3D/4D Ultrasound Festivities

I mentioned the other day that we gave in and scheduled an appointment at this... awkward place. I mean, the place itself looks fine, it was the idea that sounded a bit weird to me: I'm used to seeing ultrasound machines at doctors' offices, which this place was not. I do assume that the person performing the scan did have some sort of medical background, or at least it sounded like he knew what he was saying. 

So, yup. I spent about half an hour in a weird, but comfy bed in a dark room inside of an office building in Bloomington. Derek and his mom were with me. We could have purchased some whatever internet access package thing, too, and had my family watch the whole thing live, too, but that really would have been too much, right? Eventually, we went home with a CD full of pictures, DVD with the whole session on it (very cute, actually, despite some cheesy music) and some printed scans. They gave me some junk from Similac, too, and I managed to refuse a bunch of formula coupons and a baby bottle. It just didn't look all that good/special and I still hope I won't really need any... at least for a long time.

At this point, there really shouldn't be any surprises: all the boy parts are still there. The kiddo measured about 40 centimeters today and, according to the ultrasound guy, that's pretty long. Longer than normal? Our baby? Weird. He also seems to have big feet. Our baby? Weird. And there was, apparently, some hair on his head. Weird again! We were glad to see a round piggy nose, though. Well, I was. I'm scared of that big thing on Derek's face!

Here are some pictures of the little guy:

And here's one of his huge foot!

He seems to enjoy hiding behind his arms and chewing on his foot. Weirdo. He was also breech, facing towards my left hip. Hm. This is getting a little bit frustrating, I suppose. Every single time someone looks in there, he's in a different position. I suppose breech won't be the last one, because I really don't want a C-section. Yes, I know it can happen for several reasons, but I suppose I can still not want one, right?

The whole ultrasound experience and its weird setting was actually kind of nice. I can't say it wasn't worth it. It is definitely different than a scan you get at a doctor's office. I suppose I'd recommend this to others, too. 

The rest of the day, we shopped at IKEA and drove around. And ate. I might've gained about a kilo in 10 days and I have to admit it bothers me a little. I've not changed my eating habits and I do understand that the majority of it has gone towards the little guy, butbutubutbut.

Oh, btw, we think the name we have for him still fits him.

A Quick Update, a.k.a. Wednesday Ramblings

We had an appointment with our doctor last Wednesday and everything went fine. I had my glucose challenge and I lived. The drink sure is disgusting, but it's a lot better than what I had to down more than ten years ago in Croatia. That one had no flavour to it and for whatever reason wasn't even refrigerated. There was less of it, though. What they had me drink last week was a pretty big bottle of some orange... something. But like I said, I lived. I really only wanted to climb the wall and walk on the ceiling a few times, but that was it. An hour later, they drew my blood and my results came back really good: 102 in whichever American units, which equals 5.7 in those that'd be used in Croatia. That's fairly close tolerable numbers for fasting glucose, or even within those limits, according to some charts.

So - yay! No gestational diabetes here (even though I wasn't really worried about it, to be honest). My blood pressure is still very good (as in - low) and everything else looked fine, too. We had a quick scan because Derek had to be at work earlier than normal and, unfortunately, no pictures were printed. It's been a long while since we got any, really. Hmph. (I made sure to fix this, btw.)

The little guy (yup, still a guy!) is doing great. A week ago, his weight was 1044 grams or 2.3 pounds and had a heartbeat of, if I'm not mistaken, 146 bpm. He kept hiding his face behind his hands, so we didn't really get to see it. We didn't see much of anything, to be honest, because the majority of the scan was dedicated to the measurements that were important to the doctor. The kiddo's femur bone and stomach measured two days ahead of schedule, while his head was two days behind. But all of that is good. The pregnancy was once more time labeled as low risk and we have another appointment scheduled for September 20th. 

The important part was a chat we had with the doctor: I just had to ask him about things from our prenatal education (from hell). He was pretty surprised to hear some of the things and I really swear  I did not make anything up, or made it sound worse than it really had been. Either way, the doctor made both of us feel a lot better and I suppose Derek now doesn't really have to worry that I will decide to stay at home and have the raccoons and the cat help me out while I'm giving birth to the little one. The doctor said he wouldn't break my water, especially not for no reason, or if I showed up a bit too early. He did say that I should stay at home for as long as it's possible, simply because it's better for me (as in - more comfortable). He also likes working with our local doulas and supports the idea of bringing one along. As far as he is concerned, I can deliver whichever way I want and the whole hype about breaking the bed just means that he is not turning it into a regular ob/gyn table/bed with stirrups, but instead leaving it be. He wouldn't ban me from eating and drinking either, but he does advise women to lay off it because, from his experience, the majority of intake just comes back up. (Ok, that part scared me enough to really consider fasting! Haha.) To him, also, breech doesn't mean a C-section at 36 weeks, or even later. There's no reason to simply not wait and give the baby enough time to turn, or he can always attempt turning it. So that was good to hear, too. Another good thing is that he never does any routine cervical checkups, so I suppose he won't be poking around my private parts unless it becomes necessary.

