Getting Ready for Baby

Tomorrow I'll be 36 weeks pregnant. I've already been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for months. Baby's head is down and engaged with my pelvis. We finished our Birth Boot Camp classes last month (which we loved, by the way). My birth plan is typed.

I still have a few things I would like to check off my mental to-do list, but honestly most of it isn't a big deal. For example, Baby's room currently looks like this:

Yes, that is all the stuff from my baby shower piled on a futon. But do I care? Not really. Baby is going to be spending the first part of life in our bedroom anyways so if I get to this pile soon, cool. If not, who cares? Really I just don't know where to put anything and this spot is the most out of the way at the moment.

We also are still figuring out our Doula situation.

Doula: "also known as a birth companion and post-birth supporter, is a nonmedical person who assists a woman before, during, and/or after childbirth, as well as her spouse and/or family, by providing physical assistance and emotional support." (thanks Wikipedia)

The first two Doulas we wanted to hire are both going to be out of town around the time I am due. They introduced us to another Doula, who is wonderful, but she's in school to become a Nurse-Midwife and is thinking we'll need a back-up Doula in case of a schedule conflict. Like I said, we're still figuring it out.

I also don't have much packed in my hospital bag yet. It's currently a duffel sitting on the floor of our bedroom with my hairdryer and straightener sitting in it. Yup, very prepared. I've browsed through many lists on Pinterest of what to pack, but most of them drive me insane with how over-prepared they are. A lot of them say to pack more than what I would pack to go on a week long vacation.

I guess now that I'm thinking about it, here are the things I plan to throw in:

• A couple nursing bras and pads
• My water bottle from Birth Boot Camp with the bendy straw for drinking in any position
• A couple snacky things to munch on while I labor
• Snacks for Robbie
• My birth ball (although that won't be in the bag because it's already inflated)
• A couple tank tops
• A sweatshirt
• A pair of flip flops
• Maybe a bikini top for laboring in the tub (or maybe I'll just go naked. I do what I want)
• A pair of PJ pants
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• One or two outfits for Baby to come home in

We're planning on laboring at home as long as possible before heading to the hospital and we only live 15 minutes away so if I desperately want something from the house, I'll probably just send someone to grab it.

I did really enjoy writing up our birth plan the other day. It helped to solidify in my mind the type of birth experience we are wanting. We love the location we have chosen to give birth because they are very supportive of natural birth and have many mother-friendly practices (ie. allowing mom to eat/drink, skin to skin, water birth, low C-section rates, etc.). I think it's important for me to feel secure in the place I give birth without fear of being pressured into medically unnecessary interventions. At the same time, I trust them to give sound advice that is backed by research should a medical issue arise.

Here's a copy of our birth wishes (with some of our personal information removed of course!).

 Alright, maybe I'll go pack my hospital bag now. Or not.