Friday, August 30, 2013

32 weeks


Forgive me for looking like butt.
And also for updating late, every week, for the last month or so. I'm just super busy lately!
Anyway, I'm 32 weeks as of Wednesday. I can't believe I'm only eight weeks away! It feels so close, but so far at the same time. These last couple of weeks are going to drag by, I'm sure. 
This week Sparrow has developed a sensitivity to temperature - so if I put something really hot or really cold on my belly, he'll feel the difference and probably jump around a bit. I guess that's one way to get him moving if he has a lazy day and I need to do kick counts!
Let me interrupt myself to say I have a horrible back spasm the last few days and it absolutely sucks. 
Right now Sparrow has blue eyes, which can (and probably will) change after birth - or even possibly between now and birth. I have green eyes. Noah has blue eyes like his biological father, but a slightly different shade. His are steely, icy blue - but they don't look as harsh as they sound on such a cute little baby face. Even more good news? At 32 weeks, 90% of babies survive. If for some reason he was born early at this point, he'd almost certainly make it! But no signs of labor yet, and hopefully none until 40 weeks. I want a fully baked bubba!
All of my pregnancy tickers seem to think he's head down and preparing to engage soon, but I can tell you it doesn't seem like those are his plans just yet. He's still doing tons of flips and rolls, and his favorite position (besides foot-in-ribs which seems to be the position of the night) is sideways with feet pressing into one hip and a little baby noggin pressing into the other. Can you say painful?
He's about 16.7 inches long and weighs about 3.6lbs, on average, and is about the size of a squash. Coincidentally, squash is both Noah's new favorite food and new favorite toy... the other day he spent a good forty minutes playing with a squash. He's my little weirdo, alright! Definitely his mama's child.
I'm running out of breath more easily and running to the bathroom more often, the heartburn is getting significantly worse, I can't get comfortable at night to save my life, the back spasms, migraines and atypical migraines are more frequent - but it's all worth it because our newest bubs will be here soon! I can't wait and neither can Bug.
It's off to bed for me, though, I have my best friend's baby shower in the morning!


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I'm improving birth because...


Have you heard of the Improving Birth rallies? Check out the site here!
America needs a birth revolution!
On September 2nd, 2013, thousands of men, and women, and even children will gather for an international rally to improve the quality of birth. Before you get the wrong impression, it's not about unmedicated birth or birth with pain meds, it's not about whether you're birthing in a hospital, birthing center, your home, someone else's home, or even in the Daintree Rainforest (but there's a really cool video of that here).
It's about the quality of childbirth. It's about your birth being all that it's supposed to be - life changing, beautiful, memorable, incredible. It's about being respected by your doctor, by your nurse, your midwife, your doula, your whoever. It's about being listened to. It's about being fully informed without having to push your doctors, about them informing you - with correct and full information. It's about your choices and beliefs and your decisions being respected. It's about being told of alternatives, of benefits and risks to every decision. It's about not being bullied into a decision you are not comfortable with. It's about making birth safer and happier. It's about being treated with dignity, with kindness, with understanding, with compassion!
We can do better!
Our doctors and OBs push for unnecessary inductions and unnecessary Cesareans to make their jobs easier, to plan things out more accordingly for themselves. They are not keeping you or your baby's well-being in mind when doing so. Induction or Cesarean without a medical reason is unnecessary and not beneficial to you or your baby! The package inserts on Pitocin clearly state that the drug is not to be used without medical need, and yet it is, every day, leading to further unnecessary interventions and a less than pleasant birth experience for the mother. To top it off, oftentimes the mother isn't notified of the risk, nor is she told that the drug isn't to be used without medical need. Much less often does her caregiver explain to her, in a way that she understands, each individual risk associated with the decision. It's cut and dry. "If baby isn't here by 39 weeks we can go ahead and perform an induction. When would you like to schedule?"
Do you know how many women don't even know they can refuse that?
It's time for a change. It's time to bring awareness to the problem so that a solution may be found!

I'm improving birth because:
-My future daughters deserve better
-I'm tired of being asked if I've scheduled my induction "yet"
-We all deserve better!
-Informed consent is a human RIGHT
-We should not have to fight for complete and correct information
-We should not be routinely misinformed
-We should be aware of potential risks!
-Every woman deserves to birth where she's comfortable
-Every woman deserves to be allowed to attempt a VBAC
-Every woman deserves to be able to birth in whatever position she chooses
-Every woman deserves to be listened to
-Every woman deserves to be respected
-Every woman deserves her birth, her way!

