BrianandLibby.com

Well it wasn’t so much an issue of a survey - who would leave such an important decision up to a simple survey, vote or contest? (haha, jk) It was more of a judgment based on our experience with them, and we definitely took our friends’ experience into consideration. The verdict? We’re going to stick with the midwives until experience/research tells us to consider otherwise!

I’ve been doing a fair amount of research and it seems like a great option for a pregnancy that seems normal and healthy thus far. Plus, this particular group of midwives is within my OB-GYN practice, so they work closely with the doctors and, should the delivery/pregnancy become anything but normal at anytime, the transition back to a doctor is pretty seamless, whether it’s in 2 months or in the last 10 minutes of my delivery. We’ll still deliver at Saratoga Hospital too, so it’s not like I’m delivering in my bathtub or anything! I’m not quite that hardcore. Plus, unlike the midwives of yore, ours are in full support of whatever drugs we opt for (which, at this point, is pretty much all of them). So although I can’t say this is the best way to go for everyone, we’re sticking with it for now.

The first visit sealed the deal. Brian and I both agreed that the whole experience was less clinical and much more personal. It appealed to the first time parents-to-be who want to know more than just the fact that a heartbeat is there; we liked hearing more about what the rate means, if it’s “strong” or “weak” (relatively speaking), and all the little fun things, like “that sound is your baby moving.” Altogether we got more time and it was “warm and fuzzier;” I guess we’re into that. Plus, the way my OB practice works, if you work with the Dr’s you see all 6 of them and have a 1 in 6 chance of getting the one you like on the day of delivery. There are 3 midwives and you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting the one you like on the day of. Not to mention, we like 1 out of the 2 dr’s we’ve met so far, and 1 out of 1 midwife. So it really came down to simple math :) 

The only thing I didn’t like about the midwife is that she asked me point blank about how my diet was. How dare she make me responsible for the nutrition of my baby! Either way, I kind of love her at the same time, because her little trick totally worked. I had salad for dinner last night, and I’m eating one now. I also had a Frosty and a “stack attack” (Wendy’s, one dollar, try one) at 9pm last night. But that’s ok b/c my motto is to focus on getting the good in, not so much keeping the bad out. Maybe I will grab some fries after I finish this salad…

Ironically, I’m finding that although, as expected, April greeted me with a much lighter schedule and more time to do whatever I want, I don’t do as much. I don’t even know what I do, I just don’t do anything productive. Maybe I’m just still slowing down from last month. Either way, here’s a little bit on the last couple days.

• My job is SO much better in weather like this. I can’t wait until summer is really here! I can wait for August, however. Working out in the heat 8 months pregnant? I see a lot of iced coffees in my future.
• Speaking of iced coffee, I’ve never really done the drug rep thing where you bring offices food for no reason in the afternoon/morning. I should have done it all along, it works like a charm. My offices are like Posh in that way. The presence of food is a huge driver and can completely manipulate their behavior!
• Speaking of Posh, I took her to the dog park for the first time this week. She totally loved it and it totally wore her out. I decided Posh is doomed to be socially awkward and although she things she’s one of the big dogs she is much happier to snuggle up at people’s feet. She cracks me up.
• A HUGE thank you to Paul and Cheryl (faithful friends and brianandlibby.com readers!) for offering to take Posh for the week when we go away. We can’t thank you enough! I’m sure Posh and Tucker will get along famously!
• One word: Limeade. When I lived with the Hergatt family for 4 months, Pastor Duke always had limeade. It was wierd, but I liked it. The other day, when I rediscovered grocery shopping, I saw “Simply Limeade” on sale. It was so awesome, it lasted about 36 hours in our house (Brian had some too)! I went back and got more, but considering that I would be investing in a lot of limeade over the next few months, I opted for the cheaper concentrated stuff with lots of high fructose corn syrup. Still delicious! I’ve decided this will be the summer of limeade for the Howes.
• We’re headed to our 4 month OB appt this morning, and this time we’re seeing a midwife. We’re leaning towards a delivery with a midwife, but still not completely sure either way. Feel free to weigh in if you have any experience either way! And don’t worry, these midwives are in FULL support of drugs, as am I!

As basketball season picks up, my social life takes a turn for the worst. Tonight, Brian headed over to watch the game with the guys after work and the gym. Me? I came home, ate, took Posh to school, ate again, and now I am doing my expense reports. Talk about a wild night. You know me and Posh, just a couple of girls on the town. If only we had hit up Cold Stone Creamery, now that would’ve been something.

I don’t really watch sports, with the exception of the World Series and the Superbowl, which I will conveniently become very involved in when “my teams” (aka Brian’s teams) are playing. I learned early on in my marriage that this was going to be one of those things my husband loved that I just couldn’t get into. No biggie. I mean, how often is there a playoff game, a championship, or a game so big it either monopolizes my TV for the night, or steals my husband? I learned the answer to this question all to quickly - ALWAYS! Every time I couldn’t change the channel because it was sports I was told “but it’s the championship game!” or “but it’s the final four” or “it’s the game before the game before the game that will determine who plays in the World Series!”

