Naked in the Woods

Mommy hired a photographer to take pictures of her while pregnant AND the same person will take pictures of me after birth and again when I'm six months. Here's a link to Mommy's picture lady: http://www.karenleonardphotography.com/.

So the first day of shooting Mommy and Karen were outside in the hood. Thanks for Auntie Jackie Mommy decided to use her wedding dress in the shoot. But instead of pulling it up she pulled it down to expose my big belly hideout spot. I think the pictures will turn out nice. Luckily the shoot is over, because Mommy was entertaining the whole neighboorhood being half naked in the side of the road in the SE marsh hideout.

Labor Day Play List

Since mommy and daddy are doing natural labor, they decided to put together a playlist of songs to help motivate them. First mommy searched the web for music other women used. But unfortunately, it seems like many women would prefer to hear Celine Dion in labor instead of Salt and Pepper "Push It." So mommy made her own list. Check it out and let us know if you have other ideas.... http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=369604612

My Party

Mommy's friends threw me a party. I heard that it was really nice and meshed well with my parent's personalities...organic/green restaurant with Latin inspired food (both), tons of activities pumped in to a couple of hours (Daddy), henna (Daddy, you know he loves getting painted with earth dyes), jewelry making competition (Mommy), onsie making competition (Mommy...though the winning onsie had pictures of an owl and the phrase "Woos your daddy?"), slide show of pictures of mommy and daddy from when they were kids, to dating, marriage, pregnancy and there were even some ultrasound pics of me, lastly my favorite part was the roast.

While Dziadek (Polish for "grandfather" pronounced JAH-jah, yes that's correct) saved Ojciec (polish for father, pronounced) from embarrassment.

Grand-ma-ma (still not sure what to call her) gave a 15 min soliloquy about mom. Oh, the stories I learned. First apparently, mom did cartwheels in stores. And she talked back to a preacher, and yelled "Time to go" when the service was too long. Funny story to all but mom who was a bit embarrassed and said, "Baby RadJo won't do that. Quiet time." Then there were other stories that implied that mom was SO bossy that they called her "Mama Jay" at the nursery. Having Dad hear this was great. As I can already tell he won't be the enforcer. He's talking about letting me cross the street when it's clear (but says "don't walk") and not wearing shoes. Mommy has rules for everything. Daddy can't wait to take me in the ocean and let me learn from my mistakes. Mommy wants to put up gates and outlet protectors now.

I'm sure her creative spirit and desire to breast feed as often as I want will lull me into her arms, but I'm happy that Daddy has some leverage on her now. I mean, Grand ma-ma did a good job raising Mommy. She turned out ok, by most standards. So a little back talk and gymnastics in public places never hurt anyone.

Melon Baby

I'm a little over four pounds and about the size of a cantaloupe. Mom's waddling around and bumping into things. She has to push off daddy to get out of bed and all of her maternity clothes look like there's no room left. I think it's all the cheese she eats. She thinks it's me. Come on, I'm only four pounds plus or minus some pounds for fluid, placenta, umbilical cord etc.

At 33 weeks I should make my appearance anywhere between five and nine weeks.

Mommy and Daddy have a competition among their friends and family. Whoever can guess my birth date (within four hours) and sex will have a say in naming me. I guess they either have faith in you all or they believe no one will guess correctly. Right now about 5 people say boy and six say girl. The earliest due date is May 10 and the latest is May 30.

What's your guess?

No Pain, No Gain?

So apparently there's some pain during child birth. As one of Mommy's friends once described it: "It's like squeezing a watermelon through a quarter sized whole." Some other people talk about the fact that sometimes there's a tear between the one hole and the other one. Some emphasize that its not just about the area down below; it's about the whole body experience. That your back aches, you don't get to eat for hours, you are sweating, losing consciousness etc. Sometimes, I hear, there are also complications. Like some babies are shy and nervous and decide they want to come out feet first and others try to push the placenta out before they come out.

For these various reasons and others, mothers today have a variety of pain medications they can use during labor and delivery. Some medications can be given intravenously (that means through the veins), others are given through the/ around the spinal cord.

Some of these medications cause labor to slow down because women can't feel anything so the urge to push is not as strong, others cause drowsiness and nausea. Some women feel itchy and others have headaches. Mommy's not sure how she would react to the medicine. The effect of these medicines on the baby are in some instances known and others unknown. At Mommy's old hospital she was told that 95% of women get epidurals (that's the one that goes in the spine). So it's pretty common these days to get drugs to assist. Doctors at the hospital, people on line, others in books laugh and say, most women who go in "saying no drugs" come out with an assisted labor. After all, that's what medical science has done for us.

Still Mommy's not convinced. She and Daddy went to a natural labor video presentation that showed all kinds of women in San Francisco having babies in tubs of water or on their bamboo floors without drugs and they didn't die from pain. Mommy's got bamboo floors. Daddy could grow a goatee. Auntie Wendy gave Mommy a book called "Active Labor" it talks about women using their various natural techniques to have drug free pregnancies. They did it.

So because so many people seem to be able to have babies without drugs (like women in over half of the world), then why can't Mommy?

On top of the potential reactions Mommy could have or I could have to the drugs and the fact that other people can do it, there's a principal here: Why take a tram to the top of the mountain if you can hike? When you get to the top of a hike you feel the pride of accomplishment of the hike plus the wonder of nature. If you take a helicopter to the top and arrive under a drug haze, can you really experience the magic of being on the top of the mountain?

So no drugs it is. The only exception Mommy is willing to make is if the drugs are needed to save Mommy's or my life. Otherwise, let it rip! We got this far for a purpose; we're not sleeping yet!

The Most Exciting Part of the Baby Moon

The rest of the Baby Moon was fun. They had great food and made new friends. Mommy and Daddy walked to the top of a large hill to see a lighthouse. Being the adventurous bunch that they are they snorkeled in a rocky spot called Shark's Cove. That was fun. Mommy floated in water (in between rocks) looking at fish. I thought I was going to be born in Hawaii a few times esp. when she almost fell a few times trying to get out of the water. It's not easy, they say, to walk on slippery rocks with snorkeling fins and a 7th month pregnant belly.

But the best part of the trip was the Polynesian Cultural Center. Mommy and Daddy went (on the only day of their trip to be slightly cold and rainy) to the PCC to learn more about eight different Polynesian cultures/islands and to enjoy a luau and a show called "Ha, the Breath of Life." There's a picture of the pig (poor thing) that was cooked in an under ground pit for the luau and a video on Ha. The Ha story was about a baby (like me) being born and his journey through life. They had pretty women dancing, guys doing all kinds of things with fire, and lots of singing. But the part that I was awake for was the drumming. When the drummers were drumming I was kicking hard and fast as I could. It was fun. I think I need a drum set.

Owls and Birds have Arrived

My big day is two months away and Mommy and Daddy are back from their Hawaiian vacation. They are working on getting my room done before my arrival. Mommy originally said before the "baby celebration party" (also known as the non-baby shower) but that's not going to happen. Still I'm excited to see some more progress as the owls and birds have joined the mural! Still to come carpet, refurbishing the rocking chair, window treatments (mommy's still convinced she can sew curtains) and incorporating the craft area! Oh, and at some point I will need a crib. :)