So, yup, I feel a lot better now about the whole deal!

I went back to the class tonight, though and now I really feel somewhat stupid. It was, again, kind of masochistic. Tonight's topic was, for the most part, C-section, with a little bit of postpartum garnish. It was scary, even though I have to admit that this instructor was a lot better than the cheerful chipmunk we had the first three weeks. She still talked about the bad/icky/nasty things only and didn't forget to bring all the statistics up either (yup... the C-section rate for the US is still 33% and our hospital is even worse, because they rarely ever allow VBAC). I even ended up arguing with her at one point because she was, again, trying to present nasty things as facts, that are supposedly valid for any women stepping through the doors to the Mayo Clinic and then meeting any provider who works there. Oh, whatever.

As of tonight, I am officially signed up for an independent class, Preparation for Natural Childbirth, so I hope they will undo the damage this hospital trash has done! It starts mid September and I am actually looking forward to it. 

I took a picture of my watermelon-shaped self this morning. I've grown, that's for sure, but I have to admit I am pretty pleased with how I look. I've gained about 5.5 - 6 kilos, which I guess is okay for nearly 28 weeks, and it seems I've packed them only into the bump and boobs. I'm still sporting very thin ankles and small feet; probably smaller than ever in my adult life. No idea what's up with that, but it sure does feel good. Especially since I still work full time and sit 8 hours a day at a desk. 

27w5d - enjoy the view of our office bathroom, too!

As for the little boy, he finally has a name. Actually, he's had it for over a week now and we're fairly sure we'll keep it, unless, of course, he comes out screaming he is not that. I am, however, not sure what people who carry that name are supposed to look like, either. And we are nowhere near getting a middle name sorted. It might be something Croatian, since the first name isn't, but it won't be anything too local. I don't want the kiddo to have to spell every single part of his name nearly as often as I have. It grows old after a while, really.

The scans I mentioned earlier? Well, I gave in and made a phonecall the other day to some... place. I don't know what they are, to be honest. It's not a clinic; I assume it's more of a photo studio? Well, we're treating ourselves to a baby-viewing session. The whole deal feels almost a bit, uhm, extreme, but I am too curious to wait to see the little guy in person, if I can take a peak before then, okay? So next Saturday, we're going up to Minneapolis to get a 3D/4D scan of our baby. It's an actual, uhm, projection on a big screen, apparently, and we'll get a few photo prints, some black-and-white ones, as well as a DVD with the video, and a CD with the remaining pictures. Fancy, huh? LOL. Like I said, this makes me feel totally weird, but I just had to do it. Hopefully they'll be able to get some good shots; the little guy has been very, very active and I feel like he's trying to constantly mistake me for a punching bag. He goes into some fits of punching rage, I swear. Then takes a nap. 

Soon enough we might have some nice things to show when it comes to our upstairs. Most of the walls have been painted and some of the floors have been laid. Woohooo. I can't wait to get it all done and over with: I want to live in a clean house, too, and, I admit, I want to start sorting all the little person's stuff, too. (Amongst other things, I am getting very curious to find out how many doubles I've accumulated, haha.)

Childbirth Education: Round Three. Torture Room Tour.

Been there, done that. I mean, we survived the third class, which included the hospital tour.

The first part of the class was about pain medication and pain management and some weird... something. We were taking a walk from one comfort station to another (in reality, these were just desks scattered around the conference room) and reading random little flash cards with, again, mostly useless information on them. But oh well, right? I mean, I voluntarily signed up for this! During the comfort-trip, we learned that music may or may not benefit you, that you may or may not like essential oils, or that birthing balls can be good for you too. Or can't, depending on your preferences, really. Some people like massage, some don't. Some tennis balls have legs, some don't. Those with legs, apparently, tend to walk out of the hospital and, therefore, we were instructed to bring our own. I tried to imagine juggling the balls in labour, but I failed. I mean, I fail at juggling more than two, maybe three balls, even when I'm not in pain.

