Category: Pregnancy

A Girl or a Boy?

26 weeks pregnant while on vacation in Santa Cruz
Pregnant at 26 weeks

A quick mama-baby update:
No more (precautionary) bed rest for me! An ultrasound revealed that all is well with the baby and the state of my cervix (especially now that the baby isn’t continually bouncing up and down on it). We are incredibly relieved.

So now our family has this awesome secret that we’re excited to share with you.

Baby's profile in utero at 26 weeks pregnant

Do you think we’re having a boy or a girl?

Please leave a comment with your guess and then check back here tomorrow for the big reveal!

Essential Reading List for Pregnancy

Since I’ve received so many awesome notes and emails from future mamas who are following my pregnancy, I thought I’d share some of the best pregnancy books and magazines that I’ve read over the last couple years.

Having a Baby NaturallyMy all-time favorite book about pregnancy and birth is: Having a Baby, Naturally: The Mothering Magazine Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth. I believe this is the ultimate guide for expectant mothers, containing vital information about diet and nutrition, exercise, birth choices, pain medication alternatives, prenatal testing, breastfeeding, postpartum depression and so much more. This book isn’t just for women giving birth at home, but for all women giving birth. The trimester-by-trimester descriptions are fantatic, the natural remedies for common ailments and those pesky pregnancy symptoms (like morning sickness) are excellent and really work. I highly recommend this book for all pregnant women. If you only read one book during your pregnancy, this should be it.

Baby BookThe Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two is another essential read before your baby arrives. It is so important to learn about baby care ahead of time so you feel less overwhelmed once the little one gets here (if that’s even possible!). As someone who has babysat infants and young children since middle school, I know how important it is to feel prepared. Read this book cover to cover and then keep it as a reference guide (thank you for my copy, mom!). You’ll learn about what to expect in terms of newborn behaviors, developmental stages, how to change diapers, give baths, breastfeed — all basic things that you need to know. I am a big fan Dr. Sears’ other books as well, but I really feel this is the most useful and comprehensive guide. He also has a great website AskDrSears with a wealth of information about pregnancy and childcare. Check it out!

Womanly Art of BreastfeedingBreastfeeding mamas across the country seem to be in agreement that this La Leche League guide, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, is THE breastfeeding book to read (thank you, Ranni and April!). I’ve read it twice and own a copy as a reference guide. It’s easy to read, comprehensive, and makes breastfeeding seem easy (because even if it isn’t easy at times, the book presents hundreds of helpful tips to fix problems so that breastfeeding is doable). Highly recommend it!

Vegetarian PregnancySome other great reads:

Your Vegetarian Pregnancy: A Month-by-Month Guide to Health and Nutrition – We bought and read this one before I got pregnant and I strongly recommend that all vegetarian mamas do the same. The sections on nutrition are must-reads for women who have a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. In our house we also eat seafood, nevertheless the book was incredibly helpful in terms of healthy snack ideas, nutritional and herbal supplements (including lots of information on herbs and essential oils to avoid!). Throughout my pregnancy, I’ve used this as a reference guide time and time again.

Fit Pregnancy MagazineI’ve been reading Fit Pregnancy Magazine for years, possibly since before we were even married. This is hands-down my favorite pregnancy magazine. Yes, lots of the information in it is mainstream, but they do a great job of showing a wide-range of viewpoints, which I really like because I am the type of person who likes to read about everything and then make an informed decision on what works best for me. This magazine has fantastic recipes, awesome fitness tips for prenatal and postpartum exercising, and I love their factoids from recent scientific studies. They are also very pro-breastfeeding, frequently very ecogroovy, and have great fashion tips. I think all pregnant women should at least check it out. (They also have a great website.)

My husband and I have also read many, many back issues of Mothering Magazine and the Compleat Mother (our midwife gave them to us for free). David definitely likes both of these magazines more than I do, though I recognize that they are fantastic and very needed publications in themselves. They are very alternative: pro-breastfeeding, anti-formula, anti-vaccines, pro-co-sleeping, pro-home birth, etc. And while we both agree with all of those stances, I get bored reading about the same view points in every issue. I feel like once you’ve read several back issues and Mothering’s essential Having a Baby, Naturally (discussed above), you’ve assimilated their information and can move on.

