Bark Box Review

I will start by saying I love my puppies! I have three in fact. If you have not been introduced to them, click here.  With three dogs, you can imagine that they are a pretty big part of our lives.  When I found out I was pregnant, I worried if they would go by the way side while I prepared for Nugget.  I have been so tired that I am pretty sure my dogs hate me.  This mean a decrease in walks, and a decrease in shopping for new toys for them.  That was until I teamed with Bark Box to solve this problem completely.  How would you like someone to do your pet shopping for you?  Well that is just what Bark Box does!

When you start your service with Bark Box, you pick what size dog you have.  This was probably the only thing that I did not like about the service.  I have three dogs: 10lbs, 50lbs, and enormous.  How I do chose which one gets to benefit from the new toys.  For safety purposes I went with the largest one, so no one was choking on anything. 

If you have never signed up for a subscription service like this one, it is super simple.  Just pull up Bark Box.  You will be instructed to choose a dog, then you will choose your plan that you want.  The more months you sign up for, the cheaper it is.  Bark Box will then send you new dog toys and treats every month.  I love packages, so this is really fun for me.  Every month it will be something different.  So I signed up and waited, but not very long.  Then this arrived for me in the mail!

Look at all those goodies!  Now when you are opening a box of new dog treats with three dogs, you can imagine things get tricky and I had to act fast if I wanted to be able to see what I was reviewing. 

They tell you about everything that you are going to receive in the box.  You see that there are toys, treats, and dog related offers. Up first were the treats.  These treats smelled amazing!  Look at Dolce trying to sneak into the bag.

My dogs are treat motivated.  As soon as I opened them up, I was surrounded by company.

I stuffed the treats in the Bionic bone and my little old man Coco was having a field day trying to retrieve them.  I know that they would love this to be filled with peanut butter or other dog safe goody.

My dogs do not typically play with toys.  There was an antler/rope toy that was included.  This was their first experience with antlers and I didn't know how they would react.  Well, above, is Dolce snatching it.  She took that toy and tore off the rope and she has been chewing the antler for a week now.  The antler looks like we just got it.  She can typically drill through a bone in an hour.  I think we are an antler family now!  Next up was a pumpkin smoothie for dogs.  You could serve it frozen or room temp.

There it is, and there is Coco.  Totally uninterested.  He took a couple of licks, but it wasn't his thing.  Now Dolce on the other hand...

She ate the whole thing.  While she was eating her smoothie, Coco was stealing her new favorite antler.
I am very happy with this service, as are my dogs.  Being pregnant, anything that makes my life easier is a win/win.  Do you have someone on your Christmas list that is a dog lover?  You can gift Bark Box as well!  After you sign up for Bark Box, they have a great referral program.  Every person that you refer gets $5 off their subscription and you get a FREE BOX!  So, head over to Bark Box and sign up today!

Disclosure: I received the Bark Box for review purposes only. All opinions are 100% my own. 

 

26 Weeks!

How far along? 26 weeks

Weight Gain? I was at a high of 30lbs this week, but I am back down to about 25lbs.

How big is Nugget?  Nugget is the size of a head of lettuce.

Maternity Clothes?  I still have not went and bought a coat and I am freezing most days because I only have one pair of jeans I can wear with boots.  The clothes that were far to big on me a couple of weeks ago, do not fit anymore.  Death to demi panel pants! I only have 3 months left.  Do I really need a coat?

Best moment this week?  This week was full of great times.  We had a large family get together because my brother was going back to Vermont.  My dad really wanted a family picture of everyone, so I drove home early from my trip to Ohio to participate.  Look how nice it turned it out:

We celebrated both my brother and my birthday's, as well.  We are born 1 year and 51 weeks apart.  I am also born a week prior to my cousin, who was born on the same day as my brother.  They just so happen to be born on my parents anniversary as well.  Holy Holidays! 

The next day was my birthday!  I am all of 27 years old and am still not use to it yet.  Since the baby has consumed my life, of course I got something for the baby for my birthday.  Look at that beauty...

I am so excited my parents got us a stroller so I didn't have to use the one we already had.  This one is much more my style.  On top of all those holiday, it was also Thanksgiving!  Of course, my heartburn is so bad I couldn't really enjoy it much.   

