Pregnancy Photo

Since a lot of people have been asking, here is a photo I took of my pregnant belly a few minutes ago. I had my 38 1/2 week check up yesterday. Everything is good, I am retaining water a little more than I would like, my hands, feet, legs and face all are showing the lovely signs of pregnancy. I will be so happy when this swelling is over and goes away. Blood pressure, weight and movement of the baby are all good. Julie (midwife) keeps saying it is a boy, or a little girl that is playing games with them, (due to a low heart rate), I guess boys on average have a lower heart rate.

I can not believe my due date is less than two weeks away. I am very excited, and Andy is very nervous. We have an on going challenge, I am going to try to beat his Ironman Triathlon time, so I have 12 hours 24 minutes to labor and deliver. I will do everything I can to beat him!!! Yes, we are very competitive.

Last night Andy started cleaning the bathtub and straightening up the house which was pretty well clean. I think he is nesting!!! It is so cute to see how nervous he is, he is worried about the pain that I will be in and not being able to do anything about it. I have reassured him that to me it will be like what he felt during his Ironman, a huge task (mental and physical) with a wonderful reward at the end!

Getting Ready......

Just over 5 years ago this journey began. When Andy and I got married, my parents gave me a white lacy hankie to carry on my wedding day. Here is the poem that went with the hankie.

I followed the directions and just finished making it into a bonnet for the little one. Here is my model showing it off. Enjoy!!!

Obie didn't mind it too much!

Nursery Photos

Since we are very anxious for this baby to arrive, we thought we would share some photos of the nursery. Once the baby comes and we know the gender and personality we will add more decor and color to the walls and make it more specific to the little one.
I (Kari) will also have to post a picture of the changing station that my Dad and Brothers made for me once it arrives from Ohio. I found the blueprints in a Lowes quarterly mailing the week after we found out we were expecting and decided that is how we would tell my parents that we were having a baby. I showed the picture to my dad and told him that is what I wanted him to make me for my 30th birthday. For those of you that don't know my Dad is very good at iron/metal work, so when we showed a picture of the wooden changing table/bar server (after the kids), he said, "I don't do wood". After a minute of looking at the picture my mom then FINALLY realized what we were telling them!
So since my dad "doesn't do wood", both my brothers chipped in to help. Ryan timbered the wood and cut it down into boards. Chris then cut, sanded, and framed the cabinet, and Dad helped with the final assembly. Mom and dad then stained and varnished it. We are both so excited to see it, knowing my mom and brothers, they are all perfectionist, I know it will be just beautiful!!!

These two pictures are tapestries from Andy's childhood that were made for him when he was born in Bogota, Columbia. His parents had them framed a couple of years back and we thought, that the perfect place to hang them would be in the nursery.


This little swivel/rocker chair, Andy bought at a yard sale back when he was in high school, has been great throughout these years, I thought it would be the perfect fit for the nursery with new fabric. I bought some material and was going to upholster it myself, then I wised up and decided that taking it to have it done would be so much easier. Crawling around on the floor and measuring and cutting, didn't sound fun for a pregnant mama.

Green Life, Healthy Life: A series of Posts on raising a Green Family

This is for all you Moms and Soon-to-be Moms

This is going to be a series of informative posts, I advise you to do your own research to come up with your own decisions.

In this blog I am going to discuss with you the BIG choice that my husband and I have made recently on the topic of plastics.

I am sure you have been hearing all about "Green" living. My husband and I have tried very hard to start changing our carbon foot print on this planet and the more we research the more afraid I get about what we are Consuming, Breathing, and Placing on our bodies and in our families' mouths.

Lesson #1 Plastics
How plastics can be dangerous for our bodies.

The big topic right now is BPA. BPA (Bisphenol A) is a very common additive that is added to plastic to make them shatter proof and clear. This chemical has been studied for its estrogen mimicking characteristics which has been linked to causing cancer, obesity and Type II diabetes and also affecting Fetal and Infant brain development. Since this is such a new topic and research is in the beginning stages there is some controversy on their true effects. So far the State of California has banned the use of BPA in baby products starting in 2009, New Hampshire is also following along. Canada has also started legal oppositions to the use of BPA. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-21-BPA-phase-out_N.htm Toys r Us has also released that they will be pulling off their shelves any baby feeding products that contain BPA. Also Nalgene will no longer be making any of the bottles with BPA. Let me also say that BPA is harmful for everyone, but especially those little ones and pregnant moms.

You are probably saying right now, great, what do I do now? First determine if your plastic is safe, look on the bottom of the container for the recycling code. Codes #1,2, 4, 5, are safe from BPA in some cases #7 are ok, but you need to further check. #3 and #6 should never be used. Also #6 can not be recycled! http://www.iatp.org/

Your best bet is go glass! It is safe and usually cheaper (baby bottles) than their plastic competitors, its been used for 100's of years and it's recycling capability is never ending, unlike plastics which can only be recycled a few times (depending on the #) and then takes hundreds of years to decompose in our landfills.

How plastics can be dangerous for our environment.
Only #1,2,3,4,5 can be recycled.
#1 PET or PETE can be recycled only once.
#2HDPE can be recycled once.
#3 PVC Usually discarded at the recycling plant. AVOID for food contact. Make sure your plastic wrap is made of LDPE and not PVC. Can contain Lead as well. (DON'T DRINK FROM YOUR GARDEN HOSE!)
#4LDPE Can be recycled.
#5PP Can be recycled.
#6, PS Can not be recycled, AVOID
#7 Other AVOID unless it states that it is made with bio based plastics like corn, rice, potato or tapioca.

