11 Days

38 Weeks Baby!

11 days until my due date...at least the due date I am going by :). Because baby girl has been measuring small, the doc pushed the due date back to October 26. No thank you! Shannon says that Isla always measured 2-3 weeks off plus she delivered a week early. So, I am definitely sticking with the October 11th due date.

During my appointment on Thursday, I was measuring 2 cm and 80% effaced. Not quite sure what this means as far as timeframe of baby girl's arrival. The only words the doc said when I inquired is that it doesn't necessarily mean that I will be early, just that I have a "prime cervix" in case they need to induce me. Hoping that never needs to become needed. Btw, she mean't early according to the Oct. 26 due date..psh. Doc did mention that she will be out of town October 10th-14 or maybe it was the 16th, not sure. However, I am sure that this little girl is coming before or during that time. Figures. Since I am not too attached to my doctor at all, I am not worried about it.

As far as when she will get her, I have in my mind that it would be ok to have her next weekend. We shall see.

Another update: we finally got a dresser! Thanks to some of my awesome family that chipped in to pay for it; you are all amazing and we are so very grateful. I had planned on finding a decent one off of ksl.com or craigslist but after searching non stop for the past 3 week with no luck, I gave up. My search also included RC Willey, target, walmart, overstock.com & outlet (any store, you name it). I was suprized at the lack of selection and/or prices at all these places. We ended up getting it from Ikea and I love it! I know there are mixed feeling about Ikea furniture, but I did my research and weighed cost with other features that were important to us. We are happy with it.

I will post a picture of the chosen dresser once we put it all together. In the meantime, here are some pics of Bri and I having fun with the bellies :).

Nursery Ideas

For family and friends that have been asking me what my nursery theme is:

I love the whites, gray and natural tones accented with an aqua and hints of the dark magenta. I love the somewhat rustic feel of using wood, branches and twigs. I also love the bird cage and bird theme. Thus far, I have decorated using items I already have. I have a feeling her room is going to be fairly eclectic. I will post pictures of the room soon. 

Our Baby Girl

I never got around to adding these. This is baby girl....I am actually growing a little human being in my body! 

Hypnobabies

Once the horrible nausea and heightened sense of smell has passed, time has flown. It is hard to believe I am already 34 weeks....6 more weeks to go if not sooner!

A wonderful woman in the neighborhood has let me barrow her Hypnobabies home study kit. It has been such a blessing...hopefully I am still saying that when in labor :). I heard about hypnobirthing and hypnobabies through friends of friends (Here is one that almost has me convinced). I was very skeptical at first but the more I have learned about it the more I believe or at least have a desire to believe it can work for me.

I am not against epidurals. However, the closer I get to my guess date (due date), the more I have felt the desire to experience the miracle of birthing on my own. I have wanted some tools to help me do so and hypnobabies has been a good options so far. To appease my husband as well as the lurking fear in the back of my mind, I have told myself that I want to do as much as I can without any intervention, but if I really need to I will get an epidural. We will see how that goes.

Before receiving the hypnobabies materials I checked out a book by Marie Mongan, the woman who originated the idea of hypnobirthing- painless childbirth through deep relaxation and self hypnosis. The newer versions of her books were not available so I checked out her first book I believe. I took everything I read with a grain of salt (there was some strong feminist hues), however I really appreciated her stance that childbirth is nothing to be feared and that it is naturally painless...or at least can be.

The gist of what I got out of the first few chapters is that our western view of labor and delivery has been tainted. We have grown up with the belief and expectation that giving birth is a huge ordeal of insane pain and that it is something to be dreaded. She noted women of other countries that are in the rice fields one minute, deliver their baby by themselves the next minute and then are back in the fields working. They have never been taught to associate birthing with pain. How we perceive birthing is deterministic of how we experience it.

After a few days of tossing this idea around in my head and heart, I concluded that I agree even despite my obvious inexperience with birthing (It passed the D&C 50: 23-24 and 9:8 test). Ever since I accepted this belief, I have been at peace. And even if after giving birth I change my mind, the peace, comfort and empowerment it has brought me thus far has been well worth it.

Anyways, after researching hypnobirthing and hypnobabies more, I leaned toward doing a hypnobabies course because I read that some women preferred it and that it took hypnobirthing a step further. Luckly, the woman in my ward had the materials was willing to lend them to me (Thank you Cherl).

I will have to post my birth story and let you know how it goes.