My mom and I actually ventured out to Walmart at 8pm to see the craziness. And Craziness was just what it was.  What is it about $4 toasters that makes people crazy.  I got two small toys for the Nugs and got the heck out.  Anyway, pretty eventful happy week!

Miss Anything?  Let me eat esophagus!

Food Cravings?  I crave steak a lot, and that is what we had for Thanksgiving dinner, so I was pretty happy.

Movement?  Nugget finally flipped for the first time to start kicking me in the ribs.  I was also able to catch this little bugger on film, finally!

Anything making you queasy or sick?  I am still not feeling right.  This heartburn has made it so I feel like I am constantly going to vacate my stomach because it is so fiery.

Looking forward to?  Give me my baby!  This was the first week where I was like get this thing out of me now.  I am sure I will have this thought many more times while I continue to become more pregnant.

Dufda quote of the week:  I am waiting for Jad's Ferrari.  What was this "Ferrari" that Dufda was waiting for, you ask?  Please refer to my birthday present!

So Dufda and I get this stroller delivered to our house.  We are first time parents and pretty big novices (is that a word?) when it comes to baby gear.  The stroller comes in the biggest box that they can find.  It weighs as much as a sumo wrestler.  I am thinking how in the world and I going to tote this thing around by myself.  Dufda waited all day when I was at work so we could assemble Jad's "Ferrari" together.  He literally couldn't wait, and I love this about him.  He is so excited about mail.  Probably because it is comes on truck here in America, versus a camel back in Jordan (hehe was that offensive?  I love camel jokes.)  So we pull out this bad boy and we are both thinking, "Wait, what? Stroller's need assembled?  They are always put together in the store."  We looked for directions, put I guess Britax feels that if you are able to make a child you should be able to make a stroller, because they did not include any.  This is your first test as a new parent.  How long does it take you to break this new device that will carry your precious cargo.  This time is directly proportional to the amount time it will take you to forget your child in said device.  Directions or not, we made the stroller.  Now the car seat...whole other story.  Why do they send you the car seat attached to the base?  Wanna know why?  Because they hate you!  Dufda and I spent forever trying to get that seat to disconnect.  The big, enormous latch is what you should pull.  This will release it very simply.  That latch, is in the back, under the seat and not any special color.  You know what is a special color?  All the things that do not assist in removing the car seat from the base.  All in all, I hate strollers, they are just mean.

 

25 Weeks!

How Far Along? 25 weeks

Weight Gain? Sitting around 24lbs.

How big is Nugget?  Nugget is the size of a head of cauliflower.

What did you do with last week's fruit/vegetable?  Well, since we cheated last week and used bagels, those of course got eaten right away.

Maternity Clothes?  It is getting really cold.  Coats do not fit and I have very few heavy sweaters to wear that keep me warm.  I have this opposition to buying a maternity winter coat, but I may have to break down and just do it.

Best moment this week?  This week was super boring, so I wouldn't say there really was a best moment.

Miss Anything?  I am still missing my energy.  I have tried to get motivated to go to the gym but it is just impossible.  Plus, Dufda has no want to go to the gym either.

Food Cravings?  Heartburn is so bad that I just eat whatever I think won't make me want to die.

Movement?  Nugget is getting on a schedule now so I know when he will be active.  It is typically in the morning and right before we go to bed.

Early Labor Signs?  I am starting to feel braxton hicks contractions.  I didn't know what they were till the midwife explained what would happen.  They make my belly super tight and define my bump, but are not to uncomfortable.

Anything making you queasy or sick?  The throwing up is picking up again with the severe heart burn.  I am having a problem taking my prenatal vitamins because I feel so gross.

Looking forward to? Next month!  We have a hospital tour, some fun glucose screening, midwife appointments, a 3D Ultrasound, my friends bridal shower and Christmas.  Pregnancy has officially taken over my life.

I had a midwife appointment this week.  I met with a new midwife who was great.  We talked about finding a pediatrician and the birth classes I signed up for.  Baby was measuring good and heart rate was good for both of us.  Thankfully, she renewed my Zofran prescription until the end of my pregnancy and got me the paperwork needed to get my breast pump from the insurance for free!  We will go back in 4 weeks, then I believe it will be every two weeks from then on.

