Week 33 and nesting question

Hey Friends and family!

As week 33 comes to a close I sit and watch my stomach move around like crazy much like this picture I posted to my Facebook:

Really, that's kind of what I've been doing this week. Sitting around watching my belly move around like crazy... Down side to being OCD is running out of things to do baby wise.. Teagan's room is done.. I've washed all the clothes she has already and hung them back up, I even have her mini crib in our room all ready to go... So I sit and wait lol. It is good to know that I have some baby showers coming up that will give me some stuff to do (more laundry) and things to set up (hopefully!). But in the mean time... see above picture haha.

We celebrated a buddy's birthday in the beginning of the week and got to catch up with our friends. It just seems like the last couple weeks we hadn't got to see each other because our schedules were always conflicting for some reason the last few weeks. The hubby's parent's came down for a day visit in the middle of the week and had lunch with us. Then I ended out the week by doing a belly cast. I've got pictures of the cast on my Instagram for those of you who want to see it. (it actually turned out a lot cuter then I thought it would!)


Developmentally:
Teagan is about 4 and a half pounds and between 18 and 19 inches long (depending on if you are going off the book or app). She continues to move around ALOT and her favorite activity is seeing how far she can bend my ribs.

I'm continuing to get bigger in the tummy as she grows but that's about it. I haven't really gained anywhere else yet. I ask the hubby if my face looks bigger and he insists it doesn't so we'll see if I get the pregnant lady face in the next few weeks!

Symptom Check:
So heartburn has been my constant symptom (you all know this by now) but I've started to notice when I'm hungry I get it. So I'm wondering like in my 2nd trimester I would get nauseous when I was hungry if I'm now getting heartburn if I'm due to eat something... hmmm more heartburn testing to commence I guess.

Does being stabbed from the insides by your baby count as a symptom? Because if so I have this too! Teagan I'm pretty sure is trying to remove my lowest right rib.. its defiantly bruised and half the time I have to lean to the left while sitting to relieve the pressure/ pain in my rib.

Back pain: this is another one that keeps popping up when I'm sitting, the muscle on the right side of my spine, right in the middle of my back ALWAYS cramps up when I've been sitting for like 10 minutes.. I'm fine when I'm standing, but sitting has been interesting (especially with the rib thing.. these two combined.. I look super funny sitting down).

Still don't have cankles!

Still have a belly button! (barely) It's almost even with my belly at this point, but that's only when she's pushing on that part of my belly.

Question time!
People keep asking me if I'm nesting yet.. I'll have to say no considering pretty much everything is done (except for the stuff I'm getting from baby showers, and then the purchases needed to supplement what I don't get) and now I just get to sit and wait... Did you nest? How would you describe nesting?


Upcoming this week I have another doctor's appointment and then it will be every week until she decides to pop out. I also have a chiropractor's appointment too to look forward to :) Less then 6 weeks to go (if she comes right on time.. but she'll probably nest in there forever until she breaks my rib then digs her way out)!

Heres a couple fun pics, we've been practicing with the dogs for our upcoming maternity pics and I think they may need a little more practice (not to mention my hubby's photography skills could use some work... poor Bruno got chopped out of the pic!)

Until next time!
Bre and Teagan (the bump)

Parenting plan #4: Glass bottles, homemade food and other theories I have

So I've got this theory for pretty much everything on this post... Kind of like with my diaper theory:

Back in the day (like the 50's maybe?) stay at home moms were fewer and far between because after the second world war women had to enter the work force to supplement their household incomes. So during that time manufacturing of items to ease all the stuff that was done at home began booming. For instance 1948 was when the first disposable diaper was introduced. Pampers came out with their higher absorbent diaper in 1961. Also in the 1950's the first plastic baby bottle was introduced. They were easier to use for baby sitters and in turn didn't break when accidentally dropped by the milk giver or baby learning to hold a bottle. For food, mass made powders have been made since the early 1900's but the big roll out of ready made baby food (like the kind in a jar) made its appearance in the 1920's (hmmm another war time perhaps?... maybe WW1?????)  So I don't know if you got my point yet, but here it is: all these advances were made during war time, when mothers were needed to be away from the home and help their fellow man. And because of that they needed some extra assistance at home to ease the stress of supporting a family all the while feeding, clothing, laundering, babies. And I by no means am saying that mothers HAVE to be in the house now when they have babies, MANY moms out there still work and my way of baby raising would NOT work easily for them, I totally respect that the modern conveniences work for them and their babies. I'm just saying.. hey I'm not working, I'm at home, I got time so why not try my hand at what was working for at home moms before war times brought these big changes to "normal?"

Glass Bottles
I'm not sure if any of you have checked out my registry and noticed that I'm registered for glass bottles.. but well I am!! :) This one has gotten me lots of funny looks (even from my own mom.. but it was only a look she never said I was crazy even though I could tell she was thinking it hehe... but then again my mom was a working mom ((Military for 22 years)) so my theory with working moms and plastic bottles stands) from LOTS of people, but hear me out a bit before you shun the idea.. Firstly they still make them, so obviously there is still a demand for them, and by them I mean MOST bottle companies. But they also go with our parenting philosophy of longevity. Glass bottles when taken care of properly can last through many babies and still look brand new. And while yes plastic bottles could last through a couple babies (read last post's rant on longevity of plastic items) they do tend to break down after usually the use from one baby. The plastic gets all scratched up and starts to have a foggyish or cloudy look to them just from normal wear and tare. Plus there was that whole BPA scare with bottles and how it was making babies sick.. don't have to worry about that with glass bottles! Now once again I'm not saying I'll NEVER use plastic bottles, I'm just saying like cloth diapers, I think it wouldn't hurt to try them out. I'll probably have a few on hand for baby sitters or if I'm going on a day trip somewhere and don't want to risk my hubby breaking a bottle (you should see our regular glass collection.. he's been graduated to only plastic cups to use in the house a long time ago) while I'm gone. Glass bottles today do however have silicone covers to go on them to help them not be slippery and also gives them a second chance at life if they are dropped.

