Baby Merlin is 1 month old.

Yes! Already a month!
Baby Merlin is adorable and (his smiles are irresistible!) he is growing fast.
Mommy is lacking some sleep and baby has some colic sometimes but we are getting better.
I'd love to understand why babies have colic if breast milk is suppose to be the best and mommy is watching what she ate!...
I didn't know how hungry and thirsty we can be when we breastfeed! So I am eating more whole food with some mashed potatoes, steam veggies (like swiss chards, beets...) but I still try to keep most of them raw and juices.

Little Merlin love to be in water (it's not a surprise as he lived in it for more than 8 months, he was born in water and I was really attract by water while pregnant).

A little fact about Merlin: we discovered that he was born with two little teeth!

We started to try Communication Elimination with him;
This is really interesting to see how you can answer your baby's needs and how a new born is able to control his sphincters.
It was a bit hard for me to believe but after seeing few families who experienced it and reading the book  Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer), we decided to give it a try and this is really rewarding to be able to answer one of your baby's need.
We don't 'catch' everything but it's a good start.

Our Birth Story...

Merlin was born on February 17th  at 38 weeks and one day; 3 days after the Valentine full moon.

It all started around 1 am, I was having some light contractions like every other nights, so I started my little 'dance'.
At 2:30am, the contractions were closer and I understood it was serious this time, so I started preparing my den!: sweeping the bathroom floor, emptying the garbage can, preparing the towels etc has we had plan an unassisted water birth.
At 3:30am the contractions were every few minutes apart, so I woke up Hubby and asked him to prepare the bath; it was a bit challenging to get in the bath tub between contractions.
We settle a soft lighting and some candles.
Once in water, I squatted and swing on the contractions waves, breathing as I felt it; But I realized I was breathing too deeply and it over ventilated me, I was kind of dizzy and the candles made me see like a white orb, so we blew them up. I thought that the water would have been more helpful but I accepted as it was thinking that it could be worst!
As time went, the contractions were stronger and stronger, I had to find another position and I turned around, I was starting to find the process to be too long and I started to worry a bit but suddenly a big contraction with a push broke my water and I felt like an empty pouch, that worried me as well, but I brought back some positive affirmations and as the pain was very strong I asked hubby for some natural oxytocin that he gave me with kisses and hugs, it helped a lot.
A new feeling came; a feeling to push, I was not sure if it was the right time but once again I trusted  my natural instinct and let my body do his job.
I was massaging and supporting my perineum and suddenly felt baby's head crowning; it was a powerful moment. With each push I was holding hubby's wrists tightly and focusing on opening for the baby ; I tuned with him to work together. A strong push associated with a guttural sound make his head appear; I asked hubby to support his head; he was surprised to feel his little nose; it was a magical and very strong moment. Then another strong push came and baby's body came out with a kind of a twist; hubby helped him gently to get out of the water on Mommy's tummy. Pure bliss moment! We did it!
Our baby boy was here crying a little and calming in Mom's arms.
He was cover with some vernix caseosa.
After few minutes, I decided to get out of the bath to deliver the placenta; we wrapped baby and mommy in towels and it was a bit challenging again as I had not much energy.
I sit over a bucket and waited for the placenta trying to get another contraction...but nothing; I was loosing the rest of my energy and started to faint; Hubby helped me to stay awake and then helped the placenta to come out by pulling gently on the ombilical cord (as we read it in an unassisted birthing book), I was not sure about that but finally after 40 minutes, the placenta came out and I was out of energy and almost fainted 2 more times; I was really pale.
I then went on the floor to rest and drank a fresh coconut water; baby was sleeping peacefully with his umbilical cord still attach to his placenta.
It was a wonderful experience, it was a conscious birthing where we discovered much about the power of our own body.

My Pregnancy little facts

I wanted to share here some of the little facts from this pregnancy...:
- I gain 8 kg (about 16Lbs)
- I had no stretch mark and I think it's from all the green juices I drank and also I massage my belly with coconut oil, that also helps a lot with ligaments pain and cramps.
- I was only able to sleep on my back and sometimes on the right side.
- Baby was usually on the right side; In the last few weeks he had the hiccups 2 to 3 times a day.
- I took a daily warm bath the last three weeks before giving birth; I needed this relaxing time as my belly was really tense by the end.
- I kept all my energy for the baby and didn't do much (if nothing at all) in the house for the last few weeks...
- The last two books I read was: Childbirth Wisdom from Judith Goldsmith; It was very interesting to learn about childbirth in different tribes and helped me to reconnect with my true nature and comfort me with our choice for a unassisted natural birth at home.
And 'Placenta the third chakra' by Robin Lim that help me to understand and apply the ideas of a Lotus birth.

8 Months...almost there!

This month was okay at the beginning; We had to do a 8 hours trip for some paperwork and I am glad I was able to manage it.
By the middle of the month I started to feel pretty tired and couldn't do much; I had trouble standing for even few minutes, this baby is pretty heavy and stretch my ligaments pretty hard!
So I am going very slow...and resting a lot. No more car trip for me!

Baby is still moving a lot and he is pushing my belly like I never experienced in my first pregnancies!

I am pretty happy because my first baby was born at 35 weeks, my second at 36 weeks and I feel that I can carry this one few more weeks (even if it's getting hard to move!) and without a cervical cerclage (stitches) as the doctor told me after my second pregnancy that I would need one!

This month I red few other books some where very technical and other more informative and helping to understand what's going on in our bodies when we are pregnant.
I really liked this one: Guide to childbirth from Ina May
I also red: Spiritual midwifery from Ina May
and Gentle Birth, Gentle mothering from Sarah Buckley

I also did few pretty cute crochet diaper cover, that you can check on my creative blog.

I am finishing to sew some bed sheets and then I will wash the baby's laundry to be ready!

On the food side, I mainly enjoy juices to get most of my nutriments as my stomach and digestive system feels compressed and smaller; but I still have some cravings that I try to listen, like I wanted some dairy products but more like unpasteurized cheese and eggs that I have some time to time in a small amount.
Here are some example of what I ate: Different kind of salads with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, Kale salad... Raw zucchini linguine with marinara sauce, steamed and saute veggies, tabbouleh, raw banana vanilla sorbet, fruits salads with sometimes chocolate sauce on top!

Lately I've been enjoying being in water a lot, so whenever I can (or need) I take a warm bath and it's really relaxing...

Thank you for stopping by....
The next update will certainly be with this new being!...

Month 7 : 31+ weeks

Looks like, this month went pretty fast...Maybe because of the Holidays Season!
There was some up and down for me with always something to learn from!
I would say pretty emotional and spiritual lessons!
Baby is still moving a lot and I feel he changed position and have his head down now; so sometimes it seems that I am not big anymore and people think I am only few months pregnant!.
Few days later he moved again and take all the space he could to show that I am pretty big!.

We went to the 'big' city (50min drive) to buy some clothes, a little bed and some accessories for the baby...

It feels a bit weird to kind of start over with baby stuff!
We don't want to buy too much as we might have done for our first kids! ...
So each time the question is: Do we really need it!.
Our ideas and point of view on different topic have changed a lot (about labor, breastfeeding, clothing, toys, natural hygiene etc...) It's very interesting for me as it was my field of studies and work! (I was a nursery nurse working in a maternity clinic while I was living in France).

 I started to read few other books this month and one of them really got my attention:
Diaper free from Ingrid Bauer.

The concept is really interesting and make sense to me...so I'll see if I can give it a try!

If any of you experienced it...please share!

I am glad to be aware and out of this consumerism society! (while using what helped me for good purpose).

On the food side, I am doing what I would call intuitive eating: Before I ate anything I am tuning in and see what my body needs and what I would really enjoy eating; Lately I ate some steamed and boiled veggies like cauliflower, green beans, beets, potatoes that I put into a salad and I still have 2 to 3 juices a day and I feel that I really need it.

Yesterday I was inspired and I made an Asian salad with marinated mushrooms, carrots and zucchinis!

Sometimes I think of all my favorite restaurants and dishes while I was in Canada and I wonder if I would still like them...

I love the local dragon fruit (also called Pitaya or pitahaya) that is in season and I have one every morning with a juice.

Otherwise I try to take it easy to be able to bring this pregnancy to its due date without trouble...

