Little Guy Malachi!

Ooh, I'm behind. Malachi's great-grandma blogged his birthday before I got around to it!

Malachi Reese was born at 5:19 p.m. on Thanksgiving day, November 24. He weighed 7 lbs and 6 ounces and was 21 (and a half? I forget) inches long. We are so excited that he's here and very thankful that he and I are both doing well.

He was born at home and we really appreciated the care that Kristin provided before, during, and after the birth. Unfortunately Lorri could not be there as another family was also having a Thanksgiving baby! There's lots I could say about how it was different (and better for us) than our experience giving birth to Tobias in a hospital with a doctor, but that might be another post. Feel free to ask me about it though! I will say that although I felt fine after giving birth to Tobias, I feel great compared to how I felt 2 or 3 days after having Tobias, even without a single ibuprofen. Midwives really help keep the process as gentle as possible.

Tobias and Malachi were in their carseats next to each other in the car today on the way home from church and Tobias reached out and touched his hand and said "I like him. I like his little hands." So I think it is safe to say that Tobias is adjusting OK!

We know Tobias has already established quite a fan club for his videos, so we'll try to get a video up soon of Malachi so he can share the spotlight.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, congratulations, video chats, and support! Malachi is looking forward to meeting many of you soon!

A Midwife Helped Me Out: Prenatal Care

It will hopefully be another 11 weeks or so until this baby is helped "out" out, but I wanted to write a post to all the things I have appreciated so far about my prenatal care with my midwives, especially compared to my experience last time going to a family doctor.

• Appointments are usually 45+ minutes long and cover a variety of topics including any questions I have. When I say "variety of topics", that includes things like chicken-raising advice, tasty ways to cook with coconut oil (fry your french toast in it!), the logistics of flying with a newborn at Christmas, what's going on in my life, etc. Mostly health or baby related, but not necessarily.
• Appointments start on time and I don't have to sit in a waiting room with annoying cartoons on, and with people who might be sick. Tobias comes along and plays in the toy room or "helps" measure my belly.
• They're directly available by phone or e-mail if needed. When I was pregnant with Tobias I had some unexplained abdominal pain (not during office hours, of course) and my choices were to go in to the ER (the ER or OB department understandably can't give any advice over the phone) or wait it out with some extra-strength Tylenol. I haven't had any medical reason to contact them, but Nate did e-mail Lorri asking for a reminder on which Chinese restaurant in Prosser she had recommended during childbirth class. It's the Golden Horse near exit 80, if you're curious! Nate's there right now meeting someone for lunch.
• Nutrition is really important to them. My blood work showed I was low in Vitamin D and probably iodine, so I'm taking supplements to correct those things as well as some other supplements and vitamins. They also give lots of specific advice on healthy eating and haven't stressed or lectured me about my weight at all. Who knows if these changes are why I haven't experienced any leg cramps, bleeding gums, etc. during this pregnancy!
• Kristin stopped by my house for a prenatal appointment when she was in my area, which was nice. If everything continues to go well they will both be here at my house for the birth too, and postpartum checkups. I'm looking forward to not taking a 1 week old baby in to the doctor's office for a checkup...I remember Tobias screaming with hunger while I tried to fill out a bunch of paperwork. But I'm getting ahead of myself there, this is supposed to be about prenatal!
• With many tests and procedures I am presented with the pros/cons and all the options, and then I can decide. For example, since I am at low risk for gestational diabetes, I chose to test my blood sugar with Holly's meter after a meal rather than spending time and money on an official glucose tolerance screening.
• Thousands of dollars cheaper. I'm guessing the prenatal care and birth will come to $3150. Even if for some reason the baby had to be born in the hospital, I think $3150 is a great deal for such excellent prenatal care.

Doctors' knowledge and experience can be crucial, which is why the Midwives Model of Care includes "identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention". However, since I am currently very healthy and low risk, I can't imagine going back. Why pay more for less?

Vos Reunion 2011

We had a great time at Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, at a Vos family reunion. At the last reunion, Nate and I were not engaged yet, so a lot has changed for us, and it was good to get to see others too and catch up with them. Tobias enjoyed being teased by his great-great-uncles and going hiking. We did have one trail injury; Tobias tripped on our very first stop and cut his forehead, and then the next day got it bleeding again by running into a rock. Thankfully it wasn't more severe and it seems to be healing well.