Why are you improving birth?


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Oh my gosh!


It's Sunday and I forgot to post my 31 week blog... from Wednesday! We've had an eventful week, I'm sorry!
Anyway, as of this week, we can expect Sparrow to put on about 1/2 a pound a week up until 38 weeks along. His immune system is getting stronger, though he'll still get most of his immunity through my breastmilk until he weans, whenever that may be. He's about the size of a pineapple this week (and for the record, mamas further along than me - pineapple won't put you into labor if your body isn't ready - so eat up!). That translates to about 3lbs and 17 inches long. Holy crap, already?! And to think, Bug was 7lbs6.2oz and 21.5in long at birth... Sparrow's 4.5in and a little more than 4lbs away from that right now! All five senses are working now, and his skin is still smoothing out. It's now pinkish and the color won't change much from now until birth. He can hear noises from the outside clearly now and he can see differences in lighting, he can taste and would be able to smell if there were anything to smell! I'm technically 8 months pregnant with about 58 days left until our due date. 
His kicks/stretches are really starting to hurt now, because I'm tiny and he's really starting to run out of room. His favorite position seems to be a foot in my spine and a head digging into my hip bones - yeah, that one's tons of fun! The heartburn is still awful, the morning sickness (I think I told you made its return) is still super annoying at night. Tums are my best friend. I'm still irritable and moody and I've reached my "Is it over yet?" stage a lot sooner this time around than with Noah. Hurry up, October! Or late November, depending on when Sparrow decides he wants to come. I'm guessing he'll be nice and cozy in there and make a late arrival like his big brother did, but I could be wrong!
My belly is just getting itchier and itchier as it grows... and grows... and grows. And I've noticed when I'm pregnant, I want to be so much more in tune with my body. I get caught up in day-to-day things and then when I'm growing a little life, it makes me sit back and realize and get in tune with myself. I'm so much more spiritual when I'm pregnant. And we've been learning about more Pagan ceremonies now that Bug is old enough to sort of understand why we practice two of each holiday - Samhain and Halloween, Yule and Christmas, and so on and so forth. He's still super interested in Luna (the moon) and the effects she has on the tides and on life in general. He's my little flower child. He's been saving worms from the hot sun all day and putting them in the garden so they're nice and cool and "can eat some dirt". Such a cutie.
He's also been telling everyone about his brother Sparrow, because he doesn't know Sparrow's actual name. Only I know what that is, and no one else, not one soul will know until Sparrow's birth day.
Oh, to keep a secret like this. It makes me giddy. Is that weird? I feel like a little kid, bursting with excitement. I'm so in love with the name we've chosen and I really can't wait to tell everyone else!

In other news, I have a few potential clients! We're also visiting my dad again in NY and Bug and I are going to my best friend's baby shower this weekend. It's super exciting! How neat is it to be pregnant with your best friend? And we're due only a month apart! Life is good. 


Monday, August 19, 2013

Baby Shower!


Starting this post off with some super cute, unrelated pictures of my Buggyman. The first one kind of looks like he's nursing, but he's kissing my belly and telling Sparrow good morning :) And the second one was taken after a long day of playing at the park and being a cranky butt, we came home and he asked me to put his pillow and my blanket in the chair to lie down, so I did and he was out like a light before I could count to ten. Too stinkin' cute!
We had our baby shower on Saturday, unfortunately we didn't get many pictures, but I took pictures of the stuff we received


So let's start off with a list of the many things we got from our awesome family and friends!
My Brest Friend nursing pillow, diaper bag, $40 Amazon card (we bought diapers), tons of clothes, bunny slippers, two wetbags, a travel wetbag, nine newborn cloth diapers, 4 one-size cloth diapers, two fluffy blankets, two blanket sleepers, two handmade jersey-knit wraps (I practiced wrapping Bear in the first picture!), one package of newborn sposies, wipes, a whole bunch of cloth diaper prefolds, lots of itty bitty socks, nursing pads, a bathmit, a walker, some Eric Carl inspired baby toys, four receiving blankets, tons of washcloths, 3 hooded towels, a first aid kit, baby beanies, gas drops, diaper cream, teething rings, infant ibuprofen, pacifiers, pacifier wipes, baby shampoo and lotion, baby powder, and some layette sets.
We've got pretty much everything we need! Now the rest of our money can go to our midwife, our birth kit, bottles, Soothie pacifiers and a breast pump (oh, and re-usable nursing pads too, because I go through a box of disposables a day!)
There was lots of great food and great friends, and we had a lot of fun. Bug was so happy to get to open all of Sparrow's presents for him since, seeing as he's currently in utero, he can't do it himself! Everything he opened he showed to our friends and family and then to my belly and said "Brudder this is yours!" He's really the cutest two year old ever. I did a good job, I have no shame bragging about him!
It was nice to see family I don't see regularly. I couldn't have asked for a better shower! I'm so grateful for everything we got. I'll have to upload a picture of the diaper stash soon! The 5 or 6 diapers we ordered online should be here right around my birthday. Happy birthday to me!