As I mentioned before that it takes many years for plastic bottles in landfills to decompose. You say, but I recycle, well only 30% of those water bottles make it to recycling facilities. Since plastics are made from petroleum (oil) it also makes a huge impact on the air we breath during the manufacturing process. To start small, and still have your "bottled water" place a filtration system under your sink ($50 at Lowes) and refill your favorite (NON BPA) reusable water bottle everyday. You will not only save a lot of money but you are also eliminating tons of waste and pollutants from our earth.

Remember, start small, one step at a time!

If you have found any additional information on this topic please forward onto me. I would love to hear your comments.

Stay tuned for the next lesson.

Lesson:#2 Phthalates in Baby and Adult Cosmetics

Kari

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY KARI

Whole Lotta shakin' goin' on

There was a rumble in the Midwest. Last time I felt an earthquake around here, I think it was 1984.


Magnitude 4.5 (Preliminary magnitude — subject to revision) Date-Time
Friday, April 18, 2008 at 15:14:16 UTC
Friday, April 18, 2008 at 10:14:16 AM at epicenter

Don't Fan the Fire

While we are spending most of our time getting ready for the little one, we had a little scare when we returned home from a yummy Mexican meal last evening. We walked into the house and smelled burning rubber or something electrical. We looked at each other and knew something wasn't quite right. I walked down to the basement and entered a haze of smoke. Kari called 911 and told them that there were no flames but just smoke and we could not figure out where it was coming from.... 5 police cars and 2 fire engines later, we had our first block party. I guess that is the only way to meet neighbors in Chicago. Long story short, the fire fighters could not locate the source. (I think it was an old dryer) It made us think what would we really do if a fire swept through our house.



I am working with our land lord to get the old dryer removed and good electric run to the correct locations so there are no rigged up extension cords to sump pumps, washers and other suspect appliances.




I did get a fire safe to keep important documents preserved, just in case. It is also ETL verified for fire protection. (I love buying things that are certified and tested by the company that I work for!)


On a brighter note, Kari was snacking and looked down at her hand and saw a sign.



Could we be having a boy?

TOO FUNNY!!!!!

Pregnancy update.

WARNING!!!! These are my feelings and this is what I have chosen to do, I am not judging any other women and her decisions on her method of Childbirth. The beauty of Childbirth is that it is
your boby and you should be able to do what YOU want with it. This is what I have chosen....

I had my first appointment with my new midwife www.westsubmidwives.com yesterday, and do I feel a sense of relief. I am measuring right on schedule with my due date of May 10. At almost 36 weeks, someone finally touched my belly!!! Hillary (midwife) felt around and said that the head was down and told me where the feet were and how the baby way laying inside of me. She was surprised that no one had felt around yet to let me know the positioning of the baby. Finally I feel like I am informed of what is going on in MY body. Hillary also told me that they encourage you to eat and have a refrigerator in your room, along with a queen size bed, for mom, dad and baby to bond!! I am so happy about the eating thing. I have been told by so many of the nurses and physicians that they do not allow anything to eat except ice chips and clear liquids and when I ask them why, they go on to say that even though it has never happened at their facility or any that they have heard before, but there is a slight chance that IF you had to have an emergency C-section, and IF they had to completely sedate you, IF you had food in your stomach, and IF you threw up you could possibly aspirate in your lungs and could cause death. There are way to many IFs in that scenario that I will take the chance. I will need that energy to help me through this. You will burn more calories during labor than running a marathon! When Andy did his marathon, every mile they were trying to pump electrolytes and carbohydrates down your throat, offering Powerbars, Gu, pretzels, snacks and chicken broth!!
I plan on doing a natural water birth, www.wsmc.reshelth.org so as much as I can find out will help me prepare for all that pain. Andy and I have signed up for a total of 9 classes. The more I know the better I feel. Our last class is May 5, and it is probably the most important, Water Birth.
After talking with Hillary, I asked her about hiring a doula and would she recommend it. She went on to say that you can never have too much help while you are in labor. She likes them mainly because they come to your house when you are in the first stages of labor then follow you to the hospital and then follow up with you once you arrive home to check on things. I asked Hillary if the midwives are called into the room like I have heard of the Dr. arriving just in time to catch the baby. She said that all the midwives in her practice love doing this and they stay with mom the whole time, no matter how long the labor lasts. They will offer assistance with moving around, in the tub, on the birthing ball and any other positions to help the baby drop down. That really assured me that as much as I wanted to hire a doula, I think with her there and other nurses as well, I will be able to make it through without a costly doula. If I had the extra money and did not feel so confident in my Dr or midwife, I would definitely do it. Thanks to Jamie and Natalie for your information.

Sorry to rant...... But I really do think that we need to look at other countries healthcare and follow their lead in Childbirth. I heard on National Public Radio the other day that the US is ranked 10th out of the 125th WORST countries for Infant Mortatily. Not a ranking that a developed country would be proud of. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5451374

To all the women out there, start asking WHY to your Dr., don't assume they know best...

Well it is official, my sister got married! Here are a couple pics from the wedding. It was great to see friends and family after so many years. This was the first time since we have been to Toledo in at least 3 years. Some things have changed and others have... well... changed a little. The wedding was great, Kari danced the night away and stayed up to 1:00 AM. WOW

Under Construction

We are currently working on setting up this blog to share our life's changes. Stay tuned...