Technogel Pillow Review and Giveaway

Ever since I became pregnant, sleeping has been a chore.  Nothing is comfortable anymore.  You have a huge belly, your hips hurt and to top it off you have to wake up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom.  I have been spending so much time in my bed that I need to be comfortable laying down.  Traditional pillows are just not enough.  I joined most other pregnant women and purchased a Snoogle, which is a must have.  This corrected the hip problems and supported my belly, but I was still left with a nagging pain in my neck because the head support for the Snoogle is not very sturdy.  This brought me to Dr. Scholl's Technogel Pillow.  This is not your regular run of the mill pillow.  Do you know those ultra comfortable insoles for your soles?  This is comparable to that for sleeping.  When my Technogel pillow arrived, the packaging made me realize this was going to be a superior pillow.  Doesn't that just look peaceful?

 

Technogel is a soft solid material that joins together the 3D deformation of a fluid and the memory shape of a solid.  What that fancy terminology means is that while your basic pillow will lose its shape, this pillow will not.  This is what I liked the most.  I felt as if the pillow was holding my head in place.  As soon as I got comfortable, there was no need to change position, because the Technogel held up throughout the night.  This picture shows you the curve of the pillow that makes it so comfortable.

After explaining to Sleep City my sleep problems, they had suggested the Anatomic Pillow. It is recommended to bring relief for those that sleep on their sides or back.  As many are aware, you have to sleep on your side while pregnant, so this was the perfect match for my needs.  The Technogel pillow has a removable cover.  Obviously convenient for washing purposes and comes off with a simple zipper.

When you remove the cover, you can start to see the technology of the pillow.  The pillow's Technogel has great thermal conductivity which favors heat dispersion.  This is going to erase the need to flip your pillow to find a cool side.  This was one of the first things I noticed when I slept on it.  It was noticeably cooler than your basic pillow and stayed that way throughout the night. Below, you can see the Technogel layer, which is protected by a cover as well.  This pillow is hypo-allergenic and completely non-toxic.

By not having to move as much, I was able to sleep longer than with my basic pillow, or a Snoogle alone.  This was the arrangement I found to like the most.

I had intended to travel with my Technogel pillow, but my husband had informed me that while I was gone it was his turn to use it.  When I arrived back home, he was sound asleep and loving the new pillow.  We used it while watching TV in the living room, as well.  We have wooden arm rests that require a pillow, typically two to allow you to lay down.  This one pillow was sturdy enough to make us comfortable. 

This and all Technogel pillows are available only at Sleepcity.com.  You can purchase one today here, or you can enter to win a pillow of your choice below!  What a great Christmas present to yourself!  Don't forget to head over to Facebook and "Like" Sleep City to learn how to get your best night's sleep.

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Strolling Through the Holidays - KiddyUSA City n' Move Stroller Giveaway

Would you like to go strolling with your loved one this Holiday Season? 

The Blogging Mamas Network and KiddyUSA have come together to bring you a great giveaway for the brand new KiddyUSA City 'n Move Stroller! 

This stroller is the perfect companion - it's Lightweight {at only 21 lbs}, Comfortable for Mom/Dad and Child, and Maneuvers Easily.

The Kiddy brand, based in Germany, is synonymous with innovation and style when it comes to children's car seats and strollers and now the brand has launched in the US. 

The KiddyUSA City 'n Move comes in 7 fantastic colors {Winner will choose their Favorite!} and accommodates children 6 months to 55 pounds! 

To see even more of the City 'n Move Stroller, including detailed pictures and favorite features, read the KiddyUSA City 'n Move Stroller Review by Lindsey from So Easy Being Green.

The KiddyUSA City 'n Move Stroller is available at a variety of retailers.  The City 'n Move retails for $219.99 and will be available on Amazon very soon!

:GIVEAWAY:

This giveaway is open to US residents, 18+ only.  Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on November 30th. 

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter Form below.

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Disclosure:  Special thanks to Hosts According to Jenny, So Easy Being Green, Leetle Baby, and other Strollin' Bloggers!  Event bloggers are not responsible for Sponsor Prize Shipment.

24 Weeks!

How Far Along? 24 weeks

Weight Gain? 24lbs Oh look at that!  One pound each week!  I totally meant to do that!

