Hey Everyone!
Today is the half way point in our pregnancy... 20 weeks :) I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by and can't imagine how fast the second half will most likely go by as well. Ava is growing and moving as much as ever and I am so thankful to have had such a healthy pregnancy so far and hopefully continue to have for the rest as well - God willing.
Nesting
Dan and I both have had a major urge to "nest" or get the house ready for when Ava gets here the last week or so. So we have been doing all kinds of projects including picking out her bedding, painting the bathroom, replacing our front porch light, making craft projects, rearranging furniture and many many more little projects. It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm glad to have a nesting partner in crime :) The newest project that we're working on aside from painting the bathroom is creating a mobile for above Ava's crib. We went to Michael's yesterday and just wandered around thinking of fun ways to make our own. So we ended up buying a round cardboard disc that is used to make wreaths for the base, a bunch of colorful ribbon (pink, cream, brown and a blue/green color - all different patterns including stripes, polka dots and zig zags) that we will hot glue all the way around the edge of the disc so that they hang down like a chandelier and some really pretty pieces of jewelry that we're going to cut into individual pieces and tie to the ends of the ribbon.
So excited to work on this project with Dan... hopefully it turns out how we have it pictured.
HypnoBirthing
Dan and I have our very first HypnoBirthing class tomorrow with Teva - our awesome instructor! This methos is so perfect for Dan and I. This method helps the husband to be directly involved in the birthing process by helping me to stay calm, relaxed and focused which is one thing that we were looking for. It also works by using positive affirmations (spoken by Dan) to help me get myself into a deeply relaxed state and to stay that way throughout labor. This method reminds me a lot of the type of mental preparation that I would use in high school when I ran Cross Country and Track. Having used similar methods for so many huge events in my life (without really realizing I was doing so) it only makes sense to use it for the biggest event of all - child birth. The idea behind staying relaxed and positive is that without fear childbirth should for the most part be relatively pain free. It is because of fear and tension during labor that most women experience the bulk of their pain. The fear and tension cause the body to close up and in turn the baby is forced to press against a tight wall of muscle (causing pain) instead of a relaxed wall of muscle which is much easier to pass through. Other factors play into the success of HypnoBirthing which include - having only people you trust in the room with you at the time of labor and delivery, how the mom holds her body, positioning, etc. All of these things if considered before hand can help the mother to have a relatively quick and pain free birthing. I love the science behind all of this (as you can probably tell) and am so excited to learn as much as I can about my body and the entire process of labor and delivery during our classes. Outside of the classes I have been reading the HyonoBirthing book as well as Ina May's book on Childbirth - both of which are about natural childbirth. I have really enjoyed reading both of these books and I feel like they compliment each other very well.
That's all the exciting news for week 20 :) Hope you all have a great weekend!
Today is the half way point in our pregnancy... 20 weeks :) I can hardly believe how fast time has flown by and can't imagine how fast the second half will most likely go by as well. Ava is growing and moving as much as ever and I am so thankful to have had such a healthy pregnancy so far and hopefully continue to have for the rest as well - God willing.
Nesting
Dan and I both have had a major urge to "nest" or get the house ready for when Ava gets here the last week or so. So we have been doing all kinds of projects including picking out her bedding, painting the bathroom, replacing our front porch light, making craft projects, rearranging furniture and many many more little projects. It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm glad to have a nesting partner in crime :) The newest project that we're working on aside from painting the bathroom is creating a mobile for above Ava's crib. We went to Michael's yesterday and just wandered around thinking of fun ways to make our own. So we ended up buying a round cardboard disc that is used to make wreaths for the base, a bunch of colorful ribbon (pink, cream, brown and a blue/green color - all different patterns including stripes, polka dots and zig zags) that we will hot glue all the way around the edge of the disc so that they hang down like a chandelier and some really pretty pieces of jewelry that we're going to cut into individual pieces and tie to the ends of the ribbon.
So excited to work on this project with Dan... hopefully it turns out how we have it pictured.
HypnoBirthing
Dan and I have our very first HypnoBirthing class tomorrow with Teva - our awesome instructor! This methos is so perfect for Dan and I. This method helps the husband to be directly involved in the birthing process by helping me to stay calm, relaxed and focused which is one thing that we were looking for. It also works by using positive affirmations (spoken by Dan) to help me get myself into a deeply relaxed state and to stay that way throughout labor. This method reminds me a lot of the type of mental preparation that I would use in high school when I ran Cross Country and Track. Having used similar methods for so many huge events in my life (without really realizing I was doing so) it only makes sense to use it for the biggest event of all - child birth. The idea behind staying relaxed and positive is that without fear childbirth should for the most part be relatively pain free. It is because of fear and tension during labor that most women experience the bulk of their pain. The fear and tension cause the body to close up and in turn the baby is forced to press against a tight wall of muscle (causing pain) instead of a relaxed wall of muscle which is much easier to pass through. Other factors play into the success of HypnoBirthing which include - having only people you trust in the room with you at the time of labor and delivery, how the mom holds her body, positioning, etc. All of these things if considered before hand can help the mother to have a relatively quick and pain free birthing. I love the science behind all of this (as you can probably tell) and am so excited to learn as much as I can about my body and the entire process of labor and delivery during our classes. Outside of the classes I have been reading the HyonoBirthing book as well as Ina May's book on Childbirth - both of which are about natural childbirth. I have really enjoyed reading both of these books and I feel like they compliment each other very well.
That's all the exciting news for week 20 :) Hope you all have a great weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment