32 weeks

 32 weeks pregnant - 4/29/12

32 weeks pregnant - from the front

I've come to the conclusion that most people don't have a good sense of what a woman looks like when she is nine months pregnant.  Even women who have had a baby seem to forget, especially if they are older.  I know this because I'm constantly being told "Any day now, right?" or being met with dropped jaws when I say I'm not due till mid-June.  (And let's be honest, I usually am vague and say "June" or lie and say "early June".)  It doesn't really bother me but when it happens over and over, I do get a little tired of it!  Though I do agree with these strangers, my belly looks huge to me too.

It has been SO NICE to be on vacation.  With my parents' help with Jack while we were at the beach, I didn't have to get up when he got up.  This allowed me to be lazy in the morning which is nice because I'm not sleeping great right now.  It was cool at the beach so it wasn't a traditional beach vacation, but Jack still got to play in the sand a lot and even ventured into what Jacob said was "freezing" water.

32 weeks pregnant - from the side

We are now on day 3 of our 5 day babymoon and so the relaxation continues.  Reading, sleeping, talking, walking, eating, being lazy/being productive, it's all easy to do when you are only on your own timetable.

Disclaimer: I have called/texted my mom no less than 15 times in the last 48 hours and this morning I almost cried because I miss Jack.  I am totally enjoying the time away but MISS my snuggly little firecracker.  He, on the other hand, is having a blast and doesn't seem to notice we are gone.

Week Thirty-Two Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 32 weeks: Pelvic pressure, contractions, back pain - one or more flare up making it hard to walk and then the next day, I feel totally fine.  So overall, still very manageable at this point.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did - it's amazing how unproductive I was this week, but that's what vacation is about, right?):


1) SLEEP! (yes though I can't seem to sleep past 6:30/7)

2) Finish reading my La Leche League Leader Handbook and plan how to roll out the new LLL of New Orleans group's first meeting in early June (started working on this)

3) Finish reading my Bradley book and do my Bradley exercises 4 days (didn't read but did do Bradley exercises some)

4) Do relaxation exercises 2 times (nope - see list below)


My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Finish reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days

2) Do relaxation exercises 2 times

3) Finish making my plan on how to roll out first LLL meeting in June

4) Don't have the baby while on vacation :)

31 weeks

31 weeks pregnant - 4/21/12

It still feels like baby Cora's arrival is a good ways off, but it is nice to see those weeks tick off! I feel like she's going to be a little early and my guess is in the teens of June (her due date is June 23). If I were going to bet, I'd put my money on the 17th. That is based on what I think is my true due date (probably around the 25th) + the fact that Jack was 8 days early. I'm writing this down just because I'm interested to see if she proves me totally wrong.

Did you know full term pregnancies are 38-42 weeks? That is a full school year. That is between 266-294 days. That is as long as we lived in Seattle. That is 1/3 of Jack's life. My point: that is a L-O-N-G stretch of time. Thankfully, I'm leaving on vacation! Since we all know vacations fly by, I figure I'll be 33 weeks before I know it and that's close enough to 38, for me to want time to pass slowly as I still have lots I want to get done.

You may have heard us talk about a trip to Puerto Rico. Jacob was itching to do a big trip before baby arrived, taking advantage of our ability to leave our one older child with grandparents and go somewhere a little adventurous. We looked at several countries, but Puerto Rico's flight options were the best. We booked the flights in January thinking I'd be 30-31 weeks. Then my due date moved up a week. Then I started having daily contractions. We waited until 2 weeks ago to make a decision but I don't think either of us were wanting to take the risk of being a flight away from home/Jack/work/family. So now we are going to drive to SC during Jacob's spring break and spend some time with my family at the beach. We are then leaving Jack with my parents for four nights and going to upstate SC/NC for some couple time.

I've really been looking forward to this trip and plan to enjoy every minute! Jack is going to have a blast at the beach and I want to enjoy the lazy beach days and then cram about every non-child friendly activity into our four days away (like spa visit, nice dinners, reading, sleeping, movies, music, coffee shops, impulse decisions, adult conversation, etc.)

Now we just have to survive the 14 hour car trip!

Pregnant with baby Cora - 31 weeks

Week Thirty-One Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 31 weeks: I'm having lots of pelvic pressure because of baby Cora's position + a sore back if I stand too long + a sore butt if I sit too long. Other than that, I feel pretty good and have been going on daily walks.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Midwifery appointment on Wednesday (went well - saw new part time midwife who also commented on how low baby is {not that I'm not fully aware of this!}

2) Keep reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days this week (did this)

3) Do one practice relaxation exercise with Jacob from Bradley book (did NOT do this and need to as I know this is something that takes practicing before it's a skill I'll be able to pull out during labor)

4) Finish up the requirements of my La Leche League Leader certification (yes! I'll start a group in June)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) SLEEP!

2) Finish reading my La Leche League Leader Handbook and plan how to roll out the new LLL of New Orleans group's first meeting in early June

3) Finish reading my Bradley book and do my Bradley exercises 4 days

4) Do relaxation exercises 2 times

30 weeks

30 weeks pregnant (4/15/12)

Jacob and I believe in preparing for and having as natural a childbirth as possible. Because this is our belief and our goal, I thought I'd break down why.

As it is with most young couples, there was a time when we didn't know much about birth or have any opinions. We were getting closer to wanting a baby and found ourselves watching The Business of Being Born one night when we lived in Seattle. The documentary explores the history of birth, specifically in America, and raises some very valid questions: i.e. why are our Cesarean rates so high and why has birth in our country changed so much in the last 50-100 years? The underlying premise of the documentary is that birth has become, unnecessarily and not to our advantage, overmedicalized.

When we were pregnant with Jack, this movie plus some subsequent reading on my part led us to the Bradley Method childbirth classes. The Bradley Method, also called Husband Coached Childbirth, espouses viewing pregnancy and birth as normal events (not sicknesses or illnesses to treat), the importance of good nutrition and exercise during pregnancy, and using relaxation and coaching during labor as opposed to medications for pain relief, and the primacy of the woman and the husband as the key players during a birth.

We went to 12 classes, read Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, and entered my labor intellectually prepared for a non-medicated birth. We felt strongly that this was the best choice for us and this conviction and mindset is what I attribute to my successful natural childbirth. My labor with Jack was long (27 hours) and pretty hard the last 5 hours or so. At some point on the afternoon of December 3, 2009, I was no longer thinking clearly, but I had Jacob with me throughout to keep me focused and doing the things we learned help bring a baby along (walking, changing positions, trying to relax, etc.) We also had clearly communicated our birth plan and our desire to have a natural childbirth to the hospital/nurses and they all were supportive as well. I specifically remember my third labor nurse arriving a little after 7pm (Jack was born at 8:38pm) and I remember begging her to help me and she just kept telling me to listen to Jacob and what he was telling me to do, which in hindsight I very much appreciate her honoring our wishes.

I want to have a second natural childbirth for 3 reasons. First, I believe that birth is a normal event and that the body has an amazing process in place to bring a baby into the world. I think that once you start altering that process (with any of a long list of possible interventions), then you are actually getting in your own way and hindering the body's ability to bring out the baby in the most efficient and least painful way. Second, I think that an unmedicated birth positions both the mother and the baby to be in the best possible places to bond, start breastfeeding, and just to in general start motherhood after the birth. Lastly, I found it to be an empowering experience and something I feel really good about.

In the effort of full disclosure, let me be clear that I don't think I handled my first birth gracefully AT ALL! I repeatedly was asking to die (in all seriousness), along with begging for all kinds of help. I don't think I was particularly brave and I give a lot of credit to Jacob for making sure we didn't veer way off of our plan. My goal this time is to not fight the contractions because I think that makes them more painful (tensing up as opposed to relaxing). I also think I'll be going in with more perspective since the scariest thing last time was that I didn't know how the whole experience was going to play out and I couldn't imagine the pain ending. This time I know that labor does lead to a birth and the pain pretty much goes away instantaneously when the baby is born. I also think I've had some life experiences that will make me be braver and I hope that I will remember those during this birth.

