Birth Ritual

Beautiful birth ritual for Isabela last night! Isa is so blessed to have such magical Aunties.

— Ligaya Domingo (@mundongmaligaya) January 31, 2014

Birth Tub Practice

Birth Tub

Week 38. Day 4. 

Today is about practicing the set up of our birth tub. We rented this tub from our midwife, Maria. The tub has internallly heated walls that maintain the temperature of the water for an extended period of time. There is also a top cover for the water made of rubber foam that is used for the same reason. It was not hard to set up but it's a little bit more complicated than I thought it would be because of the limited hot water supply in our house. So we needed to boil water off the stove to make the process of filling the tub faster. 

It will probably take an hour and a half to two hours to fill the tub. That's important to know of course, because we don't want to be scrambling trying to get this done and stress out while I'm going through labor pains. 

The recommended water temperature is at 35-38 degrees celsius but you can pretty much choose whatever you feel most comfortable with as long as it doesn't go over 40 degrees. We heated up ours at 39 degrees and it felt very hot for me. Now, I can appreciate how the water and the heat will help with pain and contractions. And why you are not supposed to get in the water until you're very close to delivering as it might stop the contractions. 

Sushi was very intimidated by it, another foreign object in the house. Everything that's new or seemingly unfamiliar makes him nervous.

Here are some good information to have when setting up your birth tub. http://www.waterbirth.org/birth-pool-faq#What_temperature_should_the_water_be_

Waiting Patiently

Birth kit. Swaddle cloths. Cloth diapers. All ready for Isa's arrival.

Week 38. Day 3.

Patiently waiting for Isa. Today is another day of prenatal check-up at Kaiser. Isa's heartbeat is strong and she is measuring perfectly in my belly at 38cm. Everything is pretty much ready at this point. We just have to "rehearse" filling the bath tub with water and how we're gonna be setting it up in our living room. 

We already have our new stoller set up. Car seat is set up too. We got a travel system that is both a stroller and a car seat. Thanks to  my Mom who gifted this. It's now sitting in our living room. Aaron talks to the stoller  imagining Isa is there when he arrives from work. I think the stroller is making him feel like he is more connected to this whole birth process. It's kinda interesting.

Muddy Waters - Tea before prenatal yoga class

This morning, I went to Jane Austin's class at Yoga Tree for my prenatal yoga. It's always nice to go to class. I think more than anything else, going to my class helps me focus on Isa and her arrival. It helps me be in tune with her. I can't help but sometimes feel a slight paranoia if I'm doing enough to take care of her while she is in my belly. Or I'm doing enough to take care of myself. When I go to class, or when I do my yoga practice, I realize that there is really nothing to worry about. Everyday, I set my intention of being really mindful of my pregnancy and visualizing a healthy, happy birth for me and my family. I do the best I can, yoga, exercise, food, etc. There is nothing to worry about.

Belly Cast - Week 35. Day 5

This weekend, I wanna set up a little altar for Isa and the birth with offerings, candles, incense and all sorts of fun things. A friend of mine is gonna help me do this. I wanna start preparing the energy of our home. I am very excited about it. I've already picked some songs that I would like to Innerdance or sing to during my birth. It's gonna be a mix of, Eternal OM, Joey Ayala, Bayang Barrios, Morcheeba, Cynthia Alexander, there's gonna be more. I'm just collecting songs as I go along that speaks to my heart. Ah! I'm excited it's gonna be beautiful. I wanna sing and dance to Isa while she's transitioning. While we are both transitioning!