I'll be back to update on Wednesday!



30 weeks!


And here's 30 weeks! My apologies for being so late (I owe you a new post on Wednesday and here it is, nearly 11pm on Monday night!) but we've had a super busy week. The baby shower, prepping for the shower, the end of summer party, organizing everything when we got home. Ah. It's nice to relax. I can't wait to sleep!
Anyway, we're in the last stretch! Only ten (well closer to nine now) weeks left to go! I can't believe we're 3/4 of the way down, it's gone so fast. I've had such a long week, though, that I feel like I've been thirty weeks along for a year. This week the lanugo that has covered his body for so long will begin to fall off, though it's very likely that at least some of it will remain after I give birth. I might have a hairy baby like Bugman was! He's still getting cuter and fatter, which is making his skin start to smooth out and plump up a bit. Unfortunately I'm still a few pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight but I'm almost caught up! He's about the size of a cucumber, which translates to roughly 15.2in to 16.7in long and weighs roughly 2.5-3.8 lbs. He's also now strong enough to grasp a finger!
A couple days ago my belly randomly broke out in a rash, but only my belly. Thinking it was probably heat rash, I lifted my shirt off of it to let it cool down, but after a few hours we noticed it getting worse - and itchy. It's little red, itchy bumps, all over my belly. I put some Benedryl anti-itch cream on it and it helped with the itching but didn't make the rash go away. We ruled out food allergies, detergents, soaps, etc. I haven't really changed my diet and definitely hadn't had anything new or that I was allergic to. We haven't switched detergent (though I'm going back to my free & clear regardless) and I use organic soaps/shampoos. I eventually decided to get in touch with my midwife to be on the safe side because this never happened when I was pregnant with Noah, and after describing it to her and ruling out an allergic reaction, she said it's probably PUPPS and if I get on probiotics (which I need to do anyway) and drink lemon water it might go away before my pregnancy is over. It's not dangerous to me or the baby, just itchy, kind of ugly, and annoying.
Don't Google the PUPPS rash. Those are all extreme cases that I hope I don't get to - mine is still very mild.
We've also decided to change the baby's name, as it's become very trendy in the last few months. Boo. I liked that name! For now we're calling him Sparrow, but we're keeping his real, official name top secret until the day he's born. We're cookin' up some great name ideas, though! Even Bug won't know his name (besides the nickname Sparrow) because he's only two and he doesn't know how to keep a secret - we can't keep it a secret if he tells everyone! If you know any toddlers you know how easy it is to get them to blab. "Want a lollipop? Okay, but first tell me the baby's name!" Easy as pie.
Also, I got my hair trimmed and dyed! I'm not loving the blonde but I didn't want to overdo it in one day. In the next couple weeks it'll be red, but still brown/black on the bottom. :)



Saturday, August 10, 2013

Noah's Birth Story


It's about time I shared Bug's birth story! The above pictures are my pregnancy, 13 weeks, 22 weeks, 30 weeks, 36 weeks, and then 40 weeks and one day while I was in labor, the day before he was born.

