A bit of history

I realized last night that I hadn't documented my efforts to breastfeed Lex or Tommy here. I feel it's important to do this so that I'll have it to look back on. And since birth can play a role in feeding, I'll start there.

Thomas

May 25/04: water breaks @ 8:00 p.m. First contractions @ 11 p.m. Head to hospital @ 3 a.m., when contractions are 3 minutes apart and 1 minute in duration. Land in triage where beds are full, so labour in antiquated wooden waiting-room chair with EFM strapped to me for 2 hours. Finally assessed @ 5 a.m. 5 cm dialated. Moved to labour, but by then, I'd been unable to move around & coping skills are low, so request epidural. Dialation slows down. Finally fully dialated and able to push @ 12 p.m. (noon).

Push for 2 hours, break, push for another hour. Diagnosis of CPD. Told that since head won't descend, there is a chance that shoulders will be stuck if forceps or vacuum used & we'd have to rush for emergency c-section, so opt for non-emergency but unplanned c-section.

Thomas born @ 6.30 p.m. Able to view birth through homemade periscope hospital has made. Nurse in recovery room. Off to semi-private. Jim not allowed to stay overnight, so opt to co-sleep for night one, despite nurse's disapproval. Thomas loses weight, but not too much, discharged on day 3.

Day 4 check-in with publich health nurse. Discuss possibly giving formula b/c of urate crystals and low wet diapers, as well as no poop. Nurse disagrees and says to continue breastfeeding. Nipples are very torn up by this point, but latch is now good.

Day 5 checkup with doctor. Quite jaundiced by this point, milk still not transitioned. Go for blood test at lab. Doctor prescribes domperidone, 3x3, & Kenacomb for healing nipples. Come home & receive call from doctor's office ordering to go back to hospital; jaundice levels are dangerously high.

Pack up and rush to hospital. Admitted to NICU, ordered to make sure he is taking at least 2 oz of formula/feeding. Told how to use lactation aid (much different than actually doing it!), given pump (but only one horn -- very impractical). Quite overwhelmed by this point. Alternate feedings with l/a & finger feedings. Milk transitions on day 7, but breasts never feel full.

Day 8 discharged from hospital, finally. Had wanted to go home earlier, but hospital said no, even though jaundice levels were down. Very frustrated with hospital staff by this point. Continue feeding with l/a and finger feeding. Rush out to buy Medela PIS. Nipples beginning to heal. Also pick up Fenugreek & Blessed Thistle.

Week 2 - Week 16. Pumping after every feed, using l/a with every feed. Occasional break with bottle when going out (hard to use l/a in public). Feeling housebound & blue. Madly searching for information on how to increase supply. Feel there's a big hole there at this time (2004). Majority of info blames low supply on mismanagement, bad starts, etc. Play around with various levels of medication: increase domperidone to 4x4, Fenugreek to 4x4. Notice that Blessed Thistle doesn't seem beneficial at this point. Work on lactogenic diet, including oatmeal and leafy greens.

Month 4 - Month 6. Stop using l/a, switch to mostly bottles + some comfort nursing. Still pump for every feed. Producing ~15 oz/day. Continue on 4x4 domperidone, Fenugreek and lactogenic diet.

Month 7. Stop drug usage but continue pumping. Dramatic drop in supply -- down to 6 oz/day. Begin use of goat's rue. Had read conflicting reports on it - some claimed beneficial, others claimed may lead to lower supply, so waited until near the end to try.

Month 8. Stop pumping. No engorgement or pain drying milk. Gone within 3 days.

Lex

Birth

Had begun taking alfalfa (2x2) month prior to birth, based on book's recommendation (Making More Milk). Did not take goat's rue prior to birth.

Nursed immediately after birth and every 2 hours/day after. Co-slept from birth on. Good pee volumes, but no poo. Here is what I posted on my online board about this period:
Poop story: Lex had 4 bm's in the first 2 days (passing meconium). He then went 7 days without a bm and had a big one (transitional & breastmilk colour). He then went for an even longer stretch and finally pooped the other night (Feb 3). Diaper was full & poop was bm colour & consistency.

Weight story: Born @ 7 lb 15 oz, he dropped on Day 3 to 7 lb 6 oz, hovered at around 7 lb 7 oz for a couple of days and then really began climbing. Jan 25 he weighed 7 lb 11 oz, Jan 29 he weighed 7 lb 14 oz.

