Well, I had the second stripping of my membranes at the OB yesterday and I'm happy to report that it did not require involuntary screams of pain.

I think this was mainly due to the fact that the first stripping was so rigorous that there was very little to remain to do. In fact, the provider I had marveled at how thorough the first procedure was, saying, "Wow, she really stripped you good!" Um, no kidding.

"Aren't second babies supposed to… Read More

39 weeks...and still pregnant. In ordinary circumstances, this would just be a nuisance, what with the constipation, the reflux, the trouble getting into a comfortable sleeping position at night, the limited mobility, but with JP scheduled to deploy in 2 weeks, it's an issue.

A major issue.

It is imperative that he be here for the birth. Imperative.

I am NOT having this baby without him. Absolutely not.

This is why I agreed to having my membranes stripped during my 38 week visit, to… Read More

With JP's upcoming deployment, our gifts to each other this Christmas were decidedly bent towards a tech-happy focus, devices that would help keep us close despite the miles of separation between us.

As one of the last remaining people on the planet without an ipod of some sort, I decided to give him an ipod Nano to give him access to his favorite songs that might make being far away from home a little more bearable. I also thought… Read More

We were really happy to find out our first child was going to be a girl. Not only because I myself am a girly girl who could imagine putting her hair in pigtails and wearing matching Hanna Anderson dresses (just kidding – I'm not that girly), but because it hurt our brains to think about having to make the decision of whether to circumcise our child.

We honestly breathed a sigh of relief when that final ultrasound was done. Phew. Girl.… Read More

There are lots of things that are stressing me out about my husband's upcoming deployment, but one of the biggest concerns is how Jolie will deal with 2 major transitions happening very close to each other: having a new sibling and not having her daddy here. I've been afraid that she'll feel sad or rejected or left out. It all seems so unfair for a 2 1/2 year old.

When I told Jolie's school about my what was going on with… Read More

After waiting many moons since we picked out and ordered our daughter's big girl bed, it finally was delivered yesterday. Seriously, 14 weeks for children's furniture? I swear it was not custom-made or carved out of a redwood by hand.

14 weeks did give us a lot of lead-time to get her mentally prepared for the transition though. She was there when we picked it out, and ever since then, we've sprinkled mentionings of The Big Girl Bed in everyday conversation,… Read More