Full moon and babies

There is some old wive's tale about full moons bringing out babies. I have heard people claim that the full moon brings more babies and that hospitals staff more people on full moons. Is it true? I don't know, but I found this article on it which had some interesting information:

Contractions known as "Braxton Hicks" -- sometimes noticeable to the mother and sometimes not -- become more pronounced and many travel to the maternity unit in the belief that "it's time". Disappointed -- or perhaps relieved -- they return home, the pains having subsided and with no dilation of the cervix.

While these expectant mothers visiting the clinic with their mistaken signs of labor are part of the reason why extra staff are needed, the major difference is found in the number of women whose amniotic sac -- the water -- breaks.

Just as some women experience false labor pains, in cases where the water breaking marks the start of childbirth, full moon is the time when it's most likely to happen.

In order to discover for myself whether this could be true, I asked several female friends how their births had started. Those who responded with "the water breaking" were then asked the date of the birth. On checking this against a moon phase chart, I discovered that almost all had given birth on, or very close to, a full moon.

Well, last night was a full moon, 1 week before Heather is due. And, needless to say since I am writing this, there is no baby. But notice how the last part of that says "very close to" a full moon. I guess anytime this week would count towards that statistic. The theory is that when pregnancy starts with water breaking, this is caused by a full moon much in the way the full moon affects the tides. If there is anything really to this, I guess Heather has a better chance of her water breaking which starts labor because of the moon.

For background, Heather is due on April 28th although I believe that it started as the 27th. Anna was 5 days early and came out at 8 lbs 2 oz. This next little girl is much smaller, so if the size of the baby helps bring along birth, then that may affect things.

This week is a week of a couple important dates for us. Heather's 28th birthday is on Tuesday. My mom's (Oma to Anna and my niece Tori) birthday is on Thursday...which happens to be exactly 6 months away from Anna's birthday. So our little girl may be sharing her birthday with one of the other important women in my life. Of course, she could also be born late and in May...also pretty crazy to think since we have been expecting her early due to Anna being early!

Good news on the baby front..

As you can read in Heather's blog, all is well on the baby front. She is progressing further (2-3 cm dilated), gained a pound, and the measurements that caused us concern last week don't concern the doctor. It would have been nice if they told us that last week! We expect our new little girl soon!

The doctor said since Anna came out so easy, we better get to the hospital quick since this baby is smaller and Anna was just 18 months ago. Great...another stress point... :-) I'd rather worry about getting to the hospital though than the health of our baby.

News on the baby front

Our next baby girl is healthy albeit very small according to the ultrasound this morning. She was 5 lbs 13 oz and in the 18th percentile with less than 3 weeks to go. I take this as good news that she is healthy. She is very tight in there and head down. The doctors said typically they like to see half a pound a week, which would put her right around 7 lbs when she is full term.

Heather and I are no longer wishing that she comes early since she is so small. We'd like her to stay in there a while longer to allow her the maximum time to grow. Although its tough since she is so tight in there and causes Heather a lot of pain when she moves.

3 weeks to go...

Heather is 37 weeks pregnant today with three weeks to go. Unfortunately, she is not growing as well externally as the doctor would like (has still gained < 15 lbs) and so they ordered an ultrasound for tomorrow. Last time we had an ultrasound for the same reason, they found the little girl was growing regular and in the 51% for body. We are praying that they will find the same thing tomorrow. More news on this tomorrow...

We have just about everything ready for our new little girl to come home to. Heather has washed the clothes and the room is clean and ready. Heather has a bag to pack and we have a variety of people prepared to watch Anna while we run to the hospital. The car seat base is back in the Pilot. All we have left is to set up the bassinet and raise the crib...but since I will be home with Anna after the baby is born, I can set it up then.

Heather and I have been continually been making commitments with clauses such as "so long as the baby does not come." I even have been doing this a lot at work. At work, I try to finish all of my longer term deliverables immediately so that I don't have anything outstanding should the baby come.

Its really a new mode of thinking throughout, an anticipation in all of our lives. When will she come? Only God knows. But, those of us down here cannot wait!

FMLA after pregnancy

I thought this was an interesting article on babycenter.com about maternity leave. Check out these restrictions on page 2 as to whether your employer can deny FMLA:
1) You have worked for the last 12 months and at least 25 hrs for 50 weeks in those 12 months.
2) You are in the top 10% of paid in your company
3) You and your spouse work at the same company and both request FMLA

A lot more info on the article online.

**Have no fear if you work with me, I am not considering FMLA. I was just looking this up in case a friend asks :-)

Two kids under the age of two?

Heather is entering her third trimester and even though Anna is growing up quickly, we will have two children 18 months apart. Every time I think this is going to be tough, Heather amazes me with how resilient, energetic and loving she is...even at 27 weeks pregnant. ;-) It it then I know that it is not that this will be difficult, but a fun adventure with the woman I love. Here is a picture of took of Heather putting Anna to bed last night.

Don't worry, I am not stuck in a euphoric state...I still think having two kids under the age of two is going to be a handful. But, Heather helps reaffirm that we can handle it. Also, everywhere we go and meet someone who has already been in that situation, they encourage us telling us that while its tough for a couple of years, its great afterwards. They tell us that the kids are best friends and they all live in some blissful. I am not counting on that...but I do hope our girls will be best friends. Beyond that, I am just holding on tight for the great adventure.

Pregnancy confirms my Pro-life stance

I have heard a lot of arguments over the past about the fact that I am a male especially means I don't have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. And, I have never tried to disagree with those...but words my wife spoke last night have been echoing in my mind as the glaring reason to be pro-life when taking religion out of it. Here is roughly how the conversation went with my wife, Heather, who is 25 weeks pregnant:

Heather: -- painful sigh --
Erik: What's wrong?
Heather: Just the baby kicking.
Erik: Does it hurt?
Heather: It often doesn't hurt, but its just very unexpected. Not being able to prepare for the kick always causes a little reaction.

This conversation reminds me that the unborn baby has its own brain and moves itself. The woman is not able to control the baby like she can the rest of her body. Our baby girl is 25 weeks old...still the age that abortions are legal. But, from Heather's statements like this one, the baby obviously has a mind of its own. When we saw her on an ultrasound at 8 weeks, she was moving on her own and had a heartbeat that is unique from Heathers. She had her own body parts, heart, and movements.

I think having gone through the father side of now Heather's second pregnancy continually reiterates my belief that the unborn baby is a unique creation from God and it is our responsibility to protect him or her. I am not trying to tell the woman what to do with her body, but protecting the unborn baby's life. My religious beliefs further reiterate the sanctity of life.

Its a girl

My date nights have helped prepare me and get me excited for the arrival of another sweet little girl. Heather, Anna, and I went to the doctor's today for an ultrasound. We found out that everything seems normal and healthy, a huge blessing, and that they confirmed that Heather is almost 19 weeks pregnant,. The due date by the ultrasound was April 27. Anna was 5 days early, if the new baby girl is also 5 days early Mommy and the her may share a birthday!!

The tough part now is that we had a boy name picked out as a carryover from when Anna was around. We had much more trouble with girl's names the first time. Let's see if we can do better this time.