Now I know you get THIS at the end!!

I will definitely let you know how it all turns out! In the meantime, I do highly recommend the Bradley Method courses as they really do educate you and your partner A LOT about the whole spectrum of pregnancy, birth, and early parenting!

Week Thirty Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 30 weeks: Feeling pretty good still - backache has not come back; have leveled off to about 20 contractions a day, so they are not too disruptive. I did feel pretty tired this week, but I also ran out of iron pills, so hopefully now that I'm back on them, I won't feel so wiped out.

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (Yes!)

2) Read four chapters in Bradley book and continue reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (Yes!)

3) Cook 4 healthy meals for my family and don't forget to take my iron pills (More like 3 and I was out of iron for several days)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Midwifery appointment on Wednesday

2) Keep reading Bradley book and do Bradley exercises 4 days this week

3) Do one practice relaxation exercise with Jacob from Bradley book

4) Finish up the requirements of my La Leche League Leader certification

29 weeks

29 weeks pregnant (4/8/12)

Happy Easter to all! This week has given me the chance to do a lot of reflecting. Jacob and I were so lucky to stumble immediately upon Rayne United Methodist Church when we moved to New Orleans almost 3 years ago. It was the first church we visited and we both really liked it.

Over the past few years we have truly loved our pastor, Callie Crawford, and both her messages from the pulpit (she's one of the few ministers who can keep my mind from wandering!!) and the way she ministers to her church family. This past year especially has really cemented Rayne as our church family.

Having attended one church in one city as a child, I know it is a special thing to grow up with this type of extended family. I love going home and visiting my church now. My parents have been part of the same Sunday School class since I was a child. Jacob and I are now part of a small Sunday School class that we helped start last fall and it has been such a blessing. We are 7 couples with similar age children so we have a lot in common and it is SO helpful to be reading and discussing the topic of grace-based parenting and exploring our own spirituality.

I also am doing a year long bible study led by our minister that has me reading scripture daily to get a broad survey of the Bible. I was initially unsure how good I'd be about this, but now I'm finding I love doing it and am also getting so much out these readings!

There are four families that I know of - some well, some not so well that are going through very challenging situations right now. They have been on my mind a lot and in my prayers and I hope they are getting the same peace I have gotten from this Easter week - that there is a world beyond this one, without pain and suffering.

As I'm reminded frequently, parenting is NOT an easy job in any sense of the word, but it is such a blessing and I hope that I will always turn to God for guidance and renewal. I also pray that I am mindful daily of the example I am setting for Jack and that I will know how to teach him about God's love for him. I am truly grateful that I have found a church family to help me with this responsibility.

Week Twenty-Nine Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 29 weeks: Feeling pretty good right now, although BIG (see evidence below). I could write a whole post on pregnancy dreams, but let's just say that sleep continues to be interrupted and not all that comfortable. Thanks to Jacob for calming me down after particularly disturbing dreams :) I guess this is nature's way of preparing you (and your husband) for baby nights!

Both shots at 29 weeks with Baby Cora

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (did okay with this)

2) Read three more chapters in my Bradley book (yes)

3) Midwife check-up (we went to every 2 weeks which I will continue since I'm now in the 3rd trimester) (yes - things are good with the exception that my blood work showed I am anemic, so I'm now on twice daily iron supplements)

4) Cook 3-4 healthy meals for my family (yes!)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week

2) Read four chapters in Bradley book and continue reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

3) Cook 4 healthy meals for my family and don't forget to take my iron pills

28 weeks

28 weeks pregnant (4/1/12)

Time for a little update on how things are going getting our house together/getting ready for baby! I made this to-do list in early February, so 2 months later, here's where we stand:

To-Do List Before Baby
1) Jack's Room: Buy big boy furniture and move Jack from nursery to big boy bed in his room - Jack is sleeping in a big boy bed in his room now! I still want to buy a new dresser, hang curtains, and put artwork up, which may or may not happen before baby!

