Author Archives: Chantel

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Second trimester – 14 weeks

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Welcome to the second trimester, ladies and gents.

This week’s big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he’ll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you’re having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby’s stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body’s growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that’s in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He’s starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby’s liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it’s doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can’t feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist’s hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active. {BabyCenter.com}

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VOCs in baby furniture

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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

VOCs are a major class of both indoor air pollution and outdoor smog. Indoors, they can be found in:

  • paints,
  • carpets,
  • furniture,
  • glues,
  • stains,
  • finished,
  • copy paper,
  • printers,
  • cleaning products,
  • air fresheners,
  • paraffin candles, and
  • craft supplies.

VOCs can cause immediate reactions like eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, and nausea. They have also been linked to more serious health effects such as neurological disorders, liver and kidney damage, and even certain kinds of cancer. Babies and children, because of their developing immune systems, are especially susceptible to VOCs.

Did you ever notice how a piece of new furniture stinks when you first bring it home? That stink is the gases seeping out of the furniture’s glues, paints, and finishes, and it is loaded with chemicals that you really don’t want to breathe, like VOCs and formaldehyde. Babies, with their fragile and developing immune systems, are especially susceptible to the potential health risks associated with VOCs. Keep these toxins out of the air and out of your home by selecting furniture that uses water-based adhesives and natural treatments.

– from “The Everything Green Baby Book”

LEKSVIK crib from IKEA, $159.99

Originally, we were planning to use a convertible crib from Target, but since we want this crib to last several years as is converts to a toddler bed and so on, I’m leaning more toward one of the numbers from Ikea. The green baby book recommends them because their furniture is nontoxic. And guess what! Cheap! Their convertible crib sells for $160 and converts to a toddler bed. This means we’d still need to get a bed for the older kid but this’ll last a few years, is affordable, and isn’t going to make baby sick.

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To medicate or not…?

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My original plan, as a treehugging hippy, was to give birth at home in one of those pools. I think in my fantasy, there were no doctors, no drugs – just swimming and re-runs of my favorite comedy on the TV. Well, insurance generally doesn’t side with hippies. In fact, they almost always rule in favor of doctors and prescription medications. And such is the case with my pending delivery. I currently see a doctor once a month, in place of a midwife or doula, and, as I’m reading the baby books  – fine, part of a baby book – I’m pondering “doing drugs” during my hospitalization down the road.

Apparently this is what the epidural looks like - a nasty puncture into your spine. Fun!

See, I don’t really want to go the epidural/anesthesia because it just doesn’t sound right to drug a baby. However, I’m a total pain wuss. Slight headache and I’m useless and reaching for the ibuprofen – well, acetaminophen now because of the lil’ ‘un.

In the part of the baby book I’ve read so far, the American Pregnancy Association reported some studies that showed that use of an epidural can cause the baby to “have trouble latching on or may experience other difficulties with breastfeeding after birth.” However, use of medication “may help some women enter new motherhood in a calmer and more refreshed manner than without medications.”

Of course, all this is predicated on vaginal delivery.

I should talk to my lady parts baby doctor about this. But I won’t trust anything she says because she’s a doctor and a medical degree doesn’t guarantee intelligence.

The baby book lists Lamaze and the Bradley Method as alternatives to drugs. Specialized breathing and relaxation techniques. While self talk can overcome many psychological afflictions, such as depression, bipolar, and anxiety, can it overcome the pain of the lady parts ejecting a watermelon?

Maybe I should read some more baby books, or actually finish one?

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Belly bands vs. new maternity clothes

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No belly band

Since my belly is getting bigger (for some unknown reason), I find that most of my pants no longer fit or don’t fit comfortably. As is the example to the right, I can’t zipper or button most things. (I apologize for the paleness of my belly in the pic and in general – it’s blinding in certain lights so be careful.) Behold – my baby belly at 3 months, 1 week (super close up, after I’ve been sitting for a while, and devoid of any sun exposure)!

