April 2008 21 weeks- This will be my fourth unassisted childbirth. I am due in august around the 20th or so. I feel great (other than a sciatic nerve that causes me discomfort). Prenatal care consists of plenty of TLC from my husband :) As well as a Rainbow Light prenatal vitamin. As with all my pregnancies I drink red raspberry leaf (RRL), alfalfa, and nettle tea. I use Agave nectar to sweeten my tea. I am not taking my blood pressure, my blood pressure is always so uneventful that I'm just not taking the time to check. I may later in pregnancy just to log it. 

I bought some urine test strips and the results are all normal on those. I never actually used those my previous pregnancies. Since I mention it's something women can do on their own when they ask me I thought I'd give it a go so I actually knew what I was talking about in regards to using them. These test various things which include protein in the urine, leukocytes, glucose, pH, ketones and more.  I use the "Clarity" brand which tests 10 various things.

The baby is moving and kicking mostly at night. Ricky felt "him" kick last night for the first time. I had a boy dream, and we think boy. But we will have to wait and see...

MAY 2008 --27 weeks- I am feeling fantastic. The baby is very active. My back does hurt but It's part of it. It's not from the weight (though I'm sure it doesn't help) but it's almost like a pinched nerve. The sciatic pain I mentioned in April is no longer bothering me. The discomfort has moved more in my left hip and away from the tail bone. slightly. It's similar though. Who knows it could still be the sciatic nerve, but it feels different.

I have been drinking plenty of water and taking my vitamins but I have slacked on my RRL tea. My urine strips are so normal it's almost weird. The colors match up exactly. I haven't taken my blood pressure because I already know it's low. (So low nurses have asked me in the past if I'm dead! heh)

My cravings have died down. Salt is just salt again. (I love when it tastes SO SO SO freaking good) Ice cream is even just ice cream again. I hope I get cravings soon, it's fun. I fondly remember that months ago I was eating salty peanuts drizzled in carmel with ice cream on the side. That was so good. I ate lots weirder stuff too, I just can't recall what it was right now.

This is the first baby who we have not checked for heart tones. They are there though, otherwise the cute round belly of mine wouldn't be moving, thumping, kicking, and bumping all the time. I feel all kinds of tiny baby body parts and jabs through my belly. I love this.

Penelope is very aware of my belly and when I ask if she will share nursies with the new baby she actually pushes my breast down  toward my belly and shakes her head "yes." So so so dang cute.

I feel very healthy, very happy and very much like this baby is doing great. He (I still think boy but who knows!?) seems so active and wonderful! yay for life...

JUNE Photo taken by Charlotte

JUNE 2008 30 weeks! I feel great! My hips/lower back give me trouble and pain but it's not unmanageable. Getting up and down is a little uncomfortable. Even resting doesn't get rid of the ache right away (it does eventually though.) Sitting at the computer and bending to clean house seems to make me ache the most. Oh and then there is Penelope that rides on my left hip non-stop. lol. That does not help I'm sure.

I am healthy and happy. This baby punches, kicks, moves, flips, and rolls almost constantly! He or she is so full of life. I can't wait to meet this new baby person. It seems the whole family is ready for a new baby. Layla is very excited! I'm trying to discourage Penelope from nursing too frequently but it's not going very well. I don't have much milk at all anymore and so she just "dry nurses" and that is very uncomfortable a lot of the time. I do still have milk, it's just very little. She is sleeping better though and doesn't always nurse at night. So it's going well. It's not like I haven't gone through this before.

The other day while cleaning I ran across our stethoscope finally! (I just knew it would turn up one day LOL) So Ricky and I listened for the first time since we created this baby. We picked up heart tones very quickly and heard that the placenta is on the left.