How big is Nugget?  Well Nugget is suppose to be the size of a stalk of corn.  The corn was all moldy at the store.  I improvised and made the baby the size of a pack of onion bagels.  He is suppose to be 12 inches long and I really like bagels.

What did you do with last week's fruit/vegetable?  It was a spaghetti squash, which I have never made or eaten before.  I cut it in half, cooked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then I tossed it with salt, pepper and alfredo sauce.  I was a huge fan, Dufda not so much.  What is important here is that I actually cooked dinner.



Maternity Clothes?  Dufda bought me a brand new pair of skinny jeans that are just fantastic.  I was having Ugg withdrawal without skinny jeans, but it is now cured.

Best moment this week?  Next to finally finding skinny jeans, it is probably getting enough energy to do dishes and clean the house.  I was on a roll and didn't want to stop.  Hopefully it lasts.

Miss Anything?  I am having a hard time eating anything because my heartburn is so bad.  White rice seems to be the only that doesn't trigger it.  Good thing I live with a Jordanian who is a rice expert.

Food cravings?  I had a really strong craving for grapefruit...let's just say it didn't end well : (.

Movement?  Still kicking away in there!

Anything make you queasy or sick?  Refer to my cravings.  This seems to always happen, the more I want it the more it makes me sick.

Looking forward to?  Our 3D ultrasound is about a month away.  I am super excited to see what this little nugget looks like!

This weekend Dufda and I went to our first meeting with the Pittsburgh Bump Club.  There were 7 couples that came, which I was super excited about.  We had a game night and everyone brought snacks.  The game that we ended up playing was Apples to Apples.  Dufda has always had an issue with this game.  Since some of the words are not used very frequently, he may not know what they mean.  He also has a hard time picking who wins when it comes to him.  Knowing my husband, though, I knew that I could win the round that he was picking the winner.  He had chose juicy as the card to match.  I just so happen to have olive oil in my card selection.  If you know my Dufda, you know he thinks olive oil is the juiciest thing right next to a super ripe orange.  Of course he picked me!  I did actually end up winning...what can I say, I am pretty awesome.  This is my blog, so I can say I am awesome, right? We had an great time though.  It is always weird trying to meet new friends, not to mention extremely awkward.  Dufda was far more hesitant than I was (I think murder and kidnapping was mentioned), and it seemed like he had a good time.  We set up another Christmas party in December and I am really looking forward to it!



Nugget's Nursery - Ikea will be the death of me

We had purchased the furniture prior to having a room to put the furniture in.  This really made us work hard to complete the room.  We had three pieces that needed assembled: a wardrobe, a dresser and a crib.  All three from Ikea, and all three just a mess of particle board, wooden dowels, and stupid allen wrenches waiting to be assembled by Dufda and I.  

We started with the crib.  I believe that when we opened it up Dufda exclaimed "This is going to be super easy!"  Not so fast hot stuff.  I pause this discussion to remind you that Middle Easterns are passionate about everything.  I have never experienced so many people that love each other yell at one another than when I was in Jordan.  They aren't mad or fighting, that is just how they speak. Dufda is also a self proclaimed expert at building furniture, you know he did build a closet once.  This makes for a great experience every time we need to rely on team work.  Anyway, the crib.  This is a 3 person job, but since the only other beings in our house have paws, we had to make it a two person.  I think this took almost an hour and half.  You have to line up awkward pins and build it on its side, all at the same time making this enclosure safe for that little being that will live in it for a couple of years.  This was the scariest part.  Like, who cares if I screw up Jad's dresser.  No one will get hurt if his mounds of clothes come crashing through the drawers.  Someone will get hurt if Dufda and I can't get our shit together and make this crib the most indestructible thing there is.  Well, we finished it.

It doesn't look like much, but as a first time mom this is huge.  I think I sat on that piece of cardboard for an hour marveling at the crib that is OUR house for OUR baby boy.  I probably cried as well, proceeded by Dufda telling me I am insane and need to stop being so emotional.  It just looks so serene sitting there.  That was short lived, because we needed to assemble the rest of the furniture that is more circus fun, than serious baby.

