7 Quick Takes Friday-the pregnant edition

1. My SIL did some mendhi art on my belly recently. It was lovely to have a reason to just lie still and relax for a while as she worked and we waited for it to dry. (Except for the bathroom break part, that was tricky.) The stain lasts for a couple of weeks and then gradually wears off.

2. I forgot to tell you all about a party we went to last month for a friend’s 50th birthday. We were all supposed to dress French in keeping with the party’s theme. I couldn’t think of anyway to dress french, other than wear couture and look a great deal more stylish and slim than I am. So I googled French Costumes. You can guess what came up.

Well, this is me as the knocked-up French maid. Because that’s what can happen after you get yourself into one of those other “French costumes”, dontcha know?

3. I’ve never retained water before. This time my ankles are gigantic. No I don’t have a photo. But the words bulbous and elephantine have been used by people upon viewing them. I have new sympathy for anyone else dealing with this. Which is about the only good thing I can think of that can come out of it.

4. Now that we’re in a house, with a washing machine, and a clothesline that Aaron put up for me, I’m able to cloth diaper again. (I was so excited to take my laundry out the laundry room door and stand on the step to hang it, all while within steps of my own kitchen where I could continue to cook while doing laundry. Living in a tiny apartment for 4 years will make you grateful for the smallest details, trust me.) When the Boy was born I was able to through a diaper service, but there aren’t any here which is why I haven’t done it since because laundromats and cloth diapers don’t mix well. So if you have any favorite brands, method, supply suggestions for me, please share. I’m hoping the baby shower will help me stock up on needed items, since I have pretty much everything else already.

5. Also, I haven’t purchased an infant car seat in years. We used the one we bought for the Boy for both the girls as well. It was $40 at Target. Wow have prices ever been inflated since then. It’s essentially the same product, so I don’t understand how people are suddenly willing to pay so much more for something that’s function and design hasn’t really changed a lot in the past decade. I can tell you this though, just because you bought it at Babies’R’Us for more than twice what the same product costs at Target will not make your baby safer. Just sayin’. You know. Some people apparently think otherwise, or they wouldn’t have such a ridiculous mark-up.

In the end we found a $50 seat at Walmart. They do have to pass all the same safety inspections to be able to sell them you know. Right? So why bother with the others?

6. Thanks to the litigious nature of this state, I have to be transferred to an obstetrician for my final month of care, because I had one C-section, 3 births ago. So I’m “high risk”. It’s so silly it’s laughable. I pushed out my last two children at home with midwives I’m so high risk. Not that there weren’t complications, but … well, read this if you really care about my opinion on the subject.

Today, I meet the OB for the first time. I’m due in two weeks. Little was already born at 37 weeks. I think it’s a tad last minute considering, but since I’m not relying on her to get this baby out, I don’t really care. I just think the whole thing is comic at this point.

7. I’ve always wanted to know what would happen if a woman, who was not getting the kind of care she requested while in labor, stood up in the middle of it, and said, “Ok then, I’ll just go home and have my baby there.”

The scene in my brain plays it out as a wonderful comic moment as all of the medical staff react with disbelief and consternation to such a statement, and then scramble to figure out what to do while she calmly heads toward the exit.

Well, that was fun. I expect that the next 7 Quick Takes Friday for me will be with a newborn. My ankles and feet sure hope so.