SimpleBabyTravel.com

Sebby weighed in at 13 lbs. 5 oz. at his 6 weeks check-up.

We sadly said goodbye to our midwives as after 6 weeks they turn over our care to our GP. I felt really sad leaving the office yesterday and I really enjoyed everyone who worked at Pacific Midwifery and felt a bond/friendship with everyone there. I told them sadly that I probably won’t be seeing them again as I believe this is our last baby.

We also got a final visit from our doula, Roxanne Waite. She was with us at both Stella and Sebby’s birth’s and I can say without question she helped me naturally birth a very big boy the second go round. If you are looking for a midwife in Vancouver I highly recommend Pacific Midwifery in Leg and Boot Square in Vancouver. And if you want to have a doula at your birth I also recommend Roxanne Waite.

Roxanne was very nice to write up Sebby’s birth story from her perspective. She also did this for Stella and it was such a nice thing to have.

Below is Roxanne’s story of Sebby’s birth.

Sebastian’s Birth Story
A Very Different Journey
May 18th, 2009

After travelling abroad with their daughter Stella, Dreama and Justin Lee arrived back in Vancouver with a wonderful souvineer. They were expecting their second baby…you! Mom did not expect to be pregnant while travelling but she was very excited. They contacted me (their doula) to see if we could work together again. I was delighted to be there after helping with your big sister’s birth. Mom went to the same midwifery clinic even though there were some new midwives she would be working with. Dad seemed thrilled but as always a little nervous about the process. I thought he would be an expert after Stella. Everyone was looking forward to your arrival and hoping for a positive experience for a second time.

On the morning of May 17th Mom’s water broke! This came with mixed emotions. A few weeks earlier Mom tested positive for Strep B so this meant Mom and Dad would make their first of many trips to the hospital for an IV with antibiotics. Labour seemed to start then stop all day. Stella was being looked after by your grandparents so Mom and Dad could concentrate on getting labour going. We spoke a few times though out the day and I could hear the frustration in Mom’s voice. She felt like the trips back and forth to the hospital kept interrupting her labour from progressing naturally.

Labour seemed to pick up shortly before the third trip to BC Women’s. Dad phoned me just after 1am (May 18th). I arrived at the hospital and met them in the admitting room by 2am. Mom was standing by the bed wanting to pace and move around. She needed more room. She bent over the bed and breathed deeply with each contraction. About twenty minutes later we got good news…a room of our own. Dad and I packed all of our things into room #10 where we met our male nurse. A first time for everything! Shannon the midwife arrived shortly after still going after two previous deliveries that same day. Things were picking up and you sounded healthy and happy. Mom needed some fresh air. All three of us stepped outside to get away from the recycled hospital air. It felt great. We joked and made small talk between contractions.

Soon enough we walked the halls back to the room. At 3:30am Mom’s cervix was dilated to 6cm and your head was nice and low. At this point Mom looked at the clock and told us you would be born by 5am. Dad liked the sounds of this! The intensity was growing. Mom tried the shower but she didn’t stay in there for too long. She struggled with “letting go”. Mom couldn’t stay still. She paced, kneeled, squatted and spent time on her hands and knees. Mom knew exactly what herbody was doing and let us know when you were getting very close.

As predicted at 4:50am Mom began to push. The excitement in the room was felt by all. Mom got in the bed and Dad stayed by her right side. He seemed almost giddy…it was beautiful. Shannon assisted Mom while I helped her with her leg. Mom wanted to stay in control and avoid tearing so Shannon had Mom place her hand on your head shile she pushed. This gave Mom the advantage of pushing you out as slowly as she could. Mom did a beautiful job! At exactly 5:10am you emerged and went straight onto Mom’s chest. Dad was elated to find out he had a big baby boy! At first Mom thought you may have been smaller than your sister but when you hit the scale we were all shocked to see 9lbs 10oz. Mom was relived you came just before and not after your due date. Dad made some phone calls while Mom started feeding you. Your family welcomed you with love and appreciation.

