Getting This Body Ready

Getting this body ready for labor is even more involved then anything else. Which makes sense, since my body is the one that's going to do all the work. 

For awhile, I was considering my job sufficient exercise.  I stopped working, then I got sick.  Today feeling better, my mom, sister & I started walking.  We need to keep it up, and I need to be squatting, doing pelvic exercises, and I desperately need to start remembering my kegels!  I had to put signs up in my bathrooms reminding me to do them.  All of these are supposed to help my body get ready for labor.

I'm also trying to get Marcus to do as much exercising with me as possible, if you know what I mean.  I need those prostaglandins!

Also in order to get ready, we are attempting perineal massage.  This lovely massage is supposed get my perineum used to being stretched & lessen the chance of tearing.  It also helps me to learn to relax through discomfort in that area.  It's difficult for us because Marcus doesn't really love it, and I've found it not very effective when I do it alone.  And there are many nights when he comes home from work at 2am exhausted, & I'm already asleep.

Nightly I'm taking evening primrose oil, which contains many prostaglandins, known for their assistance in softening the cervix, preparing me for labor.  I am drinking red raspberry leaf tea, which is supposed to tone my uterus or help it be more efficient in practice & future contractions.  There is this other thing I'm taking with meals, but I don't remember what it's supposed to do.

All of these little labor helpers started at 35 weeks.  Before then & now I am also taking my prenatal vitamins, omega 3, trace minerals, & chlorophyll to help keep my red blood cell count normal.  And I'm taking GTF to help regulate my blood sugar.  Because... At about 28 weeks, my midwife did a blood glucose test to see how my body was handling sugar.  The results weren't ideal.  Certain foods cause spikes in my blood sugar, which lead to unnecessary Isaiah growth.  If these spikes get out of control, I am put at risk for gestational diabetes.  Since then, I've been monitoring my blood sugar with a little finger pricker & taking the GTF.  It's been interesting to see what foods I can & cannot eat.  Like no Chinese food.  What the F?

Anyway, it's under control now, I've been doing pretty decent with my diet.  At my baby shower, we had special carb-less snacks, except for the baby shower cupcakes, of which I only had a bite.  The lack of treats has been a little sad, but I'm glad to know that I may have contributed to lessening the chance of having a really big baby.

How big are you going to be Isaiah? 

Getting This House Ready

We are 37 weeks today.  Full term.  3 weeks until due date.  1 week until the date many people including myself think I will deliver. 

Other than the fact that I can't talk because my voice got lost and my nose is annoyingly stuffy, I'm feeling pretty good. 

I'm not anxious or ready because I'm not completely prepared just yet. 

All the things on my midwife's list of things I need for labor have been purchased & are washed & ready.  I have the labor outfit but not the after labor one or Isaiah's first outfit.  Although I've been blessed with lots of adorable baby clothes, I sortof want his first outfit to be new.  Is that unreasonable? 

I want some candles for the afterbirth herbal bath.  I still need to work up a labor playlist.  And my mom & I are still preparing the menu for the during labor refreshments.  And then finally, I still need to decide what my first meal after the birth will be.  Right now I'm thinking McDonald's sounds awesome.  Quarter Pounder, no onions, extra cheese & french fries.

And I need to write thank you cards for baby gifts.

There are just a few things left to do around the house.  I want some mirrors hung, and there is a little more cleaning & organizing.

The house is almost ready, but here's the deal, there will be no baby room.  No nursery.  And I say it so seriously because this is one of those questions I get all the time, "Do you have the nursery ready yet?"  And they are shocked when I say no.

Here is why Isaiah will not have a room for awhile.  Well for one, I don't think he really cares.  Two, we only have one extra room, and there is a queen bed there, in which my mom is sleeping for a few months.  No room for baby stuff.  And finally, Isaiah will be hanging out with us in our bedroom for awhile, so he doesn't need his own space. 

My mother-in-law & Marcus strongly demanded that he stay in our bedroom for a year.  I strongly demanded back (to Marcus not his mother) that that was a type of decision that parents decide together. 

Time is Flying

It seems like just yesterday I was getting excited about hitting the big 30 week mark in my pregnancy. 

Now it's May.  The month in which I will probably be giving birth. 

I'm a little concerned about all the things I have left to do.  There is a lot.  But I'm mostly confident that I will have everything done when it needs to be done.  And I'm really excited.  I'm having my baby soon! 

Technically we have 4 weeks until my due date.  But as I have previously mentioned, family history dictates he will come two weeks early.  And it would be nice if that actually happens because the most opportune time for him to come is between the 18th & the 20th.  My sister closes on her new house on the 17th & goes on a not-her-choice vacation on the 23rd.  And I have an event I would like Marcus to attend on the 21st.  Plus I like the 18th.  That's the day of the month I was born.  My sister got married on the 18th.  And May 18th is my future mother-in-law's birthday. 

So the things I have left to do far outweigh the things I have done. 

The hardest & most irritating class in history is over.  I thought about taking a break, but I'm so close (August), and the new class looks pretty easy, so I decided to keep on going.

My company's future for the next several weeks is becoming a little clearer.  I'm pretty confident in the staff I have taking over.

My hair is cut & a plan is in action for getting it done for delivery time. 

Nails are done; I just hope they stay that way. 

I figured out the dress/bra dilemma & attended the photo shoot & wedding with many stories to tell about them. 

My entire family minus the brothers came to Dallas for my baby shower thrown by my sister & best friend.  More stories. 

Now my mom & little sister are here to stay until the birth. 

