Our Third Childbirth Class

Last night in our class we went over the first and second stages of labor. It was good to get an idea of what each stage should look like.

Our workbook has an overview that I think is very interesting because it covers where you are in the birthing process as evidenced by not only physical reactions, but emotional reactions as well. Again, it's very interesting! It was also comforting because for me, it seemed to break the birthing process down into manageable steps. Granted, I realize that when I'm actually in the process, it may not FEEL that way, but I'm glad for this time to prepare my mind that it IS that way. I love that the workbook reminds me that in the moments that I feel like I can't handle labor any longer is right when the next step comes that will give me some relief. That's true in life, so it stands to reason that would be true in the birthing process.

The workbook said that at one point, you just have to surrender to what your body is doing and let it do it's thing. That struck me probably more than anything else that was said last night. I guess it struck me because as a woman of faith, surrender is something I strive for in my everyday life . . . surrender to the Holy Spirit and His work in my spiritual body as well as my physical body. My belief that every woman has the power and wisdom inside of her to give birth is based in my belief in the powerful, sustaining work of the Holy Spirit. It was good for me to be reminded that I will have to surrender. As with all things in my life, I will need the Spirit to guide me, strengthen me, sustain me and equip me to do this good work . . . surrender.

I'm feeling more and more confident that I will be able to give birth naturally, and that confidence excites me. But to be honest, I want to keep myself balanced in this and remember that ANY birthing experience I have will be a blessing and exactly what I need. I know that the Lord wants to bless me in my birthing process, but I can't say that I know exactly what that looks like. I never want to get to a place where I don't willingly take the guidance and direction of my doctor, who is a true blessing to me and also someone I deeply trust, because I become overly confident in what I want to happen in this birthing process. I know that the Lord has equipped my doctor and my nurses with knowledge, wisdom and sensibility. I want to always recognize the blessing and tools they are for me. As with everything in life, balance is the key!

Obviously, I'm still quite a ways away from actually going through these first and second stages of labor, so she said we'll cover them again before the class ends. I'll be excited to see what my thoughts are once I'm closer to the jumping off point, but again, I'm excited to have these months to get my mind processing the ideas of surrender, confidence and balance going into our birthing process. I'm feeling more and more armed and that most definitely fulfills my expectations of this class.

Look who I've seen this week!

I love, love, LOVE seeing my sweet boy! I also love that my doctor has given me plenty of opportunities to do so. On Wednesday, we had another ultrasound and got to see Ian's sweet face again. He is just so cute!!! And, he's getting big too . . . already 1 1/2 pounds! Apparently, he's weighing in within the 61st percentile. Didn't realize they would already be comparing him with all the other babies in America, but it's kinda fun to know. Sadly, they didn't tell me how tall he is. They did say that he is perfect though, which clearly means they are brilliant! Look at this sweet face . . . I'm telling you, I even love the full-on skeleton face!

I've been running around doing all kinds of stuff for the last several days, so yesterday I was feeling a bit tired and ready for a day of rest. It was the GREATEST day EVER!!! I spent the afternoon on the couch watching movies, and apparently, that was exactly what Ian had been needing . . . he was so excited for us to be resting that he just kicked away all afternoon and had a huge party in there. I enjoyed EVERY minute of feeling him dance and imagining what all he was doing in there. What a sweet day of taking him all in!

Ian is looking super cute on the outside too. That 1 1/2 pounds is definitely showing! I know that a lot of women don't feel their prettiest when they're pregnant, but I personally think I look real cute! I'm SO thankful for that too. I love my growing belly and think it's getting cuter and cuter as we go along. Here we are one day shy of being 24 weeks along. We're gettin' there!

Our Second Childbirth Class

Yes, you will probably get an update on our childbirth class every week until they're over. But once again, this is just a way for me to process all that I'm learning, so skip this post if you want.

Our second class wasn't quite as good as our first one, to be honest. I continue to like our instructor, but she definitely became more vocal about some of her beliefs when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. For instance, she believes that ultrasounds aren't really okay, including the fetal monitor during labor. What??? I have NEVER heard that one before, but now I have a nice long article on the topic. She understands that doctors feel they are necessary to check on the growth and development of the baby, but she doesn't feel like they are safe. She also believes it's a horrible idea to have "vanity ultrasounds" like 4D ultrasounds or ultrasounds to find out the sex of your baby. Obviously, she knows we have already had ultrasounds done (we'll have another one tomorrow - love our doctor!), but we did decide to keep the fact that we're DEFINITELY doing the 4D ultrasound at some point to ourselves. I'm totally okay with the whole ultrasound thing!