So at this point preparing to go anywhere is like preparing for a big trip…

I always try to be the minimalist mom and not drag an enormous bag of “shit” with me when I go out but it’s inevitable…if I don’t take something that’s what I’ll need.

So this week I ventured out with my new Phil and Ted double stroller (thanks to Nanna Lee). I was really excited to try it out and admittedly a bit nervous about taking “two under two” out alone in a stroller.

I LOVE going out and running errands on foot as where we live is a fantastic location and I can walk and get just about anything I may need. So the idea of the double stroller allowing me to continue with my old routines, etc. was very exciting!

Getting ready to go out actually takes quite the preparation. First I have to make sure the double stroller is set-up to actually take both of them out. Sometimes I use it for just one of them so some adjustments have to be made. This HAS to be done while both of them are pre-occupied as I need both hands free.

Packing my bag to get ready is probably the easiest but could be the biggest disaster. Right now as long as I have a snack or two for Stella and some water as well as some paper and pen and a few diapers for Seb and my sling I can survive. The sling has served as a blanket or sun blocker on a few occasions… And of course money, cell phone and keys…

Anything else is a luxury for both me and the babies.

I have to pack pretty light these days as with two in the configuration of the stroller I can’t fit much underneath in the storage area (more on my review of the Phil and Ted in another post) and I’m usually picking something up at the store. I have to hang bags from the handle bar most of the time (technically a big no-no but what are you going to do)…

So this week I made it out for a quick stop at the market and then to the park. No problems and everyone was happy.

But yesterday I got brave and took them both out in the afternoon for a bunch of little errands…big mistake. By the third shop Sebby wanted out and I ended up carrying him for much of the rest of my shopping and while Stella was at the park.

As we left the park I attempted to put him back but at this point he had a dirty diaper and wanted to eat now!

So we stopped at an apartment building for a feed and change. He was screaming, Stella started crying and I had milk going everywhere…we were a site to see…

Finally I just ended up carrying him home and pushed Stella and all our groceries up multiple hills..I’m sore to say the least.

All said in done I will definitely be going out a lot more but remind myself that too many errands with “two under two” is asking for trouble.

It’s hard to believe a little over 1 month ago our sweet Sebby came into our lives.  He weighed in at 11 lbs. 15 oz. on his one-month birthday and he continues to prove that he’s going to be a very big boy!

We also celebrated his birth this past weekend with a traditional one month Chinese celebration called a moon yuet.  There were 160 people at his party!  Grandad Lee really went all out.  We had a lot of family in town and it was such a great way to celebrate his birth.

Seb’s journey started very unexpectedly.  We were on our own journey traveling around Europe enjoying ourselves as a family when we suddenly found out I was pregnant in Greece.

To say it was a shock was an understatement.

We always knew we wanted to have another child but had no idea it was going to happen so quickly and easily.  With Stella we tried for a year with several miscarriages along the way.  It was quite devastating to us both but in the end we had a healthy little girl.

So Justin and I both had figured the next go round would likely take us awhile…little did we know we’d have a baby a mere 22 months after Stella was born.

But boy has he been a blessing.  While we had a lot of scares during the pregnancy due to medical tests (which I now believe in some ways were not necessary), we’ve come out with a very big and healthy boy.

His birth day was a bit different for me the second go round.  He was due on May 19 and given that Stella arrived  11 days late I figured he’d be at least a few days late… On Sunday, May 17, his Grandad Lee’s birthday, my water broke at 5:00 AM.  We all thought he’d be in our lives within a few hours given that my last delivery I had Stella about 3 1/2 hours after my water broke, but this was after several day sof contractions and many hours of labor.  Boy were we wrong.

After my water broke I had a few contractions but nothing major.  My midwife said to just meet her at the hospital at 11 AM to start antibiotics if nothing started picking up…I had tested positive for Strepp B so we knew that I’d have to get an antibiotic IV 4 hours before delivery to ensure the health of the baby.  Most people during their second birth don’t even have time to get the antibiotics.  Not me.  I ended up getting 3 rounds of antibiotic IVs.  And the entire process really dominated this labor for me.

