New Baby Preparations

We are on the final countdown before the new baby arrives. The infant car seat is installed in the van, the diapers are all stocked in the dresser, the birth kit is assembled. Our weekly check-ups with our midwife team continue to go great - baby is healthy, mommy is healthy. Mommy is also getting really uncomfortable! However, a weekly regiment of chiropractic adjustments and massages have been helping a lot!

On Saturday night, my wonderful friend and doula, Janine, along with our friend Allison, hosted a Blessingway for me. A Blessingway is a different kind of baby shower. Instead of bringing presents and playing silly games, guests bring special food, a bead for a necklace, and share a lot of good wishes and good energy for the birthing mom. Its a time for the community of women to come together to support her and to honor the milestone in her life. There were a lot of beautiful rituals, starting with a welcome chant and sage-incense cleansing of the house, which is meant to clear away negative energy. I was crowned with a flower wreath, then we shared a meal of foods that reminded each woman of her own mom, family, or comfort. The bead necklace is made up of beads chosen by each woman for the mom, for her to wear or have in her space during her birth. Guests also wrote intentions on cloth squares, which will be made into prayer-flags to hang up in the birth space as well. We did a really wonderful ceremony of releasing fears, where each person was able to express a fear to be released by sprinkling sage on a flame. Then we had a yarn ceremony, tying us all to each other in a web of support. Everyone will wear their red yarn bracelets until the baby is born. Much pampering ensued, including a shoulder massage, foot washing and massage, hair brushing and braiding, and henna design on the belly. We had plenty of henna left, so everyone else got a small design too! I can't express how loved and supported I felt being the center of all this amazing feminine attention! Its amazing to be part of a community that takes care of each other this way!
Photography by Allison Kuznia

Gregory had fun playing with my flower crown too!


Sunday morning we had a photographer come over to do some maternity photos. It was a little damp and muddy, but we made the best of it! Its been hard for me to take a lot of pictures of myself this pregnancy, partly because I'm always chasing Gregory, and partly because I am a lot bigger this time and its hard to see! But Gabby managed to make me feel beautiful. I think of it as documenting the first stage in a series of upcoming changes - waiting, birthing, getting to know our new baby...its a transition process into a new phase of our lives.
Photography by Gabby Hagelstrom


This Thursday will be Gregory's 3rd birthday! I can't believe my baby is such a big boy, and we have a few special little things planned for him, which I'll update afterwards! It's great to have a chance to spoil him and give him a lot of attention right before the new baby comes! He also has a Dr checkup and his first trip to the Dentist coming up, so there will be a lot to share!