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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Jilian</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7988402"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Do you know the sex of your baby?<br>
Tell us about the birth of Molly (if you don't mind)<br>
What do you wish you had known before the birth of Molly?<br>
What is your favorite thing to eat this pregnancy?<br>
How many children would you like to have?<br>
What baby items could you never live without?<br>
What are your hobbies?</div>
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* We didn't have any ultrasounds, so we don't know what we're having. I keep having dreams that it is a boy, so it will be interesting to see how accurate my intuition is!<br><br>
* Molly was a hospital birth (that was before I had ever met anyone who had done a homebirth, so I wasn't as well educated about my options). I was actually induced with her, at 11 days after my due date. In retrospect, it was probably a good call. She had absolutely no vernix left by the time she was born, so all of the skin on her hands and feet peeled off in the first days after she was born. My midwives think that the fact that I had an undiagnosed thyroid problem kept my body for being able to go into labor normally.<br><br>
The induction did kick off the classic "cascade of interventions", and I ended up having AROM, epidural, episiotomy, etc. I had done hypnobirthing classes, and that ended up not being helpful at all, since I can't get in the "zone" or stay there with the cast of thousands trooping in and out of the hospital room. (In addition to the medical staff, we had my mom and dad, and my husband's mom, dad, his brother, his brother's wife, their child, his sister, and her son.)<br><br>
I'm not bitter or anything, but it definitely wasn't the birth experience I had hoped for. I learned a lot through the experience, though, and that has shaped a lot of my decisions about this birth.<br><br>
* I wish I had known about the thyroid issue which kept me from having a "normal" birth. I also wish I had thought more about my personality and how it would have affected my birthing experience. I'm an introverted person by nature. I'm friendly and like people, but I find being around a lot of people (especially people I don't know well) to be very emotionally draining and subtly stressful. I'm also pretty hospital-phobic. So the whole hospital birth thing was not a good fit for my personality. It's a personal thing, though. I know a lot of people who like having others around, and find that the medical environment provides them with a certain confidence that allows them to feel like they are in a safe place to give birth.<br><br>
* Favorite thing to eat? Some days the answer is "anything and everything". The top faves are lemon italian ice and pizza. (Really nutritious, I know.)<br><br>
* I think we're stopping at two. I'm already 33, and (if this time is anything like how it was with Mo) by the time I ovulate again, I'll be 36. I just don't know if I'll be up for another three+ years of pregnancy and nursing at that point. I got pregnant with Molly in May of 2004, and nursed her until she self-weaned halfway through this pregnancy. I'm counting on a long nursing relationship with this baby, too. I love gestating and nursing, but there's a part of me that is already ready to have my body back.<br><br>
* What baby items could you never live without? My boobs!!! LOL. Seriously, I never would have been able to leave the house when Mo was little if I would have had to make sure to have formula, clean bottles, etc on hand. I'm just not that organized. I was lucky to manage to have enough diapers with me.<br><br>
* Hobbies? Sad to say, so many have gone by the wayside while my daughter has been young. I did get inspired by a great book (called Slow, Fat Triathlete) and did my first triathlon last summer (and by some miracle, I didn't even finish in last place). I used to be an avid cyclist, though it's hard to find time for long road rides with a little one. I was actually out on the bike for a while yesterday, though, and it was really fun. What else? I'm a homebrewer, and love making my own beer and cider (and it's darn good stuff, too!), I knit, I love reading. I'm also a big Doctor Who fan (particularly the new series; and particularly the latest season with David Tennant <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/heartbeat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="heartbeat"> as the Doctor).
And attachment parenting in general. I'm actually going to be doing a class on AP for the local hospital soon, and I'm so excited about the opportunity. I'm also a shameless public nurser. One of my biggest disappointments with my first daughter was that no matter how many times we nursed in public, no one ever gave me a hard time about it! I was all ready with my laws, and my statistics, and a good dose of righteous indignation, but the only comments I ever got were wholly positive. (Even from my 93-year old grandfather. The first trip I took down to visit my grandparents after my baby was born, every time she would cry, he would say "that baby needs to be breastfed!" <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> )<br>
