moving on up, to the other bedroom.
The Husband had this past week off and went back to work on Tuesday. We used the time off to work on converting the current spare room (or let's be honest, the "shove everything into this room and never speak of it" room) into Pippa's eventual bedroom.
It's not yet totally ready, but it's a lot better than it was. We got rid of a lot, sorted a lot, and at least now it's to the point where you can actually use the room as a room (unlike before, where the piles of boxes made it impossible).
I'm hoping to have Pippa installed in there by next week. Originally I had planned on just continuing co-sleeping (in the "room sharing" sense--Pippa has her own bed, but in our room, and so would the new baby). This does work for many families--heck, many families everybody sleeps in the same bed. But, very recently, I've had serious reservations about this. My issue is that, basically, Pippa is her dad in all things sleep--very light, sound, and other disturbance sensitive, but (currently) a good sleeper if these conditions are met.
Anyway, I felt I was kind of up a creek because They Say that you have to move children to a new room so many months before the birth or else, woe, you shall induce Traumas upon the child.
IDK. I think I'm just not going to let it bother me.
I'm also wondering if I'm a terrible parent for thinking about just putting her straight into a regular bed without a rail on it. It's a three quarter bed (bigger than a twin, smaller than a double). I mean, bed rails didn't use to be a thing at all, right? It'd be one thing if it was a bunk bed top bunk, but a standard height bed shouldn't be an issue even if she does fall out of it... right?
---
I got two acupuncture treatments last week and it has really done wonders for my rib pain. So glad I looked into whether our extended health insurance would cover it.
Speaking of health insurance, I also registered for the "Bright Start Bundle" at BC Women's, which is basically private or semi-private recovery room + some goodies they toss in to sweeten the deal, like free parking and a coupon for the cafeteria. However, when I went to drop the form off, I actually started having second thoughts about having a hospital birth. I dropped it off at the admitting area and it was just so... hospital-y. Which may sound strange. But I took the virtual tour on the hospital website and the way the photos are framed, it looked a lot homier and more private, somehow. One of the things I hate about being in a hospital is the sense of being exposed and having strangers in scrubs wandering into your room and other patients overhearing about your bowels. In fact, one of the big reasons I wanted to opt for a hospital birth over a home birth this time was because I didn't want to labor in an apartment with the windows open where neighbors and passers by can hear me.
I'm sad also to find out that the homiest rooms, the ones with the big tubs and comforting wood panelling, are closed for the summer and won't be open until the end of August. :(
The one nice thing is that my midwives/doctors all do home births too, so if I end up deciding I want to stay home, they can accomodate that. In fact my doctor last time even brought it up, simply because I am considered at risk for precipitate labor, to be prepared for a possible unplanned homebirth.
Even though I had very long early labor last time, I only had four hours active labor (4cm to baby out). For a first time mom, that is VERY short, almost precipitate labor (which is defined as active labor of 3 hours or less). Second time moms, according to my doctor, often basically go straight to active labor or even straight to transition, so my instructions are to call them, then call 911 for an ambulance--because the ambulance from BC Women's comes with all the neonatal equipment, and thus if the ambulance gets there and the baby's already out or about to come out, or the baby comes IN the ambulance, they can deal with it.
It is really weird to know that this time around I am statistically likely to go from "dum de dum, maybe I should take the kids to the park" to "OH MAN HERE COMES A BABY" to "OH BABY IT'S A BABY" in less than three hours.
My doctor was encouraging, though, and said that in her experience, moms like me who had rapid births generally don't have to give birth unassisted, because they know to call for help right away. Well, we shall see.
Precipitate labor moms don't get a lot of sympathy from people lol, because of course other moms are like "oh, you're going to have a short labor, poor you." But it's intense, man! And it's a good thing I want a natural birth, because if you have precipitate labor you're ruled out from most pain relief methods anyway.
It's not yet totally ready, but it's a lot better than it was. We got rid of a lot, sorted a lot, and at least now it's to the point where you can actually use the room as a room (unlike before, where the piles of boxes made it impossible).
I'm hoping to have Pippa installed in there by next week. Originally I had planned on just continuing co-sleeping (in the "room sharing" sense--Pippa has her own bed, but in our room, and so would the new baby). This does work for many families--heck, many families everybody sleeps in the same bed. But, very recently, I've had serious reservations about this. My issue is that, basically, Pippa is her dad in all things sleep--very light, sound, and other disturbance sensitive, but (currently) a good sleeper if these conditions are met.
Anyway, I felt I was kind of up a creek because They Say that you have to move children to a new room so many months before the birth or else, woe, you shall induce Traumas upon the child.
IDK. I think I'm just not going to let it bother me.
I'm also wondering if I'm a terrible parent for thinking about just putting her straight into a regular bed without a rail on it. It's a three quarter bed (bigger than a twin, smaller than a double). I mean, bed rails didn't use to be a thing at all, right? It'd be one thing if it was a bunk bed top bunk, but a standard height bed shouldn't be an issue even if she does fall out of it... right?
---
I got two acupuncture treatments last week and it has really done wonders for my rib pain. So glad I looked into whether our extended health insurance would cover it.
Speaking of health insurance, I also registered for the "Bright Start Bundle" at BC Women's, which is basically private or semi-private recovery room + some goodies they toss in to sweeten the deal, like free parking and a coupon for the cafeteria. However, when I went to drop the form off, I actually started having second thoughts about having a hospital birth. I dropped it off at the admitting area and it was just so... hospital-y. Which may sound strange. But I took the virtual tour on the hospital website and the way the photos are framed, it looked a lot homier and more private, somehow. One of the things I hate about being in a hospital is the sense of being exposed and having strangers in scrubs wandering into your room and other patients overhearing about your bowels. In fact, one of the big reasons I wanted to opt for a hospital birth over a home birth this time was because I didn't want to labor in an apartment with the windows open where neighbors and passers by can hear me.
I'm sad also to find out that the homiest rooms, the ones with the big tubs and comforting wood panelling, are closed for the summer and won't be open until the end of August. :(
The one nice thing is that my midwives/doctors all do home births too, so if I end up deciding I want to stay home, they can accomodate that. In fact my doctor last time even brought it up, simply because I am considered at risk for precipitate labor, to be prepared for a possible unplanned homebirth.
Even though I had very long early labor last time, I only had four hours active labor (4cm to baby out). For a first time mom, that is VERY short, almost precipitate labor (which is defined as active labor of 3 hours or less). Second time moms, according to my doctor, often basically go straight to active labor or even straight to transition, so my instructions are to call them, then call 911 for an ambulance--because the ambulance from BC Women's comes with all the neonatal equipment, and thus if the ambulance gets there and the baby's already out or about to come out, or the baby comes IN the ambulance, they can deal with it.
It is really weird to know that this time around I am statistically likely to go from "dum de dum, maybe I should take the kids to the park" to "OH MAN HERE COMES A BABY" to "OH BABY IT'S A BABY" in less than three hours.
My doctor was encouraging, though, and said that in her experience, moms like me who had rapid births generally don't have to give birth unassisted, because they know to call for help right away. Well, we shall see.
Precipitate labor moms don't get a lot of sympathy from people lol, because of course other moms are like "oh, you're going to have a short labor, poor you." But it's intense, man! And it's a good thing I want a natural birth, because if you have precipitate labor you're ruled out from most pain relief methods anyway.