how to make the baby come faster

Yesterday, I:

went shopping

made bread

took a long walk

ate spicy Nepalese tofu curry

wrote a letter to babygirl urging her to come

watched the very exciting LOST premiere

went to sleep visualizing my uterus contracting and my pelvis opening

At 4:10 am, I woke to a popping feeling low in my stomach, followed by a gush of warm water.
I seem to be in labor! – on my due date!

an open letter

Dear babygirl,

Your Mimi is here now, and so it’s time for you to come on out.  All of us have done about all we can – walked long miles on swollen feet, drunk sixteen cups of red raspberry leaf tea, taken in as many prostglandins as possible, eaten spicy curry, tried new yoga poses, cleaned your room, cleaned your parents’ room, organized and re-organized, started filling out the baby book, and prayed — all that’s left is a pogo stick, and I’m just not sure I’m up for it.

By the way, we have a new President now.  Everybody’s all full of hope because of President Obama.  Economically, it’s a bit of a rough time to be entering the world, but with him at the helm, our nation has its confidence momentarily renewed.  So don’t be afraid.  What I’m saying is, come on out.

You’ll want to be like your Mom in some ways, but don’t follow my example for coming out.  I was a week late.  According to the “Calendar of Memories” that Mimi brought to Seattle this week, here were some other noteworthy events from my infancy:

• I smiled every day in my first week of life
• I went to the mall at six days old
• I went to church at 13 days old
• I went to my first concert – the Sonshine Festival – at three weeks old.  Mimi carried me in the Snugli and DaddyB (Bobby?  BaBa?  Grandad? It’s not going to be G-Daddy; sorry, Dad)  was the emcee for the event.
• At five weeks old, I started sleeping through the night.  I was a good sleeper. Still am. Please imitate me in this.
• My first trip, at three months, was an overnight church retreat to New Life Ranch.  Yeah, I swam in the pool.
• At three months, I would fake cough to get Mimi’s attention
• I went to the movies at 4 months, and also made my radio debut on a commercial about the “Sonshine Cruise”
• On November 4, Mimi notes that I liked ice cream.  No wonder I have a HaagenDaaz weakness. It’s all her fault.
• Feb. 25: “Amy loves graham crackers!”
• Mar. 4: “Amy LOVES graham crackers!”
• At nine months old, “Amy turns away and acts shy when people say hi.”  So demure.
• By eleven months, I was walking.

Babygirl, those are just a few of the things we have to look forward to!  So why not come on out?

See you soon,

your loving Mother.

the baby on my belly

The midwife drew this tonight:

She says everything looks good, and I can start drinking some red rasberry leaf tea.

birds on branches

They fly over where the crib will be.  (Where the crib will be when we get the missing parts and finally put it together…but don’t worry, she’s starting out in a cradle in our room, so there’s no rush on the crib.)  It’s a real forest of a room.  If her room were a highschool dance, it would be called “Midwinter Night’s Dream.”

Thank God her room is not a highschool dance.

freezer foods

Thirteen days, more or less, to go.  My to-do list is getting worryingly short.  I’ve read all my books, the car seat is in the car, the bags are packed.

Today I made muffins to store in the freezer for quick snacks after babygirl gets here.

Adapted from “Company Muffins,” Simply in Season

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Combine and stir well.

2 large tart apples (peeled, cored, shredded)
1 1/2 cups carrots (finely shredded)
1/2 cup craisins

Add to dry ingredients and stir to coat.  Make well in center.

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup oil

Mix together in a separate bowl, then pour into flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened.  Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.  Bake at 375 for 18 minutes.

A little time intensive, what with the grating of carrots and apples. But hearty and healthy tasting.  Good.

birds, not yet a mobile

Thanks to Spool for the free pattern.

38 weeks, meet 16 weeks

38 weeks, some unsorted thoughts

Last night I had a dream that I was in early labor and my midwife suggested that I buy some very expensive mint chocolate chip ice cream and eat it to stay hydrated.

Ha!

When people talked about having swollen feet at the end of pregnancy, I thought they were complaining because their shoes didn’t fit and their ankles looked fat.  I did not know that swollen meant painful.  I did not know that after a couple of hours laying down, I would have to move very slowly to get up, because moving too fast would give me round ligament pain in my sides, because my balance would be off and my legs would be stiff, because it would hurt to place my swollen feet on the floor to walk to the bathroom.

Pregnancy becomes more surreal after 37 weeks, doesn’t it?  Try to grasp the idea that there is another person living inside my body.  She’s complete and ready to live outside my body, and if you could reach in and pluck her out, she’d be able to breathe and cry and send blood pumping through a fully formed human body.  But she’s living inside of me.  Look at me, and you see two people in one.

The pregnancy book I’ve skimmed through most recently is Birthing from Within.  It is kind of like The Artist’s Way meets pregnancy.  Written by midwife Pam England and psychologist Rob Horowitz, Birthing from Within is based on a childbirth class taught by England in New Mexico.  Focusing less on institutional procedures,  scientific facts, or the kinds of guidelines you’d find in “What to Expect,” Birthing from Within is a right-brained, zen-influenced guide to preparing for childbirth.  There were a couple of things I particularly appreciated about this book:

• The early chapter on creating art as a way of exploring your own feelings about giving birth is challenging, helpful, and unique.
• England emphasizes the reality of the pain of childbirth (Ina May’s books, in contrast, do make it sound too easy).   Birth pain is inevitable, but you can handle it.
• While American culture today focuses on the baby in birth, England shows how other cultures have also honored the re-birth of the woman as mother when she gives birth.  The late, most painful phase of labor and delivery, where the woman loses awareness of everything going on, knows nothing but what her body is doing, feels that the pain is too much and she will “die” — this England likens to the death of the former woman and the birth of the mother.  Mothers and Fathers are both accepting a “death” to an old life (of being free to go out to dinner, to the movies, to sleep through the night, to earn the same income, to career plans, etc.) and a birth into a new life.  An interesting thought, and perhaps especially important for women (like me, and like most women in the US today) who didn’t grow up imagining themselves as mothers.
• The most helpful chapter, overall, is the chapter on pain management techniques.  Of course, not having given birth yet, I can’t say how helpful they will be, but the chapter seems to me to be the most complete collection of natural pain management tools that I’ve found in a general pregnancy guide (discounting books that focus primarily on labor pain).