I'd also like to note that my goal is to exclusively breast feed. So as long as Teagan will take me, I'll be giving her, her milk from me, not a cow or formula. So I'll have a stash of my milk for her to drink from a bottle when I'm not around, but seeing as I'll be around most of the time, I don't think I'll really need that many bottles. I'm still realistic in knowing that breast feeding doesn't always work out for some moms, but I'm for sure going to give it my best shot! If I do have to for some reason stop breast feeding her before a year and supplement with formula, I may rethink the glass bottles as she'll be able to hold bottles by then and I don't need her to be like her father breaking glass all over the place! Also, after a year she can graduate to sippy cups as I wean her off me and won't need bottles when she starts to eat and drink like the big people do.

Heres a pic of some glass bottles and plastic bottles both by the born free bottle company:

Plastic bottle

Glass bottle

Homemade food:

The first part of my "down the isle" theory was out of necessity and ease for moms in the work force, but I do have another one that I would attach to allergies in kids. Now I definitely don't have any research on this, just a theory, so if any of you are fact checkers let me know how crazy I am! I just think that over my lifetime there has been a HUGE increase in the amount of kids with food allergies. AND there have also been a large increase in the amount of mass produced prepared baby foods. (they have whole isles now....) I'm not saying that the food companies are MAKING kids have allergies, I'm just saying maybe there could be a correlation?

Also with manufactured foods comes the unknown of what is going into your baby's body. Yes we can read ingredients and it says "with real chicken" but that just makes me think like I'm reading the ingredients for my dog's food bag. Why go and buy a jar of "turkey dinner" for my baby when I can make a turkey dinner (I'm a house wife remember.. I have time for this) for me and the hubby and just give her pieces of turkey and veggies and what not that I prepared from scratch that I know what is in them? Plus it will save me money! Then I get the question of what if she goes to grandmas or some place... well have ya heard of packing a lunch? If you can do it for a kid, then you can do it for a baby? Yes, I'd just pack a little pack of food for her duh, no need to go and buy crap that I don't know what's in it! I make my husband's lunches, what's one more for a little one?

On that note, I'm still debating WHEN I'll actually introduce her to solids but when I do I'll be doing it with the baby led weaning method. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you breast feed your baby until at least a year old and not to introduce any food for at least 6 months. But heres mine (and some other doctor's thoughts on that). If your baby doesn't have any teeth, then why introduce food? Yes I can make mushy food and give her that but if she's getting all the nutrients she needs from my milk then what does giving her mushy foods do nutrition wise for her? (all it does is change her poop color!) So what I'm probably going to do is wait until she has some teeth (which is usually around 6 or so months anyway) then I'll introduce her to foods. And baby led weaning just simply means to let the baby feed themselves from the start. No doing the choo choo or air plane with mushy foods and a spoon. All you have to do is introduce them to food that is an appropriate size for their little hands and let them explore. Around that age they are reaching and grabbing and sticking everything in their mouths anyway! So like the toys, instead of doing the action FOR her, she'll be learning to feed herself and teaching herself to CHEW instead of just swallowing mush. The plus side to this method is babies who lead their own feedings are less likely to be picky eaters later on and more open to trying new things. Also again you'll know what EXACTLY your baby is eating.

AND finally on the subject of baby eating, we are going to go sugar free for her first year, unless it's the natural sugars that come in her fruits and foods. We are going to strive to keep our baby away from any sweets, as in her first cake will be a frostingless cupcake on her first birthday. Then, even after that she'll have a limited sugar intake. The biggest benefit of this is she won't develop a craving for sugary foods (I hate it when I see toddlers screaming for candy) and discourages picky eating; she'll be less likely to only eat sweet food and form a pallet for healthy food. A mom's dream come true would be to go to the grocery store and have her kid ask for veggies instead of "fruit" snack gummies."


Elimination Communication: 
I think I may have mentioned this in an older post but if not EC is basically potty training your baby from birth. YEP its possible! The theory is babies don't like to be wet or soil themselves hence crying when they have a wet diaper. Basically the parent learns the baby's cue or "tells" (like in poker...) for when they are about to "go" and then takes them to a little potty or the big potty with an insert (not as a infant though!), or some even just go to the sink because infant poos aren't solid (I think that's gross..)  and does a sound cue for "going" and eventually they will associate the sound with the action. And through being in tune with your baby, much like understanding their cues for being hungry you can pick up on when they have to go. Then, eventually the baby will know you know these cues and be more likely to hold it until you are around them. There's a book that explains like three different approaches to this technique. There's the full time committed person who really is hung ho for their baby never needing  diaper (ha, not me, I'm a realist) then there's the people who do it part time (like not when the baby is being cared for at day care, only at home) and then the other is the person who uses it as an option to just help the open communication with the little one about going to the potty.

I'm kinda of between the second and third options. (this is WAY better explained in the book The diaper free baby then I can really explain it) I would LOVE if I could have Teagan not needing diapers, or as many diapers earlier then the average potty training age (around 2 years old) but I'm also realistic and know that not all idea out there are for all babies. If anything, if I can get her comfortable around the potty so it's not some crazy new idea when potty training actually happens, that would be great! But there are people out there (check youtube) who's babies no longer poo in diapers, only pee, and if that is something we could do that would be great!

Well that's all for this post!