Ped consult was Weds. Ped ruled out many of the medical problems that the no poop could indicate b/c Lex looks well, is hydrated (6+ wet diapers/day) and had no other indicators (tummy not distended, etc.). However, he was weighed (Feb 4) and was at 7 lb 15 oz. Not a lot higher than his last weigh-in. So ped is pointing to insufficient milk as a likely problem.

We saw the nurse at the bf'ing clinic, who slightly adjusted the latch, but heard my letdown and felt that everything else was good. Got a script for dom at a low dosage (2x3). We're also doing fenugreek (3x3), alfalfa (2x3) and flaxseed oil (1x3). I just started pumping tonight after feeding.

Lex is nursing minimum of 12 times/day. Basically, I put him on the breast any time that he'll have me. He will nurse from 20 minutes - 1 hour per session, the 1 hour sessions tend to be mostly him nursing strong for the first part and then hanging out for the second part. (The ped did not like the fact that some sessions were for 1 hour.)

I am also using compression & switch nursing a lot. I had noticed that he didn't seem as satisfied later on in the day for the last few days, but I figured that it was about time for a growth spurt & just continued nursing until he was asleep. He is in bed with us and nurses throughout the night, too. However, I wonder how much he is getting during night nursing, as his diapers are more wet during the day than at night. Not sure what to do about this. So now I'm just working on getting him to nurse as vigorously as possible for as long as possible on each breast, and am hoping the domp and pumping will help more supply kick in.

His weight gain continued to be slow. One of my friends, who has charting software plotted it for me:
























2 months: He still hadn't hit 10 lb at his 2-month checkup. At this point, I was doing: domperidone 4x3, Fenugreek 3x3, Flaxseed Oil 1x3, Metamucil 2x3, Brewer's Yeast 3x3, Alfalfa 3x3, plus Lactastim tincture: "Increases milk flow and enriches the breast milk. Goat's Rue, Blessed Thistle, Fennel, Blue Vervain, Alfalfa, Nettle, Raspberry." Plus, still nursing frequently and co-sleeping. Doctor suggested beginning supplementation with formula. She suggested just 1 oz/session, but I decided to take more of an on-demand approach. He gained 1.5 lbs in a week! At this point, I wanted off as many pills as possible, so went slowly off of all except domperidone.

4 months: Am now nursing on demand and supplementing, as well as pumping at night when Lex is sleeping. He usually has 15-20 oz formula/day and 4 - 6 oz breastmilk by bottle, as well as nursing. He is getting to be quite a chubster! Have just decided to try going back on Fenugreek at 2x3 dosage. I usually get 4 - 6 oz from 2 pumping sessions @ 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. combined.

So that's it for now. Was a lot of work to get it down, but am happy to have documented.

I am here. Present! (My HBAC)

I am back. It has been a while.

We have a new member of the family. Here is how he arrived, his birth story, which I wrote the same day he arrived in this world.

Alexander’s Arrival

I had just finished my last full week at work, and Jim and Tommy had both finished recuperating from the flu on Friday night. After I arrived home, I had a good nap, woke up, hung out with Jim for a while (Tommy had already gone to bed) and then went to have a relaxing bath at around midnight.

Finally ended up in bed at around 1:00 a.m., Sat, Jan 17. At about 2:30 a.m., I poked Jim and told him to get a towel, as it felt like my waters were about to break. I had felt a little bit of a trickle, but couldn’t be sure if it was just excessive fluid or not.

We got up, went to the bathroom and determined that yup, my waters were breaking. Not gushing, but definitely breaking. Called our doula & m/w to give them the head’s-up. There weren’t any contractions and if this birth experience was anything like Tommy’s, they likely wouldn’t start for a few hours. On m/w’s instructions, headed back to bed to try to get a few more hours of precious sleep.

We laid down and I noticed a few short, light contractions beginning. Told Jim that I was going to squeeze his hand so we both would know what was going on as far as regularity & intensity. This went on fine for 10 or 15 minutes, then all of a sudden the contractions really started to intensify and I couldn’t stay in bed anymore.

Got out of bed and tried a bunch of different things, but standing was really all that was getting me through them at this point. Called both our doula and m/w again at around 3:15 a.m. M/w said she would be there in around 45 minutes and okayed my request to run a bath to try to help with the pain. We had actually been scheduled to pick up a birth pool later on that day, so thought that at least some form of water might help. But nope, there was naught to be done…as soon as I was off my feet, things were much harder.