(Yes, I do realize that's not quite the purpose of those balls, btw.)

We heard a lot of things about pain medications and that part was beyond scary. I don't mind needles, let alone needle-related talk, but I do mind hearing too much about possible side effects and overall downsides to some decisions or procedures. I never really planned to get an epidural or that other three-letter-thing (some drug that goes into your spine as well), but now I really want them even less. Scary. Too much nausea-related talk, amongst other things. And the idea of being paralyzed, even a tiny bit, freaks me out. I get the chills by just thinking about it, really. If there's anything I really hate (besides puking or even feeling sick to my stomach), it's losing control of my body. Any parts of it. I am even mildly uncomfortable when I get a novocaine shot at the dentist's office. One time they sprayed a tiny bit of lidocaine into my mouth and I nearly started panicking because I couldn't quite control my own swallowing. Or at least it felt that way. So I don't think these two things are for me, really.

The instructor was also talking about something that starts with an N, as well as the letter F, but I don't want those either. These were narcotics administered throgh IV and... they're not really good for the baby, in the first place. On top of that, the main side-effect is nausea and dizziness, so - nope. Can't do it.

What I realy disliked is the amount of time spent talking about pain medication and similar things. I mean, yes, I understand that labour hurts and that it's probably the most painful thing that happens over the course of a woman's life (average woman's, at least). No, I probably really can't imagine how bad it is, but I do strongly believe that it's doable and that the majority of women really are able to give birth without being drugged up their butts. I understand the freedom of choice, all the options and whatnot. That's perfectly fine by me. And I do want those to be available to me, as well, because I seriously can't guarantee that I won't need, or want any of these things. I plan not to, but we'll see. We'll know for sure once it's all done. But, at the same time, do we really need to listen about it this much? I understand that it's partially my fault, because I volutarily agreed to attend these classes while knowing who organized them and what they were going to be like, but... still? I wish they would have made labour and birth sound more women friendly. Or at least less dangerous and scary. I'll just need to get myself a clean toilet brush and use it to wipe off the inside of my head, really. That's kind of how I feel.

Then we went to the hospital. They did promise to wheel me in once I stop by and mention being in labour. I guess a labouring woman is, after all, a semi-disabled patient. So I guess I need to start looking into a pleasant wheelchair ride, too. 

I don't really remember where exactly we were, or actually what the room she stuffed us into was: the instructor overcomplicated the whole introduction to the story. Something was overbooked, so we couldn't go there, and instead she took us somewhere else... blablabla. Either way, the room we were in looked the same as one other hospital room somewhere in that area of the hospital where we went to see Derek's cousin's girlfriend and her baby. There was a weird looking bed in it, but I suppose that's what birthing beds look like. It was pretty low (but they can be raised, I assume) and it was plastic, but covered with some terry cloth thing. Apparently these beds fall apart (ok, are taken apart) when the pushing part of labour approaches. I also learned that my doctor is one of those who don't do the bed-breaking thing which, I suppose, I am okay with (as I never even knew they were beds that fell apart, in the first place!). 

I just did my best to find this beast somewhere online, but nothing looked like it. Most delivery or birthing beds look modern and funky, whereas this thing looked like a poor person's guest room cot from 1960's, or something like that. Either way, I saw no stirrups and I also heard that I wouldn't need to be glued to it. Apparently they would even let me deliver squatting, kneeling or possibly even hanging from the ceiling. I do believe I am incapable of the latter, though, as my arms just aren't strong enough for that kind of thing, even without the extra baby weight. If I am labouring without pain meds and other funky stuff, they'd let me walk around without the baby and other monitors, as well. Cool, I s'pose. The uncool part was the rate of C-sections the instructor brought up. I was curious, so I asked... and perhaps shouldn't have. Brrr. So the rate in the US is something like 30%, she said (33% was the number last time I checked somewhere), while our beloved Mayo Clinic Mankato sits proudly at its higher-thirties. Ugh. Scary. She tried to explain where the numbers were coming from and why they weren't supposed to be so terrifying, but I didn't really care all that much. Uuuuuugh!  (I did also ask at some point if I could just ask for a C-section, and then get one, if I get stuck in labour and they start bugging me with pitocin and other ideas I really don't like, and she said that I actually could, even though it'd still depend on my provider. I'm thinking that, in case things went wrong or unexpected, I'd still rather have a section that to be put through the whole ordeal of drugs and pushing and whatnot.... that would lead to the surgery, regardless.)