Until Next time!
Bre and Teagan (the bump)

Parenting Plan #3: meeting milestones without battery operated toys?

Why our baby's toys aren't going to have "bells and whistles": 

Hey if I'm going crazy hippy with cloth diapers I might as well continue it into my baby's play right? But I do have research to back this up! I'm not just pulling this out of left field and deciding my baby shouldn't have toys made from plastic because I'm mean.

Basically we want to structure any play she has in a form that will help her developmentally grow. One way is in what she plays with. The first two years of life should really be focused on reaching out and learning the world around her. Her first year is really learning those motor movements like grasping things and eventually crawling and walking.  If we give Teagan all these toys that take batteries and make songs and sounds and already DO something, then how is she supported to learn anything besides just pushing buttons? Here is a nice link to a little chart with the basic milestones of a baby from birth to 3 years. For instance by six months Teagan should be able to sit up, with some assistance or propped up and be able to interact with some toys. The next month is when she'll probably start getting mobile and moving around her environment, however if up to this point she's been put in front of a toy that just lights up and makes noise how is that supposed to encourage her to explore her surroundings?

The second year should really focus on the cognitive development of understanding the world she has been exploring. For example learning to talk and then put simple sentences together, and following along in the books I've been reading her, matching colors or shapes, putting small objects in things (like those shape puzzles where you insert a square into a square hole), and even starting to learn the art of coloring. Once again, putting a baby in front of a toy or item that just keeps them there pushing the same button over and over again for noise isn't going to add to her development. All the research I've done show that toys that don't already to something encourage what are goal is: Imaginative play. It makes her think for herself and encourages her to interact with others and explore her surroundings.

Now I'm not saying we are going to completely cut plastic toys and toys that take batteries (that pretty much is ALL the toys that make noise with buttons and such) out of her life. We just prefer more simplistic toys such as wooden. With toys like these, they are longer lasting, usually better quality (yes there is a price connected but totally worth it), and the neutral colors encourage baby's imagination. We are also trying to avoid toys that encourage gender stereotyping. If she wants to have  one of those hammer mallets and pound shapes into a hole, the majority of the plastic ones are geared towards boys with tool belts and "boy colors" whereas a wooden mallet one will have multiple colors and will work for either gender. (it also goes back to our core beliefs from the first post about longevity through multiple kids!)

Another reason we really want to try to avoid as much plastic is "they don't make em like they used to." In general we want Items that will stand the test of time. In the the time since I was a baby to now it just seems that manufacturing has taken the approach of making items cheaply, both in cost to the manufacture and in quality. They don't need flashy plastic toys to accomplish this! Instead of a flashy plastic baby push walker that can dry rot and crack or break with one good chomp from my pup, my hubby can put his woodworking skills to use and make one! (If not him, I have a super talented father that can do the same thing.) Here are some examples:

See! 1: made of plastic 2: one way baby just SITS there (common we all know they do) 3: look how bulky the thing is! and only for a short period of time!

Here are a BUNCH of different kinds, some bigger then others, but its easy to see how they can be utilized still after the baby learns to walk. 

 Plus we find that plastic toys are just becoming super flimsy as the years go on. The example I use (not really with toys) is, if the manufacturers of baby car seats don't recommend using car seats over 3 years because the plastic base and structure of the car seat in general can be compromised from use. What's to say that the WAY smaller item that WASN'T made purely for safety could have the same problem?

So we are going to try a lot of DIY type of stuff for making Teagan the big stuff. It can be really fun too to make all the DIY toys and interactive play things! (You all know how much I like to do a good DIY!) Here are some examples of items that I plan on making with the hubby:

play tent

play tent and mat (my mat will be more colorful)

Even a natural teething ring! 

I'd also like to make the point again that this is for the focus of the first TWO years of Teagans developmental life. I'm not saying she won't one day have a leap pad (or whatever the equivalent is) or access to a computer. We do understand the importance for a child to be able to function in normal society. But we also strongly believe that babies should be babies and not forced into this technologically advanced world if it isn't going to developmentally help them at the stage in life they are at. Even after she's two I'm probably going to follow the same philosophy of does she really need the technology version, will it really help her as much as the original version would? If I were to use leap pad for an example: they read the kid the story (yes I know the kid can read along with it or do activities) but really how is it helping if the kid is just there putting the pen cursor on each of the words and letting the machine do the sounding out for her? Wouldn't it be better if me as her mom, had the SAME book (no machine) and read it WITH her? All the while encouraging her to sound out the words and ensuring she's actually following along with the story? That way I know she's engaged AND she's interacting with a PERSON not a machine. So she gets to read, interact with others and me as a mom knows where she's at in her struggles and strengths and then can in turn work with her on the parts she needs improvement on... Leap pad doesn't tell parents how the kid playing on the device is doing and what to work on.. just food for thought. (plus I never had one and I got a full scholarship to college and got a masters on my own!)

Another example I like to use is all the game apps on phones and tablets. From my rant on the previous post you know my thoughts on babies with them, but even older kids have proven to me they don't help developmentally! I love puzzles (so does the hubby), I have like 25 right now in my game closet most 750 pieces and above. I know there are puzzle apps on devices and I know kids who do really well on those devices with the puzzles... BUT you give them a puzzle in real life and they struggle! For instance I had a kid in grade school (not even a toddler) when I was interning and while assessing an 11 year old with frustration issues, I had them put together a 45 piece puzzle (for ages 4 and up). An HOUR later, the child was frustrated because they didn't even have half the puzzle done. Now don't think I ignored the child for an hour, letting them struggle. I would try to step in and suggest doing the boarder first, and this kid didn't know what this concept meant, or I'd say something like, "look at the picture for clues, if this puzzle piece is blue with some green on it, do you think it will be a piece that goes with the sky and trees or towards the bottom with the orange ball and yellow blanket?" Then there was the whole concept of turning pieces around to fit... apparently on the puzzle games this child played (and excelled at) on the phone, all the pieces were the right way, and when you would move the piece close to where it went it would lock into place and not move. So this child never learned the skill of ACTUALLY putting puzzles together! THIS is the kind of thing that really frustrates me, companies out there talk about how all these games on devices are good educational items, but if the kid never learns the real tactile way first, what's the point?

