Birth!

Baby came a week early! Will write birth story and post photos soon. His name is Taylor Davis, weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, successful UC after apps 90 mins intense labor. Sunny side up in the bath tub and no tearing! He is gorgeous and calm, an avid nurser already.

Pregnancy Update: 37.5 weeks

Well we are almost there. 2 or 3 more weeks. Everything is ready... I have felt "FULL TERM" these past few days. Suddenly my belly is full blown. It was big and out front before, but now  I feel a difference like its filled out to the sides and top and bottom more. Baby is putting pressure on the underside AND kicking feet way up high nearly to my bra line! That is a lot of baby.

 

I am self-employed with an online business, which I did not have before. So it's interesting for me to try to time and orchestrate a maternity leave. I put a lot of thought into it, but now I am surrendering much the same as I did for other plans. I am not planning much of a maternity leave at all, just minimizing and having husband help. Taking a few days off and letting work pile up and then just dealing with it when I can. Customers can wait. I think my personality has just really changed because I am less stressed now, more faithful and just the mindset of "Well, it will all work out."

 

The same with my birth plans.. Last time I had a baby, I wrote out Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. What to do with the kids if labor comes before my mom arrives; What do to if labor comes during the night; etc. etc... getting several different people on board for various scenarios. But now  I just have the approach "I can have a baby in the other room while the kids go about their normal activities" or "It will just be like any other afternoon I escape to the bath, I will just have a baby at the end"... It's kind of humorous how low-key I have become.

 

I have been going to the gym still, about 3 days a week. Yesterday I walked incline on the treadmill for an hour and covered 3.3 miles - and really sweated!! How funny what a "challenging" workout walking at 3mph can be when you are full term. I usually do 30-45 minutes of cardio, plus a little bit of weights or boxing and ending with 10 minutes of yoga.  The yoga is important because it stretches my spine back out after the cardio compresses things. It feels great and I no longer deal with back troubles due to working out.

 

I have gained my 25 lbs and maybe a few extra. Ahhh what holiday season will do to you! I have struggled with the lack of fruit available and was relying wholly on pineapples until this week when the satsuma tangerines FINALLY went on sale.  They are delicious and what a relief, since the navels still aren't any good.  I have been pretty good about eating leafy greens AND cooked green veggies every day.  Brassicas bother me, so that pretty much means 1 lb. of green beans with my dinner most days. That's about a plateful - yes an entree size serving - eaten with my fingers! Yum yum. Besides fruits and veggies I have been allowing bread (unfortunately some white flour) and a few chocolates per week - plus whole wheat pasta and tortillas, beans, etc.

 

Well, I am ready to have this babymoon and then get on with life. My kids haven't had a structured day in over a month, with me resting, getting Christmas ready, and tying up all sorts of loose ends, mostly with my business. Things have been busy!

UC Radio Show

Laura Shanley and Lynne Greiesmer on Unassisted Birth:

 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jenny-hatch/2011/11/03/laura-shanley-and-lynn-griesemer-on-the-jenny-hatch-show

Must be a runner or something

In the grocery store today, I overheard a couple commenting on my pregnant shape as they were approaching me. "She must be a runner or something... I mean, you can tell who works out and who doesn't."

Made my day :)

So excited!

I have had a pile of birthing books in my bedroom for a few months, and I just wasn't interested in reading them. Finally I picked one up and instantly, I was HOME! I just feel so joyous when I read about real unhindered birth. I opened this blog and read my last birth story, and I AM SO EXCITED TO DO THAT AGAIN! Natural birth is such an amazing event, we are so honored to partake of it. To think that most women pass this up!! Honestly, the day I birthed my daughter was the most marvelous day in my life, I felt so powerful and close to God, so confident and so joyous. It's the best high ever.

Now 3 years later, life is just normal. I have a normal daughter. So sometimes I still stop myself and say "We delivered her alone! With no medical authority or guidance!" and it just seems like such an incredible miracle that we were blessed to experience. That is the emotional/spiritual reaction I still have. But mentally I say, "Why am I so amazed? Of course we did. Birth is so simply and natural. Babies come out." But I am not going to hush my marvel! Birth is just amazing and that's that!

