Dear Husband,

I know you didn’t expect to come up from the playroom and find me shoulder deep in the fridge with scrubbing materials in both of my hands. It’s not exactly what I expected to be doing, in my pajamas, on a Saturday morning, either. Nor did I expect to scrub the bathroom until it sparkled, vigorously clean every surface in the kitchen and engage in an act of fridge-purging that will probably get me on the Recyclers Hit List for all the glass I simply tossed.  And I really want you to know that this frenzy of cleaning is in no way a recrimination of you, your cleanliness, or how you do the dishes and clean up after I cook. Really. I mean it. There is a perfectly logical explanation for all of this and it has nothing to do with you.

The baby made me do it.

I know I didn’t do this when I was pregnant with our son. He was an undemanding baby, even in utero, and asked only that I lie on the couch watching Tori and Dean: Inn Love while eating ice cream. It was a blissful sort of pregnancy and I look back on it happily. However, this new baby has a lot more demands and those demands all seem to have to do with the state of our house.

I’m not sure why the baby decided I needed to redecorate the guest room last weekend, but I think we can all agree that it looks much better in there with new drapes, bedding, artwork, a throw rug and a chair. And even though cleaning the fridge until it was showroom quality was drudgery, don’t you see how nice it is to have all the surfaces in there unblemished by fingerprints and ketchup drips? That was a really good idea of the baby’s, wasn’t it?

And while it is very sweet of you to offer to take on some of the chores the baby insists that I do, the baby and I must decline. You see, you just don’t see what the baby sees and there’s a chance you could leave a light switch smudged. And the baby just can’t have that.

Lest you worry that I’m losing my ability to set boundaries for behavior with this, our second child, rest assured that I’m being firm when I need to. Sure, the baby made me scrub the baseboards in the living room after you left to take our boy to his sports class but that’s where it ends. No more cleaning until the top three layers of skin grow back on my hands. Also, I’m taking back the first two sets of throw pillows I tried out in the living room after the baby decided that room needed a little something new. Wait, I hadn’t told you about the second set of pillows? Oh. Well, never mind then. Just don’t look at our checking account.

Anyway, my love, my sweet, my ever patient and understanding husband, this is not about you. I love living with you and have no complaints about how you do things. You and our son light up my life and I adore both of you. But the light will shine a little brighter after I power wash the windows from the outside. The baby thinks that will really make a difference.

Love,

Your Pregnant and Nesting Wife

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A new study being presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in Dallas, Texas  reports that women who’ve undergone one prior delivery via c-section seem to know little about the risks and benefits associated with undergoing a second cesarean. Not only that but, when it comes between choosing an elective c-section over a trial of labor, the choice between the two for the woman was strongly affected by the preference of their medical provider.

Trial of labor after a c-section has been found to have an overall success rate of 60-80% and is considered a very reasonable option for most women. Despite this, it’s been noted that the majority of women (who would be eligible for a trial of labor) still choose to undergo an elective repeat c-section. The researches hypothesized that this was due to poor education of the women on the benefits and risks of both options.

The study looked at a total of 155 women and the results were pretty interesting.

Continue reading »

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I’ve known since I was 18 that my blood type is B-. My mom and dad are both Rh negative, so my sister and I are in the same boat. I always knew my blood type was pretty rare and prior to when I had the brain surgery that disqualified me from donating ever again, I was a frequent flier at my local blood bank. But what I didn’t know was that being Rh negative (having a negative blood type), could present a potential problem in pregnancy.

My husband doesn’t know what his blood type is, so, as is standard practice, we are assuming he is positive and that means we need to proceed with caution. You see, being an Rh negative mother with a (potentially) Rh positive partner can mean bad things for the baby. I won’t go into the dry sciencey details, but an Rh negative mother being exposed to Rh positive blood (as can and often does happen during pregnancy) can result in pregnancy complications because the blood types are incompatible and the mother’s body sees the positive blood as an invader and attacks it. And so they developed a shot, called RhoGAM, to help prevent this complication.

I had already realized that this shot was in my future, but earlier this week I read on a pregnancy message board about a woman, and several others in the comments, who were opting out. And I just couldn’t understand.

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I am slowly creating a list of baby ‘must haves.’  At first, I thought I just needed stuff like a crib, diapers, and a stroller. Now, I’m beginning to understand that babies require a lot more, like baby nail clippers, burp clothes, diaper rash ointment, a first aid kit, and something called Sophie the Giraffe, which everyone insists I buy.

Here’s one item that gave me pause – nursing pads. Apparently, when you’re breastfeeding, your boobies leak all over the place, and you essentially need to stuff a nipple maxi pad in your bra. Who knew?  Continue reading »

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I delivered my first daughter just shy of 37 weeks. Although technically she was considered premature, she was born a healthy little girl.

Because my first was early, I’ve been curious if this one will come early as well. My doctor said there is a good chance of it, but it’s always hard to tell. I am currently one week away from when I went into labor with my first pregnancy and have been on high alert just in case I do happen to go into labor early.

At my 36 week appointment today my doctor said I am progressing well, but she still thinks I have a couple more weeks to go. She said I might even go further than I did in my first pregnancy. If that’s the case, this little girl will make it to full term.

I have my hospital bags packed and wasn’t sure whether or not to include the preemie clothes in my bag. According to a new study presented yesterday at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, I need to keep the smaller clothes because my second will most likely be small even if carried to full term. Continue reading »

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A new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University reveals that, based on a survey, 19% of women and 13% of men aged 18-29 believe they are infertile.  The perception of infertility made young men more likely to anticipate having unprotected sex in the next 3 months,

Young men who had received sex education were less likely to believe in their infertility.

Huh. Imagine that. Sex education increases the understanding of sexual and reproductive function. Crazy. Continue reading »

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Ah, the binky. When you’re the sleep deprived parents of a 6 week old and the binky magically makes the crying stop, you believe the binky is the greatest invention in the history of ever.  When you’re the mother of a 4 year old getting the stink-eye from the pediatric dentist over the shape of your binky-addicted kid’s palate, you think the binky is an evil demon that has taken possession of your child’s mouth, never to relinquish its nefarious hold.

Speaking from personal experience? Me? ::Ahem:: Perhaps. Continue reading »

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