Fish Fry-day (get it?) and fun at home

It is becoming something of a tradition in our family to attend the nearby Catholic church's Lenten fish fry. We had a lovely time out with some friends tonight, and by the time we were ready to leave, AB and Noah finally decided to overcome their shyness and have fun playing with each other. Friends, greasy fried fish, fries, mac'n'cheese, and applesauce...what more could our little hearts desire?

After we got home, we enjoyed spending some musical time together, and this is how we ended off before bedtime. Oh the cuteness!

Milestone, symptoms, blessing bracelet

As of 5:39 this morning, this pregnancy has officially lasted longer than AB's. I woke up just before 7 (not on purpose), had a little celebratory moment to myself thinking about this, and went back to sleep. So now I'm entering the unknown territory of what it's really like to be pregnant that last month :-)

Speaking of 'what it's like,' I thought I'd share (cause I'm sure you're dying to know) my most annoying & weirdest pregnancy 'symptoms.' I don't like calling them symptoms since it further promotes the crazy medicalization of a normal life event that this country seems to be alone in the world stage in continuing into the 21st century, but that's a rant for another time, and I haven't figured out a better term to use, so symptoms it is. So for most annoying, heartburn/acid reflux wins by a landslide. I had forgotten how bad it was, but oh lordy, I remember now! And for weirdest, it's all these skin tags that seem to be multiplying on my neck. So strange, and I wonder if they'll go away on their own when the rest of my body goes back to normal.

And finally, I wanted to show you my sweet, eclectic bracelet from the mommy shower that Catherine threw me! It's an idea I got from reading Birthing from Within (see previous post on my pregnancy reads) that I really wanted to do, so I manned up and just asked for it. Not my usual MO, but I figured nobody else was going to just come up with this on their own and think it's a great idea, so what the heck, may as well just throw the idea out there and see if it works. And it did!

So the idea is that each person comes to the shower with a bead and a blessing for momma/birth/baby, they all share said blessing, and I get a fun piece of jewelry to wear throughout the rest of my pregnancy and birth to remind me of the blessings, well wishes, and love from my friends. The shower was almost a week ago, and I just got around to making them into a bracelet last night, but I'm really happy that I finally did, and exited to wear this until baby comes (hopefully at least another week!). Although it's a bit heavy for a bracelet, so I'm thinking of heading to a craft store, buying some jewelry making wire, and turning it into a necklace. Perhaps after my oil change this morning.

Well that's all the randomness I have for you right now, so see ya when I see ya.  :-)

pregnancy and childbirth reads

I recently composed an email to a friend with some thoughts on books I'm reading, have read, or think would be good to read during pregnancy, and I thought I'd share here as well, in case there are any others embarking on the fun mommyhood adventure. I'd also love to get feedback from others who have enjoyed or found anything else helpful!

One book that I haven't read but that comes highly recommended (and I probably would read, or at least check out from the library, if I were earlier in my pregnancy) is Pregnancy Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide by Penny Simkin, and I've also heard really good things about another book by her, The Birth Partner, which is geared toward the "labor companion"...These books are praised for their comprehensive, unbiased approach to talking about risks and benefits of lots of ways of doing things in pregnancy and childbirth without having an ulterior motive they're trying to push. A book that was recommended to me when I was pregnant with AB is Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent. I REALLY enjoyed reading this book, and it was so helpful in normalizing the birthing process for me...I felt much less fear after reading it. It's written memoir-style, so it's less like a pregnancy/childbirth how-to guide or information resource, and more of just a fun read.

The other two books I'm reading this time (picked them up kind of late in the game) are Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin and Birthing from Within by Pam England. If you haven't heard of her yet, Ina May Gaskin is basically a pioneer in the US for midwifery, and she runs (and has since the 60s I think) a midwife birth center practice out on a hippie-ish farm in Tenessee that's famous among natural childbirth types. The first half of the book is all birth stories, which I found only so-so to read through, and the second half is more informative. If you decide to read this one, I would recommend starting out with at least a couple of the birth stories, and then when you've had enough of those, flipping over to the second half...then maybe going back and forth. I got a little bogged down just reading birth story after birth story, and am enjoying it more now that I'm onto the second half. Ina May has a lot of wisdom from her years of experience, and it's clear that she respects and is respected by a lot of other doctors and people in the field.

Birthing from Within is a little "crunchy" for my taste, but I'm also finding it helpful too. It's actually helping me connect a little more with the crunchier side of me. And it's been really good in helping me prepare emotionally for having another birth, thinking through what was difficult and good about AB's birth and actually dealing with some of the fears I have rather than just pushing them down and trying to pretend they don't exist. There are parts that I kind of skim, and then others that I really delve into. I even took her advice and made some birth art, which was a little outside of my comfort zone, but opening myself up to that kind of idea was really helpful for me I think.

And of course the Hypnobabies course is intended to be an all-in-one childbirth course, so it has a lot of good information in it too. Also, I've found some good info online, just googling something when I wanted to learn more. My doula also turned me onto a blog which I really like, http://evidencebasedbirth.com. Two other blogs that she recommends are www.childbirthconnection.org and birthsource. 

So that's basically word for word the email I sent to a friend. :-) And YES, I'm going to try hypnosis for childbirth! I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to see how it differs from my previous experience. I've been doing a self-study course which involves listening to a 30-40 minute hypnosis session each day, and so far I have to say that even just the immense relaxation I've gotten from doing the course has been worth it. I'll definitely post an update after the birth to share how it went. 

So what pregnancy and birth resources have you used, or do you love (or hate)? Do share!