The Shopping Mama

Introducing…

by Amy H on April 30th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

It is my pleasure to introduce my baby girl, Leah Kate. She made quite a debut, finally arriving just before seven in the evening on Sunday, March 24, weighing seven pounds, three ounces, and measuring 20.5 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and is healthy as can be.

Leah’s birth story is not the one I expected to be telling, but she is healthy and perfect and that is all that matters. My plans to deliver at the Birth Center where I’d had all of my prenatal care turned out not to be in the cards for us, despite my wholehearted desire and most sincere effort to make it so. It’s a long story, the last few weeks of my pregnancy throwing one heck of a curve ball, but here’s the condensed version.

At 38 weeks 6 days I was ordered to go on bed rest due to high blood pressure. Days on end lying on my left side, in combination with herbal tinctures, chlorophyll supplements, eating beets daily and protein hourly and drinking unimaginable amounts of coconut water kept my blood pressure in control enough that I could stay home and wait to go into labor. Waiting was hard though so we tried everything possible to try to get labor going, except walking, which was all I wanted to get up and do. Three acupuncture sessions and seemingly endless hours with the breast pump finally got labor going for good on Wednesday evening, March 19. That’s right, 4 days and 21 hours before she was born I started having painful contractions. They were pretty irregular, mostly coming every 8-12 minutes, with two or three 20-30 minute breaks in those first days, but continuous enough to keep me from sleeping.

Friday morning I was starting to get frustrated and we went to see the midwife even though my contractions were still not regular or close together. Now try to imagine the misery that was a drive into Austin… 39+ weeks pregnant, in labor, unable to sit up (so this means lying down in the back of our station wagon!) for a one hour trip, the final stretch in rush hour stop and go traffic. The midwife visit was uneventful, and pretty discouraging. Baby was lower than last week but still not low enough to get labor really going. Some new herbs, a few stretches and a hip-rocking technique to try to get baby’s head where it needed to be to move down, and we were on our way back home, no more in labor than when we drove in that morning. The upside of this visit was that my blood pressure was no longer an issue and I didn’t have to be on bed rest any more.

Friday turned into Saturday and the contractions kept coming, every 8-10 minutes. Later that morning they picked up though, and quickly reached 4-5 minutes apart. Our bags had been packed for days and days and the dog had been at his dog-sitter’s house since Thursday so we were out the door in a hurry. Once we got to the birth center, around noon on Saturday the 23rd, my due date, the contractions slowed down again. We walked, I used the breast pump, I took labor inducing herbs, I ate even though I so did not want to, I climbed stairs two at a time, sat on the labor ball and we waited. And waited. And waited for labor to pick up and really get going. Baby’s heart rate stayed strong throughout it all, so we just kept trying.

Saturday turned into Sunday and there was still no real progress. Contractions were coming hard every 6-10 minutes, they hurt worse and worse and I was getting tired. Baby was still not as low as she should have been and I wasn’t really dilating (2.5cm after 4+ days in labor). I got in the tub early Sunday morning and felt relief for the first time in days. The water was so relaxing that I was able to actually get some sleep in the tub, while my husband slept on the bed nearby. After a few hours in the tub, the midwife was eager to discuss the next steps. All I knew or could even comprehend in my brain was that I was not doing one more thing to make contractions hurt worse, in fact, I wasn’t getting out of the tub. I straight up refused to get out! I knew that as soon as I did, the contractions would start up again and I was SO OVER the pain.

This is when I decided that I had given it all I had and the only thing I would get out of the tub for was an epidural. It was crazy how the thing I was most adamant against, “I’ll push a baby out of my nose before you’ll stick a needle in my spine” was now the only thing I could think about. I needed the pain to stop, I could not go on any longer. So… the midwife called the hospital, we packed our stuff and down the road we went. The admission process was smooth as can be, and within an hour I was in a hospital bed with an epidural in my back. Oh sweet relief, I had never felt such a magical sensation!