Wow, off my rants on older kids.. but that just shows how a strong FOUNDATION started from birth can effect a kid as they get older and are in grade school. Like I said earlier in the post, if it isn't broke, why fix it? My parents are highly intelligent (I like to think I am too) and we never had all these devices growing up, so I will defiantly think twice before I expose my daughter.

Here is a really great site that focuses on items for kids that really encourage imaginative play from young babies to toddlers. If you want to check them out its a great resource!

Until next time!
Bre and Teagan (The Bump)

Week 32 & Birth plan question

Hey Friends and Family!

Wow this week went by fast! If anything I learned that a planned week is just a guideline! I had such hopes for my series on our parenting plan, (I got two post up for those of you who want to check them out!) but alas, life happened and the final two posts haven't made it up yet. I'll have to put them up this coming week. They will be on a minimalistic toy approach with more of a focus on what is really needed for Teagan to meet each growth and cognitive milestone; and I'll end with some more of our plans on the non modern choices like glass bottles vs plastic bottles, home made baby food only, and even early potty training (from birth.. that's right from birth!). So keep an eye out for those this week if you are curious on any of those topics!

Any who:
Life Update: 
So the hubby had 6 days off this week! And what I thought was going to be a nice relaxing stay-cation with the hubby turned into a week of cleaning.. (he's nesting). I'm happy to report the baby room is DONE! (except for the items I still have to get from my registries) but all the little projects I had planned for her room are finished! We also cleaned up our loft and reorganized it/ got rid of a bunch of stuff that has just literally been sitting in a box or in a pile FOREVER. Then we cleaned our room (sorry to admit but our room in the dump station for all things laundry, but I'm happy to report we put our stuff away and its stayed clean the whole week so far!) and had a talk with our dogs about bringing all their toys upstairs and leaving them all over our floor. We also vacuumed SO MUCH pet hair from our carpets!!! Its crazy, I sweep downstairs every day and vacuum all the time upstairs but my 4 pets shed SO MUCH. I should have made a pile of all the hair we vacuumed up.. I could have knit a life sized dog, and used the leftover fur for stuffing!! But the good news is with all the floors being clean its WAY easier to keep up with the vacuuming now! (and for those being like, eewww just vacuum your floors lazy lady! YOU try vacuuming my huge house at 8 months pregnant! AND I have carpeted stairs! Try that one out!)

We also had a week of "try this new food dish!" I went through my three years of Food Network magazines and cut out all the recipes I've tried and all the ones I forgot that I'd like to try (they aren't going to be made just sitting on a shelf being forgotten about!) and put them in a box of "try me." So the hubby picked some out and we tried them out and presented to be food critics and if we liked the recipe we put it in our recipe keeper with some notes here and there on what we would do different next time. But its a great new system because now if we can't think of anything to make, we just go to the box and pull out a recipe to try out and if we like it, we keep it, if we don't, it gets thrown away!

This week really became a week of getting rid of a lot of the excess stuff we keep holding onto. The less STUFF in the way in Teagan comes the less we have to worry about. I'll probably do a house tour post after she's born (we're getting our house painted next month so it will probably be in disarray a little bit before she comes).

I think it should be noted the whole reason my hubby took time off this last weekend in the first place was so we could take a birthing class. So Sunday we went to the natural birthing class at my hospital and learned that I hate essential oils; (apparently scent is one of the ways natural birthing mammas are encouraged to calm down or get rejuvenated through labor?) every bottle the instructor had made me gag so needless to say, THAT won't be used during labor! (ha) but in all seriousness she had a bunch of different methods to try out and I think my favorite is the "birthing ball," (or yoga ball or exercise ball for those of you that are like "what's that?!") It takes pressure off my back and has a bunch of benefits for the baby during the labor process. Its also something I've dragged out of our garage (its taking a break from being an exercise ball for the next couple months) and put it in our living room to utilize to keep my back pain at bay. (it helps!) The only down side is my yellow and white cat CJ thinks its his and keeps attacking it (got to make sure to keep his claws trimmed!) We were also given a rice sock to utilize as a heating pad (actual heating pads aren't aloud at the hospital) and I LOVE IT!

We also did a hospital tour of the women's center (the whole women's center and birthing/ birthing surgery center is separate from the main hospital) and got the low down on how progressive this hospital is! For example: they don't have a nursery! Unless in the NICU babies MUST be in the room with mom the WHOLE time (as it should be!) and no one can work on your baby without you present  and they have to discuss everything in front of you (no leaving the parents out of the loop!). And the labor rooms are HUGE! They are super progressive there. This is the ONLY hospital I know that has jetted tubs to assist during labor; they won't let you birth in the tub, but you can use it during labor... in the hospital. I've heard of birthing centers run by midwives that have the tubs but not HOSPITALS. But yeah, they have two rooms that have these tubs and the rest of the rooms have showers with seats and high powered sprayers. Did i mention the rooms are HUGE? well apparently once you are checked in, you aren't aloud to walk the halls while in labor so these rooms are HUGE to give you room to walk during labor. Each room also has the birthing balls, rocking chairs and a bunch of the other stuff I learned about at the birthing class. If you plan on having an all natural birth, they have rooms just for you, as in they only way you are getting drugs is if you switch rooms. They seem to be super supportive of how ever the mom wants to labor and deliver.

