Exercise

During pregnancy and now mommy life, exercise is sometimes a challenge to fit in. But so important! And honestly, I always feel so much better about life and everything after some good exercise. :-)
For those in Santa Barbara, there is an excellent pre-natal class taught by Tracy Schmidt at the YMCA on Hitchcock. She also teaches a post-partum exercise class which is also awesome! I highly recommend it. :-) The first session is free, and you don't have to be a member of the Y to join the class. After that it works out to about $5 a class. Anyways, it's super fun--dance, stretches, breathing.

Sacred Space + Meg Fish Photography

Super exciting news!

Sacred Space by Heschle is partnering with Meg Fish Photography to do not just maternity videos but also newborn videos! What a treasure to keep forever and remember this special time in life. We (Nathanael and I) are quickly learning is just how fast Layla is growing up! She's rapidly approaching 4 months and changes by the day.

Meg Fish Photography (www.megfishphotography.com) is a beautiful gift in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. She photographs pregnant women and newborn babies in a stunning artistic way that will blow your mind, soften your heart, and make you fall in love. Check out her blog here.

We are SO excited to work with Meg and her clients, having the privilege to preserve memories for individuals and families as they begin new seasons in life.

“Do You Have a Feeling?” [of the gender]

Among the many popular questions asked during pregnancy, this one ranks rather high. Everyone wants to know if you feel like it’s a boy or a girl. Well, we felt like it was a boy. In fact, we were rather sure of it. So we were extremely shocked when we found out it was in fact a girl!

We have so many friends that have gone through the exact same thing: think it’s one, find out it’s the other. I guess the truth is you really just don’t know. And you get a 50% chance of one or the other, but ultimately you’re only getting one! (Unless you have twins).

All that to say, I have learned my lesson, and next time around I will not get my heart set on one gender over the other because you can get surprised!

Traveling [while Pregnant]

We traveled while I was pregnant! It was great fun, and now that the baby is here I am glad we did it. Because traveling becomes a little more of a process with the baby out than in.

Early in my pregnancy we went to Death Valley. I had always wanted to go, and you can only really go during the spring or the winter, so we went at the end of March and it was incredible. The rock formations were so impressive and the desert was in bloom with lovely wildflowers.

Of course I was more easily tired than normal and I always had to have oatmeal handy (strange cravings), but it was super fun. And quite an adventure, since the second night a sandstorm blew through with winds up to 70 mph. Needless to say, we spent the night in the car since not even massive rocks could hold our tent down.

We also went to Texas for a friend’s wedding (walking in high heels while pregnant is exceptionally hard!), Yosemite with a bunch of photographer friends, and San Francisco for a prayer tour. Great times seeing the United States of America.

(the photo above was taken by Montana Dennis)

Finding a Practitioner You Trust

So by now, we had already given some thought to the home birth vs. hospital birth question as well as the “who is going to deliver my baby?” question. Since our insurance didn’t cover home birth (and we couldn’t afford to pay it out of pocket), we opted for the hospital. [Unfortunately there is no birth center in our town, so these were our only two options.]

Initially we just got assigned an OB-GYN, and we met with him several times. Both my husband and I didn’t feel comfortable with him. I’m not sure what exactly it was…part of it had to do with the way he answered our questions (and the lack of respect he had for our desires/opinions) and also just the general vibe. We knew it was probably a problem when we were both wishing that he would not be on call when I went into labor. So we switched doctors!

I did some research and asked around, found the most natural friendly doctor in town and barely got in. And I am so glad we switched! Because later I heard some stories about the first OB we had, and I am glad he wasn’t delivering for my birth!

Do the research on the care practitioners (% of Cesareans, how accommodating are they to your wishes?) and make sure you get someone you are comfortable with.