Work It Out

Well this week I have FINALLY been able to start the excercise classes with TLC Fitness that I have been so looking forward to! Last night I went to a yoga class while Dave stayed home with Luke. This was a GREAT class and I think it will really help me prepare for a positive hypnobirthing experience. It is a great way to focus on your breathing to help you relax and untense your body and muscles as your doing yoga stretches and positions. This is exactly what one needs to do in labor (minus the yoga positioning of course) and especially in hypnobirthing, which is a method of helping you train your mind to be positive while breathing and relaxing your whole body. After only five minutes of the class I realized how helpful this was going to be when the baby is ready to be born. And not only that but it will help me stay fit and healthy for the last half of my pregnancy. Can't beat that! The class is specifically geared for pregnant moms so all the excercises are safe and effective and the classes are kept small for better individual focus on what your doing and if your doing it right. I am so glad I found this class! Thanks Denise for recommending it!



In addition to the yoga class TLC Fitness also offers an excercise class for expecting and new moms. Again the classes are kept small for more individual attention and the excercises are safe and effective! I was a little hesitant and skeptical of trying this class out because it meets in the mornings and that means taking Luke with me. This has NEVER worked in the past. I used to have a gym membership that I used frequently before Luke was born. Once he was born I was hoping to get back into my regular visits, but I didn't like having to leave Luke in the play area because I knew he would be scared and upset and I didn't think it fair to put him through that so I ended up cancelling the membership hoping to achieve my fitness goals on my own at home. Luckily these classes are held in a small building and the layout is such that the play area for the kids is a room connected to the class room by a glass wall separating the rooms so the kids can see us and vice versa. Also, because it is Mama and Me class (meaning the new moms bring the babies and incorporate them into their workout) it is no big deal for Luke to go back and forth from the play room into the class if he wants to be near me while the class is in progress. In fact, Terri, the instructor, has a 10 month old daughter of her own who she brings to class so it doesn't get any more kid friendly than that. I couldn't have been happier AGAIN!



The only down side is that this is just one more out of pocket expense that our family on a budget has to endure. This means in order to participate in the classes I will have to sacrifice something else. It will probably end up being the organic produce group I belong to. I end up spending at least $100 per month on this and although I have come to really love the group and the produce the fact that I can purchase any of the same items for pretty much the same cost at the organic market down the street and only have to spend money on what we need makes this the obvious sacrifice. I will continue to prepare all my healthy meals but I will only have to purchase exactly the amounts of items that I will need and I know will be eaten so I know it won't be a complete loss.



I recommend anyone looking for a great way to excercise in a great environment to check out TLC Fitness! Thanks again to Dr. Denise for recommending this to me!

Pictures Here We Come

Well I have finally figured out how to upload some pictures to my laptop (at least for one of our cameras) so I figured I would post some new pictures of Luke since it has been quite a while!

He's definitely a climber!

And he loves Grandpa's motorcycle!

And he loves to get into everything around the house! which gives me no time at all to blog these days... I better finish this later!

Interesting Study on Pitocin

Ever since a not so positive birth experience when Luke was born I have been reading and contemplating and conversing about medical intervention during labor and birth. Although I do see it as positive in very obvious circumstances (ie: when mother recieves a c-section when the baby or mother's health or life is threatened) I do not support the "run of the mill" interventions that are often given to laboring women to help "speed things along". I think one of my new pet peeves has actually become women who induce early simply due to physical discomfort (hey we are ALL uncomfortable when we are pregnant it doesn't last forever!) or because they seem to think the baby is getting "too big" or my favorite that I recently heard (and kills me because it is someone I am related to) "the ultrasound shows the baby is fully developed so the baby must be ready to be born". Baby's know when they are ready! as do our bodies!
But I am already off on a tangent.
Personally in my first birth experience I was very uninformed (but actually a run of the mill woman expecting her first child - I think we are all in a different place "then" before we know what we know now if you know what I mean). I was in some la-ta-de-da world thinking that because I had given my OB/midwife team a list of requests (such as I wanted to avoid an episiotomy if at all possible and did not want any pain meds but would consider an epidural when the time came - and you know my midwife was actually the one talking me into the epidural praising it like it was free gold) that all my expectations would be met. HA was I wrong. I was given Pitocin at some point right around my water breaking and I only know this because my husband recalls this, not me. I was also given an episiotomy and I only know this because of all the damage that they were repairing from the extra tearing after the baby was deliverd, because nobody told me I was getting one and at this point I was very alert and remember the entire pushing and actual birth of Luke. Unfortunately I cannot go back and change what is done but I am glad I have educated myself and am preparing for what I think will be a positive birth experience next time around simply for the fact that although I may not be in control of the labor and birth itself (specifically how long I will labor, where I may end up actually giving birth, etc etc) I am in control of the experience because I have armed myself with knowledge, positive support, and people I trust to guide my through it.
Here is an interesting article about the long term negative effects of Pitocin from a blog I enjoy reading I hope you enjoy it...
Long Term Effects of Pitocin.

