Hey, it's been forever since I did a meme on LJ!
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Yep. So far, all of them have been, down to the due month.
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes, we'd been married about five years.
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Happy and very excited!
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
No. I would never want to do that. :(
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
25 when I got pregnant, 26 when SAM was born. 31 when BAM was born.
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I could feel it a week or two past conception. I had several symptoms, and could actually feel my uterus very low in my belly if I tried. :) I actually took the pregnancy test a few days before my period would have been due, because I couldn't stand to wait any more. With Benjamin I was a bit less sure - not so many symptoms, so I was second-guessing until the pregnancy test confirmed it.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
My husband. We both knew it was pretty likely.
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
Yes, the first time. With BAM, I was okay with being surprised. Hoshiadam would have liked to find out, though, and we took a couple of IntelliGender tests (you can buy them at the store, they are a hoax though), which said he would be a girl.
9. DUE DATE?
January 26, 2006. For Benjamin, February 26, 2010.
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Hardly any at all with SAM. With BAM, yes, I had evening sickness for nearly four months. Just minor nausea, no throwing up at least.
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Taco Bell with SAM. :) With BAM, nothing really. I had an anti-craving for green vegetables, since I tried to make myself eat them while queasy too often in the first few months. :P
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Most people managed to restrain their dumb when I was going to the birth center. When SAM turned out to be breech and I didn't want a c-section, my mom started getting worried. Even my grandmother, who had had two or three breech babies herself, wanted me to go to the hospital. :P The opposition on top of the worry and stress from having to change birthplaces at the very tail-end of the pregnancy made things kind of rough.
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Male. BAM too.
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
I always felt like my first baby would be a boy, from the time I was a teenager. *shrug* We were perfectly happy with a boy. :) With BAM, it was okay because I still probably would have wanted a third baby anyway, and I do like boys, but it adds stress to my third pregnancy, since I'd really like to have a girl sometime. Three boys is kind of scary. I guess I'll have to come to terms with the possibilities before getting pregnant again. :/
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
40. With BAM, 50.
16.DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes, I had one at my work with SAM, and one after he was born with my mom's friends. With BAM, no.
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
Oh, this is talking about the shower, now I get it. :) I knew.
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
I had a little tiny bit of spotting with SAM around 12-15 weeks, I'm not sure exactly. And then, of course, he was breech. :) Nothing at all with BAM. He was born with the cord around his neck a couple of times, and around both arms like a backpack, but it wasn't a problem.
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
The Farm midwifery center with SAM, and with BAM, home!
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
18 hours with SAM, from the time my water broke. The first 9 were completely pain-free, followed by about four hours of moderate discomfort, then five hours of transition and pushing, which felt like transition. :P 16 hours with BAM, starting with transition-level pain and getting even more intense when actual transition hit.
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Nobody! :) With SAM, hoshiadam drove the five hours to the Farm, then I had time for a nap before the labor really got going.
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Hoshiadam and the midwives, Ina May Gaskin and Carol. With BAM, hoshiadam, SAM, the midwife, and her assistant were there.
23. WAS IT VAGINAL OR C-SECTION?
Vaginal, both times.
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
No. After each birth I took a few Motrin for a few days afterwards, to help with afterpains.
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
SAM was 8 pounds and BAM was 8 pounds 10.
26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN?
Jan 18, 2006 and Feb 23, 2010. Both in the evening.
27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Well, that kind of defeats the purpose of calling them SAM and BAM, doesn't it? Oh well. Seth Alen Miller and Benjamin Arthur Miller.
28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
5! And BAM has just had his first birthday! And this may have been a first-born meme, but I felt like answering for both, so there! :)