Maternity Pictures

Maternity Pictures

I am a terrible person <gasp> I waited until the very last minute to schedule and take my maternity pictures. To be honest as I got bigger and bigger and the weeks kept climbing I was debating whether or not to even take pictures. I kept going back and forth and Dave was just as bad as I was about "caring" about such mundane things. In the end I am really glad that I went ahead and scheduled the shoot as our pictures turned out fabulous.

I chose to use the same photographer my sorority sisters and I used to take our 10 year AKAversarry pictures Daniel T. Davis Photography in Houston, TX. I One of my biggest fears was the weather, January maternity pictures just didn't appeal to me and I figured they would turn out blah. However, Sunday Jan 12th was the perfect day to take pictures as the weather really cooperated with us and it was not too cold or windy. Even though I am 37 weeks in the pictures, I will go ahead and toot my own horn by saying that I look really good to be so far along in my pregnancy. I remember various women, Dave's mom and mine, saying how my nose would spread and how I would be enormous (which is the perfect thing to say to a pregnant woman).

The location of Herman Park was chosen by Dave and if I do say so myself it was a really lovely location.

Bradley Birth 12 Week Course Review

Bradley Birth 12 Week Course Review

I thought it would be great if I blogged about the birthing class we chose to take and how we plan to birth in the next few weeks. Dave and I attended a 12 week birthing couse called the Bradley Method. I am proud to say that we never missed a class and that as the weeks came and went we really felt more prepared for Kai's arrival.

If you are unfamiliar with the Bradley Method here is a quick overview. As I mentioned earlier it is a 12 week course that emphasis the role of the dad as a birth coach. I chose this course, because I really wanted Dave to be apart of the birthing experience, I didn't want him to feel as if I was having a baby when it should be WE are having a baby. I searched all over Houston for an instructor that would fit our schedule, we wanted Saturday mid-day lessons, and who was relatively close as Houston is a large city. Well it really wasn't a difficult decision after I ran across Total Natural Childbirth: Bradley Method website through a Google search. Johanna was our instructor and the course content was great. Lots of people often complain that their instructor was boring or that they felt they were being lectured, but that was not the experience I had with Johanna. I thought she had many real-life stories that added to our class and as a mother of 5 she had so many tips and tricks first time moms like me need to hear. Our class consisted of 7 couples all FTMs with the exception of one and all at various weeks in pregnancy. In class we learned proper food & nutrition, relaxation techniques, exercises that can help during labor, and several birthing positions. However, I must mention that if there is one thing I would change it would be the outdated Bradley Videos, I understand that natural birthing hasn't changed in the general sense but can we get a video that was made in this decade. I mean really the babies being born in the Bradley videos must be grandparents themselves now.

Here is the actual outline of course content week-by-week:

• Class 1. Introduction to The Bradley Method
• Class 2. Nutrition in Pregnancy 
• Class 3. Pregnancy, Anatomy and Physiology of Pregnancy and Birth
• Class 4. The Coach's Role 
• Class 5. Introduction to First Stage Labor 
• Class 6. Introduction to Second Stage Labor 
• Class 7. Planning Your Birth 
• Class 8. Variations and Complications / Postpartum Preparation 
• Class 9. Advanced First Stage Techniques 
• Class 10. Advanced Second Stage Techniques 
• Class 11. Being a Great Coach / Are You Ready? 
• Class 12. Preparing for Your New Family 

Overall I loved my class and the experience I had. I would highly recommend taking a natural birth class if your desire is to have a natural birth.

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts, and More Gifts: My Book Theme Baby Shower

Sister and Cousin Please excuse background it was time to clean up

Gifts, Gifts, Gifts, and More Gifts: My Book Theme Baby Shower

As a stated in a previous post I had my shower on November 9, 2013 and both my mother and sister were hosting the event. My sister doesn't live in my city anymore and therefore most of the planning took place by phone and email, which lead to loots of frustration and tears on my part. In my family, especially on my mothers side, there is a running joke that I may be just a tad too boogie (high class) for my own good. My sister constantly wants to remind that my champagne taste don't go with my beer budget.  So long story short we had many fights over what I wanted for my shower. 

The theme of the shower was a Co-ed Children's Book theme and thanks to Pinterest I had so many ideas, maybe too many, for my hostesses to execute. Below are a few pictures from the event. We had family travel from ear and far and all in all I think the shower was great. We didn't start on time, which was a huge problem for me. However, many of  my guests were super late so I guess it all worked out. My sister also decided to use the tinniest voice in her hosting duties and the teacher in me had me jumping up to assist a lot more than I probably should have. Yes I probably ran many of the shower games, oh well. Overall I believe my shower was a success I had family and friends come from all over the US to spend the day with us, Dave sister even flew in from Canada. We had lots of great food, that I didn't get to eat at the shower because I was so busy. We also received a lot of great gifts and books for Kai, surprisingly no duplicates.  Here are a few pictures from the event.

Little guest

Give a Mouse a Cookie display

Gifts Kai is so loved

Where the wild things are table display

The Hubby and I with his parents

My baby brother and I outside the event

Mommy, Me, and my sister, they hosted the event

Cousin Jessica and I 

Me making a onsie for Kai

One of the many shirts guest made at the shower

Opening gifts