A night full of "snuggles"

I spent the better part of last night awake with horrific menstrual-like cramps on my left side. They were so bad, shooting from my left ovary right down to my left knee. OUCH!!! It took about an hour of Ivan rubbing it out to make any difference. Unfortunately, when I turned to lay on my right side, I was overtaken with round ligament pain and sciatica. Lovely. So toss and turn, repeat, repeat, repeat, and you have some idea of how I spent my night!

The upside, I suppose, was the non-stop "snuggles", which is the term Ivan has adopted for this pregnancy's contractions. We both agree that the word "contraction" just doesn't have a good sound to it when you want to experience them as pleasurable. I also don't like many of the other terms midwives tend to use, like rushes, surges, sensations, etc. So Ivan came up with snuggles. If nothing else, it's making us both laugh a lot! He'll look at me and ask, "Are you having a snuggle?", to which I'll reply something like, "Oh, I'm snugglin' alright!!!". It's helpful to have such a playful and silly response rather than scrunching up the face and acting all pitiful. I have noticed how much control I have over how I process the sensation of a very strong contraction. I can make it painful or quite pleasurable depending on the energy I give it, and how willingly I surrender to it's own energy. I've had amazing results so far working with my beliefs about pregnancy and labor. I look forward to the actual birth, and having a totally different experience.

All of my "snuggles" last night were not in vain apparently. I wiped after peeing this morning at about 10:00 a.m. and the tissue had pink tinged mucus on it :-) So, there are some cervical changes going on which is wonderful as far as I'm concerned. It's so nice to have a sign that *something* is happening! Gives me something to hang on to no matter how long it actually takes until we have the baby in our arms :-) Positive thinking all the way, baby!

It's not even May yet...

and already I'm feeling a little impatient!

I *love* pregnancy, I really do. But I'm done. It's been fun, but I'd like my body back please :-) You know, the body that can walk to the bathroom with relative ease? The body that can climb in and out of bed without the moans and groans of a senior citizen? How about laying on my back? Or my belly? Or in ANY position that felt even slightly comfortable!!! Of course it'll all be worth it in the end, we all know that. But why does the last week or two have to drag a$$ so much??? Why does every hour feel like a day??? It's hard finding things to keep myself busy that don't involve overdoing it and hurting myself (like scrubbing the kitchen floors with a toothbrush, which I'd like to do but have been forbidden by my dear husband), or needing a license and some cash to throw away. Even the kids are tired of listening to me b!tch and complain about the house not being perfect. I need to do something... like color my hair, or pierce my tongue (for the fourth time LOL) or go shopping.

I feel like my childhood pet beagle who would sit at the door howling until someone would take her out. I'm gonna go see what Ivan's doing :-) I could probably kill some time busting his chops for a while. hee hee.

"Grab some tissues..."

This article was sent to me in an email by my friend Christine. It's a short 8 page read and you won't regret taking the time to make it through, believe me! Thank you, Christine!

One Woman's Mission to Save Babies

By Bonnie Rochman

SURPRISE Mother Blessing!!!

I have ALWAYS wanted a surprise ANYTHING when I'm pregnant, but never had anything like that. I usually planned my own showers (even my own Mother Blessing last pregnancy!) or at least had a huge part in it because no one else would do it. That is, until now :-) I was NOT expecting it, especially being so late in the pregnancy and all. It was such a surprise, and I consider myself one of those people who are hard to catch off guard cause I'm always thinking somethings up, but this time I had NO clue. Of course looking back there were several events/comments that should've set some red flags up but with this preggie brain I just wasn't paying attention.

