Water Dog

Bailey likes playing in water but she is not a swimmer.

Last summer, she was rudely introduced to the lake when she was riding too close to the front of the pontoon and, while learning to drive it, I slowed too quickly and she flew off the front. I quickly put the boat in neutral so she wouldn't get hurt by the propeller... the boat went right over top of her and my husband ran to the back of the boat to coach her back to the boat and to jump in to get her if need be. She was able to swim to the boat but it was quite clear she was not a dog meant for swimming in the lake... her "doggy paddle" was her frantically splashing the water with her front paws while her back paws dragged uselessly behind her. From then on, I put her life jacket on her every time we got on the boat together.

Later in the summer, I watched a couple of dogs jumping into the water off boats anchored in the middle of the lake to go after balls that had been tossed in by the owner. The dogs actually used the people ladders to get back on the boat. I figured I could try it with Bailey... so the next time we went out, I put her life jacket on and tossed her in right beside the ladder. I then guided her around to the ladder and held her front paws onto the top rung and waited for her to find the bottom rung with her back paws. We did this a few times and she hated it. Even if we were on the shore by our docks where she could walk in and out and be able to touch, she avoided the water at our lake.

But at the dog park, you couldn't keep her out of the water. She jumps and splashes and plays and loves it. I figure its not as scary since the water just sits there and there are no waves and she can touch the whole time...

This year, we got out boat in the water late and it had been too hot to take her on it once it was in the water... but the morning of July 5th, it was cool and I was taking my friend's 10 year old daughter out to swim while we waited for her mom to wake up... I figured I would take Bailey too since it was so cool and we didn't plan to be out very long.

So we get out to our swimming cove and drop anchor. I put Bailey's life jacket on just in case because she was acting so excited. We opened the door to the front of the boat and the little girl jumped in... and Bailey followed right behind her!!! I was so shocked! So I ran to the front and guided her in the right direction to get her back to the ladder and away from the girl so Bailey wouldn't drown her. I went to the back of the boat and called Bailey around to me and she swam right to the ladder. I put her paws on the top rung just like last year and she managed to get herself out with lots of help from me. Bailey walked around on the boat for a minute and the little girl climbed out so she could jump in again... But before she could get to the front of the boat, Bailey ran past her and jumped in again!!! Again I called her around to the ladder and again I helped her out... I closed the door to the front so she wouldn't jump in again.

Bailey is 82 lbs now... I had to do most of the work to get her up the ladder... I was 27 weeks 3 days... 2 times was enough to wear me out. We took Bailey back to the house because I couldn't keep doing that... She hasn't been back out on the boat since because I won't take her if I am by myself and my husband hasn't been out since then.

I don't know what made her jump in like she did. I thought the first time she was going after the little girl but realized she couldn't touch too late... she looked frantic when she got the ladder after the first time. But then she did it again before the girl jumped in again so that didn't make any sense, and she looked just as frantic the second time around... so I am confused...

Maybe we have a water dog on our hands after all... ?

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29 weeks today... our latest trick is testing the limits of my ribs and hip bones...

Doula Search

My husband has said from the very beginning not to count on him to be in the delivery room when the baby is born. He saw a baby born in real life while training to be a paramedic and said it was one of the reasons he chose a different career path. I told him all I expected was for him to try. He agreed that he would but that I should have a back-up just in case.

I chose my MIL as my back-up. She is really laid back and I think would be a calming influence when I needed it most. It is also her first and maybe only grandchild and I thought she would really like to be there.

Then my FIL was diagnosed with lymphoma.

I started my Bradley birthing classes the last week in May. When I found the class, it was only a week before it started and as it is a 12 week course, I couldn't wait for the next round because it would be too late. As it turns out, my husband had just committed to doing something on the same night of the week as the classes so he is unable to attend with me. My MIL wanted to attend but felt she should stay with FIL instead. So I am on my own where the classes are concerned.

Natural child birth (NCB) is something I really want to do, but with out a competent and knowledgeable coach, I will have a really hard time. So I decided to hire a doula (professional birthing coach). I figure she can help coach my husband and/or my MIL to coach me and coach me if they need a break.

When I told my husband what I wanted to do, he said it was a stupid waste of money. I told him to drop his Thursday night commitment and come to my classes with me then. He said no... "Then I am getting a doula."

I interviewed 4 and have it narrowed down to 2. The 2 I have it narrowed down to both have pros and cons and I am really torn between them... I really want my husband to meet them so I can get his opinion but he said just pick the best looking or cheapest one... so he's not a lot of help there... I am having a hard time getting in touch with references for one of them but I think it's just because it was a holiday week and they may not be in town so I am going to try again this week...