She also told us more about her personal beliefs about nutrition . . . a lot of the stuff I've heard or read about lunch meats, artificial sweeteners, fish, etc. I pretty much ignored this part because I know how I feel about all of that and have a doctor that has been COMPLETELY supportive in those decisions - even helped form a lot of my decisions. Basically, I'm not a nervous mom when it comes to what I eat. I prefer to avoid artificial sweeteners in real life, so that hasn't really changed, but I don't worry if I accidentally get some. And I've never once gotten sick off lunch meat, or know anyone who has, so I'm still good with that one too. Really, the only thing my doctor did ask me to stay away from was all of the "big" fish, including salmon. Ironically, she told me that most of those were okay and to only stay away from the "predator" fish. Needless to say, I was looking forward to getting past this part of the class.

Now on to the good stuff . . . We got to talk a lot about Vernon's role during the birthing process. She asked us a lot of good questions and got us thinking about a lot of things we hadn't considered. It's funny what you don't think about when you're a first time mom getting ready for this kind of stuff . . . like what are we going to do when I desperately need Vernon to be by my side and he desperately needs to go to the bathroom? Anyway, it got Vernon thinking about a "back-up" plan. We also started thinking about what it will look like for me to have false labor and how that will effect Vernon at work. Lots of good things to think through and come up with a plan! It makes me VERY happy we have a workbook with all of these things written down in them for us to reference again. We all know I certainly can't remember these things for too long of a time period!

The other thing that I LOVED about this class was the video that we watched. The name of the video is "Childbirth For the Joy of It". Not sure where or how someone can watch it. Anyway, it was straight from the 70's and it showed the natural, drug-free deliveries of 5 different babies. Since it was from the 70's it was all very modest. What grabbed my attention though is that they were very calm deliveries. Having a mom who was a lamaze teacher, I have seen some childbirth videos. They weren't much like this . . . much more graphic, not quite as calm. While I have to keep in mind that I saw these other videos as a young girl, nowhere near having children, and that fact probably made them a little bit more disturbing; I'm also aware that the graphic, not-as-calm videos are also real life. It was just so nice to see births that were very calm and relaxed. Not only were these births calm, they were FULL of joy! Seriously, these women were so giddy about giving birth and feeling their baby come through their bodies. Some of them were almost euphoric. It was just a beautiful thing to see, to be honest. As I watched, I just kept praying that I would have that kind of joy in giving birth to my sweet boy. My pregnancy has been so joyous thus far and I deeply desire a joyous birth, whatever that looks like. This video definitely encouraged me to continue my prayers for a joyful and exciting birthing process.

I get to increase my exercises this week, keep working on getting my protein numbers high and keep working on physical relaxation. In a week or so, we'll add in mental relaxation techniques as well. I'm looking forward to that. Overall, the class last night was beneficial, I just had to get past all of the "junk" that I had to sift out. There is definitely a "sifting through" process with a lot of the information, but I'm glad to get all the goody out of it and leave the rest behind. I also need to order our list of recommended books . . . guess I should quit blogging and get on that! In case you're curious as to what they are though, here's the list:

"Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McCutcheon
"Husband-Coached Childbirth" by Robert Bradley, MD
"The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" by La Leche League International
"The Baby Book" by William Sears, MD and Martha Sears, RN

A Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a great Halloween! We sure did! It's been a super busy week, but it's been a super great week.

On Wednesday, we had our Fall Fandago at church. This year was by far the best Fall Fandago we've ever had. There were so many wonderful visitors, we had the best selection of chili to eat, tons of cute and yummy cupcakes, our usual parade of Bible characters, hayrides, bouncers for the kids and our first Trunk-or-Treat . . . a true Fall Fandago success!!!

For our parade of Bible characters, the kids come up to the stage and give the adults three clues for us to guess who they are. My very favorite was my friend, Nicholas. I don't have a picture of this cutie, but here's the gist of it . . . a Thomas the Train costume with the clues, "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. Well, I'm not sure. Can I? Maybe I can." Which Bible character was he? None other than doubting Thomas. SO creative and fun!!!

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Our other fun for Halloween this year was hosting a baby girl shower for a very dear friend. Amanda is having her third baby in December and she REALLY didn't want anyone to fuss over her and have a big shower. However, she is in our Care Group at church and we knew that just wasn't okay, so we FINALLY convinced her that the girls in our small group needed to have a something quaint and fun for her.

