Why I Wanted a Natural, Unmedicated Childbirth

Even before we found out we were pregnant, my husband and I were agreement that when the time came for us to have children, we wanted to try to do so without drugs or surgery. At first, it was because I deeply wanted to avoid a C-section, and I know that once you introduce one medical intervention, others are more apt to follow. Consequently, the best predictor of avoiding a C-section is to avoid drugs in the first place.

But upon finding out we were expecting and childbirth became all the more real, I began thinking and praying about the whole laboring process. And through that, I started to not care as much about the possibility of having C-section. Instead, having an unmedicated birth began to feel more like a calling to me than just a means to an end.

Before I go on, I’d like to say that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting an epidural or using Pitocin or having a C-section or anything else really. I don’t think that’s evil or even bad. I don’t think having a natural birth is something to be deemed necessary or better or to boast about. I know many people get hung up on those things and use them to judge others and the method of childbirth can become something divisive. That is exactly what I want to avoid doing with this post.

Because for me, the finalized choice to have an unmedicated birth was based on one simple fact: It was what I felt the Lord was calling me to. I felt like doing so provided a chance for me to learn to lean on him in a very physical way—much like I had to during my kidney stone incident. That was the first time I’d ever been exposed to physical suffering and hardship, when I wasn’t in control of even my own body.

I began to see this birth of mine as an opportunity for me to draw near to the Lord and watch him work so intimately in my life; not simply to knit together a baby in my womb. But also to draw her out from it, into my arms. It became a sacred thing, where I knew I had no idea what to expect or what I was going to have to experience, but I wanted to take a leap of faith and trust the Lord with that.

Of course, I was never opposed to medication or intervention if it truly was necessary. But I really wanted to lean on the Lord himself, rather than any drugs, to deliver this daughter of mine to me.

So while I read up on the physical aspects of a natural birth and hired a well-respected (and Christian!) doula, I also began studying things in the Bible like physical pain and suffering and the Lord’s role in that. And once I began to embrace this call—as scary as it was—and realize that I was not going at it alone, but with the Lord by my side, a confidence began to mount. I began to envision the birth as not just me pushing my baby out, but the Lord at work, guiding her out. As teamwork.

In the Hebrew tradition, a couple gets married under the chuppah (like an overhead curtain), representing the fact that a marriage is not just between a man and a woman, but that the Lord hovers over it and plays a role, as well. Two become three. And I saw that imagery vivid in giving birth, as well.

What had been a decision borne out of fear (needles, staples, incisions and blood) became one emboldened by the desire to let the Lord lead this labor and delivery of mine, to put the process and the pain in his hands and trust him with that. I’d seen him work it out once before, and I wanted to submit myself to that once again, if only to have my heart and eyes opened even more to his grace and mercy and fatherly love.

And you know what? It was, because it turned out to be much more of a spiritual struggle than I'd anticipated, which you can read all about, if you haven't already, in my daughter's natural birth story.

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My Birth Story: The Arrival of My Daughter, Claire

Giving birth to my daughter was a lot different than I’d expected. I’d spent the months leading up to her due date reading all kinds of childbirth books and taking classes. I felt prepared and wasn’t scared of giving birth, especially after having gone through my kidney ordeal, which many people said is comparable (if not more painful) than labor.

But as much as I prepared, the entire process still took me by surprise. It started out with the passing of my due date, when my daughter still hadn’t come. Our practice allows mothers to go up to two weeks past the due date, given that all is still looking healthy with the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, etc.

However, there was talk that if she didn’t come, I’d have to be induced. People started advising me about other natural methods to try to hasten her along, but I realized that all of that was stressing me out, making me panic. There was no peace for me in the idea of taking things into my own hands, and I felt like the Lord was asking me to trust him with this baby, with this birth. He had been the one who’d planted the desire for a natural birth in my heart (more on that later), so I needed to trust him to finish what he started. And that was when I felt peace about things.

It was Monday morning (one week and two days past my due date), when I woke up at 1am with cramps. Throughout my pregnancy, I had never really experienced the Braxton Hicks contractions that everyone talks about—where your whole stomach is supposed to feel tight. That’s what I assumed contractions would feel like, so these cramps caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure whether they were contractions or not. But when they continued through to the morning, we went into our doctor’s office to have them check and see, where we discovered that I was in fact in labor, and my midwife predicted that I’d have the baby by 1am the next morning—24 hours of labor.

