little feet, big sky

Finally made it back to prenatal yoga this morning. :-) Have been putting it off like a slob, and as I’ve noticed more aches and pains over the past couple of weeks, I realized I had to start doing something about it now before it turns into a colossal problem later.

Overall, it was so worth it, because I met another expecting mom who was planning a homebirth, too! It’s amazing, because out of the entire prenatal class, the instructor had commented privately to me that I was the only homebirth in the class. The others were all planning hospital births, planned medication and even planned inductions. Wow. I always thought yoga would attract the more hippie types, but I guess not! So it was nice to catch up with this random, normal non-hippie woman who was also working on a home birth with midwives & a doula. We chatted for a bit and swapped email addresses to keep in touch. :-)

My local yoga place is adding another prenatal class midweek in the evenings, and I vow to go to that one, too. Two days at week. I’m also planning on getting an elliptical here at home to work out on daily. Hopefully, more exercise will take care of my increasing back tension and will give me more energy. Hopefully!

A few reasons to love maternity jeans:

• No need to loosen your belt after a meal.
• No need to even wear a belt!
• Never having to worry that your fly is down.
• If you’re wearing a full panel, not having to worry that your crack is showing!
• Being stylish even when “fat” and bloated in slimfit preggo jeans and a glam top.

Sure, there are expensive maternity jeans out there, but honestly – a good pair of jeans can last you years, right? So why spend crazy money on a single pair of maternity jeans when you’re going to wear them for maybe 9 months in total? I LIVE in jeans, so I figured I’d go for a fairly cheap pair or two, and have money left over for mix and match tops. The other trick is to find sale stuff at the more expensive maternity stores; I was lucky enough to find a Liz Lange store that was closing down.

My maternity wardrobe:

• 1 pair of Secret Fit jeans [Mimi Maternity, $80]
• 4 stretchy tank tops [Old Navy Maternity, $10/ea]
• 2 short sleeved tees [Old Navy Maternity, $13/ea]
• 2 long sleeved tees [Old Navy Maternity, $13/ea]
• 3 silk-cashmere halter sweater tops [Liz Lange Maternity, $140 ea, on sale $20/ea]

My new car came on Saturday! I had bought it though carsdirect.com and it was so easy and hassle-free. I know, I know – I must sound like an ad! :-) I’d started with emailing dealers to find out if they had the one I wanted in stock, with a certain color and a few options, and they kept replying with slightly vague answers, usually implying they had it in stock when they didn’t, in a effort to get me to walk in to their dealership. Ugh, so annoying.

So I filled out the form on carsdirect to have someone call me back and dealt with one incredibly helpful, mindful person from the first ring to the day it was delivered. The car I wanted was just coming into port, so he put me in touch with one person at the dealership it was being sent to and that guy was the one who personally drove the car to our house, let us drive it around the neighborhood, walked through signing the paperwork with us (a 5-minute process), and then spent another 15 minutes in the car with me, walking me through all the features & settings. He was in and out in an hour and I had a shiny new car. :-) I just can’t imagine buying a car the “old” way now.

I was about halfway through Tina Cassidy’s Birth when I stopped, slipped in a bookmark and put the book away.

I’ve been reading for over the past year like the information whore I am, and I’ve reached my saturation point. Where before I’ve been happy to gobble up new information, research, tips and theories, I guess I’m at a stage in my pregnancy where I’m starting to believe that from here on out, it’s how I feel about things rather than what the numbers say. I’m trusting more in how I feel when it comes to eating, sleeping and moving around. I’ve stopped calorie-counting to make sure I’m eating enough because I was previously worried about not gaining enough, and I’m so much happier for it. I don’t keep junk food in the house other than tortilla chips and some trashy chocolate and I have this rule that if I want cookies, I have to make ‘em myself. :-) I’ve stopped counting how many hours I sleep at night and don’t begrudge myself the occasional afternoon lie-down.

I’m nervous about saying this, because I’m sure there are others out there that will read this and say, “Hey, that sounds good, I’m going to stop reading up more on childbirth.” Please, please – keep reading until you’re genuinely sick of it. :-) When other parents remark on how confident and comfortable I seem for a first-time future mom, I can’t help think it’s thanks to all the books I’ve read and stuff I’ve learned. I loved what I read in Birth so far, but the more I fixate on how much as gone wrong in the history of pregnant women, the more depressing my own outcome seemed. Maybe I’ll pick it up again in the coming months, but if not, I know I’ll finish it later.

I hadn’t even thought of this, but it’s another reason I’m skipping the classic doctor-hospital route and happy for a midwife-assisted homebirth:

Pregnant women are more likely to catch the flu and become very sick, which can cause pregnancy problems. Pregnant women go to the doctor’s office a lot for regular check ups (can’t they get some new magazines in the waiting room, already?) which means they won’t be able to stay home and avoid people who may have the flu.

