1. Thanks to the affordable Care Act, most private insurance companies are required to cover the cost of a breast pump. This is huge because when my son was born in 2011- my insurance company did not cover a breast pump. I plan to primarily breast feed initially but would like to keep my baby on breast milk after I can no longer nurse her on demand. Which will require a stored milk supply once she enters daycare. So, I contacted my insurance company and found out the steps I need to take to obtain a breast pump. It was actually quite easy as they use a supplier ( I have 3 to choose from actually) so they are no reimbursement forms, no shopping excursions, essentially a lot of hassle has been taken away. When using a supplier my options are limited but still numerous (if that makes sense) but I kind of like not having the need to stand in front of an array of pumps at the store going eenie-meenie-minie-moe. Ok, I didn't do that last time but I did spend hours on the computer comparing and contrasting pumps.
2. Birth plan
The hospital where I am delivering requires a birth plan to be submitted for certain patients. I am opting to labor in water so I am included in the 'need a birth plan' population. So, I'm getting that started. I'll be using a fill in the blank form. There are a ton of templates you can find online to use. I seriously need to get cracking on mine and then run it by hubby so that we are all on the same page.
We aren't signing up for some of the traditional classes like childbirth, newborn care, or fit & healthy pregnancy because we've done this before, right?!
This time around we did the Sibling class for Buggy which I think will be cute. He's all excited about his new baby sister that's coming and this will further add to it. They are going to go over things like being gentle with baby and even have an arts and crafts project planned to give to baby when they are born! I honestly don't think he will have a problem with the new transition but anything we can do to prepare him, we're going to do!
4. Prenatal yoga
I've been wanting to try my hand at yoga for quite some time. So, I figured now would be a good of time as any! Most yoga studios required you to be in your second trimester to begin. I was three weeks shy of third tri when I start and I really wish I would've done it sooner! It's never too late to start- so if yoga is (or could be) your thing I'd suggest you just go for it!
Since I've begun I noticed that my back pain has completely disappeared. I sit in a chair (probably improperly) all day at work and I know the ill effects that can have on you even when you aren't pregnant. We also do poses that is designed to prepare your body for childbirth. I'm not really sue how any of us manage to get into those poses with basketballs for bellies but we do it! Only time will tell if it actually eases the birthing process.
Boy oh boy (or should I say girl oh girl!) has this been a struggle. I kinda of knew it would be though. I've always known that no matter who my husband was if we were to have a boy there was a 99% chance that he would be named after his father. The only exception would be if I married a guy named Shitthead (pronounced sha-theed) or the likes there of. Someone actually named their child that. But imagine the first day of kindergarten with that name. Or heck- a job resume'! No way. Luckily I loved my husband's first and middle name so that was a no-brainer for me but it took some convincing to get him on board. My brother is named after our father, who is named after our grandfather, and there's a rumor that he is actually named after his father but was never a Jr. The validity of that will never be known because all pertinent parties in that matter is resting in heaven and took that bit of info with them. So, needless to say I felt it would only be right to name our son after his father. It did take a few months to convince him though. I too am named after my mo's sister and I love the fact that both my brother and I have family names. It's just so much more meaningful to me!
Since we never knew the gender of our baby until he was born we did have a girl name lined up. Problem is- we can't use that this time around. The name has become super duper popular and I'm just not that interested in her being a Jennifer S. (any 80's babies out there who had 4 Jennifer's in their class?? no... just me. ok then. FWIW we also had 2 Ashley's and 2 Crystal's too.) I was so in love with that name because it was my grandfather's name who was name after his mother. This sucks.
In this post (which seems eons ago and clearly needs updating) I did share my favorite names for both boys and girls- none of those made the cut. For one, most of them have been taken by someone else (and Disney princess are just too cliche') and the others just don't seems to fit. I think our daughter might leave the hospital unnamed.
Here they are again- just for pretty pictures and reference.