Next up was the wardrobe.  I was so excited to assemble this because I had visions of having this furniture for a baby since Ikea made it years ago.  It is so fun, slightly impractical, but ideal for a little boy.  I opened up that box and had a slight panic attack, that then triggered more tears.  This is what I saw:

The blues totally clash.  After a freak out moment and complaining to my mother, I started the assembly on my own.  This was short lived, because how was I going to make anything from Ikea without ten more hands.  This piece wasn't that bad.  It did have a door though.  If you remember from the closet assembly, these things are hard to install.  This was no exception.  The instructions for this piece had a much better illustration on how to fix the alignment of the doors then the previous one.  And there you have it, the cutest closet a little boy could ask for:

Thank God for the dark blue trim, which takes away from the clashing blues.  I wanted to stock this thing full of all the little boy clothes that I had, but I had no hangers : (.  It remains empty now...but not for long.

By the time we got to the dresser, we had a system going that we could work together well and knew the ins and outs of this furniture.  We also only had 45 minutes to build the dresser because heaven forbid we miss Law and Order: SVU.  It ended up taking about 50 minutes and we had to watch SVU on Hulu anyway.

As soon as I put Jad's first monster on top, I knew I loved the whole room.  With orange and some other random accents it will all be pulled together.  Here is the entire layout after I went and brought Jad's toys out of the garage.

The chair (which is currently covered by Dufda's blanket) was in my parents house while I was growing up, it was then recovered for my bedroom and now I need to recover it for this room.  I guess I could get a nicer one, but I like this one.  You can also see Jad's first stuffed animal, which is of course a camel (It even makes camel noises, What? You don't know what noise a camel makes?).  The yellow blanket was made by Jad's grandma and although I know there is still a lot of time before Jad will enjoy his froggy, I wanted to have it up there (Dufda is frog in arabic).  I love it!  As of right now, the trim needs painted, the floor needs to be delivered, decorations need to be hung, I need to figure out what to do about a changing table, clothes need to be hung and a mattress and bedding need to be bought.  My time limit was 25 weeks and I am actually right on schedule!

23 Weeks!

I hired a pregnant stand in for me this week.  She is a lot prettier than I am when upset, but this was my week 23.

So this is late and not like usual.  This week I have come home from work crying and wanting to take a shower every night.  I blame this on day light savings time.  Why do the people of Pittsburgh all of the sudden forget how to drive in traffic when it gets dark outside. Now back to your regularly scheduled pregnancy update:

How far along? 23 weeks

Weight Gain?  You think I got on a scale this week, your nuts!  This is what I did:  Go to work, come home lay in bed, yell at Dufda because dinner isn't cooked, take a shower because I'm cold, fall asleep.

How big is Nugget?  Nugget is the size of a Papaya, like what?  He was a spaghetti squash last week then you are going to regress his size to a papaya.  I assure you this baby isn't getting smaller base on the fact that I can see him from the outside!

Maternity Clothes?  Yeah, I have them.  Would someone like to come wash them for me so I can wear them?

Stretch marks?  No new ones, but I do see my ankles disappearing.  That just adds to the awesomeness of being pregnant right?

Best moment this week?  The look on the cashier's face when I was buying ice cream at 8am for immediate consumption.

Miss Anything? Daylight, I miss daylight.  Do you know anything I can do about that.  I also miss fitting into my coats.

Food Cravings?  What's that you say?  We are out of cookies!  I do think so!  I want milk, ummm no, how about pudding.  Do we have any clementines?  Hahaha, my poor husband.

Movement?  I am trying to capture this little gremlin on tape and he is not cooperating.  I guess I can scratch actor off of the list of Jad's potential careers.  I did take Jad to go stalk see Channing Tatum this week.  We didn't have any luck and I thought it was inappropriate to stand outside harboring another man's child while waiting to swoon over Channing.

Anything make you queasy or sick?  These nasty beef ravioli's from the freezer section.  I got them because Dufda doesn't like the cheese ones.  Well guess what!  He doesn't like these ones either!  The promptly made their reappearance about an hour after eating them.

Gender?  How many pairs of shoes does an boy infant who can't walk need?  When they are my offspring, I would say two pair for every pair of 5-inch stilettos I had to give up to give him a room.  

Looking forward to?  Being so pregnant I physically can't get out of bed, that way I feel less bad about how dirty the house is.