So I am working on accepting to be served and helped (and that's not an easy task for me!).

It's hard to find a comfortable place with this big belly and my favorite one is the hammock!
I am bless to be able to enjoy it!

Thank you for stopping by and comments are always welcome!....

Month 6 : 27 weeks

Already 6 months!wow!

It's a very interesting journey!

And a challenging month with still lots of cramps, ligaments, contractions and now pain in my upper legs!; Plus a little cold that slowed me down even more.
I was wondering if vitamins supplements could help it? What do you think? (I have a prescription from the Doctor!).
I am very careful because I had to stay in bed for my 2 first pregnancy for the 3 last months and I really don't want it to happen again!
I cannot stand in the same place for too long; I even need to walk or sit as baby is pretty low already!
He is still very active.

I had a little visit with the doctor (another $30) to check my weight (2 pounds per month is perfect!), blood pressure, baby's heart beat and we even did a little ultra sound with some measurements and yes we saw the gender! : It's a Boy!
He even showed his thumbs up to show us that all was good! and then he opened his hand to wave!

This month I've started to read an interesting book that helps mothers to externalize their emotions through art and more about childbirth preparation..
I am planning to do some of the 'exercises'... but I already realized a lot on what happened in my first pregnancy. I am glad that I grew up my self-esteem and that this pregnancy is helping me to understand my feelings at that time and my feelings now!
So, here is the book!: 'Birthing From within' - from Pam England

I am also reading online articles about home and water birth and I really love this one:

http://birthintobeing.com/index.php/articles/conscious-birth/waterbirth by Elena Tonetti.

On the food side, I Love green juices and I feel that I need them 2 to 3 times a day to feel good.

My 2 basics are: apple, pineapple, lemon, cucumber, celery and green (spinach or kale) 

and just apple, carrots.... 

Smoothies are too heavy for me, I really prefer juices.

Beside that I like salads, veggie sticks (carrots, celery, cucumber) with hummus or nut pate, steam or roasted veggies (some time to time) and I really like spinach at this time.

I still have hard time eating bananas (I can eat them when sliced with raw cacao on top!) and fresh young coconut (that I loved before being pregnant!) won't go pass my throat! .

Avocados, only half of it and not on a daily basis!

I really feel what my body want to eat or need; Each day is different; Sometimes I try to plan what I will eat but at the last minutes, my body will send me a signal to eat something else!

Once in a while I will have a craving for a cooked food plate and I will allow it (this month was spinach raviolis!).

I just finished to crochet a baby cocoon (pretty cute!), it was a long project and a little assorted hat...
You can check it on my creative blog.

I feel that I am attracted by water a lot; showering and bath are very pleasant moments.

The river is also magical...

That's it for this month!

We gonna start looking at baby gears soon!...

Thank you for reading and feel free to comment below!...

5 months in my pregnancy - 22 weeks

Another nice month in this pregnancy that brought me an open mind in this area!

Everyday is different; Some day I feel great and I enjoy it, while some others are a bit challenging.
I was able to do a little walk not long ago without contractions (I had contractions since month 4; it's getting better now) and it felt very good.

I had 2 night with striking leg pain (thing that I never had before as well as the ligaments pain!);
So I did some research and applied some tips that helped me, like some little exercises,  hot water, a pillow under my feet when I sleep and I am trying to drink more.
With these pain I decided to check my magnesium, calcium, iron, sodium and other minerals in my blood and everything was fine! (it cost me $32)

This baby seems to take so much space in my belly! I feel that I am as big at 5 months than I was at 36 weeks for my first kids! my belly is pretty tense.
Baby is very active too, especially when I lay down!

I finished to read the book that I was talking about last month; It was a good book with lots of information;
and I read Angela Stokes-Monarch ebook : A gentle start, that is full of great advices for new moms and a good reminder for others with a good resources of links:

On the food side, I love green juices and I like trying new combination;

I also enjoy fresh veggies and sometime to time a sweet treat like raw brownie with fruits and melted chocolate (but also sometimes a baked pastry!).

I started to crochet some baby clothes; Check my crafty blog if you want!...

It feels good to be creative again!

Thank you for stopping by! 

I'll be happy if you want to left me a little note!

Does anyone have something to share about home birth?