Tick Tick Tick

The plug has been pulled, metaphorically speaking, and the bomb is set to go off. Or at least that's how I feel. Its like I'm being watched as if I will go off at any second. Even strangers ask me.....For example I went into Concord pet last week by myself to pick up treats for our dogs when I was spotted from across the store by a lady who asked me if I should be out by myself. When I told her I felt good and wasn't having any problems she then asked how far over due I was. I was only 37 weeks. She looked at me then told me she was an O.R. nurse at Union Hospital (where we're delivering) and said I don't think you'll make it to your due date. Which funny enough nor does anyone else. In fact family and friends have started calling, emailing and asking if we have had the baby yet. No not yet we keep telling everyone. We gave the grandparents a list of people to call after the baby is born and we promise to post a picture and announcement on the blog as soon as we can. As for now I will await the detonation.

A Friends Blessing

Here is the henna tattoo my good friend Gunjan did for me this past Sunday. The application of henna is known as mehndi. It is thought to be a blessing to have it applied in the last part of a pregnancy bringing an easy birth and a healthy child.

The mother of my child

Beautiful, glowing
Light shines from within herself--
A mother in snow.

The Belly Cast

Sue and I did this cast of my belly when I was about 8 1/2 months pregnant. She did the Plaster cast and I finished off with clay and paint. We hope everyone enjoys this wonderful keepsake that mom-to-be and grandma-to-be created.

Yoga for you, Yoga for me, Yoga for baby

For starters I didn't make Dave take yoga with me. I just didn't give him a choice. Kidding. I simply ask him if he'd be interseted in taking a beginners yoga class with me since my prenantal yoga had been canceled. The yoga instructor said I would be fine in the beginners class because there were two other moms-to-be who had signed up also. So Dave and I show up for our first class and I'm the biggest one out of the three moms-to-be. Most of our class mates take one look and thought "Oh she's not going to be able to do this." Little did they know I've been a ballet dancer for most of my life and have been condtioned for stretching and strengthing. After a few weeks of class some of our class mates come up to me and say "Man I don't know how you bend and stretch like that"...well I had to tell them about the ballet. Dave however is still mad that I can out stretch him. We do love taking the class together. Its a wonderful feeling to have him there with me. Taking the class with other pregnant women is wonderful too. I met and befriended another mom-to-be named Anne, who happened to be a hypnobirthing instructor. Which is something we were intereseted in. We decided to persue classes with her and felt that the phylosophy (http://www.hypnobirthing.com/) was in tune with what we wanted out of this birth. All in all the yoga has done wonders for us, with meeting people such as Anne, lowering bloodpressure (which was already normal), balancing those nasty pregnancy hormones, to keeping me from developing a waddle (thank god for the last one!).

"Baby Cleaver's" Room

Birthing Classes

As most of you know Dave and I are planning to have our baby at Union Hospital in Elkton. We chose Union for the family atmosphere and wonderful doctors that had come highly recommended. Another reason we chose Union was the nurses and doctors are trained in natural childbirth and they don't push drugs.We started our birthing classes at the end of September. Luckily our teacher was Kristen Allen, the labor and delivery nurse I had met while working at Blue Iris Spa. Now I had heard Horror stories about some birthing classes, but to our surprise when class started Kristen put in Bill Cosby's "Natural Childbirth" sketch video. It loosened everyone up and made most people a little less nervous. But the funniest part about the classes was who was in them with us......Our doctor Dr. Knapp. Apparently his wife is due two weeks before me. It was quite amusing to have an appointment in the morning and have him say see you in class tonight. The class was wonderful. It covered everything from breathing techniques to newborn care. I think most of the class is hoping that Kristen is on duty when we all come in to have our babies...I know I am. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I would recommend the classes to anyone. Thanks again Kristen.

The Baby Shower

First Dave and I would like to thank everyone who attended the baby shower. We had such a wonderful time. It was great to get to see everyone. And Lauren the food and cakes were out of this world. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did. I promise that we will let everyone know when "baby cleaver" arrives.

Thank you all for our wonderful shower.