With a baby girl shower actually on Halloween, we chose pink and orange as our color scheme. Fabulous!!! A delicious brunch of quiche, sausages, biscuits, fruit salad and cupcakes was the perfect menu for our day. It was fun to have everyone bring one of the dishes to eat and get everyones special touch on this fun party. We have a really fun group of girls in our Care Group, so naturally there was A LOT of laughter to fill the house. It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate the birth of this precious baby with a sweet friend!

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We had some excellent Trick-or-Treaters tonight as Vernon and I watched tv together and enjoyed our evening. What a great Halloween! So much fun, so many festivities, so much to enjoy about today!

First Thoughts on Our Childbirth Class

So we started our childbirth class last night. It's very interesting! I think we're going to learn quite a lot of good lessons on top of a lot of good information. I'm mostly writing down my thoughts for me so that I can process through everything better, but if you decide to continue reading, maybe it will be interesting and encouraging to you as well.

The first lesson I learned is that I really shouldn't judge people by their appearances. At first glance, our instructor wasn't exactly what I expected with her multi-colored hair, which to be honest, immediately threw me off a bit. It didn't take too long to get past though because she's genuine, kind and just likable. She has a beautiful and sweet 13 year old daughter and I think I'm really going to enjoy getting to know them.

In our first class, we mostly just covered exercises I need to be doing every day, as well as nutrition. The exercises include walking, tailor sitting, squatting, pelvic rocking, butterflies, kegels and relaxation. It's going to take some reminders and thought to get all of these exercises in, but they really don't take long and aren't too terribly difficult. I just have to remember to do them! Obviously, I feel like the exercises will be beneficial, but I'm most intrigued and excited about the relaxation part.

This first week, Vernon and I are supposed to figure out what positions I'm most relaxed in and he is supposed to observe my body to see where and how I tense up. As he observes, he is supposed to talk me through loosening my muscles and completely relaxing, as well as using light massage or touch in assisting me to relax. And, it works! Tonight as we were doing our exercise, I thought I was relaxed, but Vernon could tell that I was still carrying tension in my shoulders and talked me through completely relaxing them. I'm so excited about this for a couple of reasons: 1) I think this is going to be a beneficial life lesson to learn. Not only am I supposed to do this relaxation with Vernon coaching me, I'm supposed to do one round of relaxation by myself to teach myself how to truly relax my muscles and body . . . learning how to tune in to my own body. After doing the relaxation stuff tonight with Vernon, I am even noticing how much I tense up just as I'm typing. This really is going to be a WONDERFUL thing for me! 2) I also feel like this is going to be a great lesson in submission for me. It is typically a fairly easy thing for me to submit to Vernon because I deeply trust him, but I can tell this is going to take that to another level. In this relaxation exercise, I have to listen to him - to what he sees and feels in order to make my body do what it should do - and I think this just adds a level of submission that I'm looking forward to attaining. Vernon and I talked about how we're a step ahead of some people in this because it will be easier for me to listen to him and trust him in this because we already have a loving, respectful relationship. While I think that we are a step ahead in this area, I know there is more to be learned and I'm looking forward to that. I can see how labor can definitely challenge that trust, so I'm excited about our months of practicing and allowing my husband to lead me and encourage my body in working the way it's supposed to.

On to nutrition. I'll be honest in that I was DREADING this part of the class! Most of the things I have read or heard about how to eat during pregnancy is just ridiculous and unrealistic to me. I've worked very hard to not allow what I've heard to make me feel guilty about my food choices and for the most part, I have been successful in that. I have trusted that my body will ask for what it needs. So, my anxiety going into the nutrition part of the class was just in that I would have to keep reminding myself that my body knew what to do and to just trust that over and over again as I listened. Let me tell you that this program teaches things about nutrition in pregnancy that I have NEVER heard before! My mom has never heard them either and she worked in this business for many years. It was such a wonderful relief and a blessing to hear!

The Bradley method of childbirth takes it's teaching on nutrition from Dr. Thomas Brewer. His number one primary goal in nutrition during pregnancy is getting 75 to 100 grams of protein every day. He prefers for you to get most of it through milk and eggs, since they are whole foods, but he'll take it any way he can get it. The brilliant man even said in his video, "If a pregnant woman wants a candy bar, then just have one with nuts in it so it has some protein added." Love it!!! Of course he emphasizes that should not be the only protein we get (how could you get 75 to 100 grams on just peanut M&M's?) but he's realistic in his expectations and I deeply appreciate that! He also stresses that pregnant women need plenty of salt in their diet and that a lack of salt is often the cause of edema (or swelling) in a lot of pregnant women. I've never met another doctor who actually encourages pregnant women to eat salt! He was also realistic about weight gain during pregnancy. He says that a lot of weight gain due to eating high amounts of protein is never bad during pregnancy and should never be scolded or looked down on. He says the reality of the situation is that all women gain weight differently, some need to gain more than others and that really, no doctor truly knows how much weight a woman should gain during pregnancy. Of course he talks about fruits, vegetables and grains as being important and a part of a good diet, but his main focus is on protein.

