6 months!



24 weeks

 Because I was a bit of an odd child, I remember being 5 or 6 and suddenly realizing that I'd have to swallow all day every day...for the rest of my life.  The idea seemed so overwhelming and burdensome that I lamented this affliction to my mother who basically gave me the side eye and confirmed that yes, we all have to swallow.  I believe it was about 10 minutes later that I forgot all about it.

25 years later I'm feeling this way about going to the bathroom.  Little girl has set up shop on my bladder which leads me to the bathroom about once or twice an hour.  I'm getting to know every public bathroom in the city of Pittsburgh and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before the right kick will cause me to pee my pants.  How is it possible to be so bored with peeing?

In news outside my bladder, Steve and I met with a friend of mine who is a doula this week.  She was incredibly helpful by talking to us about preparing for birth, pain management and how to best support each other through the process.  When she asked us how we imagined labor and delivery, I described wanting things to be as chill as possible (as few staff as possible, no yelling "PUSH," wearing my own clothes, etc). 

Steve described a scene from Full Metal Jacket.

So we have some work to do to get us on the same page :) Unfortunately my friend is unavailable for our birth, as she's back in school going for her RN to become a midwife herself.  So yay for her but boo for us.  She offered to refer us to a colleague/friend of hers and asked us what type of person we'd prefer.  Luckily she's at least known me for about 8 years now and was very understanding of our need for someone who's into "crunchy" stuff like breathing, meditation and guided imagery but will also get that we'll most likely be making horrible, inappropriate jokes at the same time. 

We've had some nice weather in Pittsburgh lately, which has Steve out in the yard getting things ready to plant for the summer.  We're hoping to can as much as possible before July comes!