So we headed to the hospital for our 11 AM round of antibiotics.  Stella has been picked up by her Grandad and his girlfriend Teresa and would return home to us after lunch assuming I hadn’t gone into labor.

After several IV attempts (not fun with a collapsed vein) and a few contractions we headed back home for a big lunch and to put Stella down for a nap.

More waiting and trying to get some rest ourselves with very little progression in my labor.  Justin and I even posted updates on Twitter and Facebook.  We had a huge lunch and once Stella woke from her nap her Nanna Lee then came to take care of her as we headed back to the hospital for round 2 of antibiotics.  At this point it was around 5pm and  I started having hard contractions.  Everyone thought this might be it.

Justin and I headed to a nearby park and started timing my contractions while his Mom and Dad got Stella settled and ready to spend the night at her Nanna’s hotel.  With all the coordination and now realizing worrying about leaving Stella for the first time, my contractions stopped again.

So we headed back home, I did a blog post and then headed over to our neighbors to hang out as I just needed to relax…

At 8:30 pm I had another phone consult with my midwife and told her, I think I need a glass of wine…I just need to relax.  She said, have a glass of wine and try to sleep…

Justin and I hung out and then headed to bed around 9:30.  At that point Justin was exhausted and fell asleep quickly.  I was up and down about every 15-30 mins with hard contractions but again, nothing steady.  We were to be back at the hospital at 11 pm for more antibiotics but I was just exhausted and contractions weren’t getting stronger.  My midwife was in the middle of her 2nd birth of the day and said, try to rest and come in at 1 AM…

So we rested a bit more and my contractions started to pick-up.  About every 15 minutes I’d head to the bathroom and lean over the sink with contractions.  Justin slept right thru it…:)  Around 12:30 AM I started getting chills and we called the midwife.  She said this was a good sign as my hormone levels were changing.  We headed to the hospital again and started another round of antibiotics.  By then we called our Doula to meet us as we thought, this is it!

By the time she got there my contractions had hit a point of me not being able to stand without support or to talk really.  Which to me was a relief.  After almost 24 hours of waiting (it was 2 AM by now) I was ready for Sebby to come…

We headed to the delivery room to get settled.  For some reason I just felt really on edge and couldn’t “let go…”  I walked into my delivery room and saw I had a male nurse which made me feel weird.  In the end it was no big deal and he was great but for some reason it made me even more unable to let go.  My midwife must have sensed that so she ushered him out of the room more or less until he was needed and for the delivery.

About 2:30 AM I felt like I needed to walk and get outside.  So we headed down the hall, me stopping every few minutes to grasp hold to something and have a contraction.  We finally made it outside and my doula surprised me with the news that she was getting married.  In a way it sort of took me out of the moment as I was so happy for her but in a way it helped the process of letting go.

We headed back inside and things really started picking up.  At that point we went and got into the shower so I could try to relax more.  I looked at Justin and the doula and said, the baby will be born at 5 AM…My doula and the midwife said, let’s not focus on time but for me I needed an “end game.”  I had done the same for Stella’s birth (and had almost predicted her birth time on the nose) which is really weird in it’s own way.

At this point my contractions were really hard and Sebby really wanted out.  I wanted him out too.  Things happened very quickly at this point.  Which is funny as Jutin remembers things moving really slowly at this point.  It was “transition” time…Last labor that meant it was “good natural drugs” time for me…I kept waiting for that same feeling.  That glazed and spaced out feeling.  It came, but not nearly as strong as my first delivery.  I guess it was just too fast this go round.

I remember being very determined and focused on what I needed to do.  Having done it once I knew what I had to do the second time.

Around 4 AM I was ready to throw in the towel..I even asked my Doula if it was “too late…”  Meaning, can’t I have drugs, a lot of them, and maybe just cut my tummy open so this can just all be over…However, I answered my own question and kept telling myself “I can do this, I can do this.” “Come on baby, work with me…”

I think this might have been about the time that Justin came over to comfort me and I told him he needed to brush his teeth…:)  The only really crazy thing I did during labor but I don’t think I was as calm this time…much more pacing and moving.