That was around one on Sunday afternoon and I was dilated 4cm. The doctor broke my water (something I didn’t want when this all began) and hooked me up to a pitocin drip (the thing beside the epidural that I wanted the very least). By this time I was in a completely foreign place I never thought I’d be, but I was totally okay with it, in good spirits and just so ready to have my baby. I took a much needed nap, ate some ice chips and a mere five hours later I was fully dilated and ready to push. I was so excited to finally be able to push this baby out! It felt like I had been in labor for days…. oh yes, I had.

Thankfully, one thing went easily for us in this marathon birth story, in just a few good pushes, out came a perfect baby. I wanted my husband to tell me if we had a girl or a boy but I looked down and beat him to it. I won’t ever, as long as I live, forget lifting my head and seeing that tiny purple bottom turn pink… “It is a girl!” They put her right on my chest and I looked at her tiny little face. That hair, those tiny ears, button nose, perfect little lips. My beautiful girl, it was as if I had known her all my life. Within minutes she was on the breast, content and calm.

And just like that, it was all a memory, I had my baby, a precious, perfect baby girl and every minute of the last few days, weeks and the entire nine months was totally worth it.

My mother was there with us, actually FaceTiming with my sister in Germany during the delivery, and my husband held my hand the whole time. The nurses were wonderful, and the doctor I so didn’t want to be a part of my birth experience was as nice as can be. The hospital we were in is a very progressive one, and I was very grateful that Leah never left my room. There was ample breast feeding help and I felt well cared for and respected for my choice to transfer from the Birth Center. My stay in the hospital was far more pleasant than I could have ever imagined.

So there it is, the story of my labor and delivery, and the day that I met the most precious girl in the world.

Peg Perego Book Plus Stroller and Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 {Getting Ready for Baby!}

by Amy H on March 12th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Getting Ready for Baby, Life, She's Prego, Strollers

In the world of Baby Gear there is a seemingly endless variety of products, brands, models and new inventions. As first time parents far removed from anyone using baby products, I found the process of choosing a car seat and stroller system to be quite overwhelming. (Even though my sister is obsessed and knowledgeable with this stuff, it was a bit hard because she lives so far away.) I had a few criteria of my own but felt unprepared to make a decision, mostly because I couldn’t really tell you what my needs of the system would be.

Obviously, I wanted something that was good quality and safe as can be, ideally to be used for this baby and the next one. I knew I wanted something that would be easy to use and would fold up small enough to fit in the car without taking up the whole trunk. I wanted a system that easily encorporated an infant carseat and stroller together without much fuss. I needed to find a stroller that would be comfortable for me to push as well as my much taller husband. And of course, I wanted it to be super cute and cooler than average. This didn’t narrow the search very far.

My husband and I spent an afternoon in the most overwhelming place on earth, a big box baby store chain with all the models out for testing and touching. I examine products with my eyes more than anything and quickly narrowed my preference for car seats down to two. My husband, he’s a toucher, a take-apart kind of guy, and boy did he get to know those two car seats. What seemed like an hour later, he had made our car seat selection, the Peg Perego Viaggio SIP 30-30. He declared confidently that the Italian made seat was better quality, better material, would last longer and looked better. My sister gave the selection an enthusiastic thumb’s up. Ok, done.

Now onto the stroller. The particular store we were in didn’t have any Peg Perego strollers out on the floor but I knew there had to be a perfect one to go with the seat we had decided on. Kate suggested I check out the Book Plus stroller and I was sold.

Peg Perego Book Plus

Without using the Book Plus stroller, except to push around my living room for fun, it’s hard to appreciate just how awesome this contraption is. I know that it exceeds my list of prerequisite criteria, and its list of other features goes on and on. What I love about the Book Plus is that the car seat snaps onto the stroller frame easily and can face front or back. Aside from the car seat, it has a seat with multiple reclining positions, including totally flat like a bassinet, a sun visor with peekaboo window, front bar and cold weather foot muff, which awesomely enough also switches from forward to rear facing with just a quick snap.