Noah was two days "overdue." I'd gone into labor two times previously, though not "real" labor - just contracting with the snowstorms that passed through. This time was different, my contractions were regular and were slowly but surely increasing in intensity and frequency. They were very manageable in the beginning. I passed the time folding clothes, sterilizing bottles and pacifiers, finishing laundry, getting done everything that needed to be done. I played Monopoly, I made quite a few cups of tea and I watched some cheesy movies and played more Just Dance (it was actually during Rasputin that the contractions originally started coming! the movement felt good with the contractions). At one point I remember going upstairs to get something and stopping dead in my tracks with a god-awful contraction that made me drop to my knees and grip the railing for dear life, haha. Things really picked up after that. I called my midwife and told her that this time, I think I'm really in labor. She told me to call her when they were regularly 7-8 minutes apart and that she was getting ready. I made some more tea and tried to relax on the couch. Nope. Bad idea. The lack of movement was killing me! I got up and waddled through my house, back and forth, from the bathroom to the mudroom, back again. Finally I couldn't handle it and got in the shower. I immediately felt a hundred times better! I stayed in the shower a while, and my contractions seemed like they were fading. They didn't hurt so bad, they really seemed to have calmed down. I was in my rest period and I didn't know there was a rest period... so I called my midwife back, I told her they'd pretty much stopped and that this wasn't it. She asked if I was sure, and I really thought it wasn't real labor anymore, so I convinced her it was just contractions with the storm and not to worry about coming. The roads were closed due to the blizzard anyway, so I didn't want to put her in danger for what probably wasn't even real labor. Soon after, the contractions started to pick up again. I couldn't find where I'd put my phone for the life of me. I walked through the house looking for it, stopping with my contractions to lean on the windowsill or the countertops to sway my hips through the contractions. I realized I really, really had to pee, so I waddled back to the bathroom and went. As I was walking out of the bathroom I had another contraction that made me drop to my knees. I grabbed the tub and moaned through the contraction, heard/felt a small *pop* and then a gush of water.
"Did I really just piss myself? Seriously? What the fuck?!" 

I checked my panties and there was a lot of clear fluid, it smelled sweet like amniotic fluid does, not harsh like urine. I realized it couldn't have been pee anyway because I had just gone. I was living with my mom and so I knocked on her door and told her my water broke. That woman jumped over my stepdad like her ass was on fire! 
"Are you sure it was your water?!"
"Well it wasn't pee, wanna smell it?" 
My comment made me laugh, my laughter made me hurt. She said she was going to call an ambulance. I tried to talk her out of it, but looked out the window and you couldn't even see the house across the street through the snow. There was no way my midwife would be able to get to me. I started crying but I gave her the okay to call. I calmed myself down and tried to enjoy my last few "peaceful" moments of labor. I knew how beautiful and magical all that was happening was. These were my last precious moments with my baby on the inside. This was a beautiful time for us and I really appreciated it, and I wanted to continue to appreciate it without strangers surrounding me and interrupting this special time. Fifteen minutes later, a knock on the door, three EMTs rush in with an officer like this was some bizarre medical emergency. 
"I'm having a baby, I'm not bleeding out. Calm down, guys." 
They told me to lay on the floor so they could check how dilated I was. 9cm - "Have her start pushing!" I'm thinking, do these people know nothing? You don't start pushing at 9cm... not until at least 10cm and not until your body tells you you're ready. My body was made for this, it knows what to do without your seemingly little knowledge on the subject. I pretended to push so they'd shut up. They had the officer "support" me so I wasn't flat on my back, her knee was in my spine and I asked her to move and she told me no. By now I was significantly angered by the chaos and harsh interruption of mine and Noah's special time. 
"Listen lady, get the fuck off of me or I'm gonna elbow you in the fucking face." 
She moved without hesitation. I asked the EMTs if they could move so I could at least see the TV. They ignored me.
"Alright, you have two options. We can let you deliver here, in your home, but we'll bring you directly to the hospital afterward. Or we can bring you now. Oh, I've never delivered a baby.
Obviously you haven't. 
I didn't know at the time I could refuse to go to the hospital after having him, and I saw how bad the roads were, so I chose to go while he was still inside me rather than bouncing him around the ambulance. We get there and I tell the doctor, "I need to push." She tells me I can't because I'm not ready. I have no control over this, I didn't just decide it was time, my body knew it was time and it did it's thing. I pushed, she checked me after and says "Oh, my bad, you're 10cm, go ahead." 
No shit Sherlock, right now I feel like none of you have a damn clue how to do your jobs. 
I pushed again. 
"We're gonna need to do an emergency C-section." 
I ask why, she tells me I've been pushing for too long. I told her to fuck off, I've been here for 3 minutes and pushed twice. During my next push she says "Fine then we need to use forceps or a vacuum." after that push I tell her, 
"Look, you can fuck off. You're not intervening." 
She tells me I don't know how to push. 
"Watch me." 
One more push, head is out. Smirk. Push out the rest of his body, 
"What was that? I don't know how to push?" 
She had cut me while I was pushing against my wishes and after I pushed my placenta out I got a nice bunch of stitches. I wasn't allowed to nurse him for nearly an hour, but holding him for that first time, bloody, covered in vernix and peeing on me - it was still the most beautiful, emotional, happy and joyous time of my life.

