Last thoughts on my pregnancy

I was taking Hailey to dance class Thursday afternoon, when I stepped in a pothole in the parking lot and fell down.  I was 37 weeks and 5 days along, so falling was very difficult.  I was holding Hannah at the time getting her out of the car with all the other bags I bring in (my purse, the diaper bag, a toy bag with Hailey's dance shoes.)  When I stepped into the hole and fell down, I tried to land on my right side since Hannah was on my left. She quickly untangled herself and ran off with Hailey and Robert.  My leg hurt a lot and when I shifted my weight, I felt the tendons move back into place.  I could not get up and there was no one in the parking lot to help me.  I called for the kids and surprisingly Robert came back.  He was very concerned for his mom and took all the bags for me then tried to help me up.  It was a very sweet moment especially since we've had a very tough day together.  Using the car next to me and Robert's encouragement, I was able to get up and hobble inside.  The lady at the front desk was very concerned and thought I was in labor.  Luckily, I didn't twist, hit, or stretch my belly or back in anyway so I knew the baby was fine.  She helped me locate my kids, got me a chair to sit on and one to prop up my leg, and got me an ice pack.  My right ankle and knee hurt a lot and you could already see the bruising.  I had to fill out a form and I had Nathan come to help load up the car when Hailey was done with class.  I kept thinking "how can I handle natural child birth if I am having a hard time with just my leg hurting?" About two weeks before Hannah was due, I also fell down and hurt my right leg.  I was walking down the stairs to warm up the car before church since it was snowing and I slipped and fell into the snow.  Luckily with both incidences, I healed within a week and before the baby came.

Then the following Tuesday, "morning sickness" hit again and I was in bed as much as I could manage.  Nathan stayed home in the morning until 10:00am and came back home at 3:00pm since I had a midwife appointment. I tried to go about my daily activities but it was tough to feel so bad. I took Robert to class class and my friend, Rita asked if the baby dropped because my belly looked lower.  Later in the day when I was laying down again, I realized that the baby wasn't kicking my ribs like it was earlier that morning and in fact couldn't actually reach my ribs. So the baby dropped at 38 weeks and 3 days. I was determined to go to my appointment to get measured so I could know for certain if the baby dropped. It wasn't until I was 20 minutes into the drive to the appointment, that I had to pull over and throw up.  I called them, cancelled and went back to bed.  Again, I thought how am I going to handle natural childbirth if I can't handle this nauseous feeling. Luckily, it was just a one day thing.  I think that I just overworked myself the day before by picking up apples.

With these events, I was sure I the baby was going to come early.  So when the Saturday before my due date came and went without any contractions, I was a bit disappointed.  However, my mom arrived that day and she needed rest so it was a good thing labor didn't start.  I'm so thankful to have my mother here and we kept busy everyday.  The house got cleaned and straighten up and she was able to learn what a typical week at our house was like.  Still I went to bed everyday hopeful that labor would start and then woke up every morning disappointed.  I like being pregnant. I love my pregnancy clothes and the cute expanding belly that is housing a precious child.  I will greatly miss being pregnant and the attention it brings.  However, I'm ready for the next stage in life to begin. I'm ready for a newborn.

Library Story Time

Each year during the week of Halloween, the library does a special Halloween story time.  We just go to the 3-5 year olds story time, so Robert went in a listened to a few books, while Mom, Hannah, and I hung out in the lobby area. Then the kids came out and went around to each worker's desk to get treats.  

 Hannah joined in but needed a little guidance from Gramma.  Hopefully all this practice of putting the candy in her bucket will make Halloween Day easier.

 Hannah was a cute little fairy this time.

Boo at the Zoo

We went to Boo at the Zoo again this year.  Hailey was Belle, Hannah was Cinderella, and Robert was Thomas.

 There were a lot of games and activities to do there and I know we didn't get to it all.  They played Plinko for candy, and made a skeleton out of Q-tips.

 They did a bean-bag toss.

 We watched the baby bear play with a giant somore pinata. Mainly the bear was scared of it.

 The kids got close to an elk and answered questions for candy.

 They also heard a story about Zeus and got books from the book wagon.  They had a bat craft and went fishing for animal masks.  We listen to CriptoTales and touched different animal furs. 