So back on my feet I went. I found that leaning on a long dresser in the bedroom helped. I was having some trouble breathing through the contractions at this point. They were intense and extremely close together, so whenever I managed to get through one, I could take one or two breaths as it was subsiding and then the next would hit. So I started some crazy vocalizations, just low to med Oh’ing and Ah’ing. This helped with the breathing and also was a good cue for Jim to know when things were starting and ending.

At 4:10 a.m., the m/w arrived. She saw right away that things were far along and reminded me about the breathing. Checked fetal heart rate, which was good. Tried to get me to lie down for a quick check to see how far I was, but I refused, so she checked me standing up. It was about at this point that I started saying that the baby was coming and going to be here soon. She said she couldn’t feel the front of the cervix at all, but wasn’t sure about the back, so was calling it at about 7 c.m. Suggested that I try sitting on the toilet to get the back of the cervix out of the way, so I headed there while she called the student m/w and backup and told them to get here fast.

As soon as I sat on the toilet, I had one contraction that ended with an involuntary push. She quickly got me off the toilet and I went to the room. I was now leaning on the bed with my arms, holding on to one of Jim‘s hands for dear life. The contractions had changed from just intense contractions to pushes. Baby was soon going to be here! However, I had a really hard time squatting or spreading apart my legs in any manner, as it intensified the pain. Soon the backup m/w and student m/w arrived, and after a few more fetal heart rate checks and one internal, I was called fully dilated at 4:58 a.m.

I don’t know how he did it, but somehow Jim coaxed me on to the birthing stool from my standing position. At this point, I had no idea really what was going on and was just getting washed away with the labour. I had gone from vocalization to full-out screams at some point. (Our poor neighbours, I remember thinking.) Our m/w really pushed me to turn those screams into more grunts and to really start to push now, when my body told me to. I had Jim beside me, where I was mangling his hand, and he was helping support my back, another m/w behind me, giving me more back support because I needed to lean back, and another m/w catching the baby at the front, while another one was taking notes.

The pushes started coming and again, went very fast. By 5:10, baby had crowned. Tried to hold back as much as I could on the next one to avoid tearing. Within the next few pushes, baby was fully out by 5:12 and by 5:20 the placenta was out.

We did it!! It felt very surreal, but there was our baby! We basked for a bit and then Jim checked the sex -- another boy! Very cute and chubby and all-around amazing.

Then our doula arrived! She came up to the room, ready to help, not noticing that baby was there already. When we told her, we did it, she was completely shocked that everything was over so quickly. Although she missed the birth, I was so happy for her support after.

Then the hardest (or perhaps least rewarding) part came -- checking for tears. I had 2nd degree tears, although not too horribly bad. However, baby was born with his hand up by his head and had really scratched my internal labia coming out. I was still bleeding quite a bit and they had to keep soaking up the blood, but every time they touched me on the internal spots to soak up the blood, I almost died.

Finally, that was done. I had an extremely hard time peeing afterward, so after several times, I chose to get catheterized just to relieve the pressure from the bladder. When that was done, everyone packed up and went home, except for us -- we were already there!

It feels so unreal at this point. We are all seriously in love with our little Alexander, and Tommy is being the best big brother ever. Jim has been amazing and my in-laws came to visit, which helped out a lot, too.

We’re still sorting out middle name(s), but had settled on Alexander a few months ago. He’s feeding very well (was also in a hurry to nurse right away). He was born 7 lb 15 oz -- Tommy was 7 lb 15.5 oz. I swear, my uterus must have some sort of timer on it to eject before 8 lbs, for which I’m grateful!

Our little family is just right where I want to be.


And, for the first time in my blogging history, here are a few pictures of the last couple of months.


Lex's birthday




























Brothers





































Happy baby






























Life with 2 kids is busy, but I just saw someone else's blog who has had twins and she is doing a great job of updating, which reminds me of how I should be doing it...and of how amazing it is to actually have those times to look back on. So the next couple of posts may be a combination of past, present and future ponderings.

Yippee! Progress!!

I mentioned last time that I was reading Birthing from Within. One of the exercises it suggests to practise pain-coping techniques is holding an ice cube in your hand (or putting it on your wrist) for 60 seconds while trying out the various techniques.