YAY LLL Parenting Conference Here We Come!

I am SO SUPER excited! I finally convinced Dave tonight to go to the LLL Conference in Daytona at the end of October! I am very excited needless to say! I had been thinking about it for a while and when I first brought it up I offered that just Luke and I would go and possibly share a room with someone else from our local chapter but he doesn't like to be away from Luke for one night let along two so he wasn't too warmed up to the idea.
But when I brought it up to him again tonight and said maybe he would like to go to because some of the seminars will be helpful for both of us and it will be a nice little get away for our little family before 3 becomes 4 he pretty much said ok! YAY!
So I am not waiting another second and I will be booking all our arrangements this weekend! This will work out great because not only will we be able to enjoy the convention as a family but I may be able to sit in one or two seminars without my curious toddler getting into everything while Dave can entertain him elsewhere.
So if you aren't yet planning on attending check out the details! and if you are see you there!
Yippee!

Loving my Ergo

Well I fell in love with my Ergo all over again today. I finally had the chance to use the head support that you can button up if the baby falls asleep and I was excited!
Today after leaving mommy day at Leanna's I stopped by the grocery store to buy a few things knowing I was racing against naptime because Luke was definitely looking pretty tired. But I was able to get to the store before he fell asleep. So I loaded him into the Ergo. When he is tired or cranky he generally does much better in the Ergo than if he is in the shopping cart or a stroller. And as I thought would happen he fell asleep while I was still shopping. So I just buttoned up the head rest to give his head some support and he was good to go. It was great!
I really loved my Mei Tai but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Ergo. I even added the newborn insert on my baby registry at Montana Diaper Store. I am not sure if I will use it as much as the sling or the Moby wrap (which i also registered for) but we will see. My only concern is that it may be too hot for the baby. Or then again maybe not since the baby should be coming as the cold weather does.
That reminds me, my friend Trish forwarded me the website Montana Diaper Store. It is a great website with lots of great cloth diapering items amongst other things. It pretty much had everything I could think I will need for the new baby (which really just consists of cloth diapering products, a teething necklace just in case this baby struggles as much as Luke did, a Moby wrap because i don't have one yet, and maybe a few other odds and ends) and lucky for me you can create a baby registry there! So I went ahead and did this and plan to forward this to my family so that rather than getting a bunch of stuff we probably won't use they will be able to help us with what we do need. If you are expecting or plan on expecting check this site out!

