has a lot of ties to the medical community, specifically UofM and as a result has relatively smooth transfers if they are necessary.

She asked me how far along I was and I gave her my story so she offered to do a quick external exam and see if she could feel my uterus. She said that if she could, it can mean I am 11-12 weeks along or that I have a full bladder. Well, she could feel it. Oh boy - if I am really that far along then Nick and I are one of the .01% that ends up with the faulty condom - go figure.

I still have an appointment with Taubman next Wednesday that will include an ultrasound for dating purposes so we shall see. Stay tuned!

**These are still posts from before we announced. 

?? Weeks

Please ignore my ridiculous hair in this picture. I didn't document my pregnancy with Madelyn very well and really wish I had (sorry kiddo) so I am attempting to do a better job this time around. I also am going to be doing a lot more research on VBAC and various birthing options so I intend to use this space as a place to sort my thoughts and possibly help someone else.

Pregnancy #2 so far:

1. Tougher with a mobile Madelyn at home already. I forgot how tired you are in the first trimester and there is no napping this time around. Nick has definitely stepped up and started taking Miss. M when he gets home from work. Even 30 minutes of being able to veg on the couch does wonders for my energy. I am pretty much following Madelyn to bed at night but oh well.

2. I'm predicting boy with this one. I know I said I thought Madelyn was a boy but that was because I wanted a girl so badly that I figured I would end up with a boy. To be honest, I never had a gut feeling with her. This one, I do. I just feel boy. That, and I feel nauseous which wasn't the case with M so maybe there's a little man swimming around in there. I can 100% say, I don't care if this baby is a boy or girl. And I don't even kind of have my fingers crossed one way or the other.

3. We are looking at alternative birthing options. I fully believe I was destined to fail when I walked into UofM 10 months ago. I believed my body would know what to do and that I would be strong enough to refuse all the medical interventions but 2 days of labor and not sleeping got to me and I ended up caving. I also fully believe, I will have to fight every step of the way in that hospital to VBAC with this baby. What does that leave us with? Birthing centers, a different hospital and home birth or a different avenue at UofM.

From what I have read, the #1 priority for those having successful VBACs was finding a supportive provider. Here is my beef with hospitals. Everyone has adopted this "team" approach with their pregnant patients. You will see one doctor throughout your pregnancy but then when you head into the hospital, your birth will be attended by one of the "team". Well your provider may be on board with a VBAC but who is to say the doctor on duty that day will feel the same way. The doctor who performed my c-section was ready to cut me open from the second she started her shift. I had never met her before and had no idea on her philosophies on birth. I believe, these issues will become even more apparant with a VBAC baby. The medical community is so split on this issue. This seems to be my biggest hang up with delivering at a hospital.

A big recommendation when delivering at a hospital and being a VBAC candidate is to labor at home as long as possible and then show up pushing. You can hire a doula to help keep you at home longer or even a monitrice who has the ability to check you to see how dialated you. My concern here is that a lot of uterine ruptures occur during labor, not during pushing. The best way to monitor for a rupture is to monitor the fetal heartrate. If I am at home for all of my labor, I'm not monitoring the baby's heartrate during that time. At least, I don't think a doula does that.

I like the idea of a birthing center. I don't like that the closest birthing center that does VBACs is over an hour away, in Okemos. I hated the 10 minute car ride to UofM last time, I can't see myself handling a hour+ car ride to Okemos. This left me wondering, how is it Ann Arbor doesn't have a freestanding birth center?

Last option is home birth. I keep going back and forth on this one. The only reason I would consider a home birth is because we live so close to UofM. In actuality, we are closer to the hospital at home than we would be if we went to the birth center in Okemos. I know all the numbers on safety of home birth and the risks as well as the safety and risks of a second c-section. Generally speaking, a c-section is safer for baby but not safer for mom. A VBAC is safer for mom but not safer for baby. In all of my research I came across a forum for VBAC moms and one lady was saying she opted for a VBAC because although it would break her heart to deal with the loss of a child, she couldn't imagine putting her first child through losing a mother. For some reason, this really stuck with me. I also hesitate to use the word "safer" because all this really relates to is mortality rates and we are also playing around with tenths of tenths of percents. In both scenarios the mortality rate is about 0.04%. However, when you take into account other risk factors such as blood loss and infection for mom as well as breathing problems for baby the idea of repeat c-section is not appealing to me.

Anyway, after that rambling trail of thought I come back to this. Although I know home birth is generally considered safe and in some circles it is considered safer than hospital birth, I can't seem to shake the what if scenario that creeps into my head.

At this point, Nick and I are planning on continuing care with the Taubman team that I saw during my pregnancy with Madelyn until we decide which route to go. We visited the birth center in Okemos and although we loved them, we ruled them out due to the distance. I have emailed several midwives in the surrounding area to interview them regarding home birth as well as set up an initial interview with a midwife the practices at UofM.

More to come....

Oh boy!

2 under 2, here we come!

Due: ??
I realize that sound ridiculous and it probably isn't a very accurate statement but I don't have a last menstrual period to go off of. Nick and I stopped preventing once Madelyn was 9 months old. I had to wait at least 9 months to keep the deliveries 18 months apart, which is important for a VBAC. I hadn't gotten my period and figured it would still be a few months before I got pregnant. I have heard that breastfeeding moms usually get a "warning period" sort of a "hey, you can get knocked up now" type thing but we didn't get that. Obviously, I knew there was a possibility of not getting my period and was totally okay with that, I mean 3 years, no period - who can complain? That being said, I decided to pee on a stick once a month, just in case. I didn't want to end up being one of those ladies on I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant and since my pregnancy with Madelyn was pretty symptom free, it could happen.

Nick was stopping at the store for me on 9/10/11 (day of the UM vs Notre Dame night game) and asked if I needed anything. I told him yes - beer, shredded cheese and a pregnancy test. I wanted to drink a beer or two and figured it would be a good idea to make sure that was feasible. So Nick's in the shower and I decide to test. Surprise! Baby Barish #2 is on the way!!! We figure, due sometime in May.

Disclaimer - This was written awhile ago but I held off on posting until we announced to our families. There are a few posts lined up after this one as well.