I get a lot of comments about not finding out the gender. I ask myself why I enjoy the mystery so much. I think I have realized that birth is so much more special and marvelous when you keep it as a personal, internal thing. Something happens when you take external information (such as a sonogram) from somebody outside the pregnancy about what's going on in your body, and the mom loses consciousness to her intuition. She is no longer in touch to the internal information.

Honestly I have just as much, and MORE information about my baby than a sonogram or doctor's testing could ever give me. And its just not statistics, it is a knowledge and familiarity with my baby as a unique person, whom I adore and cherish and will strive to protect. I really don't think this bond is possible in the medical world filled with external data.

Unfortunately, I do not have the above emotions associated with my son's birth. It was a "natural" homebirth, sure. But I was not in touch with my pregnancy or birth at all. I handed my soverignty over to a midwife, put my trust in HER, and let her give me a baby. I pushed the baby out but still, it's almost like the caregiver has given you a child. Because your trust was in them, your focus very external. There is a huge difference when a mom claims her intuition and OWNS her birth and her baby. (I really don't think most moms "own" their babies. That is a different discussion...) and its really sad that I never had that bond with my son; I am brave enough to admit that I don't have the special connection with; and I feel very sad for him. He has missed out. And when he is old enough to understand, I will beg his forgiveness.

Belly Shot: 36 weeks

My babies go straight out in front of me, nothing on the sides. Nothing up high and nothing down low. Here is how I looked in my last pregnancy (obviously thinner, although there is only an 8 lb difference in starting and ending weight--both pregnancies gained about 25 lbs)... A friend called this photo "Torpedo Belly"! (and yes, she shot out like a torpedo!) I do think I have a bigger belly this time, so that probably means a bigger baby. I'm predicting 8 pounds. I have eaten a lot more this pregnancy, and a higher percentage protein (simply by virtue of eating more grains/beans versus last pregnancy which was mostly fruits and veggies exclusively) so maybe that grows a bigger belly/baby.

Just a quick blurb about calories

I was talking with a friend recently who is a college student. She told me how her nutrition textbook says that for her height and activity level she needs 2500 calories per day, and she was saying quite dramatically, "Is that a typo?! I could never eat that much!!" ... apparently she thinks she eats just 1200 calories a day right now.

That conversation was amusing to me because I am eating at least 3,000 calories every day and it all fits, quite easily. I have never considered myself to have a "fast metabolism" since I do have to be conscious of my weight; but I guess I was pretty naive, not even knowing how little some people have to eat. (Granted I am 8 months pregnant, but the 500 additional calories required for that only compensate for the 500 I usually would burn working out, if I wasn't pregnant - in other words, I eat 3000 calories all the time)

That is one reason the whole calorie theory seems flawed. Obviously there are other factors. I know I put on weight when the types of foods I eat changes, but it seems to me that I could eat unlimited calories of fruit, and to some degree starches from whole foods, and as long as I am eating clean or REAL FOOD, the calories never matter.

Here is what I have eaten today, for breakfast and lunch. (I will have a small dinner today)

half a huge pineapple
6 persimmons
4 medjool dates
5 bananas
2 big handfuls spinach
2 bowls of vegetarian chili
2 bean burritos on whole wheat tortillas
1 goat cheese/spinach quesadilla

That is a LOT of food for 2400 calories. Think of how much more nutrition the above menu gives versus 2400 calories of refined carbs, oils, and animal products. (You could get 1900 calories in just 1 restaurant-size meat/cheese burrito!!!) I have already far surpassed my RDA of most nutrients.

So no, I do not believe in dieting. I believe food is Good. Calories are good! Calories are fuel! I prefer to be fueled and have plenty of gas in my tank for everything I do each day. And calories are NUTRIENTS. How can you expect your body to function and the billions of cells in your body to get what they need every day if you are limiting your food consumption?? (One of these bodily functions would be metabolism and weight loss - Yes you need nutrients for that!) Your cells cannot function without nutrients. And sorry, most peoples' diets just don't contain enough.