So Saturday morning rolls around like any other and Ivan is enthusiastically helping me clean (how odd!) but I don't complain, it's so appreciated I just let him go at it. He has decided we're all going out but doesn't tell anyone where. You would think that in itself would be enough to tip me off to something being up but no. It's not at all uncommon for Ivan to leave the kids in suspense and so I just don't bother asking and go with it every time. So we're all heading out and we get a couple blocks down the road when he mumbles something under his breath that I guess means he forgot something he needed to do, and he drives a different way. Now I'm wondering what he's doing but still totally oblivious until he drives down my best friends street. THIS, I think, is weird because if he had something to do by them I would know wouldn't I? So I ask him why we're heading to their house and he tells me we need to pick something up. Ok, whatever. Then he tells me to get out and come with him to the door. Huh? What the heck? I'm 9 months pregnant what can I possibly help you carry out of here?!?! LOL I walk in the door and by now I should have REALLY known something was up because Christine looks happy as anything (yes, that's a sign!) and walks right up to me with a book that I think I was suppose to borrow. It's a baby name book, not to much to be smiling from ear to ear about LOL And her little boy runs to meet us at the door and says something about having a party! I'm totally confused, we're all just standing there and no one is really saying anything. So I do what I normally do which is grab the nearest baby (thanks Corwin!) play with him and ignore the adults until they figure out what their doing. All of a sudden, my friend Meg comes walking out from the kitchen (I think?) and she's dressed so pretty, I just knew then that they planned something for me. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights!!! I'm never surprised!!! What does one do when they're surprised, I have no idea?!?! Then out comes Linda, also dressed for a party! YAY!!! A party for ME!!! :-) :-) :-) I was soooooo happy!!!

***I just noticed Linda's boots by the closet! I was with her when she bought those boots, how on earth did I just walk past them and not notice!!! Dear lord let me blame it on pregnancy brain because the alternative is awful scary LOL!***



It was such a lovely day filled with thoughtfully planned out meals, activities, prayers/blessings, gifts and all that good stuff. Christine put so much into making everything just right. Even the food was chosen with care. Whatever she couldn't get locally she got organic :-) It was wonderful! We didn't have a camera until about an hour or so into it so I missed getting pictures of the feast. Christine had prepared garlic, lime chicken (SO good!), meatballs, apple crisp, a desert I don't know how to spell, LOL, a beautiful salad and a tray filled with fresh veggies and hummus. mmmmmm.




So we started by making some pregnancy/birth art. We chose a theme out of "Birthing From Within" and drew pictures I would take home with me for my birth space. I *love* this idea so much. I love to have something to look at during labor and how special is it that I can look at these pictures and be reminded of my friends and this special day! Below is a painting I did for this pregnancy (mom/dad/baby/dolphins/lotus), it's not an original, I took all of the ideas from different places and made one big painting of it. Surrounding it though, is all of the pictures we drew Saturday. They were all so special and mean the world to me :-) This is all on the wall that the birth pool will be closest to.

Then everyone took their turn lighting a beeswax candle and saying a blessing/prayer for me, the birth and the baby. And also, a special gift from each of them :-) Meg knitted this beautiful baby sweater and hat. I can't say enough about them, I take them out ever couple of hours to look and feel them. I'm so amazed by her talent and so honored that she took the time to make something so special for this baby! She presented them in a beautiful eco-friendly wicker basket which I've decided to use for the baby's bath towels/washcloths/soaps, it's perfect!

Linda gave me this super cute organic cotton baby shirt in pumpkin and white stripes along with organic lavender baby soap. I think this will go really nicely with the sweater Meg made!

Then Christine hands me a bag and tells me it's from her and Meg. I begin to open it and can't quite figure out what it is. My first thoughts are that it looks like organic baby bedding but that wouldn't make any sense. Christine knows we don't do the crib thing, neither does she, so she wouldn't... but what in the world could it be? I'm unsure how to unwrap it so I'm taking my time and she asks me if I recognize it but I don't... what in the world... oh my... it isn't!!!

It IS!!!

