35 weeks; breastfeeding, birth plans and names

Happy 35 weeks to our little man, you are a week away from being officially a "full term" baby. I am having a hard time believing we are here, or at least a hard time understanding how we got here already. The days of daily  blood tests and weekly cans seem so recent but in reality they were 30 weeks ago...that's a long time, it was Thanksgiving and Christmas and snow.

Last night we had our breastfeeding class as part of the childbirth and newborn care class we have been taking. It's been fun to connect with some of the other couples over the past 6 weeks. We have one more class (after a week off on the 4th)  and then the ext time we will see each other will be at the reunion when we will all have our babies with us :)

Practicing the breast feeding positions with a dolly was funny, I am glad we took the class because I certainly learned some things about the whole process that I didn't know, as well as some of the positions to hold the baby but I am 100% convinced when our baby boy gets here it will be a whole new ballgame! I am feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing and now am just praying that everything will go smoothly in that department.

My European roots and experience of breast feeding being seen as a natural, normal thing can be a challenge for Jeremy and lets be honest, lots of  Americans who culturally have been taught that it should be something done in private. Don't get me started on how society here is fine with women showing cleavage and boobs in tight shirts without being offended but when they see them being used to feed a child, especially without what they consider 'appropriate coverage' they get so enraged. Anyway, on the paperwork we were handed out at the class one of the items on the list of how partners can help with breastfeeding said, "Help your wife be discrete in public' - J crossed it out so it read "make your wife be discrete in public" ha ha! Now, I am not about whipping the girls out in public with the intention to offend anyone or to make a statement about anything, but I am certainly not going to not breast feed in public because I forget a hooter hider or blanket. I will try to be discrete but if it still makes someone uncomfortable to see me feeding my child, that's really their problem not mine.

(Getting off my soap box now)

Baby boy continues to move and squirm in side me to the point of distraction and in a few instances pain as one of his body parts kicks or pushes onto one of my internal organs with more force than I would have thought possible from such a little nugget.

I feel as though I have moved firmly into the countdown to baby. I have zero energy or even motivation but a long list of things to do pre-baby...not the best combination. I am obsessively watching 'Baby Story' and 'Bringing baby home' and pretty much any other show about birth and babies. I know some people told me it wasn't a good idea to watch things like that but I like them, and I am really hoping baby boy can learn what to do by osmosis and be inspired to come out sooner rather than later.  I think that it's good for me to watch all the different birth scenarios play out. I am very well aware that in spite of the 'birth plan' we are writing, it is always more of a 'birth preference' list. At this point, we are still not even sure if we will have the opportunity to try and have a vaginal birth or will be required to have a c-section because of his position.

In all the ways we have been brought to surrender by God, this is far less of a battle. I read a status update on FB the other day where a friend described her recent birth as everything that she and her husband had wanted. In their case, this meant a natural delivery but I can honestly say if we leave the hospital with a healthy little baby then I would be able to post a similar status :) My only desire is to have a baby boy in my arms at the end of this pregnancy. I have been asked a lot about about my preferences for our birth experience recently by medical carers and with friends and I wonder if my perspective would be different if the journey to this point had been different. A simple 'normal' pregnancy might have allowed me the freedom to be more particular about the details of birth, but truly, truly, I have no specifics about the delivery itself.

You may have noticed that we are referring to our son as baby, or baby boy. We are not doing that to be mysterious. We are not holding out on you. We decided early on that we didn't want to finalize our decision about his name until after he was born so we could make sure the name felt like it was right for him. That is still the case, but I should also add that we are far from picking a name as the front runner. We have had a short list ever since we found out he was a boy, but that list is getting shorter and I am not convinced that we have even identified the name we will use. Suggestions still welcome :)