We also got to meet the weird plastic thing they use to break your waters (it sure did look like some knitting tool), some probes that get into various cavities (or, ok, just one, really), the infamous forceps (which turned out to be a really scary tong-like tool and it was so rusty and smelled bad that I nearly puked) and then also a vacuum. I have to admit that the latter did look weird and funky and nothing like a real medical piece of equipment. I can't really find a good picture of this thing online either, so I suppose this will be a dull, long post without images, pretty much.

Here's the ugly sack-poking thing. Brrr.

Hmm... what else? I guess it's nice that you are given your room, as opposed to sharing one with who knows how many other women (which would be a lot more common practice in Croatia). You labour alone, deliver alone and recover by yourself, too. (Ok, I guess later on you have your baby, as well as all of your family and friends, too.) There's a flat screen TV on the wall, you get your own bathroom that even includes a bath tub, there's a sink in the room and all of the carts and whatnots that might be needed during delivery (or after). They do drag you elsewhere if you need a C-section, of course. There's also a menu in your room and, as long as you're hungry between the right hours, you can order some awesome hospital specialties. During labour, you're banned from food, though. (Uhoh.) Once you deliver, and both you and the baby are fine, they'll leave you alone for about six hours and then start bugging the baby with its first bath and whatnot. So that's good, too. They won't vaccinate the baby or give it the vitamin K shot (or even the eye ointment) if you said so. And they won't give formula to breastfeed babies either.

And that's it. Two more sessions to go, and I think those will be about the newborns, not so much the mothers. I may or may not attend, we'll see.

We have another appointment tomorrow morning and it's going to be my big glucose thing. Ick, in advance. I am terrified of that drink, even though I've had it before, and it wasn't even flavoured. I didn't get sick back then, but for whatever reason, just the idea of it is freaking me out as I type. Ick, ick, ick. I sure do hope I pass, because if I don't, they'll have me come back and drink the poison again. I asked if I could just get the real OGGT test right away, since it doesn't give false positive results like the challenge, but nope... the rules and all.

The little guy's been kicking a lot, so I overall hope he's doing fine, too. We'll see in less than 12 hours.

Childbirth Education, round 2: Labour

It seems I survived the second round of the torture, I mean, Childbirth Education through ISJ-Mayo-Clinic-System, or whatever else they like to call themselves. Derek didn't particularly care to go this time and he got my blessing to stay at home. For good measure, I said he was at work when somebody asked, but I guess I didn't really need to lie as there was another sample of male species missing from tonight's class. And there's also a woman/girl coming with her mother, instead of some person with a penis. 

Our cheerful chipmunk, also known as instructor, asked us to go over a sheet of paper with some numbers on it (the scale went from 10 to -10 and, for an uknown reason, didn't include some of them) and then go stand by the wall, where the number of our choice was proudly displayed. This was all about labour pain and/or our plans when it comes to delivery. I chose -5, simply because -7 was worded so poorly I couldn't identify with it. Actually, I couldn't fully indentify with this -5 either, but it was close enough, I suppose. It said that my preference would be natural birth, with no medications. The part I didn't agree with it, or wouldn't right away, was a sentence referring to drugs that'd be given to me in case of long or difficult labour. I really don't know if I would. Three of us chose this, two women chose epidural, one said she had no clue what she wanted, a few were up for some drugs, but likely no epidural and the girl and her mom stood by -7. That one said the person would be embarassed and disappointed if they agreed to drugs during labour and delivery. I don't think I'd feel that way if I gave in, or simply decided that I needed something, after all.

And that was about it. The rest of the class was mostly about watching some boring slides and videos that talked about stages of labour from which I learned nothing new. In one of the videos, someone named Kristina gave birth to a baby boy and it was nice to see that nobody in the room was puking, gagging or overall dying from the explicitness of the recording. 

Disappointing things, even though they weren't surprising or new: our dearest Mayo clinic will do anything to medicate you or cut you open. Breech babies are also good enough reason to have a scheduled C-section (we're breech at the moment... again). If your little one is in an abnormal position at 36 weeks, you're doomed. Or so said our instructor. I suppose it doesn't matter that there are more than enough examples and stories about babies who turned the right way just before they were born, let alone within the last four weeks, or so. She did, however, say that some doctors will attempt to get the babies to turn (and luckily my ob/gyn is one of those who'd give it a try). The hospital rules also ban you from eating and drinking from the moment you're admitted as a labouring woman, up until you're done giving birth. Luckily our support people are allowed food and drinks so I can just steal theirs if I'll want any, since I can't really imagine ever wanting to dine on crushed ice or some whatever popsicles. Once your waters break, you're banned from the tub, too and they overall believe you need to show up at their doorstep the moment you notice the leak. And then, dearly beloved, they will induce. Let's also not forget the part where those videos mentioned puking/nausea during transition. Whee.