Remember this post from way back in March? :-) I can't believe they got it for me!!! SUCH a luxury item but somehow seems so fitting for this already spoiled baby LOL This is a bamboo mei tai style baby carrier. The straps are organic cotton and dyed using tea. Even the filling is made from organic cotton. It is so soft you can easily find yourself rubbing it for long periods of time until you turn to your husband and realize he is looking at you like you've lost your pregnant mind :-) Oh how I *love* this gift.


I have a shelf on either side of my dresser, one with my birth crystals and beeswax candles (to which I just added the new candles!) and the other with my essential oils, two oil diffusers, a little statue Christine gave me a while back of a mother and child made from a single stone, and now an Ivy plant I was sent home with on Saturday from my Mother Blessing :-)



This was a day I will never forget. How wonderful to feel so loved and cared for.

I can't WAIT for this baby to come!!! My birth space is filled with so much love.

Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision

Visit the website here.

Jon Rappoport interview of ex vaccine researcher

"First of all, there is no "if." They do harm. It becomes a more difficult question to decide whether they do harm in those people who seem to show no harm. Then you are dealing with the kind of research which should be done, but isn't. Researchers should be probing to discover a kind of map, or flow chart, which shows exactly what vaccines do in the body from the moment they enter. This research has not been done. As to why they are given, we could sit here for two days and discuss all the reasons. As you've said many times, at different layers of the system people have their motives. Money, fear of losing a job, the desire to win brownie points, prestige, awards, promotion, misguided idealism, unthinking habit, and so on. But, at the highest levels of the medical cartel, vaccines are a top priority because they cause a weakening of the immune system. I know that may be hard to accept, but it's true. The medical cartel, at the highest level, is not out to help people, it is out to harm them, to weaken them. To kill them. At one point in my career, I had a long conversation with a man who occupied a high government position in an African nation. He told me that he was well aware of this. He told me that WHO is a front for these depopulation interests. There is an underground, shall we say, in Africa, made up of various officials who are earnestly trying to change the lot of the poor. This network of people knows what is going on. They know that vaccines have been used, and are being used, to destroy their countries, to make them ripe for takeover by globalist powers. I have had the opportunity to speak with several of these people from this network."

Read the full interview here.

Earth Day

I suppose I should've planned something nice for the kids to do on Earth Day, huh? Something eco-friendly, something meaningful, something un-school-y. I'm just so consumed with end-of-pregnancy details right now it's hard to do anything else. Sad, I know LOL We are planning to take them to the movies tomorrow night to see "Planet Earth" with some local homeschool friends so that should be nice :-)

Well... we do as much as we can EVERYDAY to take care of our beautiful planet. I am always taking opportunities to discuss being responsible stewards of mother earth with the children and they are always excited about the steps we take as a large family to be easy on her an her limited resources.

So let's see what I can think of...

I breastfeed! That means no bottles, feeding supplies, cleaning tools or artificial baby milk will be used and/or thrown away by me, and counting up my (breastfed) children that is A LOT :-)

I cloth diaper and use cloth wipes! Another thing I didn't always do, but I am really glad to have made the switch over. Of course it's not perfect, water, soap, etc. is used to wash but that's better than toxic filled diapers in a dump site that will be there for centuries. I did however buy Justus some eco-friendly disposables in Newmarket for the week baby is born. I don't want Ivan to have extra work, or me have to worry if the diapers were washed in time, at least for a few days. I'd be even happier if the child would go in the toilet but he's protesting something major with that and I've never been one to "potty train". They'll go when their ready.

I use cloth menstrual pads or the Diva cup. O.K. this one is so much more about luxury than anything else. You might not think so but when you feel the difference between using cloth and using paper you will understand why. It's also a good idea for moms considering cloth diapers. Try it out and feel the difference, then you'll see why cloth is so much nicer on your baby's bum, just like it is on yours! BTW, I hardly get to use my cloth/diva cup, being pregnant for over a decade and all, which may not be all that eco-friendly... overpopulation and all...

We buy organic as much as we can, and local when we can.