With black belly band

In lieu of buying maternity clothes, I’ve purchased some belly bands. These stretchy tubes of fabric cover the unbottoned-ness and hold up the pants. These bands, which I have in black and white, have been a life saver. Many different brands make them and I love mine – can’t remember the company though. This way, I can keep wearing my normal pre-preggo pants comfortably, which I will do for as long as I possibly can. The second photo is obviously with the belly band on. Kinda just looks like a tank top under my regular shirt.

I don’t really want to go out and purchase maternity clothes, at least not new stuff, because I’ll only wear the stuff for a limited amount of time, that stuff is expensive, there’s not a great variety, and it’s not necessary when I have belly bands. I have, however, been on the lookout for stuff at Goodwill because my grandma found me a pair of maternity pants in great shape from there. That’s called recycling, which I’m a huge advocate of. Why buy new when you can either make do with what you have (belly bands) or find some gently used stuff and recycle?

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End of the 1st Trimester – 13 Weeks

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This week, the baby is the size of a medium shrimp. You may have noticed a food theme here. The BabyCenter.com (where I get all the pictures of what the baby looks like each week) relates the size of the baby each week to the that of a comparable food. Up until now, it’d been fruits or seeds of some kind. Probably until the day the baby is born, I (and my work co-hort Jenna) will continue to refer to the new Buck as its food-of-the-week. What started it was when I first told Jenna about the baby I’m growing, I said it was the size of a poppy seed. And without fail since, she’s asked every week for the food update: poppy seed to sesame seed to lentil to blueberry to kidney bean to grape to kumquat to fig to lime and now to shrimp. What makes it extra fun for us is that we’re always talking about food – darn near every conversation we engage in either is completely about or ends of being about food. Feel free to join the festivities.

So, this week, the little shrimp, if a girl shrimp, current has over 2 million ovaries in her little shrimp ovaries. And he/she/it has fingerprints.

Next week starts the 2nd trimester, which I’ve read is considered the “honeymoon trimester” since the morning sickness and fatigue usually lessen or go away (I’m hoping for the latter). My only complaints now is the heartburn at night and my expanding girth. Pants I could zip up last week now laugh when I consider reaching for the zipper tab. Good thing I have my belly bands (more about those later).

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Babywearing

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Hestlings Hemp Organic Sling Carrier

I’m not a huge fan of strollers, especially for newborns. I prefer the idea of wearing your baby until he/she is big enough to walk to encourage bonding. Babywearing comes in many forms, from wearing a cotton (preferably organic) sling to strappy number such as the Baby Bjorn. It really depends on personal preference: Blake’s not comfortable with the sling style because he thinks it puts the baby at risk of suffocating, which is understandable. Whichever style we go with though, it’s important to buy only organic fabrics for the newborn for both environmental and respiratory reasons. The chemicals in non-organic fabrics, such as the hefty amount of pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers used in production, damage the environment and are toxic for a baby to breathe.

Benefits of babywearing:

Baby Bjorn Active Organic Baby Carrier

  • Mothers’ progesterone (mothering hormone) is increased through physical contact with the infant, leading to a more intimate maternal bond, easier breastfeeding and better care. Thus lowering incidence of postpartum depression and psychosomatic illness.
  • Infants who are carried are calmer – all their primal/survival needs are met: caregiver can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted, fed (breastfeeding mother) and motion necessary for continuing neural development, gastrointestinal and respiratory health and to establish balance (inner ear development) and muscle tone, is constant.
  • Infants IQ and brain mass are measurably greater. When primal needs are met, babies spend more time in a quiet state of attentive alertness, ideal for learning – rather than in a panicked survival mode.
  • Infants are more organized; parental rhythms (walking, heartbeat, etc.) have balancing and soothing effects on infants.
  • Infants are “humanized” earlier by developing socially; babies are closer to people and can study facial expressions, learn languages faster and be familiar with body language. {Very important for any spawn of ours because those who know us know we may not be the most natural of people-people.}
  • Developmental milestones such as learning to walk, talk and toilet train are reached earlier.
  • Contrary to western cultural myths, independence is established earlier.
  • Aggression is diminished.
  • From: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babywearing]

There are many types of eco-friendly babywearers on the market that are around $100, but I think my favorite is the Baby Bjorn Organic ($99) because it is guaranteed free of any hazardous substances.