Good things: she mentioned my doctor as an example of those who do not induce because of broken waters, but instead give you up to 24 hours to deliver on your own; sometimes more, sometimes less. And he doesn't start his countdown at the moment of your leakage, but instead pushes the timer after the first vaginal checkup, because he believes that is, actually, your baby's first potential contact with the outside bacteria. This sure did make me feel better.

And then we were done. The class ended early and all I got from today's session was some weird sore throat sensation. I don't feel sick otherwise, so for now I'll just blame it all on the conference room and its horrible air conditioning. The place is way too cold and way too dry. I froze. And kind of starved to death, too. Since we were out earlier than expected, I wandered off to a store and bought some more stuff for the kiddo:

Aren't they cute?

Speaking of hunger/food, I still can't say I've had any real cravings at all, but I have noticed some increased desire for bread, for instance, and still almost no desire for salads or any other foods with vinegar. I have also been allowing myself more ice cream than I did during my restricted calorie days. I'm still doing fine, I suppose: in three days, I'll be hitting my 6th month mark (as well as full 26 weeks) and I've gained something like 11 lbs, all of which have gone into the dinosaur egg and the boobs. I've never had ankles this thin and my wedding ring has never felt bigger. Odd, seriously, but I'm enjoying it. I wish I wouldn't have gained anything, really, but I guess that would have been somewhat ridiculous, too. Our next appointment is a week out (next Wednesday) so I'll have another official weigh-in. I sure do hope that the gods of bathroom will bless me that morning, so I don't have to proudly display a higher number due to some, ugh, clogging. It happened last time and I thought it was pretty disturbing.They also have me down for my glucose tolerance test. Ick. Ick because I know it could make people sick. It could make me sick, I actually don't care about other people! I am that nice, yes. I've had the test before, way back when, but it was somewhat different. I passed it (it had nothing to do with pregnancy either) and I hope I'll pass this one, too. I don't really want to deal with gestational diabetes, but at the same time I'm pretty sure I don't have it.

I mentioned a dinosaur egg earlier... well, here's the thing, in a picture taken sometime last week (24w6d):

Meanwhile, it's actually grown a lot. Now it's sticking out a lot more and I think I'm carrying pretty low, too. But I might be mistaken, as well, because I don't really have anything to compare to. There's quite a lot of pressure on my bladder and I do get some shooting pains here and there, that probably relate to the round ligament. My back's starting to hurt, too, but that's, for now, only when I lay flat (on my back). It all gets better after a few steps. I've been doing yoga twice a week and walking as much as I can. I also need to go back to the pool. And I need to finally decide on a doula and let her know, too. So I guess this would be my current to-do list. 

I also need to become more productive in some other areas: by the end of the week, I need to draw, model in clay and translate. Oopsies. Things always happen at once, I s'pose. Or actually, procrastinators get them to be that way. Oopsies, I said.

Childbirth Education, round 1

To make a proper introduction, I should state that I expect(ed) next to nothing from this class. It is organized by the Mayo clinic and they say, or believe, that it will prepare us for the grand finale, as well as many other things, ranging from pregnancy and postpartum to infant care. I suppose it does so, if your pregnancy and birth related knowledge equals something an early elementary school kid would know.

Anyway. After our first 2-hour session, I sure do feel prepared to... give birth at home. 

I didn't really like the instructor, unfortunately. She's one of the nurses from the hospital and now that I've met her, I hope she won't be there when day D actually comes. (I kind of hope nobody would be there, really, and that my only option was to deliver on my own and have the raccoons cut the cord, or something. Or I suppose my doctor can be around, for just-in-case purposes.) There were too many ridiculous games she wanted us to play and, I'm sad to say, there are even more to come. The only thing I'm looking forward to is the hospital visit, simply because I'm masochistic - I'll probably freak out even more when I get to see all of the machines and other things they more than likely consider to be necessary.

One of the games was some random card thing, where she dealt them to all the couples and wanted us to say something about things that were written on them. So we had a rather boring lecture about preeclampsia, placenta praevia, fever, premature labor and, guess what else? Something I was given, of course. My card for tonight was this:

Not a big surprise, is it? The instructor also felt the need to answer my question with a yes, when I asked about nausea and vomiting during labor. Apparently that really is a very common thing. Well, shoot, I suppose. She also said they could feed me something through IV if I wanted it, that'd help with nausea, but... well, we'll see. I doubt I'd go as far as to take it, but I don't know how far I'd get if I do puke, either.

