Where Babies Come From

Recently my sister and her two boys came out to Utah. We had a lot of fun. We camped in Heber for my Dad's family reunion and Michelle and the boys stayed with us for a couple days to take advantage of our city's annual summer festival, complete with a carnival, parade, and fireworks.

At just under 1 year, Matthew was unable to appreciate most of the festivities, but he did test out our newly furnished nursery. We're glad to report that our baby's crib can safely accommodate a sleeping baby without major mishap. He also was happy to show off his new walking skills for us and demonstrate that the rest of our home is nowhere near baby proof yet (luckily nothing was damaged though).

Brian, age 4, on the other hand loved everything although I think the carnival rides were his favorite. He also was very fascinated by the idea that Aunt Angela has a baby in her tummy. For the rest of their trip he barraged me with questions about his little baby cousin. One such conversation went somewhat like this:

"Aunt Angela, do you have a baby in your tummy?"
"Yes, Brian."
"Is it a baby boy cousin?"
"Yes, he will be your cousin."
"Is the baby going to come out?"
"Yes, in December."
"Where will he come out?"
"Um... "
"Is he going to come out at the hospital?"
"Oh yeah. That's where. Babies come out at the hospital (whew!)"

It just makes me wonder just how many parents jump into long explanations of where babies come from when their kids are really asking something much simpler. I've always said with my own kids I'll be honest and straightforward when the dreaded questions come, without any confusing stories about storks or birds and bees, but only after I'm darn sure what it is they want to know.

The Ultimate Kitchen Accessory

How many people have you known to say, "Gee, I love my kitchen except that we have way too much cupboard space." Probably not many. It seems that no matter how large the kitchen, extra cupboard space is always welcome. That's why it's so amazing to me that pot racks are so underused.

They not only free up cupboard space, they make pots much, much easier to get to. You don't have to empty out the entire cupboard to get that bottom pot in the back because they're all hanging and easily accessible. Plus a rack full of gleaming pots definitely looks nicer than a blank wall. Decor that's functional in addition to looking nice is doubly great. Of course if your pots are old and rusty with teflon flaking off they probably won't add much to your decor, but what better excuse to get nice new ones?

Pot racks can be pricey, but they don't have to be. The above picture shows the rack haning in our kitchen that we found online for around $50 and IKEA has a basic model starting at $20-30. So for anyone who wants to free up some cupboard, I highly recommend considering a pot rack.

The Halfway Mark

I am now in my 20th week of pregnancy which any woman who's been pregnant knows means I'm halfway through. It also means that I'm feeling better than I ever have since becoming pregnant or ever will until long afterward. Sure my tummy's expanded to the point where my regular jeans won't cut it anymore, even with an elastic to close the waist (luckily Old Navy has tall sized maternity clothes!), and my ability to lift just isn't what it used to be. Really though I feel pretty close to my non-pregnant self. I have energy again and my appetite is definitely back with a vengeance.

I've decided to take advantage of this "eye of the storm" to get as much ready for the baby as I possibly can. The baby's room's painted and we've set up his crib and dresser/changing table. One problem still to be solved though is that we live in an older house and have lead paint chips on the window sills and in the bathroom that have to be sanded down and then spackled and painted over. Being pregnant, I of course have to defer at least the sanding to Derek and wait until he has the time to do it so I've reached somewhat of an impasse which is frustrating considering how much energy I have at the moment.

Everything is looking good as far as the baby goes though which is a relief. He passed his 20 week ultrasound with flying colors and is quite an active baby with lots of kicks and movements. I've been feeling him move for quite a while now, but last night Derek felt it too for the first time. I'm not counting the time a couple of weeks ago he got pretty excited over feeling my tummy growl. That's the pregnancy update for now. Hopefully in 20 more weeks we'll have some much more exciting news to share.

Mountain Adventures

Last weekend we managed to go camping up to Blackhawk campgrounds, just past Payson Lake with my parents. It was very beautiful up there and about 10 degrees cooler which was nice. We got there Saturday afternoon and left first thing on Sunday morning, so there really wasn't time to do much and I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked. I managed to get a few scenic shots though and at least we managed to get one trip in this year. Derek's pretty busy with school and since I don't get any paid maternity leave I'm going to need all my paid time off for when the baby gets here. Anyway here's some shots I took of the campground.

Beware the Nurse Imposters

Today someone asked me if I was planning a home birth since I was a nurse. This was pretty confusing at first since most nurses are actually supporters of modern medicine (hence the career choice) and while there probably are some I haven't met any who would even consider a birth at home. Forget soft music and self-hypnosis, my birth plan centers around getting an epidural ASAP. Finally I figured out that this woman was making an all too common mistake- confusing actual nurses with people who aren't nurses at all. It's bad enough that people call medical assistants and nurses aides nurses. They may not be actual nurses but at least are valuable members of the healthcare team. But confusing lay midwives with certified nurse midwives and nurses is a huge slap in the face because if anything, lay midwives actually impede healthcare.

Certified nurse midwives (CNMs) are nurses who have worked in labor and delivery and gone on to get a specialized training in delivering babies. They provide prenatal care and deliver in hospitals and birthing centers where they have emergency equipment and physicians as back up. Even though my practitioner is an MD, a CNM is definitely just as safe and some studies show as having even better outcomes.

Lay midwives on the other hand have no medical training and are therefore not allowed to practice in hospitals or birthing centers, so deliver babies at home. Despite this many still call themselves a nurse or a midwife, I guess to sound more reassuring. While birth complications thankfully aren't the norm, they are also common enough that chances are you know someone who has had one. The great thing about modern medicine is that even with all the complications that can occur mother-baby mortality rates are almost nil. The bad thing about home births is that you take all the progress we've made to save lives and throw it away. Sorry if any of you have had home births or plan to. I just don't think it's a good idea and wish people would stop associating it's main supporters with my profession.

Happy Birthday Derek!

Yesterday was Derek's birthday we celebrated by having some of his favorite foods- Winger's chicken wings, corn on the cob, and potato salad. Then we hit the miniature golf course and rounded off the night with some carrot cake and ice cream. Layer cakes are something I can never quite get the knack of, but they're so much more festive and our cake stand only holds round cakes so I keep trying. The icing is what gets me. I always spread a generous layer for the middle layer only to have it disappear when the cake is cut. This time I think it was because the icing was slightly too thin. By the time I realized this though the birthday boy had already snatched the beater and was licking off the icing. Rather than wash it by hand I decided to just make do and see if it would work. It didn't, but I did use my grandma's recipe so it tasted really yummy anyway. The only other glitch in the evening was that the settings on my camera had somehow got switched and I couldn't figure out how to make it work until after the party was over. I tried to get a picture with Derek's camera of him blowing out his candles, but it has a much slower lag than I'm used to and I instead got a picture of complete darkness after they had all been blown out. All in all though Derek seemed to enjoy himself and the cake, so I guess it was mostly a success.

It's a Boy!

Doc tells us that the newest Weil is expected to be a boy. Ironically we both had the feeling we were having a girl so so much for a mother's intuition. I admit that I was just a little disappointed at first, having already started to drool over all the little girl clothes in stores (I think Babies R Us has about 70% girl stuff in its clothing section), but now we're both really excited to meet our new son. Last night to celebrate I went out and made our first purchase for the baby- a new sleeper and little boy outfit, both very cute. So far all still looks good with the pregnancy and I'm feeling better too. I'm not sick anymore and I'm starting to get some of my energy back.