So, with hopes high, we went home, packed our bags and made dinner. At this point, the contractions started getting stronger and I had to stop and focus on my breathing to get through each one. I sent a few text messages and emails to let people know what was going on, and typing those up took a great deal of effort, pausing through each contraction. They were intense enough to send us on our way to the hospital, where we arrived at 8pm and got settled in with our doula and a close friend who were helping with the birth.

This is where things start to get blurry for me, in my memory of what happened and how painful things were or how long things took. So this is the hazy, hormones-laced gist of how I recall the rest of childbirth:

At the hospital, I started experiencing back labor, which significantly slowed things down, to the point where 1am came and went with no apparent progress. At 6:30am, they broke my water and brought in the baby warmer and all the delivery tools because delivery was supposedly imminent. It wasn’t.

Again and again, predictions were made about how quickly my little girl would be born and again and again, they were proved wrong.

Honestly, I don’t think I would have realized how much time had passed had it not been for the oversized clock that hung on the wall, opposite the delivery bed. And it was that element that got to me: It wasn’t so much the physical element of labor that overwhelmed me but the mental, emotional aspect.

I never felt like the pain was enough to warrant an epidural, but as the time ticked by and it seemed that no progress was being made, I started getting really frustrated, discouraged, ready to throw in the towel because of how long it was taking and tell them to just get my baby out, whatever it took. I started to feel like I couldn’t do this.

Fortunately for me, I had an incredible team supporting me, praying for me, encouraging me, reminding me to press on and not give up. Together they held my hands, pressed my hips together (to alleviate the back-labor pains), helped me into the tub to try to move things along, encouraged me to recite Scripture and hymns, got me to try different positions to help things along—a medley of methods to make it through what is known as “labor.”

Almost thirty-six hours after my labor had first started, things still seemed at a stand-still: My pain wasn’t that great, I was able to remain calm between contractions, and I never got the urge to push. But since things were taking so long, my midwife decided to check and see how much progress had been made.

I was fully dilated and effaced, so in spite of my not feeling any urge to push, we decided to just go for it and see how things would go. Turns out, my body and baby were completely ready and my daughter was born less than an hour later. The pushing itself wasn’t as natural as I’d expected but it didn’t really hurt until Claire started to crown. It was at that point that my calm demeanor melted and I began yelling!

Before I knew it, my daughter’s head was born, at which point the pain reached its height and finally became overwhelming; one push later, her entire body slipped out and the relief that followed was one of the most incredible, almost-euphoric feelings I’ve experienced.

With that, at 2:22pm on Tuesday, March 5, my child—all 8 lbs. and 10 oz. of her sweet, flailing body—was thrust upon my chest and I began sobbing: tears of joy. I cuddled with her and cried over her and couldn’t stop saying, “My baby, my baby. We have a baby!”

And our lives have never been the same since!

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Baby Is On the Way!

So it appears I might have spoken too soon, as I am officially now in labor! I am so excited to be able to type that: Our baby is coming! I can barely believe it myself.

Now that I'm officially in labor, I just wanted to pop in here to pass the word along and to humbly ask you all to be praying with us over the next hours as we wait to finally meet our little girl!

(FYI, I typed most of this post in advance and set it to post a few hours later, lest you think I'm absolutely crazy or anything!)

I do hope to post an update once she's here, but I can't make any promises on when exactly that will be, as I'm sure you all understand! In the meantime, I have scheduled a bunch of wonderful guest posts to publish while I'm tending to and getting to know her.

Thank you so much for all the support, encouragement and love you've sent my way over these past few months as we've made this journey. It means so much to me. And I can really hardly believe it's almost over. (Or, really, just beginning!)

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And Still We Wait...

It’s now eight days past my due date, and we’re still waiting to meet this little girl, snug and squirmy in my womb, who has stolen our hearts and affection for months now. But still, we wait.

It’s actually taken me by surprise that we’re still waiting. I had expected that she would come early, maybe even be a Valentine’s Day baby. But that holiday went by. Then President’s Day. Then a full moon. Her cousin’s birthday, her uncle’s birthday, her aunt’s birthday. All these extra special days inched by and still she has stayed put.