Dufda's Quote of the week?  "You need to stop walking like a moochkin (That is Jordanian for munchkin), you don't walk like a moochkin when you are in heels, so just stop.  We need to soak your arms in bat blood to make them less hairy." 

I did actually have a fantastic night out with friends this week.  We have not stayed up past 10 o' clock in forever so this was a nice change.  We had dinner downtown at a New Orleans restaurant called Nola, then we went cosmic bowling.  Bowling while pregnant is odd.  1. Cosmic bowling is filled with 15 year olds who stare at you like, "OMG pregnant people stay up past 5 o'clock" 2. I had a 6lb kids ball and I was still super sore the next morning.  All in all it was a great time.  Plus, it gave me a reason to get a new dress!

Nugget's Nursery - Boy's rooms aren't purple!

So if you remember from when I first started to update you on the long process of turning our closet into a nursery, this is what the room looked like:

You can start back at the beginning by just clicking on the Nursery label at the bottom of this post.  Well, that room was the opposite of boy.  I knew that I did not want purple, but I did want something that was neutral.  I was hoping for a yellow, maybe an off-white.  I relinquished my control over the paint color to my husband, though.  I did this for a couple of reasons: 1.  I have a control problems 2. Does the baby really care what color the room is? and 3.  I would rather have a a happy husband than an awesome room (I will still make this room awesome, even with the paint).  Dufda chose blue.  BLUE the most boy color their is.  Can we get anymore cliche?  We agreed on a lighter color blue than he originally wanted, but it is still a lot of blue!  The first step of this project was to clear out the room.  We had been doing this is stages because we did not know where to put everything.  I finally gave up and started dismantling the whole closet and just throwing it into my basement.  We got it to look like this pretty fast.

 After taking all of the shelves and hooks down there was a lot of wall repair that needed to be done.  Dufda loves to do wall work so I let him have the time of his life filling in holes and patching the walls.  Next we have to prime.  This is my least favorite step because you get no real satisfaction out of it.  Dufda and I do not see eye to eye on priming.  His way of painting is very unorganized and I like to  make sure I finish a wall before I start another.  In the end, the room was primed and we needed it to dry.  No more Purple!

We went to sleep at this time, because Hurricane Sandy was making for a very humid room.  Our paint was literally seeping off the wall and dripping into the windows.  This worked well for my plan, too.  I was going to get up super early and start, as well as finish (hopefully), painting before Dufda woke up.  This would make the whole situation way less stressful and I would be able to paint at my pace. 

I woke up and was so excited to crack open that gallon of paint.  And Ta Dah!

You can't really see the color here, but I will find that it is much darker on the walls than in this can.  I am trying to be super quiet so I don't wake Dufda.  I bet he is actually awake and just not coming in the room to avoid working, but this was totally alright with me.  Instead I made him a little picture and sent it to him. And yes, we are totally that couple who texts each other from the other room, deal with it.

I then got to completing my masterpiece.  The rain was still pouring outside, which made for far from ideal painting conditions.  When I woke Dufda up to show him, the paint was just about falling off the walls.  I fixed what I could and just had to crank up the heat and let it dry.  I still have to finish the wall to ceiling trim, because the ceiling wouldn't dry enough for me to edge.  Here is a better picture of what the color actually looks like.  I am starting to love it, but it is really weird having a blue room in a house of all browns.

Next up, we are going to put some furniture in this nursery!

Nugget's Nursery - Daddy needs a closet

From the previous post, you know that we have our furniture.  This furniture sat in the van overnight, because we were both to tired and couldn't think of a good way to get it into our house.  Finally in the morning Dufda got a dolly and started hauling it up the side lawn.  We stacked it in the dining room because we still did not have a room to put the baby's stuff in.  We were able to start assembling the closet, though!  Our bedroom is getting the new closet, so that we can move Dufda's clothes from Nugget's room.  The problem with this is: our room is small.  The closet needed to be built on the ground and we were able to create enough room by sheer millimeters.  We started to build, then realized we were doing it up-side down, you know how specific Ikea instructions are... We had reservations for dinner that night, so we couldn't finish it all in one shot.  We go to here and had to stop.

Doesn't look like much of anything yet.  That dresser next to it, is suppose to be Nugget's and have a changing table on it.  I don't if we will be able to give up the storage, or if Nugget will have any room left after I am done with his room.  

