Baby, Baby!

So here we are- it is August 25. This means there are just over 3 weeks until my due date! We are getting way excited! I can hardly believe that we are so close! I've met both the doctors I will be working with up here, Dr. Barton and Dr. Allred, and both of them are very good and I would be fine if either one delivered our baby. Dr. Allred is actually in our ward also. The bishop's wife also works at the Women's Clinic where I go- she is one of the receptionist ladies. It's really funny how people around here generally do one of 3 things: work at the hospital, work at the university, or go to school at the university.

My last appointment was on Friday, and we got to talk to Elaine, the lovely lady (whose husband teaches at the university) who is in charge of billing and such fun things at the Women's Clinic. I felt a lot better after we got to talk to her about our insurance situation and how we would work out payment and such things. We have kind of an interesting situation because my ASU student health insurance ran out on the 15th of August, and our insurance through DMBA (BYU-I Student insurance) doesn't begin until school starts on the 8th of September... so like I said, I'm taking it easy until then to make sure Baby stays where she is supposed to! Anyway, Elaine was really nice and was impressed that we had done our homework and knew all the things we were supposed to know about our insurance and so forth, and I feel very reassured that whatever happens, they will work with us and make sure everything goes ok. I feel a lot less stressed knowing that even if Baby does come early and we don't have insurance, that everything will work out and it will be ok.

We also had our birthing class that the hospital offers a week ago last Saturday. It was really good! A lot of the stuff I heard was just review- I had done a lot of reading and research so I knew a lot of it already. But Thomas hadn't heard most of it, and he actually really enjoyed it. I was really glad he liked it- I was afraid he'd be bored or wouldn't really pay attention. But he really did like it and it gave us a lot of things to talk about. We also got to take a tour of the hospital facilities, and see the labor/delivery rooms, and the recovery rooms and stuff. It was really neat to actually get to see where my baby will be delivered. All of it really helped me to 1) de-stress and 2) really visualize what the whole birthing process will be like. I've imagined it a lot of times before, but it was nice to have an actual picture of what the room will look like and such. It's starting to feel more like something I can really actually do!

The lady who taught our childbirthing class (her name is Lisa and she is a nurse at the hospital) said something I really liked. She said that our society is one that is built on fear, in many ways. She said that this is especially true when it comes to childbirth. When you see a mother giving birth on TV shows or whatever, she's always freaking out and screaming and stuff. That's pretty much the accepted image of a mother giving birth in our society. Lisa said that's not how it is in other cultures/societies. She said that that concept of fear that we automatically expect/feel because of what our society has built into us creates so much tension around the whole situation, that it actually counteracts what our bodies naturally do. That tension works against the process of labor and makes it more painful and harder and longer. Plus it stresses us out. :) That really helped me to realize that- labor isn't as scary as it's made out to be. Yeah, it will hurt, and it will be harder than anything else I've done, but there really isn't anything to be scared of. My body knows what to do, the doctors know what to do, and all is in the Lord's hands. That is such a comforting thing to know.

It's really neat having so many other friends up here that are in similar situations- it's given me a chance to really think about what it will be like to be a mom. Being such good friends with Michael and Qait also really helps- first of all they have helped us SO much since we moved up here! They've just really made things a lot easier for us. When we first got up here they brought us dish soap and paper plates and silverware- basic essentials so we could actually eat things, because everything was packed! And Qait has really been so amazing. She has given us tons of stuff for Baby and for me- from maternity clothes she doesn't need anymore, to extra diapers they had from when Ender was a newborn, and we are just so grateful to them for helping us! Qait and I have been able to talk a lot about motherhood and stresses and feeding and changing and all kinds of things that have really helped me to feel a lot less crazed about the whole thing. I'm so excited- but I've also stressed about a lot of stuff majorly and I've felt that stress level go down a lot in the past few weeks.

It's kinda strange to think that my life could change so suddenly. I mean- everything will be different once Baby comes- my whole world is going to change. And I'm excited but anxious about it, because I don't know exactly WHEN it will all happen. I'm not too nervous about any one part of the whole thing, but not knowing when is what makes me most nervous.