Birth Kit

Finally got everything together this past weekend, and picked up our La Bassine at my MW appointment on Mon. *grin* She'll bring the hoses with her when she comes (and, as I say that, I'm singing it to the tune of "She'll be coming 'round the mountain". It's important that you get a good aural picture of that, so you'll need to sing it for yourself.)




I'll see if I can list everything correctly...

-giant PP pads for the first couple of days
-a package of overnight pads (for the next several days). The new enormous "Always" are just amazing, I hear.
-PP cloth pads
-non-latex gloves
-gauze
-lubricant
-alcohol wipes
-emergency pitocin
-emergency methergine
-betadine scrub
-peri bottles
-hibiclens
-quite a few chux pads
-nasal aspirator
-sexy mesh panties *waggling eyebrows*
-vit K (in case of rough birth, not sure if we'll use it)
-arnica oil
-heat pad
-AfterEase tincture (for after pains, WishGarden)
-extra strength Tylenol and Motrin, which can be staggered after birth ;)
-Baby Blues mood tincture (WishGarden)
-Bottom spray
-cloth breast pads
-newborn hats
-cord clamp
-herbs for sitz baths
-birth tub liner
-shower curtain
-Spanx-type girdle for gut/abdominal support afterward, until muscle separation heals

To debunk the funny head trip of me going to town with a giant cart at local medical supply store, or worse, being a masked pregnant bandit in the middle of the night at the local maternity ward, I'll tell you that I ordered most of my basic birth supplies from Baby, Birth and Beyond, and the pool liner from YourWaterBirth.)

We'll also have bendy straws, energy drinks/juice, plenty of ice, gallon freezer bags (for cold packs if we need them, and the placenta afterward), easy to digest snacks (I might go buy and hide some granola and popsicles for myself ahead of time giggle), vitamin C, and lots of clean towels. And a sheet of cheap plastic to put between the pool and bathroom.

-*and* an overnight bag packed for the girlies (to go to hotel nearby with gramma), and an emergency one for us, in case of transport. Also, a new, riveting long movie on standby for the kiddos, just in case things get intense before my parents get here.

-all camera batteries charged and memory cards ready to go.


Nate's and my to-do list at the onset of labor:

-do a clean sweep of the house (should only take 20min), and toss any dirty towels in the wash
-situate furniture in bedroom, and set up pool
-call MW
-call parents to pick up the girls (we'll have 2 hours before they get here)
-bake a birthday cake with the girls (knock on wood) as an early labor project
-shower, if I haven't already.
-relax and joke around while we still can.


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In other news:

I've almost got our labor music playlist compiled...I'll list the songs we picked later this week for funsies.

My visit to Debi (my wonderful midwife) went well on Monday. My blood pressure was on the low side of normal (113/76, I think?), which is good. I'd managed to only gain one pound in the past 10 days, which is an accomplishment for me this late in the game! Urine sample good. Baby in a perfect labor position, excepting being high and floating, which I suspected. (For what it's worth, I've never had a baby of mine be engaged at my last prenatal appointment!)

I'm contracting quite a bit, which is normal in the last few weeks for a third time mama. They tend to either be short and 6 minutes apart for a few hours every night, or 10 minutes apart lasting almost 2min in duration. I think it's fair to say it's one well toned muscle at this point. :OP

My children are recovering from the fever/sniffles they had earlier this week. (with lots of love, rest, vitamins, tea, water, steam, probiotics and garlic. Can we say, "Mommy's really concerned about being sick this close to the due date"?)


And, finally, I've just consumed half a pineapple. It was well worth the $3 splurge. I think I may need to get another one this evening. Rawwwwwrmmmmm!

Said Mirth to Aisling...

M: "Mommy, I had a dream that the baby came last night!"

Me: "No way!! Me, too! :O) That's pretty cool!"

M: "Yeah, it was the SAME. DREAM."

Me: "How'd we even DO that??"

M: "We connect, mom. ;)"



I just love her. :D

Can we just be *!&#^@# DONE, already??

Ashley's 20 Ways not to break down into hysteria every five minutes in the last two weeks of pregnancy:



-Take a long bath with lavender in it.

-Obsess over something silly, like scrubbing down the baseboards.

-Immerse thyself in a new and engaging tv series, preferably a long one with episodes that can be watched back to back.

-Compile a labor music cd. Even if you end up not wanting music, the endorphins released during listening to good music post-partum can help kick depression. ;o)

-Allow your children to doodle all over your belly with paint or markers. We call it "tattoo parlor". The non-clingy human contact is also endorphin releasing!

-Take pictures of said belly decorating endeavor. <3

-Play with your 2yo's hair while she sleeps.