I think all the waiting and anticipation had made me really edgy and nervous.  And as I had said I couldn’t let go.  It was at this point that I started weeping.  Everyone looked at me and said “what’s wrong, what’s wrong.”  And it hit me that I missed my mother.  That I needed my mother, right then and there.  But acknowledging this need and knowing that she was gone and I wasn’t going to have her there with me but I had to be strong for this baby everything just came together.

I started feeling like I needed to push.  My midwife kept wanting me to “ground myself” as for some reason I kept squatting on my tiptoes…Sebby was huge, not sure why but I didn’t know what else to do!

While I had thought with Stella that I might have her standing or squatting I ended having her lying down on my back.  So when I screamed, “he’s coming, he’s coming” I also yelled, “get me up on the table now!”  It was the familiar position I knew I could deliver from and I needed familiarity.

My midwife did not want me to tear again so she worked with me to slow down the delivery…it still only took 20 minutes this go round as compared to 2 1/2 hours with Stella…and unfortunately with the very large size of Sebby tearing was inevitable.

Again we hadn’t found out the sex of the baby so as soon as he was born the first thing we did was check to see if it was a boy or a girl.  With Stella several minutes went by before it hit me that we didn’t even know if it was a girl or a boy yet!  The next thing I saw was a little mole on his arm.  His little birth mark. 

We were ecstatic.  A BOY!!!  Justin was obviously thrilled. 

Sebby's First Moments

He began to nurse right away and I even cut the umbilical cord.  It was an incredible experience again.

We are blessed with a beautiful baby boy!

Our Big Boy

We are pleased to announce the birth of Sebastian McCartney Lee.

He blessed our lives with his arrival on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 5:10 AM, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. 10 oz. and measuring 21 inches in length with a head circumference of 14 inches.  He’s a very healthy boy with brown hair and blue eyes.

Mom was able to deliver naturally again, Dad got a chance at the “laughing gas” after the birth and big sister Stella is over the moon for her little brother.

After several days of trying to pick out a name for our BIG BOY we settled on Sebastian.  Sebastian is of Greek origin (we found out we were pregnant with him in Greece), and its meaning is “revered,” “venerable,” “majestic” – a very strong name for a very big and strong boy. 

The middle name McCartney is of course a nod to the Beatles and Liverpool.   

We hope you all will be able to meet Sebastian soon.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and love.

And the winners of the “baby naming” and “guess the gender and weight” contest are:

Nanna Lee for suggesting Sebastian

Nanette Jula for guessing boy, 9 lbs. 7 oz!

Well it is here and has been going on since 5AM.  Such a different experience this go round.

My water broke this AM at 5 AM and I thought, “OK, this is it.”  It’s now 7:30 pm and still no baby.

Because I tested postitive for Strep B I’ve had to go back and forth to the hospital every 4-6 hours for an antibiotic IV drip.  Not fun and can’t be helping me get this labor going.  But it’s protecting the baby from any infection and reducing the need for induction at this point.

Now we are just waiting.  It’s been an up and down day of contractions here and there but still nothing consistent.  We thought I was moving full steam ahead an hour ago but coordinating Stella and Grandparents for the night threw me back out of labor.

As I’ve said many times, it’s mental and physical preparation.

Justin and I now have the house to ourselves and hope things will get going again soon.

Is it weird that I feel like  I need a drink?:)

My last labor was so different.  Started labor the night before, labor picked up in the AM, water broke and Stella was born about 4 hours later.

Having my water break and then have to just sit here and wait with intermittent contractions is so agonizing!  I’m intermittently excited and then very nervous.  Trying to continue to think about this that hundreds of thousands of women have done this and so can I.  Just a bit nerve racking right now.

