Dream a Little Dream

Once upon a time, in an alternate reality, there was a very pregnant mama who was completely rested. Each day when she awoke to find her toddler daughter doing yoga poses over her head to wake her up (that part is from my actual reality, btw - Sweet Pea does "downward facing dog" over my head on my pillow, putting her face into mine, sometimes touching her nose to mine - LOL), she smiled and arose gracefully, fully refreshed and ready for the day ahead. She knew exactly what food she had on hand and what she was going to easily throw together for each healthy meal of the day. And her daughter happily ATE said food, while sitting relatively still, using utensils, and wearing a bib. Her husband even came home at 5:30 every day and ate dinner with the family.

Now this mama, despite her advanced pregnancy, was no slouch when it came to thinking of games to play and activities to do with her daughter, and she always had enough time to get the little one out into the sunshine for a bit of play in the sand box and a nice run around the back yard, which was partially shaded by two lusciously leaved, tall trees. In this household the TV was rarely turned on and the little girl knew the words to countless songs and rhymes and could entertain herself happily for an hour at at time.

During these respites, the mama, having nothing pressing to do in the way of housework, packing, or nesting, would walk without fear of tripping on toys to the living room and lounge luxuriously on her clean couch and read whatever book she chose. She had so much reading time that she was able to enjoy several books per month.

At 36 weeks pregnant she was fully prepared with her birth kit and other necessary items for a home birth, had picked up the birthing tub from the other locals who recently borrowed it from the midwife, and was completely mentally prepared for her second labor. She was eating well every day and taking daily walks with her daughter and had no fear of running into complete exhaustion during labor. She had a doula hired who she knew and felt comfortable with and knew what visualizations she would try first when labor got rough. She had every confidence that her husband would be fully present for her during her labor, both emotionally and physically. She was not worried about her daughter coming to her crying during labor because she (daughter) missed her (mama's) normal constant presence. She was not worried about her daughter accepting the baby as a new member of the family.

This mama was so lucky that her house magically stayed clean all the time. The new bed she and her husband had recently shopped for could be delivered immediately because they had a whole clean room just sitting around waiting. She never had to deal with stupid things like the local pharmacy running out of her prenatal multivitamin and giving her three pills instead of 90 and not saying a word about the shortage while charging her husband for a full bottle.

One day the mama forgot to drink one of her six glasses of water. But that was the worst things ever got.

**Note: Top photo taken by good friend Shawna Scherbarth, whose glorious travel photography may be viewed here. Top photo also taken during my first pregnancy in 2003. This time around my belly is sporting many more stretch marks - and frequently lots of butterfly stickers, since Sweet Pea seems to believe that's where butterfly stickers belong. Hee. Bottom photo taken by Slipshod.

***Another Note: In case anyone is concerned, I DO have my birth kit - I've had it for a couple weeks. It's just not unpacked in a central location yet, and there is another list almost as long as the list of what's in the birth kit of other stuff that I still need to gather and put in the same location.