tea and toast

mmmm is there a better way to start a morning? Maybe if I'd made hot cereal, but for this morning, tea and toast really hit the spot. After a summer of not making hot water/tea for myself, I finally caved and bought a stainless steel teapot, and have spent the mornings and evenings since enjoying cups of that sweet, fragrant herbal amazingness. I could, of course, heated water in a saucepan, but...it's not the same as filling the kettle, hearing it whistle and making tea. I'm kind of a purist.

There's a new recipe for hot cereal that I'm excited to try, too. Called "Chai Spice Grains," it's winter wheat, groats, flax seeds, oats, and another couple of grains I'm forgetting intricately blended with chai spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, a clove, black pepper, vanilla...Dab some butter on a bowl of that and you'd be set for the day! Believe it or not, I found the recipe in an Oprah magazine while waiting for my doctor's appointment last week.

Speaking of that, we're doing great. Our appointment entailed a non-stress test; I was hooked up to a fetal heart monitor, and a contraction monitor, for what was supposed to be an hour. If Lydia had more than two reactive moments (she moves, her heart rate goes up, her heart rate slows afterward, repeat) then she would be considered fine and no worries on going over our due date. After being hooked to the thing for 20 minutes she'd moved more than 40 times and had six big reactive episodes. She really is quite happy in there :) Charlie and I had fun watching her little rump glide back and forth under the monitors, knocking them out of position, and listening to her heart beat steadily for twenty minutes...no better sound in the world than the whoosh-whoosh, swoosh-swoosh of a baby's heart.

After putting away the machinery Dr. Crabtree sat and talked with Charlie and I about a few things, one being a possible induction next week. If I don't go into labor naturally by next Thursday or Friday, we'll probably be induced. Not for any medical reasons or because he's worried about her (quite the opposite) but because he has to leave for a conference in San Diego that next Sunday and wouldn't be able to be our attending delivery doctor should we go past when he left. We seriously discussed the ramifications of each way, induction or not, and came to the conclusion that Charlie and I would much rather have him as our delivery doctor. We appreciate that continuity of care, his attitude and how it matches ours in terms of expectations for a happy, healthy birth. The three of us click nicely...he's been mellow, easy-going and warm in his care for our family, and I appreciate the fact that I can talk with him about any issues, physical or emotional, that are on my mind with the pregnancy. He thinks we're doing marvelously and has vocalized more than once that he expects things to go well with Lydia's birth. Fingers crossed! :)

However, an induction isn't the most desirable option. I want to avoid it at all possible, which means lots of walking, relaxing, visualization, stretching, nesting and other work ;) for Charlie and I to do in the meantime. I called our doula, Ruthie, with the news and her reaction was what mine was like: supportive and encouraging, but disappointed that an induction had to be on the radar. My thoughts on the subject are many: I know that my labor, should I be induced, will be much more painful and intense. It'll be much harder work, emotionally and physically. I'm freaked that we'll have the induction and then Dr. Crabtree will have to be attending another patient or something and we'll have a different doctor anyway. But we still have almost a week to go naturally, and Ruthie has some ideas on how to bring Lydia to the light without Pitocin should we get close to Thursday or Friday.

So. Pray! Think good thoughts as we head into this week...either way, we'll be parents by next Sunday. At this time next week, we'll have a baby. I can't believe it. I say this so often: it has been the fastest, most incredible experience of my life. Carrying a child as well as I did does not come often to mothers, and I appreciate how lucky Charlie and I have been for things to have gone so well. No cankles. No swelling. No high blood pressure or other cardio issues. No major physical issues. No need to even have health insurance until 7 MONTHS ALONG! We have been blessed beyond belief, and continue to hold that love and gratitude close to our hearts as we enter a new week with its teeming possibilities.