I try not to personify the waiting, like thinking that, “She wants a special day of her own!” or, “She knows that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’” Because of course, that isn’t the case at all. I can’t read too much into the waiting, except that she or my body aren’t quite ready yet.

Just as we had to wait to conceive her, I now find myself back at that same place, trusting God to finish what he’s started. To bring this lady out into the world—and into my arms—healthy and well.

It seems this is a lesson God keeps wanting—needing—to teach me, time and time again. It seems that even though I’ve been through it a million times over now (just try searching for the word “waiting” on my blog!), I still don’t have this thing down. My heart still has to fight to believe and trust and have joy in the waiting.

One of the verses that has really spoken to me in these last months of pregnancy is James 1:2-4: “Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow—so let it grow! For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

Time and again I’ve found inspiration and solace in this verse. And now as I wait, I came back to this verse again and realized that the trouble I am currently facing (waiting on the baby to come, in great hopes of avoiding a medical induction), I can choose to have joy now:

I do not have to wait until that which I’m praying for has come. There is joy to be found even now, in the waiting.

And so, tonight, while I continue to pray and wait and fend off my tendency to worry, I whisper to my heart to have joy, to rejoice in what the Lord is doing even now. Because, as I have seen time and time again, he is always doing something. It usually just takes awhile for us to actually see it.

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A Collection of My Pregnancy Photos

Still no sign of baby, but I thought it'd be fun to do a little retrospective of my pregnancy photos, side-by-side to see how much this little lady has grown over the past few months!


(read my three-month maternity update)


(read my four-month maternity update; I skipped posting a five month one because of my unexpected hospital stay and kidney scare)


(read my six-month maternity update)


(read my seven-month maternity update)


(read my eight-month maternity update)


(read my nine-month maternity update)

And here they are all, squished together, for easier comparison:




I think the leap from month 6 to month 7 is the most incredible one, don't you? And to think that in just a few days, all of that which has been growing inside will soon be held in my arms. Crazy!!

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Looking Back at My 9th Month of Pregnancy

Well, we have made it: Today is my due date, after nine months of pregnancy and preparation to meet our little girl. I’m still not sure when exactly she is going to arrive, but this will be the last of the pregnancy updates until that time comes—and that fact absolutely thrills (and also astounds) me!
Here’s how things have been faring this past month:

THE BABY. At forty weeks, the baby weighs between 6.2 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.19 inches, making her approximately the size of a jackfruit. (Interesting produce choice, there.) She had dropped and is head-down, so she’s ready for her exit whenever the time is right (and causing me to waddle until then!). She’s still wiggling and squirming, as always, and I’ve actually grown so accustomed to it that I don’t even notice anymore!



PHYSICALLY. I have felt pretty great, although this past month I finally started feeling uncomfortable from her growing size and heft. Things like rolling over in bed (because I had to switch sides every hour or so to alleviate the weight placed on my hips), bending over, and even getting out of the car have finally become difficult. Not awful, but uncomfortable enough that I told my husband that I couldn’t wait until I could sit up from a laying down position without difficulty that I might just start doing sit-ups for fun once I can!

I’m feeling more fatigued again, having to take more breaks and time to rest than I was even a month ago. I read somewhere that this is like the calm before the storm—that your body starts to conserve energy in preparation for labor, delivery and nursing.



BABY STUFF. Her nursery is finished and everything in place. There are sheets on her crib and clothes, washed and hung, in her closet. Her play-yard is set up, a diaper station is in place, her monitor is plugged in, her toys have all been cleaned, books are on her shelves, and my hospital bag ready. I think we’re pretty much ready for her arrival, as far as I can tell. The amount of things we’ve collected over the course of the pregnancy for her (thanks to our incredibly generous friends and family!) still surprises me!

EMOTIONS. People ask if I’m “ready” for her to come. On a practical level, yes, we are totally ready (see above). But on an emotional level, I have to say no, I’m not ready. And that’s not because I’m not excited, but simply because I cannot even begin to wrap my head around what it’s going to be like to have a child and to care for her every single day for years. How can you feel ready for that?! I’m looking forward to it, absolutely, but I stand and look at it and admit that I simply cannot fathom what lies ahead for me. But you know what? I’m okay with that.



WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO. Of course just meeting her is enough. But I can't wait to see her, see if she has a full head of hair (make that heartburn worthwhile!). I can't wait to see her showcase some of her personality, rather than just filter it through her kicks, twists and turns. (She seems to roll around quite a bit but has never kicked me, so I like to think she's sweet with a little feist!) I'm looking forward to the joy that comes once she's born and the overwhelming love that comes with it, a chance to really get what unconditional love feels like. And practically, I'm really looking forward to sleeping on my back again!

WHAT I'LL MISS. I am sure I'll miss all the free time I've had the luxury of having, like right now, being able to type a blog post and edit photos without worrying about time constraints or cries in the background. I'll miss getting to run in and out of the grocery store for just an item or two without it being a big ordeal. But those are all things of convenience. And I'm a firm believer that God never intended for our lives to be solely convenient, otherwise why would he tell us, "In this world you will have trouble"? No, I believe inconvenience is in fact good for my heart and helps teach me a little more about surrender. So though I'll miss them, I must remember that they, too, are worthwhile. For the sake of my daughter and my soul.

For now, though, we wait!

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(Finally!) Introducing the Baby's Nursery

It's been months since I first started working on the baby's nursery for our little girl. I started off by sharing some of my brainstorming and idea boards for decorating the nursery, including the color scheme and fabric ideas I had in mind.

Then, I shared some of the progress we'd made once we finally painted the nursery a creamy white and got some of the major furniture items in place. We also painted the interior of the closet a vibrant, sunny yellow.

And then? Well, things kind of went to a standstill while I got busy working on other preparations. But, little by little over time, I started working on the nursery again, until a couple of weeks ago when it was basically done. (And then, I had to wait for the clouds to clear to get a decently sunny day to try to accurately document the updates!)

But, finally, with days left until my due date, here is the reveal of the nursery that awaits our little girl. With sheets on the crib, toys and books on the shelves, and freshly washed onesies on hangers, I think we're ready to bring babe home!



As you can see, we stuck with my initial plan of going for a peacock, teal and yellow color scheme for the nursery. I love how the white walls make the curtains and rug pop!



This is some artwork I created for the room: The square frames feature antique handkerchiefs my mom had given me and a pair of pretty-patterned cloth napkins from my mother-in-law. The large piece is one I painted (and typeset myself!) with some words that felt fitting for this bundle of joy of ours.



Here's the little sitting and nursing area I have set up, complete with a pouf for setting my feet in the middle of the night! I also used a couple of extra of the patterned napkins to create covers for some pillows I already had on hand.



We opted for dark wood tones in this room, and so picked out this cube shelving to store her toys, books and my nursing gear. As you can see, she has quite the accumulating collection of owls! (And the ceramic owl atop the shelf is actually winds up to play music and spin around!)



Here's her crib, with the crib skirt I created for her. (Although you can't see the pattern clearly here, it's the same that I used when I recovered our kitchen chairs a couple years back, which you can see detailed here.)



I decided not to put any real art on the walls around her crib for fear that if they fell, she could really get injured. So instead, I hung a mobile made of birds-in-flight that I cut out from construction paper in the room's various colors.



On the opposite side of the room, we have her dresser and closet, which are fully stocked with plenty of clothes, blankets and all the other essentials we've collected for her. And, in the corner you'll see a life-size Scooby Doo dog, which was mine when I was really young that I've held onto ever since. I hope she loves it as much as I did!

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The Practical Preparations for Bringing Home A Baby

As the days tick by, we’re inching closer and closer to my daughter’s due date, with less than two weeks to go until then. We are now officially in full-term territory; essentially, she could come any day now!

So in anticipation of that, I’ve spent the past week or two trying to get things around here as prepared as possible. Throughout the entire pregnancy, I’ve tried to focus on preparing myself emotionally and spiritually for bringing home a child as well as mentally, learning all the practical things about childbirth and childcare.

But now, I’ve got my sights set on things that will pave the way for when we come home. Little gritty things—like meals in the freezer, a fully stocked pantry, organized baby drawers—that I’m hoping will ease the transition a bit and take some of the frustration out of the picture so that we can focus simply on being parents, rather than on running errands or grabbing take-out.

Every couple of days or so, I’ve made it a goal to “stock up” on something. Earlier this week that was making two extra batches of homemade bodywash and some dishwasher detergent (a new homemade favorite of mine!). Before that was hamburger buns. Today, it was an extra batch of sweet potato chili.