A highlight for me was our hike to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake. I thought it was neat how each lake was different: Nymph Lake had lots of lily pads and baby ducks, Dream Lake was very clear and reminded me of the book Hatchet, and the highest, Emerald Lake, was secluded and surrounded by steep rocky sides. I was carrying 25 weeks worth of baby on me and felt tired by the end, but Nate had 25 pounds of Tobias on him for most of the hike.

Emerald Lake

Julie, Doug, Rebecca, Ryan, Lois, Nate, Tobias (in backpack, asleep), Hannah + baby

click here to see more of Doug's reunion pictures

Fun with Birthday Gifts

Disclaimer: Tobias's name prediction is totally his own (well, it may be a shortened form of Hallelujah) and not based on any name discussions or gender knowledge of ours (we have none).

Freezer Cooking

One of my goals in preparing for the baby is to have some "easy" food in the freezer. However, I got sick of looking for recipes and only finding things that were: a. made from pre-packaged or canned foods anyway (that's not saving me time or money), b. had lots of cheese, milk, or creamy soup, or c. would fill up my freezer with pasta and rice (I'd rather save the freezer space and add the bulky things later). My solution was to just make up my own recipe: so now my freezer has one container of "Creamy Crouton Chicken Bake", and my fridge has a smaller container to test out this week. The not-so-secret and wholly untasted recipe is:

1. boil some chicken (take off bones if not boneless), chop, and place in freezer-safe baking dish
2. make a sauce with some of the broth, flour, margarine, and crouton-like spices (thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, chicken bullion, basil etc.)
3. pour the sauce over the chicken
4. freeze
5. thaw and bake when ready to eat
6. serve with pasta or rice or biscuits, and cheese to sprinkle on top for the lactose-tolerant

Well, it smells good. I'll let you know if it actually works. 

Any other freezer meal suggestions that don't violate principles a., b., and c. ?

Warmer...warmer...

It is getting warmer here in Sunnyside. Bushes are blooming, also pink flowering trees, and some white ones. The garden space is tilled and a few things are planted. We're also getting closer and closer to the arrival of the baby! To prepare, we've been taking pictures to record the process (Holly is great at reminding us), discussing names (don't even ask, it is very hush-hush), trying to clear the empty boxes out of the "baby room", and we went to childbirth class on Saturday. It was not very in depth, since it was just for one morning, but it was good to tour the rooms and I did learn stuff. I was encouraged that the hospital was very breastfeeding friendly by strongly encouraging nursing during the first hour after birth, and they don't give out pacifiers. 

Even with all the to-do lists flying around my head and computer, it is still good to find time to take walks by the canal, make bread, and update my blog every once in a while!

Ultrasound II

It takes a while to upload the videos, so that's why I didn't share them all right away. This is the same ultrasound, just didn't want to be adding to the same post days later. 

Below: little feet swimming around

As you can see, he or she is very active. Keep in mind that I could not feel movement during the ultrasound. Makes me wonder what we would see when I'm feeling kicking.

Ultrasound

Today we got to see our baby! 

The measurements gave a due date of June 23 (doctor thought 16th by his primitive calculations, I said more like the 26th). It is allowed to come whenever it is ready, I guess.

I think the brain looks like Nate's. Just kidding.

Above is a profile of the baby's head. You can also see the heart beating, and fingers moving above the nose.

Baby feet!

Do you see where he or she punches me right there at the beginning!

16 and a half weeks

Nate and I had a great trip to the midwest for Christmas and New Years' and we got to see both of our families. Some of the highlights for me were tubing at Inspiration Hills, singing Christmas songs with my family (no one sings like you guys!), playing "door pong" (a variation of ping pong), and finally meeting Heather's boyfriend Jon.

As far as the baby-growing work, I'm almost 17 weeks along and feeling less tired than the beginning weeks. We're thankful to have found a nice, more baby-friendly, house to rent and plan to move there in a few weeks.

Expanding

Most people know this, but there's someone new in our family. For being so small (almost 3 inches!) they sure are having a big effect already. He or she has made me feel a little strange (maybe Nate too!), made four people into happy grandparents, made us start searching for a new house, and mostly made us very excited.
Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and Nate came along to hear the heartbeat (I had heard it at my last appointment). Everything looks good so far and we are looking forward to our baby being born somewhere in the vicinity of June 26. We hear that many, many changes are in store for us; that's a good thing, I think. Keep us in your prayers please!