Contractions seem to be coming back so that’s it for now…

In this age of excess and  self indulgence the new idea of a “babymoon” has arrived.  A Babymoon is basically a trip away to reconnect, relax, reflect and plan before the arrival of the new baby.  Similar to the “honeymoon” where a couple takes time to enjoy each other and their new commitment to marriage.

Well, give us an excuse to travel and we will jump on the chance!

To The Pool, Four Seasons Style

Justin and I went on our first babymoon before Stella was born to the beautiful Tofino on Vancouver Island.  It was a fantastic getaway and a great time for us to just concentrate on each other and spend a little quality time together before Stella arrived.  Our last trip together alone for what will likely be a very long time.

Daddy and Stella heading to the Pool

So in keeping with tradition we took another babymoon with Stella a couple of weekends ago.  We just went up to Whistler and spent a few nights relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.  Stella loved the pool and we let her watch “Finding Nemo” which was the highlight of the weekend.

In preparation for the arrival of a new baby it’s always important to not only prepare for the baby in all areas:  physically and mentally as I mentioned in my previous posts; and making sure you have all the things you may need for when baby arrives (let’s face it folks, all you REALLY need is a car seat and some diapers and maybe a blanket or two…but I know, we all buy and collect an entire room full of things we think we need).  But I do feel that having a little down time to just think about ourselves and those close to us is a really big part of preparing before the baby comes.

Whistler Dinner

A well rested and connected husband and wife will make for wonderful mommy and daddy.  And we hope that this second babymoon with Stella gave her some of her last “only child” time that will give her the confidence and security to be a very loving and caring big sister (we know she will).

I am 37 weeks today.  I’ve had a bit of a spurt of energy over the past few days and the baby seems to have quieted down a bit.  All signs that we both are preparing for his or her arrival.

As I continue to think of new posts to my “travel” blog when I’m not “traveling”, I keep thinking of how similar preparing for and traveling is a lot like being pregnant and having children…you never know when your plans are going to go awry and you have to be adaptable and flexible.

Good news…we found out today that the baby is in fact not breech!  It was a great relief as we were quite concerned.  First and foremost for the safety of the baby and myself.  I have to admit I was scared to death to have to consider the thought of having a c-section.  I was really panicking about being “cut open” and having surgery.  I know that it happens all the time but I was fearful of the possibility.

Thankfully this little bump in our plans didn’t throw things off too much but rather made us focus even more on the upcoming birth and actually made me even more excited about the new little baby that’s about to join our family.

The tech who did my ultrasound wanted to tell me so badly if it were a boy or a girl but I asked her not to.  We still want to be surprised.  I was tempted though!

Baby Lee #2 Giving us the Thumbs Up

The little one is quite active and seems like he/she will be just as funny and full of life as Stella.  He/She even gave me a “thumbs up” which was a little sign I believe that everything is going to be just fine.

So having a baby and raising children are really just one big adventure and we all have to adjust/adapt and make due with what we have some times…just like on the road.

So I had big plans to blog about all the physical preparation I try to do in preparation for labor and delivery to find out yesterday that the baby might be breech (my midwife is 95% sure and the signs I’ve been having, kicking in the spinal cord and shortness of breath all indicate she’s right).  I won’t be able to get a full confirmation through an ultrasound until late next week due to the Easter holiday here in Canada.   So it was recommended we start doing some things to try to get the baby to move now.

Some techniques include:

Lying on an ironing boarded tilted against the couch for 20 mins, 2 times a day…I’ve started this and it has made me incredibly dizzy but boy does my back feel nice when I am doing it.

Putting ice or frozen peas on my belly where we think  the baby’s head is to make the baby want to “move” away from the cold.

Shine a light “where the light don’t shine” to give the baby “a lighted path and direction” of where to go (this one was shared with me last night by some girlfriends…at least it made for a good laugh)

Hand stands (yes, pregnant, but it was only recommended to do this in a swimming pool)

Talking to the baby and telling him to move.

Massaging the baby into the position he is supposed to be in.

Visualizing the baby in the correct position.