Getting In The Swing of This Pregnancy Thing

Well I feel like maybe I am finally getting into the swing of this whole pregnancy thing. I have had a few visits with my midwife, Alanna Rubin and feel very comfortable and established with her. My belly is very obviously pregnant by now (I really need to get out the camera) much more so than at this point last pregnancy. I have been feeling the baby move around a lot over the last two or three weeks and over the weekend as we were sitting on the couch watching a movie Dave was even able to feel the baby kick! Pretty exciting considering I couldn't even feel Luke moving around until I think something more like 23 weeks. But I guess what they say is true: you feel and look pregnant much sooner after your body has already been through pregnancy once before.
Now my big kick is to start doing some pregnancy fitness stuff. Like I said before I was good at walking and doing some workout stuff at home before I got pregnant but since the whole first trimester "I feel like dying" phase I have fallen off the bandwagon. But I am ready to climb back on. Luckily I found a local fitness center that offers yoga and fitness classes for pregnant women as well as new moms. I am just waiting for my registration process to go through (they have to get a form from Dr. Punger to confirm I am "allowed" to participate) and then I am going to start taking the yoga classes. Thankfully they are in the evenings so Dave will be home to watch Luke so I can get away for an hour. I would love to take both the yoga and the fitness class but the classes are a little expensive for our budgeted family so for now I think I will stick to plan A which is take yoga in a class setting and do my prenatal excercising via home video. I would do both from home but I am not good at doing yoga alone and I never feel as relaxed and rejuvenated after a video yoga session as I do after an actual class. I think this is well worth the money.
I have also found someone to give Dave and I a hypnobirthing class. This is something I first heard about through Alanna, my midwife and after reading more and more about it and stories from other mom's who used this technique in their births I knew this is something I wanted to pursue. The only problem was the closest class I could find was all the way in Boca! But I had told Dave about it and was prepared to make this trip for the once a week - five week course. Then luck struck and I found a midwife in Jupiter who is certified in teaching hypnobirthing. Even better - she comes to you! So for two Saturday mornings in October Dave and I will be learning about the technique of hypnobirthing right here in our home. I am very excited about this. Again, for our family on a budget it will be hard to swing financially but I feel very confident it will be well worth it. When I was first considering a home birth I had always planned on having a doula and then when I read about hypnobirthing I decided I would make the choice between a doula and hypnobirthing and obviously I chose the latter. I feel confident I will have plenty of support available to me in my birth and the hypnobirthing technique is irreplaceable (and cheaper which makes my husband happy).
So that's where I am at. Oh wait I almost forgot! I got an ultrasound a week ago. We were going to get one ultrasound because Dave was so adamant about making sure the baby is healthy and okay. In fact if it was up to him we would have one every week. He is very paranoid about the health of the baby (I think I mentioned before he is still worried about Luke and SIDS!). Anyway, we got the ultrasound at the last minute because I had some bleeding the day before (a pretty scary instance!) and we wanted to check my placenta and the baby. Everything looked great! other than my partial placenta previa, which really isn't too big of a deal and should resolve itself soon. It was exciting to see the baby. At one point the baby even did a nice stretch for us which was really cool to see. Up until then I think I was in denial about feeling the baby move around and all but once I saw that I knew all that I had been feeling was definitely the baby and not just gas! No sneak peeks at the gender though! We really want to be surprised when the baby is born.

My Produce

Per request I am listing all the produce I got in my pickup this past Thursday and what I have done or am planning on doing with it.
Just in case you happen to be reading this and are not yet aware I joined a local organic produce buying club earlier this year. Here is an idea of what we get (pickup is every two weeks) and how we consume it:

Romaine Lettuce - We eat in salad generally at every dinner meal. Other than the fruit this is one of the fastest things we go through (at least lately with my in-laws here and five of us eating dinner every night. When it is just me and Dave I usually don't have to buy more lettuce before next pickup)
Swiss Chard- I use like I would spinach: saute with garlic and olive oil, add into smoothies, add to sauce for sphagetti or lasagna, steam and then sneak into things like soup and casserole (I like to "hide" veggies in meals to get Dave and Luke to eat without complaint).
Zucchini- Dave's mom makes a yummy zucchini soup so we will use our zucc's for this (includes zucc's, potatoes, laughing cow cheese..), also a veggie I steam, puree, and add to sauce, or good sliced and sauteed in oil with some Italian herbs.
Carrots- Luke and I eat raw with hummus or Gerrie's dip recipe, also steam and serve, add to soups or casseroles, or another veggie I hide in my sauce.
Plum Tomatoes- Add to salads or eat with dip or hummus
Cremini Mushrooms- Dave loves these sauteed and many times we will prepare and serve over chicken or steak. I also add these to casseroles or chop and add to sauce. Also great in salad.
Alfalfa Sprouts- Used in salads and sandwiches
Celery- Yummy snack with omega peanut butter, in veggie dip, use in veggie based soups, saute or steam and add to casseroles, add into tuna or egg salad which we eat on sandwiches.
Green Beans- One of the few veggies Dave's mom will eat so I will save these for when they are here for dinner and steam with some butter and herbs to serve with dinner.
Sugar Peas- I eat these raw good with hummus! I might try something different and look up a recipe for them.
Cantaloupe- One of Luke's favorites this will go quickly
Oranges- I will either juice in the morning or eat whole as snack.
Plums- a yummy snack one of my favs
Bananas- These go super fast. Luke eats a banana a day plus I often make smoothies with these (see my favorite smoothie recipe below).

Starting next pickup we will also be having the option of purchasing things like eggs, olive oil, and free range beef. I am very excited about this because these are all organic products that we consume already (other than the beef which I would like to include but have a hard time finding sometimes). Even bigger bonus is that the eggs, for instance, are $.50 cheaper per dozen than what I pay now in the grocery store!