I’ve started gathering items for my hospital bag and making a list, so that we make sure not to leave home without grabbing last-minute things like my eye glasses or phone charger. I’ve also started culling together different things into a drawer in our living room that will (hopefully) help ease early labor: a stack of encouraging Bible verses written on notecards, a heating pad, a cheatsheet of helpful laboring positions to try among other things.

I figure that whether it’s the fog of labor or of new motherhood, it’ll be a blessing to have already thought some of these things through—because I know there’s plenty to come that I certainly will not be prepared for! Until then, I’m trying to take care of some of the things that I can prepare for.

By the way, anyone have any other preparations or ideas of things to do that you'd recommend to make the transition a little easier? If so, please let me know in the comments!

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Waiting on God and Praying for a Child

The other day I started sharing about different times when the Lord has made me wait on him before he answered my prayers. I went through a few of the biggies and what God taught me through each of them. (Click here to read that initial post, in case you missed it.) The last that I mentioned was the prayer I had to have a child, a story I have not until now written much about here. But with our daughter right around the bend to being born, I thought it was time.

Here’s where we left off:

Then there was the time when my husband and I decided we wanted to have a child one whom we could raise up to know the Lord, who we could minister to and learn to sacrifice for and enter into a new kind of love for another person with. It had been a shared desired we’d both held from before we were even married—which was one of the things that attracted me to him so much in the first place.

So when we were first married, I had prayed that, when the time was right for us to start a family, the Lord would put it on my husband’s heart so that he would be the one who would bring it up, rather than me. Almost two years into our marriage, my husband (who had no idea of that prayer) told me he thought it was time. I was overjoyed at how God had answered the first part of my prayer. And so I fully expected that he would fulfill the second part (the child), as well.

But I didn’t expect that we’d have to wait for that.

I guess I figured that if God had called us to this and had ordained the time for us to begin trying, then it followed that it was in fact the right time and a pregnancy would ensue. But it didn’t.

For the first couple of months I remained positive. But then I had to start fighting off discouragement as it seemed like everyone else was getting pregnant, except me. In spite of the fact that we really desired this and had prayed about it and I wanted to be like Hannah, dedicating my child to the Lord.

About five months into the process, we began sharing our struggle with close friends in our church community, asking them to pray for us, as well. It was a prayer request that we would soon get used to sharing, over and over again, month after month.

And as we shared our desire for a child, dealing with the disappointment started to become easier. I still had many moments when I cried about it and wrestled through it, but my trust in the Lord was never shaken through it. I know his timing is best. And I had prayed that I didn’t want to have a child if it would mean they wouldn’t follow the Lord—that would be an even worse future to me than a childless one.

I began trying to see this time of waiting as an opportunity—one where I could spray paint at will and kick up my heels to read for hours on end, uninterrupted by cries or hungry mouths but my own. I also spent it reading about the call of motherhood and preparing my heart.

Because I still believed that God would fulfill my desire. I just didn’t know when.

Finally, a year after we’d first decided to start trying, I discovered that I really was content. Yes, the desire still was there, but it didn’t pull at my heart strings like it had before. I looked at the life that surrounded me and realized that it was wonderful as it was: I had an incredible husband, a stable home, a loving community, a great life full of joy and pleasure. Yes, a child would be a cherry on top of it all and enrich it even more. But I realized I could not bear to despise that which I already had for that which I did not have. What I had was good; not having a child did not make it any worse.

And of course you know what happened next. Later that month, it turns out, I became pregnant with our daughter, although I wouldn’t discover that for another five weeks.

God did prove faithful. God did finish what he started. God did not desert us, but walked us through this season so that when we emerged on the other end, our faith was strengthened and our hearts even fuller than they would have been if he’d answered those prayers right away. His plan—as it always is, we must remind ourselves time and time again—was the better one. And I can’t wait to enjoy the fruits of it here soon!

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My Eighth Month of Pregnancy

Another month has passed and now we're counting down on one hand until our little girl is scheduled to arrive! Here's how the last month has progressed. (If you want to catch up, you can check out my pregnancy update from last month here.)