We use either store bought natural cleaning products or homemade. This is one is really important to me as I spent a HUGE portion of my life very sick from allergies to your regular cleaners. Pine Sol was my absolute favorite and the hardest to give up, but my solution to feeling like it isn't clean till it smells like pine is to add a couple of drops of pine essential oil to my all purpose cleaner :-) I once used Clorox Clean-Up to clean out my kitchen and lost my voice for 3 days just from inhaling the stuff. Toxins, people, stay away from them!!!

hmmm... I may be stretching it here but I bathe my little ones together. There are 8 of us (9 if you count MIL) taking baths/showers regularly. That's a LOT of water, especially if we were all to be taking separate baths.

We are gentle with little critters. Okay, this may sound silly to most. But if you saw the trouble we go through to carefully collect any mice (we do live in a house that backs on to a corn field!) and put them through our relocation program you would likely get a good chuckle. We take the entire family out in the van, drive out to the country (sometimes REALLY late at night!) and put down a bunch of food before setting them free. The mice seem to 'get' that we are helping them out cause they always sit right next to us and eat up some of their food before running away. :-) I can't tell you how much the kids enjoy this. Seraphina is a little terrified when they run near her and she once accidentally stepped right on one while she was screaming in fear. LOL

We don't use much in the way of disposable items like paper towels, paper plates and stuff like that. I use mason jars instead of plastic and don't bother with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. I did try to shift the family over to cloth wipes so we could do away with toilet paper but I think that was pushing it a little too far LOL It didn't catch on with anyone but me. *shrugs* Hey, I think it's really harsh to wipe your gentle spots with paper but whatever.

Things we really need to work on this year:

Remembering to bring cloth bags to the grocery store! Oh how I forget this time and again. I'll have plenty of motivation now that our grocery store is charging for plastic bags :-)

Shopping less. This is hard for me and I don't like it.

Being more conscientious when choosing where to shop and what to buy. We do pretty good but we could certainly improve. We buy most of our food at local farms and support our local health food stores. I often willingly pay extra at these stores rather than buying the same product at the less expensive mega store. Still I find myself there weekly, sometimes more, because we're such a huge family and feeding us is like an extra mortgage payment and a half easily!

Making more foods from scratch and buying in bulk to reduce package waste.

Drying our clothes outside in the warmer months. Another tough one for me as I am terrified of spiders that could be lurking on my freshly dried clothes. (Now you know where Sera gets it from!)

I'd love to think of more... but we must head out to the most UN-eco-friendly store in the world (Walmart) and exchange something. We boycotted Walmart last year you know, and the first time we go in to pick something up (stupid, stupid, STUPID!) it winds up turning out wrong.. that's what we get! LOL Earth Day lesson learned!

I think it's interesting...

You know that little poll I have on the right hand side where you can guess the gender of this baby? Well, when I had a red, pink, white theme on my blog (remember the lady bug?) there were mostly girl votes. But since I've changed it to a more blue theme, the boy votes jumped right up and are now equal with the girl votes. I wonder if it's the look of the blog that's influencing peoples opinions or if that's just something random I happened to notice :-) Most people I know are pretty sure it's a girl, MIL would put money on it if given then chance. I do wonder what factors make a person feel like it's one or the other. I do believe in intuition, but I also know there are other factors at play, like wanting to balance out the numbers, or trying to figure out a pattern, or even giving life to old wives tales. I'd love to hear peoples reasons for choosing one or the other, so if you're brave enough :-) leave me a comment and let me know why you picked what you picked!

