Showing posts with label Water Baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water Baby. Show all posts

Monday

The Start Of Oprah & Deepak's 21 Day Meditation Experience Couldn't Be Better Timing!

Free as a bird
Today was the kick off of Oprah & Deepak Chopra's brand new 21 Day Meditation Experience, Energy Of Attraction - Manifesting Your Best Life and it couldn't have come at a better time (for me.)  I am currently very pregnant with our 3rd baby and feeling like I'm going to pop any day. Pop from having this baby as well as pop from stress.  We're planning to have our 2nd home water birth with an awesome midwife and doula team and of course my amazing beyond words husband. The home birth isn't what I'm stressed about. I'm actually excited to experience another home water birth because it's such an amazing, empowering, life changing experience.

What has been stressful is being pregnant with baby #3 - meaning I have baby #1 (who is now 6 1/2) and baby #2 (who is now 4) running around like wild needing life to carry on with business as usual. It's hard to explain to a small child that mommy is super tired from pregnancy insomnia, or super crabby from being uncomfortable simply because I'm 9 months pregnant (which I currently am). It's also hard to explain the emotional roller coaster a pregnant women goes on, especially during the very end of the 3rd trimester when everyone else needs life to carry on with business as usual - including adults, and you are not even the same person you were 2 months ago let alone 9 months ago when things were running "smoothly."  Does parenthood ever run smoothly though?  Let's be honest.

When I was pregnant with baby #1 over 6 years ago this last trimester was filled with very easy going days completely dedicated to nesting and getting ready for baby. Oh-my-gosh-I-didn't-know-how-good-I-had-it-back-then! Now my days are filled with raising two busy, high energy, creative and imaginative children who are also busy with swimming classes, dance classes as well as an upcoming Christmas recital that both kids are in - oh and did I mention there is a a dress rehearsal 2 days before my due date? (WHAT on Earth was I thinking when I signed up for this tap/ballet combo class??!!)  We are also going to nature preschool a few times a week. I'm totally drained. However, nature preschool is actually very relaxing (once we finally get there that is.)  The mornings trying to get 2 kids out the door early enough to beat the morning rush hour traffic is not so relaxing. But once we are there, completely surrounded by nature and we drop our preschooler off for an hour & a half of exploring and discovering and playing in nature's raw beauty, we hit the dirt trails for a nature hike in the fresh morning air. It's magical! The other day we spotted two Great Horned Owls just hanging out in the trees staring down at us. This place does not have any cages or anything like that so these owls were free to roam wild.  I've never seen wild owls in their natural habitat that close up before. Amazing! So the nature center rocks!  (Look for one in your city. You probably have one near you and don't even now it.)

So I was totally delighted when I discovered that Oprah & Deepak were once again offering a Free 21 Day Meditation Experience and that it was starting so soon! Today in fact!  If you have not registered yet you still have time and each day's meditation is available for 5 days after it gets released. So go sign up. There is still time!

I participated in the last one a few months ago (give or take) and it was a really great experience. I have to admit I did not complete every single meditation. In fact, I even missed Day 1, which I was bummed about. But I didn't give up on it and I just tried to do what I could when I could do it and I was so glad I did!  I felt more calm and peaceful after doing the meditations and even my midwife noticed a difference. More relaxed and calm.

So, normally I do not give out personal information like my due date. After having 2 kids I don't even like giving out the due date - period! Especially when you don't go into it having a "planned birth" (like an induction or a c-section), the due date really just becomes a guess. However, only the mother is aware of this apparently because a week or so before the due date you start to get hounded by everyone and their grandma asking you, "have you had that baby yet?"  And of course the answer is, "if I had you'd know about it." People think of a due date as a date that is written in stone or something. Babies rarely come on their due date. A lot of time first babies even come late. My lil guy actually did come right smack on his due date which doesn't seem to happen too often. He was my home water birth baby. My lil Honu swimming into my arms.

As for this baby? Who knows. However, for the purpose of this blog post I will tell you that the 21 Day Meditation Experience starts exactly 21 days before my due date. (Give or take if the due date is even totally accurate, that is.) Coincidence?  I think not. I'd like to think of it as divine intervention for an overly frazzled and overwhelmed preggo mama who is due with baby #3 soon and who needs desperately to find some peace, calm, quite and relaxation in her house full of wild monkeys - my husband being the ring leader of the monkey circus of course.

So Thank you Oprah & Deepak Chropra!  You have no idea what this means to me!  I'm looking forward to a little calm in the storm right now as well as some serious meditation practice to build up to the serious meditation I'll be doing once I'm in labor with baby #3!

Will this baby be a boy or a girl?  You'll just have to check back and see because we didn't find out the sex. There are so few surprises in life and this is a really big one!

Until then...

Namaste.

Oprah & Deepak's (FREE) 21 Day Meditation Experience

My Water Birth Story

My Journey To Motherhood: The Night It Hit Me, I'm A Mom!




Saturday

Water Baby

Pool is ready, water is warm,
midwife, doula, hubby and me, I will not conform.

I'm breathing the way I need to,
moving the way I need to,
walking when I need to,
squatting when I need to.

Pacing the rooms, my feet are bare,
our lives on these walls, and soon baby is there.

I'm eating because I need to,
drinking when I need to,
only talking when I need to,
peacefully quiet because I need to.

Coldplay on the itunes,
fresh flowers wafting through,
feeling confident and strong
my body knows just what to do.

Laughing when I need to,
closing my eyes because I need to,
crying when I need to,
reaching out for you because I need you.

Room filled with soft whispers,
the only light is in the hall,
warm water pouring over my back,
not feeling rushed at all.

Rocking when I need to,
humming when I need to,
blocking out what I need to,
drawing inward because I need to.

Pain ever present, feeling like I need to push,
my body taking over, water breaking there's the woosh!

I'm kneeling because I need to,
embracing the feeling because I need to,
battle cries when I need to,
retreating home when I need to.

Husband is strong never leaving my side,
my head is in his chest.
Everyone is waiting for me to give their cue
because they know, I know myself best.

I'm pushing when I need to,
for however long my body needs to,
I'm moaning when I need to,
laboring naturally because I need to.

The baby is coming quickly now
as you can see in the water below!
Is our new little love
a baby girl or baby boy?
We still do not know!

I reach down because I need to,
catch my baby in my arms because I need to,
we embrace our new love because we need to,
Free to take the time that we need to.

We squeal in delight our baby is here
oh, such a magical joy!
After several minutes of loving this new bundle
we discover that he is a boy!

Holding him close because I need to,
cord cutting can wait because it needs to,
adjusting peacefully because he needs to,
in mama's arms because we need to.

Everyone is happy and safe,
bouncing baby boy is ten pounds!
The house is bright and filled with love
and all sorts of new baby sounds.

A shower and my bed because I need to,
breastfeed him when he needs to,
skin to skin because we need to,
all three napping together because we need to.


After a peaceful sleep big sister is here!
She wants to meet “baby brother.”
She knew all along it'd be you coming to her,
this bond is like no other.

Believe in yourself because you need to!
Your heart is telling you what it needs to,
trust yourself because you need to,
Be strong for your baby, because he needs you.




By Colleen Duncan-Canavan

Dec 4, 2011
This poem was inspired by my water baby, Ely Finn. Born at home, caught by his mother. I'm waiting to hear back if this will be accepted into an anthology. I'll update it here if it was chosen.

To continue reading more from My Tales From The Crib, click here



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