Then the next day I did a breast feeding class (the hubby refused to go to this one and I was the only person there without her spouse *tear*). It was actually really informative and I learned a lot (sitting there all by my self...) But it went on FOREVER... I'm just saying the class was WAY longer then the birthing class. But this hospital is super pro breast feeding as in they won't even give your baby their first bath for the first 12 hours because they really want you to have that bonding time with the baby and establish a really good latch before they distract the baby with a nice warm bath. So yeah I'm super excited for these next few weeks to go buy so I can try out what I learned!

On a sad note, my ring came off this week :( it was getting super tight during certain times of the day so when I took it in to get its cleaning I had them box it up. I feel super weird because I haven't NOT had a ring on my ring finger since way before I even met my hubby! I had a purity ring then and after we started dating I had a promise ring he gave me and then my engagement ring, and then my wedding bands... I'm going to have to find a cheepy set from a department store or something in the meantime because I also feel weird going into public without a ring and thinking people may not thing I'm married and pregnant.

Developmentally: 
I ALSO had another doctors appointment this week (see busy week!) and big surprise! I didn't gain ANY weight! BUT Teagan is now measuring a week and a half ahead! how does that work?! This new doctor has changed my weight gain goal too... my old one said between 25-35 pounds and this one said between 20-25 pounds :( So I've been cut off on my pound a week weight gain cushion! So My weight gain total is 18 pounds in 32 weeks, which only gives me 7 more pounds I'm aloud to gain till the end so I guess its good I didn't gain any weight these last two weeks! I have one more appointment in two weeks and then it goes to an appointment every week until Teagan decides she's ready to join the world (keep baking little one!) There is defiantly no question on me being pregnant now! I had a little boy come up to me in the store the other day and say "I know why you are buying that (I was looking at the prices of baby wash), you are going to have a baby soon, and they get dirty." haha out of the mouths of children hehe I tried to convince him I just had a really big lunch, but the kid was too smart.. plus Teagan decided to do a summersault or some crazy ninja move at that moment because my stomach did the water bed roll and the kid pointed at my stomach to  prove his point.

As for Teagan measuring a week and a  half ahead isn't a big concern to the doctor, she said if Teagan starts measuring at three weeks ahead then we need to do a sonogram to see whats up (I asked if we could do one anyway just so we can see her and we got shot down... apparently my pregnant is too normal to justify ordering a sonogram :/ ). But knowing that she's measuring ahead didn't give us a clue as to her ACTUAL measurements so I still have to go off my app and pregnancy book. She's probably about 4 pounds now and pretty close to 17 inches long (I totally believe the length with the amount my stomach moves around these days!) She should now have fingernails and toenails and hair on her head (SHE BETTER with all this heartburn!) And, as she puts on more weight she'll start to gain that baby chub that all adorable babies have when they are born :)

Symptom check!
I really haven't had any crazy symptoms this last week, I did have a day where my allergies got the best of my so I had a be a vegetable day, but that's not because of Teagan, that's because its Monsoon season here and the wind is knocking up a bunch of stuff in the air.

OH! I did have a day where I made the hubby take us (me and Teagan) to Red Lobster because I had an inkling for popcorn shrimp... why do I mention this? Well all you who know me know I HATE seafood... So clearly Teagan wanted the shrimp. And the hubby took advantage of the endless shrimp deal and had SIX plates of shrimp!

Question time!
One thing that kept being mentioned at my classes and the tour of the hospital was a birth plan. Did you guys have one? How closely was it actually followed? Or was it more of a just have some key points and wishes that I want and hope all goes well?

Well thats all for this week! Keep an eye out for my other posts on our patenting plan this week if you choose to!

Until next time!
Bre and Teagan (the bump)

Parenting Plan #2: Technology Free

Why we aren't going to expose our baby to media devices for at least 2 years: 
TV/Technology Free:
In high school and during my undergraduate degree, at church I worked in the nursery with the birth to 3 year olds (had this age group for 7 years). In college I took ALOT of child development classes from starting as a nursing major and then switching to social work with a start in children, youth and families as a focus. (I switched to direct practice ((More the medical side)) for my masters in Social work) My sister has her Bachelors and Masters in early childhood education. She was a Kindergarten teacher for about 8 years then switched to 2nd grade in the more recent years. My mom has been the Sunday school teacher at my old church (8 years old to usually 12 years) since when I was in her class (a LONG time ago).  Needless to say I have gained ALOT of knowledge and experience in my lifetime when it comes to working with children.

One of the things that always stuck with me was the developmental steps of a child cognitively. It has also been really interesting to see through the years how children develop with technology. For instance, when I first started in the nursery, computers were still mainly big boxes that stayed on desks and only people with ALOT of money had the big bulky laptops. Cell phones were just coming out as something SOME people had (remember the indestructible NOKIA phones with the game snake??) and Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube weren't really a thing. So this type of technology wasn't used in the nursery. We had activities and art projects, read stories, had puppets, the occasional video, (YES video) and played CD's with music (MP3's weren't quite out yet!) and danced around. The kids were active, jumped around, sang, danced and would run (the ones that could) to their parents excited to show what they did.

