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Friday, 26 July 2013

36 Weeks Pregnant!

Every day it gets harder to move. All I can think about is getting the baby out safely and finally getting to meet him or her! So I've been reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and drinking raspberry leaf tea.

Box of tea

This is the tea I've been using - mostly because it seems to be the only brand readily available in stores near me. It sells for $4.99 for a box of 20 at the Bulk Barn at Front and George. This is the lowest price I've seen, with The Big Carrot selling it for around $6 and even one store in the basement of the St. Lawrence Market selling it for $8. This price adds up when you consider the recommended dosage for third trimester is a litre a day (4 bags), so at the lowest price this tea is costing me $1/day.

It's become part of my nightly ritual to make the tea for the next day (because it's summer and there's no way I'm drinking hot tea).

Steam coming from the kettle on the kitchen island with the Glads in the foreground

Because the tea is used medicinally to strengthen and stimulate the uterus, it is steeped for at least 15 minutes with 1 bag per cup.

Green handmade teapot with 4 tea bags hanging out of it

By the morning it's ready to drink. It tastes a lot like green tea. I actually really like the flavour and will likely keep it around after pregnancy for drinking occasionally. It's supposed to help with menstrual cramps as well.

Yellow tea in a glass milk jug

I am so excited for Tuesday - I will be 37 weeks and the baby will be full term! I'm planning to start nightly reflections on the labour process and the birth at that point. I want to be able to visualize a calm and effective labour for the baby and I. Ina May Gaskin believes that a natural labour and birth has a lot to do with attitude and positive thinking and that's what I'm setting myself up for. I don't actually know any women personally who have had a natural childbirth so it's not culturally normal for me, though it is how I hope the labour and delivery will be. The stories of childbirth in Ina May's book have been very helpful to read as they repeat over and over different scenarios in which women are able to let their bodies do what they were built for and give birth. It's very inspiring and I am very much looking forward to my labour.

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