Juju update

She’s getting bigger (and so am I). A few weeks ago I felt a change in the way she moved around. She used to roam around in there, bouncing off the sides of the womb, but then she began to feel more confined. The sensations changed to sort of slow pressing and sliding movements. Somehow it makes me think of whales moving ponderously through their underwater world. She’s very responsive when I press on my belly.

Recently there were two gatherings held in Juju’s honor. At one of them were all women, and we had some lovely prayers and readings, a potluck dinner, and sharing of experiences and reflections about motherhood. Juju and I got some nice presents, which somehow made the whole thing seem more real. The other gathering was a quilting bee hosted by a friend who is making a quilt for Juju. A few people got together and made blocks to surround a central panel. It was so nice to have the pregnancy and Juju’s immanent arrival celebrated in this way.

A couple of weeks ago a friend came over and played didgeridoo for Juju. I think she enjoyed it, somehow her movements and stillness indicated attentiveness to me. Our friend said that the vibrations are completely different if you’re listening live as opposed to playing a CD. But I’m trying also to play CDs of music from different cultures for her. Last night I played “Misa Luba” and she became quite active during the more up beat pieces.

We've been attending a childbirth preparation class. We are four couples all together, and the teacher is very nice. She is one of the first activists here to promote childbirth education, more informed and natural birthing and so on. I've already read a lot of the stuff she covers, but it's great to be able to ask questions, especially to someone who knows about how things work here. MBH is also getting exposed to all the important information, which is nice, although he says that he doesn't retain a very large percentage of what he hears. We are slowly working through the list of things we have to do to prepare.