Fast forward a few years: Cell phones have developed from the NOKIA to the flip, to the ones with the flip out keyboards with bigger flatter screens. Ipods and other MP3 devices are more prevalent as they become more available to the average consumer. Internet is available through WIFI (wow how cool! we don't have to plug into a wall!) and laptops are smaller and more affordable to all. The nursery has changed too: we no longer have videos, we have a flat screen and DVD's. We can pull up programs on our laptops. Parents are dropping their kids off with the parents cell phone in the kid's hand because the only way the baby won't fuss is if they are watching some clip on the phone. Then comes the time to have the kids during nursery: I have little babies from six months and up knowing what phones are and TV's are and showing no interest in the baby activities I have planned. They don't want to play with the bright toys or the other babies. All they want is their mommy's phone or keep pointing to the TV that I for such a long time refused to turn on. (Common babies! I only have you 2 hours a week! You can go TWO hours without the TV right?)

So started the electronic baby sitter as I like to call it. Even when I actually baby sit I've seen a huge difference in baby sitting from when I was in middle school and high school to when I watch my friends kids now. Back then we'd go to the park, go on nature walks, make a craft from the things we collected, go swimming, play board games, read books, make up stories and act them out (I was an awesome baby sitter I know). Then fast forward to now, let me just walk you through what has happened at LEAST the last 10 times I've watched kids: I go to watch a friend's kids, walk in and the TV is on, the kids are either watching some show, playing a video game of some kind (apparently they wear headsets to play video games now), have a personal hand held device such as an IPad, or Nook, Kindle, or even their OWN cell phone, or are on the computer in another room (with headsets and what looks like a game controller... am I that far behind in the times??). The parents tell me what time the kids need to eat and what time bed is and says they shouldn't be a problem and will probably be on their games until bed time. They encourage me to watch a movie or something and they'll be back by insert time here. The parents leave kids didn't even notice whey they said "Bye kids be back soon," I doubt they even are aware I'm there. And then my night goes on FOREVER because I'm not watching the kids... they don't need watching! Its like pulling teeth to get them away from the TV or whatever they are occupied with to eat and then going to bed is like "but insert name of some guy on the internet they play with ALL the time and me are almost done with the level and his mom lets him stay up until the level is done!"

This is the kind of thing I DON'T want my daughter growing up to be like! And keep in mind I'm still focusing on her first two years (maybe three) of life. People wonder, "oh come on, its a baby, all they see are colors and hear sounds." This is TRUE, but just as your baby can recognize you and YOUR family and their voices, they are assimilating the (insert whatever technology device here)'s sounds of the characters, and they learn the sight of the show or game. OR with phones and such they even learn the patterns on games or phones. No lie, I know at least 12 babies (1-2 years old) that can unlock their parents phones, navigate the screens to some game and play the game or turn on a show that's saved to the phone or other device! But you hand them a toy and they throw it on the ground. We want Teagan to be able to amuse herself with her imagination and not something that someone else has made up.

If you really think about it: What is your BABY learning that is helping it to develop into a social well rounded toddler with these devices? Or are they just items of convenience for the parent to not have to entertain their children themselves?

So, yes a lot of my thoughts come from opinion based, and life experiences, but I'm not talking out in left wing here I promise! The American Academy of Pediatrics  has a great article on media and children. It encourages to observe your kids while around the many forms of media and even has the stats of how being exposed to media devices at an early life can be a detriment and not a help to the little ones. The statement they make that really hit home for me was:

"excessive media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep and eating disorders, and obesity. In addition, the Internet and cell phones can provide platforms for illicit and risky behaviors."

Now I know this is more directed toward when the kids are a little older then birth to 2 but I have the theory that all kids should have a firm foundation, and if their foundation from birth is being sat in front of different media then the above statement is very possible to happen! I really don't want my daughter to have issues with focus in school and learning basically to be lazy so this is really why are are going to limit, REALLY LIMIT media once we introduce her to it after her 2nd (maybe 3rd) birthday.

The AAP really encourages two hours or less of media exposure and to have education exposure at that. They really encourage a kid to really interact in play, and exercise. Also encourage imaginative play and reading to stimulate their minds in a more constructive way. And this really is supported with babies because in their first two years, babies are better set up when interacting with people and their surrounding and not screens.

And on that note, I'll be talking more about what kind of play we will be structuring Teagan with these first two years. I'll talk about developmentally each major area area and goals she should be reaching and how with play and exposures will help her reach those milestones!

Please check out the link I had for AAP article  and THIS article about some other ways to raise a media free baby!

**And as always this is OUR choice at parenting and in no way reflects judgment on other parents. All parents raise their children differently and this is just how we will be raising our daughter. All comments are welcome if they are contractive and not down putting.**

Until Next time!
Bre and Teagan (the bump)

Parenting plan #1: Going simple?

Since starting this blog I've gotten a lot of interest on how we are going to raise Teagan. It's obvious that I'm taking a different approach then most modern mommies (cloth diapers.. though they are making a comeback!) And let me preface by first saying that mine and the hubby's decisions for raising our baby are just that, ours. Yes we have formed options and beliefs of how we want to raise a baby and by no means are judging others who choose to raise their kids differently. We are just taking this route: the KISS approach is probably the best way to describe it.. Keep It Simple Stupid or something like that. We are raising a BABY not making the atom bomb.. though she could very well one day become a scientist or engineer or whoever makes those are! We have observed (in our opinion) too many mommies who get sucked into all the new and fancy "great" things that make raising a baby "better." To which my mom says "wow it's amazing how you survived all those years of me raising you with all the new must have ways to raise a baby." And that really got us thinking on the "it it necessary route" of raising a baby. And I have to be honest and say I've even fallen for it too! However I have some great mommy friends out there who know my goals and reel me back in with "Ok Bre, you REALLY don't need the new fancy boon drying rack that looks like grass with all the accessories that look like pretty flowers when you can spend $15 on a perfectly good regular drying rack.

