Chaz Moms and Moms-to-Be Chat (everyone welcome)

Oh my gosh Jen she's adorable! Great pictures!

Falon has been very un-needy so far. We have to wake her up to eat. I think its mostly cause she was a bit early though. Hopefully she'll perk up here soon.

Clarissa's so expressive!

Taq, was Falon a preemie? Or just the early end of full-term?

I'm feeling really terrible today, and keep feeling like I have a fever, which I don't. Hot flashes and chills and exhausted like I can hardly keep my eyes open. I don't know if it's just being pregnant or if something else is wrong, but if it's something else, I have no idea what

I definitely went through a phase of hot flashes and dizziness and nausea a few weeks ago MM-- it was awful! Hopefully you're feeling better soon!

Here's my shot from today:

She was 37 weeks to the day. If she'd been one day earlier we'd have ended up in the nicu. She has seriously perked up today though. She's waking up and demanding to be fed which is new.

Allison you look great!! I started feeling really big around 33 weeks - that was also when I started really being uncomfortable and hating everything. Take it easy and start playing the pregnancy cards when you can!

Good call Taqroy! I have assigned a lot of the household duties to DH already but so far he hasn't taken me seriously about vacuuming. We will have to revisit that issue...

I just realized I didn't post her birth story so if anyone is interested here is a brief(sort of) description of my home birth.


Clarissa Lee H.
Born at home feb 22 2013
7lbs 12 oz 21 inches long

Birth story
On Wednesday feb 20 I awoke just before midnight to a contraction. I laid in bed for a while not sure if what I was feeling was the real deal or not. I soon realized they were coming every 10 mins or so like clockwork. I tried to doze in and out thru the night but it was difficult to sleep after that. I got up at 5am with Joey who was getting ready to go to work and let him know what was happening. We decided that he should go to work since we had been warned that early labor can take a very long time with most first time moms. I also texted my doula Shannon at some point and she told me the same thing. I downloaded an app on my phone to time the contractions.

Things started to pick up in the early evening but they were still not totally regular. Shannon said I could be at this for a while and encouraged me to try and get some sleep with gravol and a bath. I think that worked for about an hour and as I tried to sleep I was awoken again around midnight by a contraction. This one was different and had me grabbing my bed and moaning. After trying to unsuccessfully go back to sleep I got up and went and sat on my exercise ball. I texted Shannon again and she told me to go sit on the toilet as that position would help move things along. I started to not be able to talk during the contractions and things really picked up around 2am. Joey paged Leanne our midwife and Shannon headed over as well.

Joey started filling up the birth tub and we went downstairs when Shannon arrived. I labored on the toilet for a while longer until Leanne arrived. She checked me and I was at 7 cm! Joey hurried to get the pool filled up which involved boiling water as our hot water started to run out.

The next couple of hours seemed to drag on in a blurry kind of way as the contractions got stronger and closer together. They were intense but never did i think that i couldnt handle it or that i wanted to go to the hospital. After a few hours my body started pushing naturally but i was having a hard time making progress. Leanne checked me and ended up having to push the final lip of my cervix out of the way so the baby's head could descend. This was quite painful but it definitely helped. She had to do this one more time later on, which was also when my water broke.

In total I pushed actively for two hours mostly in the tub. Right at the end as Leanne thought she needed to get me out and help me again, (more than two hours of pushing is a little worrisome I guess even though baby's heart rate was fine) I stood up to get out of the tub, had a contraction, squatted while holding on to Joey and pushed. The head finally started crowning and I was able to kneel back down in the water on one knee and push her out in a few pushes. The pushing phase was the most intense for me and i think i held back a little bit because the sensation scared me. Probably partly why it took so long, although they did say she had a bigger than average head too. When she was born Leanne caught her and gently guided her between my legs and I lifted her out of the water. She was wide awake and nice and pink, and I held her in the pool as she took her first few breaths unassisted.

After the placenta was delivered I got out of the pool. I started bleeding a bit more than they liked so I had to get a shot to slow it down. I also had a minor tear that required two stitches.

After all of this was done Shannon brought Clarissa back to me (Joey had held her while I got fixed up) and she helped me get her feeding. She latched on and vigorously sucked for quite a while. It was such a strange feeling. But she was so alert and had a great suction that impressed everyone. The midwives also did an amazing job helping clean up.