I really want to make the right choice here and I have been praying on it a lot. When I picture the birth, I can see clearly who it is but she's the least experienced and lives the furthest away from us. But she is also the cheapest. The other one used to go to my church and would be a good spiritual guide (and that's important because I will need reminding that God will not give me more than I can handle), she has the most experience and lives pretty close to me and the hospital.

I need to make the decision soon so whoever it is can go on the hospital tour with us and we can start the prenatal visits...

I am so TORN!!!!!

Animal Preparedness

I have been attending Bradley classes to learn the things I need to do to prepare for a natural birth. One of the things they recommend to help avoid tearing and/or an episiotomy is going without underwear as much as possible.

The theory is that animals don't tear when they give birth because their perineum is exposed to air and sunlight which helps make it more pliable and stretchy. I, however, am not comfortable going commando.

But I really want to do everything I can to train for this so my body is ready to bring my punkin into the world with as little medical intervention as possible. So I have this flowy skirt I wear when I am around the house and I go sans underwear when I wear it.

Well, this last week has been ridiculously hot... excessive heat warnings daily... heat indices from 105-115 for days... too hot to even swim... my friend Jenny's latest blog post title says it all: Greetings From The Surface Of The Sun.* I have been taking multiple showers every day and even walked around naked most of one day when I had the house to myself.

A couple days ago, I showered as soon as I walked in the door from work. When I got out, I tossed on my flowy skirt but never put on a shirt. An hour or so later, my husband gets home, takes one look at me and laughs... "you look like a bush woman who just stepped out of the National Geographic..." I laughed too and asked him if he was complaining... of course he said no... he's not stupid :-)

*http://notinkansasanymoretoto.typepad.com/

The Glamors of Pregnancy

I have a cold... not a bad one but it is still uncomfortable. The other morning, I woke up with the sore throat I know comes from sinus drainage... I got up and went to work anyway but left as early as I could that day.

That afternoon, I slept a good 3 hours and woke up feeling great. So I went to dinner with some friends from church... we had planned to meet at this fabulous Italian buffet and I wasn't going to miss it since I was feeling better.

That night when I got home I still felt fine. I did some things around the house and then had a snack before I went to bed.

I usually wake up 2-4 times to go potty during the night and I always get a snack so I don't ever really have an empty tummy... I think this is the reason I never had morning sickness.

Anyway, that night, I was having these pains in my chest that feel like indigestion but I have recently discovered are actually hunger pains because my tummy is now smooshed up into my chest cavity. It is hard to eat then but I knew I needed something so I ate a frozen fruit cup hoping that would help and I went back to bed.

The next time I woke up, I felt even worse and I got that metallic taste in the back of my mouth. You know the one you get right before you vomit? That's the one! But I still had the pain in my chest. I figured if it was stomach acid I was tasting because I was hungry, a piece of bread might help. I pulled the crust off to share with Bailey then I took a couple of bites myself.

That's when things got bad...

I knew the bread was a bad idea after the first swallow. I tossed the rest of the piece to Bailey and ran to the bathroom. I made it just in time.

Now I never vomit... ever... the last time was the day before my baby brother left to go back to Iraq (November 2007) and we went out and I got hammered and paid for it for 2 days... So that one was my fault... I wasn't even sick...

Well, this time it only lasted a few minutes so it wasn't too bad. And I felt 100 times better after it was over. So I headed back to bed.

The next morning, I woke up starving and feeling much better so I slowly ate some breakfast before getting ready for work. As I was putting some make-up on, I noticed some little red dots on my left jaw line and up that side of my cheek. I had a few other spots around my right eye as well. I figured it was just freaky pregnancy skin and didn't give it a second thought.

The following morning, however, I went to put some eye liner on and when I pulled my lower lid away from my eye, there looked to be a puddle of blood where the inside of my lid met my eye!!! What in the????? I checked the other eye and it was there as well! I started to think about it and I realized I must have thrown up so hard that I caused facial hemorrhages!

Petechial hemorrhages to be exact. You know, the stuff they look at to determine if a person was strangled to death...

Ahh... the glamors of pregnancy :-)

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26 weeks today... time is sure flying now!

Over Cooked

Pregnancy does strange things to one's body. I have read about and expected these things. But something still caught me off guard.

When you are pregnant, your skin goes nuts. You get acne and dark blotches and skin tags and hairs growing out of strange places... I expected these things... but I was spared the indignity of them all...

Or so I thought.

Memorial Day weekend, my husband sailed in a regatta with one of our neighbors. We hadn't got our boat in the water yet but I still wanted to enjoy the sun and work on my tan. So I layed out in front of our house while I waited for him to get home.

