Category: thoughts

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Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

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Dates. A study showed that eating six dates a day shortened labor, so I'm eating them. Will it help? Dunno. The study didn't say whether they were fresh dates or dried, for one. It was in the Middle East, so probably fresh. Also, six dates a day is a lot of calories, around 400-500. And they're sugary, pasty things if you try to eat them alone (I can manage one, after that, bleah. I'll nibble through the day.) So! We'll see how I manage. My target is four. My last two labors were very disorganized and I hope this time to progress smoothly instead of herky-jerky. #oldlady #crabbyuterus
Posted by Intagrate Lite

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Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

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The first day of school here looks just like any other day – but today I start recording our reading log as 2016-17. Here we see four of the kids: Gloria is brushing her hair, Faith is reading something on the internet and drinking a cup of tea, Trixie and Dorothy are reading a book and playing with toys. Not pictured are Abby, making 8-bit art on Piskel, Bede writing comics, Gilbert crafting some redstone gizmo on Minecraft, and Clementine pouring her water on the floor and smacking it while laughing uproariously. #unschooling #firstdayofschool
Posted by Intagrate Lite

baby prep: actual prep! (shop talk about blood, birth)

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

cordclamp

I’ve been so occupied with getting ready for Perry (diapers, clothes, etc) that I forgot to get ready for his arrival! I had forgotten that his actual birth needs prep as well. Good thing I remembered or it would be a bit messy.

Not that I need much.

Disposable underpads (Chux pads) – these are handy to have during the actual birth and immediately after. Although I seem to always miss them during my actual delivery of the baby, (Sean has gotten drenched in amniotic fluid a few times) they do limit the carnage of the third stage (placenta delivery) by a lot! We did without them for Trixie’s birth and my bedroom looked like a crime scene. Do not recommend.

Mattress cover – I get two. Then the bed gets sandwiched thusly: cover, sheets, cover, birth sheets. Post birth it’s easy to take off the top set and then the bed’s already made.

Umbilical cord clamp – not necessary but quick and easy to use. We did without them once (again, Trixie’s birth) and used cord ties instead, but they don’t stay as snug in the first day and kept falling off as the cord dried. But the cord wasn’t quite dry enough to not need a closure of some kind, so it was all oozy and blech. I have heard that some people have good results with rubber bands too.

Mega absorbent pads for all the extra blood I’ll lose postpartum – I’ve had good luck with urinary incontinence products for this. Regular sanitary napkins just won’t cut it.

After-Ease tincture – I don’t know how much of this is helpful because of the medicinal properties of the herbs, and how much is just the booze it comes in, but I’m not doing without it. It’s not homeopathic, so it does have actual medicine in it, but still, who can say? The afterpains with my babies are really, really painful for the first few days. In some ways it’s worse than labor because each individual cramp lasts for a long time. It’s bad! Ibuprofen has had a negative effect on my milk supply in the past, so I have to go easy on that. Anyway, whether or not this actually helps, it tastes good and doesn’t hurt.

Then there’s Stuff Sean Gets:

Snacks – Sean gets easy, low-smell foods to eat while I’m in labor. I tend to favor buttered toast, and to be honest I don’t know what he gets for himself. Once it was oatmeal raisin cookies, I recall. He also keeps me stocked with Gatorade, which is my labor drink.

Post baby food and celebratory beverage – Sean selects something to toast with and feeds me something delicious while I nestle with the bab. Past repasts have included Abbey beer and a deep-dish pizza, Barefoot Merlot and gyros, and a Big Mac, fries, and Woodchuck hard cider. I am generally ravenous post-labor as I usually haven’t eaten more than two or three hundred calories the day previous. Whatever he gets for me is the Best Food I Have Ever Eaten.

And that, we assume, will be that! Two months to Baby Perilous!

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Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

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Tonight was our parish festival, for the feast of St. Monica. Faith started drawing with some chalk set out and soon gathered a crowd of onlookers. "Wow! You're so good!" "How long have you been drawing?" and of course, "Will you draw me?” I think it was the first time she had the experience of being a public artist. #scopsocs #scopsart
Posted by Intagrate Lite