Things are coming together, we've just got a few more things to pack for the big day! Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season! I'll see you in the New Year!
"Inspirez---bloquez--- poussez poussez poussez!" (Take a deep breath, hold it, and push!) That's complete bullshizzle. That's not even what I'm doing in the pictures. And no, it's not yoga either. That was yesterday's prep class on pushing (this one is when you push on all fours...may try it...). But there's actually another technique besides your classic mother's-face-becoming-beet-red-and-hemorrhoid-explosion-down-there method. This one is more breathe in, then as you shoot out concentrated air from a teeny tiny hole you make with your lips, you suck in your tummy, imagine your uterus getting crammed up under your rib cage as the midwife repeats "Démoulez! Démoulez! Démoulez!" which means "remove from the mould" (like when you turn out a cake). I can't help myself from thinking of cake when she says that. I'm sure on the actual day I most likely will NOT be thinking of cake. This method seems to be much easier on the rectal area, so I'll be trying this first. And if all else fails, then...I'll have to resort to some good ol' pushing. Anyway, it's the last month! La dernière ligne droite as we say in French. No worries, I've got my pushing class down pat, I'm ready to go............no, I'm kidding. I'm not ready yet! Please!!! Somebody save me! I could go on being pregnant just a little longer, just a little.
As I went to bed last night, I said to myself, tomorrow is December 23rd, Baby's due date is exactly one month away, when you wake up in the morning, you have to be mentally ready no matter what, because she could come out any day now! Why all this pressure on myself? Because I want to try a drug-free birth...one Daddy at our prep class asked me yesterday why I would want that. I thought to myself, "Yeah why on EARTH!!?" but I told him if my mom can do it, if my grandma can do it, well then I have to atleast try! My mother did it 3 times, both my grandmothers combined 8 times, my great grandmothers combined 15 times (and one had twins hello?!). I could atleast try once. But these are actually all really tough women now that I think of it... He probably thought, "Bad reason." R. said he wouldn't be disappointed in me even if I resorted to taking the epidural --- that a boy! Something else I learned yesterday in class: birthing is of course easier when baby's head first (great! That's my case!), and with his back to the left (that is not my case!). Because babies turn clockwise when they come out, and so if Baby has his back to the right that means she has to rotate almost a full circle to have her back on the left to come out. That means longer and more painful because Baby will be pressing on your spine rather than your tummy. This is one of the reasons why they tell you to sleep on your left side throughout pregnancy, but nobody told me this! They just kept saying it's better on the left side because you don't crush some huge vein or something. If they would have told me this, I would have done it! One last thing that I learned: if the placenta is not 100% whole when it comes out, midwife's gonna be ramming her hand up in there, and by there I mean the uterus, to find that little missing piece. Of course, if it's a small piece just a bit of gas for the mother, and if it's a huge chunk, they'll get the anesthesiologist to come. Am I really going to try that drug free birth? Hmmm...decisions decisions. Week 36. That means next week, if Baby decided to pop out, she wouldn't be considered premature. This whole bedrest business is coming to an end soon, but I have to admit, I wasn't all that good about it, especially towards the end. Come on! You can't expect a young lady to stay put at home 24/7! So labor and childbirth has been on my mind, say, ALL the time since last week. I watch all sorts of videos on youtube of women giving birth, with epidural, without, with titles like "My TRAUMATIZING Labor and Delivery Story"...now, why would you do that? Why would you put up that kind of stuff to scare the living hell out of women who are 8 months pregnant and are bound (I was going to say doomed) to go through all that in a month's time? I think I really shouldn't be doing this to myself... They all look like they're going to die, moaning and groaning and wailing and crying and screaming. I guess I watch these videos because I'm scared of underestimating labor pain. I know it's going to be painful, and I want to think that I can do it without epidural, but I have no way of knowing what a real contraction will feel like, that is until I get one. Rest assured, I will try and write a most precise account of all that when the day comes. There's also the whole post-natal part that intrigues me...nobody ever really talks about that. So being the sadistic person that I have become, I did some research and came across Pregnant Chicken the other day. Hmm, maybe I didn't want to know after all... There are 2 posts on this issue: "Happily After Giving Birth - 10 Things they don't tell you" and "Exit Care", both funny (probably not so funny when it happens). I think my favorite was this: " hold a clean pad firmly against the wound and press upward while you poo to help relieve any pressure" --- click for more tips. I remember when R. and I first met he always made a big deal out of that word--- "poo" I mean. He said it sounded so gross, and I tried to convince him that it's a cute word, like caca in French! He's gotten used to me saying poo now. Yet for some odd reason, I finally understood where he was coming from when I read that sentence. Hmm, it IS indeed an unpleasant word, the way your lips pucker into this..poopoo shape... In the meantime, the bedroom's ready! Still have to decorate Baby's crib though.
