28 wks aka 7 mos aka 3rd tri!!

Baby 'n' me at 28 weeks. Baby Girl Grant is a very active little thing, especially early AM and late PM (haha! times when mama wants to sleep!). She's quite active all around, though...punching, rolling, kicking, and her latest trick as of today is hiccuping! too cute!! She is now about 2 1/2 lbs and almost a foot in length. She has hair, eyelashes/eyebrows, and can hear, see, taste, swallow, suck, 'cough' (yup, babies in utero practice the swallowing and coughing reflexes) and touch. We sing to her, pray over her, and just love to talk to her. She seems to really respond to Luke's voice, especially. She loves it when i rub my belly - she gets very active. Baby Girl doesn't care too much for the Bella Band because every time i try to wear it, she kicks at it! too funny!! :)

I am currently reading many books. Some have been fantastic, some good, and some more as a reference guide that i refer back to if needed. you can find the titles on the left hand side menu, if interested. Luke & I are also taking a 12-week in depth Bradley Method birthing class. It's been wonderful!! We learn so much each week and our instructor is a Spirit-filled believer, wife/mother, and professional doula. We are considering hiring her for our little one's birth. Our prayerful goal is to have a completely gentle, natural water birth within the hospital setting. That may sound like an oxymoron to many of you, I know. But we actually feel the Lord has really led us step by step in finding a loving, supportive Birth Team who is willing to work with us and for that, we are humbled & thankful. My OB/GYN consists of an O.D. (Doctor of Osteopathy - fully licensed medical doctor who has a more natural, wholistic approach to health) and a CNM (certified nurse midwife). The hospital my OB/GYN works with also has a long-standing reputation of kind, caring nurses who really support natural birth and who strive to provide a warm environment for birthing. With all that said, the Lord has recently given me such PEACE about this whole process and is helping me to surrender it all to Him - He is in control and will guide this birth according to His perfect plan and by His gentle Spirit. I know I can rest in that truth. Thank you, Lord!

And I realize every mama has to find her own personal 'comfort zone' when it comes to labor & birthing, so I am in no way trying to promote 'my own way' in this post but rather simply sharing what we are hoping to do for our own family :) why, you ask? just because i'm so excited about everything and love writing about this beautiful journey, i suppose! and take heart, not every post from here on out will be baby-related! haha! I have a few other posts in the works totally unrelated to baby stuff that i'm excited to soon share with you.

Thanks for reading!