In our prenatal classes we took while pregnant with Tommy, we also had this exercise and I hated it. I am not good with cold on my hands at all, and I resented having to use this as a method to test the various techniques, as I can withstand other pain quite well.

Despite this, I decided to bite the bullet last night and just try it. So I got 2 ice cubes and lay down in bed. I figured that if it was horrible, there was no one to pressure me to continue except myself. and the first bite of pain was intense. But I focused on my breathing and made it through. Same with the next exercise and other hand. Eventually, I was holding the ice for 2 minutes. It was amazing! I couldn't believe that I could actually do this. I ended up melting both ice cubes completely before I went to sleep.

I am so proud of myself for this and it really boosts my confidence. There are other first-time moms that say they aren't worried about labour pain. I remember feeling the same way and when labour actually happened, it swept me off my feet. I want to have that confidence again, but I want it to be an informed confidence. And I feel that I've really made some progress towards this. I plan to keep doing these exercises each night.

We've also made some huge progress on the baby's room and downstairs. Most of the boxes are out of the baby's room or put away. All of the newborn clothes and blankets are washed and just need to be put away. We have some used sheets and towels for the labour, as well as a plastic shower curtain to lay on the bed. And Jim had a brilliant idea for rearranging the basement that makes it 100% better. Funny how inspiration for one area leads to another.

I have been taking 4 alfalfa caplets/day for the last week or so, too. Not really seeing significant differences in my left breast, but I think it might be helping with my right breast. And that fits with my strategy for bf'ing -- to maximize the supply from the right and just use the left as it provides. I need to order some nursing tea, too.

So, baby, we're getting ready for you! On the wistful side, I can't help but watch Tommy in these last few weeks and savour our moments as a family of 3. I am really so lucky and blessed.

Christmas is put away

A-ha! See, I am here? This wireless thing must be working. (That and actually having a few days off to relax.) Jim and I just finished putting Christmas away -- the tree, the garlands, the lights, etc. The outdoor stuff still has to go, but it's minimal at this point.

Earlier today, I hauled some stuff out of the baby's room and attempted to go through clothes and organize what we have. Cause, you know, it's just really hit home that this baby is happening soon.

I've been reading the book Birthing from Within and there's a section in there that talks about confronting our fears when it comes to birthing. The book encourages you to give visual representation to this, which I may try to do. I've already identified the main focus of fear for me: control.

I am not good at surrendering control. Even in situations where I throw up my hands and say, "It's out of my control," I still try to craft something from it that I can control. I have delusions of grandeur, that I am in control of my world and my life. And when I find out that I'm not, it can take a while for me to adjust.

The problem is that I don't think I'm going to have time to adjust in labour. When Tommy was born and the pain felt out of control, I was in the hospital and had an epidural. I am choosing to forego that this time, partly to gain a measure of control in what procedures are performed. But I am also losing the control that I know I could lean on before.

I feel like this time it is going to be different, that labour is going to rush into me and possess my body. I am going to have to surrender sole control of my body and my emotions and co-exist with the forces of labour. I don't really think of the pain-coping techniques as being ways that I can control coping with pain, but instead learning ways of being that will assist me in existing harmoniously with labour.

Gradually, I am adjusting to this new mindset. Of being present, but swept along. Of a different power and ways of self-expression through this power. Of letting go of self-judgement and perceptions that box things out and instead having existing inside myself fully.

And instead of being scared of this, I am just beginning to view it as opportunity for all of those things. I can't imagine where else in life this opportunity exists as fully as it does during birth, but maybe I will find it again after I experience it. It feels like part of letting go is letting something new in. And letting something new in will bring new life into this world.

It's been far too long

Dear blog,

It has been far too long since I've posted and I can't even begin to go back and record those things that I've missed. In fact, right now I'm posting courtesy of the wireless keyboard and mouse that we received this Christmas. Maybe these will lead to more regular posting -- assuming, that is , that being able to be slightly more lazy/comfortable while posting is a panacea for lack of blogliness. Regardless, rather than chronicling all that has occurred in the past few months, I am instead going to try to capture where I am right now.


I am quite far along in this pregnancy -- 35 weeks to be precise. And do I ever feel big! I am pretty sure that at this point, I am bigger than I was with Tommy. Or maybe I'm just having trouble remembering back that far. Lots more aches and pains this time, perhaps attributable to age or not being in as good a shape as I was with Tommy. And the pressure -- oy! I am hopeful that the pressure means that my chances of a VBAC are increased.

