Baby Bumps and Blessings

The Making of a Mindful Maternity

It feels like such a milestone to hit 37 weeks and be full term.  It is exciting and a bit nerve-racking that I could go into labor at any time.  And since I can now have a homebirth I’ve gotten my homebirth supplies together so we are ready!  Of course, I looked around on the internet at the supplies different people gather and people’s lists range from minimal to tons of stuff.  We’re trying to keep it pretty simple.  We have a tub and a birthing ball for labor.  We have drinks for labor and a protein snack for after I deliver, the midwife says this can help to prevent dizziness.  We’ll have our crock pot ready to make warm compresses for labor.  This is what is in my homebirth supply box

For Labor and Birth

Birth Kit put together by my Midwife that I bought

Towels

Wash Clothes

4 shower curtain liners

Ibuprofen

Flashlight

Hand Mirror

For Baby

                2 diapers (so tiny)

1 shirt with the built in mittens so she won’t scratch herself

Socks and hat

2 receiving blankets

Acid free paper for foot prints

I also ordered some homemade frozen meals (mac and cheese, veggie burgers, cheese grits, french toast casserole, and a breakfast casserole) to have in the freezer so we’ll have a yummy meal after we deliver.  I am hungry just thinking about that food!

At our appointment this week, the midwife said the baby is very low in the birth canal (yup I can feel that!) and in a good position to deliver.  She said to keep doing the cat/cow stretch daily to help her stay in the right position.  My blood pressure was good and I don’t have any swelling.  We did the Group B Strep test and will find out the results on Monday.  So, everything looks like a go.  It is really neat to have the midwife come to the house for our appointments.  My older daughter is very curious and asks her questions like, “How did you learn about babies?”  and she wants to check out everything she is doing.

Vacation was over this week and I have been super tired.  I haven’t been sleeping well, so that has made it worse.  Besides work and the birth preparations (shopping, making the birth box, watching a water birth video, reading, a couple of walks, relaxation exercises, yoga, midwife visit) I’ve done I haven’t gotten much else done, specifically for Mindful Makeover.  It is interesting that I still try to tell myself I should get more done, my self-worth is often tied to how much I get done…well growing a baby is pretty important work so perhaps I should just relax and do that.  I will have time to work on Mindful Makeover projects again soon…

Today we are doing a labor rehearsal with our doula and in the next couple of days we’re going to do some family photos and a belly cast.  I want to get those done just in case she makes an early appearance!

Live Well,

Laura