Jamie 2.0

Before we got pregnant, we hadn't really thought much about what kind of parents we would be or what we wanted for our child.  Joey and I knew we wanted children, and we just were going to figure it out as we went along.  Once I saw those 2 lines and realized our life was going to drastically change, I realized that there were several decisions to be made, from what type of birth we wanted to go for to how we were going to handle child rearing.  I must say that we have gone in a direction that I didn't expect for us at all.  Not that I had firm ideas in either direction, I just didn't see our ideas leaning toward a more natural and non-intervention way of life.  I will preface all of this with I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do things, in my opinion, the only right way is what works best for you and your family.

We have decided to take classes on the Bradley method, which emphasizes pregnancy, labor and childbirth with as few interventions as possible.  I know there have been several medical breakthroughs over the past decades and many of them are great and have lead to healthier babies and mommas.  However, some of them are not always nessecary and to me can hinder the experiences that should come with childbirth.  The Bradley classes give you a great foundation in regards to how to handle your labor pains and how to bring your baby into the world with little to no medical intervention.  We have really enjoyed the classes, and have met some great and supportive people along the way.  

I have also decided to breastfeed, which is something I thought that everyone did, but it turns out that breastfeeding is not really what most mothers choose.  Like I have said before, you have to do what is best for you and your baby, but the medical studies and the research that I have done just reinforce the fact that it's a great gift that you can give your child.  I hope to be able to breastfeed for as long as possible, and with all the support out there with friends and La Leche League, I'm sure that I will be successful.  When Aubrey does get to solids, I think we will make our own food as much as possible, that way, we will know exactly what she's getting.

There are ways however, that we are not going to "crunchy" parents.  I will not be doing cloth diapering.  We did think about it, but since we are going to be sending Aubrey to day care when I go back to work, I didn't feel that cloth diapering is the way to go for us.  I understand that it has it's benefits, but those do not outweigh the cons of having our daycare provider deal with the extra work that goes into cloth diapering.  If I was going to stay at home full time, I think we would have definitely placed more consideration into it.

There are so many more decisions to be made and I hope that we make the right ones for now.  However, I know that we also have to be open to things not working out like we have initally planned and that we will definitely have to make adjustments along the way.  I can't wait to find out how it all turns out!

In regards to being 35 weeks this week, (yay!) Aubrey is doing good, kicking around like crazy.  I also have my Group B Strep test this week.  I am hoping that it comes back negative, because I don't want to have to be hooked up to antibiotics during labor, which would limit the positions that I can get in to make labor more comfortable (as comfortable as it can be I guess).  Wish me luck!  We have another ultrasound on Thursday, and I'm kind of excited about it because my Granny is going to come with us and to be able to see the ultrasound.  She's never seen one, so it's going to be really cool to have her experience that with us. 

Enough about our parenting plans, here's the 35 week update:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.