I just thought he was refreshing! Women just don't hear that much encouraging news about nutrition these days during pregnancy and I think it's sad. It was also encouraging to me to know that I have indeed been doing the right thing in listening to my body . . . protein is what I have craved my entire pregnancy! I was asked to start paying attention to my protein intake and today, without grocery shopping or doing anything differently than before, I ate a total of 85.3 grams of protein. (3 of those protein grams did indeed come from guilt-free peanut M&M's!) That's astounding to me! In fact, without grocery shopping, I checked off everything on my list of recommended things to eat except the vegetables and 1 egg (he recommends 2 eggs a day). This Mama feels like such a good provider of good food to my sweet boy today! What a blessing!!!

I'm excited to see what all we take on next week. I know my exercises will increase in number and we'll learn another relaxation technique, but other than that, I have no idea what is in store for us. I just feel like we're getting a lot of good information and that is definitely what we were after! We're the only couple in the class since the other couple backed out at the last minute, and she's going to have to cut the class to just 7 weeks total, but I still feel like it is the right class for us to be a part of.

My mom offered good advice that taking a class this early might be difficult in that I don't feel the urgency, and therefore motivation, for doing my exercises and things, and I'll admit that I was easily distracted by life today and didn't get all of my exercises done. So, if you see me, please ask me if I'm doing my exercises! I know they're important . . . I just need the brain power to remember to do them!

The Halloween Decor

Since I'm pregnant and didn't want to haul all of my Halloween decorations up the stairs, I decided just to decorate modestly for Halloween this year. Part of me has enjoyed the break from holiday decorating and part of me really misses my festive decor being out for me to enjoy. What makes it bearable for me though is that almost everything that is out on display is stuff that I bought at the post-halloween sales last year, so it's all new and fun. It's especially fun to think about getting most of it for 90% off!!!

I can't wait to see what I can find at the post-halloween sales this year (or in just a few days)! I got to play Bunko at my friend Melanie's house the other night and her Halloween decorations are just the most fun EVER!!! I've seriously got to get this girl blogging so you can all be amazed by her talent! Her regular decor is simply outstanding and her holiday decor is just unbelievable! I love her for a whole lot of reasons, but decorating inspiration is definitely one of them. Anyway, I always leave her Halloween-decorated house with lots of ideas and excitement for the upcoming sales.

Take a peek at my decor for this year. I've still got my "Wicked" sign on my front door that I put out every year, but other than that and my table linens, it's all new, fun and fresh! Can't wait for our Fall Fandago party at church on the 28th and our Trick-or-Treaters on the 31st!!! Too much fun!!!

Progress!

My mom's recent visit totally got me moving and motivated . . . I love it!!! I finally feel like I'm making progress in getting ready for the arrival of my sweet boy.

While she was here, we bought all the fabric that I need for the nursery, we bought some of the decor and we bought things to get the closet and drawers organized. My mom also helped us move some of the furniture around and think through all of that. Man, was all of that good for me! My mom is just good for me!!!

So, here is what I'm doing in the nursery . . . I'm making a little man room!!! Keeping my husband (who actually enjoys wearing a suit and tie every day) in mind, I decided to buy a bunch of different men's wear fabrics to piece together for a unique, patterned, textured, and neutral background. For pops of color, I'm adding all of Vernon's old ties. I haven't had a clear picture in my mind, just a vague idea, but getting all of the fabric together helped me come up with some ideas. With my new-found motivation, I came up with the dust ruffle and got it finished last week. I think it's super cute, but really, it's way cuter in person than it is in the pictures. I should've taken pictures of it before I put it on the bed for you to get the full effect of what I did, I think. Anyway, here's what I came up with for my little man . . .





