pregnancy survey

about you
name?: Ericka
age?: 21
height?: 5’3.5
pre-pregnancy weight?: 145

about the father
name?: michael
age?: 25
height?: 6’2
are you still together?: engaged and living as a married couple

about your pregnancy
when did you find out you were pregnant?: 7/15/12 though he knew basically right when we conceived.
was it planned?: very planned!
what was your first reaction?: i cried and was thrilled because i got 3 positive tests and the test at the dr said i wasnt pregnant. then after 3 days of waiting, they called me and told me i was right and my blood test showed i was pregnant :)
who was with you when you found out?: no one, i went to michael’s work and jumped on him and told him that we were pregnant!
who was the first person you told?: michael
how did your parents react?: worried at first then thrilled because they see how in love we are and how good of a family we are together
how far along are you?: 39+6
what was your first symptom?: sore boobs, nausea, mood swings
what is your due date?: 3/1/13 (tomorrow)
do you know the sex of the baby?: a wittle girl!!
have you picked out names?: madison marie mckenzie prestis
how much weight have you gained?: ick, 30lbs
do you have stretch marks?: yes, unfortunately.
have you felt the baby move?: she used to be a bit more wild
have you heard the heartbeat?: so many times but it never gets old

about the birth
will you keep the baby?: of course
home or hospital birth?: hospital
natural or medicated birth?: natural, unmedicated, non chemical induction methods if necessary
who will be in the delivery room with you?: hubby :)
will you breastfeed?: of course, and plan to ebf
do you think you’ll need a c-section?: definitely not
will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?: definitely
what’s the first thing you might say to him/her?: how much i love her, im sure
would you let someone videotape the birth?: i might but i probably wont have it taped
are you excited about the birth, or scared?: excited, happy, ready to get this show on the road!!!

Madison and Fleetwood Mac

Every time I hear this song, these lyrics stick in my mind. I have heard it throughout my pregnancy and I have have realized as i get closer to my due date that even though everyone thought I'd go early, maybe i'll be late. She will do what she wants when she wants, just like her mama. I have finally made peace and i'd be very pleased if she stayed in until Friday, when we're due :) I have tried almost every natural induction method and it hasn't worked so I have to assume she isn't ready. A lot of women have told me that it's because I've carried her well and made her comfortable and I am okay with that statement. I am very pleased with her growth and I am satisfied with the fact that she is now over 7lbs :) She has long legs and arms, a chubby belly, gorgeous big eyes...I just want to see them in person. I do have random contractions, I no longer have a mucus plug and I'm just sort of waiting now.

Come when you can, Madison. The world is waiting to see your pretty face :)

Listen to this gorgeous cover below:

Go Your Own Way

Something has been bothering me...

I'm annoyed when people tell me i will believe in spanking (or some other thing like CIO etc) and go against my gentle parenting philosophy once Madison gets here and i become a ‘real’ parent. Um, i am a real parent despite not having her here yet. i am in tune with my child, i want to learn how she feels and understand her rather than punishing her for her personality. every child is raised differently and each child is individual but if you treat a child like a person- with respect and not like someone who is smaller and younger than you who couldn’t possibly know a damn thing about life, they would respect you too. I think if you start them out knowing what to expect from you, they wont try to take advantage of you. a child doesn’t set out to be manipulative, they don’t set out to be bad- we as parents are here to guide them, not make them feel like lesser than.

realization...

So this entire pregnancy i've just wanted to meet my daughter, i wanted time to go by faster and i just wanted my end result. Now that i've gotten here with 7 days left, though i refuse a chemical induction because i want to go all natural, i just want my mermaid to stay in. I'm not afraid of the birthing process, kind of nervous to be a first time mama but now that she's so close, i just want time to slow down. Though i do think i could deal without the pelvic pain, the cramping, the back pain....i guess at the end of the day if she wants to bake a little longer, i have to let her go her own way. i cant force induction naturally and i am above trying the castor oil method because its harmful and doesnt sound pleasant in the least.

i love you my little mermaid. when you come out, all we want is for you to be healthy :)

- ericka 

My first post :) Introduction

This is a picture of my fiance Michael and I on Christmas day. As you can tell the poor thing wasn't feeling that well but he still took the time to love on his baby. That day was incredible and it served as an almost baby shower. We did not have a baby shower as I personally think it is rude to invite people to come to a party with the expectation of bringing gifts of a child they haven't even met yet. Kind of how I feel about having birthday parties. I feel that sometimes they are greedy. Of course our daughter will have birthday parties when she is young but its about the experience for her and not so much the gifts.

As you can tell by now, I am a little different. I am a 21 year old mama to be and I can't wait for our daughter to be born. She is due in 8 days and while I know it is not far away in the least, I can't help but feel impatient. I want her soooo badly. I have tried every natural induction remedy besides castor oil as it cannot possibly be healthy, and we have even tried to convince her how warm it is outside and how much space she'll have so she wont be as cramped as she is now in my belly. Needless to say, the babe is stubborn and remains unconvinced.

I am now a SAHM-to-be, and my fiance whom I will most likely refer to as 'hubby', works full time. We don't have much but we have each other. Like the Beatles said, All You Need Is Love, and that's what I believe. I am in no way naive but I believe we can't always dwell on the negatives. We must concentrate on the the positive things in life because otherwise, we would be a miserable lot.

I little more about us as a little family.

The bird, myself, is a cultural mix for black, italian, german, irish and native american blood raised in a small town in southern ohio by the river. The boy, hubby, is italian, german and french and from just about everywhere. We met at work in January of 2012 and though we haven't known each other long, time means nothing to us and we fell madly in love. He's an intelligent, clever boy of nearly 26 who has a deep love of science fiction, nature (despite have a 'sun allergy'- much to difficult to explain now), music and video gaming. He snores, he's messy, good with money and extremely funny and I wouldnt take him any other way. He too is obsessed with his unborn daughter and is dying for her to get here. The mermaid (our unborn daughter Madison) will be a Pisces like her father while I am a Cancer. WE are a family of water signs so that should be interesting. Like you might have guessed about me is that I'm into astrology but I also like music, tattoos, yoga and other things associated with a 'natural/crunchy' life, fashion, make up and general randomness. We are both nerds so God help this child!!

I think that is enough for this post as it's getting quite long. I dont know who will actually read this but I hope I have at least one reader.

-Ericka

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