Nunya

You know...
"Whatcha doing?"
"Nunya business!"

More specifically, The Business of Being Born. Heard of it? The documentary about the case for home births/natural births vs. hospitals, executive produced by Ricki Lake, who is also in the doc.

Here, a quote from the Critic's Reviews on MSN.com: "The pic argues that the unnecessary medical interferences, the increase in Caesarean births for the sake of "convenience" and trendiness ("too posh to push") all conspire to institute a mechanical regimen that, in some cases, is inimical to the health of mother and baby." (You know what 'inimical' means? Me neither!) But I digress. More on this later. (Full review.)

Even more specifically, I want to talk about water births. New to the term? I've been hearing some excellent stuff about it (we officially became a believer of H2O's all-powerful reign in pregnancy when Mom was having some bad cramps).

An article excerpt on Babycenter.com says: "...hydrotherapy allows you to remain alert and in control. The soothing and pressure-relieving effects of the water promote muscle relaxation and may reduce pain, anxiety, and the need for medication."

Check out this amazing video (also on Babycenter; O, Babycenter, we bow down to thee!) of a water birth; when you've seen it, comment us and tell us what you think of it! There is nudity, but I think it focuses more on the completely natural aspect, rather than the doffing-your-duds mindset. Click here for the video; and here for a great article from Discovery Health giving you the H2O low-down.

Back to Business. Do I want to see it? Yes. Can I see it? No. Not yet, anyway. It's being screened at select cities, and if you want to reserve a DVD (available around March), click here to do it. If you're in Tucson tomorrow at 2 PM, pop over to the University Medical Center to watch.

Mom has mentioned she would like to do a water birth if she's allowed. Since she's classified as 'high-risk', we can't know yet if our doctor will want a C-section or if her fibroids are blocking the birth canal.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!





PS: Here are some snaps of me and Kev. I'll post some of Mom and Dad if I get permission (age=vanity!)

Here's Kevin either right before he spits or right before he pretends to jump over the rail. I forget.

Here's me, styling what I like to call my "judgmental look".

Pearl Harbor Day, Pearl-sized Baby!

Author: Erin

So it looks like my efforts to coerce the rest of the family (or at least Mom or Dad) to write posts has failed...for now. So, future kid, I hope you like your big sisters' writing! I might be doing a lot of it from now on.

The last time I operated a scanner hooked up to a computer, it was the late 90's and I was still into Beanie Babies; so, in lieu of scanning the pictures we have of Peanut's ultrasound snaps, I took a picture of them and uploaded them here.

Peanut's very first ultrasound was on December 7, 2007, Pearl Harbor Day...I insisted on coming, even though it meant crawling out of my cozy bed at a criminally early hour of the day.
This is because I can't remember much about Kevin being a baby; I do have recollections of my 3-year-old self trying to persuade my mom to give me the ice cream they brought her in the hospital on the day of his birth, but nothing really before that.

It wasn't much...like Rachel from Friends not being able to pick out where her tiny baby was on the ultrasound screen, all I could see was the grainy black-and-white sea of static and not much else. But when the doctor pointed out where future Hadley or Tobias (like our tentative name selections?) was, I saw the tiny heartbeat flickering...it was the size of a fluttering sesame seed.

This baby was for real. It was alive and pumping away inside of my mom. Mom and Dad cooed away at the screen and the doctor smiled; my throat swelled and my eyes started to feel like they did that one time I spilled salt in them (don't ask); tears coming without being ordered. Obviously I didn't plan to cry or even be impressed; some sort of powerful, ancient thing inside of me came to life. You are a female and this is a baby, it seemed to say, now love it!
Everyone then proceeded to make fun of me.

The second ultrasound was a week or so ago, and Peanut has grown a lot bigger; instead of looking like some charming aquatic alien fetus, it's obviously a little baby. They even gave us a 3D image; now, this is much freakier. A squashy, lumpy being surrounded by a Play-Doh fortress of a uterus.

January 10...the projected due date is July 10. Six even months until the miniature interloper takes over my room. (Well, I get one with a bathroom, so I gladly relinquish my territory.)

We had a small scare that resulted into a predictably very late night in the ER, but everything is totally fine. The ultrasound the next day resulted in seeing Peanut being extremely active, and even bigger for its size!

I'm going to force someone other than me to write the next entry so I can share my blog-writing prowess.

Love
E
The positive test!

Here's Peanut's first picture!

How Peanut has grown since December 7th!

You're Pregnant, Dude

Author: Erin

My mom is 49 and pregnant. (Sounds like that lame Scott Baio show!) So we...well, I...started this blog because that's how we do things now in the 21st century. Just the other day, I told my dog, "You have a lot of toys. You should start a blog!" You can get blogs for anything, so a baby blog seemed to fit.

Peanut might be called a 'miracle baby' by some people...maybe even a lot of people. My parents thought they were done with us kids: Kevin and I are approaching that time where we either fly the nest or start our own life.
Obviously God had other plans. Our family of four is now becoming five. Is it surreal? Definitely.

Mom asked me the other day, "Don't you feel now like something was missing in our family?"
She meant that before we started to adjust to this baby, we had a routine--we were four, we've been together since 1993 when the last baby, Kevin, was born (think again!). We'd settled. And now that we've met Peanut, through the ultrasound screen; seen its little arms and legs squirm around; we're ready.

Peanut is due on July 11, 2008. Just six short months away! I'll post some photos when I figure out how.

Love
E