Friday, December 25, 2009

Baby Girl Aisha's Arrival - DRAMA!!!

This time I planned to go all out and do things different with this birth, since its going to be my last. Little did I know that it truly was VERY different from any other birthing experience that I had before.


This pregnancy was very difficult. VERY difficult. I stayed sick practically the whole 9 months. I had one ailment after the next but anyhoo, I decided that since this was my absolute LAST child I would do things a bit differently.


I decided that I would have my baby at a birthing center in the whirlpool tub. I had always wanted to do it, but there were no facilities in my area. Since I live less than 5 miles from one, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge, especially after the tour and orientation that the midwives gave me.


When I was 33 weeks pregnant I went back to my hometown an started having contractions. I spent the night in the hospital and they stopped the contractions. A few days later I started having neck pains. I brushed it off thinking I slept wrong and had a crook in my neck. Everyday the pain got worse and worse until on a scale of 1-10 it was an 8. The pain was constant with no let up. It was actually worse than labor. Seriously. I thought that my chiropractor could work my neck out and the pain would go away, but he left early for the weekend and I had to suffer for 2 whole days, 48 hours, 2,880 minutes, 172,800 seconds of excruciating non stop pain. For 4 days my chiropractor worked on me and for the first 2 days it bought the pain down to a manageable 4 but the last 2 days it was back up to level 8 on the pain scale. What does this have to do with anything? I'll get to that.


That Thursday I had my regular check up with the midwives. Here you check your own weight and protein levels in your urine and when my levels werent normal I let them know of course. The midwife said it was one of two things. Either I had something minor like a bladder infection or my blood pressure was high. Well unfortunately it was the latter. My pressure was 170/110. This is extremely odd for me because my pressure runs low and I have NEVER had high blood pressure.


Of course I had to go strait to the hospital to be monitored. They did an ultra sound and not only was my amniotic fluid low, but my placenta was failing. I was 8 months pregnant but the baby was only the size of a 7 month old fetus. All that was code for immediate c-section.


Imagine my shock. Going from the most natural non invasive, least expensive method of childbirth to the most invasive, unnatural, most expensive method of childbirth. I am thinking Im going to my Drs visit and end up in the hospital for an emergency c-section. It made my head spin.


Aisha was born on November 6th at 12:23 pm and weighed in at 3lb 7oz and was 16 3/4 inches long. She stayed in the NICU for 3 weeks with no complications and I am VERY thankful for that.


So what did all that neck pain have to do with anything? In hindsight my midwife said that the early contractions I had that had to be stopped was a sign that my placenta was failing. My liver and other internal organs began to signal the body that the baby was a foreign object that needed to go and that made my blood pressure go sky high. High blood pressure can manifest itself thru pain and this is the reason for my severe neck pain. It as amazing that as soon as she was normal my pain went away.

Aisha: our newest addition


My namesake! She came 6 weeks early but she is blessed and precious!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

What to do, what to do??? Is it all its cracked up to be?

I have been on a mission to grow my hair long, and now that it is, I dont know what to do with it anymore!


Its either in a high or low ponytail.





I cannot seem to self relax anymore either. Its just too difficult to manage now. Even doing my cheat rollerset, its very difficult to do. I dont know.  Maybe I should cut a few inches off or layer it. I have thought about cutting some bangs too but Im not too sure about that either. So..what to do what to do????

Cloth Diapering; Its really not as bad as you think!

Yeah, I know. The first thing you think of when you hear those two words is "Hell no!" or "Ewww thats gross" or even "No freakin way!!!" If you didnt think it, I shole did the first time one of my online friends mentioned it to me. I was like, there is no way Im stepping back in time to that. What for? Especially when you can just go to the store, buy a pack and throw it away.


The more my friend detailed the how to's and hit me up to the advances in cloth diapering it got my wheels to turning. I have to admit, when I found out I was pregnant again the very first thing I thought of was " DANG!!!! You mean I got to buy diapers again?!?!" Yeah, such an inspiring thought but its true. I hated buying diapers, especially when I had to take my last dime to go buy a pack of diapers.


So after MUCH research I decided to take the plunge. I found a system that would be the most economical and perhaps the easiest to use and stocked up. Of course I only bought a little at a time here and there but I managed to build a stash to last me my babys entire diapering career.


Cloth diapering is not simply just a piece of cloth folded on your babys butt and pinned up with safety pins, although you can go that route if you want. Now they have diapers that actually mimic regular diapers. The lay-under-them-and-snap-or-velcro-close just like your Pampers and Huggies.


I decided to go with prefolds, or the old fashioned kind that you fold and pin. Not with a safety pin but with a Snappi. I also got 3 dozen flats too with lots of diaper covers to go over them so that there will be no leaks. I also made a few wool covers. Im just crafty like that! LOL!!!



If the idea of folding turns me off some days, I can use these All in 2's that act like regular diapers, only they require a cover.


Washing the diapers isnt hard either. Since infant baby doo is mostly water its water soluble, you can just throw it in the machine and go. Once the baby starts eating solids, I plan to use liners that you can toss and flush down the toilet. I must admit that I do love the fact that after the initial investment, I dont have to spend another penny on diapers.


Now I know you are asking yourself, "Well what do you do when you have to leave the house?? Where do you stash the dirty diapers?" Well they have these cute wet bags that you put your dirty diapers in inside your baby bag. They dont leak or smell so that problem is solved.


So you see, its really not all that bad!


DISCLAIMER: the posted links are not ads. I just did a web search so you can get an idea of what Im talking about. :-)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009