Blogging our first pregnancy and child rearing, all the ups and downs, tears and laughs and overthinking that not only comes with being knocked up and a new Momma, but with just being me.
What you do in the 9th Month-pt. 1
I’m in the 9th month now, on Tuesday I’ll be 37 weeks and that means 3 more weeks until 40 weeks which they call full gestation.
I some days still cannot believe that I have a baby in side of me.
Yesterday morning I woke up and turned to Matt and said, “I have a baby inside of me.” It still hits me like that.
We went to our Bradley class yesterday. Since we’re having a home birth it was a semi private class with one other home birthing couple that was just 3 hours instead of 6 weeks. The instructor, Celeste, explained, “The first 5 weeks of my normal class are about how to avoid hospital interventions so you have the natural birth you want, you guys are already doing that by not leaving your homes so we just need an afternoon.”
We got a crash course in basic labor and birth- what happens to the baby and your body parts when- and then moved in to good labor and birthing positions and how the partner can help with touch, presence and massage.
It was great, and really all that I needed was captured in those 3 hours.
Celeste mentioned at one point how she felt home birthers were much more prepared for what labor and birth (because they are two very separate things, one being about the woman and one much more about the baby) were going to be like and feel like and why. She showed us a doll and said, “this is the size of an average newborn- this is the size of her head.” We both nodded and said, “Okay, that’s actually smaller than I thought.” Which made her laugh because her hospital class usually looks at her with faces full of fear.
And, I do feel prepared. I’ve read good books, (Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth being the best for me), I’ve become in tune with my body and with what this process may take it through, I’ve slowly learned how I can let go of the control I crave in my daily life, I’ve kept active, I’ve eaten healthy.
So as we reach the mark where I need to be to stay home even with an early labor I’m feeling even more prepared.