Here is some of the decor that is going in the room. I've had the "Expect a Miracle" sign for almost a year as we waited for our miracle, but most of the rest of it has been recent purchases. Oh, and the quilt on the end of the bed was made by Vernon's mom for his future son long before I ever even came into the picture. I love that! The other quilt that is folded up in the bed was also made by Vernon's mom out of quilt squares that she had Vernon draw when he was a little boy. It's adorable. I'll show all of those sweet details off another day . . . maybe a special post for all of Grandmama's sewing for Ian.



And, here are Ian's sweet little things folded in the drawer and hanging in the closet. I love, love, LOVE it!!! Can't wait to get my little man into some of those sweet, snuggly things! (Is it completely silly to show off his drawers and closet? Only a smitten Mama would do such a thing, huh?)




The other fire my mom helped ignite in me was in finding a childbirthing class. My mom used to be a lamaze instructor, so I've always leaned toward the idea of natural childbirth. I love that all forms of natural childbirth methods teach that every woman has the power and the wisdom inside of them to give birth on their own. I definitely believe that, so it's exciting to me to pursue this option as a part of my priviledge as a woman.

Let me tell you though, it is not easy to find classes in this area for any kind of natural childbirth methods!!! If we were in Birmingham, I would have all kinds of options available to me for natural childbirthing methods . . . everything from lamaze to hypnobirthing. On a side note, I've had two friends do hypnobirthing lately (not that lived here) and let me tell you, it is completely intriguing to me! Birmingham is too far of a drive for that though, so I continued my search here for anything that would help in my quest. I feel like I finally found a class that is going to be wonderful for me. There is a lady in Auburn who does a 12 week program teaching the Bradley method of natural childbirth. I haven't heard much about this method until my research, and to be honest, I'm not 100% sure it's the BEST method for me, but it's a very in-depth program and I know that it will be truly wonderful for me, and for Vernon, and give me a lot to think about. I also love that it is a program that will focus on Vernon a lot and in giving him the tools he needs to help me as I progress along in the birthing process. The class starts on Monday and I'm excited to get started and see what all it's about. I'll write more about it after we get started, I'm sure.

Let me also say that I am totally not opposed to any type of birthing experience I end up having. I don't want to be disappointed in any way with our birthing experience, so if I end up wanting an epidural or needing a c-section, I'm totally great with that. I may not know 100% what type of natural childbirth method is best for me, but I know that any knowledge in that area is beneficial and helpful to me, and that the Lord can form my thoughts and ideas from there. I really don't want to go into the birthing experience with any set expectations, but I do want to go into birth fully armed and prepared for anything that could happen. For me, taking an extensive natural childbirth class totally helps me in that goal. I can't wait to get started and see what it's all about!

Ian is progressing right along as well! We had a great doctor's appointment yesterday and heard his strong heartbeat again. Have I mentioned how much I love that? Everything looks good with the both of us . . . right on target with weight gain and growth, that strong heartbeat, and so on. Ian kicks up a storm and I love it. Vernon has been feeling him kick for a long time too and of course, he LOVES that! Ian was shy about kicking for his Mam, but she finally sneaked up on him and felt him. Precious boy!

Other funny pregnancy things I've been noticing have to do with my hair . . . the hair on my head is dry as a bone, but the hair on my legs is hardly growing at all. Loving that part! I went to get my hair cut today and get advice on what to do about it being so dry, but she stood me up and has been ignoring my messages all afternoon. Anyone have a good hair person I can use??? Or any advice for what to do with dry, pregnancy hair?

I've also set an end date for my photography sessions and when I'll go on "maternity leave" . . . December 22nd is the last day for photo shoots until further notice. It's crazy to me that we're getting close enough to the end to have to think about that.

I think that's all I have for now. I can't really can't believe I'll be 22 weeks along on Saturday . . . simply amazing! And, flying by at lightening speed!!!

Mam is coming!!!

Ian's Mam is coming to see us tomorrow and we are SO EXCITED!!! Ian has been so active and kicking up a storm as we get ready. Mam is going to help us get Ian's room in order and just to give you a peek at what we're working on, I leave you this image that I bought the other day to go in the room . . .

Makes you curious about our plans, huh? It's going to be FABULOUS!!! We won't be able to get everything done while she's here because we need to leave the furniture set up as it is over the holidays, so you'll just have to live with this image as a teaser for a few more months. And, if you come up with any fun ideas about what might be cute with this image, let me know . . . I'm always looking for new, fun and creative ideas!

Yay for Mam!!!

Another couple . . .

. . . that makes me want to kiss my husband as I remember the excitement of being engaged and starting our life together! Oh, the joy of being in love!!!

Aren't Cousins the Best?

These cousins sure do think so! Too much fun!!!