Week 26

26 weeks?!
We're still an Eggplant this month.
The Bump says that baby girl is beginning to form her eyes and will soon be blinking!
Where has the time gone?!
Things are beginning to really sneak up on me so quickly!
It's a little scary!
I fear that I won't be able to get everything ready for baby girl by the time she gets here!
I pray I do!

Things to do in anticipation of Baby Girl's arrival:
-Refinish the dresser (sand, paint, get new pully handles, get new slider tracks for the drawers)
-Touch-up the crib and put it together
-Clean out her room
-Find a new living place for all the things currently in her room
-Paint her room
-Make the DIY mobile I have planned... I really hope this actually happens
-Make the DIY bunting flags to hang in her room (I'm also going to put it up at the shower for decoration, so it needs to be done even earlier)
-Buy some odds and ends for her room (this will be accomplished on my Ikea trip with my galfriends, Can't Freakin Wait!)
-Finish purchasing some artwork for her room and wait for it to get here (this last Etsy purchase has been taking WAY too long to arrive; I don't know if it's the seller or just Etsy)
-Write up a Birth Plan
-Get a hospital bag together
-Make sure I have the essentials ready for when we bring her home*

*I'm getting weirded out by this statement... It's really happening, we are actually going to bring home another human being that we created, insane!


In the meantime... 
     ...I need to focus on my homework... that's right, homework! Yesterday, The Husband and I went to our first Bradley Method* class! I should have been taking a class way before now, but when I previously looked up classes, there were none available. For some reason I checked the website again, and emailed the instructor to see if there was something available. And lo and behold, she had a class starting in just a few weeks, and it would be with other mothers that were also further along in their pregnancies. B/c the Bradley classes are usually 12 weeks long, she decided to cut the classes down to 4 weeks and we'll meet for 4 hours at a time. Which works out great for us! The 4 hours seemed to fly by, I couldn't imagine going for 1 hour a week, it's such interesting material, and I really liked being able to get in depth and not worry about rushing through material.
     The Husband wasn't so sure if we needed to take the classes, so he suggested we try reading through the book first and if we felt like we needed the classes still, then we'd discuss it then. So, I read through The Husband Coached Childbirth book as quickly as possible and found that I was even more encouraged to take the class. Thankfully, the Husband went along with it and joined me at the class. Of course I started worrying that the classes would be just like the book, and we would find the classes to be unnecessary. However, after 1 class, I can say that I am SO thrilled that we took that step and signed up for the classes. The Husband and I both felt that we learned many new things at the class and we're excited for what's to come in the next 3 weeks as well. I could not stop talking about how great the experience was!
     I was so encouraged to really give this method 100% and do everything possible within my power to try to make this natural childbirth happen for not only me, but for the Husband and our little girl. I want to be able to experience everything that happens and remember it. I want to be able to feel in control and not just a part of the system.  B/c I feel o so committed, I have homework. Gah, I thought I was finished with that when I graduated! My homework includes:

-Exercises: Tailor Sits, Butterflies (25 per day), Pelvic Rocks (50 per day), Squats (50 per day), and Kegels (50 per day), and get some cardio in every day for 30 minutes
-Write down everything I eat so I can track my protein intake
-The Husband and I are to download some music and try Relaxation together for 10 minutes
-Try the ice cube exercise: I am to sit and relax while the Husband puts an ice cube on the inside of my elbow and slowly moves it up and down my arm and I am to remain so relaxed as if nothing is happening, no screaming out about how cold it is.... yeah right!
-If I stub my toe or hit my head, etc, then I am to try breathing through the pain and not resort to my automatic response of screaming and shouting... again... yeah right!

*I will post again about the Bradley Method soon for those of you that are not familiar, and explain how I came across it and why I am choosing to go this route.

Progress: