I have made it to my final trimester and I am beginning to feel it now. My belly seems to be getting bigger by the day and my 1 hour long walk is getting more difficult as it has become more of a waddle than a walk and my uterus pushes uncomfortably on my bladder. I am getting braxton hicks contractions now and every once in a while I get the round ligament pain when I walk and have to breathe through it and slow down. I still go out there everyday though even if it is just for 30 minutes. I need that fresh air and sunshine to keep my mood up, so I want to keep going for as long as I can. I heard a saying before that I like, “Walk until you pop and then walk some more!” That’s the plan.

I stopped doing the prenatal yoga and workout DVD’s that I was doing because they are more strenuous and these days I am also beginning to feel really tired too. I wake up in the morning and am ready to sleep again all day after breakfast. Of course I don’t do that but I guess I really should rest more, even though  I don’t like napping because I find it just makes me more tired. On the days that I do nap, I try to only take a 20 minute nap so that I won’t get too sleepy. I find that walking is the perfect thing for giving me energy and enhancing my mood and I think that it is extremely beneficial for both baby and me because a happy, healthy momma = happy, healthy baby. 🙂

(Please keep in mind that this is what works for me. I have been walking an hour a day and practicing yoga for years. Do not attempt to begin any new activity or strenuous activity while you are pregnant unless your doctor says it is OK for you!)

It is also getting more difficult to eat. I am never hungry! The baby takes up so much room in there that my stomach is squished and when I do eat something it is hours and hours before I can eat again. I guess that the whole digestive system slows down too, to allow the baby better absorption of nutrients. I hate it because I really enjoy eating and don’t like that it makes me feel so uncomfortable. I know that this pregnancy won’t last forever though and one day I will forget all of these little annoyances and wish that I were pregnant again so I am trying my best to stay positive and enjoy this final stretch.

It is just 8 more weeks now! When I think about that I feel a lot better. In fact, I shouldn’t really complain because I haven’t really ‘felt’ pregnant until the past few weeks when suddenly I have this belly to cart around everywhere I go. Anybody who knows me says that I look really good and are shocked to hear I just have 8 weeks to go because they say I am pretty small this time around. I sure don’t feel it, but that makes me feel better too.

The baby room is all ready to go and I have washed all the baby clothes and have them in the dresser. She has a crib with the same Precious Moments bedding that Autumn and Kesara had. She will have enough toys for her lifetime already from what our girls have accumulated over the years and she has a mom, dad and two sisters that are dying to meet her! Autumn is hoping for a brown haired baby so that there will be a redhead, a blonde and a brunette. That would be rather cute!

I love when Kesa comes up to me and hugs my belly. She always talks to the baby and kisses my belly too. The other night the baby had really strong hiccups and my belly was moving every second. I let the girls feel them and they were just giggling away. Life with those two is so sweet. Here is a picture of my 32 week belly.

The two things that I absolutely love and am especially looking forward to the most about being a mother are breastfeeding and co-sleeping. I believe that both are extremely beneficial for the baby as well as the mother and are what nature intended. I love to live my life as naturally as possible and those are two things that I strongly believe in.

Even though I had Autumn when I was 15, I still knew that I wanted to breastfeed her to give her the best start. We went 9 months before she weaned herself because she was already walking by then and getting her teeth. I never slept with Autumn however because people were always saying how dangerous it was, so she had her crib and I would wake up every few hours to breastfeed her and place her back in the crib again.

When Kesa was born, I never planned on sleeping with her either but right from the first night in the hospital we became co-sleepers and remained so for 12 whole months. I just couldn’t leave her in the bassinet. I thought that it was just wrong and so sad that newborns are separated from their parents right after coming into the world and placed in a cold, plastic bed. I felt that I knew she needed close contact, to be cuddled and feel safe and secure in her mothers arms.

I also breastfed Kesa as I had planned to. My plan with her was to go for as many months as she needed me to and I just believed that she would wean herself when she was ready (as Autumn did) or that my milk would run out and I would know when I was done. In total I breastfed her for 21 months even though she started walking at 9 months as well and she had teeth too. We had a good long haul!

I found that co-sleeping and breastfeeding were amazing! I could always just cuddle her and feed her in a side-lying position without having to sit up and be fully awake every few hours. It made for such a peaceful experience and definitely made us closer. That is something that I will definitely always treasure. My plan with this baby is to do the same. If it works out that she is a co-sleeper, then we will do that and I am definitely looking forward to breastfeeding again. To me, that is just one of the most intimate moments of a woman’s life. There is no better feeling than that of providing life for your growing baby.

As for my birth plan, I want to go as natural as possible. No epidural, as I have never had that before and I am even considering going all-natural. The only thing that I had for my previous labors was nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and some remifentanyl (pain killer) in my IV. I really want to have the experience of being fully conscious throughout the birth and not having any drugs pass onto the baby either. I believe that as women we were created to do this and that drugs only interfere with the natural birthing process and what our bodies are designed to do. I hate that pregnant women are treated as patients and the whole pregnancy as a medical procedure, when really it is a completely natural thing that all female species go through.

I have watched a few documentaries, The Business of Being Born, Pregnant In America and What Babies Want and still want to read more on the subject of natural birthing and attachment parenting. I originally wanted a midwife with this pregnancy and I wish I could someday have a home birth, but for where we live right now, that isn’t possible. All the midwifery services are in the cities so unless they extend that to rural areas or we move we will always have to drive into the city for appointments.

My birth plan is to go free of any medication unless it becomes so bad that I absolutely need it but if I practice my breathing and visualization exercises, relaxation and meditation, I believe that I can do it! The mind is such a powerful thing and I know that if I can get over fear and put myself in a relaxed enough state it can be a beautiful and even more rewarding experience.

Have any of you ladies had a natural birth with NO medication at all? What was your birthing method and how did you find your experience? Any advice or recommendations? I would sure appreciate your comments! 🙂