34 weeks... 6 weeks to go

Today I am 34 weeks along. If I'm lucky I have 6 weeks or less until our little Sonja arrives, and I have been busy planning the nursery, learning hypnobirthing, and mentally preparing myself.

It was a common belief that the reason we carry babies only to 9 months, and therefore have one of the most helpless babies of all the species of animals on earth, is simply because the baby's brain cannot grow any larger and still fit through the birth canal of the mother.

However, recently a new theory has arisen. The newer theory is that the mother reaches her metabolic limit for carrying the child around the 40th week. It means the mother is no longer capable of supporting the baby and her own needs by the time 40 weeks comes along, therefore it is better for both mother and child if the child is born at a young, more helpless stage.

I'm pretty sure I believe the 2nd theory. I'm exhausted, my body hurts constantly, and making their grand debut this week... STRETCH MARKS!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooo.

I still have my innie belly button, but I now have a nice beautiful set of stretch marks, which really sucks. I was hoping I'd make it all the way without them, but my poor skin has reached it's elastic limit, my belly is huge.

I read, and was admonished that the 3rd trimester would be the hardest, especially since my nausea was mild, and my first trimester a lot easier than most women's. The 2nd trimester was a breeze, it was practically like I wasn't even pregnant at all. And now, I am ready to get this baby out. And I still have 6 weeks to go. Is it wrong to wish she'd come just a little early? Like in 3 or 4 weeks instead? Probably. And I'm not going to do anything to expedite the process, I am not going to pull out my castor oil and get to chugging. But should my body evacuate it's current (and I'm sure adorable) little guest slightly earlier than the estimated arrival time... I won't be sad about it.

We toured the 2nd hospital (my 1st choice after asking my OBGYN which one was better) last weekend and I am so glad.

The first hospital we toured was OLD, small, and looked dingy. But I loved their policies. The deal breaker for me, was that they have semi private rooms. Not acceptable. I will not be sharing my birthing nor my recovery room with any other woman and I'm sure she would feel the same way about me. Giving birth is a private time, a time you want to be alone.

So when I toured this other hospital, the one that is across the street from my OB's office, the one that's been doing renovations to it's ER, and apparently already finished renovations for the Maternity floor, well... it was awesome. First of all, there is a patio on the floor, it's also a helipad, so if helicopters land at the hospital, this is where they land. It's great because sometimes you need fresh air, especially if you're in pain, which I imagine labor will be somewhat painful, and distractions are essential. Each room is significantly larger than the rooms at the other hospital. The policies are great, you give birth, baby is placed on your chest, they give you time to get that skin to skin contact that is so important, and then they clean the baby up in the room, and take care of everything possible without ever taking your baby away. They have squatting bars, birthing balls, and tempurpedic mattresses. In Texas, when you gave birth you stayed in the same room to birth and recover, but here you get 2 hours after birth and then you are moved to a recovery suite. The difference is that the recovery suite has a tempurpedic couch bed for your husband, and not all of the rooms have bathrooms. Which kind of sucks. All the labor rooms have bathrooms. Some of the recovery rooms have to go to a community bathroom across the hall. I guess it's not a huge deal to me, but I'm just thinking if I have any issues going to the bathroom after I give birth, especially if I have a C-section or something (really hoping that doesn't happen), I want my own bathroom where I can be alone. Ya know? I can barely handle public restrooms as it is.

Anyway, it's a really nice, well updated place and I think I will be happy with my birth there. I guess we'll see.

This week I am looking forward to Friday, the day my Sister-in-Law, Liz, will be giving birth to a baby boy!!! I really can't wait to see what he looks like, I wish I could be there, but I am afraid that's not an option for me at the moment. Luckily my in-laws will both be there, so hopefully between the 2 of them I will get lots of text photos.

The birth of her baby means mine isn't far away! It's getting close! So excited!