I’ll get more into strollers in another post. 🙂

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12 Weeks

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Here’s what the baby looks like at 12 weeks, from the BabyCenter.com. It’s about the size of a medium lime. From BabyCenter.com:

How your baby’s growing:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby’s fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won’t be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby’s brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

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Baby names

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Folks ask us if we have names picked out. Why yes, we do. We have one for if it’s a boy and one a girl (no, we don’t know the sex yet). The girl’s name we’ve actually had picked out from back when we were 16.

Girl: Arabella Ann

Boy: Benjamin {Undecided Middle Name}

We read a million years ago that Arabella means “answered prayer” but I can’t remember where we saw that. Arabella, or Bella, has become a popular name because of those goofy Twilight movies – we did not take the name from that. 🙂

UPDATE: Blake informed me that he has not consented to the use of his middle name for the boy’s middle name. I have removed that for fear of a lawsuit. 🙂 I suggested Button, as in Benjamin Button Buck but he did not consent. Any suggestions?

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Holistic Moms Network

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Those goofy parenting mags from my doctor that I mentioned earlier – with all those kooky and often frivolous products, I found something that really speaks to me: the Holistic Moms Network. Below explains the basic tenants of this which strangely sounds like how Blake and I would like to be parents. And it sounds so much nicer than hippie parents!

What is Holistic Parenting?

Holistic parenting begins with an understanding and respect for how all living things are connected and how we impact one another. As such, holistic parenting embraces green and non-toxic living, non-violent communication, and natural health.

The Holistic Moms Network believes there are 7 fundamental ideals for holistic parenting:

1. Making informed and educated parenting decisions around issues such as childbirth, breastfeeding, healthcare and well-being, nutrition, interpersonal communication, and education.

2. Seeking respectful and nurturing relationships with others, imparting the values of empathy, love, and compassion to our children, and embracing attachment parenting techniques (including babywearing, extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and positive discipline).

3. Actively participating in our own healing process when we’re out of balance; using minimally invasive healthcare modalities to help the body and spirit heal while respecting the many paths to healing, both holistic and conventional.

4. Balancing and integrating the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of being into everyday life; using the principles of wholeness – healthy eating, regular exercise, natural healing, stress reduction, non-violent communication – to create a balanced life for the entire family.

5. Teaching our children to respect and care about the natural world by actively providing opportunities for them to be in nature, and teaching them about how they can protect our environment.

6. Limiting our children’s exposure to advertising, marketing, and a consumer-driven culture that is creating rampant materialism, disconnecting them from nature and healthy social interactions.

7. Living more simply and consuming less in an effort to reduce our impact on the environment and to emphasize non-material values.

HMN represents the growing demographic of holistic-minded parents who strive to give their children the love, support, and information they need to become healthy, compassionate, and informed individuals who can live in balance with our world.

{Love this!}

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Gender predictor test

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So my doctor gave me all these pregnancy magazines so I’ve been looking at all these kooky products. How much crap does a 7 pound baby need?!? Goodness!

Thought this was interesting, in a funny way. Seriously, I can wait for my sonogram. It’s funny that something like this exists!

Know as early as 10 weeks

IntelliGender’s Gender Prediction Testâ„¢ … a fun pre-birth experience for moms who can’t wait to know! Discover whether you’re having a baby boy or girl weeks before the sonogram can tell you. Only $34.95!

A simple test you can take at home

IntelliGender’s Gender Prediction Test™ is an affordable, simple-to-use urine test that provides immediate gender results in the privacy and comfort of the home. In minutes, the IntelliGender Gender Prediction Test indicates your gender result based upon an easy to read color match.  Green indicates boy and orange indicates girl!

When can I use it?

As early as 10 weeks into your pregnancy (8 weeks post- conception)! Most women find out the sex of their baby at their 20-week sonogram as long as Baby chooses to cooperate. The Gender Prediction Test bridges the curiosity gap between conception and sonogram!