Five years later, I’d still rather stay home alone, or stare blankly at the TV while the game is on, or cater a variety of frozen foods to a family room full of very loud men, than actually try to engage in this “madness.” So even though it’s not March, I’m feelin’ the sadness. Ladies, are you with me?

Today I cooked! Well, kind of…here’s what happened. I decided I eat primarily garbage, and should have salad for dinner. My poor husband has been trying to maintain a healthy diet through my culinary drought and I thought if I had salad I could make it at home and he could have it too. Then I remembered how I used to go to the grocery store and, like, buy stuff for the whole week so we could make our OWN food instead of picking up meals on our way home. And suddenly it all came back to me.

There was some significant backup in the kitchen when I got home with a weeks worth of groceries. The sink was full, so I couldn’t wash any veggies. The dishwasher was clean, so I had to empty that, in order to do the dishes, in order to wash the produce. Then I realized my fridge was full of leftovers - chinese from monday, indian from tuesday, half of a wrap from lunch wednesday…you get the idea. It smelled peculiar. I threw out everything that was not fit to be eaten. By that point my fridge contained condiments, eggs and some yogurt that I have 3 days left to eat.

It feels good to have a functioning kitchen again, even though all I used it for tonight was to make us salads with chicken strips (from my freezer) on them. What a new world of possibilities this opens for us! I hope this gets me back into the groove of cooking, and eating healthy healthier. If not, buy stock in Taco Bell, because if I DON’T start cooking, and I continue how I’ve been eating, I think I could single-handedly drive up their Q2 profits. Wish me well.

• Tonight the Colonie team had an awesome, and very efficient practice (2 hrs including run through for a new performance opener and 4 worship songs). Probably because I made it very clear that I was treating everyone to Kurver Kreme if we made it out at a decent hour. Just like I learned in Dog School! Food works as an incentive! Worked for me too, I was like a drill sargeant…”everybody good, ok next song!”
• Speaking of Posh, for those inquiring minds out there, Posh and I decided she was learning at too rapid of a rate and her brain needed a rest, so we skipped school Monday. No child or dog should be deprived of skipping school once in life. We spent the night watching Friends reruns and cuddling. It was well worth the $15 I wasted.
• Root beer float in the freezing cold with friends = awesome.  
• Tomorrow night is Friday night and I have no plans. Maybe I will get to hang out with my husband. Sometimes I see him in the morning as we cross paths in the bathroom, or I kick him in the middle of the night. I read his blog, I think he eats my leftovers in the fridge, I see him at church, and sometimes I fall asleep in the car while he’s driving. It would be cool to go on a date or something.
• Posh is obsessed with Brian (too). When I say “where’s Daddy” she freaks out and runs to the door. It’s adorable
• Good night

I’m learning, now that my pregnancy is more public, that there are two things people almost always say when they know you’re pregnant. I would like to share my thoughts on each of them:

How do you feel?
This question is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the fact that I always answer “great!” (with a big smile of course). Want to know how I really feel? Too bad, I’m telling you either way. Sure, I’m not nauseous and unable to buy groceries anymore (although strangely enough, I still rarely do), and I’m not spending every night on the couch until submitting to an 8pm bedtime, BUT this is how I really feel. I am bloated. I am tired. I am gaining weight at a startling pace (ok, like 4 pounds so far, but still, quite startling). I almost always have a headache. My pants are tight, and most likely unbuttoned at any given moment. I am ravenous every 3-4 hours and if I don’t eat, I’m back to unmanageable nausea and cereal for dinner. I have to pee every 45 minutes to an hour, which is kind of an issue since I HAVE NO OFFICE (I work out of my car)!  I have excruciating pain in my back that makes no sense since I haven’t really gotten big yet. I wore ugly shoes (aka flats) for 6 consecutive workdays and it hasn’t improved. But hey, my hair is shiny and my nails are really long so I guess it’s all good right?

You look great!
People always tell me this. Ya know what? It’s wierd. When they say it, I think to myself, are they just saying that (considering the information about) they expect me to look fat, unhealthy and unhappy all the live-long day, and I actually look human? Or are they saying it because I really look horrible, but for good reason, so they want me to feel better about myself? Quite frankly I think I look the same, so either I looked really bad before, or I look worse now and people are feeling sorry for me, so they lie. I guess I should thank them because considering my irritability (which I forgot to mention in my list of grievances above) I would probably knock them out if they told me the truth.

Just some food for thought for those of you who aren’t currently or have never been pregnant. To be honest, I usually am guilty of saying both of these things. I probably still will in the future, but now I am more aware of how ridiculous is sounds on the receiving end.