Admittedly, I have done more planning for a boy than a girl. I usually just try to follow the flow of what I feel without getting too much in my head about it. I've had no problems at all picking up the blue thing here and there but I can't seem to pick up anything girly without hesitation. I know at least part of that is because I have no problems putting a girl in blue (heck, I wear blue all the time!) but I wouldn't put my boy in pink, lace or frills. When I think back to Julie (which I didn't find out her gender until I was 28 weeks and in the hospital for false pre-term labor and the nurse did and ultrasound and spoiled it for me :-S) and Seraphina, I remember feeling very o.k. with buying clothes for both genders and then planning to let go of the ones that I wouldn't need. So who knows. I never did that with the boys.

Soon enough all will be revealed :-) I can't wait. Well, I can, but I can't.

The Joy of Manipulation

:: The Joy of Manipulation ::

The word *manipulate* means "to handle skillfully."
Since the main function of childhood is learning how
to handle life skillfully, a "manipulative" child is
only doing what comes naturally.

A good relationship is one in which both parties can
manipulate each other in ways they both enjoy. They
dance with one mind, like Fred Astaire and Ginger
Rogers. It's called *attunement*.

When you and your child are well-attuned, the
manipulation can be so subtle that all you notice is
the pleasure of your connection. But when you're
distracted or stressed, your child will escalate to
unsubtle, unpleasant cues like crying or whining --
whatever it takes to get your attention.

Conventional (adversarial) parenting advice says you
mustn't "give in" to such manipulation. The parent
"wins" when the child gives up hope.

When you understand that unpleasant manipulation is a
symptom of failed attunement, the path becomes clear:

* Align with your Self.
* Attune with your child.
* Focus on the pleasure of connecting.
* Everyone wins.

http://dailygroove.net/manipulation

--> Get "The Daily Groove" BOOK!
http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2009 by Scott Noelle

Like growing roses...

“Attending births is like growing roses. You have to marvel at the ones that
just open up and bloom at the first kiss of the sun, but you wouldn’t dream
of pulling open the petals of the tightly closed buds, and forcing them to
blossom to your time line. ” -Gloria Lemay

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Elimination Communication

Bathtime Fun!

Hubby just left to take MIL to the airport and took the 3 older children with him. So how do I manage taking care of the littles by myself? Throw them all in the bath of course! I suppose this could be considered a more 'gentle' form of a playpen :-) It sure does beat chasing everyone around!

Getting Ready :-)

We took a little trip out to Newmarket today to visit Nature's Emporium which is a large store chock full of everything you can think of for a healthy and natural alternative lifestyle. I couldn't resist picking up these super cute organic cotton baby outfits :-) I can't believe in a couple more weeks this little person will be in my arms (probably swimming in these teeny tiny outfits!)

Then I came home and waiting for me at the post office was my big box of Lisa Janey's!!! Some of you may remember back when my dear friend Christine was expecting her little one, I purchased some Lisa Janey cloth menstrual pads and posted pics of them. Well, my mama brain had a long (LONG!) pause and I thought I had washed them but didn't :-( Unfortunately, my stash was destroyed. It broke my heart because I just *love* the work Lisa puts into these pads, they are so well made and you can just see how much work she puts into making sure she's selling a product she can be proud of. They're gorgeous, and they actually make me excited when it's my moon time :-) This is the first time I've ordered postpartum/night time size from her and they look and feel fantastic! So exciting!!!

Look What They Gone Done To Birth

Names?

So... we're still not settled on names yet. I have a girl name that I like (never got to use it with Justus)... but boy names are a little more difficult, maybe because we've named so many already!

I'm wanting something that

• isn't on the 100 most popular name list
• isn't so unusual that people need to ask repeatedly how to pronounce it
• isn't a baby name (the child does grow up after all)
  

Obviously it has to fit the personality of the baby, which at this point, only we (Ivan and I) are really connected with. But I'm still open to suggestions, if anyone has any :-)

A Funny Comic...

Delusions of Late Pregnancy

This is so perfectly fitting right now LOL

Some Pictures

My little Tinkerbell

Our new kitchen table set, complete with a new high chair booster seat for Justus.
(We're painting the kitchen today, woohoo!!!)