They did get scared once.  Before we even went to the Zoo, Hailey kept telling me about a man in the box and how she was going to be so brave this year.  I didn't remember anything about a man in a box until we reached this rocky area that had a girl zombie lying on a rock pointing to the candy by the coffin. There was Hailey's box she was talking about.  So, Hailey and Robert went up to get candy and a guy pops out.  The kids freaked out and screamed.  Robert climbed on some rocks to stay far away. Hailey came to me and was shaking. Then she had a very big sneeze. After calming down (which took a while), she told everyone how the guy was scary and made her sneeze.

I hoped contractions would start today (at exactly 39 weeks), so to keep my mind off the disappointment, we kept pretty busy.  After spending two hours at the Zoo, we had lunch at Pizza Hut.  Then Nathan and I went on our date at 5-7.  We went on a very nice walk in a field (it was the cross county track) that took 45 minutes, then we went out for ice cream.  I hoped all that walking would have started something but it didn't.  Then we talked for a while with Jamie and Spencer (the couple who watched our kids).  Later in the evening (close to 9:00pm) my mom came into town.  The kids were very wired with excitement because their Gramma was with them. 

Taking Over

 I'm very lucky to have my mom come and help me while I have the baby at home and while we all adjust to this new change. So I have thought a lot about what she would need to know to survive.  Also, we are taking a Love and Logic class which has made me think about all the things I do for the kids that they really could do by or for themselves.  We've talked a lot about setting up chores for the kids, which I have a hard time doing.  Since the best way for me to think is to write, I wrote down what happens on a typical week day.

Girls generally wake up first between 6:30 and 7:00. Robert wakes up between 7:00-7:30. Hannah is my alarm clock.

I first get milk for everyone and put them at the table. Hannah gets ¼ tsp of calcium with her milk in a sippy cup. Robert picks between Rice milk and regular milk. Breakfast has been cereal (they pick what they want and generally have two or three different kinds). I think they are getting bored of cereal, so I have waffles now. There is also fruit and toast. Sometimes Robert will ask for fruit snacks but I try to save those for snack time. Breakfast generally stays on the table until morning snack and sometimes even lunch time because mornings are busy and it gives them something to snack on. While Hannah’s still at the table and has eaten something, we give her 0.5 ml Keppra.

I shower while they eat breakfast and during that time Nate gets out of bed to manage kids at the table.

Hailey gets dressed all by herself (even socks and shoes but can’t tie her tennis shoes yet).  Robert picks out his own clothes and generally gets dressed by myself. (He needs help with socks if he chooses to wear socks) He can put on his own shoes but generally doesn’t.

Hannah of course needs help with everything but is pretty easy to change.

Those who are ready can go with Hailey to school. We’ve been taking the car recently and need to leave by 7:55am.  I drop Hailey off at the front doors.

Nathan generally leaves between 8:30-9:00am most days though he wants to leave earlier.

After I drop off Hailey, then I’m able to have/finish my breakfast.  Robert and Hannah just hang around upstairs since they don’t like being downstairs without me.  Sometimes I try to have reading time with them (I would like to do morning devotional during this time but hasn’t worked out much).

Also if I need kid free space, I’ll turn on Dragon Tales on the computer and they watch ONE show while I fix my hair, start laundry, straighten up the rooms, or work on the kitchen.

Monday and Wednesday, Robert has preschool at 9:30-10:30. Everyone is just 5 minutes away. During the hour, Hannah and I usually run errands.

Tuesday is dance and Thursday is story time. Both start at 10:00am and are generally ½ hour long.  I try to leave the house at 9:30am to give Robert the opportunity to go potty at these places. However, lately he doesn’t like my suggestion and fights this so going early isn’t too helpful.  Both events are just for Robert and Hannah stays outside in the lobby area. I bring toys and books for her but she just likes running around and playing on the stairs.  There are lots of toys to play with at the library and we generally hang out until the kids start fighting with others. Robert likes to pick out books before we go. 

CAUTION!!! Robert runs away to the car after both library and dance, while I am waddling behind with Hannah.  There is no solution to this but I have always found him again at the car or in the grass close to the car. It’s frustrating but he is generally safe and easy to find.

