we want answers

It's hard to believe, but I am actually entering the home stretch of this pregnancy: I'm officially in my third trimester! Here's my most recent belly photo, at 27 weeks:



How is it possible that I will only continue to get bigger for the next 12 weeks?!



Despite feeling incredibly tired most of the time, I've been pushing myself to work with Moo on finishing some house projects that we want to complete before baby moohoo arrives in just three short months. One of the tasks we've been putting off since we bought the house in July is putting up wallpaper in the dining room (clearly my idea, Mike would never dream up a crazy decorating scheme like this). This job has proven to be nearly impossible as neither of us have any previous experience putting up wallpaper, and I am not much help since I am so uncomfortable doing anything too physically taxing. We've agreed that if our marriage can survive this project, we're definitely in it for the long haul. Here's a picture of poor Mikey doing the bulk of the work while I supervise:



Other than our adventures in home ownership, however, we're mostly just talking about baby all the time. We sometimes wonder what other interesting conversations we'd be having if there wasn't a baby in our near future. Most other people in our lives have lots to say about our upcoming arrival as well, and there have been some common questions from family and friends that I thought we'd answer here on the blog.


Baby Names!

Everone's first question has been, "What are you going to name the baby?" We have given a lot of thought to our little alien's name, and are almost positive of what the final top contender will be. We have decided, however, to keep the name a secret until little moohoo enters this world. This decision was made for a number of reasons: 1) I get kind of weirded out at the thought of people calling my stomach a name; 2) What if she doesn't look like the name we've picked out?? I'd hate for people to have picked out monogrammed gifts or really become attached to any one name when there is still a chance we might change our minds; 3) What if our hoo is actually a moo?? Leaving the name up in the air acknowledges the possibility of the unknown; and 4) We like the idea of a little bit of a surprise at the end of this long journey, something new to share with family and friends when our eggplant finally joins us out here.

One thing that has been determined already is baby moohoo's last name, which will be Flagg. Mike and I agreed (before we knew the sex of the baby) that if we were having a girl, she'd get my last name, and if it turned out to be a boy we'd pass on Mike's name. So our little hoo will have my last name, and our next baby will have Mike's. And that's all we're sharing about the name at this point! :)



Breastfeeding
Another big question that people have is, "Are you going to breastfeed?" I think some of the curiosity is a result of the fact that we haven't really registered for any breastfeeding gear yet, so people aren't sure what our plan is. I am definitely planning on breastfeeding, and my goal is to do so for at least 6 months. Mikey and I are signed up to take a breastfeeding class in early February, and at that point we'll start looking at what type of breast pump will be the best fit for our lives, and what other stuff will be absolutely necessary for us to have on hand to make the process go as smoothly as possible.




Natural childbirth
Lots of people (friends, family, and complete strangers) have offered their opinions on what type of birth plan we should have for little moohoo. Part of me loves hearing the suggestions of people who have gone through this process before, but another part of me tires of getting lectured on what everyone else seems to think the best options are for us and our baby. I am of the opinion that my body has all of the necessary equipment and strength to bring this child into the world, without the help of much modern medicine. Now, this is not to say that I will be delivering by myself at home with Moo acting as a solo labor coach! But we have chosen to employ the service of midwives and will be using hypnobirth techniques to help guide us through the process because I would like to plan on delivering baby moohoo without the assistance of drugs. However, Mike and I are both practical people who try to be flexible in most situations, so we are also preparing for the possibility of variations from our ideal birth plan; we'll begin our childbirth education course in January, and plan on writing out a thorough birth plan (that will include as many of the different challenges, deviations, and options that we can foresee) after getting some instruction and guidance.




Cloth Diapers v. Disposable Diapers
This question is of particular importance to Mike, who admits that his biggest apprehension about fatherhood is dealing with diapers. I don't have a big preference for cloth over disposable diapers... I think they both have pros and cons, both environmentally and in practical daily use. Mikey, however, is quite adamant that baby moohoo will not be a cloth-diaper baby, at least not 100% of the time. In his words, "You don't wash and reuse toilet paper, so why would you wash and reuse a diaper?" While this is not a perfect argument, I am just fine resigning myself to the world of disposable diapers if that's what it takes to get Moo on board with diaper changing!




The Daddy-To-Be

I get lots of questions about how Mike is handling the pregnancy, if he is ready to be a father, etc. From my perspective, I could not ask for a more loving and considerate partner, and I know he will be a wonderful dad. So many of the pregnancy books I've read describe horror stories of fathers-to-be who are rude and thoughtless throughout the pregnancy, and try to reassure readers that even those men will "come around" once the baby is born. Thankfully, I am not married to one of those men (and I can't imagine why anyone would be...). Instead, I have a partner who is at least as excited as I am to be having this baby, who is always empathetic as I deal with the un-fun parts of pregnancy, who gives me back rubs every night and makes sure to keep the fridge and freezer stocked with all of my favorites, and who somehow manages to be understanding of my unpredictable mood swings. I am eternally grateful. I am hoping that Mikey will share some of his thoughts, reactions, expectations, and fears through a post of his own next week. Check back for what is sure to be an entertaining entry from my verbose husband!

This has become a veryyyy long entry, so I'll sign off for now. As other questions arise I'll do my best to answer them here. Wishing all of you a very merry Christmas!