Quote:
Originally Posted by
kismetbaby
Pilar--I'd love to live in Italy someday! I lived in London for a year after my undergrad and my DH is from Israel (where is family still lives) so we travel often. Although a little less often now with a toddler! Anyway, I know the urge to be home must be strong now though. Just thought I'd mention that I felt a lot like you last time, not nervous at all about taking care of a baby/child (I was a nanny for years), but really nervous about the whole labor and delivery part. Turns out that I LOVED giving birth! Yes it was intense and yes it was painful, but as soon as labor started for me I was transported to this place of trusting my body and being totally in the moment. I never had a moment of fear once labor started. Of course then I found the first 4 months with a baby and BFing really difficult and wished I had prepared better for THAT! Just my experience, but thought I'd share. My advice (even though it's early) is to avoid bad/scary/sad birth stories and to surround yourself with positive ones. Anything that reaffirms your own trust in your body is good--Hypnobirth, prenatal yoga, any book by Ina May Gaskin, the movie "Orgasmic Birth", etc.
Christine--ugh, I hate it when DH eats something I was specifically saving/craving!
Hope for a light symptom day myself. I find if I make myself eat a big breakfast then that sets the day up better. But sometimes it's hard to choke it down. . .or it tastes really good at first and then halfway through I feel like, YUCK.
Kismetbaby - I loved your advice!
Thank you! That's exactly what I wanted/needed to hear.

I have a strong trust in my body, which is why I'm planning a home birth and minimal interventions during the pregnancy. And yes, I'm totally staying away from those scary stories everyone seems to want to share. And yes, I'm freaking out about the breast-feeding, and about how my relationship wth my husband will change when the baby comes... But I'm going to enjoy every minute of it at the same time because it's something I've wanted for so long!
Christine - Oh no, NOT the pickle!!! I can totally understand your craving; I have been putting vinegar on EVERYTHING these days. You should have sent your husband out to get you a whole jar of them!
OK, you guys want to hear something funny/messed up/ironic? The whole year that I've been in grad school I have been hoping and praying for a job at my dream Montessori school when I got back to San Diego. By April, it was pretty much certain that it wouldn't happen this year, which is why I went ahead and got myself knocked up. Well, I've been pregnant for, oh, three weeks now, and what do I get in my inbox today???
AN AMAZING JOB OFFER at the dream school.
Yeah. Uh-huh. Talk about bad timing... I mean, I'm thrilled that I'm pregnant because if I had gotten the offer before April I probably would've taken it and then I would've postponed having kids for at least 2 more years, which would've put me at about 37 years old and all that ... And we
really really wanted to start a family! But yet, it's such a shock... Just when I was starting to wrap my head around my new pregnant/mommy identity, here comes my other identity to haunt me... *sigh*
Is anyone else struggling/did anyone else struggle with switching "identities" when they got pregnant/had kids??? I know I did the right thing in getting pregnant, but I'm feeling so torn... Oh well, the school's director loves me and she'll love me two years from now when I'm ready to go back to work, right?

I just needed to vent and work this out in my head...
Thanks for reading ladies!