Marcus & I bought our first furniture together.  So we could have a place for people to sit at the baby shower.  And for whenever we have company during & after the birth.  And so we can have a gigantic TV to watch. 

My sister brought a lot of baby stuff for me to borrow & I got many things at the shower.  So at least now I have some things marked off my baby stuff list. 

But there is so much more to be done. 

I will discuss my list another day. 

For now, look at pictures from my maternity photo shoot with Keri Duckett Photography.  More are in the photo gallery. 

Hair & Dresses

Of the things to do from last time I wrote, I've completed a few.  I got my hair cut.  Marcus remembered he had a hair stylist friend, and I'm very glad he did because she was awesome.  We made quite the connection.  She has family in Mississippi & Louisiana, in the small towns where I've lived.  She understands natural birth.  A lady that she works with had her three children at home.  And now I'm planning on calling her when I'm in labor so she can take care of the styling dilemma I will have.  As for the hair, I love it too.  It's what I wanted, more layers.  And we did a few highlights to bring the layers out.  It all looks very natural.  Now I just have to figure out how to fix it without her. 

I scheduled my photo shoot for this Sunday, but it's probably going to rain, so it will probably be postponed.

But I think I've figured out what I'm going to wear. 

I went to Destination Maternity with Marcus, and I made the mistake of letting them pick a few dresses for me to try on.  Of course everyone including me loved the most expensive one at $130.  Not too expensive for a beautiful dress, right?  This is the dress, except in real life it is more green than teal. 

But $130 on a dress I will only wear a few times & at the end of my pregnancy?  I left it there to pursue other options, and later I talked myself out of it.  I should have called my sister.  She would have made me more resolved against it. 

I drove to this far away land of Southlake, where I was told by another Gap that this Gap had maternity.  They didn't.  They recommended the Old Navy down the street.  I went there and was very disappointed with their maternity selection, especially since I've seen their website & know they have more.  I was about to walk out when I noticed this adorable shirt in the normal (not pregnant) women's section.  What if it fit?  It did AND it was only $7!  So then I tried on a bunch of their other stuff, and I found a green dress that fit also. 

I was pretty happy about my bargain finds and the fact that I could wear these clothes after baby.  And it was then that I concluded that maternity clothes, shirts & dresses in particular, are a waste of money. 

Then I tried the dress on at home.  And I realized that the Old Navy quality wouldn't look very good next to Marcus in his tuxedo at the wedding.  It was a sad moment.  But convinced that maternity dresses were scams, I went in my closet & tried on this purple dress that I've never worn.  It fit, and we both agreed that it is perfect for the wedding.

So the bargain green dress will be worn at the photo shoot & the baby shower, & the dress I bought years ago but never wore will be worn at the wedding.  That is, if I can find a bra that doesn't cut off my circulation too much.

This is before the hair...

And this is after & in my $7 non-maternity shirt. 

Things to Do to Prepare for Childbirth

Technically I have 8 weeks or 57 days until my due date, which is June 1st.  And I am aware that I could have Isaiah much before or much after this somewhat meaningless date.  BUT it is the Kipapa tradition to have boys two weeks early.  So that means May 18th.  Or 43 days.  He is full term in 36 days.  So I've decided that I need to be prepared before then.

Thankfully, due to the diligence of my lovely sister, I have made lists of items needed and registered for them (so she could tell baby shower invitees where I am registered).  That was really difficult.

But that's about it.  There is so much more!!!! 

The first thing I am obsessing over...  The way I will look.

After watching birth photography slideshows during a birthing class, I decided that I must hire a birth photographer, regardless of whether I have money for it.  Then I found a great one, referred to me by my midwife, who happens to have a special package deal for maternity, birth, and newborn shoots.  So of course I have to do that because I want all three of those.  I found her; I haven't booked her yet. 

So I need to book her.  Then I need to figure out what I'm going to wear during the shoot.  So far I have about 4 work related maternity clothing items that I've bought on my own.  Apart from that, I'm wearing borrowed clothes from my sister & a friend I used to work with.  There is nothing that I can imagine myself wearing for a shoot.  So I have to buy something.  Or two.  I figure this something will triple as an outfit for a good friend's upcoming wedding and my baby shower. 

Then I need to decide and prepare what I'll be wearing at Isaiah's birth.  I saw this girl in a birth video wearing some sort of bra or bathing suit top that made her boobs look amazing.  That's what I want.  I don't know what I'll do about the bottom yet.  Maybe something for the first parts of labor & then I'll take it off? 

And this is really weird of me to say, but I want my toenails done.  And I want to be waxed.  And I need a haircut, which I've needed for months.  Nothing drastic, I just need some layers in my life.  I figure I can do these things also for the photo shoot, wedding & baby shower. 

Then I want to figure out a perfect hairstyle for the birth.  I might be in water, and I'll likely be sweating a lot, so I know I can't wear it down.  But I don't want an ugly ponytail, because I really hate my hair when it's in a ponytail (or when I put it there).  I'm thinking something like this would be perfect. 

That would be a good job for the lovely woman who is my mother.  She will be arriving for the baby shower and staying until...  Until she is done with me or until I don't need her anymore, whichever comes first. 

It's weird of me to care about all of these things because I normally don't all that much.  Maybe I care because I haven't done any of these things in the past 8 months.  Maybe I care because I feel like this will be the greatest moment of my womanhood, so I want to look the part.  Who knows why, but I care. 

I think that about covers everything I need to do to my body (well the outside of it) to prepare for birth.  Next we'll talk about the apartment, the nursery, things I need to do internally, exercises I need to be doing, other things I need to buy, things I need to prepare with the business...  La la la.