Okay, any time now! Obviously the baby will come when he or she is ready but in the meantime we are slowly crossing items off of the ‘natural induction’ list in hopes of not going far past the due date. I’ve been walking several miles, taking evening primrose oil, and using acupressure daily, have acupuncture natural induction sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, we went out for spicy Indian food last night, a vigorous ride on the swing set today, etc. I’m feeling good but more and more ready to have this baby every day! Hope to send out the good news soon…
Lilly has been counting to 3 or 4 (and to 10 with some prompting) for awhile but this week surprised us when she regularly began counting to 6 on her own. She seems to really grasp numbers 1-4 and will tell you that she is wearing 2 socks or there are 3 slices of pear, etc.
At the same time she is experimenting with letters and the alphabet song. If you rattle off a few letters she’ll start her own version of the alphabet (usually ACDC 🙂 ). We aren’t actively teaching any of this to her so I’m not sure if she’s picking it up from home or school. Elmo might have provided some help as well, because this is her favorite video to watch on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA
Update: One week later and she is counting to 10.
We are very excited to have a labor doula working with us. We started to discuss this option a few weeks ago when we began to consider the unlikely event that Bill might miss part of the labor (he was working in Salt Lake City during the week but I’m happy to say that now he’s home for awhile!). The woman who I see for weekly acupuncture treatments is a young mom and doula and after talking with her we decided that hiring Monica as our labor doula was a good option for us.
A labor doula is someone who provides non-medical support during labor and childbirth and the postpartum period. We were originally conflicted about this option because Bill is fully prepared and excited to be my support person, but a doula works with the support person and is not there to replace them. Monica Mae Leibson will also perform acupuncture and acupressure to assist with pain and the natural progression of labor. We are encouraged by statistics that show a reduced use of medication during labor and reduced c-section rate with the support of an acupuncture doula, and are trying to do everything we can to make a successful VBAC possible.
Lilly is one very opinionated, head-strong little girl! The past few days I’ve gone to put on my orange winter coat (yes, it’s still cold here, but sunny) and Lilly has not let me out the door with it on! It’s the funniest thing…she gets so upset every time I get the coat out of the closet and says, “No, no, no, Mama. Black coat”, then points to the specific coat that she wants me to wear. I have to be honest the bigger I get the harder it is to turn down her requests!
36 Weeks
No signs of anything happening any time soon but our bags are packed and we’re ready to go! Hoping that the baby holds off for at least two more weeks because Bill is still travelling to Salt Lake City for work. It’s been getting harder and harder to have him gone during the week – not from a physical standpoint but just because I miss him even more than normal and obviously want him here the moment anything starts to happen! His travel will start decreasing in the next week or two and he has every possible flight plan home mapped out (4.5 hours best case scenario during the day/evening, 8 hours worst case scenario – if notified between 2 and 8am) in case of an emergency. Bill packs his suitcase every day and has altered his 5:30am running route so that he is closer to the hotel. He’s on full alert!
Fortunately I’m feeling really good and have a lot of help. I have weekly accupunture and chiropractic visits which are helping things to run smoothely.
Lilly at 20 Months
Lilly is 20 months old today! She is a busy, talkative, somewhat bossy toddler who knows exactly what she wants and has no trouble communicating it! Lilly regularly speaks in 4 or 5 word sentences and has a very impressive vocabulary that is no longer limited to one or two syllables (she knows over 100 words in her favorite flash card set of 120 cards alone). She discovered sweets this month (no interest previously and now asks for a ‘cookie’ daily) and also began to throw her first tantrums. We are starting to glimpse the ‘big girl’ inside of her as she is much more prone to changes in mood due to sleep, nutrition, or over/under-stimulation. If all goes as planned she’ll be adjusting to her role as big sister in one month!
For the past two weeks I have been keeping to a demanding schedule of chiropractic care, inversions, and acupunture (I couldn’t do it without the help of Bill and Judy and Lilly’s daycare schedule!) all in hopes that the baby would flip to a head-down position. Yesterday I went in to have the doctor check the baby’s position and, after she felt around saying that the baby was still breech and we talked about scheduling a c-section, we were both shocked to see that the head was down when the position was verified with ultrasound. She actually thinks that the head is quite low since she couldn’t feel it. We have another ultrasound scheduled for next Friday to determine the baby’s position. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the head down position sticks! I definitely have one active baby in my belly!
Update Friday, March 18th: We went in for our weekly appointment and ultrasound and the baby is still head down – hasn’t changed in position in over a week!
Our Fat Tuesday gift? Lilly said, “I Love You” for the first time! She will mimic just about anything you say to her at this point and doesn’t necessarily ‘get it’, but it’s just as special to me!
Note: I did not prompt her to say anything about calling Dada. 🙂
This past week Lilly has had more regular, full-blown toddler tantrums. Like most toddler tantrums they start when she doesn’t get an item she wants or is asked to do something she’s not interested. They are very predictable and a lot of the time we can end them before they really begin, but they are quickly becoming more intense.
Lilly typically puts herself against a wall or corner and cries or shrieks for several minutes of varying intensity. At first she will kick and flail her arms if you try to intervene but this only lasts a few minutes, even though the tantrum itself can last for over ten minutes. We respond by acknowledging how she’s feeling with key words for emotions, explaining why she can’t have the item, giving her a minute on her own, and sitting very calmly nearby to wait for a response from her. Since this is so new we’re still in the ‘gathering information’ stage before we come up with a real action plan. We’ve gotten lots of advice but every child is different and we will come up with a plan that works best for Lilly and ourselves. I have to say that while I fear the day that these start hapenning in public, they are surprisingly manageable at home and they don’t get under my skin at all. I’m sure that will be different when another one is added to the mix!
It’s no secret that Lilly LOVES cheese! She is generally a good eater, not great. Lilly has never eaten large amounts of food and gets a fairly well-rounded diet (eats her fruits, veggies, and whole grains), but we definitely rely on the macaroni and cheese, tofu nugget, peanut butter sandwich toddler favorites to get us through the week. Her two ‘healthy’ standby’s are quinoa balls with tahini and sunflower seeds, and beans and rice.
For some reason she has taken to saying ‘iCheese’ (even though she can definitely say ‘cheese’), and we probably hear that word 30+ times a day. She first used it to describe cottage cheese only but now it covers the entire cheese catagory, and if she had her way she would eat a lot of it. Lilly doesn’t drink milk (rice or hemp milk instead) so we feel okay with how much dairy she is getting; at the same time we’re being more mindful of how much ‘iCheese’ she eats because, let’s face it, as much as I hate to admit it cheese isn’t really that good for you.
I’ve been using a lot of recipes from this cookbook lately and it’s quickly becoming a favorite. Check it out!
Recent Comments