Justus and Mama having a moment. He climbed on me and decided he was going to repeatedly kiss me and then whip his head and body back and say "Whoa!"

Mama and her ducklings standing at the bottom of the spirit catcher gazing at the moon.

Surprisingly enough, I'm still able to "Kozy" Justus comfortably!
Gotta love a good baby carrier (and yoga!).

Why I strongly dislike mainstream baby websites...

"Baby Fit" got my email address, no doubt from some innocent shopping trip to a maternity store at some point. Anyway, I get little nuggets of wisdom from them right into my email on a continuous basis, YAY! *rolling eyes* Here's what I got this morning...

Bottle Feeding: Types of Formula
Types of Formula

"Choosing commercially prepared formula to feed your baby is an important decision. What you feed your baby now provides the foundation for future health and development. Be sure to talk with your baby's doctor about the appropriate infant formula for your baby. Your baby's doctor is the best person to provide recommendations about your baby's nutritional needs. You should never change formula without first checking with your baby's doctor."

Of course this is only part of the article, I won't even bother posting a link because I won't spread the junk. But... WHA?!?! I went the standard route of having a hospital birth with my first two followed by years of (wasted) well visits with a highly recommended baby doc. This genius of a pediatrician, who is considered by this article to be the "best person to provide recommendations about your baby's nutritional needs", recommended I use the soy formula the hospital gave me because I was wasting my time and energy trying to figure out breastfeeding and having little luck with a good latch (at 2 weeks postpartum!!!). I would come back to her at least twice a month with symptoms like poop that was so hard it rolled off their diapers. I mean, they were little black marble pellets that were so hard to pass their little faces would turn all red and and their bodies clenched just trying to pass the things. Having never had a baby, I ignorantly trusted her when she said this was normal. I also came to her so often because they had reoccurring ear and sinus infections to the point where they were taking antibiotics on a monthly (they have white stained teeth to this day because of all of the antibiotics!) Somehow, the babies screaming their heads off from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. and finding no comfort in my arms, in being fed, or changed meant nothing to this expert and I was told once again that this was normal.

Now, having the experience that I do, I know that all of these things are FAR from normal. Baby's shouldn't poo black pellets that take hours to pass. My breastfed babies have NEVER cried in pain for hours on end like my formula fed babies. And ear and sinus infections completely diappeared when the formula did. So that's why I bother posting this little bit of the article at all. Just incase there is some mom out there experiencing ANY of these things with formula and doesn't know that they aren't normal!

YOU, the baby's MOTHER, are the expert. YOU and only YOU love your baby the way a mother would. The wisdom and knowledge is within you, and you can hear it clearly once you push what your magazines, doctors and well meaning friends and family are saying outside of your circle of influence!

O.k., I'm done for the day :-)

I'll be back in a couple of minutes with pictures of my new kitchen table (a much lighter and happier subject)

Baby Shower!

My baby shower last night was really sweet. I enjoyed having time to get together with friends and hang out and catch up. We decided early on with this baby (from experience) that we would rather a few really good quality items for baby rather than a large amount of things we really don't need. So I tried to keep my registry simple, and I am very grateful for everything I received. I know that after your first baby many people think it's not right to have a baby shower so I feel very blessed to have had a shower at all for baby #7!!! I have always given away my baby things to others once my baby grew out of them. I don't like to hold on to things when someone else can use them, so that means that each time is like starting new. So thank you again, to everyone who made last night so special for me! :-) I don't think I'll be giving any of these things away after baby! They're all so special and beautiful!!!

Here are my gifts:

My First Hemp T-Shirt
Native American Rattle
So That's What They're For! (book)
The Best Gifts (book)
Eco Babies Wear Green (book)

Natural Charm Organic Cotton Baby Gown w/ Drawstring Bottom
Natural Charm Collection Baby Hat
Cotton Baby Booties

Bamboo Baby Bath Towel
3 Bamboo Baby Washcloths

18 Motherease Baby Washcloths (for diaper changes)
Organic Cotton Baby Legs
Lavender Baby Shampoo & Body Gel
Sweetgrass Bath Salts

Bravado Nursing Bra

4 Sleepers (6-12 months)

Baby Afghan...

