Can Birth Really be this Easy?

So I listen to my Hypnobirthing track(s) nightly before bed, and if I wake up too early (before noon) to help me relax back to sleep. I eat pretty darn healthfully, minus a daily small sweet treat, and my exercise consists of usually parking as far away I as I can and walking to my destination, especially in my community college parking lot. I went to a doctor (non OB type) last week and they took my BMI and said I was still in the "normal" range for my height, and I'm 37 weeks pregnant! I've always been naturally fit and never gotten above a size 3, so I've been pretty fortunate. My pregnancy would make some women seriously want to strangle me. No morning sickness, no stretch marks (yet), I've only had mild back pains and a hard time breathing sometimes. If it weren't for my protruding belly and increased trips to the bathroom, I'd hardly know I was pregnant.

Now I most certainly am not saying all of this to try and make my new readers hate me and close the page in disgust, but merely to ask... Since I have been so fortunate in my pregnancy thus far, it is possible to believe my birth will be the same? Or am I doomed to have a 48 hour labor riddled with interventions. Obviously the latter is not a path of thought I let my brain take me down as I'm a firm believer in the power of mind-over-matter. But is it really possible my blessed-ness will continue through birth and the "fourth trimester"? He will be my first and my sister (and birth partner) really believes that I am going to have an incredibly quick, very very easy birth (or maybe she just hopes). I fear that since I've been blessed thus far, I will have to be "punished" at some point.

Have I been too cavalier in my preparation for birth? Will opting for couch time instead of taking nightly hour long walks come to bite me in the behind (remember-naturally fit :))? Does successful Hypnobirthing require more then just my listening to the CDs every night, alone? Should I truly have cut out all sugar (I do no caffeine, lunch meat, rotate my fish types and avoid all other precautionary no-no's, and obviously eat lots of whole grains, proteins, fruits and veggies, prenatals and DHA)?

Or is it possible, or even better, is it likely, my luck will continue as it has??? Can I really be that girl? Can my birth really be that easy? Please say it is so!

It's all starting to become real!!

When I went to see my midwife at 35 weeks I asked her why I wasn't having contractions yet, and she said I have been having them for several weeks, and that I just couldn't feel them or recognize them. She asked if I ever felt like he was trying to push out of my belly, and I'd been writing in my journal for weeks now about how it felt like he's trying to break straight through my belly to enter the world. Hmph!! Who woulda known?! I always thought contractions, even Braxton Hicks, would feel like some kind of tightening and maybe cramping and shooting pains, but nope, it's more of an area of my belly getting rock solid. Well now that I know, the last couple of days have given a plethora of opportunities to experience them. It's awesome to know my body really is getting ready for birth. I have been getting some piercing pains in my pubic area and if I start to wince and hold my breath, it gets worse, until I remember Hypnobirthing and I relax and breathe, and they become magically tolerable, not even pain like. Pretty incredible that Hypnobirthing stuff is!

I am so excited to give birth and prove to all the naysayer’s how very possible it is to have a pain free birth. I’ve been reading lots of positive birthing experiences from the Hypnobabies sites and others, and I think it’s time to start rereading Orgasmic Birth and Adventures in Natural Childbirth. Though I realize my birth may not be totally pain free, I do believe it’s possible, and fear is the last thing on my mind. Women in parts Africa and many other parts of the world simply walk off into the woods, give birth silently so as not to attract predators, and return to their village with their new baby. The Continuum Concept is an amazing book revealing many cultural differences between Western cultures and more “primitive” and natural ones. It's really helped me to realize how much our cultural beliefs can shape our perceptions and feelings about childbirth and rearing.

My First Blog :)

Welcome! 
My name is Jennifer, I'm 30 years old and I've just recently moved back to Sacramento, CA after being in San Diego and Las Vegas for the last 5 years. I'm 35 weeks 5 days pregnant and OH SO excited to have my first baby, a little boy, name yet to be determined.  I'm going to give birth at my local birth center and do this the natural way so that my son and I can have the optimal bonding experience for the best possible start of our relationship (hopefully!).  My sister is my best friend, roommate and birthing partner.  Both of my parents, and all of my family, live here in Sacramento and are beyond excited to meet the first child of our next generation next month.  My family has been very supportive, at least to my face :), of my desires to practice a sorta crunchy parenting style, except maybe the topic of extended/full-term breastfeeding.

So I think I'm just about ready to meet my lil man.  I've got my Marathon 70 installed, Gdiapers and leg warmers are on their way, I've got my BBLP sitting next to the big toilet ready to start EC'ing and a playyard set up next to my bed, just in case he likes his own bed better (doubt it :)).  Oh, and I've been practicing my wrapping techniques with my Moby and listening to my hypnobirthing tracks every night.  Other than that, I don't know what else I can do to prepare... I'm just so excited!  I'm definitely looking forward to my upcoming journey into motherhood.

32 weeks