Baby Life...

Seth- 4 days old

Seth is doing amazing. He is so healthy and strong- sleeps a lot of course. He and I are getting the hang of breastfeeding and are doing well. I'm feeling better every day, though still quite sore and trying not to do too much too soon.
Many more beautiful pictures of our little guy to come- here's one I just took to start with.

Welcome to the World!

Seth Alexander Mayo was born on February 10, 2009 at 8:21pm, weighing 5lb 11oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long. He is healthy and strong and the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I started having irregular contractions on Sunday, and on Monday they became timeable- 6-10 min apart. Monday night they got more painful and I couldn't sleep through them, and they progressed all day Tuesday. I was in active labor for 9 hours and pushed for 45 minutes, almost all of that in the birth tub, and Seth was born in the water.

We are beginning to adjust to our new life, and spending plenty of time just staring at him :) He and I are getting the hang of nursing and it's going well. I am very sore from the birth but already (24 hours later) I am feeling somewhat better and I am sure the healing process will be relatively quick.

I will post more, and pictures, another time, but I wanted to write about how happy I am to finally have my baby here!

38 weeks

My mom took these pictures of Manny and I over the weekend... chances are this is about as big as I'm going to get. Of course if I go very far past my due date I may be a bit bigger when the baby is born. I plan to have someone take a belly picture of me when I go into labor.

This week has been a little rough- I have had some pretty intense back and hip pain and it is hard to sleep (or walk!) sometimes. Normal end-of-pregnancy discomforts have me kind of looking forward to not being pregnant anymore. Not to mention, I am getting so excited to meeting this baby I have been carrying for what seems like a really long time now. But there seems to be no sign that I will go into labor anytime soon. He will come when he's ready... and in the meantime I am keeping busy and trying to stay as active and comfortable as I can.

As for the baby, he is still so active and seems to be very healthy :) My body and his are both getting ready for the big day I guess... wondering when it will be. I am now only 10 days away from my due date!

Full Term!

This is an exciting week for the Mayo family! My last day at work was Tuesday, and also as of Tuesday I am officially in my "safe dates", meaning I could have the baby any time and he would be considered full term! While there are some things I still want to do, and buy, we are ready and have everything we need. I picked up an extra package of Seventh Generation chlorine-free diapers yesterday- we'll be using those in the beginning along with the cloth diapers I have so far, while we decide which type of cloth we like best and build our collection. By the way, here's a picture of the ones we've gotten- it might seem crazy but I think cloth diapers are pretty cute :)
I am filling my days with books, crafts, baking, walking, relaxing and random pampering things like the amazing prenatal massage I got yesterday and the henna I applied today (in pic). I am trying to get my mind in a good place for birth- relaxed, focused, fearless. I often feel like I have little to say, but lots of thoughts; I'm very mellow and introspective. I've been journaling a lot, and writing/talking to the baby a lot too. I feel every movement now- I have no idea how he'll have any more room in there to grow! I wonder every day if it's the one in which he'll be born, but I am trying not to get impatient, and to really enjoy these last days or weeks before he comes.
Here's my hennaed belly- 37weeks,3days:

35 weeks, and counting...

I am going to be 36 weeks on Tuesday, and I literally feel it getting closer every day. I'm always wondering when it will happen- when will I meet my son? I think he's "dropped" as people call it- or engaged in my pelvis. I don't think it is obvious by looking at the shape of my belly, but I feel a lot of pressure from his head- more pain and backaches. He is getting stronger all the time, and is still very active. Sleep is harder to come by- I guess I am being prepared for new motherhood in that respect. I went to a breastfeeding class this week, which was good and really informative. In a few weeks I'm going to "Naturopathic Care of Your Newborn" by the same teacher, who is a really great naturopathic doctor and also assists my midwife frequently, so there's a chance she could attend my birth with Connie. We are getting ready- there is a list of supplies we need to have for a home birth, and Manny and I will go shopping for those in the next few days. Connie is coming to the house for my visit this week, so she can check everything out and make sure we're ready, etc. From then on I'll have an appointment each week until the baby is born. All of this makes me realize how truly close I am to becoming a mom- it's amazing.
Here's a picture- 35 weeks 5 days:

34 weeks belly picture

Yesterday Manny and I went to the Morikami for their "Oshogatsu" Japanese New Year festival. There was good food and taiko drummers performing, and it's such a beautiful place. Here I am hanging out by the koi fish and turtles:
On the Japanese calender, Seth will be born in the year of the cow, on the Chinese- the year of the ox. If he's born before the 18th of February he'll be an aquarius and after that a pisces, so he's right on the edge. I am not sure how much when you are born determines your personality, but it is interesting to read about.