We just waste time after our activities until it’s time to pick up Hailey again (11:50).  It we are walking, Hannah’s in the stroller and Robert is pretty good about staying close by unless he is mad.  It takes us 10 minutes to walk so we leave at 11:35-11:40.  Taking the car is easier but parking fills quick (leave around 11:40-11:45). We pick up Hailey at the side of the building this time. Do not park at the yellow railing because that is left for the ELC bus. You can leave the kids in the car but keep the keys with you especially if Robert is in the booster seat and can unbuckle himself. If you happen to be late, they take her to the office.

For lunch I start by putting small snack items at the table (fruit snacks, fishies, pretzels, or raisins) while I heat up the main dish for them (mini corn dogs, pizza rolls, chicken nuggets, taquitos, or sandwiches). It is water time at lunch for everyone. Hannah can have plastic cups with water but does sippy cups with milk. Sometimes we have fruit and cucumbers with lunch but lately I’ve been forgetting.  After the kids have everything, then I eat whatever I feel like.

After lunch is potty time for Robert, just remind him and encourage him but it doesn’t happen all the time anymore.  Hannah then takes a nap.  After you change her diaper, put the basket on top of the changing table or she’ll play with it in her bed.  Hannah picks out her song, I give tons of kisses, makes sure she has her special sucking blanket and bear.  Nigh-night time is her key phrase to know to sleep and I put up the gate leaving her door a little open.  She shouldn’t fight this much. If she whines a little just ignore it. She generally sleeps from 1-3pm.

Hailey and Robert have to play downstairs because it’s quiet time upstairs.  They generally watch Netflix shows through the Wii while they play.  Robert picks his show first (usually Blue’s Clues) then Hailey picks (usually Dora).  Hailey can change between shows after it is set up.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You have been it through the busiest part of the day and have TWO HOURS to yourself.  I generally nap, craft, clean, or waste time on computer.

Around 3:00pm, Hannah wakes up and it’s nap time.  If Robert hasn’t had an accident yet, consider yourself lucky. Most likely, he has pooped his pants while down stairs and needs a cool bath. Encourage him to do most of the cleaning of himself and of his clothes by himself. I’ve never been able to find the wet spot of the floor so I have stopped looking for it. Now it’s snack time. They can pick out 2 snacks from the clear bucket (which has fruit snacks) or the blue bucket (which has fishies, raisins, misc snacks.)

I start cooking dinner around 4:00-4:30 to have things ready by 5:15pm when Nate comes home.

I try to get the kids to help me set the table some days. Hannah is my biggest helper with this. After dinner everyone clears up their own plates. (Hannah even tries to help). Hannah gets calcium sprinkled on her food and gets Keppra also. After dinner, the kids pick on PJs while I do dishes (POTTY TIME REMINDER FOR ROBERT). Then we go downstairs to clean up. If they are done early (by 6:15) then they can watch one show.  We have stories around 6:30pm, then scriptures, prayer, last time drinks of WATER, and potty time. Songs are done in individual rooms. Turn on sound makers, give lots of love, and leave the room.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are done for the day and it’s only 7:00pm.

Little Tricks and Pointers

Night time songs-Robert likes praise to the man (with actions) or wise man and foolish man

if Hannah points in the air with both hands she wants Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

if Hannah points to her ear with one hand she wants Wise Man and Foolish Man

General seat arrangement is Robert in back, Hailey in booster seat, and Hannah in front.

If Robert wants the booster seat, then Hannah goes in back, and Hailey gets front with the lap belt instead of the 5 point harness but still with the built-in booster seat down.

ALWAYS keep your keys with you because Robert will lock the side doors.

Discipline-for tiny incidents like annoying siblings (or mommy) we count them and say that’s one. When they get to three it is bedroom time.  Once they stopped screaming in their room, then the stay in one minute for each year that they are. (Robert 3, Hailey 5) Hannah does go in her room when she’s crying uncontrollable but generally gets right back out and is just fine. She’ll go to her room if you tell her to.  For big incidents like hitting, we sing Uh-oh! And they go to their rooms immediately.

