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Reflection & Rejuvenation: June

June 5, 2013 / 11 Comments
Holy moly. It is highly likely that I will give birth this month. Can you believe it? I’m officially due on June 26th, but it kind of seems like Tate (probably?) is itching to come out. He’s been super-low the entire pregnancy, and my Braxton-Hicks contractions have been increasing. I’m officially full-term today at 37 weeks, but I’m hoping he can hold on until at least 39 weeks, which increases the chances of more positive outcomes. My mom and brother don’t arrive until July 4th, which is another reason I hope he doesn’t come too early. My last day of official work is June 26th (although I will continue to volunteer as the Executive Director of my non-profit organization). We’re anticipating that our house will be complete around mid-July (we have a couple steps of stucco and drywall left, flooring, trim, cabinetry, paint, and landscaping to go). 
The months have literally been flying by. I’m still “making space” in my life for pregnancy with frequent naps and walks (and occasional yoga), but my schedule is just packed between my part-time job at a school, my part-time work to start my own school, picking up Henry every day at 2:45, and blogging.
Let’s see how I did with regard to my intentions for the month:
  • Enjoy quality family time at my cousin’s wedding in North Carolina (on the Outer Banks): Yes! That was an easy one.
  • Get all the surveys done on the land for the school, in addition to contracting with an architect and a civil engineer: One survey is done, and I know which architect and civil engineer we want to go with.
  • Make significant headway on additional fundraising for the land: Still chugging along!
  • Get prepared for our home birth by following all of the steps laid out by our midwife: The birth kit has arrived from this store, and I have a list posted on our whiteboard. Now I need to work on it!
  • Work through the Hynobabies Self-Study Course to master some relaxation techniques in the upcoming months: I went through a lot of rigamarole to borrow someone’s book and CDs, and I read through the entire handbook. However, I have not yet started practicing. I’m not sure I can dedicate 30 minutes a day for six entire weeks just to prepare for birth (and this is coming from someone who had a 45-hour first birth). Okay, maybe I’ll work on learning one or two relaxation strategies in the next month.
  • Find a doula: I’m scheduled to attend a doula speed-dating type event this month.
  • Enjoy our little family of three! Yes! Another easy one…

And what are my hopes for this month–my last month of freedom before reverting to living at the very edge of my capacity? (My apologies for the melodrama…)

Did I mention that I’ve given up all goals of getting organized before we move? Normally, I like to completely purge and organize before moving into a new house. It seems like a total waste to move unwanted stuff into a new home. But I have zero motivation to undertake big organizational projects. This house does not motivate me to organize it at all! I’m hoping that our new house will…

So, with that goal out of the picture, here’s what this month looks like:

  • Finish preparing for a home birth (and complete everything on my pre-birth to-do list)
  • Practice a couple self-hypnosis strategies for relaxing during the birth
  • Pick-up and organize the house just enough to help me feel comfortable giving birth at home and spending a couple weeks recovering here post-partum 
  • Use the babysitting co-op to go on more dates with Matt
  • Take it easy!
Photo Courtesy of the Nikki McClure Calendar

11 Comments

  • Elizabeth

    June 5, 2013 at 11:50 am Reply

    With regards to preparing for your baby's birth, I looked into the hypnobirthing techniques, but ended up not worrying so much about them. The essence of hypnobirthing as far as I could tell is relaxation. I read somewhere (not sure now where- sorry) that the most important thing to facilitate labor is to keep the muscles of your face relaxed, because when you tense your face (squinting in pain) the rest of your body automatically tenses as well. I concentrated on keeping my face relaxed through each, individual contraction (taking them one at a time, trying not to think about the next one coming) and I think that more than anything else helped me have a natural, intervention-free hospital delivery. (Plus I felt like Superwoman afterward, so that was clutch.). All that to say this: don't worry too much about techniques and carving out time to practice. Enjoy your last month with Henry as an only child and relax! 🙂

  • Elizabeth

    June 5, 2013 at 11:51 am Reply

    With regards to preparing for your baby's birth, I looked into the hypnobirthing techniques, but ended up not worrying so much about them. The essence of hypnobirthing as far as I could tell is relaxation. I read somewhere (not sure now where- sorry) that the most important thing to facilitate labor is to keep the muscles of your face relaxed, because when you tense your face (squinting in pain) the rest of your body automatically tenses as well. I concentrated on keeping my face relaxed through each, individual contraction (taking them one at a time, trying not to think about the next one coming) and I think that more than anything else helped me have a natural, intervention-free hospital delivery. (Plus I felt like Superwoman afterward, so that was clutch.). All that to say this: don't worry too much about techniques and carving out time to practice. Enjoy your last month with Henry as an only child and relax! 🙂

  • Elizabeth

    June 5, 2013 at 11:51 am Reply

    With regards to preparing for your baby's birth, I looked into the hypnobirthing techniques, but ended up not worrying so much about them. The essence of hypnobirthing as far as I could tell is relaxation. I read somewhere (not sure now where- sorry) that the most important thing to facilitate labor is to keep the muscles of your face relaxed, because when you tense your face (squinting in pain) the rest of your body automatically tenses as well. I concentrated on keeping my face relaxed through each, individual contraction (taking them one at a time, trying not to think about the next one coming) and I think that more than anything else helped me have a natural, intervention-free hospital delivery. (Plus I felt like Superwoman afterward, so that was clutch.). All that to say this: don't worry too much about techniques and carving out time to practice. Enjoy your last month with Henry as an only child and relax! 🙂

  • Bridey

    June 5, 2013 at 9:15 pm Reply

    I found hypno-birth great, it made the first part of labour a lot easier (the last part I had to transfer to hospital and ended up with an emergency c-section). But when I look back I remember it as a really positive experience.

  • Alissa

    June 6, 2013 at 4:27 am Reply

    Sending lots of positive thoughts to you over the next couple months with your upcoming transitions! Wishing you a speedy labor and delivery, and a healthy baby boy!

    Also, I wanted to pass along info on the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program / Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke, CNM. I don't know if you'll have time or not to scan through the book if you can get it from your local library, but if not you can get the guided audio meditations CDs and MP3s via Amazon, iTunes, and CDBaby.

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