-Keep a astonishingly detailed record of birth prep. in a journal. (Check. *blush*)

-Try to figure out how many kinds of herbal tea you can sardine into one day's consumption. (Thus far, we have RRL (uterine toner), dandelion (swelling and PUPPS), nettle (iron), chamomile (for calming me down) and tangerine...that one's for funsies.

-Brainstorm ways that to connect with your 4yo, even if answering one more question feels like the end of the world.

-Plan a birth project. Ours for early labor is baking a birthday cake with our kiddos...we picked devil's food, dark chocolate icing and pastel flower sprinkles. ;OP

-Figure out a way to reach your toenails and paint those puppies.

-Walk. It's good for positioning, and, again, endorphins.

-Let yourself cry. I prefer doing so in the shower, and not dwelling on any specific negative thought (lest I spiral completely down the toilet of anger and self pity). Just crying and letting my exhaustion *be*...and imagining it swirling down the drain with the water.

-Keeping the towels clean and folded with shocking ferocity and diligence.

-Think of seasonal chores that will be tricky to do with a newborn, and doing them in advance (such as changing out the kid's heavy winter clothing for warmer weather garb).

-Silly blog entries, such as this one.

-Reading halfway interesting chapter books to my children...and getting lost in their pretend world.

-Playing "dodge the mirror". Seriously. Don't look at yourself. You'll feel sorry for yourself and began to weep.

-Go yardsaling. Buy several boxes of cheap, colored glasses. Hurl them against a brick wall and listen to the glass shattering until you feel better. Then, sweep up the pieces and make a nice mural. (my current coping fantasy, thank you very much)

The longest two weeks.

As I sit on my couch mindlessly crunching on peanut butter and graham crackers, and brushing the inevitable crumbs of my enormous belly full of baby...

...I'm wondering what I might possibly do to distract myself from the fact that I can barely MOVE for the next two weeks.

Yes. We're there. Baby VO #3 is due in exactly two weeks.


I'll freely admit that my communicative and creative juices are all but shot at this point, thus necessitating this announcement: I'm not dead. I'm still alive. I'm just very, very whiny and tired, and when I'm whiny and tired I tend to be a hermit.

I'll update bi-weekly. For those of you who have two normal, sane, real-time weeks ahead of you, enjoy the speed at which they pass. As for the VO household, we're in pre-labor time flux, in which life moves at an excruciatingly slow pace. It's worse than waiting for Christmas when you're four, I tell you! ;OP

Baby Blues on buying baby crap...

Home visit

I had my home visit from my midwife yesterday. I do love her.

You've got to love a lady who's full of faith enough to pray with you, and not so uptight that she can't cackle in amusement when you let a colorful word slip in response to her latest outrageous birth story, and then blush in realization...and sigh with relief when you realize you won't be put on the spiritual doo-doo list because of it. :P AND, she put my cranky, snotty 2yo down for a nap. Gotta love that. :D

My baby's LOT position, which isn't half bad for this late in the game! I'll take it. I was secretly pleased to have my personal opinion of his/her postion confirmed by a second and third guesstimate. (Her MW in training took a whack at it, too, and drew the same conclusion.)

(baby position chart from Spinning Babies...left occiput transverse; a short turn from being optimal. A few good weeks of decent birth ball posture should have us all set!)

My BP was initially a wee bit higher than usual (for me), until she encouraged me to stop talking 100mph. *blush* I sat back, snuggled my 2yo and they giggled at me trying SO hard not to talk for a minute, and my systollic magically went down to 120. I'll take it. For whatever reason, I was especially high strung yesterday about having visitors...it was nice to get a fair do-over.

I laughed at the timing of the arrival of my birth kit...I had just trekked to the bathroom with my pee cup in hand, while discussing what I still had on my "to do" list for the birth, when the doorbell rang and my MW accepted the birth kit box from our mailman for me. Whoohoo!

Now, all that's left is emergency pitocin, a birth pool liner (hopefully, for the La Bassine, as I prefer the squishy sides to the rigid sides of the aqua doula, I think), and a bottle of celebratory champagne and an ice cream cake for the "Birth Day Party" afterwards. Thankfully, my MW owns both the Aquadoula and the La Bassine, so all we have to purchase is the $20 or so liner. AND, it comes with it's own hoses and pump, so no one is left siphoning water with a garden hose out back, leaving the neighbors to wonder WHAT sort of crazy, kinky things we DO in our home. Straight into the tub the water goes, and cleanup is super easy. Gotta love that.

And, now, finally, I leave you with the best baby cake ever. I love me some Cake Wrecks.