I don't know exactly what is taking it's toll on me - if it's the pregnancy, or the lack of sleep.  Perhaps both.  I recently learned that sleeping on my back is bad for the baby because it restricts the bloodflow and therefore the oxygen to her, so I must sleep on my side (front is out of the question.)  So for the last few nights I've been sleeping only on my sides, and my back hurts so much, it wakes me up.  Once I'm awake, I can't go back to sleep because of my snoring husband.  (Don't tell him I told you that, he doesn't like it when people know.)  I fear that I will be miserable for the next 4 months.  Mitch has offered to sleep elswhere.  I think I'll just surround myself with pillows and see how that works.  I won't be alone though.  Although she loves her dad the most, Tiki sleeps where I sleep for some reason.

Here is a picture of my belly @ 5 months.  I really wasn't in the mood to take it after a long day at work.  I just wanted to put on my jammies and relax, but Mitch insisted.  It turned out so nicely, don't you think?

I don't have much new to write about.  Baby's been really active lately - moving around alot.  Mitch has had more chances to feel her move and gets a little excited about it.

We've been pretty busy lately.  The last couple days have been nice here, and I had a little time to go out in the backyard and throw the ball for Tiki last night.  She was pretty happy about it.  I guess it's going to rain tomorrow and Saturday, but Sunday should be nice, so hopefully we can get out in the yard and do a little work.  It looks like it won't be getting cold again anytime soon - finally.

I don’t like that I can’t do as much as I am used to.  I’m always lifting things and doing hard work around the house, in the yard and at work.  It’s kind of hard for me because I don’t like to just sit around, and there are so many things I want to get done that I can’t.

We are planning to head up to my Grandparents house in Michigan next weekend for my Grandpa’s 90^th birthday.  It’ll have to be a quick trip.  I have a very important engagement Friday night (at Ding Dong Dang) and then we’ll go up on Saturday morning.  We’ll have to turn around and come back Sunday morning because of my Bradley Method class, which is a natural childbirth method which emphasizes participation of the husband and lack of drugs and medical intervention.  As I mentioned early on, we are planning to have the baby at the alternative birthing center where we have the option of water birth.  While people commonly assume that the reason for giving birth in water is to ease the transition for the baby (albeit true), it’s more for the pain management and comfort of the mother.  It eases pain and reduces the risk of things like tears (which is one of my biggest fears.  That, and hemorrhoids.  )  A few people have asked me about the baby inhaling or aspirating the bathwater.  To my (limited) knowledge, there are no documented cases of a baby drowning during water birth.  Considering that the baby doesn’t start breathing until after it’s born, I don’t think it’ll be a huge problem for her to be under water for a few seconds.  Plus, when she comes out, she won’t be all gooey.

Speaking of all the things I’m worried about, here they are:
·        Tearing
·        Hemorrhois
·        Getting really fat
·        Swollen feet
·        Back pain
·        Hot flashes

I’ve been pretty lucky so far.  I was only super sick for like two months and besides that, I feel pretty good.  Hopefully, I’ll be one of those lucky pregnant women who are pregnant but breeze through it like it’s nothing.  “Oh, yeah.  I was pregnant.  It didn’t really bother me.  No big deal.”

I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do for support during the birth.  I’ve considered asking one of my sisters, hiring a doula, or just having me & Mitch & the midwife.  I just don’t know yet what I want to do.  I want this to be a very personal experience for us, but on the other hand, I don’t know if Mitch can handle all the demands I’m likely to make during the process.  Perhaps after we go through the Bradley class, we’ll have a better idea of what we want to do.

Mitch and I went to the Carter’s outlet store the other day and bought a cute little dress, and adorable pair of newborn “shoes” that will match the little pooh dress that I bought last weekend, and a fleece sleeper that’s like a bag instead of having legs/feet.  Mitch was not impressed with the baby clothes store.  Maybe if it was a baby hockey gear store, or a baby golf club store, or a baby camera store, it would have been more interesting for him. J  

Check out the photo album for the new pics of Tiki Mitch took.  They were so funny I nearly peed my pants.

This weekend was sort of busy for us.  Friday night was a long one for Mitch.  He didn't come home from work until 12 am.  Tiki and I were already sleeping and he burst into the bedroom and startled us because we didn't hear him come in the house.  Tiki was seriously perturbed, and immediately began viciously barking at the unknown person entering our room in the middle of the night.  I guess it's nice to know that she'll at least try to protect me should a stranger come into the house.  Anyway, Mitch surprised me with some flowers and a card from Tiki and the baby, since by that time, it was my birthday.  It was very sweet. 

On Saturday, Mitch took me out for a nice breakfast and I went over to my Mom's for a while.  Then I went out with my friends for the evening to a piano bar.  On Sunday my friend Kerri had a baby shower in the afternoon.  It was kind of fun to watch her open her gifts and make mental notes of all the stuff I'm going to be needing soon.  She's having a boy, and got a bunch of really cute outfits.  I especially like all the little doggie outfits.

While I was out (which was most of the weekend) Mitch spent the days cleaning the house (bless his heart) and practicing with the new camera.  His subject: Tiki.  She doesn't seem particularly impressed by this new huge black noisy thing that her Dad keeps pushing in her face.  She normally poses very well for the camera, but I think she doesn't know that this is a camera.  It's not like one she's seen before, and since it's almost as big as she is, she's a little intimidated by it and tends to back away.  Which is frustrating for Mitch, because he has this fisheye lens that when used close up on a dog, takes really funny photos.  So Tiki just keeps getting followed around by Mitch and the giant scary camera.  She seems to be warming up to it little by little.

Saturday I broke down and bought this little classic pooh dress I've had my eye on for weeks.  I wanted to buy it so bad, but couldn't until I knew for sure it was a girl.  It's white with tiny pink flowers and light green gingham bloomers.  It's kind of good that I waited, because when I did, it was on clearance.  I just love it.  Now baby has a bare closet, save for one tiny dress hanging in it.

We went to IKEA and bought some closet organizing stuff that Mitch put together and  put in the closet on Saturday.  So once we start accumulating clothes and stuff, we have a place to put it.