She had us ask questions, too, and we were supposed to write them down on a piece of paper and put in her dinosaur-shaped baseball cap. So we did. I used a purple pen, which I had in my hand during all of the class, too, so I must've been really secretive about my question. I wanted to know how much control they would actually give me during my hospital stay and if they thought the whole birthing experience was more about the mother and the baby, or their hospital rules, after all. She was honest and said that, well, they did have rules. I didn't really expect any other answer, either. It does help to have a provider you can trust (oh, really?) and of course you can go over any and all wishes with them, but nobody can guarantee that they will be available when the baby decides to come. (Oh, really?)

So, for now, I am fairly freaked out. If things really are as bad as she made it sound (and I have no reason to believe it can be all that better, at least based on my small sample of women who I have met or heard of, who have given birth in the past XY years at the same hospital), I won't be looking forward to labour and delivery at all. Since we've not yet had a very detailed (and/or final) discussion with our doctor, I will give the whole thing at least some benefit of doubt and wait to see what he has to say about some of the things that bother me, or make me worried. So far, we've been on the same page with the doctor, but I am absolutely aware that he is, after all, employed by the dreadful institution and that he probably can't really do everything I want (as well as everything he wants, either). I know that he doesn't induce unless there are serious medical reasons, so that's good. And I know that there is a huge chance he will be there when I show up. But other than that... I suppose he still needs to tell me how limited his own choices and actions are.

I learned tonight that they don't do routine episiotomies (unless they are part of some whatever procedure that I personally would, or wouldn't agree with or consider it necessary) and that instead they let you tear on your own. I suppose that's something. There is no shaving and enema, which is also good. But there is all kinds of other, pardonmyfrench, shit. Routine IV is something that, according to her words, is very unlikely to be avoided. I actually asked about it, because I don't consider it to be an important precautionary measure. She said they don't do anything but saline, blablabla, and that it's there for, again, all those just-in-case (freaking Justin Timberlake comes to mind every time I write this, wtf.) scenarios, but I'm kind of thinking, hey, you know... if you can't shoot the thing up my vein when I need it, within seconds and all, how am I supposed to trust you with my, as well as my (un/new)born baby's life, if you can't even poke me with a needle?! Again, she said, there'd be a chance my provider would agree to do this. Or, well, not do it.

She said they normally let you delay delivery for up 24 hours once your waters break. Hm. That's better than 12 hours, or no time at all, I guess. Also, per her words, they'd just break them for you, anyway, if you show up at their doorstep in labour, but with the intact sack. (My only response was a strong urge to tell her that I'd break her neck instead, but I kind of kept my mouth shut, for once.) This is pretty bad; this ordeal is kind of making me more aggressive than I normally am. Damnit.

So I guess I wait and see how deep down the drain I'll be sending all of my plans and wishes, from avoiding this and that, to requesting some other this...es and thats. They gave us a worksheet that is, supposedly, going to help me write a birth plan, but now that I've heard just one single fifth of what they want to share with me, I have no idea why I would even waste time on all those words. (I will still do it, though.)

I guess I'll share some of the questions they suggest that I answer, because I've got nothing better to do at the moment.

• What would you like the atmosphere and environment in your labour room be? Do you people seriously care about my wishes? If I said I didn't want tons of people poking and proding me, bright lights and noise, would you really leave me alone?
• Is there anything the staff could do to make your experience more memorable? Is there, really?
• What are your feelings about pain medicine during labour and birth? Well, if I can't even avoid the saline IV, how do you think I go about avoiding the rest of the cocktail?
• Immediately after birth, would you like to have your baby skin-to-skin? Okay, this is the second time you're bringing this up as your kind-of-standard practice, so I might start believing you it is in fact true. 
• If your baby is a boy, do you want him circumcised. Hell no. (Note to self: make a huge sign saying NO NO NO.)
• etc.

Scary, the whole deal. Derek hated the class  probably even more than he thought he was going to and I have to admit I don't really blame him. Like I said, I didn't really expect much of it, but I also didn't think I'd dislike it this much. We'll go back, though, because I want to hear more about the hospital procedures and I really do want to see the hospital machinery.

At least, now we're both more than certain that we need a doula. At least one of them, even though an entire football team might be needed. Perhaps a few baseball bats would help, too. Either way, I need to contact the doula(s) of my choice and see if we can get this figured out.

Ugh. I seem to be feeling all kinds of things at the moment and it's like anything from rage to fear and hopelessness. Shitty. I do have time to get things figured out, but I still don't like the state I'm in.

I wish homebirth was a safe option for us, really.

All Hail the Muffin

These are not your ordinary muffins. Quite possibly they are not muffins at all. Actually, when I think about, I don't even know if there's a real muffin definition. Well, I didn't. I looked it up just now and learned that muffin is nothing but an American English word for a type of quick bread (is that something like quicksand?!), baked in small portions. Of course, I followed the Wiki link from muffins to quick bread... but then I also got bored of it all.

The muffins I talk about, and I am fairly sure now that I can absolutely call them that, are made in a microwave. Granted, this just has to be an American invention, but hey, all hail the muffin! Because these muffins really are good.

I found about them a couple weeks ago, or so, when a friend shared her healthy recipe find on one of the forums I go to. It was originally found on this blog, but it's been changed since... uhm, quite a few times. First my friend didn't make it the way the recipe said it should be made, and then I changed everything, too. 

I don't have any good photos, unfortunately, but since I cook these for breakfast almost every morning, and I get up at 6:30, nobody should expect me to go whip out the big Canon and start a photo session, right?

Okay, here is the deal. These guys are really reasonably healthy. They're also good for you because they're full of protein. They're also very good for me, because they make me eat healthy breakfast foods in the morning, when I normally can't stomach any of them. For a very reasonable amount of calories, there's plenty of food to be eaten. They're pretty huge, about the size of an average orange, or even bigger at times. You can eat them as is, or you can cut them in half and put a little bit of peanut butter and, say, homemade marmelade.

The first one I ever made was banana-coconut. Easy to make, done in about five minutes, including baking.

Banana - Coconut Muffin

Whip up an egg. The whole thing, even though the woman on the blog says she uses only eggwhites. Yolks are good for you. Use a fork, no need for a mixer; that'd be just way too much work for a single-serving treat, really. Grab another bowl and throw half of a normal-sized banana into it. Mash with a fork. Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of coconut flour to the mix (not the shredded sugary things from your local grocery store, but more like the real flour, or coconut flakes with absolutely nothing added). Throw in about half a teaspoon or whatever small amount of baking powder (I am laughing at the one I bought the other day: it is not GMO, it says. Abuuh?) and then also some amount of cocoa. Again, it has to be real cocoa powder, unsweetened. Stir, mix, whip, do whatever. It doesn't require a lot of work, no matter what it is. Put the whole thing (along with the bowl, yes) into your microwave and cook 2.5 to 4 minutes. Our oven is some 1300W monster, so it takes no longer than 2:30, really. Enjoy the deliciousness.

Pumpkin - Wheat Germ Muffin. With cinnamon.

It's all the same as the first one, except that here I used wheat germ instead of that coconut and pumpkin puree, instead of the banana. All of the quantities stayed roughly the same, but so far I've learned that nothing at all can go wrong with this dish. It's worked every single time so far. The pumpkin I used was Libby's pure pumpkin can and I think I packed about two tablespoons into my bowl. Add as much cinnamon as you like and also some sort of a sweetener. I've tried both brown sugar and honey so far and both work fine (I used half a spoon of sugar one time and half a spoon of honey the other time). It takes the same amount of time to cook this guy and it's really good. I've also tried adding dried cranberries and/or currant to this mix. Very good. This kind of a muffin is a lot fluffier than the previous one and there's a lot more moisture to it, too.

Apple sauce with cinnamon

My newest creation. Wheat germ, egg, cinnamon and natural apple sauce (this is basically apple puree, no sugar added). No sweeteners added at all. I did throw a few dried cranberries into this, for some good measure. Very lightweight, very airy and pretty moist, too. Tastes good.

Here are some of the poor-quality pictures I have:

The first one I ever made: banana-coconut guy.

One of the pumpkin muffins

This one I made for Derek and it was by far the least healthy of these creations. He wanted sweetness, as well as more dried fruits.

 

I would like some winter time, pretty please

I'm getting fed up with this weather! This seriously isn't what I signed up for, or at least agreed to when this lying husband of mine suggested that I move to this corner of the Earth to live with him. I was supposed to be getting cold winters (ok, they kind of have been, but none of them was, in fact, nearly as bad as they told me they would be) and beautiful summers, not nearly as hot as those in Croatia and, to make it even more hilarious, not nearly as humid. Well, four summers later, I have to LOL at that. Minnesotans are liars, at least when it comes to all this weather-related chit-chat. There, take that, people!