THE BABY. At this point, she's supposed to be about 18 inches long and weighing just over 5 pounds (the heft of a honeydew melon, they say). In spite of her size, she's been as squirmy as ever! I love it. And she's been hiccuping occasionally, which feels more like muscle twitches than hiccups to me. But it shows her lungs are getting some exercise, so we're thankful for them! We're now at that point where we have to go to the doctor every week to keep an eye on my vitals. But next week we're scheduled to do one last ultrasound to make sure she's in the right spot and avoid any surprises during delivery. I'm looking forward to it because it's been since October since we saw her last! ME. I am starting to feel more uncomfortable from the size and weight of the baby, which has made getting up from bed and out of cars and the like more difficult (and sometimes requiring a helping hand!). But I'm not at that point yet where I feel miserable. I still feel quite good, actually! And in spite of her being so wiggly, she hasn't really woken me up with her movements. My sleep has been pretty decent, though I do wake up a lot more to change positions and hit the bathroom. But I'm still clocking enough sleep to make up for it (hitting the hay at 9pm or earlier some nights!), so no complaints there, either. PREPARATIONS. The nursery is pretty much set for her arrival. We still have a few things on our shopping list that fall into the "needs" category (um, diapers), but other than that, if she were to arrive, we'd be ready. We're still praying about a fitting name for her, because I want it to truly fit her and the calling God has placed on her life, so that's another item still up in the air. I've also been doing a lot of reading to prepare for delivery, because I feel a lot more comfortable going into something when I have a good idea of what to (generally) expect. It removes some of the anxiety, which is really important in childbirth; being afraid can cause your labor to be a lot more painful and drawn-out. We also have childbirth, childcare and breastfeeding classes scheduled to take over the next couple of weeks, and I've filled our Netflix queue with lots of baby-related videos in the meantime. So now, we're just waiting and preparing until she's here sometime next month!

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Already, She's Her Own Person...

I’m so curious to meet this little lady of ours, who is expected to be here in roughly six weeks time.

Just a minute ago, I was sitting with my arms crossed over my stomach, when all of a sudden she kicked back, making me think that she was signaling that the weight of my arms atop her little igloo-in-my-stomach were squishing her. I pulled them off, and began thinking about this little baby who seems a little bit feisty but oh-so sweet. Which sounds like a pretty good combination to me.

At any rate, it’s obvious she is completely her own person. I have next to no control over her personality or movements; she squirms and wriggles and pokes and prods as she likes. I can’t stop her from flipping somersaults or jabbing me in the ribs. And once she’s born, it’s really not up to me whether she’s an introvert or an extrovert, content or clingy.

She is a completely different human, no matter the fact that half her genetics come from me. It’s awe-inspiring how that happens, that from my flesh can come a completely different creation. It almost seems illogical, when you think of how, in nearly every other aspect of life, it remains true that “what you put in, must come out.” Of course, she’s apt to reflect quite a bit of me and my husband. But when it comes to making a child, they truly are their own person, unique and individual.

It reminds me of Genesis 2, how God created a completely different creation from another—pulling a rib from Adam’s side to make Eve. “Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone.” And yet, completely, utterly different. And we see how God reenacts that in birth and even in redeeming the ashes of life’s tragedies and hardships and giving them beauty and, ultimately, in the story of Jesus whose side was split open and from his shed blood comes new life. This story of new life—over and over and over again—is all around us.

And right now, it’s happening right within me.

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My Seventh Month of Pregnancy

Seven months, you guys. I've been pregnant for seven months! That means that in two more months, this little baby we've slowly been getting to know will actually be here! It's incredible how far we've come and unbelievable how close we are to the end!

Here's an update about how the past month has treated me, and some festive photos to celebrate the season!

BABY. She is now roughly the size of an eggplant, measuring 14 inches and nearly 3 pounds. As she keeps growing, her movements become more and more obvious. Today, in church, I could feel her squirming and put my hand over the spot and it seriously felt like an arm nudging across. That's the first time any specific body part has been perceivable in the slightest. I also think I'm beginning to feel her hiccups!

ME. As for me, I am honestly surprised at how great I feel. I can confidently say this is the best I've felt all pregnancy, considering I'm now into the swing of my third trimester and my stomach is growing at an incredible pace. (For evidence, compare these photos with those from just a month ago!)

I've got lots of energy and haven't been too tired, so I'm able to live life quite normally. Sometimes my stomach does hurt from where it's stretching out (I can tell from that, my hunger and if I get really tired for a day or two that she's going through a growth spurt), so I've been slathering on cocoa butter and watching as my belly button is starting to flip out.