Normally, it takes a few hours for me to start to show some color. I can be on the water for 3 hours and tan well but not burn til I've been out for 4 or 5 hours. After about an hour and 15 min, my husband got home and I went inside and we went about our day as usual.

As I was showering in preparation for a party we were attending that night, I realized I had burned a bit. Not too bad though so I wasn't concerned... but by the end of the night I was miserable. The entire front half of me was bright red and on fire... even the front of my legs which never burn. All after an hour! Someone at the party even asked if I was trying to cook the baby faster...

I figured I would just lay out the next day to work on my back side to even things out a bit but only for 30-45 min so I didn't burn my back, too. Then I remembered, I can't lay on my belly anymore!!! Was I doomed to be two-toned for the entire summer?

Well, it rained the next day so I couldn't even go to the dog park and stand with my back to the sun...

The next weekend, I layed out again and figured out that I could still lay on my tummy if I propped myself up on my elbows and kept them directly under my shoulders. So I worked on evening things out.

Here is where it gets tricky. The first day I layed out, I was just in shorts and a tank which I pulled up to expose the baby bump. So my tan lines were more like a tube top than a bikini top. So the next time I layed out, I put SPF 50 on all the places I was tan from the week before so that the white spots around my bikini top could catch up. Well, I overlapped the sun screen a bit and now I have finger marks in the white part that was supposed to be getting tan! I am 3 different colors! My tan is so messed up now that I will be surprised if it evens out by the end of the summer!

Who would have imagined that a sun worshiper like me would end up hyper-sensitive to the sun?

Contractions

So I've been having contractions...

I was at work one day and I felt a twinge that I thought was round ligament pain. I sat down at the nurses station hoping it would go away... then the twinge moved around a bit then encircled my entire waist... I asked one of the nurses if she thought it might be a contraction... she said yeah and to drink more water to see if that helped... that was at 21 weeks and I ended up having 3 contractions in 36 hours.

I increased my water intake and things were fine. Then at 23 weeks, it happened again. I had 2 in 12 hours.

Over the last couple weeks, I have had many off and on but nothing that is so consistant that I can keep track. I have learned in my Bradley classes that these contractions are good... it's like a work out for my uterus. As long as there is no spotting, cramping, or pain, I am fine and it's just my body getting ready to push this puppy out :-)

The thing that surprises me is that they are not painful... not even uncomfortable. It's just a tightening of muscles like if I was doing light ab work or something... but it is similar to a charlie horse because it just happens and I can't control it... but there is no pain.

I am learning more about my body every day... its facinating how you can live with something for 30+ years and still be surprised and the things it can do...

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25 weeks today... technically viable... but let's cook a little longer, shall we?

You Can't Fix Stupid

Working in a big city hospital, I see and hear a lot of wacky things. And yet, there are still some things that surprise me.

I was walking down the hall when I patient came out of her room dressed like she was headed outside. I figured she was headed out to smoke. A social worker was reviewing her chart at the time and told the new mom that she needed to wait a few minutes because the she was about to come in to talk to her. The patient said, "I just need to run outside for a minute, I'll be right back." The social worker, matter-of-factly and plain as day, loud enough for me to hear as I was passing by, said, "Are you going out to buy drugs?" I just kept walking and didn't look back.

There was a family who was being counseled about the baby they were about to have. The ultrasounds had revealed spina bifida and the baby was going to be born via c-section and taken straight to the NICU for evaluation to determine if the baby needed to be transfered to the local children's hospital or if it would remain in our NICU. After the extensive counseling session with a social worker, OB-GYN, neonatalogist, NICU nurse, and patient advocate, the father-to-be asked, "so will the baby be able to stay in our room with us the whole time?"

There was a baby who did not pass his hearing screen in the NICU and I was working with the family trying to get the out patient appointment set up and give directions and instructions for where they needed to go and what they needed to do. The mother and father lived at different addresses and when I was writing down the address for mom and giving it to the follow-up facility, dad kept asking if I needed to change the address to his. I asked him where the baby's full-time residence would be and he said the mother's home. I told him that was the address we needed for the paperwork. We went through it 3 times before he stopped asking me to change the address. Later on, right before they were were leaving, he asked the nurse, "when are you going to put the chip in his neck?" Huh?

Nurse: I'm sorry?
Dad: You know, the chip so we can find him if he gets lost.
Nurse: We don't do that here.

What did this guy think? That his child was a dog? All I can figure is he may have seen the Duracell commercial with the child locator (which creeps me out anyway) and didn't realize it was a key chain type device you attach to the child, not a chip you implant in their neck!

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24 weeks today :-)