13 | June | 2010 | The Artsy Family

As promised I am posting a few photos from my fantastic shower in Dallas this past weekend. I have my Houston shower today and I am SO excited because, to be honest, I haven’t seen a lost of these ladies in a long time! My best friend will be in from Austin, my other bestie who works all the time is coming, and a lot of ladies from the church I grew up in will be there too, choir buddies included! Should be a wonderful time and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone who is able to make it out.

I am proud to have done my thank you’s for shower #1 so that I don’t have backstock when I get home today. The thank yous came out GREAT and I highly suggest Pear Tree Greetings to anyone looking for some cute, modern, personalized stationary! They are really affordable and with the addition on coupon codes you can get an even better deal.

We are getting VERY close now. Less than 6 weeks until his due date. Yikes! I promised myself I wouldn’t truly organize until after both showers because I’d just have to redo it. I am feeling a bit like we have no where to put all of his gear, but I’m hoping the addition of some baskets under his crib will help since I can put bulky things like blankets, diapers, and bibs in those. Then his dresser will have room for CLOTHES. What a concept!

I am so glad we have hired a doula to help us out during labor and delivery. Already I feel like I’m much more equipped for the natural birth I want to achieve. I have been happily bouncing away on my birthing ball (it’s a yoga ball, really) which helps with my back pain some. Tina is going to show us some more positions to use during L&D at our next meeting and also help us with our birth plan, which rats, I need to draft! She’s lent us some DVDs and one I just watched is the Business of Being Born. Phenomenal. It was truly heartbreaking to see photos and hear how births used to be in the United States in the 20s and on into the early 1960s when medicating women for birth was a new concept and not regulated or studied much at all. That made me want to cry more than watching the births shown! It was wonderful to see how women can have such a peace about them as they are delivering their child. Obviously they are in pain because these were unmedicated, but they are taking reign of that pain, dealing with it in the way that is best for them, and in many instances actually pulling out their own baby with this sense of euphoria and total elation. I don’t see how anyone can see that and discount midwives, natural births, and even home births. It was an eye opener to something I already thought I knew some about! Definitely encouraging for me to see how it can be as opposed to how it ‘has’ to be. I am so looking forward to this memorable experience…pain or not, it is my experience and I won’t let anyone take it from me!