Time is moving rapidly towards my due date. In four to six weeks, if I don't have a baby wanting to stay in utero past 40 weeks, I will be a mommy of two. I was asked if I am excited . . . well excitement is not the emotion I would use to describe my current state of being, more like anxious and exhausted. With Lil D I wasn't ready for her at 38 weeks. Now, I am super ready to meet BC2 and begin the bonding process.
A lot has happened since I last blogged. Let's see. . . We visited the hospital's birthing center and got to ask all the pertinent questions about their practices. I was not impressed with the physical building, it was rather old and outdated, but I love their philosophy on birthing babies. The biggest draw for me was being able to labor unrestricted or with little attachment to a damn machine! They have a wireless fetal monitoring device and it's only used intermittently throughout labor and not continuously. NO MORE PITOCIN! Well at least not during labor and I have the freedom to position myself however I feel comfortable. With a four hour labor for Lil D I'm hoping this one with be just as speedy and without incident. I've already decided no Vitamin K and eye ointment. I also really want to try the squatting birthing position, each bed in the hospital has a squat bar (see below). I've been practicing my squats and I feel pretty good about this position (I may alternate between this one and the kneeling or all-four position). It's suggested the best squat is "with your weight forward on your toes, your calves, thighs, and hence your perineum and vagina, are tightened, whereas if your weight is back on your heels (with a rolled towel under you heels for support if necessary), these muscles can relax, and you can thus prevent tearing" (source). For LilD's birth I began lying on my (left) side in the foetal position and had the nurse flip me over onto my back in my most vulnerable state. smh... I'll be in better control this time around, FOR SURE!
"Squatting ... will strengthen your pelvic floor so you can get your groove back after pregnancy sooner than you would have otherwise." {Source}
For an excellent resource on birthing positons check out Giving Birth Naturally's site here.
On to other topics
Went shopping this weekend for cute pajama sets for the hospital, my bag is packed and we're ready to go. I also purchased a second excerise ball for D to use while he "coaches" me.
Besides preparing for the upcoming birth of BC2, I've been planning our baby shower. We're having a safari/jungle themed event at our house. I decided to combine this celebration with the birthday of LilD. Well really we'll just sing happy birthday to her and have her blow out two candles on a little cake. Sometimes its hard for me to believe she will be two in a week. Time truly does fly.
As I mentioned before we put our home on the market and hope to sell sometime this year. We've had a few families visit for a walk-through so I'm optimistic that we will sell and get close to our asking price. Check out our pictures from the official listing. If you know anyone that wants to purchase a charming colonial in a quite Northern New Jersey neighborhood holla at me.
I took these pictures , so pardon the poor lighting in some.