Updates

I'm in week 32, so that means only about 8 more weeks. It very obvious that the size of the baby is growing more rapidly now. I have to slow down a bit with my regular exercise. I typically work out with a group of ladies at work 3 to 4 times a week. This week I told them many of the aerobic moves are just getting to awkward and difficult therefore I planned to start walking after work on my own. However, they are so wonderful that they changed their schedule to walk with me at a forest preserve near our school! I'm am very thankful for their support and give them a lot of credit for helping me stay so active and having a rather comfortable pregnancy so far.

Yesterday I also found that doing long presentations/trainings for large groups of people is much more difficult. It is tiring and a bit stressful in general to prepare the presentations, make sure everything is set up properly, then deliver an engaging training to a large group, so it is even more challenging when your 8 months pregnant. I had trouble projecting my voice and standing for the long time period. (One of my co-workers that was helping me with the training, said she could see the baby move as I was presenting. I was surprised by this because I didn't realize JoJo's movements were visible through my clothes yet!) I even think the stress triggered some small Braxton-Hicks contractions that I experienced at the end of the day. Fortunately, the training went well and I do not have any more large trainings schedule for the rest of the year. I went to bed early last night and took the morning off today to rest and prepare for a dean position interview I have today.

Other updates: Andy and I finished our Hypnosis for Childbirth class a couple of weeks ago and now we are trying to maintain a schedule of practicing the techniques at least 3 to 4 times per week. I'm making little posters that help me practice and provide positive affirmations to prepare for the birth day. Later I'll post a blog entry explaining the strategies and techniques we plan to use throughout the stages of labor. Although we continue to practice and prepare for the labor and birth, I've shifted from reading books about pregnancy and birthing to books on attachment parenting, breastfeeding, and infant potty training. I just picked up a stack of books on this topic from the library this week.