This series I'm starting will really dedicate to explaining "why" we are making the not so common and mainstream decisions as far as what we choose item wise for our baby or the choice of parenting style that may be different then the "modern" parents. In having discussions with the hubby it became very evident on the item subject that we A: wanted items that could be used long term (more then one baby) B: Budget friendly long term (this is where the lasting long term comes into play) and C: that is  a developmental asset to the baby rather then a "thing." So we developed an approach when it came to deciding on items/ topic of child rearing:

1: Is it necessary? - Does the baby ABSOLUTELY need this item to develop into a normal toddler?
2: Is there a more budget/ eco-friendly approach? - Often times babies grow out of items within a few months with little use, so instead of the fancy name brand item, is there a just as good item for cheaper or maybe get it as a hand me down from a friend or family member?
3: Does it have to be the "best thing"? -Just because a baby needs a stroller or car seat doesn't mean it needs the $500 one from Europe because the lady on daytime television said its the "best thing" for 2015.
4: Is it long lasting? - Will this item last the time of my baby into toddlerhood or only be used for 3 or so months? Is it something that can be stored safely and reused for another baby? Will it break easy, or breakdown after a small period of time?
5: Will it benefit my baby in development? - i.e.: will this item help the baby in speech and language, motor skills, social skills, dexterity, momentum etc.

***It should also be noted that this series will focus on the first 2-3 years of Teagan's life***

Avoiding "characters":
So with that in mind we started with how we are going to dress Teagan. Yes she's a girl, so she will be wearing dresses and cute things that happen to be geared towards girls. But we aren't going to be dressing her like a princess or some other make believe person.

What does this mean you ask? Well we are going to try to stay away from character dressing i.e. no disney clothes or super hero clothing. As most know, I am not the biggest fan of gender dressing in terms of girls wearing princesses and boys wearing the cars and super heroes. We would rather our child have realistic role models to look up to and strive to be like. Also on that note we want our child to be an individual and not fall into what is "in" at the time. We will probably go for clothing that is "non sponsored" as in if you were on a television show they wouldn't have to put a big black ugly piece of tape over the logo or trademarked/ copywriter character. This actually encourages the kid as they get older to be an individual. Having lots of colors to choose from to match up outfits instead of always wanting to wear the Buzz Lightyear shirt. This also kind of goes into our media outlook (later post), if they aren't exposed to all the characters at an early age, they won't have the tantrums about why they charter is so important to them. The only character I would probably let the baby have is something biblical like Jonah and the big fish, or Noah and the ark, but not a Veggietales shirt because that is a character.

We are really striving more on the side of the commandment of:

Exodus 20: 3-4: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  

I personally think when a kid is SO obsessed with buzz lightyear that he or she insists on wearing a toy story shirt of some kind EVERY day, or if they love the HULK so much they insist EVERYDAY they are that character then they in a way are taking an IDOL and forgetting that these characters are make believe. The same can be said for the "girl characters" like Princess Sofia or Doc McStuffin. I don't want my little girl learning to immediately throw  a fit in the store when she sees this character she recognizes (idolizes) and I as her mommy won't get her the toy or whatever is geared toward that character (I'm on to you advertising people and I'm not allowing it in my house!).

Now that's not to say that I won't allow Teagan to know the STORIES of these different characters, but she will learn that they are just that, characters in a story that someone made up for the enjoyment of others for a brief time. As I mentioned before this is for the first two to three years of her life.. and some of you are questioning "ok Bre, really? You REALLY think that letting your kid know Doc McStuffin or the other Disney characters are going to make THAT big of a difference?" To which I answer yes, I have observed MANY kids who get so wrapped up on the characters they see on TV they don't care to go play outside or let alone play with toys in the house. More on this later (tomorrow's post) when I talk about how we are committing on going technology free with Teagan for two years (and have the research to back it up!)

Bottom line is just like I wouldn't let Teagan walk around (ok crawl) in a skull and cross bones, or some shirt with creapy demons on it, I'm not letting her wear characters that begin the brainwashing from advertising companies that will make my kid a holy terror when she's truly old enough to understand and recognize characters. Plus she's going to be a baby! why spend the extra money on the character clothing when you can get twice as many regular clothes for the same price? We want her to dress for the season and not for what's "IN" at the moment. Unless it's snowing and the "in" thing is snow suits (except we are in Arizona and the chances of that happening are slim to none haha).

Until tomorrow! (learn why we are going technology free!)
Bre and Teagan (the Bump)

31 weeks

Hey Friends and Family!
This week is much like the last three. Besides slowly getting better, not much has happened. My mom and dad came for the Labor Day weekend and helped me out with some projects around the house and baby room. I can proudly say the hubby and I have just one more project we are working on that should be done this week for the baby room and then it will be ready just waiting for Teagan to arrive! (Take that "nesting"!)

Oh! A fun thing happened! I tried on my pants the other day (non maternity) and with the belly bands from a post WAY back I can still wear them! So my legs haven't gotten any bigger, only my belly! I could even still button the pants... but it hurt so I stuck with the belly bands.

Developmentally:
From here on out I should be gaining about a pound a week and from that pound Teagan will be gaining about a half pound a week until she is born. She currently weighs about 16 inches long and 3 and a half pounds. She moves around a TON and my stomach is constantly looking like waterbed (ha).

My belly has gotten to what I like to refer to the "cute baby belly." I really do like how it looks, and if it wasn't covered in my Italian peach fuzz I would totally post a pic of my belly... maybe if I find a way to photoshop out the fuzz...

ok haha funny face but some have been asking to see the front of this shirt

Symptom Check: 
Not much has changed on this side either from the last couple weeks. I still have horrible heartburn that Zantac helps tremendously with (I swear if she doesn't have hair when she comes out I'm going to give her crap about it for her entire life). I also still get back pain in the middle of my back, but I bought this belly, back brace thing that seems to help me... down side is Teagan HATES it.. every time I put it on, she immediately starts stabbing my ribs.

