My due date is this Thursday. Yay!  This is exciting, BUT I never held that date up as the pinnacle of 'baby time' or anything.  All of this "due date" stuff is just supposition and guesses and estimates.  It could very well be another two weeks before this little one decides it's time.  What is really exciting is knowing that we don't have too much longer left.  I've mentioned before that average gestation for first babies is 41 weeks and 1 day, so, really, until Septemeber 24th rolls around...

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Here's a list of things I'm looking forward to after this baby is born:

1. Meeting our precious child and getting to hold and kiss it and seeing Dan hold it (okay, duh, that all goes without saying)
2. Normal sized feet and ankles
3. Being able to put on socks/pants/shoes, etc without help
4. Jogging!!
5. Sleeping on my stomach and back again
6. Not groaning like an old lady every time I sit/stand, roll over, etc. 

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So this is my new favorite question from strangers, acquaintances, etc.  There's this moment when they look at my face and smile, then their eyes drift to my belly and slightly widen as their smile slackens and they say something to the fact of, "Oh, wow, when are you due?" or "Wow, you must be due soon, huh??"  Good thing I'm not sensitive about my size! Haha!  I find it funny every time it happens, because everyone has basically the exact same reaction.  And I am so thankful and happy to ha...
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Baby is now 36 weeks.  According to "science", (i.e. various baby websites), the baby is now approximately 17-18 inches long and weighs about 6 pounds.  As Dan said, "That's a full baby".  Indeed.  This little one could come at any time now.  I remind myself that the longer he or she stays put and gets closer to 39/40 weeks, the healthier they'll be.  I'm so anxious to meet him or her that I have to keep reminding myself that holding out for at least another 3 weeks is very important.  We're ...
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Is it nesting?  Judge for yourself.  These are the things that get me really excited these days:
-purging 15 items from every room
-rearranging our office/guest room
-painting the back and front doors
-adding a knocker to our front door
-replacing out front door lock and handle
-building a bookshelf/storage unit for the baby's room (out of reclaimed wood, of course)
-making homemade, non-toxic cleaning supplies
-cleaning out the garage and planning it's eventual conversion to a den

Regardless of wher...
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We continue to prep for baby's arrival.  We have moments when we feel really prepared and moments when we feel horribly ill-equipped for the task of parenthood.  Case in point: this weekend, we picked up some Yes To Carrots baby shampoo and wash as we saw it on sale.  (For so long we've just been browsing at this stuff and now we have to actually start buying it; it's weird!)  Anyway, in the car afterwards, Dan says to me, "So, how often are you suppose to bathe a baby?"  And I responded blan...
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Let me cover the blessings part first:

We went in for another ultrasound this morning to check the partial placenta previa that came up on our last ultrasound at 20 weeks.  By the way, I have since learned that a diagnosis of partial or complete placenta previa at around 20 weeks is really not all that uncommon and in 95% of cases, will correct itself.  Therefore I've decided that for the next baby, we're not going to bother with a 20 week ultrasound; we'll just go in at 32 or so weeks and mak...
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So, honestly, not finding out the gender of our baby has been SO MUCH FUN!!  I highly recommend it.  Dan and I have the best time going back and forth on what we think it is (though Dan has never really been able to guess either way).  I was talking to my Mom the other day (who is convinced it's a girl), and she refers to the baby as "she".  Before you know it, she had me calling it "she", too.  I went home and was talking to Dan and called the baby "she", and he did a mock gasp, and we both...
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We've chosen our doula!  Her name is Linzi, and she has an accent.  I assure you, that is not the reason we chose her, though it didn't hurt.  It sounds British; I'll have to find out later exactly where she's from.

She has three children, two hospital births and the youngest a home birth with a midwife.  It was not until she had the home birth that she was able to recognize how harmful her in-hospital births had been.  She became a doula because she believes every woman should feel how empowe...
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Today we met with a pediatrician who was referred to us by the Witches.  Two things I liked right off the bat about the clinic from looking at the website was that the location of the office is super close to our house and that the lead pediatrician is both a licensed doctor with 20 years in practice as well as a certified homeopath.  During our meet and greet with her this morning, we learned that she has done research studies into infectious diseases, volunteers her time and services to pro...
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Hello again, 5am!  The morning-person in me is back and ready to go!  I've been able to reinstate my morning gym visits.  M/W/F mornings the bump and I blast the arms a bit and then hit the elliptical for about 30 minutes.  It feels great!  And I know I better relish it while I can as I'm sure the third trimester fatigue is lurking not too far off in the wings just waiting to pounce.  I'm also still loving my prenatal yoga (who knew?) which I do after I walk the doggies Tuesday and Thursday m...

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Dan felt the baby kick last night!  I can feel the kicks getting stronger, and the baby gave a couple solid ones yesterday while at work that made me think, "If Dan was here, I really think he would have been able to feel those."  So last night, as we were lying in bed watching tv, I started to feel some movement from the little one and told Dan to just hold his hand on my belly hoping the baby would give a strong kick for its Dad.  Well, it did.  It kicked really hard and Dan's face lit up a...
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This week, though overcast, has not been rainy, so I've taken advantage of the lack of precipitation to go for long walks during my lunch breaks.  This is on top of my morning walks with the dogs, so when I awoke this morning and my legs felt a little sore, I thought, "what a perfect morning for a swim".     

