Ideas

I have had so many new ideas on my mind lately! I feel like I really need to sort all this stuff out and write it all down!

*The Raw Food Diet
I've looked into this diet before, about a year ago, and I was pretty interested in it. It's all about only eating fresh fruits, veggies and nuts. Seems a little crazy and I've never wanted to be a vegetarian, but something about this diet seems right. My diet right now is so UNHEALTHY! I'm a sugar addict. I love soda! I never/rarely eat fruits or veggies. Heath also needs to find a diet that works for him that we can do together. I also feel like Haven could use a better diet. I feel sad that she didn't get to breastfeed as long as I wanted her to. If we went on this diet, I think it would be so good for her. I just feel tired all the time. I also have floating anxiety. I think my poor diet contributes to these symptoms.

*Baby Led Solids
I've been reading up on Baby Led Solids (also sometimes called Baby Led Weaning) and I'm really liking the idea. The idea is to never spoon fed the baby, but give him regular food from your plate that he can pick up and eat on his own. What I'm wanting to do with Logan is 1)only start solids when he clearly is interested in trying solid foods. This means I will not push anything on him, he may just have to grab it out of my plate, lol. 2)make sure breastmilk is about 90% of his food source until he is 12 months old. I think people overdo the solids before it is healthy for the baby. I think I made this mistake with Haven, causing her to wean way too early. I am not starting solids in order to wean the baby as a lot of mothers might do because I don't want the baby to wean at 12 months -which is the norm.

*Breastfeeding for Birth Control
This idea is what led me to Baby Led Solids. I couldn't figure out why this didn't work for me with Haven. I think maybe the answer lies in the amount of solids I started giving her at 6 months old. She was eating so many solids and so little breastmilk, that she essentially began weaning at 6 months, causing my period to return! I've heard a lot about people who exclusively breastfed and yet their period returned before they ever started the baby on solids, so I'm not sure if my thinking is correct on this, but I think it's worth a retry since normal birth control methods are not for me.

*Minimalism
I've done a few things in the minimalist area lately, but their is more that I want to do. I want to minimalize my clothes again. I still have so much that I don't wear and it's just getting in the way. I also just have other random junk in general. The more I minimalize, the easier my life becomes.

*Elimination Communication with an Infant
I've been doing this with Logan and have had great results. I love the fact that he know how to poop in the potty and he rarely ever has to sit in his poop. He hates to have a wet diaper, so I change it frequently! I wish I could take it to the next level and have him do all his pees in the potty, but I'm afraid that it might mean being in the bathroom all day long! I'm still taking it easy in that regard.

*Rental Property Business
We have finally bought our 2nd rental property -a duplex. I'm pretty excited about closing on it and getting it ready to rent! Eventually, we hope that Heath can quit his job and the rental properties can be our sole income. Once we get renters in this duplex, our income from our rentals will exceed our income from Heath's job! However, we feel that we will need at least two more rentals to feel comfortable with him quiting his job.

*Exercising for the Baby Belly
I'm afraid of not losing my baby belly this time around and I need to do something about it!

Well, now my mind should be clear!

Embryo Adoption

Wow, I never thought I'd really be thinking seriously about something like this! I remember hearing about Snowflakes on Christian radio 5 or 6 years ago. Of course, I probably hadn't even met my husband yet so I really didn't think about it at all. In fact, yesterday was the first time it came back into my mind. I was talking to my oldest sister on the phone and she suggested that I might adopt an embryo with a negative blood type.

For those of you that don't know, I have Rh disease, which means that if I carry a baby with a positive blood type, antibodies in my blood may attack the baby's blood. My body created the antibodies during the 3rd trimester of my first (and only) baby. I had refused the Rhogam shot at 28 weeks and had planed to get it after the baby was born. If you have negative blood, get the shot at 28 weeks, the alternative is very difficult if you get antibodies like I did.

Right now we do not know if my husband has positive/positive blood or positive/negative blood. If the former is the case, we will never have a child with negative blood. If the latter is the case, we have 50% chance that each of our children will have negative blood.

As for now we have decided to try to have another child -praying for a good outcome! I still fear the worst, although I know I should give it to God. He is the one who opens and closes the womb. He is the one who knew I would have antibodies. He is the one who kept Haven safe from them while she was inside me.

I keep going back the the option of adoption. I've always wanted to adopt, since I was a teenager. I never imagined I might HAVE to adopt to have more children. I wanted to choose adoption just because I wanted to adopt.

From what I've learned about embryo adoption, I think it's amazing. You get to carry the child, give birth to the child, breastfeed the child... I was just curious if they would even let me into the program since I do have Rh disease and the embryo MUST have negative blood. So I sent them this question:

Hi, I have a D antibody that could cause harm to any child I carry that has a positive blood type. However, if I carry a child with a negative blood type, it will be a normal pregnancy. I was wondering if you work with women like me who would like to adopt an embryo with a negative blood type. (If both the parents have a negative blood type, the child will certainly have a negative blood type.) My husband and I are going to try to have another child on our own (we have one child already), but if the outcome is bad, we are thinking about adoption. A friend of mine just pointed out that I could possibly adopt an embryo with a negative blood type and I would be able to carry it myself and breastfeed it and have all those wonderful new baby experiences. Please let me know if you think this is even possible. Thank You, Summer

This is the response I received:

Hi Summer,
Thank you for contacting us. From the information that you have provided us, I see no reason why you would not be an eligible candidate for our Snowflakes Program. Our only requirement would be that your doctor provides a letter stating that you have no contraindications to pregnancy. I have attached our information packet for you to review if you would like. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
We wish you the best on your next pregnancy and hope that everything goes smoothly. In the future, if you do decide you are ready to adopt, we would be pleased to work with you.
Warmly,
Sierra

I am really excited to have this option and I plan on learning as much about it as I can. These embryos are frozen in time, waiting for life. Their parents have decided not to have more children. I think it's an amazing program. What do you think?

Update

We finally closed on the house! We have started painting it - just priming right now. We plan to paint the entire house a light tan or beige. Our next project is carpet and laminate.

Over a week ago, I went to the health department and they told me I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said I should have the baby by new years. Last night I had contractions for over 2 hours. They were between 3 and 7 minutes apart. They weren't painful though. It just felt like a gradual tightening... squeezing... hard to breath. However, after I woke Heath up and told him I thought I was in labor, they stopped. (His response -"no, you're not" how did he know?) I'm still a little nervous, but I want to have the baby before monday so I don't have to have that beta strep test done.

I had a great christmas and got everything I wanted, including 2 nursing bras, underwear and socks. It seems so silly that I don't just buy these things for myself when I need them - it's just so hard to buy new things when you know you could make due with the underwear and socks you have been wearing for the past 7 years. Are we too cheap? I seriously still wear underwear I bought before I met Heath (almost 6 years ago).

The sweetest thing Heath has said about the baby:
Me: I wonder what she looks like....
Heath: I'm sure she's beautiful.