It has gotten harder to sleep recently because of how much she moves around, she wakes me up! I'm pretty sure this baby is going to do gymnastics like her daddy when she comes out :) In the meantime if I'm not waking up from her moving around, I'm waking up from having to pee... Yep this is my life and I've recently learned "DO NOT TRUST A SNEEZE!" I recommend when you go into your third trimester of pregnancy to carry around extra liners and even an extra pair of underwear! You all can laugh but those of you who have had babies have all been there!!

This week ended with  my hubby getting to have 6 days off (that goes into next week) because his work schedule got switched around for some training he had and this weekend is our natural birthing class that I made him take time off work for. So with his time off he'll get to relax and get some little projects done around the house :) I also have another doctors appointment this coming week for my 32 week checkup so next week I'll have an update for you all.

Speaking of this coming week, TOMORROW I'll be starting a week long series on how our parenting styles are going to be different then a lot of the mainstream parenting these days. (We're kind of going back to the basics of the old days) So keep an eye out for those on here because I won't be posting them to Facebook.

Question time: 
So my ring is staring to get kind of tight (wedding ring) and it made me think of when all of you had to take your rings off? or were you able to keep them on through the whole pregnancy?

Well that's it for this week (Until tomorrow)

So until next time! (tomorrow)
Bre and Teagan (the bump)

30 Weeks

Hey Family and Friends! 

Quick update this week! I'm now finishing up my 30th week of pregnancy and also my 7th month! As of tomorrow (31 weeks) I'll be starting my 8th month and only have two months left! Holy cow those weeks are gonna fly by! This week was a week of getting stuff done... for the baby room (so I can't show it yet :/ BUT we are almost done with her room so I'll be doing the room reveal soon.. although the debate now is do I wait until after the showers so the room won't be empty and actually have baby items or just post pics sooner and show only the stuff I've made for it? 

But anyway yeah we've been basically working on getting lots of little projects completed around the house. It's amazing how many projects got started in the last three years and never got finished! So I wouldn't call our mad race to get things done "nesting" I'd call it "oh come one we've been working on (insert ANY project here) for the last three years! Lets just get it done today so we can use this space for once!" So maybe I'll have a house reveal post too at some point? I know I've never really done a house tour since moving in here so depending on how huge I get in the next few weeks, I may do one! (Or wait till after Teagan comes then I can do one then...) 

I've also made a couple things for me and Teagan for the hospital so if you follow me on my Instagram you can see the birthing gown and nursing hospital gown and baby gown I made this week for us. 

Mom and Dad (mine) are coming down here this weekend to hang out for the Labor day weekend and help out with the last few things in Teagan's room (except two SMALL projects the hubby put dibs on... but he has a timeline and if he doesn't get it done in that time I'm calling in the reinforcements!) I love when my parents come down now especially because riding in the car (or sitting for longer periods of time for that matter) KILLs my back. Plus I can ask my dad stupid homeowner questions and he doesn't look at me like I'm crazy (in front of me) and just tells me how (actually just does it himself) to fix whatever I don't have that works (broke). So yeah I've got a couple things waiting for him haha. 

Developmentally: 

Teagan is now about the size of a head of cabbage at about 3 pounds and now 15 1/2 inches long (I don't remember the last time I saw a cabbage 15 inches long but ok baby app). She doesn't kick so much now as much as she practices her gymnastics moves and makes my stomach look like a water bed (except when I try to record it on the camera.... then she does nothing! 

I had another doctors appointment this week and I've gained another two pounds for a running total of 18 pounds in 30 weeks. (I really hope I can keep up this pound a week till the end!) Teagan had a nice strong heartbeat (I keep forgetting to ask what the BPM is) and is measuring on time. Since we are in the home stretch the doctor went over preterm labor symptoms (I have NONE) and what to do if I get them. She also went down the check list of did I sign up for a birthing class (yes, its next week), did I do a hospital tour (not yet, but will), have I looked into pediatricians (yes, found one!), and have I signed up for a breast feeding class (No, and the dumb website they told me to look at didn't have any!) So she doesn't have any worries about me :) 

PSA!!!

One thing I did have to get was a Tdap shot. The doctor said that in the last few years there has been a really bad outbreak of whooping cough in the western states (where I live) and babies can't get these vaccines until after two months so the theory is to vaccinate me and hopefully she'll get some of the benefits from mine. And she also said that basically anyone who wants to be around Teagan for the first two months needs to have had this shot within the last year or so. Basically the Tdap shot is a combo vaccine that protects agains tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Why include this in my post? Well basically Whooping cough is a very contagious disease that can be passed down to babies. It can result in months of coughing, cracked ribs from severe coughing spells, pneumonia and other respiratory issues. And each year thousands of babies suffer from this and some even die. So if asking someone to make sure they are up to date on their shots is too much, then sorry but you can't hold my baby! The good news is basically if you've had a tetanus shot in the last couple years, chances are you've had this combo vaccine because that's basically what they give now when you go to get a tetanus shot. But for those of you who plan on meeting Teagan PLEASE CHECK with your provider. And another plus side is most insurancses fully cover vaccines wherever you go to get them! So no cost and a little time off your hands is a good peace of mind knowing you won't pass on something to a helpless baby right?  

Well I guess that's it for this week I can't really think of any questions and my symptoms are literally the same as last week's post so no update there! 

Until Next time!

Bre and Teagan (the bump)