Merry Christmas Eve!

Week 40- (and STILL preggo..but finally caught up on posting..;-)

~Happy 'due date' Autumn! December 20, 2011~

This is definitely a week that while I somewhat expected to reach, didn't actually believe it would happen that I would be past the 40 week mark.  I figured with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the manual labor that I put into doing the floors and the constant moving around would have been enough to bring little Autumn here by now.  But she's stubborn, and late, just like her mama so I suppose she is already a girl after my own heart! (Traits that I am not always proud of but, hey, at least I can admit to them!)

What is little Autumn doing in there at this point?  GROWING. All the resources stop giving fruit or vegetable references for size. Every day she adds a few more ounces and I can feel it more and more especially when I'm out on my walks.  My arches are starting to get tired of beating the pavement with an extra 33 lbs of weight I suppose, I don't blame them!  Truthfully though, I am happy that I carried her to full term and hoping she's gotten all the developing done in there that she needed!

As I write this I am 40 weeks, 4 days.  The last 4 days have consisted of digging into the natural methods of induction and just trying a few things here and there to bring Autumn closer to us.  I have consumed several gallons of Raspberry Tea ~which I have been consuming for weeks, but just upped the ante since she has been 'past due'.  Since FL temperatures have peaked in the high 70's I'm loving the iced tea actually.

I made an entire pan of from scratch Eggplant Parmesan.  While the consumption of it didn't bring many contractions, the creation of it did!  There were several times when I was making the sauce that I had to go sit down because the Braxton Hicks were that strong.

We thought that might have been the kick off but soon after I finished the sauce and stopped breathing in the fumes of oregano and basil, the contractions halted and we were kind of bummed that it turned out to be a false alarm.

 ~Delish!!~

While I made dinner, Chris made dessert!  All by himself~he was so proud and the cookies which were supposed to be for the nurses have been pretty much consumed by now.  Guess we'll be baking again tonight!

~Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Heath Bar Chippers~YUM!~

I have eaten almost 2 whole pineapples (bromelain, a digestive aid in pineapple, is said to possibly bring on labor) and have been taking long strides while I walk on a daily basis.  All just trial and error of course and all safe, homeopathic methods.  Yesterday morning I sat down for a good yoga/meditation session and practiced actually visualizing her here.  A way that I have been trying to feel more connected with her because I am still at the point where I don't fully expect reality to hit until I hold her sweet little self in my arms.  Of course there have been several other induction methods we have used and if you have given birth before (or have heard from other moms in your circle of friends!) then you know what these methods are, they need not be mentioned. :-)

I also took a 4 mile walk outside with Chris and Lola which I thoroughly enjoyed followed by a bath that was completely relaxing.  Chris has been taking amazing care of me lately in making me comfortable.  I figured if I could just alternate between those things that produce endorphins to those activities that produce oxytocin (the feel good hormone that jump starts labor) I'm bound to trigger something!  What I have tried not to focus on is our induction date of December 29th because while it does put an end in sight, it is something that I truly don't want.  I've been so aware of my health and fitness during this pregnancy attempting to do all the things that are meant to ease labor that an induction I didn't ever see being on the table.  And while I know no matter how she arrives the important thing is that she arrives healthy, I just wanted it to happen when she was ready.  So I remain focused on those things that I can control in the meantime and hope that in the next 5 days she makes her appearance on her own!  At her 40 week appointment her heartbeat was very strong, the amniotic fluid is perfect the doctor said and the placenta is still very healthy.  All good news and all of which means she is still just content in growing a bit more in there.

I have also found myself retreating these past few days, kind of going into hermit mode as I try to prep myself for what I know will be one of the toughest things that I will physically ever do.  Chris is ready to contact everyone when things actually start to happen and I am anxious as ever to start a new beginning~ motherhood!

I leave you with a glimpse of the nursery-so far- as we are still working on a few other touches that most likely won't be accomplished until after she arrives.  I am in awe of how it actually turned out~ I seriously adore it.  Here's where my inspiration started:

~while browsing The Knot doing wedding research, I came across this AMAZING cherry + lime styled shoot and fell in love~

Here's the olioboard that I began to develop some ideas on:

I knew that I wanted to incorporate her name somehow into the room but in a creative way.  I looked to my mom's words of wisdom that she has given me over the years, the 'Roots and Wings' philosophy that made our way into the maternity photoshoot even, and knew that I wanted to have a tree be the focal point on one wall.  Once I discovered a decal (on Etsy of course) I fell in love with one that looked like 'Autumn Breezes'.  It incorporated not only the 'roots' but also the butterflies symbolizing the 'wings'.   I loved the idea of doing a key-lime color on her walls to compliment the already dark bamboo floors. I thought the cherry red curtains would really make the place pop.  Of course since she would be a little girl, I had to add in some fushia/berry pinks which I really think makes the cherry and lime pop even more, in addition to the bright white accents.  It's been an amazing time adding all the personal touches to her room, many of which are half finished, I'll take pictures of the other walls later when they are complete. Now all we need is little Autumn to arrive and give her stamp of approval.

~her door blessing handmade by a massage therapist at my yoga studio~

As I sign off, I know in the back of my mind that the next time I will be posting there will be a little one snuggled up in our arms.  We can't wait to share her with all our friends and family and are beyond thrilled to start this next phase of our lives!

We are off to spend Christmas Eve with family and friends and can't wait to enjoy good food and good company along with plenty of relaxing. A very Merry Christmas everyone, we can't wait to share our little bundle with you!