- From APHA’s Get Ready for Flu Blog

I’ve had an easy time so far with weight gain in terms of eating well and gaining just the right amount. Thought I’d share some tips from various sources & just from my own meandering experience. :-)

• Pick one type of indulgent junk food to keep in the house and toss the rest. Don’t think too hard about it being wasteful, or if you just can’t do that, try giving it to friends or taking it to work to leave in the lunchroom. :-) Chances are good that there are only so many Doritos you can eat repeatedly.
• Stock up on fresh fruits and keep fruit juices to a minimum. Drinking lots of fruit juice may seem healthy at first glance, but fruit sugar is still sugar. Eating your fruit whole increases the time it takes for the sugar to hit. You can only eat a few oranges at a time, whereas one 8 oz. glass of juice probably has the sugar of say 6-8 oranges, without the fiber to slow the sugar rush. Pregnant women are already more insulin-resistant (meaning that you have a higher blood sugar than normal by default) and pushing those blood sugar numbers up can lead to serious complications and interventions later in pregnancy. Plus, fiber is good in helping you feel full.
• Cut the caffeine & sodas. Your baby really doesn’t need extra sugar or caffeine. My rationale is that the effect of caffeine or sugar on a person is similar to stress: the heart races, the adrenaline picks up, etc. It’s been proven that babies exposed to stress in the womb can suffer all sorts of problems, mainly because while we can respond with the fight-or-flight instinct, our pre-birth babies can do neither! I love my crazy caffeine drinks (candy, chocolates, etc ), but I don’t want my baby to be any more stressed or jittery than he/she would be after birth, so it’s a temporary sacrifice on my part.
• Start your morning with whole grains and a huge glass of water. This has been a lifesaver for me in terms of keeping those freak hunger attacks under control until lunch. For something cold and quick, I’ve taken to Kashi’s GoLean Crunch with a mix of almond and regular milk. If I want something hot, I whip up some quinoa, topped with fresh fruit, a bit of yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup. The water is a must for preventing constipation, another delightful pregnancy experience.
• Drink only water. You really do need those annoying 6-8 glasses of water a day when you’re pregnant, in spite of the hassle of peeing every few hours. If you have trouble with this one (as I do), cut out all other drinks other than water. I’ve taken to drinking my water at home with a mere splash of juice in it for flavor. Treat yourself to the occasional tea once a week, or a soda or coffee once a month.
• Evaluate your meal choices and ask yourself nutritionally, “Would I give this to my two-year-old?” If it’s junk food, overly greasy, has few natural ingredients, has a high sugar content, your answer will most likely be no, and that’s a good sign that you should find something better. Remember that your baby only gets the nutrition that you give yourself.
• Get used to eating half portions. Your stomach (and intestines) are getting squeezed and pushed, so you’re likely to suffer indigestion, heartburn, and bloating. When eating out, I eat about half, or until I just start to feel full, then ask for the rest to go. If this is tough because it’s really tasty, a friend recommended boxing up half to go before even eating. I find I’m usually hungry again within an hour or two and can finish off the other portion then.
• Walk around for at least 30 minutes after eating. Failing that, remain upright (sit, stand) to let gravity help your food digest.

Overall, just make the best choices you can, and feel good about doing right by your child. The better you eat now, the more your taste buds will change and you’ll eat better later. In turn, you’ll pass on healthy eating habits to your children. :-)

The Pregnancyandbaby.com blog had some great tips for entertaining curious babies:

Move activities to a better setting: Say your little one discovers that overturning a water cup results in mass fun and mess. No scolding, a simple, “We don’t pour water on the carpet” will do. Move your baby’s fun to the tub or an empty outside wading pool. Give her cups, sponges, and squirters, and let her go to town.

- Pregnancy & Baby Blog » Blog Archive » Supporting curious babies

I don’t know the gender of my little sprout, and I don’t think I’ll want to find out before the birth. :-) A friend suggested that we ask the doctor or the ultrasound tech to write the gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. So we did just that.

It’s currently sitting on the window ledge next to my desk in our home office space. We opted for this choice because it’s convenient in case we change our minds on wanting to know. :-) I’d suggest it for anyone, though because honestly, would you rather find out over a romantic dinner with your SO, or curled up with a nice cup of tea, or in a cold, sterile doctor’s office with goop on your belly?

We tried to tell a few people that we have the gender written down and sealed, and the response is usually some kind of surprise that we’re not more tempted to open it.

I’m getting a new car soon. My current wheels are neither baby-safe nor practical with a wee one. :-( I feel a bit of an ingrate though because I’m really, really going to miss my truck. I’ve had so many good times in that truck, so many good memories. *sigh* It’s not so much a status thing as it is a rite of passage, but I’m still going to miss her.

It’s interesting though because I realized that all my cars have come at a major life junction: when I moved out, when I bought my first place, and now expecting my first child. Each car has been suited to its task, too: an SUV, a truck and now a sporty hatchback.

GTI, here I come!

I’ll be taking a Birthing From Within childbirth class this weekend and I’m really looking forward to it. One of the tenets of the book is a teacher talking about how for their classes, they don’t ask couples to bring pillows, believing that they don’t want couples to be lulled into a false sense of complacency about labor. That feels so right to me, and I hope the class feels the same.

I opted against taking the Bradley method of childbirth classes because given the insane amount of research I’ve already done on pregnancy and childbirth, I didn’t feel like I would be learning anything new. Much to my delight, our midwife agreed with me and recommended the Birthing From Within class.

And IMHO, Lamaze and generic hospital childbirth classes are either a joke or completely counter-intuitive.