Initial set-up pre-big boy bed

New set-up with big boy bed

2) Nursery: Decorate nursery to welcome new baby - I'm way ahead on this one. I knew what I wanted, so I bought bedding, moved our downstairs rug upstairs, purchased/hung 3 canvas prints of flower photos Jacob took, painted Jacob's childhood dresser green, and painted C-O-R-A letters to hang. I still need to get curtains (I'm thinking two long green panels), buy a lamp, and fill the dresser up with baby girl things :)

Initial nursery set-up when Jack was in here in crib

Nursery set-up for Baby Cora

3) Dining Room: Finish decorating - we need bar stools, at least one piece of furniture to sit on, and to hang pictures - We bought bar stools and a new rug to replace the one we moved upstairs. We still need to decide if we want furniture for our empty wall and hang pictures.

That is the wall that could use furniture/pictures, but we like the stools/rug progress!

4) Our bedroom: Find places for this pile and turn this corner into a nursing/reading/relaxing nook with a glider + ottoman


Pile is gone, but now we've got our old changing table there which we need to sell on Craigslist. I really do want to get a roomy, plush chair/ottoman but brand new these are about $1,000 and there are competing projects!

5) Porch: Clean off our porch and start using it - meaning buy some porch furniture


It's definitely cleaner! Our April project is going to be to hire someone to stain the entire porch so it will have a nice finished look. We then need to decide on furniture. If money were no object, this would be easy, but the challenge is deciding exactly how much we want to invest in our porch furniture. This is our priority project bc Jack loves being out here and I want to get some comfy furniture so that me and baby will love being out here too!

6) Backyard: Test our backyard for lead, remediate if need be, landscape, possibly put up a back fence, and make it a place that will be fun for Jack to play outside this summer.

Jacob has spent hours working in the backyard (check out before and after pictures!). He sent soil samples off for testing so we're waiting on results. He is working with a friend landscape architect to design what our outdoor spaces will look like, but plans include a chicken coop (which Jacob built), a large garden, fruit trees, and a playyard for Jack.

Before

Now

The "coop"

7) Baby Supplies: We only NEED new cloth diapers, upgraded changing table, a toilet bowl sprayer, a double stroller, and some girl clothes.

We upgraded the changing table! Nadeau had beautiful wooden changing tables and since our particle board shelf old one kept breaking, we went ahead and bought this one. It's so big and roomy - it's like the Cadillac of changing tables! We also were given a toilet bowl sprayer though it is not installed yet. My mom and I have added a few cute things to Cora's wardrobe and we've gotten 8 diapers so far (probably need closer to 25 total).

The Cadillac changing table

Week Twenty-Eight Stats:

How it feels to be pregnant at 28 weeks: Overall, I'm feeling better than last week. My backache has been coming and going throughout the week so I alternate between feeling pretty good and wincing when I move. Same for contractions: most days they've been very infrequent (like 15 across the day) whereas Wednesday and Thursday they picked up, especially during parts of the day (had about 35 total each day). I have a sense this baby is long because I feel lots of jabs simultaneously on opposite sides of my body (and I think she's head down).

My healthy pregnancy intentions for last week (how I did):

1) Start reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way to get a refresher on what we learned the first go-round (yes! Read chapter 1)

2) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week (Yes!)

3) Get my glucose screening and my shot of Rhogam since I'm RH-negative (Yes! Will probably get results this next week)

My healthy pregnancy intentions for this week:

1) Do all 4 Bradley exercises three days this week

2) Read three more chapters in my Bradley book

3) Midwife check-up (we went to every 2 weeks which I will continue since I'm now in the 3rd trimester)

4) Cook 3-4 healthy meals for my family