Speaking of VBAC, I am now under the care of midwives rather than my family doctor. It was a very hard decision to make, but my doctor was toeing the line at policies so much that it was causing me a lot of stress about how labour would be occurring and I decided to try if midwives would be available. I was lucky and managed to get in immediately at about 32 weeks. And now I've gone from worrying about whether or not I'll have continual EFM in a hospital setting to planning to have this baby at home! Jim and I are very excited about this and it seems almost surreal that it could be happening in a month's time. It has definitely energized my journey and given me something to look forward to rather than something to be apprehensive about. My friend, Caroline, is going to be my doula, too, so we will have a lot of support from people who are knowledgeable and supportive. It is really evoking a "yes, I can" attitude on my part rather than worrying about how best to manage a situation out of my control.

The irony in my feelings doesn't escape me, as the "situation out of control" is part of what has led to the medicalization of birth and the policies surrounding it. I believe that individually doctors have their patients' best intentions at heart, but collectively it becomes impersonal and overbearing and I am so glad to have the opportunity to put that behind.

What else is new? I had my whole family (except Steve & Crys) over for Boxing Day at our house. There was a big hurdle to actually get them down, but I'm hoping that now that they've done it once that it may happen again in the future. Work has been a strain for the last few months and between that and the more taxing demands of pregnancy has been a big part of the reason for my inner retreat. I need to reconnect with a lot of friends and the onus for that rests squarely on my shoulders. I hope I haven't burned too many bridges or lost too many friends by being less than communicative.

So that's it, in a nutshell. Tommy is wonderful, Jim is amazing. I am a very lucky person. Sure, nothing is 100% perfect, but being surrounded by people who care about me is pretty wonderful.
Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to sort out this newfangled technology and get things going again here, both on my own blog and visiting the people who've come to see me.

xo G

VBAC Hurdle #1

I've decided to go for a VBAC for Squirt. (VBAC stands for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) And as usual, I'm not going halfway about it. I don't consider it a "nice idea" -- it is something that I really want to do and yes, I'll say it, succeed at.

Many people say that any birth where mom and babe come out health is a successful birth, and I don't have any qualms agreeing with that. But I do think that I can define my own success, too, and I have had the experience of a c-section (unplanned) with a healthy baby. I don't think of that birth as a failure -- far from it. It brought me a wonderful son, whom I love more than the world. But it also had side effects that I want to avoid, including difficulty with breastfeeding. This may have happened regardless, but I am certain it was compounded by the surgery and additional fluids I had while in hospital.

This time, I want to do all I can to have a VBAC. Not to correct things from my last birth. My primary reason for this is because I don't want to have elective surgery. My motivation to succeed at the VBAC comes from wishing to gain what I strongly believe I can have with this birth.

I had begun doing some research and ordered these from Indigo.ca:

A little more "earthy-birthy" than my natural inclinations, but full of useful information.

One thing I had already decided was that I did not want continuous electronic fetal monitoring. I had a rotten experience with Tommy with cEFM. My waters broke spontaneously with him and we waited until contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting 60 seconds. When we arrived at triage, there were no beds available. The nurses strapped the cEFM to me and I laboured in an uncomfortable, stiff, wooden waiting-room chair for a good half an hour.

Imagine having your worst menstrual cramps or a horrible stomach flu or migraine. Then imagine being forced to sit in a chair with a heavy device strapped around your stomach -- exactly where you feel the pressure and the most important place to have unrestricted movement in order to cope with the pain. That is cEFM.

The hurdle is that cEFM is recommended by the SOGC for VBACs because of the risk of uterine rupture. Changes to the fetal heartbeat are an early indicator of rupture. And these changes can be caught by cEFM.

On the other hand, cEFM is also highly correlated with the incidence of c-section. Natural pain management is difficult with cEFM, which can lead to higher rates of interventions and ultimately a c-section delivery. cEFM also makes it difficult for Stage 2 (the pushing stage) as it limits your positions, which can also lead to a c-section.

So it's a Mexican stand-off, impacted by guilt and fear that refusing cEFM will lead to injury and possibly death for mom and babe. The chance of uterine rupture? Less than 0.5%. In fact, there are just as many risks for non-VBAC births that are not termed high risk.

