Week 29: Day 1 - New pictures posted!!

I finally got my side & front pictures up - before they were too big and squished and I looked like a dwarf, LOL. I finally made them into a collage sort of thing, and here are my 6 1/2 month pictures. I'll be taking pictures again at 8 months, week 32, and comparing them with my previous SAD pregnancy pictures - that is going to be interesting!! My mouth dropped when I looked at those pictures of my last pregnancy...I can't believe the difference. Stay tuned!!

I've been having some very good, reflective days lately. I've gotten some excellent advice from friends who truly care, not just being nit-picky because they don't "like" how I've chosen to eat. I am realizing that I need to chill a little bit and not be so worried about my weight, and just relish this time of having a baby growing inside of me. I know from past experience that it seems like you wait & wait & wait for the pregnancy to be O.V.E.R and then once the baby IS born, everything is a huge blur and all of a sudden they're like 4 months old.

I'm still going to post my weight each week because I'm also doing it for documentation purposes for future pregnancies, but I'm not going to have the "max weight by xx weeks" goal anymore. I'm going to let my body do it's thing, be happy the entire time no matter how much I gain - and really enjoy this!! I can enjoy it, this pregnancy particularly, because I do feel so good and I don't have so much extra weight on me.

I still have energy - it's just amazing how it's continued on even though my tummy is heavier, I still have a grounded, ever-consistent energy that is just "there" when I need it. Like yesterday, we did the whole frenzied household in the morning thing to get to church by 10am (ended up taking two cars, I got there 15 minutes late with the two youngest, LOL!) and then pushed my daughter on the swing for 20 min, and stayed through lunch which is usually pretty stressful. Trying to get everyone's plate right (cut up & eliminating things certain kids don't like, adding things to others), feed the baby, plus myself - DH helps too thank goodness!

After that we went home and I paid all the bills which is brain energy - trying to figure out the budget and how much do we have for this, for that - trying not to stress. LOL. Then DH took all the kids except the baby to a birthday party at 4pm and I marathon Ebay auction listed until he got back, which was around 7pm. After that, I cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher which has gotten quite interesting lately with my big belly in the way; I have to do this awkward twist sort of thing. That was done at 9pm, and that usually would be WAY too late for me to even attempt something like that. But I just had......energy, to do all that. Of course around 9:30 I became very tired at which point I went to bed - and that was fine, because it was time to...I didn't need to do anything else.

So anyway - this morning I took 45 minutes and sat with my kiddos on the couch w/their fuzzy blankets and we read books. Lots of books. I haven't done that in such a long time - I'm always hurried to get this or that done, usually computer or housework or trying to get ready to go somewhere. It was so nice, and they were so happy. My daughter who is 3, does this thing where she makes noises like a happy kitty when she snuggles with me - it's so cute, I need to do that more. Like she's perfectly, wonderfully, 100% happy just to sit with me.

Back to the point of this blog, though - I weighed in at 149 this morning. I was actually surprised - I thought it would be more; it was 151 a couple of days ago. Main reason is because I've been struggling eating raw again - yesterday I had pizza, salad w/all the trimmings (eggs, cheese, olive, dressing) and then ate some fries & a blizzard from Dairy Queen! I ate blizzards two days in a row. But - today is a new day and I'm just doing that, taking it one day at a time which is where this blog got it's name.

Here's the weight stats so far:

Weeks 1-10: 134 to 141
Weeks 11-20: 141 to 141
Weeks 21-25: 141 to 144
Week 26: 144
Week 27: 145
Week 28: 146
Week 29: 149
Weight gain so far: 15 lbs. My doctor is going to be happy with that! =)

Speaking of my doctor. I've been doing alot of soul-searching, online searching, talking to friends and have come to realize that I really, REALLY don't want a hospital birth. I don't want to be told to lie down on the bed to give birth against gravity, when to push/not to push, I don't want people checking my (usually different nurses as they change shifts) cervix several times which is always quite painful, etc etc.

I long for a quiet birthing room that I can be free to be myself and do what I feel my body is telling me to do for labor, to have someone there that is going to stay with me through the entire process (midwife or doula) that I trust, and isn't going to be changing shifts soon. But most of all, a water birth is what I am drawn to. The thought of having a tub of warm water to relax in during labor & delivery if I so desire is something that gives me the most relief from fear of pain.

So last night I gathered up my information and talked to DH about it. He's been against a home birth completely, because of my 3yr old DD being in ICU for 6 days when she was born due to not breathing when she came out. It's a legitimate fear, really. I found this incredible-sounding birth center 30 min. away from me that sounds so perfect, exactly EVERYTHING I want. The rooms are like a luxery hotel with poster beds and cozy decor - and it costs less than a hospital. I am hoping our insurance will cover it, because he said it sounded great!! I am so ecstatic, I could barely sleep last night thinking of how different this birth will be than my previous ones. And with the water birth & also hypnobirthing techniques, I feel that I'll be able to make it through the pain and it could truly be a wonderful experience. I would be switching over from my normal OB to a midwife and that will be alot different for me, but I think much better fit for how I have changed in the past year. Here's the website: http://www.waterbirth.net/