After we get back from dinner, we started to finish the closet.  This was my first project from Ikea that required the hanging of doors (little did I know, it wouldn't be my last).  This is a two person job that requires great patience.  You have to line up all three hinges, then balance them, then adjust them, and it is just a huge pain.  I have no pictures of this because after they were up, I am pretty sure I wanted to just throw the whole thing out the window!  

One thing that Dufda and I never see eye to eye on is how to fold clothes.  I, being a star former employee at American Eagle, prefer a nice clean brick fold on my pants.  I also insist that all hangers be the same way and shirt be organized first by color, then by sleeve length.  Think this is ridic?  You never lose clothes this way, you always know where everything is.  Well, unless you are 5 months pregnant and after showing your husband how to do laundry a million times, you have just given up on clean clothes because the basement is far away and you back hurts, and no one else will do them.

Onward.  Dufda likes to grocery shop...by himself.  I think this is fantastic and he is very good at it.  I go for what I want now and he goes for what we need for the week.  Dufda went grocery shopping and I took it upon myself to set up his closet.  I was so excited to do some organizing.  And Ta Da!

Ahhh, isn't that just beautiful.  Dufda hated that I hung his sweaters, and now they have a place to all be folded.  He has a shelf for gym clothes, another for going out clothes and yet another for pants.  I love it so much I want to steal it.  He came home and was pretty excited as well. 

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Why I chose to stay out of the hospital

This is what I see every time I go to a prenatal appointment and I think it is awesome.

Almost everyone I know has given birth in the hospital.  Growing up I sort of assumed that this was the only place to give birth.  After I got married and started to really research conception, pregnancy and birth I found out that I was so wrong.  I was introduced into this community of all these women who were saying "Get me the hell out of the hospital!"  I started by watching The Business of Being Born.  This is a documentary that Ricki Lake made about options in childbirth.  It was shocking to me since this was the very beginning of my journey on learning about birth in America.  It also showed me the path that usually happens when interventions are introduced during labor.  Ultimately ending in a c-section 33% of the time in America.  Before I go any further I would like to stress that this is my opinion and what was best for my situation.  Everyone has their best place to give birth, I just wish people would spend time researching what that is instead of following in their mother's and sister's foot steps.  I write this in hopes that you will at least consider an out or hospital birth, because it is working so much better in other countries.  The United States ranks very poorly compared to other regions that have the majority of births out of hospital.

After watching this documentary I dove into the internet to figure out how I would be able to avoid the hospital and doctors if and when I became pregnant.  I immediately decided that a home birth was going to be best for me, Dufda on the other hand was not convinced that this was a good idea. What happens if something goes wrong? Everyone asked this, when the reality is that most things that "go wrong" in birth are due to the interventions that are introduced, not the women's ability to give birth.  I had only known one woman ever who birthed at home.  She had a wonderful experience and loved birthing children.  She was my inspiration.  I had told people that I would like to do a home birth and I got the same answer pretty much across the board: You're crazy!  I even had someone tell me that natural birth isn't as safe as medicated hospital birth.  Not as safe?  There are no long term studies that show the effects of Pitocin and epidural anesthesia on a child, so we have no idea if we are harming them.  These drugs have serious side effects and disadvantages though.  For one, you are strapped to your bed, which has to be super uncomfortable.  Drop in blood pressure, severe headache, shivering, ringing of the ears, backache, nausea, difficulty urinating, pushing may be more difficult, trouble with the newborn latching, lethargic baby, and newborn respiratory distress just to name a few.  Now it doesn't make sense to me that we are going to deprive ourselves of pain medication while pregnant to keep baby safe, but as soon as that baby is ready to be born, we are going to pump ourselves full of medication.  People wanted to scare me into their normal.  When someone talks to me about their emergency c-section, I keep repeating in my head: We were made to do this, This is good pain, This is productive pain, I am suppose to give birth naturally. I was not going to have it or let it phase me.  Specially because like most people these individuals had not spent one lick of time actually looking into child birth, they only had the hearsay that came from older mothers, sisters and of course our media.  I know now you are probably saying, oh just wait till you go into labor.  Yes, I am a naive first time mom who had not experienced the miracle of birth yet.  I believe that fear, first and foremost, will make my best birth impossible.  I refuse to let others instill their fear in me.