There is an alternative: intermittent monitoring. This involves periodic monitoring, as opposed to continual. So rather than having a constant ticker of patterns, there are individual snapshots. This is the alternative that I wish to have.

Last Friday, I had a doctor's appointment and mentioned that I wanted this alternative for my birth. My doctor bluntly told me that it was policy at the hospital she delivers at for cEFM for VBAC, as all VBACs are termed high risk. I was taken aback. My doctor has always seemed supportive of natural births. I believe she had two home births herself. So this lack of flexibility stunned and upset me.

I considered arguing, but didn't anticipate her positioning and couldn't find the right words and emotional space to do it in. Something else happened in the appointment and when I finally came out to meet my dh, who was there to pick me up, I couldn't hold back the tears. I felt so defeated before I even began.

I came home and crashed in our bed. I needed time to myself to recover. I posted my experience on my board and learned that someone else who had delivered at the same hospital with midwives had received intermittent monitoring.

I am trying to contact a few midwifery clinics. I don't feel strongly one way or the other about a doctor vs a midwife. But I do feel strongly about cEFM. It's something I don't think I can remain indifferent to and need to do something at this stage. Whether it's pushing my doctor and refusing cEFM regardless of policy. Or switching care providers.

I hadn't pictured being in this position, having to choose between providers to get the birth that I want, but am finding myself stronger and more passionate about it than I ever imagined.

Here I am again

I have to give a big shout out to anyone who still reads my blog. Admittedly, I have been horrible in updating it. But strangely, every now and again I get the longing to come back. It's like the pull to somewhere familiar that isn't part of your everyday life, but is comforting nonetheless.

So what's new with me? Not too much since I last updated.

The belly is growing, which is quite exciting. Squirt (my name for the new one) is due at the end of January. I have slowly been making some decisions about birthing, etc. My first labour ended in a c-section, but I have decided to try VBAC this time. There are also a few standard procedures that I do not want, such as continual electric fetal monitoring, and I know that I will have to fight for those. I thought that I had a friend lined up to be a doula, but I haven't heard from her at all, so I might have to find one, as I don't think my hubby wants to be involved in hospital conflict. I know he would advocate for me if I needed him to, but I don't see the point in causing both of us stress.

The monkey has adapted so well to his new daycare and is getting to be such a big boy. He wants to do everything by himself. I miss the baby in him, but it's exciting to see this new side emerging. I am trying to start working on letter recognition with him. He's pretty good with numbers, and is showing really amazing progress with letters, considering that we only started this early this week. I don't want to push him, but while he is still happy to do it and it is a game, I don't see why not. Left to his own devices, he would most likely play with cars and trucks all day, which is fine, but not really exploring any new territory.

We have been fully moved into our place since July, but still are not settled. After the monkey went to a new daycare, we also had the joy of being exposed to new germs and all 3 of us got sick for about a month, which means kitchen reno's were on hold. I have been fine with working in a somewhat chaotic kitchen and living out of boxes for a while, but have recently started feeling antsy about getting things done.

Other than that, not a lot new. It's been 8 months, but I am still so grateful to be done school. It was such a large part of my life for so long, dictating and restricting schedules. It feels good to have my time again...or at least, what little of it I can grab.

Squirt is tickling my belly right now. I have felt tickles all around, even up high, which is unusual for this early. Now that I know what to expect from a baby, not in terms of routine b/c everyone is different but in terms of life changes and love, I am savouring and anticipating the arrival of a new baby so much more. I feel so lucky for everything that we have right now.

3 months later update

Life has been busy, but it's been a good busy. Since my last post, we've purchased our first house! We closed on May 30, but still have the apartment until the end of June, so we're moving over in dribbles.

I'm listening to my dh ooh and aah over various treasures that have been in storage for the last 5 years. I wonder if they'll end up in storage again! I'm determined to cut things down and give away a lot of stuff, but he likes to hold on to every single book he purchases. I have the feeling our basement will be lined with books.

Yay! Dh just dug up a pair of shoes that I bought a couple of years ago and couldn't find. Now I can throw out my old ones that are falling apart!

I'm also pregnant! Due date is the end of Jan 2009, so I'm about 8 weeks along now. I've been spotting and bleeding for the last few days, so I'm worried we might end up with another miscarriage. We spent 3 hours in the ER today, trying to get an ultrasound done so we could see if all was okay with baby, but eventually we left because it was taking too long.