(My second trimester, on the other hand, which usually the best for most women, was marred by a trip to the hospital and a couple weeks recovering from that, only to come down with a miserable cold for another week or so.)

BABY STUFF. Last month, our family threw us two showers to celebrate our little bundle of joy, and so she's now got a closet stocked with clothes, is stocked with enough baby lotion and bodywash to easily get her through her first year, and some fun toys that I can't wait to introduce her to! The love and generosity she's experienced has been incredible and we feel so blessed at the outpouring she's received!

BABY CRAFTS. Oh my. I have been on a crafting spree lately. I plan on posting an update specifically about some of those projects soon, but in a nutshell I've made her a couple toys, a headband, pair of shoes, bibs, and some nursing gear for myself. I also started working on putting together a baby book for her tracking the pregnancy (and integrating those letters my husband and I have been writing her). And there's quite a bit more still on the agenda!

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The Things I'm Buying for Baby and A Glimpse Into My Baby Registry

Over the past couple of months, I’ve queried your input and opinions on a number of baby-related topics, such as what to look for in a diaper bag and if a baby monitor is really necessary. You all were so generous sharing your insights, I thought it would only be fair to share an update with you how I put all those comments to use, as well as touch on my choices and approaches to other baby-related items. To make things easier for you to browse, I created a baby registry with a bunch of the things that I picked out for our little one. You can check out that baby registry here.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve queried your input and opinions on a number of baby-related topics, such as what to look for in a diaper bag and if a baby monitor is really necessary. You all were so generous sharing your insights, I thought it would only be fair to share an update with you how I put all those comments to use, as well as touch on my choices and approaches to other baby-related items.

To make things easier for you to browse, I created a baby registry with a bunch of the things that I picked out for our little one. You can check out that baby registry here.

Otherwise, as I’ve mentioned before, when it comes to buying anything—baby-related or not—I’m quite the minimalist. On the one hand, I've been trying to streamline these things and not fall into that total consumerist trap of "I have to buy everything for the baby!" But, on the flip side, I realize that there are some things that can really make your life easier.

So when it’s come to selecting items for the baby, I’ve tried to think long and hard about my lifestyle: that of a stay-at-home-mom, doing some freelance writing on the side, and living in a small house with only one car that my husband and I share. Those things means that I spend a lot of time at home. So I decided to pick out an inexpensive stroller (not knowing how much use it will really get) and a simple monitor (since you all convinced me it was nice item to have!). And because our house is smaller, I wanted to keep lots of extra things to a minimum (and consequently am forgoing extras like a changing table).

Also, I tried to keep in mind our limited funds and figure out what I wanted to spend on and where I wanted to save. I decided I would rather prioritize things like a sturdy, ergonomic baby carrier (that my husband and I can both share) and high quality cloth diapers over things like a closet-full of clothes. So I picked up baby clothes at thrift stores or when they were on clearance, and asked family and friends who wanted to buy us clothes, to stick to ones that were more gender-neutral so that if we have a boy in the future, he can reuse them.

We have also been either given or able to borrow some of the big-ticket things like the crib that my niece had recently outgrown and the comfy chairs from my mother-in-law that will serve us for nursing. A lot of people choose to buy rocking chairs or gliders for nursing, but since we already had these chairs available for free, it made sense to use them and put the money that would be spent on a glider toward other things (like those mentioned above).

And I spent a lot of time researching every item that went into that list, reading online reviews as well as searching fellow bloggers' posts about their recommendations to narrow things down. Consequently, I am hoping that each purchase will prove a good choice and even investment.

So, without further ado, here are some of the favorite things that ended up on my baby registry, (although you can check out a more complete list of everything here):

(first row)

This book was mentioned on another blog and credited as a life-saver for this first-time mom because it explains when babies are going through fussy changes and why
This gym with a piano that she can kick against to help her learn to coordinate her movements

(second row) 

This too-cute teether is totally trendy, but I've heard such great things about it (even from other otherwise-frugal moms)
Ergonomic baby carrier that can be worn by me or my husband for long periods of time, and this carrier for using around the house and while she's a newborn and too tiny for the Ergo
Infant car seat to carry her around easily when she's still small
Convertible car seat for once she outgrows the infant seat but still should remain rear-facing

(third row)

Plush sensory toy to keep baby occupied and discovering new sounds, textures and colors
Prefold diapers, diaper covers and a wet bag for cloth diapering
Large swaddling blankets with tons of uses! 

