Some Random Thoughts and Goals:

So now that I've posted the official claim, I wish to keep good documentation of this pregnancy because we're approaching it differently this time. And hoping that it turns out well, we wish to document the experience as much as possible for the sake of sharing these stories and inspiring others, mainly our own children. Blogging has quickly become somewhat of a journaling tool for us. Especially for myself. And I find it soothing to get feedback from time to time. It helps me to reassure that what I'm doing is right. And at other times, it helps me to "question with boldness" what I am doing so that I can find the path to a route that might be better.

So what are we doing differently? A lot of things actually. I look back on the journey that I've had with my first two children thus far and here are some of the things I think about. Please don't mind my free association writing. Long story short: Orion was the first. Born in the typical American hospital environment. Cried a lot at birth. My postpartum healing was long. I suffered from some pretty heavy depression at times. I was given Pitocin, an epidural and other heavy drugs like Percuset. Check spelling. I love him though. He's been my guinea pig in a way. Sad to put it that way. But I'm glad he still loves me even though I've come to the conclusion that I'm far from being a perfect parent. I have a lot to learn yet. Chrysalis. Second child. Beautiful girl. Born at home in our pleasant little apartment in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Night and Day experience. Didn't cry at birth. She was calm and curious. I was walking around a lot after giving birth. Was able to go natural all the way. Had a tougher pregnancy with her in the beginning. Hypothesis and culprit? My diet. Overall I ate healthier with Orion. Definitely ate more living foods. With Chrysalis. I ate okay towards the end. In the beginning, I believe I may have gotten lazy and eaten more dairy products than I should have. Ignorance led me to believe I was consuming a good source of protein. I had yogurt and cheese sticks for breakfast a lot. I threw up a lot. All in all, my body doesn't tolerate dairy very well. To this day, I get severe cramping when I consume dairy.

So here are some of my goals as I set up what I believe will be my best pregnancy and labor experience yet, and I look forward to it:

1. I wish to be on a 100% Vegan diet and about 70% Raw throughout my entire pregnancy.

2. I wish to have this special baby born naturally at home once again.

3. I wish to continue some type of exercise regime at least three days a week, maybe more.

One of my new year's resolutions was actually to exercise more. As is everyone else's resolution I'm sure. But this year, I decided it was time to get a gym membership once again. I don't know why we stopped going for so long. I can only attribute it to laziness. So far, we've been doing it for about three weeks and we're doing well. Why am I writing about this? I guess there's something about writing your goals for all to see that makes you ever more determined to fulfull them. When I'm the only one who knows about it, I can easily talk myself out of it by justifying that no one will know but me. Of course, that's not true. But that's how my mind functions. So I make a declaration in a way to leave myself little room for failure.

I want to be honest with myself and with everyone I encounter. Yes, even with this silly blog that may one day not seem so silly to future generations. Only God knows for sure. What I amount to with this life may not be much, but maybe it will be of use to my kids.

Anyways, those are my ramblings for now. Hope it makes some sense.