I received Spiritual Midwifery as a gift (thank you, Chelsea) and completely loved it. While most women read it for the birth stories, I much preferred the information for midwives (the entire second half of the book). I just soaked up the diagrams and descriptions about prenatal care and birth. I’ve also read excerpts from Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth; the pieces about pain management are excellent. Sadly, I never got around to reading the rest of it, but hopefully you can fit it in.

Other valuable (and fun!) books that I enjoyed:

Hope this list is helpful (and not too overwhelming!). Happy reading!

(Btw, did I miss an awesome book? Please leave a comment with the title!)

Probably too much information

We made it to 39 weeks! Hooray!

Okay, now it’s time to give birth.

Really.

I think I’ve had enough of being pregnant, thank you very much.

Our whole experience over the last two months really amazes me actually.

* Look out, here come the details! If you’re not interested, skip the rest of this post. Really. *

In early December the baby discovered a fun new game, which involved bouncing its head on my cervix — evidently THE thing to do! As a result my cervix thinned, I started dilating and having very frequent and increasingly painful Braxton-Hicks contractions around 32 weeks. We completely expected me to go into labor. I immediately stopped all yoga and exercise activities, was put on bedrest, started taking herbs to halt everything, and all pre-labor symptoms stopped. For over three weeks I spent every moment lying on my side. And it worked. No more contractions. Still lots of baby-cervix time, but no contractions. Phew!

At 36 weeks, when it was finally safe to give birth at home, I weaned off the herbs and thought, “okay, the baby will be here soon.” At the same time, however, the baby decided that it didn’t really want to be born right now and moved off my cervix. Now, don’t misunderstand: the baby is still right there in position. And it does “re-discover” my cervix every now and then (several times a day). But it’s no longer wedged directly on top of it all the time. Much less painful for me, but also that much less pressure getting me primped for delivery.

Fast forward to my 38 week prenatal appointment. My cervix has thinned more and changed direction (all good things!), the baby is actually further down and in position, but I’m still dilated the same as I was in December. So, while some things are progressing along, it still could be a little while.

This past week I had contractions every day and experienced most of the signs that labor is imminent. Suddenly the baby feels much heavier, I’m peeing every 30 minutes, and, oh, vomiting was the highlight of my week (gotta clear out my system!). Luckily, I’ve had absolutely no bloating nor have I experienced the other annoying and painful late pregnancy symptoms. (I’d like to chuck this up to the fact that I’ve eaten really well the whole pregnancy and lead a healthy lifestyle.)

So, yep, we’ve made it to 39 weeks and the baby isn’t here yet.

I know that all pregnant women feel impatient waiting around for the baby to arrive, but geez I’ve been waiting for a month and a half! And I could be waiting for three more weeks… Every time I have a couple contractions close together, I think, “this could be it!” and then, of course, it turns out to be much ado about nothing.

Patience is so not my strongest virtue.

Thank goodness I am OH SO EXCITED about the baby. No matter what, it is all so worth it.

Not here yet

The baby is still inside me. A friend said to David the other day, “Carrie’s home growing a baby!” To which David replied, “The baby is grown.” (How cute is that?!) Yep, we’re just waiting.

Two days (and nights) of frequent (mostly painless) Braxton-Hicks contractions, compulsive nesting (got my email inbox down to <5 emails! the kitchen is shiny!), and we already know that my cervix is paper-thin, the baby is in position, and I’m dilating… we’re just waiting!

Just waiting!

I think I’ll go do some squats and then sit on my birthing ball. And drink a protein shake. Come on, little one. We can’t wait to meet you!

(Btw, it appears my maternity shirts are fully stretched across my belly… If this baby gets any bigger I may have to be topless for a while.)

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Some interesting health-related links:
+ Just in case you need yet another reason not to drink cola or use antibacterial soap.