Do you have any favorite baby-registry items or products you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments!

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Making Progress on Decorating the Nursery

I've been thinking for quite some time about the room that will someday be my little girl's. I shared an inspiration-board post with some of my ideas and brainstorming for decorating this room for her:



But it's taken me quite some time to get around to actually working on the room. (Although I place a lot of that blame on my impromptu hospital stay and kidney calamity for much of October.)

Finally, though, it's coming together. It's still not finished yet, as I regroup and try to figure out how I want to tackle the artwork and wall decorations for the room. (Which I'm beginning to realize seems always to be a hang up for me when I'm decorating any given room.)

At any rate, progress is being made, so I wanted to share a progress report with you...

In my mood-board post for the nursery, I mentioned that I wanted to go anti-nursery and paint the walls cream. I have to admit that I love cream walls. (That was something I always loved about apartment living--walls were always painted neutral colors, of which cream was often a popular choice.)

But I always chickened out of painting my own walls white or cream. I am not quite sure why, if it feels like a waste painting a wall white when you could be painting a vibrant, splashy color, or if I don't trust my own instincts.

With this room, though, I finally committed to giving my love-for-white-walls life. After doing some research on paint colors, I picked the hue "Swiss Coffee" from BEHR, which they sent me to spruce up the baby's room. The name makes it sound like it would be tan, but it is actually the perfect shade of milky cream. I like it because at first glance, though it looks white, it has just enough cream in it to soften it up and keep it from being stark and sterile. In fact, "Swiss Coffee" is one of their most popular shades for cream!

And since we were DIY-ing this project, we picked their Premium Plus Self-Priming, Zero VOC and Low Odor Interior Paint, so that we wouldn't have to worry about me breathing in any pesky fumes that might hurt the baby. Plus, they offer it in an eggshell finish, which is a good finish for kids' rooms since it is easy to clean!

Here's what the room looked like before we painted it (previously it served as our home office, which I featured in this post):



Those tan walls may not look it in the photos, but they were not in great condition. There were quite a few scuff marks and holes and glow-in-the-dark-stars that had been painted over (instead of peeled off before applying the paint). Fortunately, with a little spackle and two coats of the BEHR paint, all those imperfections melted away—even the dozen or so glow-in-the-dark stars that I wasn't able to scrape off!

Then, we started moving the furniture into the room, making use of as many good-quality hand-me-downs as possible to save money.

Here's what it's looking like now:







I love how the creamy walls makes the yellow and teals of the accents pop and allows me to have more fun with those accessories.

And, don't worry; I'll share more specifics about the room in a later post and keep you updated once I make some decisions on the artwork. But so far, I am loving how this room is coming together and heralding the arrival of our little girl, waiting in the wings!

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Anticipating the Unknown

I have no idea how it has happened, but somehow, I'm already two-thirds of the way through this pregnancy. Everyone tells you that time flies once you have children, but I am convinced it's in warp-speed already! With three months to go and plenty still on my to-do list, I have to fight from feeling overwhelmed by it all.But things are slowly coming together as we prepare for this baby of ours. For Thanksgiving we went back to Ohio, where we got to see many

I have no idea how it has happened, but somehow, I'm already two-thirds of the way through this pregnancy. Everyone tells you that time flies once you have children, but I am convinced it's in warp-speed already! With three months to go and plenty still on my to-do list, I have to fight from feeling overwhelmed by it all.

But things are slowly coming together as we prepare for this baby of ours.

For Thanksgiving we went back to Ohio, where we got to see many of our family and friends one last time before the baby comes. I still cannot fathom that, even as the gifts and teensy-tiny baby clothes mount up. People say that once you start accumulating all those baby things, it will start to sink in. But I don't really think it will until she's actually here, until we get to actually meet her and hold her and get to know her personality.

It's a funny thing because I can see her squirm beneath my skin, I can feel her kick and move about. And still, she doesn't feel real. Yet.

But I think that's okay, to lay aside the expectations and admit I have no idea what it's going to be like, except that it's going to be greater and more lovely and harder and more demanding than anything else we've experienced yet. At it's essence, that's the gift of life for us all. And the gift of giving life to this child of mine, whose arrival we await.

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