I'm so stoked for all the recent births and soon-to-be births!
: I'm present and pregnant as well, and have been obsessively checking the board for new news from everyone!
I'll be 38 weeks on Tuesday. I really can't complain too much: some mid-day tiredness that I'm luckily able to remedy with a nap most weekdays, very early morning insomnia (ugh!), some cervical twinges here and there, some pressure on the inner surface of my left hip joint when I'm walking (baby's consistently on the left side, so that only makes sense), but other than that I'm in good shape. Right now I feel like I'm getting my husband's cold, which sucks.
Hopefully the Emergen-C I've been taking daily will result in it being a milder version than his. But anyway, things could be much worse, I know!
I had a blessingway thrown for me on Wednesday which absolutely ROCKED.
It's wonderful being surrounded by a supportive sisterhood who "gets it"!
: I also had a lunch date at an Indian restaurant with some girlfriends yesterday and then went shopping for a bit ALL BY MYSELF (note: I have three kids -- this almost
never happens). It...was...
awesome.
I found two inexpensive nursing bras at Motherhood Maternity and a newborn-size Carter's Valentine's Day outfit elsewhere that I just couldn't resist.
I also have a massage scheduled for this Wednesday morning, and I'm really looking forward to that. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but I'm feeling good now. Relaxed, ready, and waiting.
I got all my birth supplies bought, washed, and/or packed up earlier this week. I have my Aqua Doula here, ready to be set up and filled. Our bed is double-made with the plastic shower curtain liner in between the sheets.
I did a major house-cleaning Wednesday and Thursday and have been working hard to maintain that and to get everyone else to, as well. Today I plan to go on a major grocery shopping trip and totally stock the kitchen, including buying a bunch of junky treat stuff and stashing it away for the kids for after the birth so there's a little something fun for them to look forward to.
For my birth team, I've always planned on my husband, the midwife, and the midwife's assistant, who were all there for my last birth. I've gotten to know the midwife and her assistant on a more personal level throughout this pregnancy, too, which is great. I think we all mesh really well. About two months ago I hired a birth doula as well, not because I really felt the pressing need for one so much (heck, this is my fourth baby and I'm birthing at home with the same midwife team and have been there, done that, bought the t-shirt), but because she's become a good friend in the last year or so and I really feel like she would bring a lot of positive energy. She also offered me a deal I couldn't refuse, which always helps!
So yeah, now I'm scheduled to have three attendents in addition to my husband, plus we'll have a postpartum doula coming at least twice to help out with the older kids and around the house. Me talking to and hiring these women seemed to bother my husband just a
little bit; I think he started to feel a bit pushed out of the way or something, though I've tried to talk to him and explain that their presence should be a great, helpful thing for
everyone, least of all
him!
So then yesterday, my sister happened to ask if she could come to the birth if she's not working (she works different shifts each week). She's younger than me with no kids and not in a serious relationship, though she does seem to have "gotten into" this pregnancy in recent months and has been pretty helpful and supportive, less self-centered than she usually is where her entire life is me, me, me. She asked this same thing in my last pregnancy as well; I didn't really take her seriously and never got back with her with an answer and she didn't ask again...until now! I don't think I would really mind having her there so much -- I guess we'll see. I'm not afraid to tell her no; part of me thinks it would be really neat to have her there if she really wants to be there but part of me says that would be nuts.
She's struggled with anxiety for years and can sometimes get freaked out over illness, injury, and blood. But she also attended my blessingway and seemed to think it was very cool (I hesitated to invite her, thinking she would find it way too weird). So...I dunno. I told her I'd talk it over with my husband and get back to her.
And ALSO yesterday, over that "girls' lunch" I mentioned above, I happened to finally meet a local photographer several people in my little social circle know well and always speak very highly of; she specializes in artistic photography of women (pregnancy, nursing shoots, newborns) and her work is absolutely
gorgeous. She mentioned to me that she's in the early stages of getting a birth photo/storyboard book together to hopefully be professionally published, and for anyone who's willing to allow her to shoot their labor and birth, she'll charge them nothing in exchange for a signed model release. Hmm... I would love to have great photos to document this birth; I only have some snapshots from my last birth and none are that terrific, really, and I hardly have any pictures from my first two births, which were both in the hospital. And this person usually charges mega-bucks because she can; people even pay to fly her out of state to shoot events. I guess at the last birth some months ago she shot 1,300 pictures documenting the entire process and whittled that down to 700 for the mother to pick and choose from. Anyway, she wasn't high-pressure or anything like that and I haven't committed to anything yet, but this is another idea I'm trying to sell to my husband. We shall see... Lately I feel like I've found my "tribe" and the idea of being surrounded by supportive women while laboring and giving birth seems empowering to me (and frankly, my husband hasn't been all that wonderful in this department in recent months for this, that, and the other reasons, mainly that he tends to be especially susceptible to stress and grumpiness in late pregnancy every time, though when he IS being supportive, he's great!). But, on the other hand, having a circus of people present during such a private, inward time in my home does seem a bit overwhelming. Gosh, hard decision...