I will be 27 weeks this week and almost finishing my 2nd trimester. It seems crazy that I am almost in the home stretch. I am very excited about my little girl coming into the world. I think that by week 38 or 40 I will be ready to let go of my pregnant state of being. I know some women have it difficult during pregnancy but so far I have had such a great experience, I have enjoyed every second of it and although I know it will get uncomfortable during the next few weeks I am sure that through keeping active I will pull it through; more so I will be ready for delivery. I am honestly loving being pregnant.
We are done with the Hypnobirthing class and now we, especially I, just need to practice getting into a deep relaxation. It might sound weird but while swimming seems to be the best time for me to just focus on the present moment and let go of all the other stuff in my mind and relax; plus it has helped me keep my swimming at a slight decent level.
My neighbor took the same childbirth class when she had her babies and she went to the same group of Drs. I go. I was pleased to learn that even the Dr. whom I have always felt not very fond of was very supportive of an all natural birthing style and even showed his warm side during her delivery; it makes me feel a lot better about what to expect for my girl's birth day. Although this time I didn't have the courage to go to a midwife I do feel that my Drs. and hospital are more open than other practitioners to completely natural birth, and will respect parent's wishes in terms of no intervention and no newborn procedures w/out parent's consent.
This weekend one of the couples from our childbirth class invited us over for a crawfish boil. I have never been to one and it was a lot of fun. It was also fun to share time with couples that share in the same beliefs about birthing than us; one of them is even having the baby at home with a midwife and I am sure they'll have an amazing experience. The majority of people I tell about what I expect from my labor experience think I just don't know what I am talking about; but they said the same when I mentioned doing an Ironman, and I see labor just as another ironman. It will take a lot of training and a lot of endurance and it won't be easy but it will all be worth it, and in the end an amazing experience.
This coming weekend I am going to Quito, Ecuador for my cousin's wedding. I will be there only for a couple of days. I am a bit worried about how my body will react to the altitude, Quito is at 9,000FT. I usually never experience any problems since my body is genetically prepared to adapt to high altitudes; but I don't know how it will respond with the pregnancy. My Dr. said everything should be fine and just to take it easy and keep myself very hydrated while I am there. I am looking forward to the wedding and to show my belly bump to my family!!
I am very happy that I am still fitting in most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, of course with the assistance of a tummy sash!!, and I have 1 pair of jeans that still fits even without the sash. I don't know what is up with maternity clothes, they look very cute on the models but once you get them, especially the tops have this tent like build that makes you look huge. I have found out that for tops a size bigger than your regular size fits a lot better!!
Update!!! I think Corinna is training for a triathlon, but this week she really started moving and kicking a lot. I love it. Also I showed my Dr. my birth plan and he was very cool with it!!!
Here is my belly picture at 25W and 4 days
So I have only 3 and half months to go. I am getting very excited but I am also enjoying a lot this time of my pregnancy. I haven't felt any discomfort and it is just so much fun to feel my little girl kicking and moving inside of me; today she has had lots of energy!!! I feel I have company all the time and I also feel a very special connection with her.
We got a lot of clothes this week from my sister in law, for which I am very thankful. Corinna even got her first bikini!!! I can't wait to try it on.
Since I have been swimming throughout my pregnancy and it feels really good I am looking forward to teach her how to swim as early as possible. I believe that the earliest you introduce them to the water the most likely they are to not develop fear of it and to develop swimming skills; it makes sense considering they are swimming when they are inside of you.
Last week at our Hypnobirthing class we watch a video about women in Russia who either have their babies at home on a birthing tub or go the the Black Sea and have their babies there. It was truly amazing to see how the babies just come out and swim up to their parents. I have read that until 6 months old babies by instinct will hold their breath under water, so technically they partially know how to swim when they are born. The Black Sea births sound crazy but they were truly amazing, so peaceful and such a celebration of life. It makes you wonder why in the western world birthing has become such an intervention needing procedure when in the rest of the work women are birthing healthy babies in the sea with apparently 0 complications.
I am finishing the birth plan and I will show it to my Dr. this Wednesday that I have an appointment with him. I really hope that he supports me on my decision to have a drug free natural birth, and that he makes the staff at the hospital respect that. I have heard that most of the time hospital staff will push you to do what is more beneficial for them and will not necessarily respect your wishes. Of course I am open to intervention in case of an emergency, but if everything is progressing as normal and both the baby and myself are in good condition I want to wait as long as it is needed for my baby to come out naturally. I am a big believer in the ability of the human body to birth, it was designed for that.
I run into a very interesting poll today about mandatory vaccinations, and I was very happy to see that all the replies to the post are against it and advocate for being the parents the ones responsible for making decisions in regards to what vaccines, if any, to administer to their children. If you want to participate or are interested in checking this survey click here.
I will post a belly picture tonight when I get home. My belly has definitely grown during the past few weeks; and it has moved up as well; but fortunately it is still very comfortable to do everything, except a bit to bend down but it is not a big deal and I just try not to do it or do it in a different way.
Thanks for visiting!!!
So I am almost 6 months, and that sounds like getting in the late phase of my pregnancy; one more month and I will be starting my 3Th and last trimester.
This week the baby has definitely become more active. I can now feel her move throughout the day and I can feel actual movements rather than just kicks. Thursday while we were watching a movie about the Birth Industry in the US I believe she was having some sort of aerobic training class because for about 1hour she didn't stopped moving. It was an awesome feeling; and I love to feel her moves inside of me.
We are halfway through our hypnobirthing class and every day more convinced about wanting an all natural/ drug free birthing experience. Of course we are open to intervention in case of an emergency but we have learned that unless you are very vocal about your wishes the hospital staff and Dr. will pretty much do what is convenient for them rather than for you, even if that means an unnecessary C-section; and of course that is the last thing we want. Through Hypnobirthing we have learned so much about how natural and non stressful child birthing should be and that is what we would like to experience. The movie we saw on Thursday, The Business of being born is a documentary that explores what child birthing has become in the US and raises the question: Should most births be viewed as a natural live process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?. It is an eye opening movie that I strongly recommend to everyone.
My bump keeps growing but it is still comfortable. I got a Belly Band for my speed walking because I think that even though the belly does not feel uncomfortable yet; it does puts pressure on my round ligaments; the belly band is designed to take that pressure off the lower part of my abdomen, so I'll test it this week that I am planning to walk a 5K on Saturday.
Next week we need to start working on the baby's room. I am not too much into building the mega Pottery Barn like nursery, but we need to re-arrange the furniture in our living room in order to fit the computer desk and free up some space at the Baby's room for the crib, changing table, dresser and maybe glider. I would like to have most of this done before the 30W when I have heard I will start feeling uncomfortable.
My lovely niece stayed with us one night this weekend and we had a blast. We made pizza Saturday night, played memory, played cranium (her way of playing it of course), read a bunch of children stories that I found to be actually a bit scary, went to the farmers market and went to the beach. I love having her over, she is such a sweet girl and a lot of fun to be around, she talks a lot and it is just fascinating to listen and realize to what the mind of a 4 year old can do. I can't wait for my little girl to be here. If my little niece does what she does to me (I will literally die for her) I can't even imagine what my own child will do.
Thanks for stopping by this week. Do not forget to post comments, advice, etc.
