Baby Shower

My good friend Katie threw me a wonderful baby shower on Sunday. And her mom Theresa did an amazing job behind the scenes washing dishes, cutting cake, making punch, and generally ensuring that the rest of us got to hang out and have a great time. Such a special day having so many friends gathered together to celebrate the coming arrival of Baby.


Katie did a great job organizing everything. There was lots of delicious food, including her famous chicken sandwiches and some great tabouli, a yummy cake with creamy strawberry filling, and to top it off Katie picked up my favorite ice cream combination from Cold Stone - Black Forest Dream (chocolate ice cream with brownies, hot fudge, and cherry pie filling - absolutely to die for!). As Katie said, it couldn't possibly be a party for me without ice cream. :)

There was also a rousing round of the rice and safety pin game, with varying amounts of rice flying throughout. :) One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing the painted onesies people made for Baby.


Everyone was extremely generous; there were lots of presents to open full of sweet little things for Baby.



So excited about these cute little board books. Love Eric Carle!

The first section of the cutest little flannel quilt that Katie is making for Baby. So soft and sweet!

Katie also had cards available for people to write advice on - Chris and I loved reading through them all and I can't wait to scrapbook them.

Thank you so much to Katie and Theresa for their hard work, and to everyone for coming - and for your generosity! It is definitely much appreciated, and I am sure all of the gifts will be well used. :) Thank you all for making this such a special day!


Note: I am planning to post a more complete set of pictures in a new "photos" section by the end of the week, so keep an eye out if you're wanting to get a better look at all those cute little baby items we received. :)

Spring is here!

Such a beautiful day here yesterday; not sure what the high temp was this afternoon, but somewhere right around 60. Such a good feeling to be out in the sun - in a t-shirt no less! The ice has finally melted enough off of our road that Chris and I could take a walk after work.


The melting over the weekend was pretty impressive; by the end of the day on Sunday we had a river running across the bottom of our driveway from all the meltwater. Chris has been trying to get the culvert cleared out so that the water runs through there instead, but it looks like we're just going to have to wait for things to thaw out a bit more.


Hoping to post tonight about the baby shower. Happy St. Patrick's Day! :)

Something Sweet

Just finished up my niece's birthday present for her party tomorrow. I started a coordinating dress for her older sister Maddie (whose birthday was last month...), but haven't quite finished that one yet.


The pattern is Sister Smocks by Indygo Junction; not the easiest pattern to follow for a first-timer, but once I figured out how to pin everything correctly it came together pretty quick. And I can't forget a thanks to Mom for the advice and demo on basting and gathering - definitely a lifesaver! :)

Baby Quilt

Loving this super-cute Baby Floss quilt, made by my friend Kristina.



She just finished the sample and will be teaching a class for this quilt in a few weeks at the quilt shop. I am definitely signing up and can't wait to get started on this for Baby. I love the modern fabrics and bright colors used; think this will be a great addition to the nursery.

Less than 10 Weeks to go!

As our midwife pointed out last week - only 10 weeks left until my due date - which means we're now down to 9. Yikes! Thinking about putting together a countdown calendar to make sure we get everything done in time. Definitely trying to stay calm and not panic, but I feel like there are still SO MANY things to do before this little person comes into our lives. Chris is definitely a help here as he keeps reminding me of how much we've already accomplished in getting ready for Baby. Shower planning is almost done and invites are out (thanks Kim and Katie!); still some work to do on the registries, but thankfully that's mostly done as well. The nursery is starting to come together; Chris finished painting last night (yay!), and I have a few little accessories on order to start decorating. So excited to be creating a cozy space for us and Baby. Definitely in "nesting" mode! :)

Here are some pictures of progress on the nursery so far:

Before

During

After

Very happy with the way it turned out; great mix of cozy and bright.

And just for fun, here are pics of a few of my favorite things we've picked up for Baby so far:


Hoping to post pics later this week of all the cute cloth diapers I've been collecting. :)

Registry Information

For those who are interested I've added a list of our baby registry links on the right. The links for everything except Peapods should take you directly to our registry lists. For privacy reasons Peapods doesn't list registry information on their website, but they will email the list if you contact them.

Midwifery Resources

I've put together a short list of resources for those of you interested in doing some reading about this whole home birth process. I know some people are concerned about our choice to have a home birth, and I'd like to provide more information around this topic in the hopes that it will relieve some of that anxiety. I've known for the last few years that when the time came I would want to give birth at home, and nothing during my pregnancy has changed that feeling. I'm actually feeling more and more empowered because of this choice as my pregnancy progresses. I'm really excited about the birth - feeling great about being able to be in an environment that I'm comfortable in and where I can let my body do the work it needs to to bring this new little life into the world. And I'm looking forward to being able to move around as I like, eat and drink if I'm hungry, holding my baby immediately after the birth, and knowing that I'll have the full support of my midwives in my choices.

So far we are planning to just go with the flow and see what my body tells me at the time, but we are looking into having a birthing tub available; mostly for relaxation, but I'm also open to the birth happening there if it feels right. We watched a video of some water births last night, and while the movie itself was a bit too mystical-feeling for us, I have to say that seeing those little babies born was very cool! I've read numerous water-birth stories, but seeing it made it much more real. I had pictured the baby coming out and being mostly still / eyes shut, but in the video we saw these little newborns, fresh out of the womb, kicking and swimming under the water, eyes wide open - really, really amazing.


Websites:
Midwifery Today
Minnesota Families for Midwifery

Books:
Adventures in Natural Childbirth
I first read this a few years ago, and really liked that it gave a lot of good information about birth choices without being biased (there is a focus on women who were looking for unmedicated births of course, but since it says it right in the title I don't think that one's a shocker). The book is segmented by type of care provider (doula, midwife, physician, unattended) and within each section you learn about different birth options (home, water, hospital, birthing center) through the accompanying birth stories. A really nice overview of the options available today, and each section is pretty concise and very readable.

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Working through this one right now. The first half is birth stories, some of which were great, and others a little too out there. The second half of the book has the "technical" info. It discusses lots of aspects related to labor and birth, as well as the connection between body and mind and really preparing yourself for birth. Taking the second section kind of slow as I read each chapter and then do some thinking before moving on to the next.


I plan to have a more complete list of resources related to pregnancy and birth available on my blog, but these are some good places to start if you're interested in finding out more about home birth or gaining a better understanding of our choices.


On a slightly different note I would also like to add some thoughts here to make sure people do not misunderstand my intentions in expressing my enthusiasm for home birth:

I'd like to be clear that I do not think every woman needs to give birth at home, and that I do not condemn other women's choices that differ from mine. Each woman has to decide what is best for her, her family, and her situation. Women should birth in the way and place that is most comfortable for them. I also believe that hospitals can and do save lives, and that there are times where medical intervention is necessary. However I also believe that in the majority of cases, a home birth is just as safe, if not safer, than a hospital birth. I do not believe that birth in general is a medical procedure, but instead a natural process that women's bodies are specially designed for and very capable of handling.