Inside of an exam room

I started trying to find a home birth midwife prior to being pregnant.  The laws will differ from each state, but here in PA they make it very difficult to have your baby at home.  I did find a woman who would be willing to attend my birth though.  We met while Dufda was out of the country and I didn't click with her completely, but I was willing to take that chance and go with her anyway.  All of my plans had come crashing down when I learned the floor to my house was going to have to be reinforced in order to have a home birth and support the birth tub.  I needed a new option now.

They keep a list of every baby born within the month, I love reading this when I wait for my appointments.

 I looked for awhile and then I finally came across The Midwife Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.  I called them and set up an orientation as well as my first appointment.  Dufda and I attended that orientation and he was removed from the situation.  He had told me over and over again that I should be in the hospital.  I told one of his sisters I was planning to birth out of the hospital and she thought I was crazy and said, "No, you will want to be around all the doctors!"  Doctors were just what I did not want to be around, for I was not sick or harboring of some condition that is treatable. 

I can't wait to see this sign on my door!

 Anyways, Dufda was annoyed that it took so long and that the orientation had to be held by a nurse and not a real midwife, because said midwife was birthing a baby at that moment downstairs.  This did not deter me, because him along with most guys are very clueless when it comes to childbirth.  They are exposed to the media that says you should be in the hospital.  I was not going to let anyone's ignorance deter me from having my best birth.  This may sound harsh, because he is my husband and half creator of this baby, but I write this because most husbands are going to have the same reservations about women wanting to leave the "super safe" confines of the hospital.  I believe that he will come around and "get it' when our little boy is born.  Dufda's fears were that he would be the only one there with me and he didn't know if he could actually handle childbirth.  I had told him that my mother wouldn't be present because I was not comfortable having her in the room, nor she comfortable being there.  I compromised and invited a friend and this made Dufda way more at ease, but the battle isn't over with him and his attachment to the hospital.

This is the family kitchen that is available when you are giving birth

I am very thankful to have chosen The Midwife Center because I feel like I am getting the best of both worlds between hospital and home.  I have been so sick throughout my pregnancy that I would not have the access to Zofran if I were to have a home birth, but at the same time I have a huge say in what testing I am and am not comfortable with.  Everything has been approached by, "Would you like to have this completed?"  There is nothing mandatory at The Midwife Center, except for my support person to attend one prenatal visit and we must sit through childbirth classes.  I had blood work done, that came out completely normal.  I refused the genetic testings but I did opt for an anatomy scan.  At each appointment I go to they ask about me, my husband, our home life, and the whole picture.  I do not have anything to compare this to, because I have never seen an OB/GYN, but I know my team of midwives are very in tuned with my whole well being.  Another important reason that I chose to use a natural, low intervention setting is that midwives are able to adapt to your normal.  That normal could be totally different than the next girl that walks in the room, and they are completely o.k with that.

The setup at The Midwife Center is so similar to home that you just can't help but love being there.  The waiting room has comfy couches, the birth rooms have huge beds with a jacuzzi style tub.  Everything is just quaint and the way that I think it should be.  I hate the smell of the doctor's offices, and this place has none of that.

When you are a patient of The Midwife Center, you are advised to tour UPMC Mercy since that is where they would transfer to if there was an emergency.  I have this set up, but have not attended yet.  The Midwife Center as well as most midwife practices typically carry a better set of statistics than hospitals. The national average for a c-section is at 33%, while at The Midwife Center it is only 12%.  They hold better statistics in preterm birth and birth weight as well.  I believe that this is because they are looking at your lifestyle and how it pertains to this pregnancy and what they are considering is normal for you.  If I go "past due" I get to wait a lot longer than a hospital patient before I am pumped with pitocin to induce labor.  If I labor for an extended period of time, I am given more options than an emergency c-section.  I have been told already my baby is large, never once did this turn into you might be to small to birth him, although I was just 114 lbs, with a small frame pre-pregnancy.  

People ask me a lot if I am scared to give birth, and since I have found this great place to care for me while I am pregnant, it is the complete opposite.  I am more than excited to labor and birth my baby, the way women have done for years before me.