Only Three More Sleeps!

Oh man - only three more sleeps until we step foot on our blessed Maine soil! Whoo-hoo! The three of us can hardly wait! I got out our suitcases today to start packing and Kaden asked what they were for. As soon as I said that we're taking them to Grammy and Grampy's house, he exclaimed "OH!" and promptly hopped in one of them! Every day he asks if today is the day that we can go see Grammy and Grampy?! We can all hardly stand it. It's been six months for Kev since he's been home.

Exams are finally done for Kev. He still has a twelve page paper that he has to whip off before we head home, and we still need to pack - but the end is drawing near. We have a church Christmas party tonight, and we're going to do our family Christmas tomorrow. After that, church on Sunday, and off we go to Maine at 4:30 on Monday morning! Merry Christmas, all!

Midwives and Birthing Centers....

Because my last birthing experience was so yucky for both Kev and I, we have decided to go the midwife/birthing center route for this next labor and delivery. One of my dear friends out here has paved the way for me in going to this one specific birthing center which she loves and raves about. So, last week, Kev and I had our first appointment here.....and we BOTH loved it! I wasn't sure if Kev would go for the whole birthing center route, but he now hates hospitals as well, so it works out quite nicely.

There are only two midwives at this facility - one is my age! We go to our appointments downstairs and we labor and deliver upstairs. When I had my appointment, I discovered that there was someone upstairs in labor, so I made it a point to listen as carefully as I could to make sure that the walls were sound proof - and they are; I heard nothing. Phew!

With these women, we can choose to either give birth at home, at the birthing center, or at one specific hospital where the midwives will still have full control. Our apartment is just out of their realm of travel for a home birth -which I guess is okay since we live in a complex with paper thin walls and since Kev hasn't been real thrilled with that whole idea all along! So, for now, our choice is to use the birthing center - unless there are complications towards the end of my labor in which I will have no choice but to go to the hospital.

Either way, though, I'm thinking and hoping that this experience will be far more positive than the last. These women are holistic, they are content to wait and let you work, and they will first use more natural methods for everything before rushing such yuckyness as pitocin, cutting, and the like. It was a very positive experience overall, and although for a brief moment I had the thought of, "Oh my, we truly ARE doing this all over again!" I really feel excited and encouraged. :0)

First Ultrasound - It's For Real!

I had my first ultrasound yesterday. I LOVE ultrasounds! I finally makes things "real," you know? And yes, there truly is a baby in my tummy! The whole family came along for the event, so it was really fun and special. We want Kaden to be as much a part of the whole process as possible....to kind of prepare him every step of the way. He sat totally mesmerized while he watched the baby kicking his (her?) arms and legs and moving all around on the screen! It was SO cool! I am actually a bit farther along than I thought; I'm at 14 weeks as opposed to the 10 that I thought. This makes me feel a little better about my already expanding girth!!! So, this puts my due date at around June 10th - ironically Kaden's exact due date (except, I was induced two weeks early). Good times! The baby will be born before the real humidity of summer sets in. For this I am truly thankful! My next ultrasound is on January 14th. We have until then to decide if we want to find out the sex of the baby. As of right now, we're thinking we'll keep it a surprise. We'll see.......

Funny Potty Story

I promise - I will try to make this the last of the "potty posts" for awhile. I just have to tell this one funny story that happened in church yesterday. I apologize if this offends anyone's sense of "propriety." This story is ALL Kaden and truly emphasizes the phrase, "Out of the mouths of babes...."

In the nursery at our church there is a small child's bathroom with a kid sized potty. Kaden was quite impressed with this and liked that he could get up and down totally by himself. Anyway, in the afternoon right before music practice he told me that he had to go poop, so we went in and did our thing. When he got off the potty, he looked inside at his "deposit" and said, "OH! I made a snake.....and it has teeth on it!" Oh my word - I died laughing. Well, one of the lady's on our worship team (who thankfully is very down-to-earth and NOT prim and proper at all) walked into the nursery and asked Kaden what he was doing. He proudly proclaimed, "I made a POOP SNAKE!" So, now WHENEVER he sits on the potty he says, "I'm going to try to make more snakes." Oh my. Too funny.