Birth Rehearsal

Have you ever heard of a birth rehearsal before?  Neither had I.  We had one on Friday. 

First, a little background information on Hypnobabies: it's a birth prep course that teaches the "hypno-mom" how to self-hypnotize in a couple different ways and emphasizes re-training the mind to employ positive thinking about pregnancy and childbirth.  The goal is to have a comfortable, natural birth - be it in a hospital, home, or birth center.  

 

There are a few key vocabulary changes the course promotes in the interest of re-training the mind:

Contraction = "Pressure wave" or "Birthing wave"
Labor = "Birthing time"
Due Date = "Guess Date" (often repeated throughout the course: "babies are born on their birth days, not when doctors decide")

Early in the course, the hypno-mom establishes her "bubble of peace," an imagined bubble with specific attributes to keep negativity out.  She also establishes her "safe place," which is a specific scene to which the mind can dissociate during very deep hypnosis.

So there is the background.  The success of this method of birth preparation requires a certain suspension of cynicism, which I'm mostly managing, though it has sometimes been difficult. We decided to hire a hypno-doula to come help during the birthing time since there is a good chance that Dinah (our midwife) will be out of the country at that time.  There would be a different midwife present in that case, but we would only have met her once. 

Kathy, our hypno-doula, came over on Friday for the birth rehearsal.  She had Daniel and me (or sometimes just me) practice the various techniques of initiating self-hypnosis and then set up "stations" around the house to practice having pressure waves in various positions (sitting in a chair, standing, walking, lying down, sitting on the floor, etc.).  It was extremely helpful to practice focusing in all the different positions, and she was great with Daniel - pointing out which cues to give (and when) to help deepen hypnosis and direct anesthesia. 

The most surreal moment during this rehearsal was when Kathy had me practice "ahh-ing" the baby out (that's "ahh" like a sigh, not like a scream) and proceeded to deliver a plastic baby doll from between my legs.  I mean... what do you do when someone delivers a plastic baby doll from between your legs?  Despite my medical training and birth preparation, I don't think I was prepared for that.  I went with the flow though and practiced helping baby out and holding her after.

After the experience, I would say I am pro-birth-rehearsal.  I feel much more prepared and comfortable about the birthing time, and I can tell Daniel does, too.  Which is good, since Lucy's "guess date" is just 3 weeks from now!

Our First Cloth Diaper Stash!

Thanks to an awesome deal on Craigslist this week, our cloth diaper stash has grown!  It's not complete yet, but it's growing. 



There is a ton of information on the internet about cloth diapers... seems that everybody is eager to share everything they've learned through their experience.

I don't have any experience yet, but from talking to several people, it seems that the best way to attempt cloth diapering is to try several different brands/styles of diapers and then build a stash that suits you and your baby the best.



So our diaper stash (so far) consists of about 4 All-In-Ones (Bumgenius), 10 Pockets (Bumgenius and Fuzzibunz), and 35 Prefolds/Fitteds/Contours with 4 covers (Econobum and Thirsties).   Maybe if anyone is interested I will post more about what each type of diaper is like and the pro's and con's of each... but seriously there is so much information on the internet about this already. 

I am looking forward to figuring out what works best for Lucy! 

Found a Rug!

Well, it's not exactly what I had in mind, but it's close.



A little smaller than I was thinking (4 x 6 instead of 5 x 8), and maybe not 100% wool like it would have been from Pottery Barn Kids, but at 1/10th the price, I couldn't really pass it up.

It's really soft and seems to fit the room well.  My 2-year-old niece walked in and stepped on it with her bare feet and goes, "I like it!"

Me too.

Art for Lucy's Room: 2 of 4

Here is the next 12x12 canvas, completed for the room:

I chose that particular scripture because "Lucy" means "light," and it seemed fitting. 

Not sure yet what I'll do for the other 2 canvases... I'm waiting for inspiration to strike.

Dinner with Friends

It's been a while since I posted any recipes or cooking posts.  So here is one :).

We had a couple friends over for dinner the other night, and I tried out a couple new recipes.  I love this blog (The Pioneer Woman) and have never been disappointed by any of her recipes.  So I decided to try out her Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork.

YUM.



You have gotta try this recipe - so easy.  You just chop an onion into quarters and stick that into the bottom of a dutch oven (or a crockpot).  Put a pork shoulder roast on top (seasoned with salt and pepper).  Top the roast with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo (12 oz can), and add 2 cans of Dr. Pepper (Dublin, if you can possibly help it).  Stick it in the oven on 280 for 6-8 hours, and done!  Shreds up beautifully.  If you decide to make it, remember to turn the roast a couple times during the cooking, but you should begin and end the cooking time with the fat-side up. 



I decided to serve it with fresh french bread (credit goes to AllRecipes, another favorite for finding good recipes).  A little time consuming, but worth the effort.



Proof the yeast (2 packages) in 2 cups warm water (110 degrees) and 2 Tbs sugar for about 10 minutes.  Then add most of the flour (3 cups) and the salt (1 1/2 tsp) and mix by hand until it has a kneadable consistency.  I made that word up.



Add as much flour as you need to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, and let it rise in a greased bowl until doubled (about an hour).  Punch it down and divide in two; then allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Roll the dough into a large rectangle and roll up from the long side, making a large, skinny loaf.  I decided to make 5 rolls and a full loaf.  Allow to rise again, about 40 minutes; then brush with egg white and bake at 325 until golden brown (about 30-40 minutes).



Next up: Savory Sweet Potatoes.



Doesn't get any simpler than this, but these were so yummy.  Coat the chopped sweet potatoes in a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Bake at 350 for an hour.  De-lish.



And some steamed green beans.  Nothing new there.  Tossed them in olive oil, salt, and pepper after steaming.   



Dessert: Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.



Another good one from AllRecipes.  I didn't change anything on this recipe, so I'll avoid the redundancy of typing it all out.  But they were great.



If you have been wanting meal or meal component ideas, I hope this post brings some ideas to mind!

The Nursery Closet

This weekend we tackled the closet.  While Daniel was studying yesterday, I went to Lowe's and got all the cuts of wood we needed.  There was a nice, patient employee there who made EIGHT cuts of wood for me so that I wouldn't have to mess with the table saw at home.  Blessed man.  Unfortunately, I told him the longest cut of wood I needed was 64 1/4" when it was actually 66 1/4" and that tiny error resulted in my needing to purchase a whole lot of extra wood.



I can't believe that after all this careful calculating, I made that mistake.  Oh well.  Live and learn, as they say. 



This was my plan for the closet:



And here are photos of the "before" and the progress.













Daniel suggested we use the brad nailer to put most of it together, which turned out to be a brilliant, time-saving (and energy-saving) plan.



Caulking turned out to be more time-consuming than I thought.  I think we finished up at about 8:30 PM.



 

 

I am proud of what we accomplished in one day!  We were exhausted by the end.   



Today was paint day.



I didn't participate due to the highly volatile organic compounds in the paint, but Ginnie came over to help Daniel, and they knocked out the first coat.

The closet is now almost finished!  My plan is to purchase some of these Ikea Drona cubbies to put on a couple of the shelves.

 
 I will update with more photos once I get the closet settled!

Lucy's Future Friends

I babysat my friend's daughter the other day, and my mom kindly brought over my adorable niece (whom she was babysitting) for a play date.



It was a good time.



We did mani/pedi's.



Show me your fingernails!



Kids make friends so quickly.  I love that.