Layale & Brian

First I have to tell you that Tear and Cleo went to the vet on Friday and we were dismayed to find out that Tear has gained 2 pounds. She now tips the scale at 18# 6oz! This is bad... she has gained another 10% + in body weight from the last visit. The vet warned us that if she gets much bigger we will be faced with the possibility of a diabetic cat. She then threatened that it was either control her food intake or give her insulin shots twice a day. But what do you do? If we feed them with separate dishes Tear will eat hers and then eat Cleo's food. And she cries incessantly if she doesn't have food in her dish at all times. I don't know... damn cats.

Aaron and I met with our doula for the first time on Friday. Her name is Rachel and she seems to be very nice. We went over our 'birth plan' which is were we state all of our wishes for our labor and delivery understanding that things don't always go as planned. It sure is a different world than the one I was birthed into. There are so many decisions: meds or no, vaccinations or not, positions, when to cut the cord, to save the cord blood or not, circumcision, etc, etc... I feel I have to have a minor in medicine to make decisions for our child. This vaccination thing is currently on my mind. First there is this issue of mercury in the vaccinations which causes autism. Now it is supposed to be phased out of the vaccines but the law didn't require that all the stock containing mercury be thrown out so it is still out there. Then there are studies that most of childhood brain development occurs in the first two years and all the vaccines we give (sometimes 8 at a time!) are too much for the immune system and this also can cause harm to brain development, maybe... studies are still being conducted. Then again, well... vaccines do a lot of good and what if my child gets some crazy old time disease like polio. I couldn't live with the guilt. I'm currently leaning towards not vaccinating until after two years but these are hard decisions to make. And I thought all I had to decide was cloth or disposable diapers!

Last night Aaron and I went over to Layale and Brian's for dinner. They are going to be the peanut's god parents of a sort. One of the decisions we made was that we weren't going to baptize our child at birth. We want to raise him in a spiritual practice but not necessarily a religious one. Then he can make his own decisions as he gets older. But we still want Layale and Brian to hold a special place in the Peanut's life. So we were thinking Fairy Godparents!! I really like this idea since Fairy Godparents make wishes come true and that's what Brian and Layale have done for us and the Peanut. A little backstory here for those who aren't in the know. Peanut was conceived through the miracle of modern science and friendship. Aaron and I had been trying to conceive with the help of the UM Reproductive Endocrinology Clinic for about a year with no luck. That year was one of the hardest years to date. The doctor's next recommendation was to try in vitro - a very expense process. None of this is covered by insurance mind you. We just didn't have the money to try in vitro but nothing else was working. So we were trying hard to come to grips with the fact that whether or not we were going to have a child was based on our income. It just didn't seem fair and adoption was even more expensive! This is heart wrenching stuff and I had been talking to my friends to help me get through it. Well one day Layale came up to me and told me that her and Brian had been talking it over and they had recently received a fair inheritance some of which they wanted to invest in something that "would make the world a better place" and they felt that Aaron and I having a baby would do that. She handed me a check for the cost of the in vitro and told me to consider it a long term loan. To be honest we didn't know if we could except such generosity but this is exactly what we had been praying for - so how can you turn down a gift from god? The rest is a short story. The in vitro worked the first time (doesn't happen that way often!) and the Peanut started his life.

Ok so now I have outed Brian and Layale for the kind and loving people that they are. Now you know why they are Peanut's Fairy Godparents. Great story isn't it, and even better because it is all true. And bonus! they have three wonderful daughters - all of babysitting age!!

Isn't life wonderful!