As promised, the video on my hair cut post from back in November. Let me just explain myself here! The reason why I am grinning like a dimwit in the beginning is that Jenny messed up a few times so I was actually laughing, ok?! However, why my hair looks so effed in the beginning I am unable to explain. I mean, did I leave the house and take the bus like that?! My mother's comment to it was, "You really were in dire need of a make-over." Thanks, Mom. Enjoy... And just so you know, they didn't pay me to say all that at the end, I came up with it myself just like that, off the top of my head woohoo ;-)! I was trying to sound professional... Sylvie gave me a bunch of free make-up, and I actually went out and bought some more of their stuff because UNE is really good! Especially their BB cream concealer and foundation! Works like a charm!
I'm not sure if you can see the growth progress here between the 7th and 8th month, but something literally happened overnight. Maybe it'll be more explicit in this next picture: My belly has finally jutted out!
It actually looks like a real pregnant lady belly and no longer a "she needs to go easy on that beer" belly! When did this happen? I noticed it had changed shape two nights ago, I thought it looked droopy and swollen (that sounds kind of gross). Apparently the baby "drops" in the last month and you feel like you can breathe again. I'm not so sure that is my case because I still like I'm suffocating after a meal... R. and I only noticed it looked like a real preggy belly yesterday. Maybe it's all that cheese/yoghurt I've been having. I've been craving dairy products since last week...had to run to the supermarket and stock up on Yoplait yoghurt... Must be extra diligent now about rubbing oil all over now! What is it going to look like in a month? Thank you A. for these photos ;-) (though you didn't officially lend them to me). Yay! Crib's done! But room's still a mess... It was a very exciting weekend with friends and family over. Had the first raclette of the winter, baked cupcakes, had nice food, and set the crib up! This is all a lot of excitement for one pregnant girl. And there is more to come since R.'s friends are coming over tomorrow evening for more pre-holiday/pre-baby festivities...
I have been living in the bedroom for the past 4 days because of very bad-timing renovation works in the apartment's entrance. They've finally taken off the 4 year old (alteast!) broken up bits of tiles that paved the entrance, sanded down the floorboards underneath, and applied a nice thick coat of toxic polish! Good for Mommy and Baby! All this in December, so you can forget about airing out the place! But I did it anyway! That's why I'm stuck in the bedroom and need to put on my winter coat and bonnet whenever I go to the WC (which is about 5 trips per hour). So I learned that in France that baby showers aren't really what is traditionally done here. I mean, no one has heard of it. R. thought I was a complete weirdo when I brought up the subject. I did some research and found out that the French baby shower is usually once the baby is here (apparently to avoid getting gifts twice? as in before the baby is born and after --- talk about stingy!). I will do a semi baby shower nonetheless. What I really mean is, I will bake some cupcakes and put pink frosting on top. And maybe get some pastel pink paper plates and some confetti... But that means I have to get out of the house in this cold winter weather, which is really no big deal now considering the fact that my living room is the same temperature as outside anyway. So more photos to come if my cupcakes are a succes |