The Pregnancy Post

For those of you who aren't family and haven't seen my husband's posts on Facebook, here's the big announcement. I'm Pregnant!

Baby number 2 is due on Feb. 2nd. We are having another girl. Her name will be Kaylee Seraphina.

This pregnancy has been full of anxiety and weeping, especially in the first trimester. I was freaking out about all sorts of things, miscarriages, chronic illnesses, deformities, moving, clothes, food. I was a very hard person to live with. I'm over most of that now, I think. At least I haven't broken down over the thought of wearing the same 2 skirts and 2 pants for the rest of my pregnancy in over 3 weeks.

I am all mixed up about what to expect from the doctors and the hospital though. With Emma, I went to the birthing classes early and then watched a lot of birth preparation videos in Japan, but the Japanese have a completely different attitude towards birth then the United State does. They are very much into natural child birth, but they use a lot of meditation, relaxation, and massage techniques for labor.  They had a video of dolphins and aromatherapy candles in the delivery room.

I often think that if I had had Emma in the States, the doctors would have given me a C-section, or least forced some extra drugs on me, because of how long my labor took. I don't want to have the exact same experience as I had in Japan, but I also don't want to be forced into something I may not need. From things I've read and people I've talked to, it seems like that happens a lot, especially in hospitals. But the hospital is the only option I have here. There are no birthing centers and my insurance won't cover a midwife/home birth.

Should I be worried about this? Or is this just my pregnancy anxiety morphing from many issues into one?

Shoes

Does anyone else remember when they could take their laced-up shoes on and off without undoing the laces? I know I did that when I was a child, and it would annoy my mother. I'm not sure when I stopped doing this, but the ability has apparently left me, and I would love to have it back.

One of the most well known traditions in Japan is the taking off of shoes whenever you enter a building. Thankfully, this is not done everywhere - many businesses don't ask you to do this - but it something you do when you visit someone's house or enter a school. There are some places in the hospital where you cannot wear shoes and some places where you can.

My casual, outdoor shoes are a pair of sneakers, with laces. I can still see my feet, but bending over to tie up my shoes is not an easy thing. As most pregnant women will tell you, bending over to get/do anything off the ground becomes a task of epic proportions. Which is why I wish I could still take my shoes on and off without undoing the laces.

Changes to come

In case you haven't heard, or haven't noticed the nifty new gadget I just installed, Mark and I are going to have a baby! We're due on June 21, 2011.

Answers to questions I'm sure you have:

I'm feeling fine. I've been a little more tired then usual and have had some morning/afternoon queasiness, but other than that, I'm good.

No, we don't know if its a boy or a girl yet, but we will be finding out. Whether or not we're going to tell everyone else is another matter.

I've gained some weight, but am not showing yet. Although with how quickly I'm gaining weight, it probably won't be much longer until I start.

No, its not twins. We've had an ultrasound, there's only one baby in there.