Eventful week!

I got to go to my best friend's baby shower Saturday! We've been best friends for over a decade now, and it's been really neat being pregnant together. I actually conceived right before she told me she was pregnant, if you go back and look at my conception date (I think it was January 16th but I can't remember right now). I'm not gonna lie, I remember when she told me that I felt such a strange, wide range of emotions. A mixture of happiness for her that she was having a baby with the man of her dreams, sympathy for her nervousness and what was quite possibly fear of not being entirely ready, elation that it wasn't me again just yet because we wanted to wait a year, and even a small twinge of jealousy because I had baby fever but knew we should wait a bit longer. Well, as it turned out, I was already incubating some cells that would soon become a zygote, embryo, fetus, and now in a few short weeks, another baby of my own! She's due with her first on September 26th and as anyone who follows me regularly knows, I'm due with my second, four weeks later on October 23rd. It's really neat going through the same symptoms and feelings and having someone with the same crazy pregnant lady hormones to talk to! Megan's my rock, anyway, she's always done her best to keep me grounded and level headed, and hell, I have no idea where I'd be without her. Her mom is also my midwife, and the very same midwife I plan to study under. Her entire family has always been like a second family to me, and that'll never change. I think, honestly, if it weren't for this family that my views and beliefs as far as birth went would be very different, and I'd probably be on a very different career path as well. Without them I don't think I ever would have discovered my fascination and passion for all things related to pregnancy and birth. I've always thought pregnancy was pretty nifty, but wasn't all into it until after meeting them. I'd probably be content with a hospital birth, I'd probably think c-sections weren't that bad, I'd probably be all for an epidural, and I probably wouldn't be encapsulating my placenta. I also probably wouldn't do nearly as much research as I do. Basically my pregnancy, birth plans, and parenting choices would probably greatly differ from what they are today. I'm very grateful for having this entire family in my life. Our plans are to be present for each other's births, which is hopefully going to be feasible... I'm having my baby at her house, so she'll be there, no doubt - but I don't have a car right now and it's an hour and a half away, so to say I'm worried about not making it is an understatement.

Hopefully things will work out in our favor!

This picture is from yesterday, we went on a walk and we found some deer and bunnies and really pretty birds. I gave my camera to my sister to try to get a picture of the deer while I distracted Bug (who renamed deer "doggy bears" and refuses to accept the fact that that's not what they're called, haha) and she caught this precious moment on camera. It was right after he kissed my belly and he was saying "Hi Sparrow! Hello! I love you!" We also now have like, thirty pictures of this one "doggy bear" because we took a new picture with every step closer we got. This will probably forever be my favorite pregnancy picture. It's a tad bit blurry, but it was taken by an eight year old haha. It was just such a beautiful moment and I heard the shutter click as I was thinking about how I'd remember this moment forever, my baby telling his brother how much he loves him and kissing him and just talking to him. He's going to be such a great big brother when Sparrow gets here, there's no doubt in my mind.

☮