the maternal is political December 31, 2006
Check out THIS COOL BOOK I am going to be a part of (along with some amazing writers I admire a great deal, as well as Cindy Sheehan.)
wow!
My sister, with whom I am very close and who lives in my neighborhood, is also pregnant 
She’s due the same week I am.
The bad news: she may not be able to be my doula, as she has in my past births
The good news: since we can nurse one another’s babies, we will be able to babysit more easily
ugh December 30, 2006
WHen I was pregnant with Elliot, nine years ago, I was incredibly sick to my stomach for the first half of the pregnancy. At various points, I could barely get up off the couch. It was awful. NOTHING helped.
I am really nervous that this will happen to me again. I’ve been feeling slug-like, lazy, sleepy, woozy and nauseated all day and I am paranoid that it’s the dreaded nausea. It would be really inconvenient if that happened this time because now, I have a job that requires me to get off the couch 40-50 hours a week (I was freelancing full time when I was pregnant with E, so I could do 99% of my work from home). On the other hand, I no longer have very young children like I did when I was pregnant with E., so in that way, it would be easier. It’s really hard to chase a toddler when you are that sick.
I never had morning sickness with Jane and Henry, so let’s hope I am spared this time.
And the pregnancy symptom I’ve had in all 3 previous pregnancies - and which my OB told me he had never seen such a severe case except in textbooks - was ptyalism.
Google it.
Suffice it to say that it isn’t pleasant 
MSNBC: sadaam hussein to be executed within the hour
The idea of executing someone by hanging - anyone- makes me sick. Human beings should not behave this way, no matter how evil the person in question may be.
Revenge gets you nowhere. It solves nothing and prevents nothing. It doesn’t make up for any previous losses. True, thoughtful, government-led justice shouldn’t involve violent revenge.
SH should be locked up for the rest of his life. Hanging is barbaric.
jingle the ferret
Growing up, my parents let us have just about any pet we wanted. We had rats, hamsters, bunnies, horses, pigs, cows, dogs, cats, and the occasional baby squirrel or owl.
I’ve had the same philosophy with my kids and we’ve had lots of pets. I did dog rescue for several years, so we had lots of puppies and young dogs going through the house. I had three large parrots at one time, but had to find new homes for them when I got divorced. We’ve also had bunnies and goldfish and hamsters and rats. Rats are AWESOME pets, by the way.
Right now we have two dogs, two cats and Bob the python.
I had never really known anyone with a ferret until I met “Weasel,” my friend SPK’s ferret. Weasel was adorable and hilarious, but I still didn’t really know much about having ferrets as pets. They seemed pretty high maintenance.
When Jane mentioned she either wanted a ferret or kitten for Christmas, I mentioned it to Jon, expecting him to say hell no to a weasel in the house. To my surprise, he said he looooves ferrets, having done some ferret-sitting for a friend in years past.
So Santa brought Jane a baby ferret, whom she has named “Jingle.”
Jingle has now lived with us for a few days and I have to say that he is awesome. He’s certainly the most entertaining critter I’ve ever had living in the house. I can’t tell you how funny it is to watch a ferret hop and shimmy around the room. He’s just hilarious. He’s obsessed with Christmas ornaments and feet. You really have to watch your toes or he will “attack” them.
He’s very gentle and never bites. And he’s extremely outgoing.
As it turns out, ferrets are not that high maintenance. They do need a big cage and plenty of play time out of the cage, but they also sleep a whole lot. They are quiet and exceptionally clean. Jingle is already totally litter trained. The litter box is in his cage and he never goes anywhere else. You just clean his litter box once a day, like with a cat. No biggie. He’s already neutered, but we need to take him to get his shots in the next few weeks.
I don’t thnk a ferret would be a great pet for a very small child, because they aren’t inclined to quietly snuggle in your lap. They want to play all over your body instead. But for older kids, or people wanting a pet that’s something like a cross between a dog and a cat, ferrets seems a great choice.
maybe December 29, 2006
Earlier today I had my blood drawn at my doc’s office. They’ve been taking my HCG every few days to make sure it’s rising as it should. Today it was up a lot - very good news. As I was getting off the phone with the nurse when she gave me the results, the nurse said something about high numbers maybe meaning twins.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
After lunch I decided to call the office again to get some further info on this offhand comment by the nurse. I talked to one of the nurse-practitioners, who explained that my age (39), combined with the high HCG # suggests a possibility of twins. I won’t know more ’til I have an ultrasound on the 11th.
Apparently, high HCG is more common with twins, though not strictly predictive.
mother uprising
This is an interesting article on the CURRENT C-SECTION EPIDEMIC.
I am far more frightened of a c-section than of pain from birth.
homebirth December 28, 2006
Lots of my friends have had homebirths. I considered one for my last birth, but couldn’t find a midwife I liked.
This time, I know that if I have no risk factors that require a hospital birth (and I don’t anticipate any), I don’t want to have my baby in a hospital. This I am sure of. Of course, if we discover I will need to give birth in the hospital, so be it. But I doubt that I will.
So that leaves us with the freestanding birth center and a homebirth. I would like to meet the midwives who are now doing homebirths around Knoxville these days so Jon and I can consider this option. I am already well-versed in the big-picture SAFETY STATS for homebirth, which are excellent. We live only a few blocks from my hospital of choice, so that’s not an issue. The main thing in deciding will be whether Jon can become comfortable with the idea and whether we are able to find a midwife with whom we really click.
Have you had a homebirth? Tell me about it below
on james brown
My friend S. was trying to explain to his parents about the significance of the passing of the Godfather of Soul:
S. to parents:”There was rhythm before James Brown, and there was rhythm after James Brown, but the last 40 years of music literally just wouldn’t have existed without James Brown.”
S’s mother in response: “Well…your father and I…we’re not really very excited by rhythm.”
sleepy
First notable pregnancy symptom: I am so, so sleepy. I need a nap right now. I need a lot of naps.
I do not get them.
excellent christmas present
I am pregnant
Being followed a bit more closely this time. So far, everything looks excellent, and no problems are anticipated.
I feel great and we are very happy!
families
I have been lucky enough to marry into a lovely, kind, close knit family. Whatever shock they might have felt at their son announcing he was marrying someone with three children has been well-masked. They have been unfailingly kind and gracious and welcoming to me from day one, and have included the children in their family in every possible way. Elliot in particular seems to be enjoying getting an extra set of “grandparents,” and they have just spoiled the children a lot this Christmas. I also really like Jon’s bro and sis in law who live in Mississippi. I wish they lived closer so we could hang out more.