Acupuncture

Chiropractic procedures

And a few others…

We are optimistic that the baby will still flip (I am 34 weeks now) and will be doing a lot to try to get him/her to flip.

What I was going to blog about today though was all the physical preparation you have to do to get ready for labor and delivery.  While your body naturally prepares for labour and delivery I do believe there are some things you can do physically to help.

I believe that you must be strong physically to birth a baby.  That doesn’t mean you should be running 5 miles a day every day but you should at a minimum take a good 20-30 min walk (up and down hill and stairs) every day.  You need cardiovascular endurance for labor and strength in your legs for pushing.

I also recommend a lot of squats and climbing stairs.  I did a lot of this last pregnancy and our house is full of stairs I have to run up and down every day so I think that helped.  However, if you are breech, squats are not recommended so I won’t be doing any of these until we know the little one has turned.

Swimming is an amazing way to prepare as well.  I’m not a huge swimmer but I know a lot of women who swam during their pregnancy and loved it.  The feeling of lightness and ability to just float is a very nice thing, especially when you are HUGELY pregnant.

Food…yes, everyone thinks we pregnant mommies get to pig out on ice cream and pickles as it is our right and that’s what we “should be eating…”  Well, I can’t say enough about trying to eat as healthy and wholesome food as possible when you are pregnant.  You are creating another human being and your body is going through a ton of changes.  You have to feed your body good “fuel” to run it.  That doesn’t mean never having a yummy ice cream or burger.  Some would actually say both are fantastic for you when you are pregnant for the calcium and iron you’d find in these.  But all things in moderation.

If you want to avoid bloating, avoid salty foods and drink a lot of water.

Which is the last thing that is soo important in pregnancy (and all the time for that matter) is to drink TONS of water.  Worried about amniotic fluid being low, drink water.  Tired all the time, drink more water, I bet you’ll feel better.

A lot of people might not agree with me and say pregnancy is a time to sit on the couch and eat bon-bons but I disagree.  If you are strong and healthy going into pregnancy and throughout your pregnancy  you will birth a healthy baby and also bounce back quicker so you can be a good mother.

So it’s off to try to get this baby to turn.  Wish us luck as I am incredibly discouraged right now but trying to stay focused on the task at hand, having a healthy baby!

Yesterday I spent the day with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa and her husband Gurushabd.  I took part in one day of a four day intensive Kundalini yoga training course at Semperviva here in Vancouver.

It was an incredible day (starting with a morning meditation at 5:30 AM and going until 3:45 PM with some serious discussions, meditations and Kundalini yoga).  The reason I went was to prepare mentally for labour and delivery of our new baby.

Gurmukh has become my “yogi guru” over the past few years and I have tried to take any opportunity I can to attend workshops with her here in Vancouver or go to her studio, Golden Bridge, in Los Angeles when I’m there.  I am not a very religious person but her teachings and Kundalini yoga itself is very spiritual.

The teachings of kundalini go back to the origins of yoga over 2000 years ago which is spritual, with the phsycial results being a by-product of the spritual journey of yoga.  It’s interesting because as a westerner I always did yoga for the physical side of it.  Kundalini teaches you to seek happiness and to let go of pain and suffering.

Through various meditations and what you might call “intense calisthenics” (think of pressing your palms together above your head while seated and holding them there for for 11 mins…not so easy or doing squats for 8 minutes while chanting).  Through these calisthenics you are condtioning your mind to push thru the pain.  If you can overcome the pain and turn off your mind which is stopping you in the first place, you can do anything.  You can push past any pain life may throw at you.  And then become truely happy and some may say “enlightened.”

I started doing Kundalini yoga when I moved to Vancouver and it was an amazing tool to help me deal with the pain and heartbreak of losing my mother.  Through my practice with Gloria at Semperviva I started becoming interested in Gurmukh and her teachings.  I also became familiar with her passion and teachings in natural childbirth and prenatal preparation.  She has a fantastic book I recommend to any newly expecting mother, Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation.

Before I even got pregnant with Stella I attended a workshop with Gurmukh and her teachings put me on the road to a successful natural childbirth and happy baby with Stella.