All in all it was an amazing experience and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I can't wait to share her birth story with her when she is older and be able to show her exactly where she was born. <3

Aww Jen, thanks for sharing! I was a little hesitant to read that, because when you described your labor you said it took a long time, but that doesn't sound so bad.

I have a question: Did the gravol make you feel woozy or out-of-it? I've never taken it, but I'm REALLY sensitive to medications, and I also have serious issues with lack of sleep, so I'm worried if I don't get enough sleep before labor I'm going to be screwed.

What a great birth story Jen Thanks for sharing!

Thanks the gravol makes me a bit woozy but that was the whole reason for taking it. If I just take one I find it helps with sleep without knocking me out completely. I took it a few times in the first tri when I felt sick and couldn't sleep. Everyone reacts differently though so the only way to know how you react is to try it I think.

The labor itself wasn't so bad bit the fact that I didn't sleep for two days was the hard part!

Oh forgot to add she was born at 9:30am!

One week old!!

IMG_9968 by taqroy, on Flickr

That's the first good shot I've gotten of her eyes. She was almost back up to her birth weight on Friday which is AWESOME because the nurses at the hospital made me completely paranoid about how she eats/gains. We are stupid crazy in love with her.

Beautiful. Absolutely.

I am bitter and angry about the proximity in dates that I will be saying good bye to my heart dog and hello to my first born.

I haven't been able to he excited about this baby in the past week since I scheduled Buddy's euthanasia.

I should be preparing for the home stretch and instead I can't think of anything, at all, besides my dog and my decision.

Screw you world.

So sorry Allison. I can't imagine how hard that must be big hugs!!

I'm so sorry, Allison. I don't even know what to say. It's always sad losing a dog and sad to think about how the dogs we love won't be in our children's lives, and I'm really sorry the timing is so terrible for your family.

Thanks ladies. Hardest decision ever. I don't remember what life is like without her.

I went to my first prenatal class today. It was so confusing, because the hospital kept calling saying they changed the times/dates, and apparently this was because they merged the prenatal class and breastfeeding class? So today it was like 30 people and an entire lecture on breastfeeding. They didn't discuss formula feeding or using a bottle at all.

I was pretty cranky and snarky about the whole thing...the majority of it was stuff I already knew, and the instructor was, albeit knowledgable, clearly NOT a teacher. They showed us this video UNICEF made to promote breastfeeding in underdeveloped countries, and I couldn't understand the narrator (there were subtitles). And we all got a doll in the beginning, but we didn't do ANYTHING with it. Just had to hold it the entire time to "get used to it".

But...afterwards I was sort of glad because they talked more about the hospital's policy of rooming-in (all babies room-in unless there is a problem) and how they wait to weigh the baby and check them right on your chest in delivery, they don't take them away for an hour +...so I was happy to hear that because I knew it was an option but was afraid I'd have to push for it or if I was sort of out-of-it they'd take the baby.

I also found out now most insurance companies here are required to provide breast pumps! Which I otherwise wouldn't have known, so I guess I learned something useful.

When Ryland kicks and moves my ENTIRE BODY and rocks the bed... Wtf.

I didn't go to prenatal classes with my second pregnancy. I went to one with my first and never went again. I was sent to the young mothers one and it was awful. I was the only preggo who didn't leave to go chain smoke on the break. They told us ramen noodles were not a proper source of nutrition (oh rly? never would have guessed!)

So I know lots of you ladies are pregnant/have newborns but I was coming in here to say Briggs is being assessed for autism. He went for the consultation at the autism clinic and the two doctors who interacted with him said yes, he needs the full blown assessment done. That happens on the 26th.

Part of me is happy that its getting on its way. Part of me is really not handling it too well. I know without a doubt my son is autistic. The older he is getting the more obvious it is. I am very matter of fact and am not the type to pull the wool over my eyes. It is still so hard to deal with though. I guess there is still that hope that he will just magically not have these obstacles ahead of him. At 2.5 he still doesn't even respond to his name. He self harms out of confusion and its just... I was hoping I was doing something wrong and it wasn't him, ya know?