However, since this post is about completely taking over what I do, I need to mention that on top of taking care of kids, I still have the dumb house to deal with.  I like FLY-lady's approach to getting it all done but still have a hard time actually doing it.  Besides daily dishes, I am trying to focus on one room a day.

Mondays -Robert's Room, Bath Night, and Groceries/Errands

Tuesdays- Girls' Room and Laundry

Wednesdays-Parent's Room and Bath Night

Thursdays- Living Room and Laundry

Fridays-Kitchen and Bath Night

Saturdays- Bathroom, Downstairs, and yet again MORE LAUNDRY!!!

Every other week, I do the linens and towels.  I feel like all I ever do is laundry.

This system though simple and should only take 30 minutes each day to do is still very difficult for me to do consistently.  I usually combine a couple of days together but I'm working on it and that's a good sign.  I somehow need to fit cleaning the car and taking care of outside in there somewhere too.  I try to remember to throw out all the trash from the car away when filling up gas. 

So this is what this very busy stay-at-home mom does all day, every day and sometimes I think Nathan has it easier. BUT I would choose this over anything else.  I know having small kids at home won't last very long at all.

Potty Training Robert

Robert is 3 years and 7 months old.  He definitely has his own unique personality. We have introduced the idea of going potty a couple of time with him before but he wasn't interested and it was too difficult for us.  So, I figured that when Hailey goes off to school, it'll be easier to focus on potty training him.

However, two or three weeks before Hailey went off to school, Robert wanted to have a potty party with Hailey.  We had to make the rule of "you can only be in the bathroom if you are using it", so Robert wanted to use his frog potty (thank you Eva and Morgan!) while Hailey was on the big potty.  Well, learning by example is the best way, and if he is ready then I should just let him.  He also gets terrible diaper rashes which makes it even harder for us to change him because he hurts so bad. 

So we pulled out his Thomas underwear again and he did reasonable well for the first couple of days.

We started off with giving him candy everything he went and made a big deal with it.  I learned my lesson with Hailey and always gave him candy when he asked for it.   I took candy rewards away from Hailey too quickly and it made potty training very difficult.  We read books together during potty time and he generally spent a good 1/2 hour in there playing with bath toys.

After a little while, he was very resistant to going potty and didn't care at all about candy. So, we made a potty chart with Happy faces and sad faces.  He is very expressive on how he feels and will often tell us we made he soo sad! (This saying got to be very annoying because we want him to own up to his own feelings and stop blaming us. So every time time he told us that we made him sad, we would say we could get a piece of candy then.  After a week or so, he didn't say it as much. However, he just moved to a new phrase instead "Stop IT!") Anyways...since he cared a lot about how his feelings are I thought that putting happy faces with successes and sad faces with accidents will kind of help motivate him to use the potty more. Also, if he got all happy faces in one day, then he can get ice cream.

This is the chart from the first week we used it. It helped me know generally want times he would go potty so I could make it more routine. We time to have potty time, when he wakes up, after breakfast, after morning snack, after lunch, after afternoon snack, after dinner, and before bed.  He generally went 8 times a day and by the end of the week, he earned 4 ice cream trips in a row. We were very proud of our big boy. However, it's hard to have that many ice cream trips, so we added a money jar to keep track of the successes. He would get one penny for peeing, two for pooping, one for taking care of his potty, one if he went in the big potty instead, one for pulling up his pants, one for washing his hands, and an extra one if he just listened to his body instead of us telling him to go.  The goal was to get 100 pennies so he could pay for his own ice cream.  It took him two weeks to get that much and then after he could see how the money thing worked, it only took a week to get the next ice cream trip.

For some strange reason, Robert has stopped progressing. He started refusing to go when we asked, he refusing to clean his potty, he refusing to pull up his pants and wash his hands.  He know how to do all these step, we aren't asking anything too hard of him, but he just stopped doing it.  We've been taking a Love and Logic parenting class that's offered by the school district for free. We got the idea that he should start paying us for the things we do for him.  Robert didn't care.  We are lucky if he'll even go potty four times a day and most of the time it's a fight.  He doesn't care if he is wet or dirty and refusing to do anything about it.  We've been told that if he cleans up after his own mess, he'll go in the potty.  We've send him to time out until he cleans it up, and he will stay there for 30 minutes at least just lying on the floor.  We take things away but still he doesn't care.  When he's really messy and needs a bath, I put cool water for him to use to wash himself off and it still doesn't motivate him to use the potty on his own accord.

