Preparing Dad for Birth

With our baby's arrival becoming more imminent, I'm growing a little more concerned about the labor and how hubby and I will handle it together. "B" has expressed numerous times how he is nervous about seeing me in so much pain, which I understand. However, I want to make sure he doesn't miss such a miraculous moment in our lives.

As I was reading a pregnancy magazine in the doctor's office a few mornings ago (now seeing my midwife every two weeks), I discovered a book to prepare expectant dads for d-day - not like the war, but as in delivery day. Don't Just Stand There: How to Be Helpful, Clued-In, Supportive, Engaged & Relevant in the Delivery Room is the title and received rave reviews on Amazon.com.

From the editorial review on Amazon: Dads get clear direction on what to bring, how to calm and soothe, what to say and, more important, what to definitely not say. A chapter on the stages of labor makes it easy to track what's happening when, while blank lists provide space for mom to fill in her personal preferences ahead of time.

Sounds good to me. We'll see what "Dad" has to say - calling the hub Dad sounds good to me too. :)

Thank you Thursday

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."
~ William Blake

Gratitude is the key to prosperity and abundance so I dedicate every Thursday to what I'm grateful for this week. I'm thankful for:

• Hubby figuring out how to program the garage door openers so we may park in the garage - yippee!
• Baby's head being down and in the right position for labor.
• A WONDERFUL baby shower with family and friends this past weekend who were more generous than I deserve. I feel so loved and blessed.
• My friend Vicki for giving me Nag Champa incense to try.
• My dad telling me I'm a good writer (probably for the millionth time but I always enjoy hearing it from such a talented writer)!
• Hubby burning me the Tavis Smiley / Louise Hay interview on CD for me, which was a nice surprise.
• Oprah and Eckhart Tolle's online classes, especially this week's episode about the pain body - check out "A New Earth" if you haven't already. It will change your life.
• My yoga students reading my blog! Make sure to "comment" so I know you stopped by!
• Having friends who love food just as much as me (That's you Maria!).
• Tomorrow being Friday and having Royals tickets for me and the hub to enjoy.
• The weekend being empty and open to vegging.
• I have to add one more - when I arrived home last night I received the curtains for the babies room from my sister-in-law in Virginia. I put them right up - they look soooooooo cute!
  

Make sure to give thanks today and every day - it will pay in dividends!

I'm a super model, kind of

I never thought I'd have Demi photos taken of me and my burgeoning, bare belly, but I succumbed...

As you can see in the "behind-the-scenes" shot, I was treated like a model, albeit a plus-size model. And look at the magic of PhotoShop - isn't it amazing?

Not sure what I'll ever do with these photos besides sharing them on my blog so you can make fun of me; guess baby's book will at least have a few good bump shots.

One suggestion for you pregnant ladies thinking of doing this... Take the photos in your seventh month when your face and arms still look thin. I missed that window of opportunity, unfortunately!

Yoga and celebs

I haven't been feeling so hot the last few days. Not sure if I'm coming down with something or if it's allergy or sinus related, but nonetheless it's annoying. I actually taught my yoga class from a chair the other night because I felt so lethargic and icky. One student arrived late and jokingly whispered, "You're sure taking advantage of the situation..." which really didn't make me laugh, to be quite honest, in my sickly state. I actually wanted to stop teaching yoga last week, but since the Y hasn't found a sub, I extended my teaching until April 26 - sub or no sub since I'll be nine months pregnant by then. I feel bad for the students, but I've given the Y plenty of time to find a replacement for my maternity leave.

With the excuse of being sick and extremely pregnant, I'm going to make this post short and sweet. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've picked up on my addiction to celebrity gossip. Although lately I've been reading more Baby magazine versus Star - at least I have my priorities straight! LOL!

I found this blog post a while ago with a bunch of photos of celebs in yoga positions.

If the cool kids are doing it, shouldn't you? ;)

Prenatal yoga pose: Side Spinal Twists (1:25)

Meditation Monday: Put your legs up

Try meditating this week in legs up the wall pose. If you're pregnant, you may want to be careful lying flat on your back. Personally, and I'm 33 weeks pregnant, I've been able to lie on my back for periods of time. I just make sure to listen to my body and move to my side if anything doesn't feel right. If anything you could prop your self up a bit with pillows to avoid being flat on your back.

Shut down your eyes, relax your arms and concentrate on your breath in and out through your nose. Stay for five to 15 minutes (or as long as you're comfortable). If available, use an eye pillow to fully relax.

Benefits of the posture (according to www.yogajournal.com):

• Relieves tired or cramped legs and feet
• Gently stretches the back legs, front torso, and the back of the neck
• Relieves mild backache
• Calms the mind

Husbands nest too

You've probably heard of pregnant women nesting, but my husband is proving it applies to expectant fathers as well. Don't get me wrong... I've had spurts of the nesting instinct; I organized the baby's closet and the items I've been given so far for the little one. However, I think my husband is deep into nesting mode, which kind of makes me feel like a slacker.

Via home improvements, hubby has been accomplishing some major feats and getting home ready for baby. A few Thursdays ago I gave thanks for him painting and installing a new lighting fixture in our main floor bathroom. Now this weekend, while I was back home for a baby shower, he tiled our kitchen floor!

I believe the whole idea to do this began a few months ago when I told him how I had read about an inexpensive way to change the color of linoleum. Our white, kitchen linoleum showed every spec of dirt and muddy paw print our pooch Charlie left from re-entry into the house from the backyard so we were desperate. Anyhow, the hub began to think he should try to tile it, even though he'd never done it before. He attended a tiling class at a local flooring store, which gave him the confidence to do it, and after enlisting his mom, they set forth for the challenge this weekend.

I'll admit I was a little nervous when I left Saturday morning, but it looks amazing! The hub still needs to put the bull-nose tile (instead of baseboard) up, but it's about done. I'm so proud of him - and look he even risked his hand in the process.

Not only do I have a new kitchen floor, but my mother and sister-in-law assembled the baby's crib! A major check mark off the to-do list! Plus I have to give brother-in-law a lot of kudos for stepping in at the last minute to help my hubby with the tiling.

I'm so blessed to have such wonderful family that is so helpful and handy!

Little ducky (My new nickname for our baby after receiving so many duck items at the shower yesterday. Guess it's the only animal allowed on gender-neutral clothing!) we are almost ready for you!