Enter the Third Trimester

Summer is blooming! There is so much new life we have seen – tadpoles teeming in our tiny pond, new goats springing around their mamas, an infant deer wobbling after its mother, little blue eggs in a nest by the garden. We feel a rhythm with this new surge of life as our belly enters week 28, the start of its third and final trimester.

The baby makes itself very known with vigorous kicks and the occasional bout of hiccups. Just this morning, I spooned Jay and the baby did a wild dance on his back. We found ourselves playing a game with it the other night. I'd press one spot on my belly, and it would kick it. Jay would press an entirely different spot, and it would kick that spot with uncanny accuracy. We kept this up for almost half an hour. It was an amazing glimpse of the independent being rapidly developing inside me.

Last week we met with our assistant midwife, Heather Whitely, for the first time, and are feeling very confident with our birth team. We also began birth classes with Annique Sampson of The Birth Garden. We meet with her and just one other couple going over helpful birth positions, the stages of labor, and role-playing pain-coping techniques with our partners. It's helped us feel more confident as a team, and realize a lot of the strengths we already have as a couple that we can draw on during the intensity of labor.

And the stuff! We're lucky to know so many generous parents who have passed along baby things they no longer need – tons of clothes, a crib, carseats, an infant tub, and great advice about diapers and breastfeeding. It's such a help, and we love 'recycling' stuff. We've even calmed down about organic cloth. I did some research and learned that cotton manufacturers process out the pesticides, so my primary concern – pesticides on baby's new absorbent skin – are moot. Sure the chemicals still go into the environment, so when we buy brand new things, we'll try, as I try with myself, to get organic when I can afford it. However, pesticides DO remain in cotton batting, which is why organic cotton mattresses and even toys are still so important.

Our first registry post was mostly a playful list of cheap organic clothing options. Our updated registry is much more practical, and if you feel like helping us out with baby stuff, we're very thankful.

As always, your support and excitement are gift enough, and we're so happy to be sharing this adventure with you.