Why in the world has it taken me so long to start showing off these photos? When you get the RAW files from a photo shoot featuring yourself you tend to be rather nitpicky about how they look. I want my blemishes gone, can’t deny using the liquify filter every once in awhile, etc. I’ve been making my way through them slowly and I’ve decided to post them in parts as I finish them instead of waiting until I finish them all (will that every happen?).

We took the photos at a park right next to my house, a spot that would have been much better if the snow a few days before hadn’t caused the water levels to rise drastically since I had spent time scouting it out. Oh well, amazing Bethany Jackman (who is now in Boston for 8 months, hire her!) somehow made my poor location choice look amazing. I had two different photographers there that day (one personal reason why networking is so important!) and I’ll be showing you watermark free shots that were taken by someone else and edited myself. Visit their respective blogs to really see what they can do, please don’t judge their skills by my editing!

My favorite headshot:

My hair and makeup were done by Emily Hudspeth, who I’m now using as my regular stylist for cut/color as well. This was my first time experiencing airbrush foundation. It feels so cool and lovely when it’s being applied! I went in with the idea that I might like to have my hair all down and curly, but Emily wisely suggested I put it half up due to the wind that day. I’m very glad I trusted her because it would have been completely flat within minutes.

When it comes to photo shoots, fake eyelashes are a must for me.

I came really close to framing this one for our wall. I love the blue sky contrasted with the dead foliage, and the teeny pop of red from my ring.

5 photos above captured by Bethany Jackman, edited by me.

I’m a bit insecure about my weight gain and resulting shape, so photos that are composed in creative ways like this one (you’ll see several more in future posts) are my favorites.

2 photos above captured by lynn in love photo, edited by me.

One thing I was really passionate about in coming up with the ideas for this session, is I wanted to help more pregnant women see that you don’t have to wrap your naked belly in a colored ribbon tied in a bow or stack blocks on your stomach spelling out the name of your little one at your maternity session. In fact, my naked belly won’t make a single appearance in these photos and I’m perfectly happy with that! (Although I’m planning a day frolicking around with big belly exposed in a field of Texas bluebonnets within the next few weeks, as I’m lucky enough to have the equipment I need to do a photo shoot pretty much any time. I just have to convince That Husband to act as the photographer.) If you’re considering a maternity session for yourself, but you feel like you only see sessions filled with watermelon bump ultra skinny ladies, just take a look at me in my 200+ lb glory after gaining 50 lbs in about 35 weeks and tell yourself you won’t regret it in the end. Because you won’t! You’ll be so glad to have these photos celebrating your pregnancy, I know I am.

Next post features some time spent nuzzling with TH!

Still an innie. Good thing my modesty standards mean I don’t wear bikinis or other types of clothing that show off my midriff, otherwise this could be really depressing.

You were wrong.

I’m thinking my belly button won’t be popping at all. Good because I think outies are a little freaky.

Visit Elizabeth Anne Designs Living today to read the post that explains why I don’t have one of those little ticker/countdown widgets on my sidebar alerting everyone to how many days I have left until baby comes.

I moved to bi-weekly appointments a few weeks ago, and they’re coming so close together that I didn’t get my act together and write about appointment 5 before appointment 6 had come and gone!  Personally I miss only going in once a month, but I tend to be very chill when it comes to my healthcare and so I have to keep reminding myself that it’s important for me to visit with Sarah and have her check up on my swelling, weight gain, and measure my belly to make sure baby and I are where we need to be.

I’m making my way through my maternity photos slowly but surely. I love having the RAW files to process, but it means it’s going to take a bit more time to get through all of it. Photo by Bethany Jackman, editing by me.

Appointment 5

This was one of my shortest visits so far. I was up 6 pounds from my last visit, with a total weight gain of about 45 lbs at 31.5 weeks. My blood pressure rocked at 102/67 and baby’s heart was pumping away at 140 bpm.

I had attended the breastfeeding class offered by the birth center only two days before, so I had breastfeeding on the brain. Sarah had taught the class and mentioned the importance of showing your nipples to the midwife so I lifted my shirt and gave Sarah a little peek to make sure I don’t have flat or inverted nipples that would make breastfeeding difficult. She said everything looks great! We talked more about my breast reduction surgery and the plan regarding breastfeeding. I asked if I should purchase a supply of bottles and other formula related paraphernalia but Sarah said we wouldn’t worry about it until we had to. One of my favorite things about Sarah is her passion for helping every single mom to breastfeed and be comfortable doing so.

