37 weeks, 4 days

Had our home visit today and finally figured out where to put the birth pool. Mark rearranged the bedroom so we could fit it in a corner and keep ourselves in one area of the house, rather than potentially having the pool upstairs and the bed down. We’re now making plans to put some hanging plants outside the bedroom window so I can labor in the pool while gazing out at the sky through green foliage. Lily thought the pool was brilliant and kept jumping up and down inside it, enjoying the way the inflatable floor made her bounce. It’s a great pool with vertical baffles strong enough that you can sit on the edge or lean against it without causing a flood. Nice high walls so the water can be filled high enough to cover my belly and clear sides so the midwife and see what’s going on under the surface. Great load off my shoulders to finally have the logistics worked out.

In not so great news, baby has turned completely posterior, also known as “sunny side up.” For those who don’t know, it’s best if baby is facing your back when birthing or you can have some discomfort (back labor) and hang-ups during delivery. This would be less of a concern if the baby was hanging out on my left side, but baby has been on the right for as long as we’ve been able to determine position. This just means I need to do lots of talking to this baby, asking him/her to turn and there are some exercises that will help as well (pelvic tilts, etc). At least baby isn’t breech.

Oh, and if ONE person comments about how horrid their back labor was I will BAN you from ever posting again. I don’t need to be frightened or worried, so don’t give me any horror stories. You’ve been warned.

After the midwife left, Mark, Lily and I tromped around the property some and looked at all the flowers that have volunteered this year. We talked about our plans for the hot tub, how the trees were doing, where we’d like to put in some tall bamboo, etc. Lily pointed out the cars going by on the freeway not so far away and enjoyed watching them rush by. She LOVES big trucks and will always stop what she’s doing as one rumbles by, pointing and OH-ing appropriately! I went just a little camera happy and will be posting some shots to flickr soon. It’s been a good day thus far. And that’s all I want: good days, one after another. World peace would be nice too, but I’m not picky.