Explanation.

My dad. 

May 18, 1954 - May 22, 2009

Wordless Wednesday.

My sisters and I as kids. Can you tell which one is me? 

The Nursery!

Wow- I don't know where all this energy came from, but I'm glad to have it! I've had tons of ambition the past few days, and when you couple that with what I'm assessing to be early-onset nesting, you can sure get a lot done! This weekend I've already found myself painting the nursery, running errands, and doing odd chores around the house (I mean, really, odd!) Who would have thought cleaning the bathroom would seem appealing. Anyways, back to progress with the nursery- here's the before shot. 

And now painting complete...

And now the window treatment's up...

All that's left now is to put up the chair rail, install a new light fixture, and starting moving in the furniture! 

The Homebirth Debate Continues....

Ricki Lake on The Doctors. 

Ricki Lake = awesome

Dr. Lisa = fear mongerer

What do you think? I'll add some more thoughts later- too bothered by Dr. Lisa's comments that "we manage labor, because if we don't we can have things like fistulas..." and that with homebirths "there's no one there to help the baby right now." Ummmm....have you heard of a midwife? AND she politely ignored Ricki's comments about how maternal and infant deaths are rising despite hospital births and routine interventions....

Okay, this is total rambling. I'll come up with something more coherent today. It's been not a great morning, mind-wise: accidentally poured my cereal into Chuck's dog bowl this morning. Dang you pregnancy brain! 

Wordless Wednesday.

Our family at Bark-at-the-Park a few weeks ago. 

Newborn "Breast Crawl"

This is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen. Did you know that a newborn baby that has been born without the use of drugs (i.e. epidural, in particular) possesses the awareness and physical strength to nurse on its own? This is an amazing case for immediate breast feeding and mama-baby skin-to-skin-contact.

I actually had an argument last night with my own mother about the justification behind bathing babies right away, as opposed to drying them off with warm cloths. It turns out that waiting to bathe babies until later (after they have gone home, assuming you had a hospital or birth center delivery.) allows babies to receive healthy bacteria from skin-to-skin contact with their mothers, building up a natural immunity. 

Anyways, check this out! 

Nearly-20-week belly...

These pictures are a little old...I'm almost 21 weeks now, and I think I've grown since this one was taken, so I'll have to update again soon. I finally got around to ordering my new belly barbell today from Mom4Life- it should allow me to keep my piercing without having to worry about the skin stretching excessively. Should come in handy- especially since it appears I'm only a day or two away from an outie! 

Running update: Ran in and finished the Hartwell Dam 5K this past Saturday. Final time: 30:55. It was a little more challenging than my last race, but I unintentionally cut 20+ seconds off my time. I thought I saw the finish line and starting sprinting to the end- turns out those people were standing short of the 3.0 mile marker! Ended up kicking out the last .20 mile or so- not too concerned though because I also push out my last bit during my weekly runs so it was nothing out of the ordinary.