Giving Birth with Confidence

Great Expectations: Liz @ 22 Weeks

Great Expectations: Liz @ 22 Weeks

Cara Terreri, LCCE, CD(DONA)

It's a..surprise! Having never found out the gender of a child before, we kept the trend going at last week's mid-pregnancy ultrasound. I must say that it was harder this time around, but I'm really okay with either one. The kids, on the other hand, are convinced it's a boy, so there may be some disappointment come January if they're wrong.Last week also marked the debut of a new mama group at Blooma, where I teach classes. Not only was it a nice change of pace for me to be able to talk less and listen more, but it also made me excited about the prospect of life with a newborn. Granted, much of our discussion centered on the trials and tribulations of being a new mama, but having already survived that three times before, I feel great about entering that phase of motherhood once again.This excitement has also inspired some early nesting, as is obvious by the ever-increasing level of organization in my home. My body, however, is feeling the effects of way too much manual labor, and not enough relaxing. In an attempt to take care of myself a bit more, I decided to take a bath yesterday to soothe my aching muscles. Being a mother of three, privacy and alone time aren't part of my day, so about three minutes into the bath, my two daughters bounded into the bathroom. Ordinarily, I would have kicked them out (or at least tried to) but just at that moment, our little nugget was squirming around inside and my belly was wiggling on the outside, too! The girls were thrilled (as was I) since they've been waiting months to actually see the baby move. With each little pregnancy milestone, I get more and more thrilled to meet this little one, yet am savoring in the joy of carrying him or her inside me.