The wheels are big and rugged looking and my husband loves the all black “rims”. The handle bar moves to accomodate a short pusher all the way up to my tall husband comfortably and comes with a cup holder on the side. The basket under the stroller is big enough to fit my diaper bag (albeit empty) with room to spare which I know will come in handy.

The stroller is easy to fold up, with just the pull of a lever and just as easy to unfold. It folds up with the seat attached or more compactly without it, and either way it can be pulled by the handle bar for easy transporting. The stroller required a bit of assembly, which was slightly challenging. I felt a little like I was trying to put together a spaceship with instructions in Italian, but once I got started it came together in less than an hour.

More Book Plus Stroller Features

Innovative Fold
Reversible seat
Travel-system Compatible
Ine-handed steering
Easy Drive
Fashion Forward Fabric

Preparing for Baby with Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30

The Primo Viaggio SIP 30-30 car seat snaps easily in and out of the car seat base and on and off of the stroller frame. The base is secured into the car in a mind-blowingly simple manner. I did a lot of babysitting in my teens and early twenties, requiring me to put car seats in and out of my car, and I was expecting a similar rocket-science like undertaking for installing this one, since I have not had any real contact with car seats since then. Boy was I surprised when all it required was the quick snap-lock of two buckles onto the car seat anchors in my car (which I didn’t even know were there). A little tug on the strap to tighten it, a twist of the knob to make sure it’s sitting at the appropriate angle and it’s good to go.

Primo Viaggio Features

Travel System compatible — the perfect complement to a Peg Perego stroller.
Exceeds the most stringent Side Impact Protection test in the world.
Adjustable Side Impact Protection is easy to adjust in 5 vertical positions.
Headrest and padding made of soft “Confort dry” microfiber cloth that stays dry and allows proper ventilation.
Quick–release 5–point safety harness with shoulder pads and fail–safe buckle.
Includes a special removable cushion for newborns.
Two ways to fasten to the car: with the vehicle seat belt or with Latch System Base.
Adjustable hood protects baby from the sun and elements during transport.
Indicator level shows correct installation angle.
Certified for use in automobiles or aircraft.

Ready for Baby!

Now there’s a stroller sitting in my baby’s room nearly ready room and a car seat base in my back seat. All that’s missing is my baby. It’s hard to believe that in just a few short days (or a week, or hopefully not two) I’ll be strapping my tiny little guy or girl into that darling grey polka dot car seat, loading him or her into the car and driving the hour home to our house. I will definitely sit in the back seat and stare at my little amazing creature the whole way. Don’t worry, I’ll take pictures.

I look forward to sharing my adventures in the Book Plus and giving a full review once we’ve gotten some use out of it.

Becoming a Parent After Losing a Parent

by Amy H on March 6th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

There were many heartbreaking aspects of losing my dad to leukemia in 2011. Too many to count and that’s not what this is about. One of the hardest realities that I had to accept was that he would never get to see me become a mother. He loved being Grandpa Dan. He was happy and laughing any time there was a baby in his lap. He thought talking to a toddler was one of the funniest parts of life. He knew how much I yearned to have a baby of my own and that I would be really good at it.

The night we transferred him from the cancer hospital to hospice, he and I had a few rare hours alone. We talked a lot. I promised him that I would have all the things I wanted in my life even though he wouldn’t be there to witness it. We agreed that it was totally shitty and unfair to each of us that he wouldn’t be alive to meet my children, be their Grandpa and experience me as a mother. That is a conversation I won’t ever forget. It is also the conversation when I promised to name my first son after him. And when he told me not to take “any more jewelry from any other boys” while holding onto the necklace I was wearing from my then-ex boyfriend, the man who is now my husband.

Less than two years after that night, I have already achieved a few of those things I told him I knew I’d have. I am married to my Joseph, the obvious perfect match for me, and we are about to become parents to my father’s ninth grandchild. As I get closer each day to the arrival of this baby, the reality and emotions involved are getting closer too. I see that welcoming a child, becoming a parent, growing my family’s next generation is going to bring forth a new love I’ve never known, as well as a new wave of sadness for life without my dad.

The happiest event in my life is not the time to focus on my sadness though, and I know that. I’ve chosen to incorporate my dad, his memory and the things he loved into my baby’s life in as many creative and uplifting ways as I can. From the mobile above the crib made of all of my dad’s favorite things in nature, to the baby boy “Coming Home” outfit that includes a baseball hat because baby is due at the beginning of baseball season, dad’s favorite time of year. And the totally amazing song lyric artwork framed on the wall from one of the songs he chose to play at his funeral, Here Comes the Sun, by the Beatles. Although they will never know each other, I’ll never have a photograph of my dad holding my baby and we’ll never get to see their similar faces side by side, I will be sure that my baby knows how awesome Grandpa Dan was, how happy I am to be his daughter and how much everybody loved him.

***

Kate also wrote about Having a Baby After Losing a Parent when she was pregnant with Max.

Pregnancy Leads to Childbirth, Which Leads to an Infant

by Amy H on February 27th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

This may seem like obvious information but it’s shocking to me nonetheless. No, really, I paid attention in health class, I knew this all along. But just like it took me until the end of our Hypnobirthing class to realize that we were preparing for what was about to happen to me, it took me until week 35 to fully accept that I am going to have to give birth. And then my husband and I will have a BABY. To take care of. Forever. By ourselves. And pay for everything he or she will ever need, for a really long time.

Clearly, I’m exaggerating. This is what the last few weeks have felt like for me, though, one startling realization of the obvious after another. I suppose it’s normal, my midwife told me so at our last appointment, but it’s still a little unnerving. There isn’t one bit of what lies ahead that I don’t want or think I can’t handle, and I’m still more excited than nervous. We are prepared, as much as we can be, and eager to meet our son or daughter, but it’s all starting to feel frighteningly “real”.

I have finished my last week at work. I’m quite ready to spend a few weeks without much going on, except little projects around the house, trips to the farmers market and swimming as much as I can. We have arranged for our house to be deep cleaned the first week of March (my version of nesting). I have purchased the last of the items on my etsy wish list to complete the nursery. We have all the major equipment needed before baby arrives. My mom finished the bedding and it just needs to be washed so I can put the room together. We bought “coming home” outfits, a girl one and a boy one, which needs to be washed and packed. My husband and I talk all the time about what’s left to do and how we think/hope it may go and we both have to-do lists we’re working on. My mom and I talk obsessively about when she should leave from Ohio to get here in time for the birth, and I think we finally have settled on a plan. I have arranged for friends to come get our dog when we leave for the birth center and keep him until we get home. Ready, totally ready.

Yet I’m absolutely sure I have no idea what’s about to happen to my life, my body, my heart. As ready as we feel to be parents, as fully stocked as our nursery can be, as excited as I am to meet my baby and finally become a mother, there is no way to be fully prepared. So onward we go, into the final weeks of pregnancy, our last days as a family of two. We shall make the most of our quiet mornings in bed, the freedom to leave the house on a whim, the time to ourselves we will never have again. Oh my goodness, I’m about to HAVE A BABY!

Mabel’s Labels New Household Labels {Review & Giveaway}

by Amy H on February 25th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Giveaways, In the Kitchen, Reviews

I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I made one this year. Something my husband and I have always struggled with is wasting food, from over-shopping, over producing and not using leftovers. In our effort to be as efficient as possible with our finances as we approach parenthood, we made a joint resolution to shop less, use everything we buy, cook smaller amounts and eat our leftovers. It’s something we have intended to do for years, but not until this winter did we make a plan and put it into effect.

We have been doing pretty well, I’ve been very pleased with how just a little attention to an issue can make changing habits easy. We actually run out of certain foods, or come very close, before I go buy more, which feels like success. Not having an abundance of new food crowded in with the old makes eating leftovers more appealing, but can sometimes still be a challenge to remember everything and when it was made. When I heard about Mabel’s Labels newly redesigned Household Labels I knew I needed them in our kitchen. Part of the reason leftovers go to waste is because they’re easy to forget about when covered in plastic and shoved in the back of the fridge. I knew that containers with dated labels, like the Date Mates, would even further help our effort to make the most of every bit of food we prepare.

