Snowfall #2

Yesterday the snow that had covered our grass since Saturday disappeared; however I knew if the weather forecasts were accurate, that would be a temporary situation. Snow/ice was supposed to start coming down again at 7pm last night. I was praying the roads would be fine on my way home from school as usually the earliest I get home is 8pm. In light of having many contractions while teaching last night (let me add that it is REALLY hard to teach when you're having a painful contraction) and the forecast, I let my students out a little bit earlier than usual. Thankfully I got home before the snow started to fall. When I looked out the window this morning, I saw the grass and also the roads this time were covered with snow. The MOPS group that I joined in September was supposed to have their December meeting this morning, but I am sure it is cancelled as the school district it's located in has a two hour delay this morning. In light of the contractions, I wasn't planning on going anyhow. I assume the roads will be fine before it's time for me to head to choir rehearsal this evening. That will likely be the only time I leave the house today. Our fence installation is supposed to begin today. I doubt they're very happy about the snow! I wouldn't mind if she wanted to wait until it melted. I just wanted to have the fence installed prior to next spring/summer, and we got a little discount for doing it in the off-season (not that it still didn't cost way more than I expected it would).
If even my 9lb niece wore newborn size onesies at first, then I definitely think I should get a pack of those. I learned from Nadia not to get the ones made by Gerber. Many of them ripped the first time she wore them! I'll first look through the drawer to make sure I don't have any gender neutral ones from Nadia. As of today our Christmas pictures are ready for pick-up from Sears, and I have a $10 off a $10 or more purchase coupon for JcP that I plan to use when I pick up the pictures to buy Ian a going home outfit. Nadia didn't wear what I thought would be her going home outfit (a shower gift) since it was way too big on her so we shall see what Ian actually ends up wearing home from the hospital. I am packing very little for myself for the hospital as I learned last time that I used their supplies and lived in their gown and robe until I was discharged. Since baby clothing doesn't take up too much room, I'll probably bring more than might be necessary for Ian in case we take more pictures than we did last time. I know that usually you take fewer photos of the second child, but if he avoids the NICU, I imagine more will be taken of him the first 3 days. I didn't meet Nadia until 3 hours after she was born, and then they kept her away from me about 11 hours after that (which didn't please me) and then she went straight to the NICU. All of this led to not as many pictures being taken as I had planned.

As for the to snip or not debate, I had done some research prior to posting my question. I think that the "locker room" factor is probably not going to be the issue that it has been in the past. In Canada the rate of circumcision fell to less than 10% in 2005. In the US it's fallen to less than 60% nationally whereas it used to be as high as 85%. Interestingly, it varies quite a bit by region. For example, in 2006 in the western region of the US the rate was only 33.8% whereas it has continued to stay around 80% in the midwest region. The cleanliness factor seems to really only be a factor for the first 6 months (or some say one year) of life. It seems that's the only medical benefit that still has been proven true - circumcised infant males have fewer UTI's in the first 6 months (or possibly 1 year of life) than uncircumcised infant males. However, considering that the rate of UTI's is about 6 times more for infant girls (compared to uncircumcised boys), that doesn't seem like a compelling argument. The articles I've read also seemed to disprove the theories that circumcision reduces the risk of STD's for the man or cervical cancer for his wife. The only other medical benefit that it seems has proven to be true is a really rare form of male cancer that is slightly less common among those who have been circumcised (they say that 600-900 circumcisions would prevent one case of this form of cancer). I'm still not 100% certain what to do. Nadia has her 18 month doctor appointment tomorrow, and I'm going to ask her pediatrician for her opinion. I am also going to read all the comments that were posted on the blog to Paul, and hopefully in the end he'll make the decision as I feel as a woman it's hard for me to make this decision. I guess my reasons for hesitating are #1 I don't think the "locker room" factor is going to be an issue in the future given not "everybody" is being circumcised these days and #2 I haven't been convinced of the medical benefits. However, I am also not opposed to having it done. Hopefully Paul will have a stronger opinion one way or the other as we do need to make a decision!

I am very happy that I've made it to the 34 week mark! I slept better last night although I was still awakened a few times due to really painful contractions. That never happened to me when I was pregnant with Nadia. Everyone says to try to get as much sleep as you can before the baby arrives, but do they realize how hard it is to sleep in the later stages of pregnancy? First of all, I pee five million times a night during the whole pregnancy (seriously I go at least 10 times during the night). Secondly, I have the hip pain. The "nest" (pregnancy body pillow) helps a lot with this, but the pain level still increases over the hours of the night. Third, lying down is not great for heartburn (even though I take an acid reducer every 12 hours and try to prop my head up more than usual). This morning I got up an hour before Nadia (which almost never happens) because my stomach was growling at 5:30am. Even with these interruptions to my sleep, I do realize I'm getting a lot more sleep now than I will when Ian arrives. Even though I'm dreading the sleep deprivation, I can't wait to meet the little guy!!! I do hope though that he'll wait at least 9 more days to be born.