Potty training is the most frustrating thing we have had to deal with as parents so far (I don't even want to think about teenagers) and it is even more difficult with Robert has very defiant personality on top of it.  We have tried changing our parenting techniques to help us with Robert in general. We have read Love and Logic books and are taking the class.  We've also researched 1-2-3 Magic and use a combination of the two.  The biggest thing we have trouble with is getting him to DO something. We have also looked into allergies and did the Fiengold Diet for 2-3 months. In the diet we took out all artificial preservatives, coloring, and flavor.  There wasn't as big of a change that we expected to see and it's very difficult to cook all the time.  I learned a lot from that and it helped me define what I want a healthy diet to be like but now is just not the time.  I'm at the point where I'm just too frustrated to deal with him effectively.  I really want to quit potty training so I can just focus on his regular behavior and be consistent with effective parenting techniques instead of the added stress of potty training.  However, since he decided to start potty training, I can't get him in diapers again. 

I love my big boy so much and there are a lot of sweet things that he does.  He has a very kind heart and can make up wonderful stories.  He reminds me to be a nice mommy and how Jesus is sad when I yell.  I want to be a better mommy and take good care of him.  He loves to be held and wants to help me. For the most part he plays very well with Hailey and looks up to her a lot.  Of course there is still fighting but in the afternoon they just play together or draw together and I get a nice break. He just fights being controlled and that's what I'm trying to do with potty training.

So I figure I have a few options.
1) stop potty training and put him back in pull ups or diapers. (I needed to get Nathan's approval on this one and he wants pull ups instead of diapers so Robert will stay independent.  It makes sense but Robert HATES pull ups more than anything.)
2) continue with the fight and force set potty times on him until "something" clicks and he just goes on his own.
3) keep him in underwear and completely back off, make it all up to him with gentle reminders but no serious pushes to the potty.

I think that option I'm going to do now is number 3! He has never had more than 4 accidents in a day and generally only has an accident in the afternoon.  I would rather do a little more laundry than fight him until we are both blue in the face.  He is also completely night trained and in the 3 months that we've been working with him, I've only had to change his bed twice.  Nathan's around in the morning and at night to help with those potty times (Robert responds more to Nathan than to me). So there is only one or two potty times he should have while I'm "in charge". 

I hate potty training but I want to remember this struggle to help guide me for future kids.  I think  Hannah will be the easiest to potty train and when we are both ready (most likely in a year from now when I'm done nursing the baby) we will do the Potty Party Idea from "Potty Train your Child in Just One Day by Teri Crane." I think that approach will work best with her.

Sleep Success

I should have posted this a while ago but soon after I blogged about Hannah's frustrating sleep issues, she started sleeping well. There is nothing more precious than a sleeping kid.

 So as you can see we have Hailey and Hannah's bed's next to each other. Hailey has a twin size bed and Hannah's is a toddler bed.  This has worked out great because it's harder for Hannah to accidentally roll onto Hailey's bed and she is definitely a roller.  We also give Hannah lavender oil to help her calm down when she's too upset to sleep.  We also have a noise maker; for nap time it is on Ocean and for bed time it's on Crickets.  The gate gets put up every time but Hannah's okay with that and likes her door open.

I try very hard to make sure all of the toys are out of the girl's room but sometimes toys sneak past me.  I also have to put the diapers and wipes up or she'll play with them.  During nap time, Hannah plays for 10 minutes or so before she falls asleep. Recently she's been taking Hailey's stuffed animals to play with. It's very cute to hear her "talking" for them.   While posting this, Hailey just discovered Hannah's secret and was shocked. This morning I found all of the dirty clothes (which wasn't a whole lot since I have to do laundry frequently (potty training Robert)) in Hannah's bed.  She is one crazy kid.

The past couple of days she has been waking up between 6:00am-6:30am but this is way better then our 12:00am, 2:00am, and 4:00am schedule that we were on.  I'm grateful to have these few weeks of uninterrupted sleep (expect for pregnancy issues) until the new baby comes.

