37 Weeks

37 weeks 2 days

I've made it to 37 weeks already. My blogger pregnancy count-down states I have only 17 days to go. How did I get here so fast? I had another midwife appointment yesterday. I haven't gained any weight for the past 2 weeks (I am still at 162 lbs). I've started my pregnancy weighing 133 lbs, so I am gaining weight appropriately. Hopefully, this means this baby will be less than 8 lbs. I actually think my belly looks relatively small being this far into the pregnancy (I was able to shave my legs this morning :-)).


Yesterday I put all of the birth supplies out on the table in the living room. I was originally thinking of giving birth in my husband's bedroom since its sliding door opened right into the back yard (easier to drain the birth tub), but decided to settle in the living room instead. The bedroom may be a bit crowded with our midwife, 2 students, my doula, her apprentice & my husband. Plus, if my labor starts in the middle of the night, I can come out of my bedroom & labor quietly for a few hours without waking up my husband & children. Now I have to come up with some way to cover the living room window (we currently don't have curtains).


"Sophia, where is baby?" "There!"

I've prepared a few CDs this week. It is meditation-type music to be played during labor:

1) Reiki - Hands of Light by Deuter

2) Inner Peace by Steven Halpern

3) Gifts of the Angels by Steven Halpern

4) Ocean Suite by Steven Halpern (I thought the sound of the ocean waves was very appropriate for a water birth)

I am surprised how good I feel. I've been feeling intermittent pressure & small electric shock-like sensations in my cervix for several weeks now. According to my favorite home birth book Birth Your Way, this means baby's head is in a good position. My walking is a bit wabbly & slow, otherwise I am able to keep up with my daily activities for the most part. That's probably why I am still in denial about the proximity of this baby's birth. I am so used to being uncomfortable that continuing this pregnancy for a few more months would not be so bad. :-) My midwife mentioned using primrose oil (oral & vaginal) to make sure the baby was not overdue, but I brushed off the idea. Being pregnant for 41 weeks or longer doesn't phase me, at least not yet. The baby will come when he is ready & I would never be selfish enough to interfere with the nature's process purely for my own comforts.
Gerritt & I have been getting ready for baby's birth by reading a couple of birth-related kids' books:

1) Welcome with Love by Jenni Overend (This is an excellent book from Australia portraying a home birth. There are several startling but beautiful images of the baby's head emerging from between Mom's standing legs, the baby boy with his umbilical cord reaching up & the naked mother on her knees cradling the baby in her arms. The baby's siblings get to witness the birth & end up cosleeping with the new baby & their parents at the end).

2) Waiting For Baby by Harriet Ziefert (A good book about preschooler Max impatiently awaiting the arrival of his little brother. Sadly, he misses the birth as his Mom has the baby in the hospital while he stays with his grandparents).

My Mom's photos have finally arrived & I mailed the 2nd part of her immigration paperwork last Monday. My hope is that she will arrive to the US by mid-December or sooner (my nanny really wants to move to Portland to be with her boyfriend by Christmas). I even have a Christmas stocking for my Mom with her name on it.


Daddy enjoys Gerritt & Sophia's kisses


Pure happiness

Good news! The length of my requested maternity leave was approved, so I have until February 1st off from my hospital job & until March 21st off from the clinic. Whether I will take my full requested leave is another matter (I always get restless after 4-5 weeks of staying at home), but I want that option nonetheless. I have no idea how I will feel once this baby comes. I've already learned from having 2 children how fleeting the time is & I may want to absorb & enjoy every moment of my newborn's cuteness.