Remember my first knitting project?

Not quite finished yet, but it's coming along :-)

You know you're a Pregasaurus Rex when...

• 1/3 of your belly is sticking out of ALL of your maternity clothes.
• You're walking down the stairs and realize your belly is leading the way.
• People look surprised when they see you again and you're still pregnant!
• Your husband takes one look at you and tries to hold up your belly as you walk, thanks Sweetie :-)
  
• You sit down and no longer have a lap to hold your other children.
  
• You're at yoga class and your instructor asks you to point your feet forward and all you can do is guess that they already are cause you can't see them!
• You start making noises when walking that sound eerily similar to those your MIL makes *shivers*
• You waddle everywhere you go, not because you can't walk straight but because there's no room for that drop of pee sitting in your bladder!
• You 're cooking something on the stove top and don't even notice you're belly's burning.
• You're willing to go without whatever it is you want that's on another floor (*way* too much effort!)
• And finally, you can't WAIT till the cold weather is over because your coat(s) no longer zip up!!!

Yes, I'm poking fun at myself here, but I can do that because... well... it's funny! I love my big ol' belly. Every time I find out I'm pregnant I hope for a big belly :-) It doesn't last forever and it's fun while it lasts. The last month does seem to carry some special challenges with it, though. Trying to pee in the middle of the night has become rather difficult. I wake up with so much pain in my pubic bone that NOTHING seems to help, and it makes for a very interesting walk to the bathroom :-S I can barely walk straight and there have been several times I've nearly tipped over from the sharp pain felt when I take a step. JOY!

It's all good. I'm still feeling sexy and that's all that counts ;-)

A Peaceful Moment

Due Dates and other things...

I've avoided giving anyone a due date this pregnancy for several reasons. The first one being that I don't want to keep saying a date out loud over and over again and set my mind up to expect that which cannot and should not be expected (and that is for baby to come out on some magic number!) Another reason is that I don't want others expecting baby to arrive on this magical date because if that doesn't happen, a host of annoying comments follow and pretty much rain all over the last few precious days of your pregnancy. Who needs that? It's not really important to most people anyway, I think it's more small talk than anything. We've really lost the art of talking to pregnant women without the annoying and predictable questions/comments. I know they're usually just ice breakers and no one means to be annoying about it, however, after hearing the same thing 100 times a month you almost can't help wishing you had a t-shirt that bullet pointed the answers that are inevitably headed your way. My t-shirt might read something like this:

• Yes, I Do know what causes this, which is why we keep doing it ;-)
• No, it's not your business how many children I intend to have
• No, my hands are not full, that's what my baby carrier is for!
• Yes, I'm getting big... that's what happens!
• Sorry, I'm not giving out a "due date"
• No, I don't know what the baby is (besides being human!)
• No, "they" didn't tell me, because I don't go to "them"
• No, no one needs to "deliver" the baby, baby will come out on it's own (imagine that!)
• No, Ivan is NOT my midwife, but he does have some serious skills when it comes to natural induction methods ;-)
• Don't worry about who's cutting the cord, it's not a big deal really
• Don't worry about what we'll do with the placenta either, there's still room in my freezer, if there's any left over after making placenta prints, a placenta smoothie and encapsulating the rest.
• Yes, Justus is still nursing, and still will after baby comes (that's why I have 2!)
• Yes, I will make enough milk, why? want some?
• NO, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR HORROR STORY, OR YOUR SISTERS, COUSINS, AUNTS, OR MOTHERS EITHER!!!

It's a lot to squeeze on a t-shirt, I know, but with the size of this belly we just might be able to make it work ;-)