The swim was extremely enjoyable and afterwards, I took a shower, and headed to my locker to get dressed.  But I couldn't get my lock to open.  I tried over and over again, but to no avai...
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I've been advised by Midwife Jen to make sure I get enough Vitamin D.  Ummm....okay, I'll be sure and step outside the 4 days out of the year that we actually have some sunshine around here.  The forecast says it's suppose to rain for the next 10 days... should I add a sunlamp to the registry??...   

Oh, and I broke down and got more powdered mini-donuts this week. Can I just tell myself they are a great source of Vitamin D?  ..Shanna fail.

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My internal gears have started to slow.  My body gave me a side-way glance and an angry sneer when I tried to coax it out of bed for 5:45am spin class this morning.  No amount of bargaining was able to sweeten the deal.  I finally fought my way up and on to my feet at a little after 6am.  I told myself I'd do some weights and indoor bike riding at home and call it a morning.  ....but not before I ate breakfast as I am always starving these days when I wake up.  So, finally at roughly 6:45pm, ...
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So what is most important is that our baby appears to be healthy and developing properly.  But they discovered today at the ultrasound that I am partial placenta previa.  I'll spare you the details, so google it if you really want to know more.  Now, this might correct itself on its own before it's time for our little one to make their entrance, but if it doesn't, they will have to do a c-section.  Oh, I really don't want a c-section, but I'm trying to be calm about it and to accept that it i...
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'Childish Things' is the name of what has quickly become my favorite maternity clothing and general baby/child consignment store.  They are where I had my super-fabulous first maternity clothing shopping trip where I made off like a bandit.  I had mentioned to them that I was looking specifically for black leggings.  Michelle, the manager, said, "I'll put it down on our Wishlist and if we get some in your size, we'll call you".  I was thinking that sounded like a good concept in theory, but I...

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"The Witches" is what I've dubbed the Midwives as there are three of them (a very witchy number) and because most of my family thinks that Midwives are basically witch-doctors. ;)  I told them last night that this is the nickname I've given them, and they enjoyed the joke very much. 

So, we had our first appointment with the Witches last night, and I am even more confident and comfortable with choosing to have our prenatal and delivery care through them.  One of them has done about 450 births ...
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Last week, I suffered under the reign of some bad intestinal bacteria.  I was truly MISERABLE all week!  The pressure and pain in my abdomen were so uncomfortable.  Just wait until I post an updated picture.  I've noticeably 'shrunk' from last week when my belly was filled with 1/4 baby and 3/4 excess air.  And the pressure and pain lasted days and days. It was wearing my body out big time to try and grow a baby and fight the bacteria at the same time.  It also didn't help that the pressue wa...

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So for a little while now, I've been putting "Shanna maternity leave" on my boss' "To-Do" list. I put it about a 3/4 of the way down on the list as I know he is notorious for never reading the second half of the list, that is if he even reads any of it.  Anyway, I've been bugging him with "did you look at your to-do list" and "have any updates for me from your to-do list?"  It's been awful because I know he's been thinking, "gosh she's really been nagging me about my to-do list lately".  Fina...
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So I had to break down and go maternity shopping this past weekend.  I decided to go to a maternity consignment store as I was hoping to not have to spend a whole lot of money on what would practically have to be a whole new wardrobe.  I made out like a bandit!  The clothes are in mint (some even still with the tags) condition.  My deal with myself was that I was not allowed to spend more than $15 on any one item, unless it was a pair of jeans that I loved as I knew I would be wearing jeans a...
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Okay, so I was thinking about labor today, and I'm kind of looking forward to it.  Is that crazy?  I just look at it as a big mental and physical challenge, and I guess the part of me that enjoys the challenge of triathlons, etc. is somehow charged by the idea of this challenge.  And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a home birth.  The ones we saw on the documentary all had a very serene, relaxed, "ooommhh" feel, but I was thinking today, "what if we had Arrested Developm...
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It was really great.  For over an hour, they spoke with four of us about their practice and the differences between doctor and midwife care.  It was so informative, and they answered all of our questions.  I really, really liked them and their approach to prenatal care, delivery, and post-partum care.  AND they take appointments in the evening!  My old doctor's office would only see patient's from 9am - 4pm.  Such a pain to take off work all the time!  The Midwives see patients from 8am to 7:...
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Today I am going to speak with some Christian Midwives.  From what I have found/heard, it seems Midwives are much more about the labor process than just the delivery of the child.  And they spend the entire labor with you and don't just come in at the end to 'catch' the baby.  This appeals to me greatly.  Dan is an absolute 'no-go' on the home birth idea (think of the money we'd save!), so we're looking at birthing centers.  The Midwives deliver at hospitals, birthing centers, and in homes, s...
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My coworker is currently eating something that I can only guess is tuna.  It is making me dry-heave.  So, I've wrapped my scarf around my face to prevent myself from smelling it.  I don't know what I'll say if anyone walks around the corner and discovers me. - that my face is really cold?? 
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So, before I started this website, I had another blog I started.  Here are the posts from that site, just to catch you up to speed

Originally posted February 18, 2011:

Pregnancy Test