I seriously want this to go away. I want to be able to go outside and actually do something (ok, we can pretend that, at this point, I know what it would be), instead of being locked inside and making sure I don't move anywhere too far from the car and/or buildings I need to get to. Ick, ick, ick. Even though I've been in a pretty good mood and have had no reasons to feel down or be depressed, this kind of weather is getting the best out of me here and there. I guess I'm just too bored and, I have to admit, feeling like I'm wasting my life away (while doing nothing, that is) makes me feel a bit meh. 

Okay, I have been doing some things. I've made some friends, again, this time with two litters of raccoons. They've been coming to our back yard, or to be more specific, to our deck. They come because I feed them on a daily basis, not because we're so irresistible, or something. I've been buying some dog food and marshmallows and they also get our leftovers. We'll be replacing our deck with a new one, perhaps even this summer, so I don't really care about the mess these little critters leave every night.

There are two adult coons, even though I'm not sure one of them still cares about us, or even the babies: I've not seen that one in days and his or her raccoons have been visiting us on their own. I have no idea how old they might be, but these four are by far the smallest/youngest ones I've ever seen. They are big enough to eat on their own and so far I've learned that they are not fans of apricots (their tonight's dinner is still glued to my deck; that's how much they didn't like them). The other five kiddos are somewhat bigger and they come with the mother every night. The two families coexist, but it's easy to tell who belongs to which group.

In the beginning, I could only watch them from the distance, through the glass door, but now I can step outside when the smaller babies are around and they usually won't care. It actually seems like they want to approach me, but I have to admit that I'm a bit hesitant, if not uncomfortable, to touch them, or let them touch me. I did a lot of coon-petting two summers ago, when we still lived out in the country at Derek's parents, but at this point, I'd rather not be given a rabies shot, tetanus and/or some antibiotics (those little guys at my in-laws' house eventually all died from distemper, for instance).

Here are some of the best critter shots I have (and the rest can be found here, if anyone feels like killing some time):

I missed a few good photos last night, but the weather was so messed up that my Canon lense kept refusing to cooperate. And yes, we still haven't bough the wipes either; we're that lazy sometimes.

Kittica seems to be liking the little guys more than she likes any other animals, but I can see that she's getting pretty jealous, especially when she sees me going out with some raccoon foods. The other night, she got so upset that she actually went into her toy box and peed on some hand-me-down toy. Well, that was a first... and I hope she'll never do it again. She picked an item that wasn't originally hers, so I guess she was trying to relay some message there. We'll see what happens when the baby comes... uhoh.

Loook at meeee, I aaam preeeettieeeeeeeeeer...

Other than the coon-related business, we've been working on the upstairs, too. Okay, Derek's mom has, for the most part, because neither of us has been able to take time off work to just sit around and watch the contractors of all kinds. So far, the old bathroom has left the building, as well as some of the floor coverings from the other rooms. We're getting a new tub installed on Monday and I suppose they'll start replacing the missing walls after that, too. But more on that will come in some other posts, as this one is already turning into a weird mixed salad.

The baby is doing fine, at least from what I can tell. I'm as big as a whale, or at least I feel like one, and today I hit my 21st week mark. I hope I don't double in size by the end of this trip. I've been feeling good, except for the bits and pieces directly related to this heat, which tends to wear me out a bit too soon. No swellings, no blood pressure issues, no... anything. My stomach goes a bit wonky every once in a while, and still only in the evenings, but it's nothing major. There have been no cravings, no food aversions and no insane mood swings either. I get emotional here and there, but soon enough I end up laughing at my silly self (ok, perhaps these would be mood swings, after all, huh?). We get to see the baby again in about ten days and perhaps we'll see, again, that it's mostly a boy. Or it'll change into a girl... who knows.

I've been feeling the movement lately, too. Perhaps it's been a few weeks now since I started pretty much knowing that it's the baby and not my (in)digestion. For the most part, it feels like champagne bottle pop muffled by tons of water, but lately I can actually notice some different sensations, too. Last night in bed, I actually got to see my belly move: something the size of a small peach popped out for a few seconds. Ick! Yup, I said ick because that's how it made me feel. It was weird and creepy and kind of cute at the same time. I guess it's really weird when your body parts have a mind on their own... simply because someone with a mind of their own lives in there. Amazing!

Our huge batch of cloth diapers arrived today (it was ordered from Hong Kong less than a week ago and they even offered free shipping!) and it seems I'll have to get going because our beloved cat is trying to chew on them again. She's been pretty amazed by diapers for some unknown reason.

LOLZ.