48 Days to Go

Wow, I just can't believe that I have only 48 days until my due date of May 31st.  Here's a picture at Week 33:

This past weekend we spent all day Saturday at a childbirth class.  I really enjoyed having the different stages of labor broken down and was glad to hear what I could expect, what my body would be doing, etc during each stage.  We watched some birth videos and practiced some breathing techniques and were shown some different positions to help with the labor.  A couple things that stuck in my mind were to 1) take one contraction at a time - don't think about the last one and don't thing about how many more there are to come - stay in the present contraction and focus there only; and 2) the pain has a purpose.  I love that - and I think I'll bring something from the baby's room or maybe his sonogram picture or something to use as my focal point. 

So I guess what I'm saying is I'm gearing up to do this thing without drugs.  For some reason I really think I can do it - we'll see if I change my mind once I start experiencing real pain.  I know I am completely naive to what it will feel like, so my plans could be shot before I even make it to a few centimeters.  We shall see.  Dr Heit said that 80-90% of his patients receive epidurals - this makes me question my plan a bit and feel like I really don't know what I'm in for!