Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Responding to Commenters

A quick note: I have decided that I'm going to start responding to comments by leaving my own comment on the same entry - isn't this what most of you bloggers do? I have been trying to go to the commenters' blogs to leave comments, but it is an involved and time-intensive process that isn't usually too successful. If anyone knows anything that I'm missing, let me know.....

Saturday, July 25, 2009

34 weeks, 2 days: Time is Still Racing!

I have come to realize lately that, like it or not, both of my blogs are going to be neglected for a while. I really regret that. Not only do I adore blogging, but I spend a lot of my time "mentally blogging" - writing out entries in my head which, unfortunately, never make into onto the computer. What a pity! I have at least three articles waiting to be written onto each blog, and countless news items for my birth blog which have had to be ignored.

Why am I so ridiculously busy?

Mostly because I'm working against the clock in getting ready for baby. Because we just moved into our house in January and I have only recently felt well enough to really dig in, there's quite a bit of stuff left to do. Unpacking, organizing, cleaning, getting baby things out, learning about home ownership, working on home/yard/car projects - and that's only the beginning!

A more difficult task is regaining my life post-morning sickness, something that I've had to do with each pregnancy (though not this time nearly like last time!). This means regaining routines, cleaning habits, shopping, meal plans, getting back into cooking, etc. - it's harder than it looks! And when you add in a very active preschooler, it makes it all the more interesting.

Additionally, we are seriously considering jumping onto the homeschooling wagon - meaning that homeschool "preschool" begins this year. Yikes!! I won't say that I'm not seriously conflicted on this issue, but the current plan is to go ahead with it. So I am trying to get plugged into the homeschool community and attempting to corral my thoughts in that direction.

Also, I know that my blogging life will be seriously slowed once baby does arrive next month. So this may last for a while!

While I'm thinking of it, I wanted to say a quick thank you to those of you who sent in the idea of the hormone-free IUD as a birth control method. You all are so sweet to take the time to do that! As a matter of fact I had already considered the IUD and decided against it (for multiple reasons), but I forgot to mention that in my post. Thank you, dear friends, for your thoughtfulness!

Anyhow, this isn't a real "update" post - it is just a "this is why I'm not around a lot" post, with my apologies. Hopefully at some point (perhaps soon!) I'll be able to jump back into active blogging. But for now, it's going to have to take a back seat to baby-prep. However, I'll try to post a proper "update on my life/pregnancy/etc." post soon just to check in, even if I can't write all those juicy and delicious articles that I've been pondering for so long.

Cheers, my friends! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

32 weeks, 0 days: Has Time Sped Up Lately?

I mean, my goodness! Every time I look at the calendar, another week has sped by! Why couldn't it do that when I was dealing with the serious nausea? Ah, well... Time flies when you're having fun... and it certainly doesn't fly when you're not!

This week I reached an exciting point in my unpacking - the point where I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The end is not here, but it's close! I MIGHT be able to finish pre-baby! That is immensely exciting. I still have a to-do list the size of Mt. Rushmore, but it is looking more doable. I've got two weeks before I need to start kicking into high gear with birth prep (ordering supplies, setting up the cradle, etc.), so if I can finish the house by then, I should be set. I want to get as much as possible done, because I know that my life is pretty much going to stop for a while when baby arrives! (Like for two years or so.) I felt like my existence terminated when our first arrived, and I know it is going to be beyond crazy with a newborn and a preschooler at once. How do you moms out there DO it? I definitely don't feel up to the challenge.

(TMI warning....)

I'm still grappling with the birth control issue. There's no easy answer, is there? Physical methods are a pain in the neck, chemical methods are no longer acceptable to us for a myriad of reasons, permanent sterilization has health ramifications for both sexes, and natural family planning requires a lot more self-control than we apparently have. So that leaves us.... where? I have no idea. I don't really want any more kidlets (at the moment - though that is purely an HG issue rather than a numbers issue), but I don't really want to permanently end my reproductive capacity either. So for the moment, I'm stuck.

One question that runs through my mind often is what I would choose to do if (God forbid!!) complications during labor necessitated transport to a hospital and ended up requiring a cesarean - which would be a perfect time for a tubal ligation (it would save a lot of trouble later!). Would I do it? Or would I wimp out? Only time would tell.... But hopefully the situation won't arise anyway!

But if I have any sense at all (something which I often doubt), this does need to be our last child. I can tell that the hyperemesis would have been much worse this time if it had not been suppressed with medication, due to the fact that the nausea hit much earlier this time (over a week before I could get a positive pregnancy test) and much harder (I was seriously nauseated by four weeks, whereas last time it didn't hit till sometime mid-five weeks). The trend with most HG mums (that I've seen) seems to be that HG tends to get worse with each pregnancy - not better. And it is almost unheard of for an HG mum to have a subsequent non-HG pregnancy (HG recurrence is well over 80%). So unless I want to risk going through the hell that some of my dear HG friends have endured, I should probably play it safe.

Well, I have run out of time! So I will have to post more later. We see our wonderful midwife team next week, something to which I am greatly looking forward, and we're off for a weekend spent up north with DH's parents. Should be fun! Next week is going to be crazy (doctors' appointments, midwife appointment, playdates, homeschool conference, houseguests, etc.), but I'll do my best to check in.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Diana