I need to decide if this will be a water baby or not. It's my last chance for a water birth. I just haven't decided. We aren't going to get a birth pool though, I'll just do it in our big tub. Women have had water births in a lot smaller tubs I've seen! I am thinking about getting a birth ball though. It looks so comfortable. I'm not sure I'll use it though. I told Ricky I was feeling like I want more labor support this time. I think I want his hands on me and I don't want to be alone during active early labor like I have in the past. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind. :) I had such a hard time getting into a good labor rhythm with Penelope that I think I might want help this time if I can't find something soothing and routine to do on my own.

JULY 2008 36 WEEKS Nothing too exciting going on with me! I am doing great. A bit emotional!  But not in a bad way really...I'm just easy to cry and so sensitive! We can hear a strong heartbeat and this little bugger still never stops being active. I had a 2 or 3 week period of time where I didn't seem to look much bigger, but suddenly and as expected I'm filling out and my belly is big. We are really excited for this baby. I feel like there is so much to do to get ready, but at the same time I'm so excited I don't care if I'm not "ready." Babies head is nicely positioned downward and firm against my cervix. I felt and I'm about 2cm dilated and that is normal for me (I've had lots of kids so I'm pretty stretchy in the cervix :) Time to start planning this labor and birth. I've got the newborn clothes and cloth diapers out now it's time to get some other things ready. I'll write about that soon. My parents bought us an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper (I wanted the mini size) It's great! One of those things that I wonder why I didn't get one long ago. If I would have known now many babies I would have I would have gotten lots of things that I don't have LOL.

 AUGUST 2008 39 WEEKS My body is getting ready to give birth. I have had two nights in a row of contractions that felt like "real labor" but then stopped, and one night with none. This is good because my body is getting ready and my cervix is opening slowly, with lots of rest inbetween! I am about 4cm from what I can tell. My belly is rounding out nicely and baby is wiggling and moving way down. Just when you think they can't drop into that pelvis anymore they do. My friends have thrown me two beautiful blessing parties; one was a birth blessing and the other a mother blessing. They are similar but different, I'll explain later on when I post pictures and add to my site. I have decorated my birthing space with gifts, pictures, affirmations, cards, trinkets, and lots of symbolism. This has made me feel ready for the birth and I'm so excited to hold a soft new baby. Come to the world baby boy or girl...we are waiting for you and we love you already!

AUGUST 20, 2008 40 WEEKS! You can come out now baby. We want to meet you, greet you, kiss you, hug you, and smell you!

I have had contractions off and on for over a week. Nothing much else is happening. The baby moved a lot last night, flipping every which way and rolling around and jabbing me in the cervix. I think as soon as he or she finds a good place to be in labor will start and not stop until the baby is born. We are very excited. For now I'm enjoying the wait, and also enjoying daddy rubbing my belly and being sympathetic at my moans and groans as I bend over and try and get up and down in bed. It's tiring but so much fun having a big baby-belly. I'll miss it so much. To grow and carry life is such a gift.

AUGUST 23, 2008 He's Here!

You can see a few photos here

I will write up the offical story soon but for now here is a copy of the email sent to friends and family...

Aug 23, 2008
We are excited to announce that this morning around 6am we had a beautiful baby boy! My water broke around 3am and I went into what I would call "real" labor at about 4. We left the kids sleeping this time and Ricky and I had a great birth together under white twinkling lights (I decorated our room and bathroom for the birth!). I am usually a very independent solo birther but this time he helped me a lot and I really wanted him there for me, it was very wonderful!

The kids did all wake up one at a time immediately after he was born into my hands and so they were able to join us in the excitement and not miss the fun. We all welcomed him and adored him right away. All within minutes or seconds of each other: Penelope came, then Layla, Ethan, Sage, and Charlotte.

He is 8 pounds and 21 inches long....yeah 8lbs!!!! My biggest baby ever! (Layla was 6ish pounds and Penelope was barely 7 lbs). We named him Sebastian before he was conceived. We did not truly care if we had a boy or a girl, but I knew there was a boy out there waiting for us. I attached some pictures of the little guy. Penelope didn't want too much to do with him for the first couple hours, now she adores him and wants to carry him like a baby doll all over the house. Everyone is beaming with gratitude! We are so blessed!