Here I am at 35 weeks and 5 days

35 weeks
Originally uploaded by Viva.

So while the belly has grown considerably in the last couple of month, I have been able to stay active - here I went on an early morinig hike while at Le Baluchon Spa in quebec. Spent the weekend getting pampered, swimming and hiking. Still feeling pretty good, but sleeping is definatley a trick ;) Only a few weeks now!

I think I have a favorite name...

Choosing a name for a little girl is quite stressful really. I have not had a name tucked close to my heart since the beginning of time as some, and I am finding tha the baby name books reallya ren't helping much.

I want a name that is simple, strong and sounds good in almost any language. Ideally it would be nice to have a name that is linked to her culture in some way. Inlike my name, hihc means darkness, clad in black - I would like her name to mean something beautiful.

For these reasons I think that her first name may be KAIA - that is of course if she looks like her name when we meet. Otherwise, maybe it will be ELLA or EVA. Let's hope we don't have to go back to the drawing board completely...in a post birth hormonal soup...who knows what her name could be...

KAIA, EVA, RENATA REBANE
Meaning -"Reborn", "Of the earth", "beautiful, radiant and joyful".

I could live with that ;)

35 weeks and 3 days

It is right about now where the short road to the end begins. In less than 2 weeks the baby will be full term and in les than 5 weeks I will have reached overdue territory! While I have been most pleasantly in denial for a very long tiome about giving birth it is at teis special time that reality starts to kick in.

I have collected many expereinces to date and all of them so different that the whole expereince of bringing a child into the world seems more mysterious than it ever did. It seems to be a life expereince that is overwhelming both mentally and spiritually and at the same time a real physically wrenching experience.

I am somewhat comfortably full with my wee one inside me, rihgt now and I have forgotten to some extent what it feels like to not feel pregnant. My legs are restless in the evening, my pelvis feels as if it is breaking and I seem to have become accomstomed to the pressure on my bladder.

Visiting with the doctor today she explained to me tha tyou were in a totally differnt space when you give birth. I have heard other people say they felt powerful giving birth and others describe it as hell. I can't help but wonder what will giving bith be like for me.

I have hired a doula - Cathy. This should take the pressure off of the hubby to be the sole support, and it will give me agreater measure of confidence that I will have what I need when I needed to make it as good as it can be. But htere is so much mystery around what my own birth expereince will be.

There seems to be a mystical space around the life expereince of birth. It is like a gift that is unique to each woman. I have yet to meet a woman that can fully recount all that the experience entails - there seem to be moments that are remembered.

Soon I will be off work and spending my time preparing for the birth as best I can. I think that's all you can do...

Are You Ready for the World of Parenting?

When I got pregnant my eyes were opened to a vast commercial world of pregnancy this and that, making me wonder how the cave women ever did it. How were children born without multi-vitamins, yoga, meditation, feather beds, breast pumps, crib bumpers and quilts...etc...etc... but it seems this is only the tip of the iceberg.

It seems that the world of parenting is even bigger ... I just met a lady (I purchased cloth diapers from) who was telling me all about AP (attachement parenting), family beds, slings and co-sleeping ... Oh my God! What am I getting myself into?

I would like the baby in a crib as soon as possible and sleeping through the night...not feeding through the night. And, I definately do not want a family bed... I mean how will you ever get your sex life back on track????And attachemnt parenting? Where did this come from?

How about keep it simple parenting... for the rest of us...