Waiting for our baby.....

I've been off work since April 7, which was at about 35 weeks due to early contractions. I falsely believed this baby was coming early. Of course, that is not what is best for baby, but when the thought of meeting this baby entered my mind at 35 weeks, it created what has been a very hard wait for me. Very hard. With Raegan I was mentally prepared from the beginning to go 40 weeks or more. In fact, I rarely told anyone my due date with her, and would just say, "I'm due in April." Of course, I also was not so miserable with Raegan's pregnancy.The last trimester of this one has been so uncomfortable, that I need a new word for uncomfortable. With this pregnancy, I know exactly how many days until my due date and cringe at the thought of going a single day more. Of course, this is unrealistic, and babies come when the are ready (sometimes up to 2 weeks after the due date). It is a test of staying in the moment and being patient with the process. The best thing for me is to think about it as little as possible, which can be hard when every person I see wants to talk about my due date and how I look as though I'm ready to pop any minute, and where is this baby. Of course it is out of love and I don't blame them, I just have to take a deep breath and stay in the moment. This baby will come eventually.... sigh.

I've been filling the days with Raegan time, and giving her lots of attention and snuggles and as much play time as I can. The weather has been gorgeous so we spend a lot of time in the back yard. If I'm feeling pretty good that day, we might make it to the park or get out of the house for lunch. We have even made it to the library and the movies, both of which she really loved. I (bravely) decided to walk to the park today (I have a condition with this pregnancy that makes walking very painful) but I want to get this baby moving and walking is a good way to do it! We had to take a few bench breaks, but we did it! I can't wait to be back to my normal active self after I deliver this baby!

Also, I've had some people asking if we were planning to have a home birth with a midwife for this baby as well. We decided to actually have this baby at a birthing center with a midwife. I'm almost reluctant to write about this, because I don't want to jinx our "plans". At the birthing center, which is part of a hospital,  I will only be with midwives and nurses so long as the delivery is low risk. This particular birthing center has very good statistics and the midwives that I have met are wonderful. They also have birthing tubs, and I have elected the option of a water birth if that is what I ultimately choose to do. The center discourages epidurals (I had a bad reaction to the epidural I had with Raegan), encourages movement during labor, and provides alternative pain management techniques (shower, tub, birthing ball, etc). The rooms also look very similar to a bedroom, with a double bed so that Jasen can lay with me, dim lighting, music, and even faux candles. We also hired our own doula who will be present for the labor and birth. A doula is basically a labor coach who is very knowledgeable about the birth process and can provide support to minimize pain and encourage a natural labor process. Our doula is Jenica, and she will also help me labor at the house before we go to the birth center (and help us decide when it is time to go!). So, I am optimistic and hopeful to have the best birth possible with the supports that we will have in place. All prayers are welcome. Raegan's birth was very difficult for me. I'm hoping for a new experience this time around!

So....hopefully my next post will be announcing our new family member! :) :)

38 weeks, 3 days

Oh, and I finally hung the last picture in the baby's room. It is officially complete! :) It is a very calm room and I'm very happy with how it turned out. The walls were already a soft blue, and we left them that way (I don't believe in adding fresh paint chemicals to a baby's room), so if it's a girl, we will just add some pink accessories to girl it up! The framed pictures are from the maternity photo shoot that we did (I should post some of those actually). The tree on the wall is a fabric non-toxic non-vinyl wall decal that I found on laylagrace.com. I highly recommend. Typically wall decals are stinky (vinyl) and off gas toxic chemicals. These were wonderful. I also bought some that were butterflies to add to Raegan's room, and she really enjoyed putting those up. 

Ps- I've been having dreams of a girl.....