Akasha Belly Shoot!

I got a disc from Amy and wanted to share some of the images, even though they are from awhile ago. Over a year to be precise LOL! Some of the ones I hadn't seen were so cool though! I am doing all my faves here, except for the nudes hehe, even though I have posted some of them before.

If I am not mistaken, this is the thumbnail for Amy's maternity section on her website. I was seriously like almost 9 months pregnant when we did this shoot, and large by any standard, so it was a great belly for her portfolio haha! What I love is that this was the first shot! There is a professional for you. She had some ideas about what she wanted to try in this shoot, and she obviously got what she wanted on the first try! Damn girl.
You can almost see some little moons in orbit....

Who says you can't see your feet?!
Oh wait, that isn't my perspective, hahahaha!

I think this is my new favorite in the bunch.
This one is weird because Ron looks so different now. He was Mr. Tidy Professional then.
Bringing a flower to sister. Maybe that is why she loves them so much now!
Ah little man, your whole world is about to change. :)

No comment...
Sorry Orion, not even close.
The famous "Meadow Goddess" that has generated so many compliments. :)
I really like this one too! Looking very yogaish.
Look like I am needing to heft that thing around while I walk haha!
Love the angle and color in this one.
Flowers and battle scars....

Couldn't decide which of these I liked best!



One of my all time favorite pictures of Orion.
But the last two are pretty cute too!

Birth Space Transformation and Birth Bead Pics

Finally feeling like the room is as ready as it can be, so I wanted to do the transformation post! This room was such a disaster/play area before we started.

First, the BEFORE of the view toward the backyard. The AFTER pic - you can see the edge of the birth tub in the foreground.
BEFORE pic in the other direction.
IN PROGRESS pic. Straightened up, but still with ghetto curtains and white walls.
And the AFTER pic - OK, so I guess it is more of a birth pool than a birth tub! The stuff from the Blessing altar has all been moved to the table under the window. My friend Nadine sewed the material into curtains for me and they look 100% better!
Almost finished birth bead necklace...
...which I finished today and was inspired to take some pictures. Here is a close up of the necklace:
Here is Orion messing around on the bed while we were trying to take pictures.
But that is OK because we got my favorite picture ever of the two of us!
Playing around with filters for an interesting affect.
The rest were nudes, and I wasn't sure about posting them here. I don't want my blog to get flagged for adult content or anything LOL. I did put some on Flickr - email me if you want the link.

And yet again... Amy is still amazing!

Amy is amazing in more ways that one this time. :) I was going to cancel our photo shoot since Ron has lost his job, but she gave me a major break. I can't wait to see the whole collection, but here is some of what made it onto her Flickr.


This is my favorite bare belly shot for sure! And no, that isn't a 69 on my tattoo - it is the symbol for Cancer.Amy called this one glowing, but I think I looke so serious! Still a good belly shot. :)
This one is so cool. The flowers pop so much they almost look like they were pasted in later.
Now you see why I said my favorite bare belly shot above. :) This is my favorite belly shot for sure!
But this is probably my favorite shot of all she posted. Orion looks so cute and impish in this shot.
Then I guess we were in still in picture mode when we got home, because we took a few on the deck in the lovely sunshine. Not a belly shot, but I just loved the red hair next to all the green.
And here is the immense belly in the same corner.

Finally another offical belly shot :) - 38 weeks

I will post the 30 week one and then the 38 week one next to each other.
The amazing this is that I really don't look that much bigger! The shape has just changed drastically. Pam kept telling me that breech babies look bigger, and boy was she right! The slope is SO completely different now that she has turned. What a trip!

Pam's Home Visit and my Mama Blessing

What a long but happy day! I had a pretty good feeling that the baby turned yesterday, but since I had taken the trouble to go pick up a Moxibustion stick from Dr. Means, we went ahead and did it a bit before Pam was due to arrive. I think the main thing that was supposed to accomplish was lots of movement, but instead she seemed quieter than usual, so who knows! As it turns out, Pam is pretty certain she is head down now anyways! Did it happen last night? Ron and I both think so, but there is no way to know for sure. It could have been even sooner.

So here is part of my birthing space, at least as it is set up for today. The couple smaller scarves you can see are two of several I brought back from my mom's place. The bigger one is right above where the birth pool is going to go.

Here is a close up of the altar as it was before the Blessing. You can't really see it, but the blob at the top right is my birth bundle. It contains 3 objects, one that represents me, one for Ron, and one for the baby. I'll open it when I'm in labor. There is also a Kwan Yin, an Aztec birthing goddess, a few of my favorite tarot cards and a few other things. At the bottom right is something I made during Birthing From Within that I thought would be good for holding beads.
Thankfully Corina was happy to take some pictures. You can't see it, but I am getting a *double* foot massage from Arwyn and Rachele in this picture! I can't tell you how decadent I felt. :) And the marvelous Emily brought me my flower crown.
I wish I remember what Angie and I were laughing at, but it must have been good!
Here I am while wrapping the yarn on my arm and speaking my female line.
More yarn. My super cool midwife Pam is on the right, and her also super cool assistant Lennon is in the middle. And that is my friend Amoreena on the left (super cool as well of course).
A tribe of beautiful women all tied together.
Am I falling asleep?
I also got a bunch of wonderful beads from these amazing mamas. Emily even brought an angel for my mama. That is the gold one on the top right. The Goddess on the right is from Rachele, and was made by a local glassblower, although I had to joke I would never have those boobs!

And I had to include a picture of the splendiferous chocolate raspberry cake made by Will (Kristin's husband). It took him 2 days to make! Kristin was the official hostess of the Blessing, even though we decided to have it here so the space itself could be blessed.

It was a great day, even though it had to be in the middle of a weird unseasonal heat wave, but wow was I tired later.