Twenty eight and a half hours from the start of labor, and two days "late" my baby boy finally arrived earthbound. 21.5in long, 7 lbs 6.2oz of perfection, on January 27th, 2011, and best of all he came into the world all natural, with no interventions aside from the unwanted episiotomy. It was the proudest moment of my life. 

And there's my bubba, about an hour old in the first picture and two and a half years later in the second, wearing his big brother shirt. :)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

29 weeks!


It's only 10:00AM. I need coffee. Ahh.
Sorry I haven't been posting quite as much lately, life's been pretty hectic. Hopefully things will be back to normal after today, and if not, they'll likely be back to normal by next Wednesday. Fingers crossed for today! I know I've been posting a day late every week for three weeks, but it's due to my Wednesdays for the last three weeks being hectic and chaotic and stressful.
As of yesterday I'm 29 weeks along! That means only 11 weeks to go (or 13+ if baby's really comfy and cozy in there). Asher is the size of an acorn squash, or roughly 15.2 to 16.7 inches long and 2.5 to 3.8lbs. Getting big! He has the hiccups pretty much all the time it feels like, but it's a good sign. Just slightly uncomfortable when I'm trying to sleep and my belly keeps jumping and twitching. He's started to get cramped in there, because he's getting taller and chunkier and there's only so much space my body can make, and it feels like he's trying to kick and punch his way out to where there's bigger, open space instead of a cramped uterus haha. Oh, and his spleen is doin' stuff now, like being in charge of hematopoiesis. That's the process involved in building up certain important blood components.
Nothing really new over here for me, though. Worse heartburn, still can't sleep, still feel like I'm peeing every ten minutes, and still crazy emotional. That last part sucks worse than all the others combined, by the way.
I have been watching a stretch mark slowly form for the last couple of weeks, though. With Noah the one I got on my belly kind of appeared out of nowhere one day, so it's been weird to watch this one slowly fade into existence. It's right next to my belly button, and the other one is right above my belly button. I was lucky with Bug, although I got a fair amount of stretchies on my butt and my boobs, I only had one on my belly. Seeing how big I am this time around, however, I feel like I'm going to have a host of them by the time I give birth. No one likes stretch marks, but I'll wear mine proudly. They're not battle scars, they're proof that my body is capable of growing, creating and nourishing another human being. If that's not something to be proud of and thankful for, I don't know what is.
I'll be back to post later, I either need some coffee or a babysitter to watch Bug and let me get some sleep!



Thursday, August 1, 2013

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! Tips and Tricks for Successful Breastfeeding


