Guess which side 37 weeks pregnant sleeps on?

Guess which side of the bed 37 weeks pregnant sleeps on?

So this happened today!  It has been creaking for the past few months like an old wooden pirate ship every time I toss and turn!  I guess I sank the ship...

I pretty much take up the entire bed, admittedly, with my 13 or so pillow people!

Chant of the Pregnant Goddess

In honor of August's "Super Moon" and being 9 months pregnant, here is a lovely poem of pregnancy empowerment!  

                                          (image via shutterstock.com)

Chant of the Pregnant Goddess

by Jana McCarthy 

I am the mother of the moon
sister of the stars
child of the light in your eyes.
I am powerful.

The geometry of my shape shifts
from gently curved lines
to expanding circles:
earth, moon, sun.

I am powerful.
I am strong.

The tempo of my vibration quickens,
increasing from
butterfly wings, to floundering fish,
to beating drum,
erupting volcano,
the rhythm as old and constant as
the cycles of the sun
and the turn of the tides.

I am powerful.
I am strong.
I am beautiful.

I hold the hope of my ancestors
the knowledge of my time
the fate of my future.

I am powerful.
I am strong.
I am beautiful.
I am mother.

Happy 37 Weeks!!

Wow we are at 37 weeks today!  Baby had a huge growth spurt over the past week and my midwife estimates he gained about 1 pound in the past week alone.  The estimate is that he is about 7 pounds at this point, but I hold out hope he is still a wee bit smaller and is just long and skinny! 
As a result I've felt extremely ill the past week--very nauseated, exhausted, and heartburn prone.  It reminded me how horrible my first and most of second trimesters were!  I'm starting to feel better, so perhaps he has calmed down a little bit! 

It's very difficult to bend over......

I can't button anything! 

We are all ready to go to the baby shower my office is throwing for me!
At this point, I feel like I'm a combo of The Venus of Willendorf and Tik Tok, the rotund waddling machine from Return to Oz!


I'll try and update soon about the nursery and set up for the home water birth! 

Week 33

I'm getting huge in the home stretch! I have so much to catch up on and do before our baby arrives. I have been wonderfully overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity of my friends! Thank you. My shower was a memory I will always cherish. If you haven't heard from me yet you should be very soon. I also recently had my 35th birthday! January was very busy, and I'm still trying to catch up to December. Pretty soon, though, I won't have time for anything other than the arrival of my little one!

On the pregnancy front I've been having a better time with the last trimester than the first two. Sure I suffer from the typical complaints of sore and stretched ligaments (I can't really walk far, or lift anything!), sleep disturbances, and heartburn--but overall I'm enjoying this phase much more. I have more energy and really enjoy communicating with my little one. I know he's still in the belly, but we already have a connection and I well up with tears thinking about how much I can't wait to meet and love him!

I'll post pictures of the shower and other news soon!!

Birth dream

Last night I dreamed I prematurely birthed my baby in the kitchen.  For some reason I wasn't panicked, and the labor was easy.  I was a little surprised to discover my infant was in fact a winter root vegetable, with a nubby red-brown top.   I carefully placed him into a container with cold water, blanketed him with fresh romaine lettuce, and then placed him at the back of the sink and left to go tell my mother.

My mom pointed out that he might get cold-- he might, in fact, need to be incubated.  Oh Panic!! I rushed back over but the container was gone!  Some house guests were eating the lettuce, and told me they threw my root-infant into the trash!  Alas, I could not find my baby-root in the trash!

Luckily I woke up at this point, before grief had a chance to settle in.  However, I have been worried about premature birth lately, and was also fantasizing about something my friend Sara posted on Facebook: 

My mother in waking life told me it reminded her of how ginger was sometimes human shaped, and I was reminded of the mandrake root.  Interestingly, mandrake roots are also symbols of fertility--making an appearance as early as The Bible.  In fact many myths and superstitions surround this funny little root--and who could not love J.K. Rowling's use of it in Harry Potter's Herbology lesson?  I've decided my birth of the root baby is a sign of good luck!! 

Here are some lovely medieval illuminations of the mandrake:

Why we want a home water birth

A lot of people have questioned our plan for a home water birth.  It's something that really feels natural for me and I actually look forward to it.  The idea of rushing to a hospital, being admitted, waiting around there under the harsh lights and strange smells....it just never appealed to me.  My cousin in Holland delivered both of her children at home, and I think hearing stories of those births as a teenager instilled an early confidence in me that a home birth was a positive thing to experience.

Home births are often "safer" than a hospital birth, if you have a healthy pregnancy,you have an experienced *certified* midwife and have done your research.  I can't emphasize this enough if you live in the United States, because it is not supported by the medical community at large the way it is in other places such as Europe.  Read through this report on Homebirth in the UK by Midwifery Today.  Another good place to start is the infamous Ricky Lake's documentary The Business of Being Born (also a book!).

My mom forwarded me a great blog post about another family planning one, and I really liked the summary of why they are doing it:

Here are our main reasons:

• Water promotes deeper relaxation. When the mother is relaxed, the birthing process is less of a struggle and the natural hormones kick in to aid in a better delivery.
• Water minimizes pain. So much so that many mothers do not need any pain killers while delivering the baby, which is good for both mother and child (and father’s nerves!)
• Immersion in water lowers blood pressure. Immersion in water feels good to the body, allowing the heart to be more relaxed, all good things for the stress levels that are already elevated (especially for first time pregnancies).
• Greater comfort. Water allows the mother to re-adjust herself more easily, which enables her to get into the most comfortable position easily and effectively
• Lowers anxiety levels. People have used water to aid in relieving stress across many applications, and the soothing feeling of water surrounding the body helps put the mother at ease, helping her to focus less on pain and discomfort and more on the task of delivering the child.
• Allows the father to take a more active role. With the mother having less stress, the father is able to help out more often without feeling like he is causing more trouble than he is worth. This helps the family unit bond better than if the father is just making things harder.
• Assists in dilation. Water helps the muscles relax, and by relaxing, the natural dilation process happens much more quickly. Quicker dilation = faster delivery!
• Empowers the Mother. With a healthy, relaxed, and present mother, the delivery becomes a much more spiritual experience, allowing for all the emotion to set in, devoid of drugs or pain to mask the true feelings.

I'm not sure I entirely buy that the warm water is going to completely obliviate any pain I might have and want for pain killers!! I plan on taking a class to help with this (like hypnobirthing).  In fact the pain is definitely one thing that has me a little bit nervous.  Despite the fact that Gisele Bunchen said her water birth was "pain free" I do know what she is describing.  That the pain was not "pain" as we regularly know it.  I also have always regarded childbirth pain as a different kind of pain than, say, breaking your ankle pain.  "Natural pain"--perhaps--and I know that doesn't mean it will hurt any less!  I hope my focus and the training I might get in advance from something like HypnoBirthing might help.

Like the family blogging about their planned water birth, we also live less than 10 minutes from two world-class hospitals.  So long as when the time comes I'm still healthy and deemed "a go" for a home birth, we will stick to our plan to birth at home.

In the meantime...plan B will be meeting with an OBGYN and establishing a relationship, and picking a hospital...just in case I do end up needing to deliver in hosptial setting.