Father and Son

Shoulder Baby/Passed out Baby

Maya Wrap for a blouse--tres chic
Back when the Carseat wasn't Hans' enemy

Happiest Bean-baby on the Block

Mom and Dad visit

Coming Home with Hans

Early Days with Hans

Hans in Mittens.

The Happy family at the hospital.

Pictures from Hans' Birth

We Labored at home in hopes of a homebirth. Contractions started getting somewhat regular (between 2-20 minutes apart) early Saturday (May 9th) morning. The Midwife Cheryl Gates and her assistant Melanie Brindle came to our house to help us birth. By Monday morning May, 11th we were very tired, Dr. Plumb came twice to offer some hypnosis to help me rest. Dr. Belt also came and performed acupuncture to move things along. However, after almost 3 days without sleep I was worn out and we transferred to the hospital. At the hospital, I was able to get pain relief which allowed me to rest before the big event.

Hans Thomas was born at 10:17 PM on May 11, 2009. He was 7lbs 13oz and had red hair!

Last Belly Pictures before Hans' Birth

Rocky Theme Song and Door-to-door Organics

Baby and I have been listening to the Rocky Theme Song ("Gonna Fly Now")--hope it gives him courage! The lyrics crack me up:

Trying hard now
it's so hard now
trying hard now

Getting strong now
won't be long now
getting strong now

Gonna fly now
flying high now
gonna fly, fly, fly...

I decided to try Door-to-door Organics that Marcela recommended. It will be nice to have organic fruits and veggies delivered to our door.
http://www.doortodoororganics.com/

Hearing Baby's Heartbeat

We had a midwife appointment today and as always listened for baby's heartbeat (I can never hear it on the stethoscope). The midwife showed Jon how to listen to baby's heartbeat by putting his ear in just the right spot on my belly. His eyes really lit up when he heard it--so sweet! Cheryl is really good at boosting our confidence and telling us that we are going to have a great birth. She took an hour with us as always and took the time to answer questions from belly buttons to homeschooling. I'm really glad that we went with her.

Baby has been slipping up and down my pelvis. I think that he was really low yesterday--I felt like I had just been horseback riding for hours. I may have even been walking like a cowboy. Today I feel today back to normal. Maybe he just practicing.

Waist Size

Sissy asked on the phone what my waist size is...well...I measured it...I'm 42 inches! That's one big beer belly. Right now I weigh 184, which is 31 pound weight gain. Cheryl said to gain between 35-45, so looks like I'll make it. Haha! Actually with breastfeeding and eating well both Harpo and I will be healthy and happy.

When Mom was visiting during her Easter Vacation, we had a last minute 3D ultrasound. Ollie and Lonnie also came to see one last look at our baby in utero. Harpo can be seen here smiling.

Here he is pouting...
Opening his eyes... Mom and Blondie in the car...
Ladies in Red. We had a nice walk at Shawnee Mission Park during a nice sunny day.

Picture update of belly!

Blondie inspecting our progress...this may be Week 35?

Pants are so eight months! Week 37...

Front shot...Week 38...

Back shot...who's 9 months pregnant?

Up close belly picture...

Picture taken by Marcela at MINH during a break. Look Ma, no yoga pants! It was speech day, so I sort of dressed up. Baby was very active today, he usually is during class.

Kale Recipe

New Favorite Greens Recipe (from Bill in my Nutritional Healing Class)
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
Sprinkle of sea salt
Bunch of Kale

Cut Kale into bite sized pieces. Mix other ingredients in a large ziploc bag and allow sea salt to dissolve. Add Kale, shake (with bag closed), and allow to marinate overnight. So good, it doesn't last long.

Natural Birth Class

We had our first Natural Birth class with Doula and midwife-to-be Melanie Brindle. It was pretty informative and fun--Jon even enjoyed it. There are maybe 6 other couples in the class--one other couple is planning a homebirth.

http://www.empowering-birth.com/

I am also preparing for birth with Hypnobabies. I listen to my pregnancy affirmations everyday--they are very positive and nice to listen to. You an listen to them in the car or while doing housework. I also listen to a different hypnosis exercise everynight.

New belly pics!

Like my droopy sweat pants?

Here's the newest picture (no, that's not a bra hanging up!)

Breakdancing Pregnant Ladies

These pregnant ladies can move! Okay, the breakdancers aren't pregnant. This was a staged event to raise consciousness about health care for women in developing countries. Everyday 1400 women die in pregnancy and childbirth around the world due to lack of health care. Found this gem at Mothering Magazine.

Florida

For my 30th Birthday and our "Babymoon", we went to Florida for 5 days. It's was warm and amazing which is just what we needed. Just feeling the soft sun on my skin was reason enough to go.

The Everglades.

Audubon House in Key West.

Real Astronaut John Fabian at NASA. He gave a talk and spoke about his experience in Space and our fragile planet.

Baby Harpo and I board a rocket into space at the Kennedy Space Center.

Growing Belly

Here's my belly at around 27 weeks. Looks like I'm growing everywhere. :) My baby Harpo is moving more and more everyday. He's kind of a feisty fellow. We play a game where I gently tap my belly and he kicks back.

We went to see Cheryl Gates the midwife and everything is progressing perfectly. My body naturally knows what to do just like the sky knows how to make rain and yellow forsythia flowers know how to trumpet spring. We will now see Cheryl every two weeks to check our progress.

I saw Hypnotherapist Dr. Plumb today to help me trust my body in birth. He has been very helpful in guiding me to relax and allow my body do what it was made to do.

Belly Picture Week 24 and Exciting News

Here are two pictures from week 24; my dog Blondie cannot believe the size of my belly. I finally look pregnant to strangers which is a powerful tool. People are naturally protective and loving to pregnant people.

Good news is that my little son Harpo is getting a cousin--my sister and her husband are expecting and are on week 13--already 2nd Trimester. What a gift to my son to have a cousin his same age. It makes my pregnancy even more enjoyable to share with her. I wish their little family good blessings and health--I can't wait to see Sissy's little baby bump start to show.