Turns out I was right. Not only do the cute, colorful and customizable labels make my husband more inclined to heat up dinner from two nights ago for a late snack after work (he was big on, “I don’t know how long it’s been in there” before and now that’s not an issue) but they make me want to keep the fridge more organized and tidy. What good are labels if you can’t see them? So I find myself stacking leftovers in neat little stacks, labels facing out, neatly printed with permanent marker, just because it looks so nice when the door is opened. And being able to read what’s in all the containers requires less effort than sorting through containers, guessing what’s what and searching for something you think is there. All and all, having these labels as a part of our kitchen has made our effort to waste less so much easier.

More Mabel’s Labels!

Mabel’s Labels doesn’t just make Date Mates labels for leftovers. They have a huge line of all kinds of labels, with a variety of personalized labels. In the Household Labels section you can custom order labels with all your spices, pastas, grains, etc. printed on them in colors to match your kitchen to organize your cupboards impeccably. Or large Curbside Labels, to keep track of your trash can and recycling bin.

Mabel's Labels Household Labels

Even classroom labels, cord keeper labels and crafter supply labels. Many are made specifically for kids, from babies to teens. Imagine your child’s name printed on a sticky little label, the perfect size to stick on bottles, books, toys, anything that has to leave the house with your little one. And in the Tween line they come in bright, hip, playful styles, just right for keeping track of iPods, cameras, school books, water bottles. There is also a line of bag tags, clothing labels and shoe labels, some specifically for toddlers designed to help distinguish the right and left shoe. The shoe labels are waterproof and extra durable. The clothing labels come in Iron On and Tag Mate, either to be ironed on with a household iron or stuck to the care tag inside a piece of clothing, both are laundry-safe.

Mabel’s didn’t just stop with labeling stuff, they even have labels for your kids, with their Kid Safety products. The “My 411 Wristband” is designed like a standard paper wristband, except this one has your child’s name, your phone number and any other vital information you’d want attached to your tyke while out and about at an airport, zoo or amusement park. The Allergy Alert labels can be adhered to lunch boxes or backpacks with a list of your child’s allergies for easy reading.

To Buy or Not to Buy

To Buy… I can’t think of one family or household that wouldn’t benefit from these organizational stickers and labels. They would make great gifts too.

Not to Buy… Since they’re difficult to reuse, and people have so much stuff to label, I can see the cost seeming a bit extravagent to some folks.

Shop! Mabel’s Labels come in packs from 6 to 80, depending on the size and variety. They range in price from $12 for 60 Classroom labels to $16.95 for 54 Book labels to $21 for 12 sets of shoe tags. The Household Labels are $21.

Win! A set of the newly redesigned Household Labels from Mabel’s Labels!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Mabel’s Labels for providing samples and the giveaway prize.

Are You Uncomfortable Yet?

by Amy H on February 11th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

As my pregnancy has progressed, I have often been asked that question, “Are you uncomfortable yet?”. This week, the answer went from a proud, “Nah, I’m hanging in there, feeling okay.” to a heartfelt, “YES, I am SO uncomfortable. All the time!”

I’m not sure what it was about week 33 but I went from my only complaint being about sore feet to feeling the urge to complain all the time, about every part of my body from my ribcage down. I try to keep the actual complaining in check, because I’m grateful to my body for growing this big healthy baby that’s causing the discomfort and I don’t want to seem like I take that for granted. Also because I know that nobody really wants to hear it.

My feet and ankles swell anytime I sit upright or stand still for more than a few minutes. My hips and legs ache. My back feels tight, I feel pressure in my pelvis. There is a butt jammed so far up in my ribcage that I can barely breath. I am awake at odd hours of the night all the time. And then there’s the heartburn. Oh dear lord, the heartburn. There, I’m done complaining, but that’s my list.