Happy World Breastfeeding Week 2013!
This is my bubs when he was still brand new, I can't find my breastfeeding pictures from when he was any older unfortunately. Boo. He's sitting next to me right now watching the ninth episode of Thomas tonight and asking me if this is his doll, Rella. No, it's you, Bug. I promise. No, I'm not lying. You really were that little!
Breastfeeding means a lot to me. It's so much more than just a method of feeding your baby! Breastfeeding is giving your baby the best start in life. Breastfeeding is a bonding experience. It transfers antibodies and builds the immune system. It reduces the risk of breast cancer, allergies, and childhood obesity. It provides comfort, it provides a sense of security. It is custom made, tailored, if you will, to your baby. It still has significant health benefits after two years of age!
Breastfeeding has saved my sanity on multiple occasions. To begin with, it's free/cheap. I don't have to spend a cent to nurse my baby. It doesn't need to be warmed (unless pumped) because your breasts keep it at perfect eating temperature for your little bubs. There is no mixing or wondering if you got the formula to water ratio right. No foggy, sleep deprived brain wondering "Did I put one scoop? Or two? Is there enough or did I put too much?"
With breastfeeding there is no cycling through formulas to find what's right for your baby. You don't have to switch breastmilk because baby is spitting up (though you may have to alter your diet) and you don't have to be distressed over wasting a $20 can of formula because it doesn't agree with your little one's belly. There is no overwhelming selection of breastmilks to choose from, your breastmilk is made specifically for your baby and his or her needs at the time. If your baby is sick, her nursing will trigger your body to release antibodies through your breastmilk and boost their immune system! And you don't have to pay extra for hypoallergenic breastmilk. Even better! Breastmilk (aside from pumped milk) doesn't expire. It never gets recalled because a batch had shards of glass or some beetles found in it. It has naturally brain boosting qualities! Babies who are exclusively breastfed have been found to have higher IQs than formula fed babies!
Breastfeeding can be rough, however. Some babies have an issue latching because of a tongue tie, some babies just need to learn how to latch. Some women have supply issues. Some women find breastfeeding to be painful. Some women are told from the getgo that they can't nurse. While this is true for some women, that number is very low. With the help of an experienced lactation consultant, breastfeeding is possible for almost every woman. A proper latch should diminish most, if not all of the soreness associated with breastfeeding. There are also products available like Lanolin (which I personally don't like and don't find helpful), Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter (which I can't wait to try and will definitely review for you in October!), Miracle Heal (made by my midwife and can be found here) or even simply expressed breastmilk, you rub a bit on your nipples, let them air dry and it begins to heal them naturally.
For supply issues it's best to start off with making sure you're drinking enough water in a day and taking in the proper amount of calories. If you're still having supply issues, there are plenty of ways to increase your supply! Most importantly, know that supplementing with formula will only harm your supply. You can pump and freeze breastmilk between feedings to trick your body into thinking your baby is nursing more, which in turn will help increase your supply. Fenugreek is good for increasing supply as well. More is the name of a tincture, also made by my midwife and found here. You can purchase Mother's Milk Tea made by Traditional Medicinals for less than $4 here. Lactation cookies are a great, tasty way to increase supply as well - you can make your own at home with this tasty recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies in less than 30 minutes! If all else fails you can also get donor milk if you don't want to use formula! :)
You can find a lactation consultant in your area here!
Happy breastfeeding!

I'm 28 weeks!


I'll start this with an apology for the crappy quality phone picture and for not posting a single thing in a week! I'll be switching out the pictures with the original 28 week pictures I took as soon as I find my upload cord for my camera. I'm excited, too, because there's a pretty stellar photo bomb in those pictures. I was trying to take a picture of my belly and Bug ran up to me and kissed my belly and I caught it on camera just in time!
Also, I'd like to share this comparison picture:


Left is 39 weeks with my first son, and the right is 28 weeks with this one. Holy belly... I didn't realize I was so tiny with Noah, or that there was such a difference between my belly with Noah and with Asher. I mean, really, I think I was smaller a week before having Noah than I am now with Asher, with 12 weeks left to go still. And those aren't stretch marks (yet) in the second picture, I let someone draw on my belly. It seems to be a favored canvas among the littles, haha.
So, back to business - I can't believe I only have 12 weeks left to go! Ash is blinking a lot now, and responding more to light and dark. His bone marrow is making blood cells and his adrenal glands should be beginning production of androgen and estrogen, which, in turn, should start stimulating my body to start producing milk. He's prepping for breathing on his own by continuing to practice "breathing" his amniotic fluid and pee- no matter how old I am, I'll always find that a little bit funny. I should also start feeling more Braxton Hicks contractions (wait, what? I can get even more of those?) as my body continues to prep for labor and real contractions. I never really got Braxton Hicks contractions with Bug, but I've been getting them since about 15 weeks this time around. Then again, this pregnancy is pretty much a night and day difference from my first, so it's not entirely surprising. His about the size of an eggplant and from this week on his development will mainly consist of the same things; gaining weight, inches and fine-tuning his breathing.
Tums have really become my best friend in the world. I don't know how I'd make it through the night without them. No matter how long I wait before sleeping after eating, the second I lay down it's heartburn central. No joke, it could be four hours since my last snack and I'll have heartburn that's enough to seem like Hell exists in my chest and throat. Sucky but worth it, I'm just still clinging to the hope that the old wives' tale will ring true again and I'll give birth to a baby with a head full of hair. You know, like this:


That's Bug when he was two days old. My mom was holding him so I could get a good picture of all the hair he had, and boy, was it a lot. It was so soft and fluffy and always stood straight up and I loved it! His head was just a little fuzzball with a wise old man face, he was (and is) such a cutie. I still think Ash is going to have brown hair like me, but I think Noah's will turn dark too. Either way I just hope he comes out with enough hair to justify the awful heartburn.