Surprise Baby

I'm officially 37 weeks today and I've realized that I haven't blogged about this pregnancy at all.  Since I could technically have this baby any day now, I should write about how it's been.  The cute pictures were done by my friend Kelly and I'm so thankful to have them. I am 35 weeks in the pictures.

So let's start at the beginning.  I am a big planner and love to see patterns in most everything. Hailey was born June 14th (due the 13th). A year later I was pregnant with Robert and he was born March 22nd (due the 30th). Hannah was a surprise for us, we weren't planning on having another kid until Nate was done with school but like clock work, I was pregnant shortly after Robert turned a year.  Hannah was born December 16th (due 15th).  There is 21 months between each kid and I love it.

I've always wanted four kids, so when Hannah turned a year, I was ready to become pregnant again.  However, Hannah is our little curve ball and had her first seizure October 2010 and since she was sick and I needed close bonding time with her I nursed her until she was one years old.  We moved into our four bedroom house in February 2011 and I took a pregnancy test on a Wednesday and is was negative.  That was a little sad because I really wanted a fall baby.  Luckily, I retested the following Monday, was positive and made plans to have a big family party for dinner.  I wanted this baby and feel very blessed to be pregnant.  My due date is October 29th.  Hannah and the new baby will be 22 months apart.

I know I was nauseous in the first trimester but I don't remember ever throwing up. With Hailey I had really bad morning sickness (throwing up 2-3 times days during weeks 8 & 9) but since then each pregnancy has been better and better.  I had weird cravings though. I went through a baked potato faze and then followed it was a huge strawberry craving. I had about 2 cups of fresh berries every night.  I don't have strong craving anymore after the strawberries. With Hailey at the end all I wanted was DQ corn dog, onion rings, and a strawberry sundae. With Robert I wanted meat and fruit. With Hannah I ate spaghetti all the time. 

Being pregnant is a lot of fun because the kids are old enough to understand that a baby is coming and share in the excitement.  Hailey thinks that baby is a boy and sometimes in her prayers she said she was thankful for our family that has 3 girls and 3 boys. I've asked Hailey want we should name the baby if it's a girl and she used to say Dance-a-ca. Robert thinks he is pregnant along with me (Hailey did this when I was pregnant with Hannah).  Robert says that the baby is in the back (so it gives him permission to jump on my tummy in his mind). Also since Robert is a boy, his baby is a boy and since I'm a girl, then my baby is a girl.  Yesterday I was shopping with all three kids and Hannah started rubbing and hugging my belly while she was sitting in the cart. It was very cute.

I am a little nervous about how Hannah will be when the new baby comes because I still carry her everywhere.  She is very much attached to me and is very spoiled.  I also carry her everywhere because I have a hard enough time keeping track of Robert that I can't have Hannah run off in a different direction or wait for her to walk when Robert's already in the street. (This is a big problem when we go to dance class because the doors open automatically.) Thankfully, we have Hannah's seizures under control and I no longer fear what I would do if she has a seizure while I'm in labor.

I strongly feel like I can only handle four kids and so this will be my last pregnancy.  It's a tough decision to make but that's want we are planning on until we feel inspired to take a different course. Due to that, I've tried to treasure this experience that I get to grow a baby inside me.  I will miss the close bond that pregnancy brings and I will even miss the feeling the baby move around even though it's tough when the baby's kicking my ribs or makes it difficult to sleep.

I started this pregnancy going to Dr. Cox, who is the same doctor I had with Robert and Hannah. However, we watched a documentary called The Business of Being Born, and I realized that there isn't a reason for me to be in the hospital.  I felt like my time there with Hannah was a waste and I couldn't wait to get out.  I also didn't like that Hannah was taken for several hours for testing in the nursery.  I labor at home until the very end and within an hour of arriving at the hospital, I had Hannah.  I hate being hooked up to an IV and hope that the last hour will go better if I didn't have the IV and annoying people talking to me (like the Resident).  Also, I was following a friend's blog about her experience with an unplanned home birth (her plan was a birth center), and my friend Josie had her last two babies at home.  So, Nathan and I decided that a home birth is want we wanted.