I was planning to work until my 37th week, but after this week, I have decided that I won’t make it three more weeks working 8 hour shifts on my feet. I’m going to finish out next week and then fill in where needed and train my replacements for the next two weeks in short few-hour increments. Just vocalizing this made my mood improve drastically. I am so excited and ready to be done working! I’ll be thrilled to have a few weeks before baby to relax, sleep, put my feet up, fill the freezer with after-baby meals, visit the farmers market as many Saturday mornings as I can, organize the closets in my house and finish various other nesting-type projects. So ready to be done working, just.so.ready!

My midwife had been recommending that I go swimming for a few weeks, since it’s a good form of stress-free exercise and it’s helpful to get baby into the right position. I knew I would probably enjoy it, as swimming has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I’m very comfortable in water. I had no idea at all though how phenomenal a sensation it would be to get in the water. The weightlessness, the floating, the cool water all around me. My body felt like my own for the first time in months, not stretched out, pregnant, heavy and sore. It was amazing. I swam and kicked laps for 45 minutes and would have kept going but had to get out to meet my husband and dog, who were waiting for me outside. I plan to swim at least once a week until I have my baby and I wish I hadn’t waited so long to start. What a relief to find a way to be comfortable, even for just an hour at a time.

I’m trying to keep it all in perspective and remain optimistic about this healthy pregnancy. I am grateful for the chubby baby growing in my belly who’s taking up all that space, the heartburn because it (hopefully) means he or she has a head full of hair, the pain in my pelvis because it means my baby’s head is in the right place getting ready for a smooth delivery, the butt in my ribs because it means he or she is getting longer and fatter, the hiccups that keep me up at night because I know it’s little baby lungs getting stronger, the soreness in my hips because I know it’s my body stretching out and getting ready for delivery. My baby and I are healthy and mere weeks from meeting each other. And that makes every ache, pain and moment of discomfort completely worth it.

Hypnobirthing Class: Check

by Amy H on February 4th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

Last week we attended our final Hypnobirthing class. This is both exciting and terrifying.

If you’re not familiar with The Hypnobirthing Method, I’ll give just a little background. It is a childbirth preparation class designed to prepare couples for natural, comfortable childbirth, using relaxation techniques, self hypnosis, positive affirmations and building confidence in your body to do what it’s designed to do. If you’re interested in having a natural childbirth, I suggest you read about it here http://www.hypnobirthing.com/ , find a class near you, or read the book by creator Marie Mongan.

I have to say that my husband and I were both surprised at how much we enjoyed the class. It was probably the best scenario for a birthing class ever. Due to some scheduling error, we were the only two in the class. It was held at the birth center where I go for prenatal care and will deliver and taught by my favorite/primary midwife. Those twelve hours spent with her made us that much more comfortable and familiar with each other, something I am grateful for as my “birthing day” approaches. We felt free to ask as many questions as we could think of, got slightly off topic occasionally, and had her full attention the whole time.

I’m glad to be finished with the classes because the weekly hour-long drive into Austin was getting old. It was a nice excuse to enjoy dinner out with my husband each Tuesday, but being in the car for long periods of time is getting increasingly less pleasant for me. It’s exciting to have completed the only real “task” left on our pre-baby to-do list, aside from the major deep cleaning of our house and cars, which will be left til the last few weeks.

It is terrifying because now I’m supposed to be ready to have a baby. I’ve been given all the information, shown relaxation and breathing techniques, walked through hypnosis exercises, practiced positions and stretches to help get baby into the right position, learned natural methods for helping get labor started, experimented with pain management massage and touch, had hundreds of questions answered, seen several placement demonstrations with a doll and cloth pelvis and watched dozens of videos of calm, peaceful women giving birth. Yet I somehow feel a little bit more nervous than when the class started.

At some point near the end of the final class, when we were discussing what the environment would be like at the center while I was in labor. Midwife Jayme referred to lighting candles in the bathroom because some women prefer to labor in a small, confined, dimly lit area. She explained that they would have the woman sit facing the back of the toilet with a pillow on the tank so she can lean forward. For whatever reason, this is moment, the image that made it click in my head … “HOLY CRAP, all this we are learning about, this is going to be ME! She’s talking about ME sitting backwards on the toilet!” Apparently, all through the class, as I attentively listened and asked intelligent questions, it had not totally resonated that the whole class was to prepare my husband and me for what is about to happen to me, my body! Clearly, I know that, but somehow, it still came as a shock when I fully realized it last night.

