Week 23 update

This pregnancy is whizzing by.  Although I try to think about it and prepare when I can, I have to admit that I am too busy with work and Juju and life in general to give it much thought.  I really can't believe that it still hasn't sunk in.  I have so few feelings about this little person that is coming.  I know that will change; I just wonder when.

I continue to be hormonal though, don't worry.  The other night I woke up around 2:30 AM for no reason and couldn't fall back asleep.  After trying for a while I started to watch "More of the Business of Being Born" on Netflix.  I had seen something on TV about it so I decided to check it out.  It is actually 4 mini-documentaries the filmmakers did after the original since there was so much buzz from the film and people wanting more.  I watched two of the four and it was more of the kind of stuff they got into in the film about what birth is like in the US and they interviewed a bunch of celebrities about the glories of home birth (if I lived in Cindy Crawford or Christy Turlington's house I'd probably want to give birth there too. . .).  The stories were inspiring but I still think I'm going to deliver in a hospital this time around.

It got me excited and scared about the birth but mostly again made me really emotional about Juju and when she was born (remember a few weeks ago when I burst into tears right in her face?).  It's a good thing this was the middle of the night and she was asleep so she couldn't see me all weepy and sentimental.  But that didn't stop me from climbing into her twin sized bed with her and snuggling with her as she slept!  I think she is at her most beautiful when she is asleep and it was so peaceful cozying up next to her and stroking her hair while she slept.  It took a while but I actually fell asleep with her.  Then I woke up to her tossing and turning and kicking me and I retreated back to my room.  I'm trying to cherish these moments with her both as an only child but also just as a child at all.  I know at some point she won't be across the hall anymore to let me sneak in and snuggle with her.

I went to the chiropractor yesterday but didn't feel much different when I left, I guess because I haven't really had any back pain yet.  I don't know if that is attributable to the fact that I have been going to the chiropractor throughout the pregnancy or if I am just getting lucky.

I continue to read a whole lot of pregnancy and birth books and am attracted to hypnobirthing at the moment.  No, that does not mean I am going to get hypnotized while giving birth, but rather I'm going to try to learn to focus and get through labor without fearing the inevitable discomfort that comes with giving birth.  I'll let you know how that goes. . .

I also just picked up one of Ina Mae Gaskin's books at the library.  The folks at the LA Public Library have a whole lot of information about what kind of pregnancy and birth I want to have.