Things had been going great for a long time… too long. I was going to bed whenever I wanted (LATE), getting up early, taking care of the children, taking them to all their activities in the boiling sun, shopping, working, working, and working…

and eating Pints and Pints of Ben & Jerrys.

No matter how much I tempted IT, I still woke up each day energized and ready to go.. well excluding the anemia and constant exhaustion

I decided that I was immune and nothing could get to me. That this time I was going to WIN! Then it all came crashing.

It is my 4th pregnancy and again I have lost to illness. I am definitely more of a ‘granola’ type of person. Whole wheat instead of white, herbs instead of medication, (excluding my junk food habit), yet ironically, I dont think I have made it through one pregnancy without antibiotics!

Just a few days ago, the ‘naturalist’…where I went in hopes of beating this before it turned into something… told me that the baby is very selfish and will take care of all of his/her needs first. That women in the time of the holocaust, who barely had what to eat, gave birth the healthy babies. I find this reassuring. I also have been told that your immune system is basically shot during pregnancy, so recuperating is a much bigger ordeal.

I have a long list of tasks I need to accomplish before delivering. Instead of accomplishing anything, I am just witnessing the mess in my house build up, my bills go unpaid, the fridge empty, and the emails go unanswered.  I am spending my free time snorting salt water, holding my face over the humidifier, coughing out my lungs, and getting very happy about the small things - like kids leaving the house in matching clean clothing, and the softness of KLEENEX brand tissues.

Here is to good health.

 

This is my first summer pregnancy.  I am literally MELTING… It is nothing short of a superhuman effort to get dressed and leave the house… just to enter a car with no working a/c.  We are talking 100 degrees outside, and the air inside the house cannot even compete with that kind of heat.

Whoever is able to get pregnant with ease, and wants to plan a pregnancy… here is a little advice. Aim to get pregnant in August/Early September. The advantages:

1) Your wardrobe is much cheaper, since you can get away with wearing sweatshirts, sweaters, etc throughout the winter months.

2) Your belly will keep you warmer in the winter

3) Your baby is born in the spring, just in time for the warm summer, and his/her wardrobe can be a onesie for about 4-5 months. There is no dressing a baby in the summer (other than showing it off of course)

4) Your electricity bills will be lower, since you cant be blasting the air on the baby, but you wont be forced to put the heat up for their warmth.

5) Mostly overlooked at this stage, but very relevant - your child will be in the normal cut off times for the school year. Parents of children born in the fall/winter usually have to choose to have their child be the youngest or oldest in a class.

Is there one I missed? Let me know…

My only advantage to being EXTRA HOT this Summer… my husband and I finally agree on the temperature of the a/c! No arguing - “Raise the air” “lower the air”… “Its cool outside” “yes honey but we are inside”

Any tips on staying cool for what is likely to be an even longer summer….?

 

This blog is being taken over by a pregnant woman …

There are a few types of people. Those who will find out what they are having right away, and tell everyone.. “oh we are having a girl and naming her Ashley”. Those who will wait until birth to discover the sex of their child (a decreasing amount). The majority fall into the category of those who find out the gender, then keep it to themselves, or share it with a very limited amount of people based on a need to know basis. (Isnt it need to know for your Mother not to buy you all green and yellow for every baby?) 

Which one of these are/were you and why? Why did you feel it was public knowledge or why did you feel that you should wait to find out?

Were you disappointed? How did you deal with the disappointment? 

For my first 3 pregnancies I did not know. I figured I needed something to push for. However, I did like having the information in my possession if for some reason I should choose to know. Therefore I ask the Ultrasound Technician to write it on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. I had never opened the envelope… until now. This being my 4th pregnancy, and perhaps the need to be more organized, I could not reason with myself anymore why I should NOT KNOW. While it was so obvious to me in the past, that feeling left me. Also I cant ever push (my babies dont descend down the canal or something, and need to be karate chopped out), so that reason also seemed silly coming out of my mouth.

So now I know. I am a little less impressed with my self resolve, and I dont know what to do with the information. When you are in a delivery room and everyone is anxiously awaiting the news, and you reach this emotional/physical/spiritual plane than only giving birth can offer, it seems appropriate to hear the words - “Its a Boy! or Its a Girl”! Life changing words. Here it was like “Its a x, pass the butter”. Maybe I would feel differently if I heard it was the opposite sex? Perhaps. I may never know.

 

Last week we took away Tehilah’s bottles and started giving her sippy cups. The first several days were difficult, but not she is fine with it. We got a six pack of cups in many different colors and her favorite thing to do is to try an use all six different ones in one day. She’s quite good at it. She will get one filled up with water, then leave it in her room. Then she will request apple juice, which she’ll leave in the den. The lunchtime requires another cup of water… Etc. We have also started giving her real plates instead of plastic. She’s doing fine with it.

Well Ben is now getting up on all fours and schooching backwards. He hasn’t figured out the forward motion thing yet, but I’m sure it is not far away. Last night he wouldn’t stay asleep unless he was nursing the whole night. Poor Julie! She’s a trooper. He refuses to take a pacifier. Any suggestions?

Now I bet you asked yourself what dundydunning is didn’t you? I would guess that 99.99% of everyone who reads this doesn’t know. Well, that may not be true considering that my readership is probably 25% (at the very least) family and they (at least my father’s side of the family) will know exactly what dundydunning is. Forty some odd years ago, my Uncle Robert used to wake his two brother’s up by straddling them in bed and bouncing up and down on them why screaming ‘dundydun! dundydun!’ Well, this was something that my father taught me and being in favor of passing on family traditions, have taught Tehilah. She loves to come and dundydun her Dad, even if it’s not the right time for him to wake up. Viva la tradition!

Now back to the subject of disciplining Tehilah. She is now old enough that we send her to her room. Whenever she goes in she closes the door and starts crying these big fake alligator tears. After a few minutes we let her out. She has also learned to say “Sorry Ben” when she gets too physical with him. She will say sorry when told to, but she knows that she is admitting wrong doing when she apologizes and she doesn’t like it. So it is “Say sorry or go to your room.” She usually, but not always, chooses to say “I’m sorry Ben.”

One last thought. Her speech skills are improving like mad. She can have a real conversation and can repeat anything back to you. I was barbecuing yesterday and she kept asking “What you doing Dad?” I told her I was going to cook meat on the fire. So all day she was walking around telling anyone who would listen (and quite a few who wouldn’t) that “Dad cooks with fire outside.”

She is such a Daddy’s girl and I love it!

Ben has started scooting himself backwards across the floor. Saturday my wife couldn’t find him for a few seconds and got a bit worried, until she asked Tehilah where he was. Tehilah told her mater of factly, “Couch bottom.” So Julie looked under the couch and there he was, all smiles and proud of him self. I’m thinking about all the child proofing we are going to have to do soon. We will need child safety locks on all the cabinets and lock the door to my office. I can just see him crawling in here and seeing the shiny buttons on my computer and “Boom!” a day’s work down the tube. (Always backup your important work!) I’m glad that this is happening as spring is arriving. At least this way the heater will be off soon and we won’t need to worry about him crawling into that. Tehilah knows that it is “HOT” and she can’t touch it, but it will be a while before Ben can be taught that lesson.

I would like to say thanks to the people who have made comments on the blog, especially Hannah’s Mommy, and old friend from my time spent moderating the Baby-Place Message Boards. If any of you other old message board ladies (or Steve ) read this, please leave me a comment to say hello.