Showing posts with label birth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birth. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2015

It's Prep Time!




Moonbelly 31 Weeks


With only seven or eight weeks left of pregnancy, I have been spending some time preparing the room I plan to labor in. I'm going to use my yoga studio as the primary space, while also spending time on the deck overlooking the river. Here are the things I've been collecting for that fateful day.


Top athletes use coconut water for optimal performance.


Staying hydrated while you labor is super important and I've enlisted coconut water as my ally for that purpose. I'd also like to have some aged barley miso soup ready when the time comes.


The guest bed.


The former guest room is now the nursery, and instead of putting the bed in the basement, we moved it to the yoga studio so I can use it during labor. We ordered a waterproof bed pad to go on it in case my water breaks while I'm lying there. And yes...I was too lazy to make the bed for this photo.


The altar.


My altar is in the studio, and for the past year it has been holding items representing fertility, and birth. A nice focal point to have in the room that was specifically put together to welcome the soul who chose us as parents. When I first assembled it, it was with the intention of getting pregnant quickly and now it will be with me as my baby begins his journey earth side.


Art by Catie Atkinson 


Inspiring birth art by Catie Atkinson will be adorning the room. She is the talented woman who made my pregnancy journal. I love love love her style. Her works can be viewed and purchased at her ETSY store Spirit & Sol.


Yoga gear.


Yoga mats, cushions and blankets to assits in the many positions I'm sure I'll find myself in.


Exercise Ball.


An exercise ball to sit on and rock my hips. This is supposed to help gravity move the baby down. I actually really love this thing and know I will use it a lot even after the birth.


Lavender essential oil.


Organic lavender essential oil for diffusing. Veriditas Botanicals is my favorite essential oil company. The best.


Always need a book.


A book of yoga poses and guided meditations for early labor.


Corn bag.


My neighbor gave me one of those groovy cloth bags filled with hard corn kernels. It can be heated or put in the freezer and used cold. Very helpful little tool.


I also put a fan in the room and will probably have some New Age music streaming off Pandora. Maybe a candle or two. Or, maybe I won't care about any of these things? You can't predict the unknown, but you can plan for your vision. Do any of you have suggestions for things to make labor easier? What worked for or helped you? Ultimately I'll be having my boy at the hospital, but I plan to stay home with our doula as long as possible. I would love any ideas or inspiration you have to share. 


31 Weeks.


~ Love & Light ~














Tuesday, September 8, 2015

The Mindful Mom-To-Be




The Mindful Mom-To-Be by Lori Bregman.






I haven't been writing any "currently reading" posts over the past seven months because pretty much ALL I have been reading are pregnancy books. And frankly...a lot of them kinda sucked. I thought about doing my top 5 (I've read over a dozen at this point) but most of the books on pregnancy that I really love are classics that everyone already knows about, like Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin. I decided not to write about pregnancy books, but then one I had ordered from Amazon showed up. A new book published this year that some of you might not have heard of. And it is really good! My new favorite. The Mindful Mom-To-Be: A Modern Doula's Guide To Building A Healthy Foundation From Pregnancy Through Birth by Lori Bregman. So if you are pregnant or have a friend who is, this is my number one book recommendation.


Lori is a doula out in Santa Monica, CA. and founder of the Rooted for Life pregnancy coaching program. I am a fan of her book namely because I love how the chapters are broken down into months of pregnancy. Each month/chapter contains tips, recipes, exercises and coping advice specific for that phase of your pregnancy journey. She also conveys a more modern and spiritual side that is missing from a lot of the other books I read.


So there it is. My number one pick. I hope I'm not boring you to death with too many pregnancy posts. Thursday I'll be 30 weeks along, so before long you'll only be bored with baby posts! Seriously though, thanks for stopping by and having a read. Eventually I'll get regular with publishing content again, and who knows what the future holds ~ I've been feeling the urge to overhaul the blog or start from scratch. So much change in my life makes me feel called to change up the blog too. Everything in its time.


~ Love & Light ~