A bonus to our decision (but not the deciding factor) is that this is the first pregnancy not on Medicaid.  I'm on Blue Cross Insurance and pay about $130 a month (which will be increased to $160 in November). Their policy is a $5000 deductible for all maternity care, then we pay 20% of the cost after that. Roughly, we would have paid $7500 for the doctor and hospital for a very normal, uneventful birth. We talked with billing for Dr. Cox (before we decided on a home birth) and just for a vaginal delivery it is $2995 + $1000 for lab work and 1 ultrasound. There is a discount of 20% if the account is paid completely by the 6 week check-up. Then the hospital costs around $5000. I went to Dr. Cox twice (the first time we did a lot of lab work, the second time was the pap exam) and had one ultrasound which ended up being $650 out of pocket. I like Dr. Cox and will go back to him for birth control after the baby is born but it is unbelievable how expensive things are.

I am going to a birth center in Rigby (1 hour away) called Agape.  They have 2 midwives (Michelle and Kathy) and one of the senior interns (Valerie) will graduate in two weeks.  They are the only midwives in the area State Certified and can go into the hospital with you if there is a transfer need. Their Home birth Package is $3,350 which includes 4 postpartum care for me and the baby.  I am renting a tub which is $200 and have to pay for their gas (3 home visits) which is $315.  So their total amount for everything is $3865 and I get a $500 discount if we pay in full by the first appointment. I needed a few supplies for a home birth which ended up costing about $40.  And that's it! The total cost is less then the insurance deductible. That all we have to pay. Agape is trying and is very close to having Medicaid accept them and pay for their services.  Hopefully, once Medicaid goes, the other insurances will go too.

 I've been really happy with the midwives and the care they give me.  I see them a frequently as I would an OB and still have to pee in a cup, check my weight and blood pressure each appointment.  The appointment routine is the same expect the midwives actually take time to get to know me.  Our appointments last between 30min to an hour of just talking.  I've seen Valerie the most and we have talked a lot about the fact I was on Zoloft.  I have been on Zoloft since 2004 and though all the pregnancies.  However, I have had three medical professionals tell me that I should try to get off and Hannah's chiropractor told me Sam-e was a good, safe substitute. I was able to make the switch and am doing fine with it.  Since there was a concern about heart defects (by my family doctor that I only went to because I need my prescription refilled), I ended up having an ultrasound.  I forgot how uncomfortable it was being poked in the belly, laying flat on my back.  It took 40 minutes, I was getting light headed and nauseous. I asked the tech to NOT check the sex of the baby.  I do not want to have out.

I actually enjoy having the sex of the baby a surprise.  One of my parent's friends replied that there are too few good surprises anymore and that's exactly how I feel about it.  I love surprises and the anticipation of it.  Not knowing has helped the pregnancy go by much faster.  It seems like once I knew with the other kids, it was harder to wait for them to come. Nathan on the other hand HATES surprises and really wants to know mainly because it's been difficult to agree on a girl's name and he just doesn't want to worry about it if it's not a girl.

I think it's a boy because of my craving at the beginning.  I think it's a boy because it's a rolly-polly baby like Robert instead of a kicking baby like the girls.  Also both girls were due in the middle of the month and were a day late.  Since I'm due at the end of the month like I was with Robert, I think this baby will also come a week early.  Hailey and Hannah were born on a Wednesday (both due on a Tuesday). Robert was born on Saturday (was due on a Sunday). This baby is due on a Saturday.  I'm thinking Sunday Oct 23rd is a great day to have a baby.  Also, Hailey was born around 3:00pm, Robert at 7:00pm, Hannah was a little after 12:00am so this baby could come in the middle of the night. That would make child care easier if it happened that way.  I know, especially when dealing with kids, everything is random but I love having patterns.  Hailey/Hannah are my Summer/Winter babies and Robert/New Baby are Spring/Fall babies.

So in short, I love being pregnant and this has been the best pregnancy so far. I feel very blessed to have uneventful pregnancies and am able to do a home birth.  I enjoy my midwives and am learning a lot.  I am very thankful for this special surprise I'm carrying.