I told her that TH still hadn’t had a chance to get his blood tested and she gave me a test we could use to figure it out ourselves. Alright!

The last thing we talked about was Group-B Strep. She gave me a sheet that talked about the test, why it is done, etc, and told me to make a decision regarding my preference for having it done by our next appointment.

Appointment 6

Three weeks after appointment 5, I went in for appointment 6. It should have been two weeks but Sarah had a birth to attend on the day of my appointment so we pushed things back a bit. I frowned at the scale as I saw I had gained close to 8 pounds in three weeks, but my belly measured about a week behind so it looks like baby isn’t growing into a monster. Awesome blood pressure results once again, 102/58, and baby’s heart pumping away at 139 bpm.

At 34.5 weeks during this appointment it was time for Sarah to hand me the sheet containing all of the items I would need to gather for the home birth. I ordered a personalized birth kit from www.inhishands.com and put together a shopping list for things like towels/trash bags/sanitary napkins, etc. She asked that I have all of these items assembled by 36 weeks, which happens to be this coming Saturday. Crazy!

Over time Sarah has realized how strong willed I am regarding my own treatment and my desire to research things out for myself before doing them, and I really loved how she phrased her advice at this last appointment, urging me to look things up on my own and decide if I wanted to use them. She recommended Mountain Meadows Herbs Gentle Birth Formula, Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and 2000 mg of evening primrose oil inserted vaginally each night beginning at 36 weeks. Primrose Oil is full of prostaglandins, thought to help ripen the cervix, and a method I’m definitely going to employ.

We talked about perineal massage, a method proven to help reduce tearing of the perineum during delivery and decrease the need for instrument assisted delivery. I believe in perineal massage because when TH does it, it forces me to relax and work on focusing through an uncomfortable event.

My calves and feet are swelling up to monster sizes lately but my blood pressure is still looking good and I don’t have swelling anywhere else so no need to transfer or worry aboutpreeclampsia yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s somewhat related to the large number of hours I spend sitting in front of the computer each day!

The last thing we discussed at this visit was Appointment 7, which will be a home visit! Sarah comes out to see her mom’s at 36 weeks to familiarize herself with the drive, know how to get in, talk to me about preparing the house, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if every appointment was a home one?

I’ve said from the beginning that I didn’t think a baby shower was a good choice for me. I had heard enough stories (and talked to enough women) to know that sometimes they can dissolve into an opportunity for the mothers present to attempt to one-up each other in terms of who had the most painful/longest/shortest/scariest birthing experience. I long for a blessingway, but I don’t run in the right circles for it to happen. If I was going to gather together with a group of women, I wanted it to be a celebration of not just the baby and items s/he needs as life begins, but also of the impending event that would force me to transform from woman to mother. I thought that the possibility of a “horror shower” was my only option and so I wanted to avoid one altogether, opting for an open house after baby comes.

I think we’re planning on having cake, but don’t go thinking that anything like this monstrosity will be making an appearance. Via Cake Wrecks.

Then, the baby shower offers started pouring in from my dear friend in Dallas. What a wonderful group of women I am surrounded by! I started to rethink my position a bit, thinking back on the reactions I’ve had when talking about my home birth. No horror stories had been offered, no criticism voiced. The only people who had yet do to these things? My family, who I guess know me well enough that they think they are entitled to attempt to scare me into thinking childbirth is to an awful event to be dreaded. The women in Dallas though were just the opposite! They asked questions, often voiced astonishment, and wished me well. I realized that these were the kind of women I would be happy to have surrounding me in the weeks leading up to the birth, and so I accepted the offer of a friend and told her to being planning. She sent out the evite email on Monday and it’s been so fun to check the RSVPs to see who is coming. I told her no cheesy snickers-bar-melted-in-a-diaper games. We’ll see if she has other ideas in mind.

The best part about choosing to have a shower before baby comes, is as a mom who doesn’t know the gender, I’m guaranteed to receive gender neutral gifts! We’re attempting to go absolutely as minimal as possible, in part because we both don’t like clutter, and also because we’re hoping for a move to business school in the Fall and it doesn’t make sense to stock up on a bunch of baby stuff we won’t be using until after the move happens (high chair, exersaucer, etc). I spent a few hours putting together a Wishpot registry here and a quick Babies “R” Us one here, and if any moms out there would like to give me feedback on the items I chose I’d love to hear it (I’ve deleted and added several things already!)

March 27th is the schedule baby shower day. I hope I can find someone to take a few pictures for me, I don’t think my guests would appreciate it if I was the one trying to do so!