I’m so glad to have taken the Hypnobirthing class. I know that it has given me many tools for success as I approach my birthing day. It has opened my husband’s eyes tremendously and prepared him well to be the best, most supportive childbirth companion possible. We’re thinking that a water birth sounds pretty ideal, but I’m not trying to make any real plans for how it will go, except that I will listen to my body and do what feels right. Despite my healthy dose of nerves, I do feel very well prepared for the adventure that lies ahead… in just a matter of weeks.

Having Your Baby

by Amy H on January 25th, 2013 | 5 Comments | Life, She's Prego

uscruise There’s no doubt that having a baby changes everything. This obviously includes the dynamic within a couple going from a twosome to a family. Like every other aspect of pregnancy and having a baby, you can know what to expect and anticipate the way it will make you feel, but there is absolutely no way to know how it will truly affect you.

I’ve been surprised by how badly my feet have hurt, while the rest of me feels pretty good. I’ve been caught off guard by how quickly the last 32 weeks have gone. I never expected to enjoy my prenatal care as much as I have with my midwives. There’s no anticipating the way it feels to have a human doing cartwheels in your abdomen. And there is no way I could have imagined how completely amazing my husband would be throughout this whole process.

I married him, I fell in love with him seven years ago, I have spent more time alone with him than anyone else in the world, clearly I know he’s a great guy. I knew he would be a really good father, it is one of the very first things I could tell about him. He’s always been protective of me, concerned with my health and well-being and willing to do anything to help me. But going on this journey beside him as we prepare to welcome our first baby has opened my eyes and my heart and made me fall even more in love with him than I ever knew possible. I know there are some pregnancy hormones enhancing the adoration I’m feeling toward him, but even on an irritated day, I know he’s one of a kind and I’m lucky that he’s mine.

My Joseph has attended every prenatal appointment with me, at first just quietly observing. As we’ve gotten comfortable with the midwives and the pregnancy has progressed, he has become an active participant, both in the appointments and in helping me to care for myself and our baby in the weeks between appointments. For the last three weeks we have been attending Hypnobirthing classes, and this is where I have been totally convinced that my husband is the best. He is far more interested than I could have ever expected. He listens, asks appropriate questions, and truly wants to understand everything we are learning. His grasp of the physiology of pregnancy and the information he retains in these classes has been more than impressive. He participates in the relaxation exercises we do and seems to be so aware that his presence and energy during labor and delivery will make a huge difference to me.

He reminds me to drink more water, makes me his ”Pregnancy Special: 35 Grams of Protein” breakfast sandwich as often as I’ll eat it, and encourages me to exercise with him even when he knows I don’t want to. He scratches my back when I need help falling asleep and brings me a pillow when I get comfy on the couch, even when I think I’m not going to take a nap, because it’s pretty much inevitable I’ll fall asleep. He’s sweet and nurturing, and obviously ready to be a father. Recently he told me that he thinks it’s important that he is as comfortable caring for our baby as I am and won’t be one of those dads who “babysits” his own children. He has become such a believer in our choice of midwifery care and a natural out of hospital birth, that he happily explains the benefits to anyone who questions it. He has the utmost confidence in me and is sure I’ll be the very best mother to his babies. I think I should be getting more foot rubs out of the deal but I won’t complain about that.

I am sure that other husbands are just as wonderful and some more attentive or sweet or affectionate. I am also sure that way too many women go through pregnancy without a supportive partner there to help every step of the way. I feel sad for those women. Everyone should be so lucky. To experience the joy of going through pregnancy with a committed man who loves me with all his heart and cannot wait to be a father to our baby has been one of the greatest, most heartwarming experiences of my life, so far.

I can’t even imagine how much more in love with him I’ll fall when I see him holding our baby for the very first time. *Smile*