While yesterdays’ workshop was not focused on labour preparation it was a fantastic reminder to me that I have all the physical power in the world to birth this baby I’m carrying.  I just have to continue to strengthen my mind in preparation.

A few tips about natural birth for all those mothers or soon to be mothers or maybe some day will be mothers…

You are equipped with all the physical tools you will ever need to birth a baby.  Women have been doing it for many many years.  We women were made to have babies.  It is our soul purpose on this earth (all my feminist friends please do not get up in arms…I know we have a ton of other reasons for being here but biolgically speaking, this is our purpose..to procreate, carry a baby and deliver the baby into the world and then nurture it to adulthood).

Our bodies have been conditioned and primed our entire lives to give birth.  We have all the tools we need to birth a baby.  What we some times lack is the confidence in our bodies and the mental capacity to push thru the “pain” of delivery.

Somewhere over time we’ve lost that ability or perhaps forgotten our given strengths as women.  I don’t remember the birth of Stella as a painful experience.  Yes there was pain but there was always this mental strength that told me that the pain (labor) would deliver me a beautiful healthy baby.

It’s the same in Kundalini yoga, the pain of the meditations still the mind and deliver us to a better clearer place.

I would recommend kundalini yoga to anyone who is fearful of labor and delivery but who would like to have a natural childbirth.

My last piece of advice that I give to anyone who asks me about natural childbirth is that you can do anything for 60 seconds.  That’s how long a contraction is.  There’s a beginning, middle and an end to each contraction.  Just like a bell curve.  There are no surprises on that front (yes, your body may not always cooperate and their can be complications but generally speaking, labour is very rhythmic).  If you can focus on those 60 seconds and getting thru them and take each contraction as it comes forgetting the last one and not thinking about the next one, you will be just fine.  As labor progresses they will come faster and more intensely but YOU WILL get a break between each contraction.  Focus on the end game, a beautiful healthy baby and you will be succesful.  Push thru the pain.

I hope my one day with Gurmukh and her wonderful blessings will give me the mental strength to have natural childbirth again but also the ability to be flexible and adjust to whatever may happen with our upcoming birth.

Writing this post has really helped me prepare even further for our upcoming “labour journey.”

As I close I want to share with you my favorite song from Kundalini yoga.  It’s a wonderful lullaby to sing to your baby each night and one that I often have used to calm Stella as she heard it sung to her even inutero.

“May the long time sun shine upon you.

All Love surround You.

And the pure light within you, guide your way one

Guide your way on, Guide Your Way On….

Sat Nam”

One of the hardest things during this pregnancy has been coming up with a name for our new little one.

With Stella we had always had that name.  A name we both liked for a very long time, even before we even thought about getting pregnant.  She has 2 middle names as I had always wanted to give her a strong and not incredibly common first name, Stella; James as a middle name to be a little different and as a namesake for her Daddy (Justin’s middle name is James); and we gave her a 2nd middle name, Elaine, as my mother had passed away 2 years before and we wanted to honor her by giving Stella her name.

It all just came together pretty easily.  Of course we went to the hospital with a girls name all picked out and had NO clue what we were going to do if it were a boy.  And I had fully expected the baby to be a boy…lucky for us it turned out to be our lovely Stella.

So how do I compete with that name?

We are at a complete loss for a name.  And we are concentrating on boys names as we are OK with some of the girl names we’ve come up with.

Viivian, Sloan or Pacha . . . or some combo of these.

It’s the possible boy names that have stumped us again….CAN YOU HELP!  If you have any suggestions or want to vote post your vote here or shoot us a suggestion.

If we don’t come up with something the poor child (if it is a boy) will be named Mortimer…Justin’s favorite.  I only hope he’s just kidding.

spencer
keanu
quinn
cash
finley
fletcher macleod
chase mccartney
carter
hudson
aidan
Bennett
Brody
Chance
Ferguson
Graham
Harley
jack
jackson
max
lennon
Luongo